Our Experts

Edward Vera-Cruz Solicitor (Head of Commercial Legal) & Snr. Commercial Advisor, Southern Water Services Ltd., United Kingdom

Edward VeraCruz is an experienced senior commercial professional and public service delivery specialist with over 25 years commercial, strategic sourcing and commercial legal expertise across private practice, public sector and utilities. He brings a unique and very useful combination of concurrent practice as a qualified lawyer and procurement professional. With a proven track-record of applying and embedding commercial disciplines within the public sector to deliver intelligent, innovative and effective services, improve efficiency, develop new service delivery models, increase income, and reduce costs. Edward Vera-Cruz started his legal career as a criminal defence lawyer before switching to insolvency practice, and was Chief Procurement Officer (2011 – 2016) at West Sussex County Council, UK.

Helena Vangby Senior Expert, DG Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

Helena Vangby is Senior expert in the State aid unit of DG Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission, where her main task is to supervise the handling of State aid cases (notifications, complaints, illegal State aids, cases before the European judiciary etc.). She is also responsible for elaborating and coordinating State aid policy developments in the agriculture and forestry sectors, in particular in view of establishing new legislation in this field. Prior to joining the State aid unit, she worked as a lawyer dealing with issues related to CAP legislation in the same DG. She also spent 3 years in the Swedish Ministry of Agriculture, where she was responsible for coordinating the CAP Health Check process at national level.

François Vincke Vice-Chair of the ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-corruption and Member of the Board of Transparency International Belgium

François Vincke is a member of the Brussels Bar and practices independently after a career of 26 years first as company lawyer, later to become General Counsel and Secretary General of an oil, gas and chemicals multinational. He is a director of the Belgian branch of Transparency International and contributes regularly to the work of the certification group ETHIC Intelligence in Paris. For six years, he was a lay judge in the Brussels Commercial Court. A former Chair and current Vice-Chair of the ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) since 1994, François participated actively in the drafting of the ICC anti-corruption documents.

Louis Vervloet General Director, ESF-Agentenschap Vlaanderen / ESF-Agency Flanders

Louis Vervloet is the General Director of the Flemish ESF-Agency, the Managing Authority for the ESF in Flanders. He has a vast experience in working in public administration and is acquainted with the ESF for over 30 years. In his current position, he is responsible for the relations with the European Commission and for the setting up, implementation, monitoring and control of ESF programmes. Additionally, he is member of the European ESF Committee representing Belgium and the Flemish Policy Council on Employment and Social Economy.

Peter Van Rompaey Senior Advisor, Corporate Communications, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Peter Van Rompaey has been senior advisor corporate communications in the Marcom department at Vrije Universiteit Brussel since 2008. He previously worked as a television journalist and presenter (TV Brussels, VT4, VIJFtv) from 1993-2008, and as a newspaper journalist (De Morgen, Het Laatste Nieuws) from 1990-1993. He is an expert, coach and trainer in public speaking and presentation skills. He is the author of several articles on the subject in Dutch language publications (a.o. Ad Rem, Tijdschrift voor zakelijke communicatie). He has given interviews on Belgian radio (Radio 1 - VRT) along with conference presentations on public speaking. Peter has a Master in Communication Sciences (VUB, 1988).

Enrico Vizio Contract and Procurement Manager, European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (EURATOM Agency Fusion for Energy)

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Juan Viesca Director of European Funds, Finnova

Juan Viesca is currently the director of European Funds of Finnova, a Belgian foundation specialized in the search for European funding for innovative projects. He is Professor of the Master of International Studies and European Union of the University of Valencia. Member of the Valencian Committee for European Affairs. Expert evaluator of projects for the European Commission. He has been the general director of projects and European funds of the Regional Ministry of Finances of Valencia. In this sense, he has developed the Operational Programs of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the Valencian region and its Regional Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3 CV). Juan Viesca has also worked at the European Commission in Brussels for more than 8 years managing technology transfer programs between universities and enterprises.

Joran Van Daele Open Data Manager, City of Ghent, Belgium

Joran Van Daele is a dedicated Open Data Manager for the City of Ghent with a successful track record of using city data for open innovation. Through projects, such as PoliVisu and MUV, and events, Joran helps to maximize the potential of open data in Ghent and make its possibilities known to as many people as possible. As the organizer of the annual Apps For Ghent hackathon and the open data portal for Ghent, Joran is committed to exploiting the interface between data science and social good.