Intro to fifth topic: Reduced Inequalities panel

Speakers

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  Virginia Stagni Head of Business Development & FT Talent Director
  

  Virginia Stagni

  Head of Business Development & FT Talent Director

  Virginia works between London and New York as a Business Development Manager in the Commercial Department of the Financial Times.

  Her role sees her investigate new business ideas and revenue growth opportunities, ensuring that the Financial Times remains one of the most innovative and disruptive players in the wider news landscape.

  Prior to joining the FT, Virginia was a start-up founder and entrepreneur, also working as a freelance reporter for La Stampa – one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. She is the CEO and founder of Logos, a mobile phone blockchain start-up, and previously founded a digital magazine, Revolart, as well as a cultural heritage foundation, Bolognadasballo.

  In 2016 she was named Best Italian Entrepreneur Under 25 and in 2019 was one of Digiday’s inaugural Future Leaders.

  Virginia holds an MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics and Management for Art, Culture and Communications from Bocconi University. In her spare time she enjoys ‘extreme’ travel.

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  Dr. Lara Srivastava Digital Development Consultant World Bank
  

  Dr. Lara Srivastava

  Digital Development Consultant World Bank

  Dr. Lara Srivastava is a policy advisor, lawyer, futurist, and strategic foresight expert with over 25 years of experience working for and advising governments, industry, internet start-ups and international organizations. She has lived in over 16 different cities across 9 countries and has a keen insight into long-term developments and volutions from both a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural perspective – ranging from key technical developments (such as AI or IoT) to legal frameworks and techno-social interdependence.

  Her background is multi-disciplinary: she holds graduate degrees in French literature (with a focus on gender), in law (with a specialization in technology law) and in science/technology policy (with a focus on FinTech) as well as a Ph.D. in Innovation (with a focus on Smart Homes and IoT).

  In the early 2000s, she managed the UN’s first ICT technology foresight programme, during which she initiated and led work on the landmark ITU Internet Report 2005: Internet of Things (IoT), the first report of its kind in the field, and similar groundbreaking work on digital identity (2006), before such developments hit the mainstream. Later in her career, she headed up the ITU’s Bridging the Gap programme, for which she designed and delivered strategic training programmes on innovation and standardization for developing countries across five regions of the world. Lara has also been an entrepreneur and has worked in national utilities regulation, technical standardization, human rights,and management consultancy. Lara is currently working with The World Bank on start-up tech accelerator initiatives and on programs relating to digital development and digital regulation. She is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a business coach and mentor.

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  Alex Irwin-Hunt Global markets editor at fDi Intelligence, Financial Times
  

  Alex Irwin-Hunt

  Global markets editor at fDi Intelligence, Financial Times

  Alex Irwin-Hunt is global markets editor at fDi Intelligence, a specialist publication at the Financial Times focused on foreign investment and economic development. He reports on the latest trends in cross-border investment, writing features about themes shaping investment decisions across industries and producing reports on investment destinations worldwide. Alex is the co-host of Rising Ecosystems, a recently launched podcast series exploring emerging technology hubs.

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  Sandra Boulos Program Officer Migration at the Swiss Agency for development
  

  Sandra Boulos

  Program Officer Migration at the Swiss Agency for development

  Sandra Boulos is a development professional with experience in Egypt, Albania and on Syria and Turkey. She has previously worked in development cooperation for the German development agency GIZ. Since 2015 she has been at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. She has expertise in governance, humanitarian aid, gender, and migration. Currently, she is a Programme Manager on Migration and Development for the SDC. There she works on the global migration dialogue as well as on remittances and the financial inclusion of migrants.