Siim Sikkut led the digital government and digital policy area in the Government of Estonia for 10 years, most recently as the Government CIO from 2017 to 2022. As a serial intrapreneur in the public sector, he was also one of the founders of Estonia’s groundbreaking e-Residency program. Siim has been recognized as one of the world’s TOP20 most influential people in digital government by Apolitical. Siim currently advises governments and leaders on digital strategy, the leadership and governance for its delivery, digital service reforms, and public sector innovation. He is a Managing Partner at Digital Nation, a digital advisory network originating from Estonia. He is the author of the book Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders, published globally in 2022.

I hold a Ph.D. in Computer Vision and have a solid foundation in Computer Science. I am an enthusiast in all things AI, metadata modeling, and linked data, with a strong academic background and a track record of practical experience in AI, and Machine Learning.

Dedicated to the advancement of semantic technologies, I have actively contributed as a member of the SEMIC community and team for several years. Currently, I am focusing on knowledge transfer and semantic transformation within public administrations and European organizations, playing a role in enhancing data interoperability and information exchange.

Beyond my current work, I have a keen interest in identifying ways to bring together symbolic and sub-symbolic AI through the use of ontologies and Large Language Models (LLMs).

Aitor Soroa is associate professor at the University of the Basque Country and member of the Hitz research center for language techologies. His has published over 100 International refereed articles and conference papers in Natural Language Procesing, in areas such as semantic processing, language modeling and integration of NLP systems.