Francesca Bria is Honorary Professor in the Institute  for Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL in London, and the Chairman of the Italian National Innovation Fund. She is a Senior Adviser to the United Nation (UN-Habitat) on digital cities and digital rights. Francesca Bria is leading the DECODE project on data sovereignty in Europe, and is an adviser to the European Commission on Innovation Policy and Next Generation Internet. She is the former Chief Digital Technology and Innovation Officer for the City of Barcelona in Spain. 


Francesca has a PhD in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Imperial College, London. As Senior Programme Lead at Nesta, the UK Innovation Agency, she has led the D-CENT project, the biggest European project on digital democracy platforms and digital currencies. She also led the DSI4EU project, advising the EU on digital social innovation policies and purpose-driven innovation. She has been teaching in several universities in the UK and Italy and she has advised Governments, public and private organizations on technology and innovation policy, and its socio-economic and environmental impact.