Responsible AI - Panel Discussion Event

NovaUCD and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ireland are bringing together a panel of experts and thought leaders from the private sector, academia, and the public sector to discuss and explore how AI can be designed and deployed responsibly to truly benefit and impact society.

In light of the EU AI-Act, the panel will also examine the role of regulation in guiding the development of AI-systems to support democratic principles, such as fairness, transparency and non-discrimination.

Date & Time

Wednesday 18 February 2026, 11:30 am - 12:45 pm

Lunch refreshments will be provided after the event.

Event Location

Seminar room 0.23, NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park, (off Foster's Avenue), UCD, Dublin 4, D04 V2P1.

Speakers

Emerald de Leeuw, Global Head of Privacy & AI Governance, Logitech

Professor Eugenia Siapera, Professor of Digital Technology, Policy, and Society, UCD School of Information and Communication Studies and co-Director, UCD Centre for Digital Policy

Malcolm Byrne TD, Cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence.

Marloes Pomp, former Vice-President of the European AI Forum

Moderator

Dr John Lonsdale, CEO, CeADAR, Ireland's Centre for AI and the European Digital Innovation Hub for AI in Ireland.

Lunch refreshments will be provided after the event.

Note: Parking

We strongly recommend that attendees use public transport to attend this event as there is very limited paid (first-come, first-served) visitor parking at NovaUCD.

Further information on travel to UCD visit: https://www.ucd.ie/estates/ourservices/commuting/publictransportbusandrail/

Speaker Bios

Emerald De Leeuw-Goggin, Global Head of Privacy and AI Governance at Logitech,

Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin is a global executive and entrepreneur specialising in AI governance, privacy, and technology risk. She works with senior leaders on the hard part of responsible AI; making it operational, measurable, and scalable without slowing the business. In her role as Global Head of Privacy and AI Governance at Logitech, she has built and led enterprise governance across products, data, and digital regulation, translating regulatory expectations into decision-making that holds up under scrutiny.

A former founder in privacy-tech, Emerald combines boardroom credibility with real operating experience. Her work sits at the intersection of law, technology, strategy, and organisational behaviour, with a pragmatic focus on what leaders can actually implement.

Emerald is a Visiting Fellow at Maastricht University’s European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity and serves on the AI Leadership Council of the Future of Privacy Forum. She is also the co-founder of Women in AI Governance and the founder of Elevare.Style, a platform focused on executive presence and strategic visibility.

She holds degrees in law and business information systems, with executive education from Stanford, and has spoken at Davos AI House, Reuters Momentum AI, the European Parliament, and Nasdaq.

Professor Eugenia Siapera, UCD School of Information and Communication Studies

Eugenia Siapera is Professor of Digital Technology, Policy, and Society and co-Director of the UCD Centre for Digital Policy. Her research explores the intersections of digital technologies, media, and society, with a focus on political communication, journalism, platform governance, and the role of technology in shaping social justice. She has a particular interest in the dynamics of hate speech, racism, and misogyny online.

Eugenia is currently working on a €3 million Horizon Europe funded project FORSEE (Forging Successful AI Applications for European Economy and Society) which is focused on analysing existing successful AI applications to strategically enhance the capabilities of the European AI industry, policymakers and the public to address the future risks and opportunities of AI to help Europe retain a leading position in the AI landscape.

Malcolm Byrne TD

Malcolm Byrne has been a TD since November 2024 and serves as Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and on Climate, Environment and Energy.

He is the Chairperson of Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence.

From Gorey, Co. Wexford, he is a graduate in Law, Arbitration and Governance (UCD, QUB). He previously worked for Chambers Ireland, as the first Commercial Manager with my home.ie, as Chief Executive of Community Games, as Executive Director of Screen Producers Ireland and for twelve years as Head of Communications and Public Affairs with the Higher Education Authority.

A Councillor from 1999 to 2019, he also served as Chair of Wexford County Council.

He has a strong interest in issues relating to education, research, technology, the arts, foreign policy, youth participation, housing, planning and local government.

Marloes Pomp, former Vice-President of the European AI Forum

Marloes Pomp is a former Vice-President of the European AI Forum, the umbrella organisation of national European AI associations and clusters, which represents over 3,000 members, including SMEs, corporations and individual experts in this field.

A tech enthusiast and activist with a passion for public services and social assignments, Marloes is a frequent public speaker at international tech events.

As part of her ongoing work in this sector, she is a member of the Welsh Government’s Strategic AI Advisory Group while also being part of the European Applied AI Executives Round Table.

Moderator Bio

Dr John Lonsdale is CEO of CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for AI, and the European Digital Innovation Hub for AI in Ireland. Prior to joining CeADAR in September 2024 John led technology transfer, investment and enterprise activity at the University of Edinburgh. Before that he was Director of Innovation and Enterprise at UCLan, overseeing all university innovation activity including European funded programmes and international linkages.

Possessing MBA and DBA qualifications, John spent the first 15 years of his career working in industry for Rolls Royce plc and National Nuclear Laboratory in a wide range of commercial roles.

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