Quantum Europe: The EU’s Quantum Technologies Agenda
The emergence of quantum technologies may accelerate technological development and have far-reaching economic and societal impacts. In this event, Dr Gustav Kalbe, Acting Director for Emerging and Enabling Technologies, DG CONNECT, in the European Commission discusses EU policies toward quantum technologies, including the forthcoming EU Quantum Strategy and the EU Quantum Act. Mr Kalbe focuses part of his remarks on the EU’s policies to promote the development of quantum technologies as well as how the risks that these technologies may pose can be addressed.
About the Speaker:
Dr Gustav Kalbe is the Acting Director for Emerging and Enabling Technologies in DG CONNECT in the European Commission. He joined the European Commission in 1998 and has held several assignments in quantum technologies, photonics, and cybersecurity. In January 2021, he was appointed Deputy to the Director of DG CONNECT for Digital Excellence and Science Infrastructure. In 2018 Dr Kalbe became responsible for the establishment and operation of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. Dr. Kalbe holds a PhD in Physics.
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Transforming Ireland’s Gas Networks for Net-Zero
Ireland’s ambitions to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require a fundamental transformation of its energy systems, including its gas network. Renewable gases such as hydrogen and biomethane can play an important role in this transition and in future-proofing Ireland’s energy supply. Renewable gases have the potential to enable sectors that cannot easily electrify to decarbonise. They also have the potential to enhance Ireland’s energy security while creating opportunities for export-driven economic growth. This panel discussion, organised in conjunction with Gas Networks Ireland, will discuss the transformation that might be required in Ireland’s gas network to reach net-zero carbon emissions, as well as the long-term potential benefits for Irish society and the wider economy that this transformation might yield.
About the Speakers:
Edwina Nyhan, Director of Strategy and Regulation at Gas Networks Ireland
Tom O’Brien, Group Chief Executive of Nephin Energy
Katy McNeil, Head of Scottish Government Office, Ireland
Charlie Brophy, Principal Officer, Electricity Storage and Hydrogen Policy in the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.
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Avi Shlaim on Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine
In his online address to the IIEA, Professor Avi Shlaim discusses his new book, Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine, a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2024. In the book, Avi Shlaim places Israel’s policy towards the Gaza Strip under an uncompromising lens, arguing that Israel has gone beyond land-grabbing and ethnic cleansing to now committing genocide. As a collection of essays written between 2021-2024, the book begins with a foreword by Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and ends with the statement made by Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC to the International Court of Justice in the Case of Genocide against Israel.
About the Speaker:
Avi Shlaim is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is one of the most acclaimed historians of modern Palestinian and Israeli history. His books include Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (1988); War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History (1995); The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (2000, updated edition 2014); Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace (2007); Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations (2009); Three Worlds: Memoir of an Arab-Jew (2023), and Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine (2024).
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Can the EU’s Affordable Housing Plan Help Tackle Homelessness?
In her address to the IIEA, Ruth Owen, Deputy Director at FEANTSA, examines the European Union’s efforts to address homelessness through its evolving affordable housing agenda. As the EU has no direct competence in housing, the responsibility for policies on and investment in social and affordable housing remains with the Member States. Drawing on over a decade of experience in homelessness policy, she explores the potential of EU initiatives to support more inclusive and effective housing solutions across Member States, including the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness and the affordable housing initiative as part of the Commission's renovation wave strategy for Europe. She considers the challenges of implementation, the role of national governments, and the need for integrated policy responses to ensure that affordable housing contributes meaningfully to the fight against homelessness.
Speaker bio:
Ruth Owen is Deputy Director at FEANTSA (European Federation of National Associations Working with the Homeless), where she has worked since 2010. She is an expert on homelessness and public policies to address it. She has a special interest in housing policy. Prior to working on homelessness, Ruth studied geography and worked as a teacher in London.
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The Future of the UK-EU Relationship
A Keynote Address by Stephen Doughty, UK Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories
About the Speaker:
Stephen Doughty was appointed Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in July 2024. Mr Doughty was first elected as Welsh Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Cardiff South and Penarth in November 2012. He studied at Lester B. Pearson UWC in Canada, Oxford University, and St Andrews University. He later worked for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and for members of the then National Assembly for Wales. Mr Doughty spent a number of years working for humanitarian and international development NGOs World Vision UK, Oxfam GB, Oxfam International, and Oxfam Cymru. During the previous Labour government, he was Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for International Development. In 2020 he was appointed Shadow Foreign Affairs and International Development Minister and in 2021 he was appointed Shadow Minister for Europe, North America and the Overseas Territories. He also served on the Wales, Home Affairs, Arms Export Controls and International Development Committees in Parliament, as an opposition Whip, and a Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry. He chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group for HIV and Aids and was a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Minister Doughty completed the Armed Forces Parliamentary scheme, attending the Royal College of Defence Studies 2017 to 2018 and has also served as an Army Reservist.
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