MyData Awards 2024-25 Launch Event

Miapetra Kumpula-Natri
Member of the European Parliament

Miapetra is a Finnish MEP, sitting in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, and in the Committees on International Trade and Constitutional Affairs. She is the head of the Finnish Social Democrats in the European Parliament, and Vice-Chair of the EP’s Delegation to the United States. She has been the European Parliament’s key negotiator on the Wholesale roaming markets regulation and the European Strategy for Data, and for the Group on the Data Governance Act and Data Act. A strong advocate for digital cooperation, she is eager to find sustainable solutions to climate change, and advocates for more investments in research through European cooperation. At the end of this summer, shei will return to the Finnish national parliament. She will be vice–chair of the Grand Committee (Committee of EU Affairs), and the head of the Finnish delegation in Council of Europe.

Alexander Galt
Digital Ethics Leader for Inter IKEA

Alex is the Digital Ethics Leader for Inter IKEA Group with responsibility to develop digital ethics practices across the IKEA value chain. He started working on digital ethics when he was a data scientist for Public Health in the UK, piloting the UK Government Data Ethics Framework. He since wrote his postgraduate thesis on how we can build trust in the use of digital technologies and developed a digital ethics practice within Deloitte Netherlands. Alex is an advocate for responsible AI, participatory data stewardship and digital for social good practices. He has been a signatory to the MyData Declaration since 2020.

Astha Kapoor
Director of the Aapti Institute

Astha is the Co-founder of Aapti Institute, a Bangalore-based research firm that works on the intersection of technology and society. She has over a decade of public policy and strategy consulting experience, with a focus on use of technology for welfare. Astha leads research and test new methods of data sharing, data stewardship and governance. Her recent work is focused on participative governance of data, and its use for building collaborative AI, through collective governance methods such as cooperatives, especially for women. Astha also works on ideas of digital public infrastructure, especially on questions of bottom up governance. Astha is increasingly interested in formations of trust around technology adoption and use, and is leading a two year research study to understand women’s digital trust in India. She’s a member of World Economic Forum Global Future Council on data equity (2023-24), visiting fellow at the Ostrom Workshop (Indiana University). She was also a member of the Think20 taskforce on digital public infrastructure during India’s G20 presidency and is currently a co-chair for the T20 task force on platformisation of government services for the Brazilian G20 presidency. Astha is a two-time TedX speaker, and a Global Governance Futures Fellow 2018-19. Astha’s writing has been published in the Mint, Hindu, Deccan Herald among others. Astha has a bachelors from St Stephens College, Delhi University, and a Masters from Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, Netherlands.

Brian Behlendorf
CTO of OpenWallet Foundation

Brian has dedicated his career to connecting and empowering the Free Software and Open Source community to solve hard technology problems and have a positive societal impact. He has worn many different hats – as a startup company founder, as an advisor to the U.S. government, as a board member at various non-profits and consortia, as a YGL and employee of the World Economic Forum, and as an investor. As CTO of OpenWallet Foundation, he works with his team to weave together the technical and social elements behind the emerging verifiable credentials, payment methods, and digital asset functions of modern digital wallets.