Gerhard Eschelbeck is Vice President of Security Engineering at Google, where he leads the teams that ensure data and systems security, as well as user privacy.

Gerhard has a passion for championing new technologies and is a trusted advisor to a number of early stage startup companies. He published the “Laws of Vulnerabilities” and is one of the inventors of the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). Eschelbeck holds numerous patents in the field of managed network security. Prior to joining Google, Gerhard was CTO and Senior Vice President at Sophos and Qualys, and served in senior product and technology roles at companies including Network Associates and McAfee. Gerhard has a Ph.D in computer science from University Linz, Austria.

Christine Mannhalter has been a professor of molecular diagnostics at the Medical University of Vienna since 2000. After completing her studies in biotechnology, as well as her dissertation, she spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California Medical School. Mannhalter earned her venia docendi in the field of clinical chemistry; she worked to establish diagnostic molecular biology as a discipline at the Medical School of the University Vienna and the Vienna General Hospital AKH. She has been active on various scientific committees and advisory boards in leading positions, among them the Austrian Bioethics Committee and the Austrian Agency of Scientific Integrity of which she is currently president.  Mannhalter has held a number of positions at FWF, most notably on the Supervisory Board and vice-president since June 2010. She is currently serving her second term of office as FWF's Vice-President for Life Sciences, Mobility, and Women's Programs. Most recently, she took over the agendas and the legal external representation of the FWF as interim president.

Alois Stöger is the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology.  Prior to taking this position, he was the Federal Minister for Health. Stöger has helped pioneer developmental infrastructure within the ministry such as railways, roads, air transport, telecommunications, and its technical and operational safety.  Through these innovations, he hopes to significantly improve future developments to increase the quality of life. Stöger was elected as the Councilor of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour; he has served as Chairman of Education of the Urfahr District Austrian Social Democratic Party, and Chairman of the Youth Section of the Upper Austrian Trade Union Federation.  In 2000, Stöger operated as District Secretary of Metal and Textile Workers Union in Linz and as Secretary of the Austrian Metalworkers, Miners, and Energy Supply Worker from 1986 to 2008.

Stöger attended the social academy of the Austrian Chamber of Labour and trained at the European Trade Union Academy. He studied social practice at the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg and Linz. He completed his studies with the Diplôme des Hautes Etudes des Pratiques Sociales.

IIsabella Meran-Waldstein has been the Deputy Director for Innovation & Technology at the Federation of Austrian Industries since 2013.  Her department focuses on promoting research and development funding, encouraging cooperation between industrial frontrunners and start-ups, as well as SMEs and general cooperation between business and science. Other key topics include the digital transformation of industry and the promotion of young innovation talents, especially in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). She is a member of national and European strategy groups in the areas of research and technology and digital economy. Meran-Waldstein has held various positions as project leader and expert at the Federation in the Brussels office, the international department and the industrial policy department with a focus on energy, energy technology and e-mobility. Prior to joining the Federation of Austrian Industries, she worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Meran-Waldstein studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.