Francesca Bria

Technology.
Democracy.
Digital Sovereignty.

I am an innovation economist and digital policy expert working at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, economics, and society.

I am an Honorary Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) at UCL in London, and I lead the EuroStack Project at CEPS in Brussels, an initiative on Europe’s digital sovereignty (www.euro-stack.info). I am a Board Member of the European Innovation Council (EIC), Member of the New European Bauhaus Facility at the European Commission, President of ART-ER, Italy’s regional innovation agency, and co-founder of the Archipelago of Possible Futures.

Previously, I was President of the Italian National Innovation Fund and a board member of RAI, Italy’s public broadcaster. I advised the United Nations on digital cities and digital rights, and served as Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer for the City of Barcelona. I have led major European research and innovation projects on digital sovereignty, digital democracy, and decentralized platforms. Forbes included me in the Top 50 Women in Tech in 2018.

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Francesca Bria

TheAuthoritarianStack

How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Has to Defend Itself.

<small>The</small><i>Authoritarian</i><i>Stack</i>
This project maps the Authoritarian Stack: a network of firms, funds and political actors turning core state functions — identity, money, security, welfare — into private platforms. A new form of power, techno-authoritarianism: private wealth and technology merging with the state, beyond democratic control. Rolling out through 2026 and 2027. Book in Italian and Spanish, 2027.

BuildingtheEurostack

Project DSSP — Digital Sovereignty Special Studies.

<small>Building</small><i>the</i><i>Eurostack</i>
With the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). Launching September 2026. EuroStack made the case: Europe either owns the infrastructure it runs on — chips, compute, cloud, AI, identity, payments — or it cannot defend its democracy. DSSP takes it to the next level, working on the investment, the industrial strategy and the international cooperation to build that democratic digital sovereignty by 2030.
Archipelago of possible futures

Archipelago of possible futures

Co-curator, with José Luis de Vicente. The creative project linking technology, the arts, ecology and innovation policy. It connects Europe's museums, biennales and design studios to its most advanced public infrastructure — supercomputers, AI labs, quantum research. Launched at the New European Bauhaus Festival 2024. Venice 2025. Brussels, Rio and Ars Electronica in 2026.
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Recent projects, research & writings.

Board Member, European Innovation Council
23/06/2025
Board Member, European Innovation Council
Helping steer Europe’s leading public investor in deep tech.
As a Board Member of the European Innovation Council, I help steer Europe’s leading public investor in deep tech. Combining public and private co-investment with hands-on support and direct links to industry, the EIC backs innovators from breakthrough idea to global scale-up — building Europe as the world’s leading hub for startups, grounded in competitiveness and digital sovereignty.
Digital Sovereignty Special Studies Project (DSSP)
01/07/2026
Digital Sovereignty Special Studies Project (DSSP)
Europe 2030. In partnership with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).
Europe must build technological capacity without abandoning its principles. The Digital Sovereignty Special Studies Project (DSSP) — Europe 2030, launched with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), builds on the EuroStack framework to move Europe from regulation to real capability, bringing together policymakers, industry, academia, and civil society to ensure the infrastructures of the next decade are not only competitive, but democratic and sustainable by design.
The Authoritarian Stack
31/10/2025
The Authoritarian Stack
How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next
Silicon Valley’s Authoritarian Tech Right is not theorizing this world. They are already building it. The pipelines are operational. The feedback loops are functioning. The sovereignty transfers are completing.
President, ART-ER Innovation Agency, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
04/07/2025
President, ART-ER Innovation Agency, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Leading innovation investment, research infrastructure, and AI industrial strategy.
As President of ART-ER, Italy’s regional innovation agency, I lead innovation investment, research infrastructure, and AI industrial strategy — including the Italian AI Factory and Tecnopolo DAMA, anchoring national AI capacity in public research and connecting it to industry, universities, and the wider European stack.
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Recent lectures & keynotes.

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Recent interviews, articles & features.

Es geht hier nicht um Meinungsfreiheit, sondern um Demokratie

ZEIT ONLINE

Es geht hier nicht um Meinungsfreiheit, sondern um Demokratie

Sep 27, 2025
Demokratien dürfen nicht zulassen, dass Tech-CEOs wie Elon Musk zu mächtig werden. Europa braucht digitale Unabhängigkeit. Gut, dass es dafür schon Vorbilder gibt.
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Entrevista a Francesca Bria

La Vanguardia

Entrevista a Francesca Bria

Feb 16, 2025
La economista lidera el informe EuroStack para crear una infraestructura pública europea. “Si no actuamos ya, imperios digitales en la sombra dictarán nuestras leyes”
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Caro Musk,sul digitale l’Europa farà da sé

Repubblica

Caro Musk,sul digitale l’Europa farà da sé

Feb 16, 2025
Dai chip all’Ia, dipendiamo troppo dall’estero. Ma è una deriva rischiosa. Possiamo uscirne? Sì, dice l’autrice del piano Eurostack
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Nur so kann Europa überleben

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Nur so kann Europa überleben

Feb 13, 2025
China kontrolliert die kritischen Rohstoffe, Amerika unsere Daten: Warum Europa jetzt 100 Milliarden Euro in eine gemeinsame Digitalarchitektur, den „EuroStack“ investieren muss.
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The EU needs the courage to imagine a different digital economy

Financial Times

The EU needs the courage to imagine a different digital economy

Feb 11, 2025
Martin E. Sandbu writes how "The EU needs the courage to imagine a different digital economy." This involves investing in EuroStack”.
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Tecnopopulismo contra democracia: el momento decisivo de Europa

El País

Tecnopopulismo contra democracia: el momento decisivo de Europa

Jan 17, 2025
La UE debe dar una respuesta decidida a los oligarcas digitales y los políticos ultras que desprecian sin reparos el Estado de derecho.
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The Quest for European Technological Sovereignty: Building the EuroStack

Tech Policy Press

The Quest for European Technological Sovereignty: Building the EuroStack

Oct 15, 2024
On September 24th, we convened in Brussels to address one of the most urgent challenges of our time: securing Europe’s digital independence.
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Por una independencia digital europea

El País

Por una independencia digital europea

Sep 10, 2024
La prohibición de X en Brasil y la detención del jefe de Telegram en Francia demuestran que la UE debe crear sus propias infraestructuras, sujetas al control democrático.
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Towards Sovereign AI: Europe´s greatest challenge?

Euractiv

Towards Sovereign AI: Europe´s greatest challenge?

Nov 30, 2023
While the AI Act is essential, it alone isn’t sufficient. Europe must forge its own technological trajectory, prioritizing investment in public digital infrastructures and open, sovereign AI. This approach will serve as a vital counterbalance to tech monopolies, ensuring alignment with societal values.
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Più discriminazioni e diritti negati: quando il datore di lavoro è l’algoritmo

La Stampa

Più discriminazioni e diritti negati: quando il datore di lavoro è l’algoritmo

Oct 15, 2023
L’economista Frncesca Bria: «Si sostiene che l’intelligenza artificiale possa aumentare la produttività, ma bisogna garantire che la trasformazione digitale sia in linea con i principi democratici»
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Algorithms are hiring and firing us now – but tougher EU laws could protect workers

The Guardian

Algorithms are hiring and firing us now – but tougher EU laws could protect workers

Oct 12, 2023
Hollywood’s recent battles between screenwriters and the robots threatening their jobs should have been a wake-up call for millions of European workers. Who will protect our working rights from the algorithms, which increasingly act like our bosses?
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Deeptech, sostenibilità e competenze al centro dell’innovazione europea

Il Sole24 Ore

Deeptech, sostenibilità e competenze al centro dell’innovazione europea

Dec 1, 2022
La parola dell’anno scelta dal Collins Dictionary è permacrisis, una parola che descrive la sensazione che derive dal vivere in un periodo di guerra, pandemia, inflazione e instabilità politica. È la condizione di emergenza permanente che segna questa fase storica.
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Test Francesca Bria on Decentralisation, Sovereignty, and Web3

Cryptosyllabus

Test Francesca Bria on Decentralisation, Sovereignty, and Web3

Jan 1, 2022
There is hardly a better person to recount what happened to those earlier radical visions than Francesca Bria, one of Italy’s – and Europe’s – most original voices on matters of technological sovereignty, digital innovation, and a democratised stack
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Wir brauchen einen neuen Deal

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Wir brauchen einen neuen Deal

Sep 26, 2021
Wenn es Europa nicht gelingt, digitale Souveränität zu erlangen, läuft es Gefahr, zur digitalen Kolonie von China und den Vereinigten Staaten zu werden. Ein Gastbeitrag.
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The EU must be bold and defend its digital sovereignty

Financial Times

The EU must be bold and defend its digital sovereignty

Apr 27, 2021
Brussels has poured efforts into regulation, but that has left the bloc exposed
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