Despina Spanou is the Head of the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas. In this capacity she coordinates the Vice-President’s workon security, migration and asylum, health, skills, education, culture and sports.

She also coordinates the Vice-President’s EU Security Union work, ranging from counter-terrorism, organised crime and cybersecurity to hybrid threats.

Previously, she was Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity at the Directorate-General for Communications Network, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission. Ms Spanou was responsible for the European Union’s cybersecurity policy and law, served as a member of the management board of ENISA, and of the Steering Board of the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU Institutions (CERT-EU). She is a founding member of the Women4Cyber initiative and advocate for the need for more cybersecurity experts in Europe. She also teaches EU Cybersecurity policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

In her 20 years in the European Commission, Ms Spanou has held a number of senior management positions in the areas of Health and Consumer Policy and served as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioners Kyprianou and Vassiliou. Before joining the European Commission, she practised EU competition and trade law with a US law firm for a number of years.

Despina Spanou is a member of the Athens Bar Association and holds a Ph.D. in European law from the University of Cambridge.