Franco Accordino

Franco Accordino is the Head of the “Investment in High-Capacity Networks” unit within the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT). The unit is responsible for the deployment and take-up of very high-capacity broadband networks underpinning the Digital Single Market and promoting the European Commission’s vision and policy actions to turn Europe into a Gigabit Society by 2025.

Prior to this role, Franco was the Head of the “Knowledge Management and Innovative Systems” unit providing support to DG CONNECT policies and operations and delivering advanced solutions for the European Commission’s internal take up in such fields as data analytics, web platforms (futurium) and artificial intelligence.

Before becoming Head of Unit, Franco led the Task Force “Digital Futures”, a participatory foresight project aiming to devise 2050’s visions and policy ideas underpinned by the digital transformation.

During his experience at the European Commission, Franco worked as a scientific and policy officer and Director’s Assistant in such fields as Future and Emerging Technologies, Future Internet, High-Performance Computing, Grid and Cloud technologies, Trust and Security.

Before joining the European Commission, he worked at the ETHZ/CSCS National Supercomputing Centre of Switzerland and at the National Research Council of Italy where he conducted research on formal methods, languages and tools for complex systems specification.

He has a long-standing experience in several information technology fields, including formal methods and software engineering, cloud and distributed systems, network centric operating systems, web platforms, AI, machine learning and data analytics.