Oliver Escobar is Professor of Public Policy and Democratic Innovation at the University of Edinburgh. His work combines research, teaching and practice in the fields of public participation, policy innovation, power inequalities, and the democratic governance of the future. Before academia, he worked in radio, retail, fishing, construction and literature.

Olga Tokariuk is a Chatham House OSUN Academy Fellow, Ukraine Forum. Her professional interests are international affairs and research on disinformation, especially in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

She is a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and CEPA non-resident fellow. Olga’s background is in journalism and she has vast experience in Ukrainian and international media.

Kate Dommett is Professor of Digital Politics at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on data and digital technology in the field of election campaigns. Her most recent book Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties: Five Advanced Democracies Compared examines the everyday practice of data use in elections. She has also recently completed a Leverhulme funded project looking at the practice of online political advertising in the UK. Kate's research is driven by a desire to understand the tangible impact of technology on society and its implications for regulation and democracy more broadly.

Ben Collier is a Lecturer in Digital Methods at the University of Edinburgh in the department of Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies. Ben’s research sits at the intersection of Criminology and Science and Technology Studies, drawing theory and methods from both. Ben studies crime, harm, and control in digital infrastructures, and is the author of Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy with MIT Press.

David Lee has chaired around 450 events, well over 300 in-person and more than 100 online - including the last four data conferences. He also shapes the agenda for this annual conference, scripts and hosts the Data Capital podcast and edits The Scotsman data supplement.

His other varied areas of expertise include sustainability, law, robotics and rural affairs. He hosts podcasts for a range of clients, is a Director of PA Cooperative and has his own media training business.

Away from work, he is a father of four grown-up children (and a border collie), a passionate coastal rower and a loud footballer of declining ability.