Laszlo Igneczi
Executive Director, Chair of the Management Board
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Our Team
Sivan Pätsch
Finance and Operations Director, Member of the General Assembly, Member of the Management Board
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Sivan Pätsch
Finance and Operations Director, Member of the General Assembly, Member of the Management Board
Sivan Pätsch is OFE’s Finance and Operations Director, responsible for financial management, accounting and compliance, operational planning, human resources and governance. He is a member of the General Assembly and serves on the Management Board. Previously, he held the role of Policy Adviser and Research Director at OFE. Before he joined OFE, he gained experience in EU policy making at the Council of the European Union. He also worked as an Information Security Officer and Data Protection Officer for arvato Bertelsmann and before as a Quality Coordinator, among other responsibilities. He has a master’s degree in European Affairs from Lund University, Sweden with a thesis on the global expansion of the European data protection standard, a topic he is also personally interested in. In addition, he holds a bachelor’s degree in European Public Administration from the University of Twente, Enschede and from the University of Münster. Sivan is a native German speaker, is fluent in English and is learning Dutch and Swedish.
Aimilia Givropoulou
Senior Policy Advisor
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Aimilia Givropoulou
Senior Policy Advisor
Aimilia is a Senior Policy Advisor at OpenForum Europe. With a solid track record in EU tech regulation and strategic advocacy, her expertise spans key areas including content moderation, accountability frameworks, and privacy law. Prior to joining OFE, she worked as a digital policy advisor in the European Parliament for seven years contributing to the development of flagship legislation, such as the Copyright Reform, the Digital Services Act and the European Health Data Space. She holds a Master’s degree in Internet law and policy and speaks Greek and English while she remains motivated to advance her fluency in French too.
Jaakko Karhu
Senior Policy Advisor
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Jaakko Karhu
Senior Policy Advisor
Jaakko Karhu is a Senior Policy Advisor at OFE. He has a strong background in communications, technology, and EU policy. Before joining the OFE team, he was at the service of the European big data and AI research and innovation community at the Big Data Value Association. Having worked as a professional web developer for over 5 years, Jaakko has hands-on experience with open source software and its impact on innovation. His communications career started as a radio and TV journalist in a Finnish national broadcasting company. Jaakko has a Master’s Degree in Communication Studies (New Media and Society in Europe) from Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He speaks Finnish and English.
Nicholas Gates
Senior Policy Advisor
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Nicholas Gates
Senior Policy Advisor
Nicholas (‘Nick‘) Gates is a Senior Policy Advisor at OpenForum Europe, where he coordinates OFE’s open technology research work, oversees the organisation’s international partnerships, and manages work on EU-funded projects related to open source software and open technology. Nick has significant experience in technology policy and research, particularly around digital government, digital public infrastructure, open technology, public financial management, and service delivery. Through prior work as a consultant and researcher, Nick has worked with numerous development partners, governments, and international organisations to deliver on their research, advocacy, and convening agendas, using applied research and evidence-gathering to support informed decision-making. Nick holds an undergraduate dual degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Political Science and History, and graduated with an MSc in Global Development from the University of Copenhagen in 2018. In his spare time, Nick is a film buff and enjoys cooking, hiking, and performing improv comedy.
Clara Thébert
Policy Advisor
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Clara Thébert
Policy Advisor
Clara Thébert is a Policy Advisor at OFE. Prior to joining OFE, she worked for three years in the European and International Affairs department of the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich, Germany. She holds a B.Sc. in Political Science and an M.Sc. in Politics and Policy Analysis from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Clara is a native French speaker and fluent in English, Italian and Spanish.
Ola Adach
Policy Advisor
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Ola Adach
Policy Advisor
Ola Adach is a Policy Advisor at OFE. Prior to joining OFE, she worked in consulting firms in Brussels, where she advised clients on EU tech and digital policies. Her prior experience also includes fundraising, climate activism and legal research. She has a Master’s degree in European Union Law from University of Amsterdam. Her thesis analysed the sociolegal impact of the Platform Workers’ Directive on third country workers in the EU. She is interested in all things tech, especially their interactions with competition law and human rights. She speaks Polish and English, and is (passively) working on improving her German.
Christian Kummer
Communications Analyst
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Christian Kummer
Communications Analyst
Christian Kummer is a Communications analyst at OFE. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Creative Business from NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. His previous work experience includes an 8-month internship at the Culture and Media Agency Europe, in which he gained insight into Communication strategies and project management of European Arts and Culture projects. Christian is a detail-oriented person, who shines in tasks involving creative problem-solving, conceptual thinking and visual communication. Moreover, he is a proficient user of various graphic design software programs and has hands-on experience with social media and web management. He is a native Luxembourgish speaker, is fluent in English, French, German and currently learning Spanish.
Éléonore Daxhelet
Policy Analyst
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Éléonore Daxhelet
Policy Analyst
Éléonore Daxhelet is a policy analyst at OpenForum Europe. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Free University of Brussels and has recently completed an international master’s in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies across the universities of Glasgow, Dublin City and Charles, specializing in technology and security studies.
Éléonore brings practical research experience from her traineeship at FINABEL and journalism background from Le Soir. She currently serves as a voluntary researcher for Europinion, working on counter-disinformation initiatives and media literacy projects targeting young Europeans. Her technical expertise includes Python coding, API usage, and OSINT investigative methods for data collection and analysis.
Fluent in French and English with good German skills and developing Dutch proficiency, Éléonore is passionate about how technology intersects with security, information integrity, and human rights in the digital age.
Cybelle Rai
Office Assistant
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Cybelle Rai
Office Assistant
Cybelle Rai is the Administrative and Finance Assistant at OpenForumEurope. Her journey in customer service has been a valuable period of ethical and professional growth, showcasing a proven aptitude for managing diverse administrative tasks. She possesses strong organizational skills and is committed to delivering high-quality results. Cybelle is a dedicated and self-reliant individual with a collaborative spirit. Recently relocating to Brussels, she is embracing new challenges and actively seeking to advance her career in Belgium. She is proficient in Arabic, English, and French, and is currently learning Dutch.
Sofia Linna
Research and Policy Assistant
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Sofia Linna
Research and Policy Assistant
Sofia Linna is a Research and Policy Assistant at OFE. She holds a double Master’s degree in International Administration and Global Governance from the University of Gothenburg, as well as in Politics and Public Administration from the University of Konstanz. Her thesis examined opinions on (mass) surveillance by political groups in the European Parliament.
Prior to joining OFE, she was Editor-in-Chief at the Swedish non-profit initiative Utrikespolitisk Afton’s Asia and Oceania department. Her research experience includes positions as a defence and security research trainee at FINABEL and as a research assistant at the University of Konstanz. Sofia speaks Swedish and English and is working on improving her German.
Macklin Miezejeski
Research Assistant
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Macklin Miezejeski
Research Assistant
Macklin is a Research Assistant at OFE. He holds a BSc in Political Science from Leiden University and an MA in International Public Affairs at Central European University. Previously he was at the World Bank in the Digital Transformation Unit on topics of resilience, regulation, and industry. His Master’s thesis on civic tech analysed Decidim Barcelona’s impact on municipal policy through big data methods. He has worked on Horizon Europe projects contributing research insights and engaged in policy advocacy of the DSA. Delivering across the project lifecycle, Macklin brings a policy foundation in technology and innovation that is driven by supporting better digital futures. He is a native English speaker, currently strengthening his French, with a basic level of German.
Kian Trant
Policy Assistant
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Kian Trant
Policy Assistant
Kian is a Policy Assistant at OFE. He holds a MA in European Transformation and Integration from the College of Europe and a BA in International Relations and International Organisation from the University of Groningen. His Master’s thesis focused on how unevenly dispersed local administrative capacity between rural and urban municipalities negatively impacts the implementation of EU digital governance legislation in candidate states. In addition, Kian has a foundational background in Computer Science, and volunteering experience in event management and facilitating policy debate. His policy background spans EU affairs and technology. Kian is a native English speaker, speaks Dutch proficiently, and is currently learning French.
General Assembly
Dr. Sachiko Muto
Chair, Member of the Management Board
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Dr. Sachiko Muto
Chair, Member of the Management Board
Sachiko Muto is the Chair of OpenForum Europe and a senior researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. She originally joined OFE in 2007 and served for several years as Director with responsibility for government relations and then as CEO. Sachiko has degrees in Political Science from the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics; she received her doctorate in standardisation policy from TU Delft.
Prof. Efthymios (Efty) Altsitsiadis
Member of the General Assembly
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Prof. Efthymios (Efty) Altsitsiadis
Member of the General Assembly
Prof. Efthymios (Efty) Altsitsiadis is an Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School, a board member of OpenForum Europe – after first joining as a Fellow at the OFE Academy- and co-founder of the research consultancy White Research. Using insights from psychology, economics, and technology, he studies how people adopt sustainable and digital innovations, and how ethics, transparency, and fairness make change stick. His open-source policy priority is widening real-world OSS impact by closing the gap between institutional discussions and everyday users.
Efty collaborates with engineers, life scientists, and modelers, and is currently involved in 30+ large EU projects spanning energy, food, mobility, health, and sustainability. He serves as an evaluator for the European Commission and as a peer reviewer for several top-tier journals. Across roles, his approach is practical and people-centred: co-designing interventions that communities can understand, trust, and choose – so open, sustainable technologies deliver lasting social value.
Richard Archer
Member of the General Assembly
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Richard Archer
Member of the General Assembly
Dr Richard Archer is the owner and managing director of Bramble Hub that provides SMEs with routes to public sector contracts through framework agreements. Originally a mathematician and a programmer, he has been an IT and business consultant, and run consultancy and recruitment businesses. He has a particular interest in public procurement policy and practices, and making sure it advances Open Standards and is a level playing field for small companies and for Open Source solutions. He advises OFE with his knowledge of running companies over many years.
Shane Coughlan
Member of the General Assembly
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Shane Coughlan
Member of the General Assembly
Global Ambassador, OIN 2.0
Shane works at the intersection of Open Source policy, international standards & Intellectual Property strategy building scalable frameworks for complex, multi-stakeholder ecosystems.
Before joining Open Invention Network (OIN), Shane was General Manager of the OpenChain Project, leading the development of 2 ISO / IEC standards — ISO/ IEC 5230 for Open Source license compliance and ISO / IEC 18974 for Open Source security assurance — now adopted by organizations worldwide. He also coordinated industry guidance on Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) quality, AI Bill of Materials compliance and compliance program maturity, working with enterprises, nonprofits and government bodies across 3 continents.
Earlier in his career, Shane founded the European Legal Network, the largest professional community for Open Source legal practitioners. He also a co‑founded both the International Free and Open Source Software Law Review and the International Free and Open Source Software Law Book — the 1st comprehensive country‑by‑country analysis of Open Source law. During his first tenure with OIN from 2009 to 2015, he helped scale the patent non‑aggression community from dozens to thousands of participating companies.
For over a decade, Shane has served on the Board and General Assembly of OpenForum Europe, helping guide its evolution from a membership‑funded association into a project‑funded policy think tank.
Tony Ford
Member of the General Assembly
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Tony Ford
Member of the General Assembly
Tony joined us in March 2015 as a Legal Consultant. He studied law for 4 years at Cambridge University, qualified as a solicitor in 1979, and has practised law in the IT industry ever since. Before creating Fordlaw Ltd. and providing consultancy services, Tony held a dedicated global legal role with TCS, aligned specifically with a new software group. Before TCS, Tony acquired his professional experience as an IBM UK lawyer for nearly 35 years. As well as his ‘pro-bono’ support for OFE and FAST (another UK not-for profit, of which he is also a non-Executive Director), Tony also consults for a global IT manufacturer.
Tony is married (to another solicitor), with three adult daughters. His recreational interests include scuba diving (warm water!), underwater photography, downhill skiing, genealogy, theatre, opera and wine appreciation. Tony was born in France, holds a French passort (and also speaks French), and aims to improve his rather rusty German.
Sivan Pätsch
Finance and Operations Director, Member of the General Assembly, Member of the Management Board
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Marcus Stober
Member of the General Assembly
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Marcus Stober
Member of the General Assembly
With over a decade of experience in running international advocacy and outreach programs Marcus is well placed to support OFE with its mission to be a relevant voice for digital openness in the public debate. Marcus started his career in Brussels working for a number of think tanks and consultancies but has since then ventured into various business areas in the digital space. Marcus is based in Switzerland and is particularly interested in issues around open source and cyber security, open digital supply chains and public policy choices around international digital governance.
Graham Taylor
Member of the General Assembly & Emeritus Chairman
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Graham Taylor
Member of the General Assembly & Emeritus Chairman
Graham Taylor is the co founder of OpenForum Europe, and for a number of years was its Chief Executive and then Chairman. He remains an active member of the General Assembly and provides mentoring support to the Management Team.
Management Board
Laszlo Igneczi
Executive Director, Chair of the Management Board
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Dr. Sachiko Muto
Chair, Member of the Management Board
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Sivan Pätsch
Finance and Operations Director, Member of the General Assembly, Member of the Management Board
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