Rite 2026

Paul VIXIE

Paul Vixie served as VP and Distinguished Engineer at AWS Security, and is a Director at SIE Europe U.G. He was previously the founder and CEO of Farsight Security (2013-2021).

He founded and operated the first anti-spam company (MAPS, 1996), the first non-profit Internet infrastructure software company (ISC, 1994), and the first neutral and noncommercial Internet exchange (PAIX, 1991).

Vixie was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2014.

Valeriu ZGONEA

Valeriu Ștefan Zgonea serves as President of ANCOM since May 11, 2023, for a six-year term.
Between 2018 and 2023, he worked at the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest), and he served four terms as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in the Parliament of Romania between 2000 and 2016. During the 2000–2004 legislative term, he was a member of the Committee for Information Technology and Communications; from 2006 to 2016, he held the positions of Quaestor and Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies. He served as Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies from 2010 to 2012, and as President of the Chamber of Deputies during the 2012–2016 legislative term.
He is a graduate of the National Institute of Construction and holds various specializations in cyber diplomacy and infrastructure within the context of digitalization, obtained at educational institutions such as the European Security and Defence College, King’s College, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, and the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies.

Tony KAY

Tony Kay is AI Lead and Senior Principal Architect at Red Hat, where he works on the practical adoption of AI across enterprise platforms and developer workflows. His work spans agentic AI, Model Context Protocol (MCP), secure AI application architecture, and the operational challenges of running LLM-powered systems in production. He also brings deep experience in Kubernetes and container security, DevSecOps, cloud automation, and open-source software supply chains. Tony focuses on making emerging AI capabilities useful, governable, secure, and deployable in real environments—connecting experimentation with the engineering discipline needed for dependable systems.

Bertram DORN

Bertram Dorn is a Principal within the Office of CISO at AWS Security, based in Munich/German. In this role Bertram does help AWS internal and external
customers, and partners of all sizes in navigating AWS security related topics. As an AWS veteran of over 10 years, you can go with him on a journey of building CPUs, over coding infrastructure to diving deep on compliance and data protection topics. Bertram worked now for more than 30 years in various deep technical roles in the high tech industry with a focus on security, networking storage and database technologies. Also Bertram has been working in very demanding IT environments for removing challenges, in the areas of performance, security and availability.

Dorin ODIAȚIU

Dorin Odiatiu has a career spanning over 29 years at Orange Romania, where he has consistently held leadership roles in marketing, wholesale, regulation and institutional relations. He has contributed to the company’s development and strategic positioning on the telecom market locally and internationally. He is currently Head of Public Affairs, coordinating public affairs policy and dialogue with institutional partners.

Ovidiu PISMAC

Since 2006 in Microsoft, Ovidiu is trusted advisor for biggest Microsoft partners in Central Europe & Microsoft Romania customers. He is Senior Security Cloud Solution Architect in Partner Solutions Architects team, Central Europe. Ovidiu is passionate on multiple aspects of Microsoft management and security platforms: Threat Protection with focus on Microsoft Defender XDR and entire Defender Stack; Cloud Security (Azure Arc for Windows and Linux); Data Protection and compliance, Data Loss Prevention, compliance (NIS2, DORA); AI Security (AI Security Posture Management, Purview Data Security Posture Management, Security Copilot for AI management platforms); Heterogeneous infrastructure management with ; Threat Intelligence platforms. Over the past 26 years Ovidiu has also worked as an IT dept. manager at the National Bank of Romania – Giurgiu branch; System Engineer at GeCAD and Security Engineer at UTI Systems.

Adina FLOREA

Adina Magda Florea is a doctor in Computer Science and professor of Artificial Intelligence at the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest. She is the Director of the International Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, president and founding member of the Romanian Association of Artificial Intelligence (ARIA) and president of the “Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur l’Intelligence Artificielle” (RéFIA). Adina created the first artificial intelligence course in the university and founded the Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program in POLITEHNICA Bucharest. She was the dean of the Faculty of Automation and Computers (2012-2020) and vice-rector of the university (2020-2024). She is currently the Director of the strategic national project HRIA – “Romanian HUB for Artificial Intelligence”, Cod SMIS 2021- 351416, 2025-2029.

Eduard POPOVICI

Eduard-Cristian Popovici is a PhD in Telecommunications and an Associate Professor at POLITEHNICA Bucharest, in the Department of Telecommunications, of which he was the director from 2016 to 2020. He coordinates the SAIM Lab (Solutions based on Agility, Innovation and Multidisciplinarity). He initiated the SMICES (Security Management of Informational and Communication Equipment and Systems) master’s degree, where he teaches Software Systems Security. His work connects interdisciplinary software architectures, telecommunications, cybersecurity, AI/ML, digital twins, smart areas, UAV/C-UAS, blockchain and quantum/post-quantum technologies, with a focus on resilience, smart infrastructures and AI-assisted decision-making.

Adrian POPA

Adrian Popa is the president of the National Association of Internet Service Providers in Romania and is a telecommunications professional with over 20 years of experience in IT&C projects. He is currently the Technical Director of Euroweb Romania where he coordinates the technical departments, develops business plans and IT&C services. He worked in several companies in the telecom industry, holding managerial or consulting positions.

Alexandru ROTARU

Alexandru Rotaru is a founder of the Association of Romanian Unix Users – GURU (in 1992), the initiator and main organizer of the ROSE (Romanian Open Systems Event) series of conferences held between 1993 and 1996. He was a board member in EurOpen, being present at various events in Europe that marked the launch of Internet services on the continent. Currently he leads the Internet services company RoLink Plus SA, being a member of the ANISP board from the RoLink company and founder of ANISP, but also a member of the ISOC Romanian Chapter board. Alexandru is the chair of the organizing committee of the RITE 2026 conference.

Ion VACIU

Ion Vaciu is the President of the Digital Transformation Council, as well as a journalist and analyst covering the Telecommunications, Media, and Technology (TMT) industries. As the founder of ”Revista Comunicații Mobile”, COMUNIC.ro, and TelecomTV, he has spent nearly three decades documenting the evolution of the ICT ecosystem and digital transformation in Romania within a global context. A graduate of the University of Bucharest—Faculty of Letters—specializing in Bibliology and Information Science, and holding a Master’s degree and doctoral studies in Semiotics, he is also a member of the American Library Association (ALA). Operating at the intersection of digital infrastructure, AI, and information science, he promotes the concept of the “Intelligent Library” as a trusted knowledge infrastructure—extending the RITE paradigm from a “trusted Internet” to “trusted information and knowledge” in the age of AI.

Cristian COPCEA

Cristian Copcea serves as President of ISOC Romania Chapter and is a highly experienced IT&C professional and entrepreneur.

Robbie MITCHELL

Robbie Mitchell is a Product Manager for Internet Society, working to build products like Pulse that scale the impact of our community’s experience, research, and advocacy.

David FRAUTSCHY

David Frautschy is a government affairs professional with 23+ years of experience, 17+ of which focus on telecom and digital regulations, trade policy, and corporate social responsibility. He is experienced in implementing advocacy campaigns, building coalitions, coordinating cross-border teams, and translating complex technology issues into easily understandable language. He is impassioned about the power of the Internet to transform people’s lives.

Corneliu MĂNESCU

For 16 years director in the Ministry of Communications, currently head of the Directorate of Electronic Communications in the Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism – coordinating manager of the Ro-NET national project, member of the Transatlantic Committee in the field of Quantic, national representative in the European Coordination Committee of submarine cable networks, as well as a representative in the secretariat of the National Coordination Committee of the Single National Service for Emergency Calls (CNCA-SNUAU). Graduate of the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications – IPB, 1989. Since 2010 he is working in the field of research in the field of communications as a research assistant within the former Institute of Studies and Research in Communications (INSCC), currently within the Institute of Informatics Research (ICI ).

Fraga ȚARIUC

Fraga Țariuc is the President and one of the Founding members of Women4Cyber Romania and a cybersecurity expert at the National Cybersecurity Directorate (DNSC). She is actively involved in cybersecurity education for children and teachers, including activities within the “Școala altfel” (alternative schooling) program. She is the initiator of the CyberDict for Kids project and leads efforts to bring the educational game HackShield to Romania, promoting online safety and digital education. Through Women4Cyber Romania, she supports women and girls in cybersecurity and online safety awareness campaigns.

Raul FORJE

Raul Forje graduated medicine and possesses over 20 years of managerial experience across the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and software industries. He has built and led business units, overseeing budgets, team development, and the implementation of digitalization projects. At CEGEDIM Romania, he headed the medical software unit (CHS) and coordinated the implementation of quality and information security standards. Currently, at Distinct, he coordinates service portfolio development and the integrated management system, consolidating ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications while driving expansion into cloud security and artificial intelligence management.

Ionuț IONESCU

Ionut Ionescu is a Principal Security Solutions Architect with AWS, based in London, England. In his role, Ionut helps and advises customers, mainly in the public sector, on how to design and operate secure and resilient information systems using AWS technologies. As a security practitioner, Ionut specialises in threat modelling, security operations, threat detection and incident response. His customers at AWS include central and local government departments and agencies, international organisations, healthcare and educational providers. Ionut holds a BSc from the University “Politehnica” of Bucharest, Romania, and an MBA from London Business School, University of London.

Virgil TRUICĂ

Founder of Salesflow.tech, Virgil has built a 17-year career dedicated to creating partnerships between infrastructure, cloud, and cybersecurity providers. He collaborates with global companies in the network security segment, contributing to the development and expansion of DDoS mitigation, threat intelligence, and AI-based network optimization solutions. Through Salesflow, he connects infrastructure, cloud, and security providers with operators and enterprises worldwide, facilitating strategic partnerships and helping technology brands grow. His current work focuses on strengthening network resilience and integrating artificial intelligence into traffic analysis and DDoS attack prevention, contributing to a safer and more reliable Internet.

Cosmina STALIDI

Cosmina Stalidi is a cybersecurity researcher and a PhD candidate at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her research focuses on using AI to protect IoT devices, particularly those in the medical sector. The goal is to detect and counter cyberattacks directly at the device level in an autonomous and explainable manner. She also possesses extensive experience in European research and innovation projects, having contributed to the development of digital technologies with an impact on healthcare, industry, and defense. She is a graduate of the POLITEHNICA University Bucharest. Passionate about education, Cosmina has initiated international STEM projects that allow students from various countries to explore artificial intelligence; these projects have been awarded the European Quality Label. She is a member of the FEPS Young Academics Network—the network of young researchers associated with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies – where she participates in a working group analyzing how AI transforms the relationship between citizens, the labor market, and the state. The group also formulates public policy recommendations at the European level. Through Women4Cyber ​​Romania and HackShield Romania, Cosmina supports the training of a new generation of cybersecurity specialists and advocates for better female representation in the field. She dedicates her work to translating research findings in AI and cybersecurity into secure, explainable solutions that can be implemented within critical infrastructures.

Vali MĂLINOIU

Vali Marius Malinoiu is a Romanian technology expert with extensive experience in distributed systems and blockchain infrastructures. Over his career, he has honed his skills in various programming paradigms, emphasizing using the best tools for each task. In addition to his technical expertise, Malinoiu is a seasoned speaker, having participated in numerous prestigious conferences and events, including TEDx and OWASP forums, where he shares his insights on blockchain, decentralized systems, and the intersection of AI with modern technologies. His presentations often focus on the future of technology, particularly the role of blockchain in decentralized applications and its potential for interoperability and AI integration. His thought leadership has made him a respected figure in tech communities, and he continues to contribute to discussions around blockchain’s transformative potential.

Cristian IOSUB

Cristian Iosub is a CyberSecurity Researcher and Senior Product Manager at White Hat Technology. With nearly two decades of experience in IT Project Management and Top Management, he has run successful projects in various fields, including software application development, digital and IT infrastructure projects using different project methodologies, such as Waterfall, Agile SCRUM, or Prince2.

Alex NEAGU

Alex Neagu leads a cloud engineering team that helps customers, from startups to large enterprises across Central and Eastern Europe, solve complex business challenges. With a background in telecommunications and infrastructure architecture, he joined Oracle in the early days of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and contributed to its growth into a hyperscale cloud platform. Alex began working in cloud engineering eight years ago and has experience with AWS and Google Cloud as well as OCI. He is passionate about scaling distributed systems and cloud-native technologies. In recent years, he has worked on bringing AI agents into production, learning firsthand what works and what does not.