UK IGF 2026 Speakers

Aidan is a Senior AI Policy Specialist at Cohere, where he leads on global AI safety regulation and socioeconomic impacts.

He has spent 10+ years in policy research across non-profits, industry, and government, including the Ada Lovelace Institute, the UK government AI Security Institute, and consulting for companies like Google DeepMind, Meta, and Sony.

Projects he’s worked on include organising the Fringe event to the Bletchley AI Safety Summit, researching how safely AI chatbots handle severe mental health issues, and participating in the working group for the EU AI Act Code of Practice for general-purpose AI.

A member of parliament will join this session discussion, details to be announced on the day of the event.

Edgar Whitley is a Professor of Information Systems at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).  Edgar’s expertise lies in digital identity, privacy and data governance. He is a senior voice on the legal and ethical side of data governance and the regulation of data both in the UK and internationally. He has been a member of various advisory boards for government and is currently a member of the Colleges of Experts for the UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Em is Yoti’s Head of Product with 12+ years of experience in digital identity and age assurance products. She develops product strategy, working across Yoti’s high-performing teams to build scalable and trusted tech products. With a background in Astrophysics, Em is a STEM Ambassador and regular public speaker, known for communicating complex technical and regulatory ideas in accessible, engaging ways. 

Alex Baumont is the project director for Ofcom’s adult media literacy research programme, which includes a large-scale quantitative tracker and longitudinal qualitative study. Alex works within Ofcom’s Research & Intelligence team, helping ensure Ofcom remains an evidence-based regulator through high-quality and robust research.

Mitali Sud is Senior Policy Manager at Internet Matters, where she leads the development of policy solutions aimed at creating a safer online environment for children. Her work focuses on how regulation, technology and service design can better protect and support children online, drawing on Internet Matters’ research with children and families to inform policy and public debate. Mitali has a background in technology policy and previously advised companies in the UK and US on policy communications and advocacy.

Doniya Soni-Clark is Associate Director of Public Affairs at techUK, the UK’s technology trade association. She leads the teams covering government and parliamentary relations, media engagement, and policy on online safety and AI, working with members across the tech sector to shape how online safety and digital regulation is designed and implemented in the UK. Doniya has previously worked at the Greater London Authority and Multiverse. She holds an MSc in Public Policy from the London School of Economics and a BA from the University of Exeter. 

Rachel Talbot is an online safety campaigner who has spent the last 8 years working with a variety of organisations such as NSPCC, the #iwill Movement, the Molly Rose Foundation, 5Rights and FlippGen. Her work started on a local anti cyber-bullying campaign and well as the campaign for the Online Safety Act. Most recently she was involved as a Youth Collaborator on the Online Safety Consultation where she travelled across the UK facilitating events to allow young people to express their views and concerns, directly feeding into the reports given to the Government. 

Professor Amy Orben is a Research Professor at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Fellow of St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge. She leads an internationally recognised research programme investigating the links between mental health and digital technology use in adolescence. She routinely advises policymakers and public servants around the world, for example as Director of a 2025 UK Government independent research commission on this topic and as a member of the Science Advisory Council at the UK Department for Education. Professor Orben completed her DPhil in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and MA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She has received a range of prestigious awards including the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award (2024), Medical Research Council Early Career Impact Prize (2022) and the British Psychological Society Award for Outstanding Contributions to Doctoral Research (2019). She also received the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science Mission Award (2020) for her work to improve scientific practice and research culture in her field.

Adam Groves is Social Impact Lead at Nominet, where he oversees their grant-making to counter online child harms. He is also a Churchill Fellow and in 2025 he conducted research in Korea to understand what happened during their deepfake crisis; and in Japan to learn about the challenges they face with AI generated child sexual abuse. Prior to this Adam led the service design team in a major children’s charity, and worked for various technology-focused non-profits leading projects in the UK, West Africa and Asia.

Jordan Carter is Head of Public Affairs at Nominet. In that role he leads engagement with government stakeholders, and engages with the internet community in the EU, in Europe and globally. He’s an expert on the governance of the internet how this happens in the broader geo-political context. He sits on leadership groups in ICANN and for the global Internet Governance Forum. Jordan joined Nominet this year, and previously worked for domain name registries in Australia and New Zealand.

Matthew McDermott works with governments and technology companies on AI governance and digital regulation across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. His recent work has focused on digital sovereignty and the choices facing countries that depend on US and Chinese technology. He advises the UK government on internet policy and is a member of the UK IGF steering committee.

Chi Onwurah MP is a British politician representing Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West in the House of Commons. She was first elected in 2010 to represent Newcastle Central. She serves as the Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. 
  
Chi is a Charted Electrical Engineer and before entering Parliament spent over twenty years working on engineering projects around the world. She has previously served as Head of Technology at Ofcom. Whilst at Ofcom Chi oversaw the development of PIA, the Physical Infrastructure Access regulatory product which has enabled competition and greater fibre coverage in the UK 
 
Born in Wallsend, Chi attended Kenton Comprehensive School in Newcastle, where she was elected the school’s ‘MP’ in mock elections aged 17.

Tatiana Tropina is Director of Institutional Relations at the Internet Society, focusing on engagement with international and regional organizations on Internet governance and policy. She has more than 15 years of experience in cybersecurity policy, with a particular focus on the Internet’s technical foundations, global interoperability, and multistakeholder governance. Before joining the Internet Society, she worked in academia, research, policymaking, and capacity building, including consulting for international organisations, civil society, and think tanks.