How do citizens perceive the use of AI in government? While AI has the potential to improve efficiency and service quality, it may also influence public trust—either strengthening it through better performance or undermining it if it is perceived as unfair or inappropriate. How these systems should be designed and deployed in ways that align with citizens’ expectations, feelings, and needs remains an open question. Emerging evidence is beginning to shed light on these dynamics, yet the topic remains under-discussed in current policy debates.
Based on a survey across six EU countries and more than 4,000 respondents, this webinar presents findings on citizens’ perceptions of AI in government and discusses them with a panel of experts.
🗓️ 22 September 2026, h. 10:00-11:30 CEST
Agenda
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10:00 – 10:10 Welcome
🎙️Stefanos Kotoglou (European Commission – DG DIGIT)
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10:10 – 10:45 Citizens’ readiness in AI adoption in government: research results
🎙️Luca Tangi (European Commission – JRC)
🎙️Paula Rodriguez Muller (European Commission – JRC)
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10:45 – 11:20 Implication for practice: discussion with experts [TBC]
🎙️Chiara Venturini (Eurocities)
🎙️Jonas Gillet (Danish Digital Taskforce for Artificial Intelligence)
🎙️Fernando Vilariño (Computer Vision Centre)
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11:20 – 11:30 Conclusions
🎙️Sven Schade (European Commission – JRC)
Discover the speakers below!
Chiara Venturini
Chiara Venturini is Head of Digital Transformation and Economic Development at Eurocities, leading the organisation’s activities on urban digitalisation and competitiveness. In her role she coordinates advocacy, advises member cities, and contributes to the implementation of projects in the digital and economic development thematic areas. Prior to joining Eurocities, Chiara served as the Director General of the Nanotechnology Industries Association, the Director of the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative, and worked on EU affairs for a number of industry organisations in the technology and energy sectors.
Jonas Gillet
Jonas Gillet has worked for 10 years at the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, focusing on digitalization and the green transition. For the past two years, he has been working as a Chief Consultant in the Danish Digital Taskforce for Artificial Intelligence. His primary focus is to contribute to the responsible scaling of artificial intelligence in the public sector, for example by ensuring that all public sector employees have access to a secure and useful digital assistant, and by supporting the implementation of three large-scale AI projects across the public sector.
Fernando Vilariño
Dr. Fernando Vilariño is Associate Director of the Computer Vision Centre and Associate Professor at the Computer Science Department of the Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. He lectures in “Machine Learning”, “Robotics”, and “Models Open Innovation and Citizen Science” and "Social Innovation". He is currently leading the Quantum Machine Learning Group at CVC. His research is linked to Computer Vision and the Social Impact of AI, and he has led different projects related to the implementation of models of Living Labs in the context of citizen-centric Open Innovation and Citizen Science. He contributes to the field with publications and patents. Dr. Fernando Vilariño has been awarded with the Spanish Gov. Ramon y Cajal Grant (2010), and Google Academy Award (2014) for his research. He was member of the Executive Board (2017-2023) and elected President (2018-2021) of the European Network of Living Labs ENoLL. He is the current Scientific Director of the Chair UAB-Cruïlla for Research in AI in field of music and arts, developing the concept of music festival as a living lab for compliance-readiness in AI.
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