Opening keynote: AI disruption and geopolitics
09:10–09:30
The Summit will open with a keynote address by Prof. Alexiei Dingli, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Malta.
Prof. Dingli will examine how artificial intelligence and geopolitical disruption are changing business models, investment priorities and the competitive environment in which technology companies operate. His address will establish the strategic context for the day’s discussions on capital, regulation, talent, intellectual property and international growth.
Panel 1: Capital flows in the age of disruption
09:30–10:10
Moderator
- Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, Managing Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
Panellists
- Dr Danielle Mercieca, Senior Associate, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
- Dejan Perić, Partner, Doklestic Repic & Gajin, Serbia
- Dr Christian Badura, Of Counsel, 3T.LAW, Germany
The panel will examine how geopolitical uncertainty, technological change and evolving investment priorities are affecting international capital flows.
Technology businesses seeking investment increasingly need to anticipate legal and commercial questions arising across several jurisdictions. These may include corporate structuring, investment readiness, financial regulation, taxation, shareholder arrangements, market access and the ability to protect assets and intellectual property internationally.
Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti will moderate a discussion bringing together Maltese, Serbian and German perspectives. Dr Danielle Mercieca will address the interaction between technology, investment and international legal strategy. Dejan Perić will contribute Serbian and Western Balkans experience in corporate, M&A and banking and finance matters, while Dr Christian Badura will bring German corporate and transactional insight.
Panel 2: Structuring technology businesses for growth, investment and exit
10:40–11:20
Moderator
- Dr Charlene Mifsud, Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
Panellists
- Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker, Senior Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
- Maarten van der Voort, Partner, Benvalor, the Netherlands
- William T. Gillespie, Senior Advisor, So & Sato Law Offices, Japan
The panel will consider how technology businesses can establish corporate, governance and transaction structures capable of supporting investment, international expansion and eventual exit.
The discussion will address investment readiness, founder and shareholder arrangements, corporate governance, intellectual-property ownership, tax considerations and the legal risks that emerge as a company moves into new markets.
Dr Charlene Mifsud will moderate the session, drawing the discussion towards the practical legal foundations required by internationally scaling technology businesses. Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker will contribute a Maltese corporate, governance and private-client perspective.
Maarten van der Voort will bring Dutch experience in corporate law, intellectual property, university spin-offs and investment in life-sciences businesses. William T. Gillespie will contribute a Japanese and Asia-Pacific perspective informed by cross-border M&A, investment funds and venture-capital work.
Research and innovation spotlight
11:20–11:40
Speaker
- Prof. Joseph Borg, Professor of Applied Biomedical Science, University of Malta
Prof. Joseph Borg will present a focused research and innovation contribution demonstrating the international relevance of scientific work undertaken in Malta.
Prof. Borg’s work spans molecular genetics, precision medicine and space bioscience. His contribution will connect the Summit’s legal and investment discussions with the realities of scientific research, international academic collaboration and the development of specialised knowledge capable of generating wider social and commercial value.
The session will also illustrate the importance of building effective connections among researchers, universities, investors, technology-transfer professionals and legal advisers. Research excellence does not automatically become commercial or social impact. It requires suitable intellectual-property arrangements, funding, institutional support, international partnerships and a viable route from research to application.
Panel 3: AI, data and digital regulation in practice
11:40–12:20
Moderator
- Dr Danielle Mercieca, Senior Associate, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
Panellists
- Dr Susanna Grech Deguara, Senior Associate, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
- Paul Eastwood, Partner in the Contracts and Technology team, Tughans, Northern Ireland
- Prof. Kenneth Scerri, Associate Professor of Systems and Control Engineering, University of Malta
Artificial intelligence, data and digital regulation increasingly affect the design, development and commercial use of technology products. The legal challenge is not simply understanding individual regulations, but creating governance systems that remain workable as products, data uses and markets evolve.
The panel will examine how organisations can move from high-level compliance principles to practical governance, contracting and risk-management arrangements.
Dr Danielle Mercieca will moderate the discussion and address the relationship between emerging technologies, legal accountability and international digital regulation. Dr Suzanna Grech Deguara will contribute a Maltese corporate and commercial perspective.
Paul Eastwood will bring Northern Ireland experience in technology contracts and data protection. Prof. Kenneth Scerri will contribute an academic and engineering perspective informed by work involving machine learning, intelligent systems, modelling and the practical use of data.
Panel 4: Talent mobility, founder relocation and global teams
13:20–14:00
Moderator
- Magdalena Velkovska, Director, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
Panellists
- Pierre Treille, Partner and Co-Founder, Levine Keszler, France
- Łukasz Szmit, Co-Founder, DSK, Poland
- Dr Henning Frase, Partner and Co-Founder, 3T.LAW, Germany
Technology businesses increasingly recruit, manage and relocate founders, executives, researchers and specialist employees across several jurisdictions. Decisions about where people live and work can affect personal taxation, payroll, social security, immigration status, corporate residence, permanent-establishment exposure and the management of intellectual property.
Magdalena Velkovska will moderate a comparative discussion on how businesses can build international teams without allowing personal mobility and corporate structuring to become disconnected.
Pierre Treille will contribute French corporate and cross-border experience, including the disputes and commercial risks that can arise when international arrangements are not properly aligned.
Łukasz Szmit will provide a Polish perspective informed by DSK’s work with technology and internationally active businesses. Dr Henning Frase will contribute German tax and structuring experience relevant to founder relocation, internationally distributed teams and cross-border expansion.
Success story spotlight: From research to commercialisation
14:00–14:20
Speakers
- Dr Ing. Anton Bartolo, Acting Managing Director, Malta University Innovation Portfolio Ltd
- Dr Keith M. Azzopardi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Smart Materials Ltd
This spotlight will examine how research and intellectual property can move from academic or technical development towards investment, company formation and commercial application.
Dr Ing. Anton Bartolo will address the institutional and technology-transfer structures required to support university spin-outs and the commercialisation of research developed at the University of Malta.
Dr Keith M. Azzopardi will then present a Maltese deep-technology commercialisation story arising from Smart Materials and its Huggah product. His contribution will consider the founder’s journey from advanced-materials research and patent development to production, investment and market entry.Programme from Onenote
Together, the presentations will examine the practical conditions required to move an innovation beyond the laboratory. These include intellectual-property protection, access to capital, commercial validation, suitable corporate structures, collaboration with industry and the ability to build an internationally relevant market proposition.
Panel 5: Private capital, family offices and technology investment
14:20–15:00
Moderator
- Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker, Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
Panellists
- Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, Managing Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
- Yuki Sato, Managing Partner, So & Sato Law Offices, Japan
The panel will consider the growing role of private capital and family offices in financing technology, innovation and intellectual property.
Private investors and family offices can provide founders with patient capital, specialist networks and strategic support extending beyond a conventional funding round. Their investment objectives, governance requirements and time horizons may nevertheless differ significantly from those of institutional venture-capital or private-equity investors.
Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker will moderate the discussion, drawing on her work involving corporate governance, private clients and family-office structures.
Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti will consider how internationally active families and founders integrate technology investment into wider private-capital, tax, mobility and governance strategies.
Yuki Sato will contribute Japanese and Asia-Pacific experience involving cross-border M&A, investment funds and venture capital.
Panel 6: Protecting innovation across borders
15:30–16:15
Moderator
- Dr Danielle Mercieca, Senior Associate, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates
Panellists
- Prof. Luciano Mule’ Stagno, Director, Institute for Sustainable Energy, University of Malta
- Prof. Michał Jackowski, Co-Founder and Head of the Technology Law Practice, DSK, Poland
- Paweł Kuźmiak, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, DSK, Poland
Technology and intellectual property rarely remain confined to the jurisdiction in which they were created. Research collaborations, licensing arrangements, investment, manufacturing, international expansion and digital distribution can expose an innovation to several legal systems at once.
Dr Danielle Mercieca will moderate a discussion on how businesses and researchers can protect innovation while still enabling it to attract investment, enter commercial partnerships and reach international markets.
Prof. Luciano Mule’ Stagno will contribute scientific, industrial and patent experience involving semiconductor materials, photovoltaics and renewable-energy technologies.
Prof. Michał Jackowski will bring technology-law and AI-regulation experience from Poland and the European regulatory environment. He leads DSK’s technology-law practice and is involved in work concerning the development and practical application of European AI rules.
Paweł Kuźmiak will contribute a commercial, tax and business-structuring perspective informed by his work with technology, creative, e-commerce and automotive businesses.
World Tech Legal roundtable: Opportunities across jurisdictions
16:15–17:00
The final working session will bring the participating World Tech Legal firms together to identify significant developments, client needs and areas of opportunity across their jurisdictions.
The roundtable will allow member firms to compare the issues affecting technology businesses in their respective markets, including investment trends, regulation, artificial intelligence, taxation, international talent, intellectual property and cross-border expansion.
Its purpose is to convert the day’s comparative discussions into practical knowledge sharing and stronger working relationships among firms that regularly assist clients operating beyond their home jurisdictions. All participating World Tech Legal firms will be invited to contribute.
Closing remarks
17:00–17:15
Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti will close the Summit by drawing together the principal themes emerging from the keynote, panels, research contributions and jurisdictional roundtable.
The closing remarks will consider how international professional collaboration can support businesses, founders and investors confronting increasingly interconnected questions involving technology, capital, regulation, talent and intellectual property.
