CPDP 2027 Call for Panels

The governance of the digital world is fragmented and faces difficult challenges. Technologies that shape our lives develop faster than the means – or even the will – to regulate them for the protection of privacy and other fundamental rights. 

What We Owe the Future invites reflection on this contribution. Building on this, it looks ahead to what the future demands of us. What will the next twenty or more years need, and how should we help to build it? What do we owe to those who will inherit the world we shape today? Which principles must endure, which protections cannot be bargained away even when the pressure to relax them is strong, and what responsibilities do the custodians of the present bear towards the future?

The year 2027 marks the twentieth anniversary of CPDP. For twenty years, the conferences have stood at the forefront of efforts to understand and contribute to improving the prospect for governance in this fast-moving digital age. As a community of academics, regulators and policymakers, civil society, industry and legal practitioners, CPDP has cast a bright light on issues, practices and rules, and has offered a forum for debate and the exchange of knowledge across a global landscape. What is worth celebrating is not the annual conference itself, but twenty years of bringing this community together and sustaining it through a period of momentous change.  

The people whose lives will extend far into that future should help to design the way forward. CPDP 2027 therefore launches CPDP 20: The Next Generation, which include a team of early-career researchers from across disciplines who will co-curate the programme and help identify its most pressing questions. This team will identify connections across fields and help to explore issues on the horizon, bringing knowledge and fresh perspectives to bear on developments and their likely consequences that will need to be addressed by policy, governance and other action.

The GDPR in transition – As the EU is reopening parts of the data protection framework, what will be the next developments?

Cybersecurity and resilience –How are cybersecurity obligations reshaping responsibility, markets, resilience, and the technological methods used to ensure compliance in the EU and beyond?

EdTech and the digitalization of education –  How can we balance the use of technology for the benefit of students and teachers while protecting their fundamental rights? 

Digital sovereignty and power relations – How is digital sovereignty reshaping relations between the EU, other states and private actors, and what are the implications for society and technological development?

The rights of the next generation – As child-focused digital regulation expands, how can protection, privacy, participation, and parental responsibility be balanced?

Law enforcement and data – As AI, facial recognition, and cross-border access to data transform criminal investigations, can data protection and oversight keep pace? 

Artificial intelligence at a crossroads – As AI regulation, societal impacts, and business models evolve, what kind of AI development should we pursue?

Technology in war and conflict – As technology reshapes warfare, surveillance, and intelligence, what are the implications for fundamental rights, the laws of war, and the responsibility of private actors?

Surveillance by Design –  As tracking and profiling become embedded in everyday digital infrastructures, how can pervasive surveillance be prevented from becoming the default?

Data Protection Officers in transition – What should the role of DPOs be, how do they interact with supervisory authorities, and how can independence and expertise be preserved?

The geopolitics of digital governance – As digital regulation becomes increasingly intertwined with trade, strategic interests, infrastructure, standards, and technological dependencies, how are geopolitical dynamics reshaping the global digital order and Europe’s place within it?

Thursday 11 March 2026 

Digital supervision increasingly involves multiple authorities (data protection, AI, competition, media, and human rights regulators) overseeing the same platforms and harms from different legal angles but with shared goals. This track, co-curated by the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch data protection authority), explores how these authorities can cooperate effectively: building shared expertise, monitoring developments jointly, and finding proportionate solutions without adding friction for those they regulate. It looks to the wider landscape of cross-authority cooperation at national, EU, and international levels, focusing on what works for citizens and compliant organisations. With authorities gaining new AI-related mandates amid limited resources, this is the moment to strengthen cooperation. We invite panel submissions from authorities, academics, and civil society offering concrete experiences, like successes, failures, and open dilemmas, rather than abstract calls for cooperation.

Wednesday 10 March 2026

CPDP welcomes the Education Technology track in 2027, co-curated with SURF. Education technology is shaping how knowledge is taught, accessed, and governed, from higher education to primary and secondary schools. The track examines where the field is heading over the coming years: the EU's digital sovereignty, the dependence of education on non-European providers, and the future generations being shaped within the institutions that deploy these tools. It aims to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue on what is at stake for students, educators, public sector, companies and the public values of education.

The Privacy Compliance Engineering track examines how regulatory requirements can be implemented and verified in practice through technological methods such as semantic web technologies and knowledge engineering, and where/how these can assist with the increasingly complex intersection of innovative technologies such as AI, law, and fundamental rights.

Tuesday 9 March 2026

CPDP continues its collaboration with Data Protection Officers through the return of the DPO Track, offering a space for DPOs and privacy professionals to exchange, reflect, and strengthen their professional community.

As part of CPDP 2027, the CARO community will hold dedicated sessions on cybersecurity during the conference. CARO brings its international community of experts to Brussels for three days of technical discussion, research exchange, and collaboration on the security challenges raised by agentic AI and personal data protection. These sessions follow their own call for papers and submission process. More details are available on the CARO website: https://caro2027.org .

• Each panel is organised by one institution (“Panel Organiser”) and presented in the conference programme as organised by [organiser’s name].
• One Contact Person must be designated for all communications.
• Each organisation may ordinarily host one panel at CPDP 2027.
• Panel proposals may only be submitted by research organisations, public bodies, or civil-society groups;
• For-profit organisations are not eligible for this open call and must refer to our sponsorship page or reach out to info@cpdpconferences.org for further information on contributing to CPDP.
• Each panel must demonstrate sectoral and disciplinary diversity, including one speaker from industry, legal practice, or another private-sector domain to ensure multistakeholder representation. The CPDP Programming Committee can help panel organisers in meeting these requirements.
• Panels remain under the editorial responsibility of their organisers. The CPDP Programming Committee may review, request changes, or reject panels that do not meet CPDP’s standards of quality, independence, diversity, and balance.
• The quality of discussion and audience participation is a key priority; at least 30 minutes of every 75-minute session must be reserved for Q&A, in line with CPDP’s ethos of open, participatory debate.
• Alternative or experimental formats are encouraged if they ensure fairness among panellists and meaningful audience participation.

Organisers are responsible for compliance with all procedural, financial, and diversity rules.

• Panels consist of one moderator and four speakers (“panellists”); no more than two may come from the organising institution.
• Panels must be diverse in:
  • Gender: balanced and inclusive, recognising non-binary and fluid identities.
  • Geography: no more than two panellists from the same country and at least three countries represented.
  • Discipline and sector: balanced perspectives from academia, regulation, law, civil society, and industry.
• Panellists may appear on a maximum of two panels, and not in the same role twice – i.e. a panellist can moderate and speak once, but not moderate twice or speak twice. The CPDP Programming Committee may propose or confirm moderators.
• It is up to panel organisers to confirm with invited panellists that they do not appear in the same role elsewhere in the conference before proposing them. Where this happens, CPDP reserves the right to step in, and to give preference to the panel the panellist in question accepted first.
• If you need to deviate from these composition rules, please indicate this in your submission or contact info@cpdpconferences.org. 

Panel organisers and participants must be transparent about financing, affiliations, and networks. The CPDP Programming Committee, in collaboration with the CPDP Oversight Committee reserve the right to refuse a panel in case of serious doubts about independence. 

• Proposals must be submitted via the official webform
• Proposals must include: 
  - panel title, abstract, organiser, (provisional) list of panellists and their bios/pictures, dedicated track (if applicable).
  - contact person, the logo and 100-word description of the panel organiser.
• Note that CPDP will schedule panels into the preliminary programme. If an organiser wishes to remain in their assigned slot, or requests a specific alternative slot (with reasons), they must inform the CPDP Programming Committee by 15 January 2027. If no response is received by this date, CPDP reserves the right to reschedule the panel as needed.
• Deadlines:
  • Submission of panel proposals: 30 November 2026
  • Acceptance notification: 6 December 2026
  • Confirmation of slot / request for alternative slot: 15 January 2027
  • Panel composition finalised: 15 February 2027 (after which the Committee may intervene if issues persist)
• Failure to meet deadlines may result in rescheduling, reorganisation, or, in exceptional cases, cancellation.

• Each panel requires a contribution of €1,650 (excl. VAT), covering venue, audiovisual and recording facilities, catering, general conference costs, and full CPDP access for the moderator and three speakers.
• Panels including a CPDP sponsor speaker receive one additional complimentary registration for a colleague of the organising institution, bringing the total to a maximum of five registrations covered by the contribution.
• Organisers bear the travel and accommodation costs of their invited speakers and moderator.
• Payment must be made by direct bank transfer upon invoice.

• A fifth speaker may be added with prior approval and a €450 fee.
• One remote panellist is allowed per panel, subject to a €300 technical surcharge.
• Both options require advance confirmation and are generally discouraged, as they can reduce the quality of the dialogue.

• Cover the panel contribution fee.
• Confirm panellists and ensure their active participation.
• Provide information, final titles, abstracts, and bios by deadlines.
• Inform the CPDP Programming Committee by 15 January 2027 if the panel remains in assigned slot, or a specific alternative slot is requested (with reasons).
• Ensure compliance with the CPDP Code of Conduct.
• Cover travel and accommodation for their panellists.
• Please ensure that panellists represent differing perspectives and viewpoints on the chosen panel topic.
• Guarantee balanced speaking time among panellists and reserve at least 30 minutes of each 75-minute session for audience Q&A, in line with CPDP’s ethos of open, participatory debate.

Alternative formats that integrate audience questions from the start are welcome, provided they ensure equal opportunity for interaction. Any proposed alternative format needs to be indicated in the panel submission form.

Contact us for any questions you might have regarding this call for panels under info@cpdpconferences.org .