Francesca Spagnoli leads the pedagogical approach and delivery of high-impact knowledge exchanges worldwide through the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development and the World Bank Group Data Academy. Francesca coordinated the design and implementation of an LMS platform that now serves over 40,000 users from 195 countries.
Before her current role, Francesca was the Head of Capacity Building and Research at the European Network of Living Labs, where she also spearheaded the Education activities of the Living-in.EU initiative "Join, Boost, Sustain" Declaration from the European Commission. This initiative encourages European decision-makers in cities and communities to harness the economic and social benefits of digital transformation, ensuring an inclusive digital Europe equipped with advanced digital services, technologies, infrastructures, and skills, including AI.
In her post-doctoral work, Francesca was a senior researcher at the imec nano-technology center in Belgium and led the impact assessment of digital transformation initiatives at the Institute for Nuclear Physics in Italy and the Italian Ministry for Economic Development. Additionally, she acted as lecturer at the University of Rome La Sapienza in Italy and at the Vesalius College affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.
Francesca holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Innovation Management, an M.Sc. in Media and Communications from the University of Rome La Sapienza, and a Certificate in AI from MIT. She was also appointed by the European Commission as a Young Researcher Ambassador, providing methodologies and policy recommendations for the impact assessment of ICT in Europe.