Roberta Cocco

Board Member

Roberta is Senior Advisor of the Italian Minister of Technological Innovation and Digital Transition and Co-Chair of his Advisory Committee.

In her current role she collaborates with the staff of the Minister on the national digital plan and she is specifically engaged in the pillar of digital skills for citizens.

 

Married & mother of three, Roberta began her career in Microsoft Italia in 1991 where she moved through several increasingly strategic roles up to Central Marketing Director. Then she became Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and National Development and then she was appointed Director of National Plan Development for Western Europe, covering 12 countries. In this role, she drove the planning and execution of programs aimed at applying Microsoft business acumen and technology expertise to support the Digital Agenda of European Governments.


After 25 years in Microsoft, in 2016 Roberta joined the team of the new elected Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala as  Deputy Mayor for Digital Transformation and Services to Citizens. Throughout the last 5 years, she worked on the transformation plan for her city, building an innovative technological infrastructure and releasing many new digital services to citizens and a wide education plan to include all people.

She is Adjunct Professor of Brand Management at LIUC – University. She also teaches at Bocconi University at the courses of  Economics and Management for the Public Administration and Innovation ; and Big Data for the Public Sector.

 

She is an independent Board Member at Banca Generali.

 

Passionate about female empowerment and early advocate of more inclusivity in the tech sector, in her roles both in the private and public sector Roberta has been promoting initiatives to encourage young girls to pursue careers in the STEM field.

On International Women's Day, 8 March 2010, she was conferred a knighthood as  “Commendatore dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” by President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano for the support to the Italian issue of Gender Divide and the high level institutional and economical network created on this important topic.