Toomas Ilves served as President of Estonia from 2006 to 2016. In this post, he was key in driving the initiatives in e-government and cyber security for which the country has been acknowledged as a world-leader. Educated in the United States, President Ilves graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1976 and received his Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. From 2002 to 2004, Ilves was a Member of the Estonian Parliament; in 2004 he was elected a Member of the European Parliament. During his presidency, Toomas Ilves was appointed to serve in several high positions including chair of World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Cyber Security. Since November 2016, Ilves has co-chaired The Global Futures Council on Blockchain Technology, a working group set up by the World Economic Forum focusing on how blockchain technology can be used to improve the security of the internet.

Toomas Ilves and Antonio Missroli spoke at Ideas Abu Dhabi 2019, as part of Moonshot 3: “Cyber: The New Battleground?”
In March 2019, Ideas Abu Dhabi welcomed some of the brightest and most interesting minds from the UAE and around the world to discuss four of the most important moonshot challenges facing our planet. The event was inspired by the world-famous Aspen Ideas Festival that has been taking place in Colorado since 2005, as a place for scientists, artists, politicians, business leaders, historians and educators to discuss some of the most fascinating ideas of our time. Ideas Abu Dhabi 2019 topics included: “From New World Order to None: Evolution and crisis in global relations”, “The Brain: Unfolding the mystery”, “Cyber: The new battleground?” and “Faster, Further, For All? The future of transport”.