In recent decades, international migration flows have not only been increasing in numbers, but become increasingly complex, creating new challenges for migration management for governments around the world. Consequently, new technological solutions and approaches have been developed and adapted to allow countries to deal better with the permanently changing realities of international migration.

A central pillar of those is the better use of data to run migration management systems effectively and to make smarter and context-relevant decisions. This conference explores the ways in which data can be used to enrich decision-making processes in migration management and how to facilitate the development of a data-driven decision-making culture in the field.

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) is the process of organizational decision-making based on real data analysis rather than intuition and observation that has been gaining momentum in recent years in different sectors and organizations around the world. This conference seeks to facilitate first and foremost technical discussions on possibilities, limitations and risks associated with this approach in the field of migration.

Both Online Transactional (OLTP) and Online Analytical (OLAP) Processing systems will be discussed during the conference. OLTP systems capture, store, and process data from transactions in real time and are employed to optimize procedures and to ensure data integrity when dealing with increasingly complex systems and numbers. OLAP systems, on the other hand, use complex queries to analyze aggregated historical data from OLTP systems to help countries to facilitate better data-driven decision-making by validating a course of action before committing to it.

The conference is organised by EMN Georgia and EMN Estonia as a hybrid event taking place in Georgia and online. The working language of the conference is English.

Please note that registration for participation has now ended. More practical information has been sent to registered participants.

Conference recording

Speakers

	Ketevan Betlemidze is the Chairperson of the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, which is one of the leading agencies in the field of migration management.  She has more than 10-year experience in public (Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Special Penitentiary Service) as well as private sectors (Free University of Tbilisi, IBV-Haus Human Resource Management and Insurance Institute – Hamburg, Germany). She also represented academia (Business School ESM (head of the Unit; Lecturer)). Mrs. Betlemidze holds a PhD in Business Engineering as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
	Marika Mshvildadze is the Project Management Professional (PMP) and the invited lecturer at the University of Business and Technology of Georgia. She is the Project Manager at Public Service Development Agency under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. Mrs. Mshvildadze has 15 years of experience in managing and contributing to large scale projects, which aim at improving the quality and accessibility to public (including e-) services. She is responsible for cooperation with donor organizations, as well as public and private agencies in order to sustain implementation of innovative, people-centered services. Also, she leads the Service Delivery component of the Public Service Development Strategy and coordinates the interagency working group, within the frames of Public Administration Reform.
	Natalia Abashmadze is the Deputy Executive Director of the Public Service Hall (PSH). The latter is a Legal Entity of Public Law under the Ministry of Justice, and through the “one-stop-shop” principle provides the citizens with up to 470 various services of public agencies and private sector. The idea of PSH is to offer customers a wide variety of innovative services, support the development of public services, simplify access to the services and citizens’ relations with public sector. Ms. Abashmadze is in charge of infrastructure and logistics services, activities of Call Center and coordinates all branches of Public Service Hall countrywide (27). Her educational background is humanitarian sciences
	Tamar Tkheshelashvili is the First Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia. Among various strategically important directions within the ministry, she is responsible for the migration management related issues. The Ministry of Justice, is one of the major actors in this field and leads the State Commission on Migration Issues, which is an interagency body and the primary coordination mechanism on migration related actions countrywide. Fostering digital transformation including e-governance also falls under the portfolio managed by Mrs. Tkheshelashvili. She is a PhD candidate in Law, and has 15 years practice in the legal consulting services. Further, she has served as a Parliamentary Secretary and a Legal Adviser of the President of Georgia.
	Veiko Kommusaar is the Undersecretary for Internal Security, Migration and Public Order at the Ministry of the Interior. He has worked in the field of internal security for more than 20 years. He has finished studies in the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, and has a Master’s degree from UNED University. Mr Kommusaar has been working at the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia since 2007, having worked as an advisor to the Criminal and Law Enforcement Policy Department, deputy head of the department, and head of the department. Since 2020 he is working as the Undersecretary for Internal Security, Migration and Public Order at the Ministry of the Interior.
	Magnus Ovilius is the Head of Sector for the European Commission’s Home Affairs European Migration Network. Previously he has held several other positions in the European Commission, including Head of Sector of EU Agencies and Networks Coordination (FRONTEX, EUROPOL, CEPOL, eu-LISA, EMCDDA and EASO) and Head of Return Sector at DG HOME, where he was responsible for coordinating activities related to return policy formulation and return management for irregular migration in the EU.  Magnus Ovilius holds a degree of Master of Laws from the University of Lund in Sweden.
	Avtandil Kasradze is a Chairman of Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), which is assigned to coordinate and mediate an important role in the country in terms of innovation and technology development. He has been the Senior Adviser of the Legal Department at the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia and the Senior Adviser of the Department of Legal Drafting at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. In addition to the experience in state entities, he has worked as a Senior Legal Analyst Assistant at OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, been a fellow in the Council of Europe (Venice Commission) in Strasbourg, France, and worked as a research assistant at the Academic Department of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University Sweden.
	Nino Ghvinadze has studied social and political sciences at the Tbilisi State University, Transition Studies at the University of Tartu, and Policy Analysis at the Free University of Tbilisi. She has earned her MA from Patterson School of Diplomacy, University of Kentucky. She is a nonresident fellow with the Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council. Her areas of interest include policy analysis, migration policy and data management, political parties and regional security. In the past 10 years Nino has worked at different international development organizations, local think tanks, and government entities.
	Ave Poom, Senior Policy Officer, has been working in eu-LISA since January 2013 and has witnessed and supported the development of the Agency, with the headquarters in Tallinn, since its establishment. She is responsible for policy matters, stakeholder relations and cooperation with a wide range of partner organisations such as Justice and Home Affairs Agencies, EU Institutions, national administrations and international organisations. Before taking up duties at eu-LISA, Ms Poom worked in the European Commission (DG Home Affairs), the General Secretariat of the EU Council (Police and Customs Cooperation Unit) and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Estonia (Department of European Affairs).
	Liis Valk works as a legal status determination service owner and a group lead in the Police and Border Guard Board of Estonia. Ms. Valk has worked in the Police and Border Guard in different positions in the field of migration management since 2010 and previously in the Citizenship and Migration Department from 2005-2009. Ms. Valk has a mag. Iur. degree from Tartu University.
	Niklas Hämäläinen works at the Finnish Immigration Services as a Senior Specialist in automation. He has been working with the automation solution used at the Finnish Immigration services from the early stages and has in depth knowledge not only of the system and architecture used but also the processes such as work and study permits as well as most recently, temporary protection permits. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration, and is effectively combining his knowledge of public law to automation and process development.
	Ada Tabatadze is the Chief Specialist of the Citizenship and Migration Department of Public Service Development Agency under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia since 2015. She holds Master’s Degree in Law from East European University, Georgia. Currently Ms. Tabatadze works on a PhD in Corporate Governance in State Owned Enterprises. She has a practice as a lecturer’s assistant in civil law, also providing trainings on citizenship issues. Ms. Tabatadze is Attorney at Law and Member of Georgian BAR Association since 2013. She previously worked as a Lawyer in law firm and lead a private practice in civil law.
	Maia Bartaia is the Deputy Director of Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. She has over 15 years of experience of working on consular, migration and visa policy issues. Ms. Bartaia was posted as a consul of Georgia in Brussels (Belgium) and Washington DC (USA). She delivers lectures and provides trainings on consular crisis and other consular issues to diplomats of the MFA of Georgia. Her educational background is International Law and International Politics.
	Stavros Piotopoulos is the head of Statistics and IIS Management Department in the Hellenic Ministry of Interior and has been working in analyzing and implementing citizenship procedures in computer systems since 2010. He acts as supervisor for the Ministry in the new „National Registry of Public Services”, the official register of procedures of the Greek Public Sector developed by GRNET S.A. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration and is currently researching how e-services can be developed considering the special characteristics of migrants, combining his expertise in both computers systems and citizenship procedures.
	Damien Jusselme is the head of the Data Analytics and Innovation unit in the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC). He is responsible for structuring and coordinating data-driven analytical support to IOM missions worldwide. He’s leading GMDAC’s Innovation work using non-traditional data sources (big data) and analytical methods to shed light on mobility trends. He holds extensive experience in data and information coordination in humanitarian and development contexts having worked in Haiti, Yemen, Mali, the Central Africa Republic, Greece and having created and worked on the IOM West and Central Africa Data Hub.
	Alexander Kjaerum is a Global Advisor, Senior Analyst with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). In this capacity he is responsible for supporting the organization and country operations with making better and smarter use of data and analysis for strategic planning, programming and advocacy. In this capacity he is leading the work to expand the use of machine learning and predictive analytics in DRC as well as the wider humanitarian sector. Beyond his global scope, he is currently leading pilot projects on the use of forecasting for anticipatory action in Somalia and West Africa.
	Colleen Boland (PhD, Sociology, Complutense University of Madrid) is a distinguished researcher at the Department of Public Law, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), where she serves as interim scientific coordinator on the EU Horizon2020 funded ITFLOWS (IT Tools for Managing Migration Flow) project. Other work includes a 2021-2022 project on the confluence of gendered criminal and immigration law, funded by the Catalan Institute for Peace. She was visiting researcher at the University of Leiden as part of a 2021-2022 fellowship with the Re:Constitution Programme, based in Berlin.
	Nikoloz Nikuradze is the Secretary for Data Collection and Processing at the Secretariat for the State Commission on Migration Issues of Georgia. He is an IT professional with over 18 years of experience in the software and database development and solid background in the development of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions in RDBMS- and in Big Data Environment. With more than four years of consulting experience in data collection, analysis, modelling, mining and reporting, Mr. Nikuradze possesses a practical knowledge in the design of data models for OLTP/OLAP and in the preparation of data for machine learning and statistical evaluation. He has a graduate degree from the University of Hannover in mathematics with specializations in Business Administration and Informatics.
	Teona Mchedlidze has been a data analyst at the Secretariat of the State Commission on Migration Issues of Georgia since 2020. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Tbilisi State University and received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. She is a data analysis enthusiast and has a strong interest in both migration policy and migration data management. Having particular interest in digitalization, in addition to her professional activities, she works as a research assistant at a local think-tank focusing on e-governance and digitalization matters.
	Mathias Czaika is a University Professor in Migration and Globalisation at Danube University Krems, Austria. He was director of the International Migration Institute at the University of Oxford before taking up the position as head of the Department for Migration and Globalisation at Danube University Krems. In this role he is leading a team of 25 researchers and support staff, and he is also the Coordinator of the PhD Programme in Migration Studies. Mathias Czaika holds a Master’s degree in Economics from University of Konstanz, and a PhD in Political Economy from University of Freiburg, Germany. Mathias Czaika’s main research interests cover areas as wide as international migration processes, social transformations, globalization, development, poverty, and inequality; relative deprivation, aspirations, and migration decision making; migration policy formation, policy impact evaluation; labour migration, asylum and refugees. He has published widely in journals including Demography, Population Development Review, International Migration Review, or the Journal of Peace Research.
	Ani (Annie) Vashakmadze works as a Head of the Department for International Relations and Relations with Donors at Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency, under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. Ms. Vashakmadze is the Vice-Chair of the UNECE Committee for Innovation Competitiveness and Public-Private Partnerships. She is the Associate Professor at the Business and Technology University of Georgia, and a professor of Creative Industries and Entrepreneurship at Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. Ms. Vashakmadze is passionate about technology, especially computer vision and AI, Physics and Digital Arts.
	Maren Krimmer is the Principal Business Analyst at the Estonian e-Residency Initiative. She studied law in France, Germany and Estonia, where she received her PhD in International Law from the University of Tartu. She is a true global citizen and has over 10 years of experience in the legal field, both in the private and public sector with a strong interest in digitalization and international taxation. Next to her professional activities, Maren engages as an international election observer with the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
	Salome Napetvaridze is a Project Manager of the Strategic Development Department at Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency. Graduated from Georgian and Portuguese Universities – Business and Technology University and Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, specializing in Business Administration & Finance and International Business Management. Salome is quite passionate about digital innovations, has experience of working with startups and consulting investment projects. Ms. Napetvaridze is a member of ACCA Global and has international certification in finance. Recently, She proposed a research paper about Science and Technology Parks to explore new opportunities for national Tech Park facilities and practices. Ms. Napetvaridze is dedicated to contribute in the development of Georgian innovation ecosystem.
	George Jashi has over 25 years of experience of working in state and international organizations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Council of Europe, Public Service Development Agency). Presently he works at the PSDA, as an Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the State Commission on Migration Issues. The latter played an important role in the successful fulfillment of different reforms within and beyond the EU-Georgia Visa-Dialogue/Liberalization Action Plan and developing of a Whole-of-Government-Approach based migration management system in Georgia. Since 2021 he is the National Contact Point for the European Migration Network to which Georgia joined in the capacity of an observer state as the first country outside the European Economic Area. He holds Master’s Degree in Oriental History and International Relations.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Tbilisi in September!

For questions regarding the conference please write emn@sisekaitse.ee (EMN Estonia) and scmi-secretariat@sda.gov.ge (EMN Georgia).