The Future of Globalization: Politics, Business, Lifestyle, Brands

Over a 30 -year career in journalism, communications and advocacy, Rob Cox has embraced often-demanding opportunities to tell stories, found and build businesses, empathetically lead diverse teams and challenge prevailing narratives with solid facts, sound arguments and good humor. Rob is currently a senior advisor on strategic communications to UBS and its Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti. Prior to that, Rob was global head of corporate communications for Credit Suisse during the acute phase of the Swiss bank’s existential crisis. Rob is the co-founder and former global editor of Breakingviews, the leading global financial commentary brand of Thomson Reuters, which bought the company in 2010. He has won numerous awards for his published work, which has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, la Repubblica, Newsweek, Le Monde, Fortune and other publications. Previously, Rob held various positions at Bloomberg News, including head of European finance and South Europe bureau chief. In 2012, Rob joined with members of his Connecticut hometown after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre to create, and eventually chair, a non-profit and advocacy group to eliminate gun violence in America. Sandy Hook Promise is today one of the leading groups working with both sides of the political aisle to pass common-sense gun legislation in the United States. Rob, who divides his time between Zurich and Rome, has also worked and lived in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Milan and Chicago. Rob is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism and the University of Vermont, which awarded him its alumni achievement award for his work combatting gun violence. In 2017, he was the James H. Ottaway Sr. Visiting Professor of Journalism at SUNY New Paltz. Rob has two adult sons who live in New York City.

Elena Musi is Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool where she is Program lead of the MSc in Data Science and Communication. Before joining UoL Elena has been the Language Engineer for Alexa in Italian (Amazon Alexa Applied Modelling and Data Science team) and a postdoctoral fellow at the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Her research interests rest at the interface between artificial intelligence and communication, including theoretical and applied argumentation, (mis)information and the development of human computer interaction technologies to advance critical thinking skills. Her research agenda is currently focused on developing digital tools to advance critical thinking skills for media literacy. She is currently member of the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) “Digital Footprints: Strategic Advice Team".