Lieutenant General Cristian Dan assumed command of Multinational Corps South-East (MNC-SE) on 15 January 2024. Commissioned into the Infantry in 1993 after graduating from the Romanian Land Forces Academy, he held a wide range of command and staff positions within the Romanian Armed Forces and NATO structures.

He commanded the 32nd Infantry Battalion, Multinational Brigade South-East, and Multinational Division South-East; prior to assuming command of MNC-SE, LGEN Dan served as Deputy Chief of the Romanian Land Forces Staff. His operational experience includes deployments in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), where he commanded the "Yellow Scorpions" Task Force Infantry Battalion.

Besides national specialization, LGEN Dan's education includes the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth), the U.S. Army War College (Carlisle, PA), where he earned a Master's degree in Strategic Studies, and the Combined/Joint Force Land Component Commander Course (Carlisle, PA). He is also a graduate of courses at the NATO Defense College, NATO School Oberammergau, and the George C. Marshall Center. LGEN Dan also holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics.

LGEN Dan has received numerous national and international awards, including the Order of Military Virtue (Knight and Officer), the Romanian Army Medal of Honor, and foreign distinctions from Bulgaria and Portugal.

Constantin Bratianu, Ph.D, is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Management and Knowledge Management, UNESCO Department of Business Administration, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania.

He obtained a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and a Doctoral Degree in Management from Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. He received Doctor Honoris Causa from several universities, as recognition for his academic achievements. He was invited as Visiting Professor to universities from the US, Japan, Austria, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Egypt. He was invited as Keynote Speaker at European Conference on Knowledge Management (ECKM), International Forum of Knowledge Assets Dynamics (IFKAD), Business Systems Laboratory Symposium (BSLab, International Conference on Business Excellence (ICBE), and some others.

Professor Bratianu is the former President of the International Association for Knowledge Management (IAKM). He is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy and member of Editorial Board of Journal of Knowledge Management, Knowledge and Process Management, Knowledge, Kybernetes, Business Process Management, Management & Marketing, and International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management. He published over 45 books and over 250 papers and book chapters. He has been included by Stanford University in the top 2% of the most cited scientists in the world, starting from 2022. His main contributions to the domain of knowledge management are the Theory of knowledge fields (TKF), the Theory of knowledge dynamics (TKD) based on thermodynamics, and Emergent knowledge strategies (EKS).

Title of his keynote speech: Knowledge Strategies

Danut-Florin Sandovici, PhD, is currently the Special Representative for the Middle East of the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Centre. His previous roles include Ambassador of Romania to the Syrian Arab Republic (2007-2023), Charge d'Affaires ad interim at the Embassy of Romania in Syria (2005-2007), Diplomatic counsellor at the Embassy of Romania in Syria (2004-2005), Deputy Director of the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific Department (2004), First Secretary at the Embassy of Romania in Lebanon (1999-2003), and First Secretary in the Middle East and North Africa Department (1999).

He obtained a PhD degree in Military Sciences in 2015, from "Carol I" National Defense University, Bucharest, Romania, and completed postgraduate studies at l'Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris, France, in 1993.

His areas of interest include Middle Eastern geopolitics, diplomacy and international relations, security, strategic studies and political transformations.

Title of his keynote speech: Civil-Military Relations in the Middle East - the Current Context

Cybersecurity Strategist, Researcher & Policy Expert

With over 25 years of experience, Horatius GARBAN is a leading expert in bridging the critical gap between deep technical operations and high-level strategic policy. His career trajectory reflects a comprehensive mastery of the cyber ecosystem, evolving from a specialist in network administration, digital forensics in the private sector and academia to shaping international security frameworks as a Cyber Policy Manager for the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels.

Currently, Researcher and Consultant at Constanta Maritime University, he drives innovation across several prestigious EU-funded projects, including CYMAROP, CYRESRANGE and CYBRIDGE. By synthesizing decades of hands-on technical expertise with executive policy management and academic research, Mr. GARBAN provides a unique, 360-degree perspective on building cyber resilience within an increasingly complex global threat landscape.

In strategic collaboration with the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC), he leverages this dual expertise to support the development of resilient national frameworks. His role is pivotal in translating complex technical vulnerabilities into actionable security policies, ensuring that national cyber-defense strategies are synchronized with the latest European research, diplomatic standards, and the evolving challenges of the AI-driven threat era.

Title of his keynote speech: AI-Era Threat Landscape

Dr. Viman-Miller is an associate professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Political Science & International Affairs at University of North Georgia, Georgia USA. She has a PhD from Georgia State University, a master's degree from Georgia Southern University and she completed her undergraduate work at "Babes-Bolyai" University in Cluj-Napoca Romania. She has completed research and published on issues such as the impact of migration on political behavior, political communication, regional and bilateral relations with implications on the European security. She teaches classes on Global Issues, Comparative Politics, European Politics, Russian Foreign Policy, International Relations and American Government at undergraduate and graduate level.

Title of her keynote speech: Security Threats: The importance of soft power

Is a Romanian professor and an expert in security studies, predictive modelling and foresight studies. He currently serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Intelligence Studies at the" Mihai Viteazul" National Intelligence Academy in Romania.

His academic output focuses closely on national security, foresight, and risk mitigation. His specific research methodology uses foresight tools - such as scenario planning, horizon scanning and the Delphi method - to evaluate future national security environments. He also co-authored global strategic foresight papers published in WoS Journals, such as an analysis of the future of bilateral relations and their impact on the European Union (Futures, 2021).

Title of his keynote speech: The art and science of anticipation