Enrica Porcari

This episode of Inside EOSC features Enrica Porcari, Chief Information Officer at CERN, a role she took on in January 2026.

Enrica's path to leading technology at one of the world's foremost scientific institutions is anything but conventional. A social scientist by training, she began her career as a park ranger before spending three decades in humanitarian and development organisations, including the UN World Food Programme and CGIAR. She discusses what that outsider's perspective brings to CERN and why a laboratory dedicated to understanding the origins of the universe has, for the first time, chosen to create a CIO role and filled it with someone from outside the world of particle physics.

The conversation explores the relationship between fundamental research and societal impact, from the unintended consequences of CERN's most famous export, the World Wide Web, to the deliberate, inclusive approach to quantum computing through the Open Quantum Institute. Enrica explains how this initiative brings together scientists, diplomats, the private sector and communities in the Global South to ensure that quantum technologies address sustainable development goals from the outset, rather than as an afterthought. We also discuss CERN's relationship with EOSC, European values of openness and collaboration, and why she describes herself as a "realistic optimist" about the future of technology in the service of humanity.

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