Paul Timmers is head of unit for eGovernment in the European Commission, Directorate-General Information Society & Media. Previously he was a member of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, responsible for the information society (eEurope) and telecoms policy portfolio. Dr. Timmers has also been deputy head of unit for electronic commerce in the European Commission, where he was involved in policy and program development. He has also held management positions in product marketing and software development in a large IT company and has co-founded a software start-up. He has published on a wide range of topics, including a book on electronic commerce strategies and business models. A visiting professor and lecturer at various universities and business schools, Dr. Timmers holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands and an M.B.A. from Warwick Business School in the United Kingdom.