In an international career spanning work with the European Union and the United Nations, Ciaran has led policy development and implementation of innovative and paradigm-changing programs in travel and border management based on intelligent use of digital tools and solutions. He is currently program manager for the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD), managing operations and development of a global system supporting efficient and effective electronic verification of digital credentials. In this role, he has also contributed to work on issuance and verification of novel credentials in travel, elaboration of policies and tools for intelligent processing of data to enhance passenger facilitation and international capacity building in border management. Previously, while working for the European Union Agency for Large-scale IT systems (eu-LISA), he led conceptualization and implementation planning for the EU Smart Borders program, including the Entry-Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), as well as the EU program for border management, law enforcement and asylum system interoperability.
He has also worked as a researcher, software developer and research program manager at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Hamburg, Germany and the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, UK.
Ciaran has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and an MBA from IE Business School, Madrid, Spain.