Francesca Bria (born 11 November 1977) is an Italian innovation economist, digital policy expert, and information technologist working at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, economics and society, who lectures at various universities and is a consultant amongst others to the United Nations and the European Commission.

She is part of the Management Board of the Italian public broadcast company RAI, and a member of the EC President Ursula von der Leyen's High level Roundtable for The New European Bauhaus.

[3] She is an Honorary Professor on Technology and Innovation Policy at UCL, where she teaches about the platform economy, digital sovereignty and people-centered smart cities.

She has served as Senior Adviser to the United Nation (UN-Habitat) on digital cities and digital rights, launching the People-focused smart cities programme at the World Urban Forum convened in Abu Dhabi that promotes the deployment of technological innovations to realize sustainability, inclusivity, and human rights.

Francesca Bria is leading the DECODE project on data sovereignty in Europe, is a member of the European Commission high level expert group Economic and Societal Impact of Research and Innovation (ESIR), and a Senior Adviser and Jury Member for the EC program STARTS (Innovation at the nexus of Science, Technology and the Arts).

While still at Nesta, Bria also lectured at various universities, along with consulting and facilitating various projects in the UK and Europe, with clients ranging from grassroots NGOs to national governments and businesses.

She has been teaching in several universities in the UK and Italy and she has advised Governments, public and private organizations on technology and innovation policy, and its socio-economic and environmental impact.