Partners – SMEData

Consortium

The project consortium is compiled by seven partners from two EU Member States – Bulgaria and Italy, that represent all major stakeholder types related to the protection of personal data: data protection authorities, private companies, NGOs and academia. Coordinator of the project is the Commission for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Bulgaria. Important project activities are led also by the Italian Data Protection Authority. Other members of the consortium are Apis Europe JSC, The Union Of Bulgarian Jurists, Ernst & Young Bulgaria, European Women Lawyers Association – Bulgaria and Roma Tre University.

Commission for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Bulgaria

Coordinator

The Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP) is the national supervisory authority of the Republic of Bulgaria responsible for the protection of personal data both in the public and private sectors. Being the only data protection authority in the country, the CPDP has a wide range of investigative, corrective and advisory powers and performs a number of different tasks, such as investigations, corrective measures, awareness-raising and information campaigns, international cooperation, training, etc. As Project Applicant, CPDP will implement overall organisation, coordination, execution, controlling and reporting of the project progress. CPDP experts will contribute to all WPs and will lead WP3.

Italian Data Protection Authority

The Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali) is an independent supervisory authority set up to protect fundamental rights and freedoms in connection with the processing of personal data, and to ensure respect for individuals’ dignity in Italy. Its tasks include raising public awareness of privacy legislation; fostering the adoption of codes of practice for various industry sectors; participating in international activities, including in EU joint supervisory authorities (Schengen, Europol, Customs IS). GPDP will lead several activities in WP2, WP3 and WP5 including Awareness Training, Expert Workshops, Self-assessment and awareness tools and International Conferences.

APIS Europe JSC

APIS Europe is a is a leader in the development, improvement and sale of legal and business information systems on the Bulgarian market. The company combines experience and knowledge not only in content provision, but also in software development, marketing, distribution and customer support of all products with APIS’ logo. In the beginning of 2018 APIS launched a separate software product dedicated to GDPR compliance – GDPR Assistant. In the scope of the SMEDATA project, APIS will lead the development of the mobile application in work package 4. The company will also contribute to the activities in all other work packages, which are targeting SMEs and legal professionals thanks to the close relationships it has established with representatives of these groups.

The Union of Bulgarian Jurists

The Union of Bulgarian Jurists (SUB) is the largest and most authoritative non-profit association of legal practitioners in Bulgaria with 40 societies across the country. Building on its long experience in conducting training seminars for legal professionals and organizing regional, national and international legal forums, SUB will be responsible for all practical arrangements and logistics issues related to the organisation of the awareness and training seminars in work package 2 and will lead the dissemination and communication activities in work package 5.

The European Women Lawyers Association

The European Women Lawyers Association – Bulgaria is a national association of women in the legal profession. The Association is part of EWLA – a unique network of women lawyers‘ associations and individual women lawyers from amongst the EU. EWLA – Bulgaria acts with the general purpose of liaising and supporting women in their participation in the legal field and public life. A main focus of its activity is also aligning Bulgarian legislation and practices with EU law and international standards; members of the association work in various legal fields, including data protection. EWLA – Bulgaria will support the project implementation mainly through the carrying out of the survey under WP3, but also by bringing a larger EU perspective on the performance of the project activities.

Ernst and Young Bulgaria

Ernst and Young Law Partnership is an advisory and legal service provider delivering end-to-end services to the clients. The team comprises of experts in different disciplines, who have extensive experience in delivering solutions for various aspects of the business, including regulatory, competition, tax, labour and anti-fraud matters. EY Law has been providing Privacy and Data Protection services due to the combined availability of multi-skilled CIPP certified EY Data Privacy and Compliance team who have extensive experience in working in the field both locally and in Europe with an established track record in this respect. EY Law will be responsible for planning and delivering the training activities in WP2, supporting content and knowledge development in WP4, and contributing to dissemination of project results in WP5.

Roma Tre University

The Law Department of the “Roma Tre” University is a Department of Excellence, certified by the Italian Government (Ministero dell‟Istruzione, dell‟Università e della Ricerca). Following efficaciously the social and juridical changes, its educational activity is based on two main pillars: internationalisation and multidisciplinarity. Particularly with regard to the privacy and data protection, the Law Department has been offering a postgraduate Master’s program under the patronage of Italian DPA since 2015 and a Legal Clinic in Privacy Law since 2016. Its representatives will support all activities.

In particular, Roma Tre will provide a Training methodology, that means elaborating a package of training materials, a specialised section of the project website supporting and complementing the training, and an evaluation methodology. Furthermore, it will organise 6 regional awareness raising events for SMEs in Italy and it will host dedicated two-days training seminars in Rome, in order to introduce GDPR to the multipliers, namely various professional organisations of businesses and legal practitioners. The Roma Tre University with the Garante per la Protezione dei dati personali will also host an International Conference in Rome in 2020.