Meet The People

Accountable Systems, Human-Centric Computing & Technology Governance
Dr. Ben Wagner is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Privacy & Sustainable Computing Lab at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien), where his research focuses on technology policy, human rights and accountable information systems. He is an Associate Faculty member at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, a visiting researcher at the Human Centred Computing Group at the University of Oxford and a member of the Advisory Group of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA). He previously worked at the Technical University of Berlin, Cambridge University, the University of Pennsylvania and European University Viadrina. He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from European University Institute in Florence.

Accountable Systems, Human-Centric Computing & Technology Governance
Dr. Ben Wagner is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Privacy & Sustainable Computing Lab at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien), where his research focuses on technology policy, human rights and accountable information systems. He is an Associate Faculty member at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, a visiting researcher at the Human Centred Computing Group at the University of Oxford and a member of the Advisory Group of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA). He previously worked at the Technical University of Berlin, Cambridge University, the University of Pennsylvania and European University Viadrina. He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from European University Institute in Florence.

Online hate speech, surveillance and security, freedom of expression 

Internet Law, Online Rule-Making, Human Rights in Digitality, Internet Governance

PD Mag. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard), joined as an associate researcher in 2019. In 2020 he was elected member of the Management Board. Matthias is co-leader of the Platform and Content Governance Research Group. Outside the lab, Matthias is Head of the Research Program Regulatory Structures and the Emergence of Rules in Online Spaces at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI), Hamburg and Visiting Professor of international law at the University of Jena. At the Lab, he runs a multidisciplinary research project with Ben Wagner conducting freedom of expression governance analytics on user comment datasets of newspapers and information exchange sites. He studied international and Internet law in Graz, Geneva and Harvard Law School and completed his postdoctoral work at the Cluster of Excellence “The Emergence of Normative Orders” at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Matthias has provided expertise for the German Bundestag, several DAX companies, foundations and international organizations, on Internet regulation, cybersecurity and human rights.

Privacy and Data Protection, Human-centric Design

Jaap-Henk Hoepman is an associate professor in IT Law at the Faculty of Law  of the University of Groningen, an associate professor at the Dept. of Computer  Science of Radboud University, and a guest guest professor in PRISEC – Privacy  And Security at the Karlstad University. He studied computer science at the  Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam  based on work done at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI).  His research interests focus on privacy by design and privacy-friendly protocols for  identity management and the Internet of Things.

Website

Full professor at the University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy

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Cyber-Security, Risk & Technology in Society

Dr. Alexander Novotny is an information security and privacy specialist. He is an information security manager of cyber risks in the utilities industry and member of the EE-ISAC (European Energy Information Sharing and Analysis Centre) dealing with joint analysis of cyber threats, vulnerabilities, incidents, solutions and opportunities to improve the resilience and security of the European energy infrastructure. He is a member of the IEEE P7000 engineering methodologies for ethical life-cycle concerns working group addressing ethical considerations throughout the various stages of the IT system development lifecycle (SDLC). Moreover, Alexander is a lecturer at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He has been teaching lectures on information privacy and security, IoT security, ethical computing, and information and communication technology.

Alexander is a certified CIS information security manager according to ISO 27001. Also, he is a certified auditor for the IT-security of critical infrastructures according to § 8a (3) BSIG of the German IT-security law (“IT-Sicherheitsgesetz”). Moreover, he has been serving as a standardization expert for digital marketing and privacy at the Austrian Standards Institute.

Publications / Contact

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Axel Polleres joined the WU in September 2013. Before he worked at TU Vienna, Univ. Innsbruck, Univ. Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid, Spain), the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway (Ireland), and for Siemens AG. His research focuses on ontologies, query and rules languages, Semantic Web technologies (particularly scalable semantic data management), Web services, knowledge management, Linked Open Data, configuration technologies and their applications. Axel has published more than 100 scientific articles and actively contributed to international standardisation efforts within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) where he co-chaired the W3C SPARQL working group.

Publications / Contact

Fabian Fischer is a disciplinary hybrid, combining Science & Technology Studies with Computer Science. He is currently University Assistant (prae doc) at the Centre for Informatics and Society (C!S) at the TU Wien. His research interest is the study of algorithmic systems, particularly those that are data-driven, with a focus on marginalisation practices. Strong technical skills gathered during several years in research & development of data-driven systems (largely in EU-funded research projects) is combined with strongly empirical, qualitative social science research. This interdisciplinary expertise is also the foundation of his teaching on Critical Algorithm Studies at TU Wien.

Head of the Institute for Information Systems and New Media
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria

Link

Inès is a project assistant in the KnowGraphs [1] project and a PhD candidate at Vienna university of Economics and Business. Inès holds a master degree in Big Data Management and Analytics from the University of Tours, France. Inés’s research interests include Big Data and Data Science, Semantic Web, knowledge representation and reasoning over constraints (e.g., access constraints, usage policies, regulatory obligations).

[1] https://knowgraphs.eu/

Privacy and Data Protection, Human-centric Design

Jaap-Henk Hoepman is an associate professor in IT Law at the Faculty of Law  of the University of Groningen, an associate professor at the Dept. of Computer  Science of Radboud University, and a guest guest professor in PRISEC – Privacy  And Security at the Karlstad University. He studied computer science at the  Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam  based on work done at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI).  His research interests focus on privacy by design and privacy-friendly protocols for  identity management and the Internet of Things.

Website

Privacy by design, usability, user acceptance of connected cars  

Politics and Technologies of Digital Identity

Markus Sabadello has been a pioneer and leader in the field of digital identity for many years and has contributed to cutting-edge technologies that have emerged in this space. He has been an early participant of decentralization movements such as the Federated Social Web, Respect Network, and the FreedomBox. He has worked as an analyst and consultant at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet&Society, at the MIT Media Lab’s Human Dynamics Group, at the World Economic Forum, and at the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium. Markus has spoken at dozens of conferences and published papers about both the politics and technologies of digital identity. In 2015 he founded Danube Tech, a consulting and development company that contributes to Sovrin Foundation, the Decentralized Identity Foundation, and various self-sovereign identity projects around the world.

Full professor at the University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy

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Dr. Sabrina Kirrane joined the WU as a postdoctoral researcher in September 2015 and was the Founding Director of the Privacy & Sustainable Computing Lab. Prior to taking up the position at WU she was a researcher at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, Ireland. Her PhD focused on the problem of access control for the Web of Data. Before that she spent several years working in Industry on topics around data integration and security, such as system security requirements and implementation in an application service provider environment. Sabrina’s research focuses on the privacy issues that can result from interlinked machine-readable data. Dr. Kirrane is a guest editor for the Journal of Web Semantics special issue on Security, Privacy and Policy for the Semantic Web and Linked Data and besides others organiser of the PrivOn workshop series on Society, Privacy and the Semantic Web – Policy and Technology.

Semantic Technology, Web Standards & Licenses

Simon Steyskal holds master’s degrees in Software Engineering & Internet Computing as well as Information & Knowledge Management, both from the Vienna University of Technology (TU) and joined WU in January 2014 as a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Axel Polleres. He is also working as a research scientist for Siemens AG where he is involved in a joint research project between Siemens AG and WU. He is also an active member of the W3C RDF Data Shapes working group and involved in the standardization process of a W3C permissions and obligations expression language carried out by the W3C Permissions & Obligations Expression working group.

Publications / Contact

Azadeh Badieijaryani holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Alzahra University in Tehran and a Master’s degree in Sociology with a focus on gender and society from the University of Amsterdam. She is currently pursuing her second Master’s degree in Science-Technology-Society (STS) at the University of Vienna. Her main research interests are STS-related concepts such as sociotechnical imaginaries, ontological politics, techno-science and gender, and public engagement with techno-sciences.

Digital Technology, Demonstrations, Social Credit System

Prof. Dr. Christian Göbel joined the Lab in December 2017. He is a University Professor of Modern China Studies at the University of Vienna, Department of East Asian Studies. A political scientist and sinologist by training, his research is concerned with the adaptability of the Chinese Party-State to social, economic and political challenges. He is especially interested in effects of digital technology on local governance in China. Data derived from expert interviews, expert surveys and web harvesting is processed by means of qualitative content analysis, text statistical methods and inferential statistics.

Publications / Contact

Fabian Fischer is a disciplinary hybrid, combining Science & Technology Studies with Computer Science. He is currently University Assistant (prae doc) at the Centre for Informatics and Society (C!S) at the TU Wien. His research interest is the study of algorithmic systems, particularly those that are data-driven, with a focus on marginalisation practices. Strong technical skills gathered during several years in research & development of data-driven systems (largely in EU-funded research projects) is combined with strongly empirical, qualitative social science research. This interdisciplinary expertise is also the foundation of his teaching on Critical Algorithm Studies at TU Wien.

Georg Reischauer is an Assistant Professor at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. He received his PhD from the Technical University of Vienna. His research focuses on the nexus of digital strategy, digital organization, and digital sustainability.

Publications / Contact

Mandan Kazzazi holds a PhD in Humanities from the University of Edinburgh. Currently, she is conducting research on human-centric information systems and online consent management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Algorithmic Governance, Equal Treatment Law, STS

Paola Lopez is a mathematician, and she is working on an interdisciplinary PhD thesis at the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna where she investigates automated decision-making systems and predictive analytics. Her focus lies on the epistemic limits of these systems, as well as on their equal treatment and democracy-political implications when used in governance constellations. She teaches disciplinary Mathematics classes, as well as interdisciplinary Algorithmic Bias classes.

Gender Bias, Intercultural Aspects of Digital Transformation, Civil Courage

Digital Technology, Demonstrations, Social Credit System

Prof. Dr. Christian Göbel joined the Lab in December 2017. He is a University Professor of Modern China Studies at the University of Vienna, Department of East Asian Studies. A political scientist and sinologist by training, his research is concerned with the adaptability of the Chinese Party-State to social, economic and political challenges. He is especially interested in effects of digital technology on local governance in China. Data derived from expert interviews, expert surveys and web harvesting is processed by means of qualitative content analysis, text statistical methods and inferential statistics.

Publications / Contact

Digital Politics, Online Activism, Technology Policy, and Human Rights

Media Governance, IP regulation and communications policy

Markus F. Peschl (*1965) is professor of cognitive science and philosophy of science at the University of Vienna, Dept. of Philosophy. His areas of research and expertise include innovation, cognitive science, organizational theory and strategy, design, and spaces for knowledge- and innovation work (Enabling Spaces).

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Rita Gsenger is a scientific employee at the Institute of Information Systems and New Media at Vienna University of Economics. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck. She is currently enrolled in the Interdisciplinary European Master’s program Cognitive Science at the University of Vienna. Her main research interests are Philosophy of Technology, Ethics and Human Computer Interaction from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Anna Sophia Tiedeke, is a junior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research │ Hans Bredow Institute in April 2019 in the research area “Regulatory Structures and the Emergence of Rules in Online Spaces“.

She studied law at the University of Hamburg and the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne I in Paris with a focus on European and International Law. During her studies she worked at the chair of Prof. Markus Kotzur at the Institute for International Affairs of the University of Hamburg and at the media law boutique Damm & Mann. Since 2016 she has been a member of the editorial board of the „Völkerrechtsblog“ – International Law and International Legal Thought. After her first state examination, she worked as a research assistant in an international commercial law firm in the field of EU regulation and policy advice in Brussels. During her legal clerkship, which she completed between 2017 and 2019, she worked for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, the law firm RAUE in the field of press law and the Senate Administration for Culture and Europe in Berlin. At the same time, she worked at the chair of Prof. Christian Calliess at the Freie Unversität Berlin as a research assistant.

In her PhD thesis, Anna Sophia Tiedeke focuses on the development of a new concept of the understanding of the state under international law in the era of the Internet.

Felicitas Rachinger studied law at the University of Vienna and University of Turku, Finland. She is currently a legal intern at a Namibian NGO and has previous working experience as a legal advisor in the field of anti-racism and online hate. During her studies, she focused on human rights and anti-discrimination law.

Internet Law, Online Rule-Making, Human Rights in Digitality, Internet Governance

PD Mag. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard), joined as an associate researcher in 2019. In 2020 he was elected member of the Management Board. Matthias is co-leader of the Platform and Content Governance Research Group. Outside the lab, Matthias is Head of the Research Program Regulatory Structures and the Emergence of Rules in Online Spaces at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI), Hamburg and Visiting Professor of international law at the University of Jena. At the Lab, he runs a multidisciplinary research project with Ben Wagner conducting freedom of expression governance analytics on user comment datasets of newspapers and information exchange sites. He studied international and Internet law in Graz, Geneva and Harvard Law School and completed his postdoctoral work at the Cluster of Excellence “The Emergence of Normative Orders” at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Matthias has provided expertise for the German Bundestag, several DAX companies, foundations and international organizations, on Internet regulation, cybersecurity and human rights.

Privacy and Data Ownership, Psychological Implications of Smart Technologies

Univ.Prof. Dr.Dr. Bernadette Kamleitner joined WU as a professor for Marketing with a special focus on Consumer Behavior in 2012. She is head of the Institute for Marketing and Consumer Research and has a background in both business and psychology. Her research focuses on the psychological underpinnings of consumer behaviors, including the way consumers perceive and deal with personal data and an increasing digitization of everyday phenomena. In particular, she is an internationally recognized expert on perceptions of ownership on which she has published and spoken in numerous internationally renowned fora.

Hooman Habibnia holds his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Tehran. He is currently studying the Middle European Interdisciplinary Master’s program in the field of Cognitive Science (Mei: CogSci) at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He joined the Sustainable Computing Lab as a research assistant in 2019. His interests vary from HCI, data-driven AI, human decision making, behavioral economics to predictive processing.

Privacy Notices & User Issues

Jana Korunovska is a research and teaching associate currently working on the impact of privacy notices on user’s privacy concerns and online behavior. As a psychologist, her research often focuses on user-related issues, most prominently privacy and ownership issues of personal data on the internet, especially in the social networking context. For this work, together with Prof. Dr. Sarah Spiekermann and Dr. Christine Bauer she won the CPDP 2013 Multidisciplinary Privacy Research Award. Her other research interests involve the impact of new media and technology on the affective, cognitive, and conative aspects of the end-users.

Publications / Contact

Media Governance, IP regulation and communications policy

Rita Gsenger is a scientific employee at the Institute of Information Systems and New Media at Vienna University of Economics. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck. She is currently enrolled in the Interdisciplinary European Master’s program Cognitive Science at the University of Vienna. Her main research interests are Philosophy of Technology, Ethics and Human Computer Interaction from an interdisciplinary perspective.