Meet the Researchers
Access Info has recruited an excellent team of researchers, both individuals and civil society organisations, to carry out the research in 27 countries across the globe.
Individual Researchers
Elyse Howe is an Australian artist and researcher. Howe has participated in group shows and installations at 107 Gallery in Redfern, Articulate Project Space in Leichardt, Canberra Museum and Art Gallery, and Ainslie and Gorman House in Canberra; and presented at Digital Intimacies 6 Conference. She works as a research assistant on various projects about Datafication and its social impact.
Stephan Anguelov is an attorney-at-law and researcher in the Access to Information Programme, a non-governmental organization in Bulgaria. Stephan’s line of work includes providing legal aid and representation in access to information and related personal data protection cases, as well as research, and monitoring in the areas of transparency and accountability. Stephan is preparing a PhD in Constitutional law on the impact of information technologies on the freedom of expression and privacy in the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
Michal Škop is always connecting different things together: data science and political science, web development of applications for anyone with statistics, visualizations and the academia. Michal’s background is in mathematics, statistics and demography. He is director of KohoVolit.eu, Czech data-driven watchdog for local politics and society in general.
Niels Erik Kaaber Rasmussen has a background in computer science and political science from the University of Copenhagen. He is co-founder of the Danish local group of the worldwide Open Knowledge network. He currently works as a chief analyst in The Association of Danish Physiotherapists. He has been working with data and especially data related to transparency in politics and governance for years.
Caroline Murgue is a French Anthropologist who organized workshops on Artificial Intelligence / Data Ethics at Google, Microsoft, MIT, and 42 computer programming school. She founded the Touch Symposium to spark the conversation between philosophers and tech professionals.
Elsa is a young professional in research and evaluation currently based in Berlin. She graduated in 2015 from the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs with a MA in International Public Management with a focus on human rights and European studies. Since then, she worked in various consultancies providing evaluation, research and management services to international organisations and NGOs. She developed strong project management and research skills, including data collection and analysis. While her main area of expertise is related to human rights and inclusion of vulnerable population groups, she recently gained expertise in open data and digitalisation issues. Elsa speaks fluent French, English, Spanish and German.
Erasmia Tsipou is a Media Professional, M.A. Communication and Culture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Department of Journalism and Mass Media, B.A. in Humanitarian Studies, & B.A. in Business Administration from ACT. She has more than 20 years of working experience in Mass Media. She is Board Member of DCN Global, Research Fellow in Peace Journalism Laboratory, Leader of the Greek Team in Fake News Hunters, a DCN Global project, and she has also published scientific papers.
Sophocles P. Geroules is a postgraduate student of the “Risk Communication and Crisis Journalism” Master in Arts program from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece, where he also obtained his bachelor degree. He has been a scholar of the Fulbright Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, while working as a researcher and academic associate in a series of projects, in cooperation with multiple international organizations. His main academic and professional interest focuses on the development of strategic leadership.
Denis Parfenov is passionate about empowering evidence-based decision-making by enabling the universal free flow of data with trust through employment of openly licensed distributed data infrastructures. Denis is a founder of the Data Management Hub, a member of the Creative Commons Global Network and a former founding member of the Open Data Governance Board in Ireland.
Guy Zomer is the founder of the Octopus – Public Information for All (R.A.), an organization that aims to improve public and legal information accessibility. Guy is a law graduate and analyst that believes citizens should act proactively to ensure the accessibility and availability of public information, instead of relying on authorities to do so themselves. Guy worked in the governmental unit for freedom of information and later on in the movement for freedom of information.
Liene Gatere is a non-governmental sector professional and currently works as an independent consultant and researcher specializing in anti-corruption and good governance. She has worked for Transparency International Latvia for four years and was chapter’s Executive Director from 2018 till 2020. She has been on several research teams and has participated in efforts to advance government transparency and development of open data innovations. Previously she worked for a women’s rights organization and organized political discussion events PolitiCafe. Liene holds a MA in Political Science and since September 2020 studies Law and Governance at University of Latvia.
Rugile Trumpyte is a public policy expert with more than 10 years of experience in the fields of transparency, accountability, and inclusion. Currently she is the CEO of Lithuanian Diversity Charter and a local country research correspondent for the European Commission, responsible for evaluating Lithuania’s anti-corruption efforts. She is also evaluating Lithuania’s commitments to an open, more inclusive public sector for the Open Government Partnership. In 2011 – 2020, she was a senior lead at Transparency International Lithuania.
Christoph Schwaiger is a freelance journalist from Malta. He is currently completing a master’s in journalism in the Netherlands and is interested in researching the impact news has on society. During his time working as a full-time journalist in Malta, his main areas of interest were politics, health, and education – topics that are still close to his heart. Schwaiger is active in a number of civil society organisations that champion the safeguarding of human rights and the promotion and development of a person’s skills.
Keitha Booth is a New Zealand researcher and commentator, with longstanding interests in open and digital government and information policy development and delivery. She reviews New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership commitments and has presented extensively and published on information policy, open licensing, open data, e-government and government information management.
Gustavo Magalhães is a researcher, consultant, and facilitator working at the intersection of technology, information, and public value. With a broad international experience, from large-scale projects to local field work, he is a firm believer of co-creation and interdisciplinary innovation to deal with broader social challenges. His interests include open data, digital transformation, business models, collaborative innovation, GovTech, and science communication.
Originally from Slovakia, Lucia is a researcher and a project manager in the field of international development cooperation, with a focus on anti-corruption. She currently works as a Project Coordinator with the Civil Forum for Asset Recovery, where she analyses sanctions policy, at the EU and national level and supports civil society in advocating for accountability and transparency in the recovery of stolen public assets.
She likes to work with data and previously taught statistics and analysed indexes measuring countries’ control of corruption and governance transparency. She has a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Hertie School and bachelor’s in Sociology and Environmental studies from Masaryk University.
Prof. Suk Kyoung Kim is an invited professor of the School of Business and Technology Management at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She obtained a PhD degree in the School of Business and Technology Management at KAIST. She has working experience in the National Information Agency (NIA) and Dongguk University in Korea. Her research interests include digital technology adoption, digital government and open data, digital transformation and ICT development in developing countries. Her research articles have been published in Public Management Review, Information Development and etc.
Elenor Weijmar runs Sweden’s FOI platform called Handlingar.se, the platform gives citizens a tool to ask authorities for information. She is currently Co Chair in the Open Knowledge Sweden organization. Elenor is also active in DFRI, an organisation that promotes digital rights. She is driven by technology and social entrepreneurship and in addition to project management she works with coaching start-ups and educates youth in technology.
Javier Ruiz is an independent consultant covering a broad range of digital and technology policy and advocacy areas such as digital trade, state surveillance, transparency, privacy and ethics. He is a member of the UK Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Intellectual Property. Javier is the former Policy Director of the Open Rights Group.
Rebecca Williams is an expert in government data and technology policy. She has worked at all jurisdiction levels, inside and outside of government, as a civil servant, consultant, and advocate at Harvard, the Sunlight Foundation, the White House, and more. Committed to her continuous learning and everyone’s, she has hosted online and offline groups in her spare time to discuss issues betwixt civics and technology with Civic Tech Book Club and DC Legal Hackers. She holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a J.D. from Western New England University School of Law. She has won numerous legal tech awards, including American Bar Association’s first 10 Women to Watch in Legal Tech.
Civil Society Organisations
Gong obstructs corruption, defends free media and fair elections, protects civic space, and empowers citizen participation. It actively advocates for public data in open formats to prevent corruption, improve good governance, encourage citizen participation and social innovation. The organization has experience innovating digital projects, such as election finances observation and relevant public policies, sharing knowledge, and building tools for easy access to public sector information. In partnership with civic hackers from the Code for Croatia, Gong organizes annual Open Data Weekends.
Open Knowledge Estonia promotes open knowledge and free movement of data across all sectors. It connects relevant stakeholders across sectors to foster the development of an open knowledge society through common initiatives and projects. Open Knowledge Estonia also provides training and consultation to raise data literacy among professionals and support the development of data-driven solutions and services.
The principal researcher for the Global Data Barometer is Dr. Keegan McBride, a postdoctoral researcher at the Hertie School’s Centre for Digital Governance. Keegan is an internationally cited and recognized expert on the topic of open government data, and, more specifically, utilizing open government data in the co-creation of public services. Keegan’s work is assisted by Dr. Maarja Olesk, a policy analyst at the Institute of Baltic Studies and a board member of Open Knowledge Estonia. Maarja holds a PhD degree in Public Administration and Technology Governance from the Tallinn University of Technology.
TIEKE Information Society Development Centre is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Helsinki, Finland. Its aim is to see Finland thrive in the ever-changing digital realm, as a competitive, interoperable and human-centric society. TIEKE is a platform and forum that connects public and private stakeholders.
With nearly 40 years of experience, TIEKE build bridges for a thriving information society. It has worked on digitalization and open, shared, big and personal data as well as interoperability and reuse of data for decades. We have run Big Data Forum Finland since it was founded in 2015 to boost new data driven business. TIEKE has also run various successful data related projects. Our current portfolio includes projects on e.g., improving last-mile logistics (open) data, use of digitalization and data in the tourism sector and raising awareness of SMEs and citizens on general data protection regulation.
Openpolis is an independent non-profit foundation based in Rome that collects data to produce quality information about power, politics, economy, social issues and territories. At Openpolis they follow the entire data-chain. They extract data from different sources, gather it into a single infrastructure, connect the data and update it. Then they use it, on one side, to develop web apps where data can be navigated and, on the other, to produce articles and investigations where they narrate data and illustrate it with infographics.
Open State Foundation works on digital transparency by opening up public information as open data and making it accessible for re-users, as a way to strengthen democracy and create substantial civic and economic value. The principal researchers for the Global Data Barometer are Jesse Renema and Bo Hijstek.
Jesse Renema is project manager. He considers open data as an instrument to strengthen the social, economic and political resilience of our society. As a constructive activist, he focuses on developing social alliances, innovative projects about open data, open source and advocating for transparency.
Bo Hijstek is an intern co-working on several projects at Open State. She also conducts research, for example on transparency of government algorithms. Bo is interested in the interface between technology and (human) rights, for example in the importance of open data for the right to information.
In its over 20 years of activity, Transparency International Romania has contributed to the establishment / consolidation of Romanian anticorruption entities such as National Integrity Agency, Anticorruption General Directorate, National Anticorruption Directorate; has developed over 40 public policies, including one on the protection of whistleblowers. At the same time, it developed and implemented standards of ethics and integrity for the public sector and the business environment. Recently, Transparency International Romania launched the BICA research report, whose main objective is to propose a reform agenda that aims to improve the integrity of the country’s business environment and, ultimately, reduce corruption in the country’s business sector.
Over 22 years, ASEDIE has consolidated its status as a specialist in Public Sector Information Re-use and currently participates as an expert in different public sector initiatives such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs Digital Transformation Advisory Council. Its associates are companies, that collect, analyse and process information to create value-added products and services. In 2018 ASEDIE was awarded, by the Spanish Data Protection Agency, the best adaptation to the European 2016/679 Regulation. It annually holds different events such as the Public Sector Information Re-use Conference, the Asedie Award, and the publication of the Report on the Spanish Infomediary Sector.