Azadeh Akbari

Dr. Azadeh Akbari is an Assistant Professor in Public Administration and Digital Transformation at the University of Twente (Netherlands) and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow/Visiting Scholar (2023) at the University of Ottawa's Centre for Law, Technology and Society. She leads research on authoritarian smart cities and digital governance in non-Western contexts.

Her research examines authoritarian surveillance, critical studies of ICTs in development, internet governance fragmentation, and the sociopolitical impacts of smart city technologies. She founded the Surveillance in the Global South Research Network and serves on the board of the International Surveillance Studies Network.

Education:

• PhD in Human Geography (University of Heidelberg)
• MSc in Gender Research (London School of Economics)
• BA in Sociology/Journalism (Iran)

Awards:

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Global Fellowship for 'Authoritarian Smart Cities' project

She co-edits academic books on Critical ICT4D and Surveillance Studies, contributes to The Guardian and CNN on digital rights, and previously worked with UNHCR/UNICEF on communication strategy.