Vasilis Vlachokyriakos is a Reader (Associate Professor) of Human-Computer Interaction and Digital Civics at Open Lab, Newcastle University's School of Computing. He holds a PhD in HCI and an MSc in Computer Security and Resilience. His research focuses on designing socio-technical infrastructures for civic participation, collaborative decision-making, and social innovation through community-led methodologies. Co-investigator in EPSRC Digital Economy Research Center (DERC) Co-investigator in EPSRC Centre for Digital Citizens Principal investigator for H2020 CO3 project in Athens Active in EU-funded Ge.CO Living Lab project Current projects leverage emerging technologies like augmented reality and crypto-wallets for public service co-creation, while his work extends to social economy infrastructure in Europe and inclusive solidarity platforms in Lebanon. He serves on program committees for ACM CHI, CSCW, and FAccT conferences, and has contributed extensively to participatory design methods. His research emphasizes: Designing for democratic practices Preventing digital harms and exclusions Interdisciplinary community collaborations Infrastructural challenges in solidarity economies Generative commons toolkits Cooperative production systems While no specific awards are listed, his grant history includes: EPSRC Digital Economy Research Center EPSRC Centre for Digital Citizens H2020 Ge.CO Living Lab EPSRC Agency project H2020 CO3 project As co-founder of Open Lab Athens, he bridges academia and grassroots initiatives through: Community-led participatory research Technology design for social innovation Collaborative governance frameworks Infrastructural development for solidarity economy Grassroots digital ecologies Decentralized civic systems








