Ben Wagner

Research group:

In a digitally connected world, respecting and implementing human rights online has become increasingly urgent as people, organizations, and technologies move into digital spaces. Fundamental rights like freedom of expression, privacy, free assembly, fair trials, and democratic elections are deeply affected by new information and communication technologies. 

This raises critical challenges for both the public and private sectors: How do digital infrastructures reflect democratic values? Are regulatory frameworks effectively implemented by industry? Could they be improved? At the Human Rights and Technology Research Group at IT:U, we explore these questions through an interdisciplinary lens—combining social and political sciences, computer science, STS, and law—to radically reimagine the regulation of digital technologies and support democratic digital transformations.

Short bio:

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ben Wagner is a University Professor of Human Rights and Technology at IT:U. His research at IT:U focuses on the governance of socio-legal systems and democratizing digital transformation. Ben is also Director of the AI Futures Lab on Rights and Justice at TU Delft and Professor of Media, Technology and Society at Inholland. He is also a visiting researcher at the Human Centred Computing Group at Oxford University and advisory board member of the data science journal Patterns.

Previously, Ben served as founding Director of the Center for Internet & Human Rights at European University Viadrina, Director of the Sustainable Computing Lab at Vienna University of Economics and member of the Advisory Group of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA). He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from European University Institute in Florence.