CIGI’s Digital Policy Hub Program Welcomes 14 New Fellows; Nine Returning

Ozan Ayata holds a master’s degree in international relations with a focus on security and defence. He currently serves as a cybersecurity analyst at the Department of National Defence. Ozan has previously led various research projects at Carleton University and collaborated with organizations such as the Canadian Defence and Security Network, Sustainable Development Technology Canada and the Forum of Federations. With the Digital Policy Hub, Ozan will conduct research on how public-private partnerships can effectively prepare for and mitigate the risks posed by emerging technologies to international security, with a specific focus on components of AI, such as deepfakes.

Dana Cramer is a Digital Policy Hub doctoral fellow researching policy and governance approaches for emerging technologies. She was a top 10 finalist for the 2023 International Institute of Communications Future Leaders’ Competition and is a previous winner of the 2020 Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s Prize for Excellence in Policy Research. She leads the Youth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Canada and sits on the Canadian IGF All-Hands Committee. In 2023, she held a fellowship with the American Registry for Internet Numbers. She is pursuing her Ph.D. at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University’s Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture.

Ivan Nuñez Gamez is a first-generation Latino-Caribbean immigrant pursuing a political studies (honours) and economics degree at the University of Manitoba. Throughout his undergraduate studies, he has remained dedicated to serving his peers through student-led advocacy and policy making, serving as the University of Manitoba Students’ Union governance chair, a role in which he effectively ensured equitable representation for marginalized students in governing bodies and reformed electoral proceedings to increase engagement. He is an undergraduate fellow at the Digital Policy Hub, where his research will examine current strategies enacted by the federal government to counter technical foreign interference.

Shuna Shu Ham Ho is a Digital Policy Hub visiting fellow and an assistant professor of international business and strategy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University. Her research focuses on non-market strategies, including corporate social responsibility, social licence and sustainable development. She recently started research on the social licence for AI, which has been challenging digital giants since 2020, especially after the establishment of the “Social Contract for the AI Age.” Shuna has previously published in the Strategic Management Journal and the Journal of Management Studies.

Madison Lee is a doctoral fellow at the Digital Policy Hub and a Ph.D. student at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario, specializing in the field of international political economy. Madison’s research lies at the intersection of technology and international affairs. Her work offers valuable insights into the shifting paradigms of digital governance, addressing critical questions in the realm of international political economy. Madison’s journey into the world of decentralized web mechanisms began with her master’s degree at the University of Waterloo. During that time, she delved deep into the inner workings and historical evolution of digital currency, laying a solid foundation for her current doctoral research.

Emanuel Lukawiecki is an M.A. candidate in public administration at the University of Ottawa. As a Digital Policy Hub master’s fellow, he will examine possible adaptation strategies for the Canadian Armed Forces to respond to unconventional defence threats posed by AI.

Michael P. A. Murphy is a post-doctoral fellow both at the Digital Policy Hub and at Queen’s University’s Department of Political Studies and Centre for International and Defence Policy. He is the author of Quantum Social Theory for Critical International Relations Theorists (Palgrave, 2021), more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, and numerous book reviews and chapters, receiving over 1,600 citations. He serves as the editorial assistant at Security Dialogue and is past president of the Education and Learning in International Affairs Section of the International Studies Association.

Elia Rasky is a doctoral candidate at York University and a Digital Policy Hub doctoral fellow. His research interests include Canadian politics, global political economy, and science and innovation policy. His Hub research will explore the role of academics, business associations and civil society actors in the development of AI policies and regulations in Canada.

Shirley Anne Scharf is a visiting researcher with the CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy at the University of Ottawa, where she also obtained her Ph.D. in public administration. Her dissertation examined “Canadian Innovation Policy: The Continuing Challenge” (2022). Shirley Anne is a Digital Policy Hub post-doctoral fellow, and her current research focuses on innovation policy from two innovation leaders — the Republic of Korea and Sweden — and the comparative lessons Canada may learn from this.

Javier Ruiz-Soler is a Digital Policy Hub visiting fellow who works in tech intelligence and advisory services, conducting research and analysis on leading-edge information technologies. He has expertise in digital transformation, digital government, responsible AI, disinformation and digital policies (privacy, data governance, cybersecurity and cloud computing).

Tyler Stevenson is completing his bachelor’s degree in international economics with a minor in data science at the University of British Columbia. His interests are in the field of economics and the internet, with a focus on the capabilities and impact of digital neocolonialism on the development of the Global South. He will expand on this research as an undergraduate fellow with the Digital Policy Hub.

Christelle Tessono is a technology policy researcher currently pursuing her graduate studies at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. She recently completed a two-year research fellowship as an inaugural Emerging Scholar at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy. She is interested in tackling the relationship between racial inequality and digital technology from a policy lens. As a Digital Policy Hub graduate fellow, she will build on projects she has worked on related to political advertising on social media platforms, gig work, facial recognition technology, data governance and AI regulation.

Ryan Westman is a director of threat intelligence at Waterloo, Ontario-based eSentire and leads the firm’s threat intelligence team. Prior to joining eSentire, Ryan spent three years in management consulting, leading a threat intelligence and analytics team, and also worked for Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces. Ryan holds a B.A. in political science and history from Wilfrid Laurier University, an M.Sc. in counterterrorism from the University of Central Lancashire and a master’s degree from the University of Waterloo. He is a certified cyberthreat intelligence analyst and certified forensic analyst through Global Information Assurance Certification. As a Digital Policy Hub visiting fellow, he will focus on the impact of poor digital defences on the Canadian economy.

Badriyya Yusuf is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council doctoral candidate in international relations in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University, Canada. She holds a master’s degree in development practice from the University of Winnipeg. Badriyya adopts an interdisciplinary approach to global digital governance, political economy and international development. Her recent work on regional security governance has been published by Routledge and International Journal. Her research as a doctoral fellow with the Digital Policy Hub will examine data governance frameworks, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ori Freiman is a post-doctoral fellow both at the Digital Policy Hub and at McMaster University’s Digital Society Lab, researching the responsible implementation of emerging technologies with a focus on the democratic consequences of central bank digital currencies, the impact of AI policy and ethical considerations on societal change, and the theoretical relations of trust and technology. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto’s Ethics of AI Lab. His formal education includes a B.A. in philosophy; an M.A. in library and information science; and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Program in Science, Technology and Society at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. 

Andrew Heffernan is a part-time professor of international relations and comparative politics at the University of Ottawa, where he also completed a Ph.D. in political science. He is a post-doctoral fellow at the Digital Policy Hub whose research will examine climate governance and mis- and disinformation around climate change. Other major research interests include African politics, global environmental governance, climate change mis- and disinformation, community-based conservation, and the politics of food. Andrew is also active in the scholarship of teaching and learning, about which he is regularly publishing on and presenting at academic conferences, as well as implementing in his teaching in university classes.

Paula Martins is a policy advocacy lead at the Association for Progressive Communications where she follows digital and human rights policy issues at the global level and helps shape the organization’s responses to emerging policy trends. As a Digital Policy Hub doctoral fellow, her research will delve into freedom of expression and digital rights. She is also pursuing her doctorate in law at McGill University.

Matthew da Mota is a post-doctoral fellow at CIGI’s Digital Policy Hub, where he researches the uses and governance of artificial intelligence and large language models within universities and public research institutions (including research libraries and archives). He will also explore the implications of these public institutions’ research policies in the private sector and in government.  Matthew’s other research interests include the connections between history and imperialism, the creation and uses of historical narratives over time, the philosophy of history, propaganda, and the way that media and technologies shape the circulation and preservation of information. He recently obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto’s comparative literature program.

Laila Mourad is a Ph.D. candidate at York University where she is exploring how home-based labour in the gig economy can inform and shape our understanding of the evolving notions of “work” in the digital economy. She applies an interdisciplinary approach to her research of gender, labour and international development, and examines how existing and emerging technologies transform the ways in which household economies and social relationalities are envisioned, as well as their role in development. She is the co-founder of SWANA Collective, a group that aspires to cultivate alternative decolonial spaces in academia and beyond. During her fellowship with the Digital Policy Hub, Laila will examine how existing and emerging technologies transform economic activities.

Maral Niazi is a Ph.D. student at the Balsillie School of International Affairs with a multidisciplinary background in political science, human rights, law and global governance. Her research with the Digital Policy Hub will expand on her doctoral research on the global governance of AI where she will examine the societal impacts of AI on humanity.

Frederick (Fred) Okello is a master’s student at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. At the Digital Policy Hub, his research will focus on technology for development (T4D) as a tool for reducing poverty, and digital and energy inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa. His research assesses T4D as a platform for the region’s digital innovation, investment and policy development, and aims to identify digital technology innovations and policies that can improve private investor regulation, market competitiveness, as well as provision of financial assistance to disadvantaged customers in Sub-Saharan Africa’s digital economy. 

Ambika Opal is a visiting fellow at the Digital Policy Hub and is currently working as a manager with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated to develop the Nunavut Data Strategy and support other data governance initiatives. Ambika holds a bachelor’s degree in systems design engineering and a master’s degree in global governance and specializes in the intersection of technology and policy, including renewable energy, climate change and data. 

Mahatab Uddin is an expert on climate change law, intellectual property law, technology transfer and sustainable development. He is an adjunct professor and post-doctoral researcher at the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, Canada, where he researches possible legal frameworks for AI-run climate-smart agricultural practices — research he will expand on during his fellowship with the Digital Policy Hub. He holds a Ph.D. in public international law on climate change and sustainable development at Aarhus University, Denmark; an M.Sc. in sustainable development from Uppsala University, Sweden; and an LL.M. in intellectual property law from Stockholm University, Sweden.