Hi, I'm Michael!
I’m a tech policy analyst, researcher, moderator and advocate for human rights in our digitized world. Want to find out what I do? Scroll down.
Want to work with me or hire me as a speaker? Get in touch.
Talks and workshops
The digital technologies that permeate our society often appear opaque and incomprehensible. One of my passions is to explain complex technical phenomena, raise awareness of their societal impact and separate hype from reality. In past events I’ve explained how we can govern algorithmic systems and „Artificial Intelligence“ responsibly, trained public sector institutions to understand how the use of algorithms can lead to discrimination, and helped civil society gain strategic insights into digital ethics.
Policy analysis, practical guides and educational materials
Digital Technologies are the architecture of our present and future. Therefore they need to be governed by human rights and other norms and rules to ensure they are designed and used in a just, inclusive and responsible manner. I analyze the state of technology use and governance, drafting recommendations for a way forward. Practical papers build on this and provide guidance to software developers and the public sector for a responsible use of algorithmic systems.
Moreover, everyone in our society needs to have a basic understanding of technology, its mechanisms and implications for all of us. Together with colleagues I have worked on easy to understand, educational materials on digital technology, algorithms and Artificial Intelligence.
Bio
Michael is a researcher, speaker and advocate on human rights in our digitized world. He is a social scientist working on the issues of human rights online and tech governance as well as other societal and legal aspects of digital technologies. His work is currently focused on criteria for the design of algorithmic systems, public innovation, digital and AI ethics and algorithmically mediated discrimination.
Michael has authored policy papers, guidelines as well as educational materials on digital technologies. He is passionate about explaining and discussing digitization and its effects on society. Michael is a member of the Norwegian Council on Digital Ethics, the AI Ethics Impact Group, where he works on an AI Trust Label, and the A(i)lliance of the Goethe Institute. As an independent expert he is engaged, among others, with, the think tank iRights.Lab in Berlin. He advises the Centre for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (ZVKI) funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.
Previously, Michael was a Project Coordinator at the independent think tank iRights.Lab in Berlin and Project Manager in the “Ethics of Algorithms” project at the Bertelsmann Stiftung. He has worked as a Carlo-Schmid-Fellow with Transparency International in Prague and interned with the German Federal Foreign Office’s International Cyber Policy Coordination Staff. Michael studied International Relations at Dresden University of Technology and World Society and Global Governance at Lucerne University. He is primarily based in Oslo but works across Europe.