Advisory Board

Dr Matteo Arru is a Research Associate and Associate Editor of the European Law Enforcement Research Bulletin at CEPOL. His research specialises in applying artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and business process management to improve organisational efficiency. Focusing on law enforcement training, his work enhances security and operational capabilities through digital transformation and advanced AI tools. He has significant expertise in knowledge management systems, cybersecurity, and AI-driven innovation.

Mehdi Ghassemi is Director of Research at ISTC (Université Catholique de Lille), where he leads a interdisciplinary team exploring the socio-political implications of digital media, AI, and public discourse on algorithmic surveillance. In 2023, he co-founded CEThicS, France’s first center dedicated to the ethical, political, and socio-discursive issues of algorithmic surveillance. His research focuses on AI- driven surveillance in France and the Middle East, using critical media theory and discourse studies.

The Policy Advisor Safety and Security does policy preparation on all matters regarding safety and security for the local authority. It entails everything between prevention and curation/enforcement. This is done in close cooperation with other local services like community guards (gemeenschapswachten), traffic service (verkeersdienst), event coordinator (evenementenloket), public works (openbare werken) and municipal administrative sanctions (GAS).

As a policy advisor, I am also the liaison with the local and regional first responder organisations like Brandweer Zone Kempen and Politiezone Geel-Laakdal-Meerhout. Together with the municipal services we work towards an innovative and integral approach of safety and security issues in our city.

With regards to this project, I’m the project coordinator for the joint camera program city & police.

Philipp Knopp studies protest and policing from an STS perspective. In his PhD thesis, he investigated epistemic practices in police control rooms. He has also written extensively on the effects of surveillance on protest culture.

Dr Amy Stevens is a Sociologist and Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research interests are broadly focused on the use and development of new surveillance technologies–by both states and citizens–and how they are governed. This includes the use of data and new technologies for investigating and detecting crime, understanding resistance and opposition to their use, and the human rights and social justice issues which surround them. Amy has published work on the ‘chilling effect’ that surveillance has on activist activity around the world and the diverse concerns and opposition arising in relation to increasing state surveillance practices. She is also the author of a recent book, ‘Resisting State Surveillance in the Digital Age’, published by Routledge in 2024. Her current ongoing research focuses on citizen-led policing activities and the formation of citizen ‘watch-groups’ who organise to surveil other citizens and detect and intervene in illegal activities.

Dr Anne Templeton is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Edinburgh and leads the Identities and Collective Behaviour research group. Her research primarily focuses on using the social identity approach to improve crowd safety in emergencies and at mass events.

Svenonius, Ola, (PhD, pol. sci.) is Deputy Research Director at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). He works in the area of Information Environment and Influence where he leads several projects on psychological deence and societal security. He is currently working on hybrid threats, electoral interference, and willingness to defend. Recently, he headed a team to evaluate Ukrainian civilian defence efforts and initiated. Previous work includes comparative studies on surveillance and trust in post-communist societies.

Dr. Azadeh Akbari is Assistant Professor in Public Administration and Digital Transformation at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. She has received the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Global fellowship for her project on Authoritarian Smart Cities. Azadeh Akbari’s research focuses on authoritarian surveillance and critical studies of ICTs in development. The open-access co-edited (with Silvia Masiero) volume on Critical ICT4D (ICTs for Development) will be published by Routledge in 2025. She is a member of the board of directors at the International Surveillance Studies Network and has also founded Surveillance in the Global South Research Network to expand the scope of surveillance studies to include non-Western discourses and practices and create a place for exchange, collaboration, and activism against the undemocratic use of surveillance technologies. Dr. Azadeh Akbari was a journalist for many years and worked as a communication manager and community outreach specialist at the UNHCR, UNICEF, and the British Council. She is a contributor to many leading media outlets, including The Guardian and CNN, commenting on Internet governance and surveillance technologies in authoritarian regimes.