The Project is led by Dr Kristina Irion. Also working on the project are Dr Plixavra Vogiatzoglou, as a postdoctoral researcher, and Vilma Margarit Nikolaeva, as a doctoral student.
Kristina is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam. In her research, Dr Irion focuses on EU digital and data law in relation to the governance of transnational digital technologies and data flows. She has published widely on the EU legal approach to personal data protection and in particular on the interface between the GDPR and digital trade law. Her research also sheds light on how digital trade law protection of source code of software and algorithms affects EU regulation in the interest of accountable AI. Another prominent research theme is the transformational impact of cloud computing on data sovereignty and individual rights.
Plixavra has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam Law School (ACIL and IViR) since 2024. Her research focuses on EU digital regulation and policy with a critical legal perspective. She has been investigating the concept of digital sovereignty and how it evolves within policy discourse in relation to emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. She holds a PhD from the KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP), where she remains an affiliated research fellow. Plixavra’s doctoral thesis examined the lawful establishment of mass data surveillance for predictive policing frameworks in light of the EU’s powers to provide security whilst safeguarding fundamental rights.
Vilma joined the University of Amsterdam as a doctoral student in 2026; she has completed her LLB in European and International Law (Technology Law specialisation) as well as her LLM in Technology Law & Innovations at the University of Groningen. Prior to joining IViR, she was part of a digital policy consulting group in Brussels, working closely with the European Commission and the DG-CNECT (Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology). Her research efforts have been focused on the topics of digital human rights, surveillance, data protection, and privacy, particularly within the context of behavioural and targeted advertising. More recently, she has expanded her interests to the realm of the ethical development of AI systems, examined under a gendered and intersectional feminist lens.