Researchers

Christos Karelis is a PhD researcher in the area of urban sustainability and a member of the Information Systems Laboratory (ISLab) at the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering at the University of the Aegean, Greece, Samos. Christos is a graduate of Computer Science & Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DCSE), University of Ioannina, and an alumna of the MSc in Digital Innovation and Startup Entrepreneurship, Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean.

His academic interests include urban sustainability, citizen science, human-computer interaction, the principled development of clean software, and multidisciplinary approaches in information science.

Georgios Papageorgiou is a researcher at the University of the Aegean and a Ph.D. candidate under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie scholarship agreement in the field of Data Journalism and Open Data. He is a graduate of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, School of Science, University of the Aegean, Greece, and a graduate of Internet Technologies and Enterprise Computing, School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, United Kingdom.
He worked for almost a decade as a software engineer in Greece and the Netherlands.
His current research interests include Open data, Data Journalism, Fake News, Open Data as a News source, and Media Credibility.

Mohsan Ali is a researcher at the University of the Aegean. He won the Marie-Curie Scholarship in 2021 in the field of open data ecosystem (ODECO) to pursue his PhD degree at the University of the Aegean. Currently, he is working on the technical interoperability of open data in the information systems laboratory; this position is funded by ODECO. His areas of expertise are open data, open data interoperability, data science, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence. The list of expertise is not exhaustive; he also has a specialization in deep learning from Coursera and machine learning. He completed his master’s degree in Computer Science (MSCS) with distinction(Gold-Medal) from the Air University in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is always looking forward to collaborating with research teams from all around the world and is eager to work in the field of open data for impact and transparency in government.

Maria Ioanna Maratsi is a PhD researcher at the University of the Aegean and scholar under a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action agreement in the area of semantic interoperability and open data, and a member of the Information Systems Laboratory (ISLab). Ioanna is a graduate (BSc) of Information & Communication Technologies, department of Digital Systems (Networks and Telecommunication Systems track), University of Piraeus, and alumna of the MSc in Information Security, Stockholm University (Department of Computer and Systems Sciences), Sweden, where she was also a member of the Systems Analysis and Security Unit.

Her academic interests include (not limited to): Open and linked data, interoperability, knowledge graph and ontology engineering, application of new technologies on semantics, cybersecurity, digital forensics, AI and algorithm ethics, digital humanities, and multidisciplinary approaches in information science.

Zoi Lachana graduated from the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering at the University of the Aegean, where she obtained an Integrated Master’s Degree. She then completed postgraduate studies in Technologies and Management of Information and Communication Systems, specializing in E-Government at the same university. In 2024, she was awarded a PhD with a focus on designing a scientific framework for Digital Governance. She is a Researcher and Project Manager at the Information Systems Laboratory of the University of the Aegean. Additionally, she teaches at the postgraduate program of Sapienza University of Rome (UNIROMA1) on research proposal writing and development, as well as at the University of Piraeus in the MSc program “Information Systems & Services,” specializing in IT Governance. Since 2017, she has worked on numerous research projects at both European and national levels (digiGov EDIH, ManyLaws, TODO HORIZON, PROMETHEUS, among others), focusing on Legal Informatics, Interoperability, Open Data, and Smart Cities. She has participated in organizing international conferences and summer schools (Samos Summit on ICT-enabled Governance, Opengov Summer School, DigiBus Summer School) and has served as a Research and Business Process Modeling (BPMN, BPR) Consultant for public sector organizations. Her research interests span a broad range of topics, including Artificial Intelligence, Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Citizen Science, and the applications of Digital Governance at both local and international levels. In these fields, she has authored scientific papers in international journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters, while also contributing to the writing and management of research proposals within programs such as Horizon Europe, ERASMUS+, and national projects.