Meet the team

Chris Berg is an internationally recognised expert in blockchain, regulation, and civil liberties. His D3 role is to help lead the research, engage directly with industry to solve problems, work with government on public policy matters; and to build D3’s expanding suite of courses.

“We’re collaborating with industry, public policy, the economy and our students at the frontiers,” says Chris. “We are laying the foundations for future jobs and for economic change across the global economy.”

His many articles have been published internationally, and he is the author/co-author of eleven books, including Understanding the Blockchain Economy: An Introduction to Institutional Cryptoeconomics (2019) and The Classical Liberal Case for Privacy in a World of Surveillance and Technological Change (2018).

Digital3’s Director – Learning, Associate Professor Stuart Thomas, leads the development of innovative, focused education offerings for the emerging digital economy. He is a senior educator, researcher, and regular adviser on industry projects. His academic career has focused on learning and teaching leadership, and program development.

His D3 education program for the digital economy offers a full stack of learning options, from short courses for the technology curious through to formal degrees.

“I’m excited to be translating world-leading research and industry projects from our global thought leaders into education for the digital economy, for all the learners that RMIT reaches,” says Stuart.

Terence Chu joins Digital3 from his role as Operations Manager for the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), where he managed operations from recruitment to change management and strategy implementation.

Terence gained his deep understanding of the higher education sector through roles at Monash University, Macquarie University, and the University of Sydney. His achievements include the redesign of MSDI’s operation processes and repository, and building/implementing the global program strategy for Macquarie’s The Incubator.

Terence’s expertise in operational management, strategic planning, project leadership, change management and performance and growth management are significant assets to Digital3.

Sally leads and manages the marketing and communications efforts for Digital3 and associated research centre's, working in close collaboration with senior college staff and relevant business units to build the Digital3 brand and promote its initiatives to industry, future learners, and internal stakeholders. A significant focus for this role is the B2C and B2B market.

Sally is no stranger to digital innovation having worked in a marcoms role at the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub since 2021 and compliments this with over twenty years working in industry in marketing, publishing and project management. She is a passionate marketer with a focus on strategy, cx design, integrated​​​​​​​ communications and creating value for stakeholders.

Luci joins D3 from CPA where she was involved in implementing future-focused transformation solutions and evaluating new progression policy and frameworks.  Luci oversees many of the admin requirements for D3, tracking of projects and event support.

Jason Potts, co-director of Blockchain Innovation Hub, is also a chief investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society

“We’re transitioning from an industrial society to a digital society, with new types of money, new economic infrastructure, new types of contracting, property, and organisations, and a whole bunch of new digital tools,” says Jason. At Digital3, Jason will help to lead research and engage with industry and other stakeholders to develop these “frontiers of new knowledge”

Among his many achievements, Jason has pioneered new fields of analysis, including network-theory-based approaches to evolutionary economics (winning the 2000 Joseph A Schumpeter Prize) and the theory of ‘innovation commons’. Jason has published over 100 articles and his books include Innovation Commons: The Origin of Economic Growth (2019).

Chris Berg is an internationally recognised expert in blockchain, regulation, and civil liberties. His D3 role is to help lead the research, engage directly with industry to solve problems, work with government on public policy matters; and to build D3’s expanding suite of courses.

“We’re collaborating with industry, public policy, the economy and our students at the frontiers,” says Chris. “We are laying the foundations for future jobs and for economic change across the global economy.”

His many articles have been published internationally, and he is the author/co-author of eleven books, including Understanding the Blockchain Economy: An Introduction to Institutional Cryptoeconomics (2019) and The Classical Liberal Case for Privacy in a World of Surveillance and Technological Change (2018).

Matt Warren, Professor of Cyber Security at RMIT and CCSRI Director, leads the cyber security aspects of Digital3. He will work with the Australian safety commission to consider the impact of cyber safety and is leading the development of Digital3’s cyber-security-related courses.

“Digital3 is looking at its key pillars of blockchain, analytics, human rights and cyber security from a technology and business perspective. The rollout of new technologies has unknown impacts for business and society. Digital3 is creating a foundation for applied research with its industry partners.”

Matt’s numerous grants and awards include the Australian Research Council (ARC); the UK’s Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); the European Union; and South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF).

Professor Kok-Leong (KL) Ong’s expertise focuses on translating and enabling AI and data analytics into business practices, and developing new techniques to meet individual business needs. He helped to start Australia's first Business Analytics degree and has led development of other business analytics courses, as well as winning several teaching and service awards.

KL leads D3’s AI and analytics research and training, which he says is the key to giving Australians a competitive advantage.

“Basic AI fluency and data literacy is important,” says KL. “Other countries in our region are investing a lot in AI. We need to upscale our workforce in a very timely manner in areas like AI, blockchain and cyber security, to be competitive in the international market.”

CPOW Co-Director, Dr Lauren Gurrieri, draws on her expertise examining social inequalities across consumer and digital cultures to explore how digital technologies can be harnessed to drive social change and enhance social inclusion. Lauren’s research has been published in numerous leading academic journals and she has authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, case studies and commissioned reports for government and external organisations. She prioritises engagement and impact as part of her scholarly practice. 

“Understanding how organisations and relevant stakeholders can use digital technologies to address inequalities towards better and fairer futures is imperative,” says Lauren. “CPOW researchers will provide these important insights through the varied collaborations driven through D3.”

Dr Lena Wang’s disciplinary expertise lies in organisational psychology. She uses a psychological perspective towards developing positive individuals, teams and organisations, and her research includes using big data to uncover behavioural insights that have policy and practice implications.        

Lena also has two decades of experience working closely with government and industry partners in their organisational capability development programs and initiatives, enabling them to perform and thrive in a transforming business world. 

“It is important to understand the human impact when driving for digital innovations and implementations,” says Lena.” This is where CPOW researchers are uniquely placed to contribute to the D3 initiative, so that this human focus remains core to organisations’ digital agendas.”

Dr Kate Grosser research critically engages with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) theory and practice from feminist perspectives, recently extending to gender analysis of the business and human rights agenda. She is particularly interested in CSR as a process of governance, the contribution of feminist theories, and feminist social movements.

Kate maintains extensive engagement with policy and practice, having acted as advisor on ‘integrating a gender perspective’ to the United Nations Special Representative on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.  Kate sits on the Distinguished Advisory Board at Gender, Work & Organization. 

Dr Jonathan Kolieb’s research looks at responsible business in conflict affected areas, business and peace building and children's rights. Jonathan has worked with a range of governmental and non-governmental organisations in the fields of human rights and international affairs - in Australia, the US and the Middle East.

These roles include: Consultant for the United Nation’s Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (New York); Congressional Liaison at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC; Special Assistant to Ambassador Morton Abramowitz at The Century Foundation (Washington DC); Project Director, Israeli-Palestinian Human Rights Center (Jerusalem).