Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is an Austrian scholar and professor renowned for his pioneering work on the societal implications of big data and the information age. He is a leading authority on internet governance, data privacy, and the economics of information, most famously advocating for the concept of "digital forgetting." As a professor at the University of Oxford and a former faculty member at Harvard University, his research has significantly influenced global discourse on technology policy and digital rights.

Early life and education

Born in Zell am See, Austria, he developed an early interest in the intersection of law, economics, and technology. He pursued his undergraduate and doctoral studies in law at the University of Salzburg, where he earned his Dr. iur. degree. His academic trajectory was further shaped by a formative period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Law School, immersing himself in the evolving field of cyberlaw and information policy within the United States.

Academic career

His academic career includes prestigious appointments at several world-leading institutions. He served for nearly a decade on the faculty of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He subsequently joined the University of Oxford, where he holds the position of Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute. He has also been a visiting professor at institutions like the National University of Singapore and has lectured globally, contributing to the curricula of numerous graduate school programs focused on information science and public policy.

Research and publications

His research critically examines the power dynamics and economic structures of the digital economy. His influential body of work includes the bestselling book Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, which argues for technological and legal mechanisms to reintroduce forgetting. Earlier, he co-authored Governance and Information Technology. His seminal work Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, co-written with Kenneth Cukier, was translated into over twenty languages and became a foundational text, exploring the transformative potential and perils of data analysis across fields from public health to business intelligence.

Concept of digital forgetting

He is the foremost proponent of the concept of "digital forgetting," a direct challenge to the default permanence of digital information. He argues that the endless storage capacity of modern information technology creates a societal "memory" that can stifle human forgiveness, innovation, and personal growth. His proposals include implementing expiration dates on digital data, a concept that helped inform the legal and philosophical underpinnings of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the right to be forgotten. This work engages deeply with issues of privacy law, autonomy, and the ethical design of social media platforms and search engines.

Influence and recognition

His ideas have exerted considerable influence on policymakers, technologists, and scholars worldwide. He has served as an advisor to corporations like Microsoft and Google on data governance and has consulted for international bodies including the World Economic Forum and the European Commission. His contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and fellowships, and his commentary is frequently featured in major global media outlets such as The New York Times, The Economist, and the Financial Times, shaping public understanding of critical issues in the digital era.

Category:Austrian academics Category:Internet governance Category:Big data Category:University of Oxford faculty Category:Harvard University faculty