Meet the team
Victor Dominello - Director of the UNSW-UTS Trustworthy Digital Society former NSW Government Minister
Victor Dominello is a former senior NSW Government minister. In July 2022 he was recognised by The Australian newspaper as one of the country’s top 100 innovators.
In 2019 Victor was appointed the world’s first Customer Service Minister. During his 12-year cabinet career he held a range of other portfolios including, Digital Government, Innovation, Finance and Aboriginal Affairs. He was part of the leadership group that led the state through Covid and he drove digital solutions such as QR check-ins, vaccine certificates and dine and discover vouchers via the ServiceNSW app.
Victor is recognised globally for the role he played in transforming public service delivery in NSW through initiatives such as the Department of Customer Service, Service NSW and the Digital Restart Fund.
In April 2023 he was appointed as Director of a new initiative from UNSW Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney – the Trustworthy Digital Society, designed to lead research and insights in citizen-centred digital platforms.
Helen Paik, Director of Research Strategy of Trustworthy Digital Society
Helen Paik is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney and Research Director of the UNSW–UTS Trustworthy Digital Society initiative.
Her research addresses the design and deployment of dependable distributed systems, and asks how the software-engineering disciplines of testing, verification, provenance and compliance can be extended to systems society is now being asked to trust. Her work spans software engineering fundamentals - distributed architectures, data management, and cyber-physical systems - and their application to digital identity, privacy, security, and trustworthy AI.
Her current projects run along three connected lines. The first brings software-engineering assurance to machine learning: locating and steering trustworthiness-relevant behaviour in large language models, robustness testing and repair of generative models, watermarking and provenance for AI-generated code, and verifiable evaluation of machine reasoning. The second concerns accountable digital money and tokenised-asset infrastructure: formal verification of settlement finality, the functioning of markets in tokenised real-world assets, and accountable credential disclosure in self-sovereign identity. The third bridges the two, turning regulatory and legal text into executable, checkable constraints so that compliance can be verified rather than asserted.
She has published over 140 peer-reviewed papers and led industry-embedded research through Cooperative Research Centres and national programs, partnering with organisations in finance, government, infrastructure, cybersecurity, startups, and digital services. At UNSW she teaches data management and web applications, and leads a group of doctoral and master's candidates working across AI assurance, tokenised finance, and machine-executable compliance. She serves the research community through editorial boards, technical committee leadership, and program chair roles at international conferences.
Naomi Qi Henry, Project Officer of Trustworthy Digital Society
Naomi Qi Henry is the Project Officer for the UNSW-UTS Trustworthy Digital Society. A project and portfolio management professional with more than 14 years of experience delivering complex programs, governance frameworks and strategic initiatives across Australia and internationally.
At Trustworthy Digital Society, Naomi manages strategic projects and portfolio operations across UNSW and UTS, supporting governance, stakeholder engagement and cross-sector collaboration to deliver impactful research and innovation in trustworthy digital technologies.
Meet the Advisory Board
Professor Maurice Pagnucco – Deputy Dean (Education) UNSW Engineering, UNSW Sydney
Maurice Pagnucco is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Deputy Dean (Education) of the Faculty of Engineering. He was also the Head of the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW from July 2010 to September 2019. He joined UNSW in 2001 as a Senior Lecturer and has held the position of Deputy Dean (Education) since 2019.
Maurice is also a Professorial Fellow at the UNSW iCinema Research Centre in 2014, Deputy Director of UNSW’s Creative Robotics Lab (CRL) and Co-Director of UNSW’s Intelligent Environments Lab in 2016. He is the Immediate Past President of the Australian Council of Deans of ICT (ACDICT) having served as president from mid-2016 to mid-2018 and was previously Chair of the NICTA (now Data61; Australia’s national ICT centre of excellence) University Partner Committee and Chair of the NSW Steering Committee for Digital Careers.
His research is focussed on Artificial Intelligence with particular emphasis on Cognitive Robotics, Belief Change and Reasoning About Actions. He has published articles in the major Artificial Intelligence Conferences like IJCAI, AAAI, ECAI, KR, TARK as well as the major journals AIJ, JAIR, Journal of Philosophical Logic. He has also been part of the UNSW RoboCup Standard Platform League team that has won this international autonomous robot soccer 5 times since its inception.
Maurice is currently an associate editor of the journal Artificial Intelligence (SJR Q1, H index 129), the most highly regarded journal in this field of research. He also been on the editorial board of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (SJR Q2, H index 99), and is a current member of leading international professional bodies, including the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the Association for Symbolic Logic (ASL).
Professor Fang Chen - Executive Director, UTS Data Science Institute (DSI), UTS
Distinguished Professor Fang Chen is the Executive Director at the UTS Data Science Institute. She is an award-winning, internationally recognised leader in AI and data science. With her vast experience in industry, government, and academia, Fang excels in developing strategies for innovation, shaping digital transformation initiatives, and creating world-class R&D for industries and governments. She is also a staunch proponent of ethical and human-centered AI practices. Professor Chen actively contributes her expertise to various advisory committees and expert panels, including the Federal Industry Science and Innovation Australia Board and the NSW Government AI Review Committee, which established the AI assurance framework for the NSW Government. She also serves on the ITS Australia Board and several startup company boards. Professor Chen won the "Oscar" of Australian Science – the Australian Museum Eureka Prize 2018 for Excellence in Data Science. She is the "Water Professional of the Year", awarded by the Australian Water Association in 2016. She was awarded the "Brian Shackle Award" in 2017 for “the most outstanding contribution with international impact in the field of human interaction with computers and information technology” from IFIP. In 2021, she won the NSW Premier's Prize of Science and Engineering, and the Australia and New Zealand "Women in AI" Award in Infrastructure. Professor Chen has produced groundbreaking research, as demonstrated by her 400+ peer-reviewed publications in the fields of science and engineering, along with authoring several highly influential books. Moreover, she has filed 30+ patents across 8 countries.
Professor Anika Gauja, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Technology Sydney
As Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), Anika provides leadership and strategic assistance and support to the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) on the delivery of UTS 2030 and implementation of the Research Strategy.
Prior to joining UTS, Anika was the Executive Director (Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences) at The Australian Research Council. She has also held research leadership roles at the University of Sydney as Associate Dean Research and Director of Research Development (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences).
Anika is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and an internationally recognised researcher on political parties, participation and electoral democracy. She is the author and editor of ten books, and more than 60 journal articles and chapters with leading outlets such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, the European Journal of Political Research, Governance and Party Politics.
She is a regular political commentator in Australian and international media and has worked with parties and governments to establish more meaningful opportunities to participate in politics and political finance reform.
Professor Ian Gibson, Deputy Dean, Industry, Engagement, Innovation & Research, UNSW Sydney
Professor Ian Gibson has over 30 years of experience as a computer scientist and engineer and at executive level R&D management. He has led the research, development and global commercialisation of new technology across a broad range of electrical engineering, computer science and digital imaging. Professor Gibson was the founding CEO of Intersect Australia Ltd (2008 - 2015). Prior to this Professor Gibson was General Manager at CiSRA, the Australian R&D lab for Canon Inc, where he built research capability over several years to deliver world leading technology into a wide range of Canon's major product groups generating hundreds of patents along the way. Professor Gibson's technology has been shipped in over a billion units world wide, and he has secured over $200m in research funds from a variety of sources.
Professor Kate McGrath, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research), UTS
Professor McGrath is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research). Kate provides the vision and leadership to build UTS’s national and international profile in research performance, research training, global impact, engagement and partnerships and research translation, commercialisation and knowledge exchange. She is responsible for the strategic direction, operations and support of research across the university.
Kate has been involved in research-led innovation and entrepreneurship and has been on the board of several university spinout companies, deep technology companies and innovation agencies. She has taught extensively at all levels, developed curricula and new degrees, supervised students and led the established a nation-wide program to help primary school and early childhood teachers in New Zealand introduce STEM into their classrooms.
Kate completed a BSc (Honours) in Chemistry at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand prior to a PhD at ANU. She then held postdoctoral positions at the Université de Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France and Princeton University, Princeton, USA. She also has a finance degree from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Her first academic position was at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, followed by Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), Wellington, New Zealand. She led the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, before being appointed to the role of Vice-Provost (Research) at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW).
TDS Insight Statement
People across the globe are increasingly living in a twined digital and physical world. To maintain the integrity of society, people need to increasing trust what they cannot see or understand. We’ve experienced this many times in our history. But most of these changes have been to our physical world, now it is the digital world, and the pace of the change is so rapid that it challenges the concept of trust. But without trust we will cease to function. Slowly things will erode, progress will be stalled, isolation will increase, and the enormous benefits of digital advances will never be realised. Hence Trust in the digital world is essential. The Trustworthy Digital Society will bring together the users, the conduits, the advocates, the regulators, the adopters, the creators… the people who will work together to provide the ways and assurances that will engender trust and enable us to make real the benefits to all.
Associate Professor Amelia Johns - Associate Professor in Digital and Social Media, in the School of Communication UTS
Amelia Johns is an Associate Professor in Digital and Social Media, in the School of Communication. Her work spans the fields of social media and youth civic participation, with a focus on minority youth’s: negotiation of racism and hate speech, digital citizenship and activism (including on closed and encrypted messaging platforms), digital literacy and safety. Her recent work has focused on misinformation, platform governance and trust on Facebook and WhatsApp. She is the recipient of an ARC Discovery project: 'Fostering Global Digital Citizenship: Diasporic Youth in a Connected World' (DP190100635). She was awarded a Facebook Content Policy Award in 2019 for the project 'Mapping and Countering the Diffusion of Hate Speech Across Social Media'. She also led a UNESCO funded project in 2021: 'Mapping and Review of Online Resources for vulnerable and marginalised young people in the Asia Pacific’. She is co-author of the recent book 'WhatsApp: from a one-to-one communication app to a global communication platform' (Polity, 2023). She is also the author of Battle for the Flag (2015), and co-editor of Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest, Culture (2016).
TDS Insight Statement
Digital and social media environments are growing more complex, with the addition of generative AI increasing digital inclusion and accessibility but also potentially contributing toward social harms such as an increase of information disorder, harmful and biased content, and privacy risks. By providing evidence-based education, training and tools to individuals, businesses and governments, the TDS is well placed to help these stakeholders make informed and ethical decisions about current and future technology use.
Dr Simon Knight - Associate Professor in the University of Technology, Transdisciplinary School and a member (founding Director) of the Centre for Research on Education in a Digital Society (UTS:CREDS), UTS
Dr Simon Knight is an Associate Professor in the University of Technology, Transdisciplinary School and a member (founding Director) of the Centre for Research on Education in a Digital Society (UTS:CREDS). My background draws on degrees combining philosophy, psychology, education, and human-computer interaction. Associate Professor Simon Knight is an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow (DE230100065) and Discovery Project (DP240100602) Co-Investigator. The former focuses on teaching practices for navigating disagreement and uncertainty, and the latter on participatory approaches to AI governance in education. In both these participatory methods are central, that seek to advance scholarly research alongside practice, while respecting the expertise held across both. In both, too, a key concern is in understanding how people navigate complex issues in their everyday lives, including those that might be described as dilemmas, predicaments, disagreements, or controversies. As the summary for Associate Professor Simon Knight’s ADECRA notes: “We are facing an epistemological crisis, grounded in changing technologies, fake news, and a distrust of experts. Developing capability to navigate uncertainty, disagreement, and evidence is one of the most pressing social issues of our time in order to develop a sustainable society, ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Lauren Perry - Responsible Technology Policy Specialist, UTS
Lauren Perry manages major HTI projects, including the Facial Recognition Technology Model Law Project and digital government services projects. She also delivers training in responsible AI and is a co-author of the 2022 report, Facial recognition technology: Towards a model law. Lauren’s areas of expertise include human rights, facial recognition, digital identity, age assurance, and the social and organisational implications of new technologies. Lauren completed her Masters in Public Policy in 2022 with a research dissertation on ‘Improving interorganisational collaboration for the development of AI policy in Australia.’
Prior to joining HTI, Lauren worked at the Australian Human Rights Commission in research, project and policy roles across the Human Rights Scrutiny and Disability Rights Team. From 2018 to 2020 she worked on the Human Rights and Technology Project, undertaking research and co-ordinating the national consultation and public engagement for the Project. In addition, Lauren worked on projects related to freedom of religion, disability employment rights, and safeguarding the rights of people in all forms of detention.
In 2021, Lauren established the AHRC’s IncludeAbility Employee Network, connecting some of Australia’s largest public and private sector employers who are committed to increasing employment opportunities for people with disability. Lauren was a founding member of the UTS Young Alumni Committee, and also serves on the ACCAN and Vision 2020 Right to Digital Accessibility Working Group.
TDS Insight Statement
As artificial intelligence and new digital technologies continue to redefine all aspects of our lives, so too grow the risks of data collection, surveillance, discrimination and a lack of accountability. To overcome these risks, trustworthiness and human-centred values must be at the heart of the digital systems we all create, deploy and use. These expectations should apply for all goods and services across the public and private sectors, as well as the tools and technologies we use in our personal lives.
Achieving this vision requires a multidisciplinary approach and genuine engagement with the people for whom trust can be hardest —those who are at-risk or at the margins of society. Through the TDS’s collaborative approach to research and problem-solving, I believe we can leverage the skills and knowledge needed to work towards a more trustworthy and equitable future.
Prof. Toby Walsh FAA FACM FRSN | Chief Scientist | Laureate Fellow & Scientia Professor of AI, UNSW Sydney
Professor Toby Walsh is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW and CSIRO Data61. He is Chief Scientist of UNSW.AI, UNSW's new AI Institute. He is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives, having spoken at the UN, and to heads of state, parliamentary bodies, company boards and many others on this topic. This advocacy has led to him being "banned indefinitely" from Russia. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science, and was named on the international "Who's Who in AI" list of influencers. He has written four books on AI for a general audience, the most recent is "Faking It! Artificial Intelligence in A Human World".
TDS Insight Statement
AI is eating the world. It is therefore essential that we ensure we create a digitally enabled society that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. We need it to be a world where everyone can participate fully, safely and confidently in the digital world. Indeed, if applied carefully, I believe AI can ensure it is a better world, one that it is more equitable, inclusive and sustainable. But to do so, we need initiatives like the TDS to provide education, training, and tools to help people understand the risks and benefits of digital technologies, and to make informed, responsible and intelligent decisions about their use.