Explore our knowledge

Ole Willers

Assistant Professor

Emner
Digitalisering Kunstig intelligens Teknologi EU Politik Sikkerhed

Primary research areas

Tech Policy

I work on the politics of digital governance and regulation, asking how policies are developed across interplays of public and private authority, and how they shape the organization of markets. Previous work has investigated the formation of AI policies and cybersecurity governance structures, amongst others.

Economic Security

How are concerns for security, efficiency, and resilience balanced in the organization of markets for strategic technologies? My work investigates variations across policy responses and seeks to understand how the transition towards economic security is reshaping the European business context.

Digital Risks and Cybersecurity

My key interest is the governance of cyber risks at the intersection of markets, experts, and politics. Who defines rules, how are responsibilities allocated, and with what effects?

Balancing risks and innovative potentials in digital tech

As digital technologies increasingly permeate all aspects of society, a central question emerges: How can we ensure that their transformative effects serve the common good? 

My research explores the evolving governance of digital technologies and how it shapes—and is shaped by—political and economic dynamics. Against the backdrop of accelerating technological change, I examine efforts to define shared norms and regulatory frameworks that guide the development and use of digital tools in desirable directions. 

Drawing on political economy and economic sociology, I investigate who influences the trajectory of digital governance, how authority is formed and contested, and what implications these dynamics have for the organization of markets. My work pays particular attention to pressing issues such as the governance of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, economic security, and digital sovereignty. 

Analytically, I focus on the interplay between micro-, meso-, and macro-level developments involving both public and private actors. I am especially interested in how authority structures emerge under conditions of uncertainty, and how experts compete or collaborate to shape interpretations and responses to new technological challenges.

Recent research projects

DERISK: How Firms navigate de-risking regimes

Ideas about the global economy in the West are amidst a paradigm shift. Shared beliefs in a virtuous cycle of tighter economic integration, increased global prosperity, and strengthened common security are increasingly being replaced by fears that economic interdependence has morphed into a tool for projections of power and coercion(Farrell and Newman 2019). The neoliberal global order is seemingly crumbling(Gerstle 2022), giving way to a new age of “unpeace” where economic interdependencies are understood as potential vulnerabilities(Leonard 2021).In an effort to “de-risk” and protect security-related industries and reduce vulnerabilities on rival states, Western governments are establishing export control, investment screening, and national industrial policy–as reflected notably in the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU ́s European Economic Security Strategy .However, while the return of the state and the emergence of the “Economic Security State”(Newman and Farrell 2023)is palpable, the actual task of de-risking overwhelmingly falls to private firms, whose supply chains, investments, and exports are affected. The point of departure for DERISK is that despite firms ́ importance, we have very little systematic knowledge about how firms behave in response to signals and regulation from governments about de-risking.
Link to the page

ADD: Algorithms, Data, and Democracy

Algorithms, Data & Democracy (the ADD-project) is a 10-year (2021-2031) interdisciplinary research and outreach project. The project aims to advance digital democracy, envisioning a society in which flourishing organizations, businesses, and democratic institutions are supported by digital technologies and in which technological developments are attuned to the good of people and planet. A society where citizens are well-equipped to evaluate the technological developments and their influence on everyday life and where citizens are able to influence these developments through participation in democratic discourse.

To realize this vision, we focus on the interrelations of sociotechnical developments and re-frame algorithms as part of the answer to current concerns regarding the datafication of democratic societies. Thus, the ADD-project addresses one central concern: How may the algorithmic organization of data engage, enlighten, and empower individuals, organizations, and institutions in democratically legitimate ways?
Link to Algorithms

Cybersecurity of Supply Chains

Omdrejningspunktet i projektet Cybersecurity in Supply Chains er en kvalitativ analyse bestående af 25 caseforløb, hvor projektet afdækker små og mellemstore danske virksomheders praksis når det gælder forsyningskædens cyberrisikostyring.
Link to the page

Outside activities

2025

No outside actitivies to report