Paolo Gerli

Biography

Paolo joined Napier University Business School in March 2021, as a Lecturer of Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

He holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy from Northumbria University, where he has also been as a Lecturer of Digital Enterprise from 2018 to 2021. Prior to joining academia, Paolo worked as a regulatory analyst for both private and public organisations in the Italian telecommunications sector.

His professional background reflects in his research, which revolves around business strategies and public policies for the digital transformation of the economy and society. His scholarly work has particularly focused on the development of smart places for the digital transformation of urban and rural communities. Paolo has also contributed to several consultancy projects exploring the governance of smart cities, and is now working on the World Smart City Outlook, which will inform the UN-Habitat Guidelines on People-Centered Smart Cities.

Since 2016, Paolo's research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences. In 2019, he was among the recipients of the Pacific Telecommunications Council Young Scholar Programme, an award for early-career researchers of ICT markets and policies.

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Contribution to a JRC policy report on data intermediaries
  • Academic Consultant (Governance of Smart City Projects), United Nations
  • Academic Consultant (Governance of Smart City Projects), CAF - the Development Bank of Latin America
  • RSA close session for ECRs meeting with the EU Commissioner on Regional Cohesion
  • EIP- Agri seminar on Multi-level strategies for digitising agriculture and rural areas

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • International Telecommunications Society European Conference

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Richard Beresford Bursary - Enterprise Educators UK
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Pacific Telecommunications Council Young Scholar Program
  • ITS PhD seminar - travel grant

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited Talk at the 3rd International Forum on Urban-Rural Linkages (UN Habitat and People’s Government of Songyang County, China).
  • Invited talk at the UN-Habitat Expert Group Meeting : Recovering Territorial Balance by Strengthening Urban-Rural Linkages
  • Invited talk at the UN-Habitat Community of Practice on Harnessing the Power of Connected Communities through Urban-Rural Linkages
  • Invited talk at Theorizing AI Workshop - Luiss University, Rome
  • Invited talk at Technological Forecasting Social Change Workshop on Post-pandemic Smart Cities, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore
  • Keynote at Smart City Expo: Global study on smart city governance
  • Guest Lecture on Rural Digital Entrepreneurship for the Bandung Institute of Technology
  • Guest Lecture on the regulation of electronic communications, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan)
  • Invited talk at Agriconnect, the Italian Convention on Digital Agriculture

 

Media Activity

  • North Edinburgh News: Edinburgh Napier researchers launch ‘smart city playbook’ for United Nations
  • The Scotsman: Smart thinking that deploys digital technology can make our cities fit for the future
  • UK Authority: Edinburgh Napier University develops smart city playbook
  • Future Scot: New global smart cities playbook developed by researchers in Edinburgh
  • Project Scotland: Edinburgh Napier University creates smart city ‘playbook’ for UN
  • Smart Cities World: UN and Napier collaborate on smart city governance playbook
  • Smart places: Why getting the governance right is vital to project success
  • Wired UK: Faster Home Broadband Should Be Enshrined in Law
  • Wired UK: The race to get the UK using fibre optic broadband is speeding up
  • Wired UK: The Conservatives’ own research shows why Labour’s broadband plan makes perfect sense
  • Pacific Telecommunications Council Blog: Digital in rural areas
  • ISP Review: New UK Research Paper on Delivering Faster Rural Broadband
  • Agriconnect: superare il divario digitale nelle zone rurali; agire in tempi rapidi
  • Agriconnect 2017: banda ultra larga nelle aree rurali

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member of the European Regional Science Association
  • Member of the Regional Study Association
  • Member and Social Media Manager of the International Telecommunications Society

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Oor Smart Ceeties: public engagement workshops on the digital future of Scottish cities

 

Reviewing

  • Reviewer for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Nature)
  • Reviewer for Information Policy
  • Book reviewer for Sage
  • Reviewer for Universal Access in the Information Society
  • Reviewer for Journal of Urban Technology
  • Reviewer for Habitat International
  • Reviewer for Regional Studies
  • Reviewer for Public Policy and Administration
  • Reviewer for Technology Analysis & Strategic Management
  • Reviewer for Technological Forecasting and Social Change
  • Reviewer for Government Information Quarterly
  • Reviewer for Information Polity
  • Book reviewer for Springer
  • Reviewer for Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance
  • Reviewer for Telecommunications Policy

 

Date


14 results

Digital contact-tracing and pandemics: Institutional and technological preparedness in Africa

Journal Article
Arakpogun, E. O., Elsahn, Z., Prime, K. S., Gerli, P., & Olan, F. (2020)
Digital contact-tracing and pandemics: Institutional and technological preparedness in Africa. World Development, 136, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105105
Several countries in Africa have either deployed or considering using digital contact-tracing (DCT) as part of their Covid-19 containment strategy, amidst calls for the use of...

Infrastructure Provision on the Margins: An Assessment of Broadband Delivery UK

Journal Article
Gerli, P., Matteucci, N., & Whalley, J. (2020)
Infrastructure Provision on the Margins: An Assessment of Broadband Delivery UK. International Journal of Public Administration, 43(6), 540-551. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2019.1638932
Many governments have recognised the socio-economic importance of broadband. The market often provides a broadband connection but when this does not occur governments have ste...

The involvement of utilities in the development of broadband infrastructure: A comparison of EU case studies

Journal Article
Gerli, P., Van der Wee, M., Verbrugge, S., & Whalley, J. (2018)
The involvement of utilities in the development of broadband infrastructure: A comparison of EU case studies. Telecommunications Policy, 42(9), 726-743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.03.001
Energy companies and other utility providers have been often involved in the provision of telecommunications services. Nevertheless, their contribution to broadband developmen...

Infrastructure investment on the margins of the market: The role of niche infrastructure providers in the UK

Journal Article
Gerli, P., Wainwright, D., & Whalley, J. (2017)
Infrastructure investment on the margins of the market: The role of niche infrastructure providers in the UK. Telecommunications Policy, 41(9), 743-756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2017.03.005
Across Europe, policymakers and market forces are striving to deploy next generation access (NGA) networks and ensure ubiquitous access to superfast broadband services. Due to...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • ESRC Accelerating Business Collaboration
  • Consultancy for Telus inc. on the benefits of rural digital transformation