Biography
Patryk Pawlak is a Part-Time Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre and Project Director for the Global Initiative on the Future of the Internet (GIFI) – a two-year project funded by the European Union. His fields of expertise are global governance of digital and cyber issues, the impact of technology on foreign and security policy, and the European Union’s cyber and digital diplomacy. His current research focuses on how cyber and digital policies are shaping multilateral system and the EU’s role in this process.
Pawlak advises and consults for governments, international organisations and various EU initiatives on cyber diplomacy. He has been involved in multilateral cyber-related processes at the United Nations and bilateral consultations between the EU and partner countries (e.g. Brazil, China, India, South Korea, Japan, United States) and other regional organisations (e.g. Organisation of American States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe). In addition to his work on responsible state behaviour in cyberspace, Dr Pawlak is a recognised expert on cyber capacity building policy. He co-authored (with Nayia Barmpaliou) the Operational Guidance for EU’s International Cooperation on Cyber Capacity Building for the European Commission. He also served as a co-chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise and chair of the Program Advisory Team for the Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building.
Prior to joining EUI, Dr Pawlak headed the Brussels office of the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and coordinated the Institute’s cyber and digital activities. From 2018 to 2022, he was Project Director of the EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative – EU Cyber Direct, an EU-funded multimillion project to support the EU’s engagement on cyber diplomacy and digital policies worldwide. In this capacity, he ideated and coordinated numerous initiatives, including EU Cyber Consultations with partner countries, the European Cyber Diplomacy Dialogue, and the EU Cyber Forum. He was also co-editor of the Directions Blog on cyber, digital and tech issues.
Pawlak is currently a Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Europe. In the past, he was affiliated in different roles with the European Parliamentary Research Service, Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, and the Centre for European Policy Studies. He holds a PhD in Social and Political Sciences from the European University Institute.