Laurens Vandercruysse

Trained as financial economist and political scientist, I started as PhD researcher on the FWO-funded research project Smart city Privacy: Enhancing Collaborative Transparency in the Regulatory Ecosystem (SPECTRE) in late 2018. My work concentrated on the economic impact of data protection regulation in the context of smart cities, and the financial side of data protection impact assessments (DPIAs). Valorizing this research, I obtained a PhD in Business Economics from the VUB in June 2022.

In my opinion, the most impactful research connects to practice, and uses a multidisciplinary approach. First, because independent scientific research is primarily conducted for the benefit of society, I view the translation of research findings into practical reports or management recommendations as an important task of any researcher. Second, for complex and transversal problems, demarcations of research disciplines can be very artificial. The biggest problems we face as a society, demand a comprehensive approach – it is evident that wicked issues require multidisciplinary efforts.

At imec-SMIT-VUB, I am working on socio-economic aspects in the context of the SolidLab Vlaanderen research project. SolidLab Vlaanderen lays the groundwork for the implementation of a decentralized data infrastructure, empowering data subjects.

Please feel free to contact me to exchange about research (balancing data protection with economic objectives, competition in data markets, and data subject empowerment), to share insights and to explore ways to collaborate.