Olivier Alais is a social technologist, a researcher and an entrepreneur. He has been working for the latest decade on adapting technology to civil society needs. He spent four years in West Africa, giving computer science courses, setting up rural computer centers, building community based radio stations, and managing an innovation lab.
More recently, he has been designing tech policies in Liberia and Comoros, a micro insurance health program for Burmese refugees in Thailand, an open source policy in Mauritius, and an open data initiative in Liberia under funding from the World Bank, the European Commission, the Global Fund and USAID.
As a researcher, Olivier worked on the social impacts of Open Data and Open Source for the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and for the Instituto de Tecnologia e Sociedade de Rio de Janeiro.
As an entrepreneur, Olivier co-founded Soukeina, a security-engineering firm selling digital security solutions on the African continent.
He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Paris, an engineering degree in information system from the University of Technology of Troyes, and studied at McGill University on a student fellowship.