Renan Gadoni
Renan Gadoni
Ph.D. candidate (Law)
Scotiabank Student Fellow (2022-2023)




Biography

Renan Gadoni is a Ph.D. candidate in Law at the University of Ottawa Centre for Law, Technology and Society under the supervision of Dr. Teresa Scassa

Renan Gadoni was named an Emerging Leader in the Americas by the Canadian government (ELAP program) and is currently a MITACS fellow at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, pursuing his doctorate studies at the University of Ottawa in the field of governance of data. His research contributes to the ongoing global discussion on two topics: (i)The emergence of data stewardship institutions, and (ii) the impact of Data Protection Regulations on Innovativeness.

Data stewardship is an approach taken by organizations that entails collecting, maintaining, and sharing data on behalf of others. New types of Data Stewardship models are emerging, conceptualized toward dealing with privacy risks stemming from the data economy and not sufficiently addressed by Data Protection Regulations. Therefore, firstly Renan Gadoni devotes his research to understanding how countries can benefit from data stewardship institutions to ensure data privacy and human dignity. Furthermore, he assesses the legal and policy grounds for their implementation and development. He draws on the growing literature on data governance, as well as the lessons learned from practical experiences in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Nonetheless, his research is not restricted to the Global North, with a particular focus on the implementation of data stewardship institutions in the Global South.

Secondly, Renan Gadoni’s research aims at understanding whether data protection regulations spur innovation. Firms frequently claim that more stringent data privacy regulations will stifle innovation. They suggest that data protection policies will put them at a disadvantage compared to companies in countries with less strict regulations, highlighting the trade-offs between data protection and competitiveness. On the other hand, stricter regulation may create positive market signals to entrepreneurs. Therefore, the most appropriate level of stringency for data privacy policies is still contested. To address this issue, he has been pioneering analyzing the impact of the European General Data Protection Regulation on the technological development in the field of privacy-enhancing innovations using advanced quantitative methods.

Renan Gadoni has a multi-disciplinary background that perfectly fits research at the intersection of Law and Data Governance Policies. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, he studied Science and Economics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in Brazil. Then he was awarded a Chancellor’s International Scholarship to join the Science and Technology Policies Program at the University of Sussex. During his studies, he focused on the applicability of data stewardship institutions in the Global South, and he recently published a paper on data cooperatives in Brazil. This work set the ground for him to move forward with a broader exploration of data governance.