Dipl.-Ing. Helmut Leopold PhD

Head of Center for Digital Safety and Security, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)

Helmut Leopold has more than 30 years of management experience in the areas of IT, telecommunications and digitalization. During his time as Head of Technology at Telekom Austria, Austria’s largest network operator, he was the main driver of innovation for the company’s digital transformation and thus played a key role in shaping Austria as a digital location. He was responsible for the introduction of broadband Internet and interactive television in Austria and thus also significantly shaped the development of the digital media landscape in Austria, which was underlined by several state awards and the honor as “Euro50 Leaders in Broadband and PayTV” by Cable&Satellite Europe magazine.

 

He currently heads the Center Digital Safety and Security at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and is responsible for national research priorities in the field of digitalization such as cyber security, data platforms, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. Under his leadership, the AIT has developed into a globally recognized technology leader in the field of digitalization, with the contribution to Europe’s digital sovereignty and the development of responsible digitalization always being the main driving force.

 

Helmut Leopold was born in Hohenems, Vorarlberg, in 1963. He graduated from the Higher Technical College (HTL) for Electronics and Communications Engineering in Rankweil, Vorarlberg, studied Computer Science at the Vienna University of Technology and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science from the University of Lancaster in England.