Mihaly Fazekas is an associate professor at the Central European University, Department of Public Policy, with a focus on using data science methods to understand the quality of government globally. He is also the scientific director of an innovative think-tank, the Government Transparency Institute. He has a PhD from the University of Cambridge where he pioneered data science methods to measure and understand high-level corruption in Central- and Eastern Europe.
His research and policy interests revolve around corruption, favouritism, private sector collusion, and government spending efficiency. Methodologically, he has experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods in diverse fields such as public policy, data science, and political science. He worked at the University of Cambridge as the scientific coordinator of the Horizon 2020 funded project DIGIWHIST which used data science approaches to measuring corruption risks, administrative capacity, and transparency in public procurement in 33 European countries. His articles appeared in diverse, high-quality journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Governance, Regional Studies, World Development, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, the Lancet, or International Journal of Data Science and Analytics. His policy reports have been published by prestigious organisations such as the World Bank, the OECD, or the European Commission.
He regularly consults the European Commission, United Nations, OECD, World Bank, and a range of national governments and NGOs across the globe. In 2020, he has won the IMF's Anti-Corruption Challenge leading an interdisciplinary team from across government and academia.
