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, economics, 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. He also serves as a co-Principal Investigator on the Global Integrity/DFID funded research project looking at anti-corruption in development aid-funded procurement.
He regularly consults the European Commission, Council of Europe, EBRD, 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.
