Alina Kontareva, Dr.
Alina is a senior researcher in the Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Society group and a lead of the INCA project (E.U. Horizon 2020). Her research interests are digital platforms, strategy, internet policy, digital technology, and innovation.
Alina holds a Ph.D. in Innovation studies from TIK – Centre for Technology, Innovation, and Culture at the University of Oslo. In the doctoral dissertation, Alina examined the uneven geographical distribution of digital platforms. She analyzed how platforms outside China and the U.S. can emerge and successfully compete with global giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
Before focusing on platforms, Alina researched the internet industry in Russia and was affiliated with the Center for Science and Technology Studies at the European University in St.Petersburg. As part of the “Russian Computer Scientist At Home and Abroad” project, Alina researched the migration of tech specialists, technology transfer from academia to industry, and the role of policy and politics in Russian innovations.
Alina was a Fulbright fellow (2017) and a vistiting researcher at UC Davis (2014), and UW Madison (2022).
Entrepreneurship & innovation · Politics & lawIncrease corporate political responsibility and accountability of digital platforms
This project examines the growing corporate power of platform capitalism and its hegemony on several spheres of European society.
Journal articles and conference proceedings
Kontareva, A., & Kenney, M. (2023). National markets in a world of global platform giants: The persistence of Russian domestic competitors. Policy & Internet, 1-24. Publication details
Other publications
Kontareva, A. (2024). How Russian online platforms compete with global giants. Digital Society Blog. Publication details
Lukan, T., Deacon, B., Kontareva, A. (2024). How TikTok Science Communicators Navigate Norms and Values in the Age of Generative AI. Elephant in the Lab Blog Journal. Publication details
Lectures and presentations
Are there platform alternatives? Lessons from the case of Yandex building a domestic online platform ecosystem40th EGOS Colloquium - Crossroads for Organizations: Time, Space, and People. EGOS. University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy: 04.07.2024 Further information
Alina Kontareva
Stories from values and profits. How the construction of narratives contributed to the emergence of the digital platform field40th EGOS Colloquium - Crossroads for Organizations: Time, Space, and People. EGOS. University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy: 04.07.2024 Further information
Stephan Bohn, Alina Kontareva, David Risi
Big Tech Emerging Power: Insights from the European LandscapeFirst INCA Scientific Meeting. Universidad del País Vasco, San Sebastian/Donostia, Spain: 17.05.2024 Further information
Alina Kontareva
Platform Governance in a Polarized World: Russia’s Approach to Mitigating Reliance on US Platform Giants.Platform Economy Interest Group. Platform Economy Interest Group (PEIG), Oxford Internet Institute (OII), University of Oxford. University of Oxford, Oxford, Great Britain: 14.11.2023
Alina Kontareva
Competing with platform giants: Strategies and the role of the State in the case of Russian digital platforms.ESCP Business School. ESCP Business School, Berlin, Germany: 02.11.2023
Alina Kontareva
Researching Extreme Contexts: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities39th EGOS Colloquium 2023: "Organizing for the Good Life: Between Legacy and Imagination". EGOS. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy: 06.07.2023 Further information
Alina Kontareva
Understanding platform dominance: The role of financialization strategies in the evolution of the platform organizational form.EGOS: 39th EGOS Colloquium 2023: Sub-theme 75: The New Faces and Interfaces of Digital Platforms. EGOS. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy: 06.07.2023 Further information
Alina Kontareva, Stephan Bohn
Protecting Domestic Platform Infrastructure: How Russia Mitigated Dependence upon US West Coast Platform Giants.Workshop: Global Infrastructures: The Production of the Modern World. University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy: 09.06.2023 Further information
Alina Kontareva, Martin Kenney
National platforms in a world of global platform giants: the case of Russian domestic competitorsLunch Talk | National platforms in a world of global platform giants: the case of Russian domestic competitors. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany: 08.06.2023
Alina Kontareva
The Role of Data and Data Partnerships in Digital Platforms.DSRE Project. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway: 01.04.2023
Alina Kontareva
Platforms, Ecosystems, and the Digital Economy.Innovation and Global Challenges. TIK Centre for Technology. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway: 22.02.2023
Alina Kontareva
The Role of Data in Digital Platforms: from Data Collection to Regulatory DebatesRUSTlab, Data at work series. Ruhe Universität, Bochum, Germany: 20.12.2022 Further information
Alina Kontareva
Organisation of events
Lange Nacht der Wissenschaft22.06.2024. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany (National) Further information
Philipp Mahlow, Birte Lübbert, Maurice Stenzel, Alina Kontareva, Daniel Pothmann, Nele Buß, Irina Kühnlein, Sarah Spitz, Freia Kuper, Sami Nenno, Freya Hewett, Frederik Efferenn, Georg von Richthofen, Sonja Köhne, Bronwen Deacon, Matthias C. Kettemann, Thomas Christian Bächle, Nataliia Sokolovska, Martin Wrobel, Jörg Pohle, Hendrik Send, Theresa Züger, Jeanette Hofmann
Exploring Platform Alternatives: Shaping a Responsible FutureFrom ‘Big Tech’ to ‘Small Tech’: Values, Norm-Building, and Open-Source. 12.10.2023. Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany (National) Further information
Alina Kontareva
Lunch Talk | National platforms in a world of global platform giants: the case of Russian domestic competitors08.06.2023. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany (International) Further information
Alina Kontareva, Daniel Pothmann, Sarah Spitz, Stephan Bohn
Participation as expert
The Future of Competition: Digital Platforms, Patent Protection, and Market Dominance The German-American Trade and Tech Conference “Trade, Tech, and Transformation: Transatlantic Visions in Action”Aspen Institute Germany, Berlin, Germany: 19.04.2024 Further informationAlina Kontareva
How the War in Ukraine Could Reshape Global Information, Communication, and SecurityRoundtable University of Oxford. University of Oxford, Oxford, Great Britain: 01.10.2023
Alina Kontareva
Media appearances
KI: Wo steht die EU im globalen Ökosystem? (27.03.2024). Tagesspiegel Background
Further information
Plattformen: Es muss auch anders gehen (13.12.2023). Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier
Further information
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Tagesspiegel Background
KI: Wo steht die EU im globalen Ökosystem?
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Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier
Plattformen: Es muss auch anders gehen
Position
Senior Researcher & Project Lead: Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Society
Contact
Topics: Digital Platforms, Russia's Platform Economy, Platform Capitalism