Rate My Professor Babak Akhgar

Babak Akhgar is Professor of Informatics at Sheffield Hallam University and Director of the Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research (CENTRIC). He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society. Akhgar graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Software Engineering, followed by a Master’s degree with distinction in Information Systems in Management and a PhD in Information Systems. Prior to his academic career, he gained extensive commercial experience as a Strategy Analyst and Methodology Director for several companies. His research specializations centre on knowledge management within information systems, with applications to combating terrorism and organised crime, cyber security, public order, and cross-cultural ideology polarisation. Akhgar has hands-on experience in the development, management, and execution of knowledge management projects and large-scale international security initiatives.

Akhgar has authored over 100 refereed publications in international journals and conferences. Notable contributions include co-editing 'Intelligence Management: Knowledge Driven Frameworks for Combating Terrorism and Organised Crime' (2011) and 'Strategic Intelligence Management: National Security Imperatives and Information and Communications Technologies' (2013). He also co-edited 'Open Source Intelligence Investigation: From Strategy to Deployment in Law Enforcement, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism' (2017) and serves as editor for the 'Security Informatics and Law Enforcement' book series published by Springer. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2022 for services to security research. Akhgar serves on the editorial boards of three international journals and acts as chair and programme committee member for several international conferences. As Director of CENTRIC, he leads numerous EU-funded projects, including OSPREY for online safety, LAGOON for data governance in security, DETECTOR for AI ethics, and others addressing cybercrime, organised crime prevention, and threat detection through advanced technologies.