Rate My Professor Despoina Giannakaki

Despoina Giannakaki is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Information Technology at Murdoch University, where she contributes to teaching and research in areas such as IT Management and Business Information Systems. Her professional career has spanned IT management, financial analysis, data resources management, and teaching. She has served as unit coordinator for courses including ICT616 Data Resources Management and ICT521, emphasizing practical skills in data management and information systems.

Giannakaki's research outputs include peer-reviewed publications addressing contemporary challenges in technology and education. In 2025, she co-authored 'There is no “AI” in “Freedom” or in “God”' with Polychronis Koutsakis, published in AI & Society. This article critiques the prospect of super-intelligent AI optimizing human freedom, invoking ethical concerns like the trolley problem, AI biases, lack of transparency, and philosophical comparisons to divine entities, particularly within Judeo-Christian frameworks questioning perfection, immutability, and free will. In 2024, she collaborated with Fatuma Namisango, Florence Mwagwabi, and Mostafa Hamadi on 'Integrating Sustainability Education into the Information Systems Curricula: Perspectives from Information Systems Academics in Australian Universities,' presented at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS). This work surveys Australian IS academics' views on incorporating sustainability into curricula. She has also participated in research projects with colleagues including Umera Imtinan, Mostafa Hamadi, and others in the School of Information Technology. Giannakaki is recognized as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Committed to diversity in IT, she facilitated the CodeCrush program at Murdoch University, aimed at inspiring young girls in coding. She stated, 'Women have repeatedly proven themselves to be brilliant in all fields of IT,' and highlighted the importance of hands-on learning and visibility to break stereotypes. Her involvement extends to events like STEM Open Night and the Murdoch University Fintech Roundtable Discussion.