Renata Ávila

Human rights and technology lawyer. Specialist in intellectual property and technology, her work deals with the crucial intersection between human rights, information, technological change and disparities in power between North and South. As a lawyer in Guatemala, her country of birth, Ávila has represented indigenous victims of genocide and other human rights abuses, notably including the indigenous leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Rigoberta Menchú ​​Tum. Part of her long-standing promotional work in the field of the Internet and Human Rights, has involved her co-managing, with the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners - Lee, a global campaign for safeguarding human rights in the digital age in over seventy five countries. Ávila sits on the Creative Commons Board, is a trustee of the Courage Foundation, an organisation created for helping whistle-blowers at risk, and a member of the Diem25 advisory council, exploring the potential of decentralised technologies in Europe. She currently works in Belgrade and Guatemala, is writing a book on digital colonialism and advises the Web Foundation on its new Digital Equality strategies. She also represents Civil Society on the OECD's Management Committee on Digital Economy Policy.