Contact:
Twitter: @jvelkova
Office e-mail and phone are: here or use

My professional background is rooted in the free software / open-source movement, but also around issues related to Internet Governance, and keeping the Internet open and free. For almost 10 years I have been working with Internet Society – Bulgaria which gave me the great opportunity to work on projects such as introducing free and open source software to governments on the Balkans, researching the Internet in Bulgaria, and working with local and central governments on a broad spectrum of ICT related issues. Since 2008 I live in Sweden where I completed a second Masters in Communication for Development at Malmö University and became later involved in the program as teaching assistant (adjunkt). In the same time I worked as an assistant webmaster, and for a short period – acting deputy director – of the Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET) at Lund University.

I constantly look for new challenges, which has led me through all from being a php-web developer in the early Internet days, through being a producer in an independent theatre in Göteborg, a traveller in India, to now getting into the academia and taking on the challenge of doing a PhD.

CV

Appointments
Teaching in Sprig 2015: Media activism, 30 ECTS (course convenor)

2012 to present Fully Funded PhD Studentship Including Teaching Responsibilities, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden

2012 – 2013 Teaching assistant at Master Program “Communication for Development“, K3 , Malmö University (in courses on Research Methodology; New Media, ICT and Development, and Degree Project)

2011 – 2012 Yearly academic conferences for young scholars coordinator, and webmaster, Swedish South Asian Studies Network – SASNET, Lund University. (Acting deputy director in the period January – March 2011)

2011 – Project leader, consulting Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo on obtaining country code top level domain name (cctld)

2004 – 2011 International project coordinator and fundraiser, Internet Society Bulgaria. Some more significant projects include:

2006-2007 – Project “FlossWorld: Worldwide Impact Study“, led by the University of Maastricht.
Coordinator for collecting empirical material on open source communities from
the Balkan region.

2006-2007 – Project “Tossad: Towards Open Source Software Adoption and Dissemination“,
led by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tubitak).
Coordinator for Internet Society Bulgaria’s contribution to the project consortium
activities.

2007-2008 – Project SELF (Sharing Knowledge about Free Software), coordinated by Internet
Society Netherlands. Assistant to Internet Society Bulgaria’s contribution to the
consortium activities.
2006 – Project “Enhancing service delivery, social protection and livelihood support for
the poor through ICT”, funded by UNDP. Technical coordinator.
2004-2005 – Project “Support to e-Government Initiatives based on the Free/Open Source
Software at the local level in the South-eastern Europe”, funded by UNDP.
Technical coordinator.

2002 – 2004 IT Consultant, Coordination Centre for ICT at Bulgarian Council of Ministers working on project “E-government in bulgaria”. Worked on an action plan for implementing national strategy on e-governance

Grants

Mozilla Foundation – 1000 USD (6500 SEK) for participating in the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) as part of the Swedish Governmental delegation, 2012

Applicant and concept writer on behalf of Föreningen Fri Kultur och Programvara, project for Nordic Creative Commons network – “Some Rights Reserved for Nordic Artists”, 550 000 SEK from Kulturkontakt Nord and Nordisk Kulturfond, 2010-2011

Applicant and concept writer on behalf of the Cultural Department of Göteborg City for project on performance art festival in Göteborg, 100 000 EUR (880 000 SEK) from the European Union Program “Culture”, 2010

Applicant and project leader for project “Vocational Training on Open Source Sofitware – Needs Analysis”, 10 000 USD (65 000 SEK) from Internet Society, 2009

Applicant and project leader for project “Data Retention and Digital Rights Protection in Bulgaria”, 10 000 USD (65 000 SEK) from Internet Society, 2008

Applicant and consultant for project “Training in Open Source Multimedia Instruments”, 100 000 EUR (880 000 SEK), Programme MEDIA of the EU, 2006

Leadership/membership

Internet Society – since 2004
ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association) – since 2012
FSMK (Föreningen för svensk medie- och kommunikationsforskning) – since 2012
European Digital Rights Initiative (EDRI) – since 2006