Martina Ferracane is passionate about policymaking and technological innovation. She was awarded a Ph.D. on the topic of cross-border data flows at Hamburg University, where she also received a Postdoc scholarship to investigate the topic of creative pedagogy in the digital era. In her academic career, she has been affiliated with the European University Institute (Policy Leaders Fellow), Columbia University and the California International Law Center.

During her Max Weber Fellowship, Martina focuses on the regulatory issues connected to digital trade and data flows. She is leading the Digital Trade Integration project, a CIVICA and Horizon 2020-funded research project which aims to create a dataset and index on digital trade integration policies. In addition, Martina is more broadly interested in the topic of digital transformation and is running a randomized controlled trial (RCT) which aims to assess the impact of digital fabrication classes on students’ skills and interest in STEM subjects. Martina founded and manages FabLab Western Sicily, a non-profit organisation which brings digital fabrication to Sicilian kids and she was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 for her work with Oral3D, a start-up she co-founded in the area of 3D printing and dentistry. For her work in these areas, she was listed in 2018 among the 15 most influential Italian women on digital issues.