Daniel Domscheit-Berg

Daniel Domscheit-Berg, born in 1978, is a German change-maker and IT security expert. From 2007 to 2010, he helped set up WikiLeaks under the pseudonym Daniel Schmitt. Domscheit-Berg's book about his time ‘Inside WikiLeaks’, published in 2011, was translated into 23 languages and input for the Hollywood film of the same name. In 2011, Foreign Policy Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. In recent years, Domscheit-Berg has developed an award-winning ecosystem of public welfare-oriented education and production sites in Brandenburg, including a data centre as a networked real-world laboratory with democratised access to technology and know-how. The resilience of this digital-social infrastructure proved itself in times of crisis: during the pandemic, thousands of protective visors were produced and taught in the digital classroom, a Ukrainian artists' group found a creative home, and a co-learning space promotes educational equality and integration. With unconditional internet access for people and machines, the place has become a real-life laboratory for sensor technology. Domscheit-Berg shows how positive visions of a digital society can be realised and what can be changed in small and large ways as a result. He has spoken on his topics at international and national events, from universities and commercial engagements to the World Economic Forum.