Prof. Dr. Peter A. Bruck PhD, MA

Peter A. Bruck is an entrepreneurial scholar with a strong interest in media and technology systems, as well as social transformation and justice. As an entrepreneur, he has founded four research companies focused on applied ICT and smart digital solutions, as well as two start-ups in the edtech sector. His research focuses on translational effectiveness between universities and markets with a particular interest in the interaction between cultures and technologies. He has founded several research centers in universities in Canada and Austria and has directed research programs all aimed at making academic work more relevant and impactful for advancing social justice, democratic participation and cultural sovereignty.

Bruck is particularly interested in how creative individuals can use technology innovatively for societal benefit with technologies and how media shape minds and social practices. He studied law, economics, sociology, and communications at the Universities of Vienna, Iowa and McGill and holds doctorates in law and communications.

Bruck is an enthusiastic university teacher and has taught at universities in Canada, the US and Western Europe, as well as Israel and Poland, holding chairs in communication theory, mass communication sociology, media economics and new media technology.

He has nearly 40 years of experience in founding and managing academic and business-oriented research centers and IT companies. He created the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg and its first programs with a focus on the information economy and multimedia. He has acted as business consultant and policy advisor in digital technologies in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, the US and Canada.

His extensive experience includes serving as Chief Content Officer and member of the Board of Management at Telekom Austria Group, where he also led the Interactive Media business unit. He founded and led Research Studios Austria FG for 20 years as CEO and Chief Researcher, focusing on transferring digital innovations from universities to the market. He also successfully launched several companies in the research and edtech sectors and concluded multiple M&A deals.

Peter A. Bruck founded the World Summit Awards as Austrian Member State’s initiative for the UN World Summit on Information Society in 2003, with a current reach in and participation from 187 countries from around the globe. This work built upon the success of the Austrian State Prize in MultiMediArt and the EU’s EUROPRIX MultiMediaArt from 1998 to 2005.

In 2024/25, his main interest focuses on purpose-driven global digital innovation and social impact ventures, the development of DataSpaces for sustainability and mitigating the climate crisis and the future of Digital Democracy.