Jess Reia

As the 2020-2021 BMO Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Montreal, Jess Reia analyzes the relations between a smart city agenda, data governance, and nightlife in the research-action project titled “Smartness after Dark: Understanding Nightlife Governance and Urban Intelligence in Montreal.” Jess is also appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University, where they have been working on conflicts and urban governance having to do with the nighttime economy of cities in the Americas (Montreal, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro).

Currently, Jess is a member of the Conseil de Nuit de MTL 24/24. This independent body brings together representatives from different sectors of nighttime culture in an effort to participate in the public debate and engage in policymaking.

During their time as Research Project Manager at the Center for Technology and Society at FGV Law School, from 2011 to 2019, Jess studied the impacts of digitization and datafication on society from a critical, public interest approach. Over the years, they have lead research projects and advocacy initiatives related to smart cities, data governance, AI, privacy & surveillance, media policy, and intellectual property. As a Professor at the Law School, Jess taught a variety of courses related to digitization and policy (such as “Cities, Data & Rights” and “Technology & Intellectual Property”), as well as hands-on approaches to qualitative research methods.