Elena Marchiori

Full biography

Elena Marchiori is a Project Lead specialized in Digital Innovation and Research Support at the City of Lugano in Switzerland, where she works within the Lugano Living Lab. She contributed to the design and development of the City’s first urban digital innovation lab and was its first dedicated staff member.
Dr. Marchiori has solid experience in managing applied research and digital innovation projects. She has collaborated with public and academic institutions, local and international companies, and start-ups, coordinating multidisciplinary and inter-institutional teams and contributing to the development of project proposals within research and innovation initiatives funded through national and international calls. Within the Lugano Living Lab, she also coordinates initiatives aimed at raising public awareness about issues related to the relationship between citizens and digital technologies.
Dr. Marchiori is also a lecturer at USI – Università della Svizzera italiana (Switzerland) where for over thirteen years she has taught courses on usability and user experience in the fields of digital communication and digital analytics. Previously, she served as Executive Director of a university research lab at USI, where she coordinated projects and educational activities in digital communication and promotion.

She provides training for institutions, start-ups, and companies on user involvement in innovation processes, with a focus on the analysis and validation of the desirability of ideas and the usability of digital products and services. In this area, she collaborates in particular with the Innovation Booster programme of Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency.
She holds a PhD in Communication Sciences (summa cum laude) from USI – Università della Svizzera italiana, with visiting scholar periods in the United States, Spain, and the Netherlands. Her research contributed to the understanding of online opinion formation processes in complex domains such as cities and tourism destinations, highlighting the combined role of users’ psychological factors and the structural characteristics of digital media content. Her doctoral research received the award for Best PhD Thesis from IFITT – International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism.
Dr. Marchiori also promotes scientific dissemination as a member of the Advisory Board of the IBSA Foundation for Scientific Research, with particular attention to digital and AI literacy, well-being, and the conscious use of digital technologies in everyday life.