Extended Biography

Detailed biography

Dr Andre Oboler is a social media and online public diplomacy expert. He is CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute, a not-for-profit organisations that seeks to prevent harm that results from various forms of online hate including online racism and cyberbullying. He was previously Director of Online Engagement at the Zionist Federation of Australia, where he headed the Community Internet Engagement Project. He also worked with the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission on their “Click Against Hate” program for schools.

Andre Oboler has lived in South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and Israel. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Lancaster University (UK) and a first class honours degree in computer science from Monash University (Australia) and has completed a Post Doctoral Fellowship in the Political Science Department at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) focusing in online public diplomacy. He is currently undertaking an LLM(JD) at Monash University, Australia.

In Australia Andre served as a Madrich with Hineni Youth and Welfare. In the UK he served as President of the Lancaster University Jewish Society, Secretary of the Union of Jewish Students and as a Deputy on the Board of Deputies of British Jews. As CEO of Zionism On The Web, Andre’s work on behalf of Israel and the Jewish community has received endorsements and support across the Jewish world.

In 2006 Andre was the UK delegate on the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs‘ Young Jewish Diplomatic Leadership Seminar. In 2007-2008 he was Legacy Heritage Fellow at NGO Monitor in Jerusalem. Andre is a member of the ROI Community and attended the 2008, 2010, and 2011 summits.

Dr Oboler has pioneered work in the study of online antisemitism, coining the phrase “Antisemitism 2.0″ and presenting on the topic to the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism and in a key paper published by the JCPA. He has also conducted research in Facebook, Google Earth and Wikipedia. Research in other web 2.0 applications is on-going.

Outside of the Jewish world, Andre has played a leading role in the higher education sector. He has served three times as an officer in the UK’s National Postgraduate Committee (including responsibility as a trustee), and for two years with the Board of Directors of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). Andre has been a member of the Higher Education Academy’s Research and Teaching forum, as well as serving on the LTSN working group on part time teachers. National roles followed local roles in both Monash University (Australia) and Lancaster University (UK). In Australia Andre served three years as a departmental student representative as well as serving on the Faculty of IT’s Education Board and Faculty Board. In the UK he served as Vice President of the Graduate Students Association at Lancaster University, as well as serving in the Lancaster University Students’ Union as the Postgraduate representative.

Andre is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and served for three years on the IEEE Victorian Section Committee. During this time he served multiple times on the review committee for the best student academic paper prize, and also served as chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee for the section. With in the IEEE Computer Society, Andre served as Vice Chair and then Chair of the Society’s Victorian Chapter. He is currently a committee member of the chapter and also the Country Coordinator for the IEEE Computer Society in Australia and New Zealand. He also serves as Vice Chair of the Computer Society’s Students Award Committee (a committee of the Member and Geographic Activities Board).

You can also see more about Dr Oboler’s: academic roles, community roles, and professional work.