Dr. Paola Riva is Junior Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

She is an emerging scholar in data-driven performance management with focus on public sector. She has a strong background in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Public Management, grounded in her Mathematical Engineering education and in her Ph.D. focused on the role of online user-generated data in supporting decision making of cultural heritage institutions. Dr. Riva’s experience spans diverse areas, from analyzing social media data to evaluating the impact of digital transformation in both cultural and higher education institutions. Her analytical and technical skills, demonstrated by her proficiency in statistical analysis and machine learning tools (R,

Python, PowerBI), offer a valuable perspective on translating AI solutions into tangible improvements for public service

delivery. She is actively involved in research projects with cultural and higher education institutions, and she is committed to translating research into real-world impact, fostered by the collaboration with the Observatory for Digital Innovation in Heritage and Culture of Politecnico di Milano. Dr. Riva actively contributes to the research community, presenting her work at international conferences and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations.