We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Simon Tjoa has been appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of the “Privacy” Section in Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction (ISSN: 2504-4990).

Prof. Dr. Simon Tjoa is a professor and the head of the Computer Science and Security Department at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in informatics from the University of Vienna. His research interests include critical infrastructure protection, digital forensics, business continuity management, and business process security. Furthermore, he is on the program committee and an organizing committee member of several security-related international workshops and conferences. He holds several professional security certifications, including AMBCI, CISA, CISM, and ISO 22301 Lead Auditor. Furthermore, he currently serves as the Chapter Secretary of the IEEE SMCS Austria Chapter.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Simon Tjoa, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
MAKE is a fast-emerging journal with cutting-edge publications in the domain of machine learning. In this field it can be observed that there are also various challenges with regard to security and privacy, which match my research interests. It is therefore very inspiring to support the journal in this area.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
My vision is that the journal Section will shape the research field and developments in security as well as privacy in machine learning in the upcoming years.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
This field is challenging for various reasons, which makes it interesting for researchers. Firstly, we can observe that privacy holds importance for AI users and customers. Secondly, we can see that laws and regulations are increasingly addressing the security and privacy of AI systems. Thirdly, security and privacy play an essential role for all information technologies used in companies nowadays to deliver continuous and trusted services.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
I think open access is the best way to share research results and promote collaboration among researchers. It can be observed that open access is becoming the preferred choice for publishing. I am therefore convinced that this area will also be greatly expanded in the future.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Simon Tjoa in his role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction to achieve more milestones.