Dr. Sileshi Bedasie Hirko was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Open African Innovation Research Network (Open AIR) at the University of Ottawa Centre for Law, Technology and Society.
Having specialized in intellectual property (IP) and competition law, Dr. Sileshi Bedasie Hirko’s major areas of research interests include international IP, innovation, artificial intelligence, international trade and investment law, competition law, human development and civil laws.
Prior to 2015, Dr. Hirko had worked as an Assistant Professor at Haramaya University in Ethiopia. He was also an editor-in-chief of a peer-reviewed journal, Haramaya Law Review, and a research coordinator for Social Justice Center at Haramaya University College of Law. Between 2015-2020, Dr. Hirko was a doctoral researcher at University of Ottawa, a PhD Fellow at Open AIR and a Doctoral Scholar at the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).
Including family law, Dr. Hirko has extensively published in his major areas of research interests and the publications have featured in peer-reviewed national and international journals such as Journal of African Law and African Journal of International and Comparative Law. Further, he is the author of a book titled: Rethinking Copyright for Sustainable Human Development: Access to Knowledge and Higher Education (London & New York: Routledge, 2021).
In addition to holding a PhD in Law from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, Dr. Hirko has earned his LL.M from Munich Intellectual Property Law Center in Germany and LL.B from Haramaya University in Ethiopia. He is a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholar. Granted admission to Harvard Law School for a graduate program, he looks forward to pursuing the program in the Fall 2022.