Gerald Bast studied law and economics at Johannes Kepler University Linz, worked between 1980 and 1999 at the Austrian Federal ministry for Higher Education and Research, responsible for university law and university reforms, been Rector of the University of Applied Arts Vienna since 2000 and was recently re-elected to remain in this position until 2023. As an author and editor, he has published on various subjects of university law and university management, cultural policy and the arts. He is member of the European Academy of the Arts and Sciences,Representative Board member of the European League of Institutes of the Arts, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of "Journal for university law, university management and higher education policy," and a member of the advisory board of the European Forum Alpbach.

Elias G. Carayannis is Full Professor of Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, as well as co-Founder and co-Director of the Global and Entrepreneurial Finance Research Institute (GEFRI) and Director of Research on Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, European Union Research Center, (EURC) at the School of Business of the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Dr. Carayannis' teaching and research activities focus on the areas of strategic Government-University-Industry R&D partnerships, technology road-mapping, technology transfer and commercialization, international science and technology policy, technological entrepreneurship and regional economic development.

David F.J. Campbellis a Quality Enhancement Expert and Quality Researcher at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna; a Lecturer and "Privat-Dozent" in Political Science at the University of Vienna; a Project Manager and Researcher at the Centre for Educational Management and Higher Education Development, Department for Continuing Education Research and Educational Management, at Danube University Krems; and a Fellow (Senior Scientist) at the Institute of Science Communication and Higher Education Research (WIHO), Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (iff), Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt. He studied political science at the University of Vienna, completing his studies with a doctoral degree in 1996. In 2014, Campbell received a "Habilitation" (Doctor Habilitatus) from the University of Vienna with a Venia Docendi for Comparative Political Science. His articles on knowledge, innovation, knowledge economy and democracy (knowledge democracy and quality of democracy) have been published in several international journals.