Biography

Law professor & computer scientist with over 30 years experience

Prof Hannah Yee-Fen LIM is uniquely qualified with double degrees in Computer Science and in Law from the University of Sydney, Australia more than 30 years ago, where she went on to complete a Master of Laws by Research with Honours under a Telstra Scholarship.

Hannah is an internationally recognised legal expert and scholar in AI law and ethics, Blockchain & DLTs, Cryptocurrencies, Technology & Internet law, Intellectual Property Law, E-commerce Law, Data Protection & Privacy Law, and Cybersecurity Law. All of her legal research over the past three decades have been interdisciplinary in nature and have examined cutting edge technology, and the law and regulation of such technology.

She has been appointed as a legal expert to advise international bodies such as the World Health Organization, where she was an invited Expert External Reviewer for the WHO Guidance on Ethics & Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health, which has shaped and impacted clinical practices internationally.

Hannah has also been appointed as a legal expert by the following international and law reform bodies to advise on AI law and regulations, AI ethics, Fintech, Crypto-assets, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and property law, Smart Contracts and the digital economy:

• Law Commission of England and Wales
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
• Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)
• International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT)

Hannah has been awarded numerous large external grants throughout her career, including two Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) grants worth more than SGD 1.1 million as Principal Investigator (PI) on legal issues pertaining to AI and data governance. She is currently PI or Co-PI in grants totalling more than SGD 58 million dealing with legal and ethical issues concerning, for example, AI and data in Future Health Technologies, including robotics using AI in healthcare, as well as AI and data governance in Urban Smart Cities.

She is the author of hundreds of papers and 6 scholarly books on law and technology published by internationally renowned publishers such as Oxford University Press (OUP). She wrote one of the pioneering and seminal books on Internet law, Cyberspace Law in 2002 published by OUP. Hannah has published more than 50 academic journal articles, written over 13 book chapters by invitation from international editors published by top tier academic book publishers. Hannah’s research has been cited with approval by senior judiciary, most notably by the High Court of Australia and the Singapore Court of Appeal.

Her book Autonomous Vehicles and the Law: Technology, Algorithms and Ethics was published in 2018 by Edward Elgar Publishing and is the first scholarly book published in the world on the technology of AI, AVs and the law.

Hannah is also author of Data Protection in the Practical Context: Strategies and Techniques  which is a leading work on not just Singapore law, but also on the EU’s General Data Protection Directive (GDPR) with coverage on data protection in the age of big data and Internet of Things.

She was a full-time Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, NUS from 2007-2011. Prior to that, she taught at the University of Sydney and UNSW in Australia. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, King’s College London, and a Visiting Researcher at Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University.

Hannah is a sought-after speaker and has presented nearly 150 papers at scholarly international meetings, such as at Oxford University, Stanford University, and her speaking engagements extend to include Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. She has also conducted training for IPOS, IP Academy of Singapore and conducted workshops serving government officials from ASEAN countries and conducted privacy impact assessments for large multi-nationals.

Hannah is regularly interviewed by the News media, and has been interviewed 81 times by the likes of BBC TV News and CNA in Singapore and print media The Straits Times and The Business Times.

Hannah won the Research Excellence Award in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2023 at NTU, the only years where she was eligible.

Hannah has shaped law and policies in Singapore and she has assisted and advised the Ministry of Law, Media Development Authority and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and other government ministries on legal matters. Hannah is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.