PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Monica Palmirani

Monica Palmirani is a legal informatics scholar at the University of Bologna who connects XML standards for legislation with artificial intelligence for lawmaking. A mathematics graduate with a PhD in Legal Informatics and IT Law, she ran European projects at Gruppo Fromula from 1996 to 2001 and began teaching at Bologna in 2001. OASIS named her a Distinguished Contributor in 2015, and the Akoma Ntoso legal XML standard, whose OASIS committee she co-chaired and whose specification she edited, became an OASIS Standard in 2018. She served as Vice President and then President of the International Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law, won a 2.4 million euro European Research Council grant in 2022 for the HyperModeLex project, and led GENAI4LEX-B, one of three winning projects at Italy's Chamber of Deputies in 2024. She is a full professor of Legal Informatics and IT Law at Bologna and the Principal Investigator of HyperModeLex.

Works
310
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1996–2001

    European projects at Fromula

    From 1996 to 2001, she is responsible for the European Project Department of Gruppo Fromula. In that role, she coordinates EU projects including BAPTISME, FLUENT and WHALES.

  2. Since 2001

    Teaching legal informatics at Bologna

    She graduates in mathematics, completes a PhD in Legal Informatics and IT Law at the University of Bologna, and teaches there from 2001. Her courses cover Legal Informatics, eGovernment, Legal Drafting Techniques and Legal XML.

  3. 2015–2018

    OASIS Distinguished Contributor

    In 2015, OASIS names her a Distinguished Contributor; she is an expert in XML techniques for modelling legal documents, including normative rules and legal ontology. She serves on the OASIS Board of Directors from 2016 to 2018.

  4. 2018

    Akoma Ntoso becomes an OASIS Standard

    Akoma Ntoso Version 1.0, an XML standard for parliamentary, legislative and judiciary documents whose core vocabulary she develops with Fabio Vitali, becomes an OASIS Standard in 2018 under the name LegalDocML. She co-chairs the LegalDocML Technical Committee with Vitali and is an editor of the specification.

  5. 2021–2025

    Leading the AI and Law association

    She is Vice President of the International Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law (IAAIL) in 2021–2022. She is appointed its President for the two-year period 2024–2025.

  6. 2022

    An ERC grant for HyperModeLex

    In 2022, she receives a 2.4 million euro European Research Council grant as Principal Investigator of HyperModeLex, a project on using artificial intelligence and data analytics to support legislative drafting. The project aims to define a "Smart Legal Order" that offers a source of law computable and understandable to artificial intelligence.

  7. July 2024

    A prize for GENAI4LEX-B

    In July 2024, GENAI4LEX-B, a generative AI project that she designs and leads at Bologna's Alma AI institute, is named one of three winners of a call by Italy's Chamber of Deputies, chosen among 28 proposals from 15 universities and research centres. Its three prototypes support drafting legislative texts, analysing amendments and checking a bill against existing rules.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Bologna

    She is a full professor of Legal Informatics and IT Law in the Department of Legal Studies at the University of Bologna, a member of the CIRSFID-AlmaAI research centre, and Principal Investigator of HyperModeLex.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of BolognaFull Professor of Legal Informatics and IT Law
  2. 2021–2025International Association for Artificial Intelligence and LawVice President, President
  3. 2016–2018Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information StandardsBoard member, Co-chair
  4. 1996–2001Gruppo FromulaResponsible for the European Project Department

Education

  1. University of BolognaPhD in Legal Informatics and IT Law

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Bologna. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Bologna. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes University of Bologna. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.

Sources and credits

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  1. Monica Palmirani — University of Bologna — Curriculum vitae unibo.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Monica Palmirani - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. OASIS Awards 2015 Open Standards Cup and Names Distinguished Contributors - OASIS Open oasis-open.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Akoma Ntoso Version 1.0. Part 1: XML Vocabulary docs.oasis-open.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Past Executive Committees - IAAIL iaail.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Monica Palmirani — University of Bologna — Home Page unibo.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Un algoritmo che scrive le leggi: progetto di ricerca per 2,4 milioni a prof Unibo bolognatoday.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Generative artificial intelligence in the Parliament: a project coordinated by the University of Bologna Receives an Award magazine.unibo.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Il progetto "GENAI4LEX-B" premiato alla Camera dei deputati: intelligenza artificiale generativa per i lavori parlamentari | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche cnr.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. TEAM — HyperModeLex site.unibo.it. Checked 20 October 2026.