Member
John Domingue
Professor of Computer Science
+44 (0)1908 655014
I am a Professor of Computer Science [1] at the Knowledge Media Institute [2], the Open University's technology research and innovation centre, and the President of STI International [3], a semantics focused networking organisation. I have published over 280 refereed articles (h-index 57) in the areas of semantics, the Web, distributed ledgers and eLearning. My current work focuses on how a combination of blockchain and Linked Data technologies can be used to process personal data in a decentralised trusted manner and how this can be applied in the educational domain [4].
I serve as the leader of the first of five themes, on University Learners, for the £20M funded Institute of Coding [5] which aims to increase the number and diversity of computing graduates in the UK as well as enhancing the connection between university teaching and corporate training.
Since January 2019, I have played a leading role in the EU funded QualiChain project [6] which has the aim of revolutionising public education and its relationship to the labour market and policy making by disrupting the way accredited educational titles and other qualifications are archived, managed, shared and verified, taking advantage of blockchain, semantics, data analytics and gamification technologies.
Until February 2020 I was also a key player in the European Blockchain Observatory [7] supporting the European Commission on road-mapping the future of this technology in a number of key sectors.
February 2020 saw the start of a new EU project, DEL4All [8], where under my leadership the OU will aid in road-mapping how education will be transformed due to the impact of blockchains, AI, data and augmented and virtual reality technologies.
In 2017 my research in blockchains and education was referenced in the Joint Research Centre Policy Report Blockchain in Education for the European Commission [9]. Prof. Domingue has given many talks on his work including at the Royal Institution in 2018 [10] and at TEDx [11].
Very recently my focus has centred on our blockchain based platform could be applied for COVID-19 Anti Body Test and Vaccination certification which has attracted attention from the media [12].
Last year I became a Fellow of the British Blockchain Association [13].
[1] http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/domingue/
[4] http://blockchain.open.ac.uk
[5] https://instituteofcoding.org/
[6] https://qualichain-project.eu/
[7] https://www.eublockchainforum.eu/
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wwYDMdji3k
[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPefcmWFWyM&t=6s
[12] https://blockchain.open.ac.uk/#covid-19
[13] https://www.britishblockchainassociation.org/fellowship
Keys: Semantic Web, Ontologies, Linked Data, Semantic Web Services, Future Internet, Remote Experimentation, eLearning, eHealth, Data and Education
Team: Niaz Chowdhury, Audrey Ekuban, Pasquale Iero, Zeeshan Jan, Alexander Mikroyannidis, Manoharan Ramachandran, Aisling Third
Projects
Technologies
News
12 Dec 2025
08 Dec 2025
04 Dec 2025
03 Dec 2025
17 Nov 2025
Publications
Kwarteng, J., Third, A., Mikroyannidis, A., Tarrant, D. and Domingue, J. (2026). SAGE-RAI: Design Patterns for Transparent RAG Systems. In: The ACM Web Conference 2026 (WWW '26), 13-17 Apr 2026, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. https://oro.open.ac.uk/108348/.
Coughlan, T., Rienties, B., Bektik, D., Ullmann, T., Herodotou, C., Tessarolo, F., Edwards, C., Coughlan, E., Devine, P. and Domingue, J. (2025). AIDA on OpenLearn: Design and Evaluation Report, Quality Enhancement and Innovation (QEI). Institute of Educational Technology: The Open University. https://oro.open.ac.uk/106176/.
Rienties, B., Ullmann, T., Tessarolo, F., Kwarteng, J., Domingue, J., Coughlan, T., Coughlan, E. and Bektik, D. (2025). Developing an institutional AI digital assistant in an age of Industry 5. 0. Applied Sciences, 15(12), https://oro.open.ac.uk/104586/.
Mikroyannidis, A., Domingue, J., Ekuban, A. and Kwarteng, J. (2025). AIDA: AI Digital Assistant for Personalised and Adaptive Online Learning. In: EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2025, 19-23 May 2025, Barcelona, Spain. https://oro.open.ac.uk/104371/.
Coughlan, T., Rienties, B., Domingue, J., Herodotou, C., Ullmann, T., Bektik, D., Edwards, C., Whitelock, D., Coughlan, E. and Tessarolo, F. (2025). Holding a lead, or the tail wagging the dog? Exploring educator influence over the behaviour of AI Digital Assistants. In: EDEN 2025 Annual Conference, 15-17 Jun 2025, Bologna, Italy. https://oro.open.ac.uk/104113/.
Rienties, B., Tessarolo, F., Coughlan, T., Herodotou, C., Domingue, J. and Whitelock, D. (2025). A Design-Based Research Approach to what distance learners expect and value from an Institutional AI Digital Assistant. European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 27(2), https://oro.open.ac.uk/104011/.
(2025). Students’ Perceptions of AI Digital Assistants (AIDAs): Should Institutions Invest in Their Own AIDAs?. Rienties, Bart; Tessarolo, Felipe; Coughlan, Emily; Coughlan, Tim and Domingue, John (2025). Students’ Perceptions of AI Digital Assistants (AIDAs): Should Institutions Invest in Their Own AIDAs? Applied Sciences, 15(8), https://oro.open.ac.uk/103773/.
Mikroyannidis, A., Ekuban, A., Kwarteng, J. and Domingue, J. (2025). Best Practices for the Responsible Adoption of Generative AI in Higher Education. Proceedings, 114(1), pp. 1–8. https://oro.open.ac.uk/103123/.
Mikroyannidis, A., Third, A. and Domingue, J. (2024). Blockchain-based decentralised micro-accreditation for lifelong learning. Interactive Learning Environments, 33(3), pp. 2201–2215. https://oro.open.ac.uk/100059/.
Kurteva, A. and Domingue, J. (2024). Towards Cultivating Decentralised Data Privacy, Interoperability and Trust with Semantic PETs and Visualisations. In: NXDG: NeXt-Generation Data Governance, SEMANTiCs 2024, 17-19 Sep 2024, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. https://oro.open.ac.uk/99629/.
Mikroyannidis, A., Domingue, J., Third, A., Tarrant, D. and Pieroni, T. (2024). Smart Assessment and Guided Education with Responsible AI. In: 20th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS 2024), 10-13 Jun 2024, Thessaloniki, Greece. https://oro.open.ac.uk/99051/.
Mikroyannidis, A., Sharma, N., Ekuban, A. and Domingue, J. (2024). Using Generative AI and ChatGPT for improving the production of distance learning materials. In: 2024 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 01-04 Jul 2024, Nicosia, Cyprus. https://oro.open.ac.uk/97397/.
Rienties, B., Domingue, J., Duttaroy, S., Herodotou, C., Tessarolo, F. and Whitelock, D. (2024). What distance learning students want from an AI Digital Assistant. Distance Education, 46(2), pp. 173–189. https://oro.open.ac.uk/96703/.
Ibáñez, L.D., Domingue, J., Kirrane, S., Seneviratne, O., Third, A. and Vidal, M.E. (2023). Trust, Accountability, and Autonomy in Knowledge Graph-Based AI for Self-Determination. Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge, 1(1), 9:1-9:32. https://oro.open.ac.uk/94805/.
Third, A. and Domingue, J. (2023). Ethics and Executability: Tracing Decency in Decentralised Knowledge Graph Applications. In: ESWC 2023 Workshops and Tutorials. Semantic Methods for Events and Stories (SEMMES), 28-29 May 2023, Hersonissos, Greece. https://oro.open.ac.uk/93726/.
Ekuban, A. and Domingue, J. (2023). An Architecture for a Decentralised Learning Analytics Platform (Positioning Paper). In: ESWC 2023 Workshops and Tutorials. Semantic Methods for Events and Stories (SEMMES), 28-29 May 2023, Hersonissos, Greece. https://oro.open.ac.uk/89547/.
Domingue, J., Third, A., Vidal, M.E., Rohde, P., Cano, J., Cimmino, A. and Verborgh, R. (2023). Trusting Decentralised Knowledge Graphs and Web Data at the Web Conference. In: ACM Web Conference 2023, 30 Apr 2023-4 May 2023, Austin TX USA. https://oro.open.ac.uk/88771/.
Third, A. and Domingue, J. (2023). Decency and Decentralisation: Verifiable Decentralised Knowledge Graph Querying. In: WWW '23 Companion: Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2023, 30 Apr - 04 May 2023, Austin, Texas. https://oro.open.ac.uk/88166/.
Ekuban, A. and Domingue, J. (2023). Towards Decentralised Learning Analytics (Positioning Paper). In: WWW '23 Companion, 30 Apr - 04 May 2023, Austin, TX, USA. https://oro.open.ac.uk/88077/.
Motta, E., Rajan, T., Domingue, J. and Eisenstadt, M. (1991). Methodological Foundations of KEATS the Knowledge Engineer’s Assistant. Knowledge Acquisition, 3(1), pp. 21–47. https://oro.open.ac.uk/85468/.
Tech Reports
On the Integration of Services with the Web of Data
Techreport ID: kmi-09-06
Date: 2009
Author(s): Carlos Pedrinaci,John Domingue,Reto Krummenacher
Designing the Ontological Foundations for Knowledge Domain Analysis Technology: An Interim Report
Techreport ID: kmi-08-02
Date: 2008
Author(s): Neil Benn, Simon Buckingham Shum, John Domingue, Clara Mancini
User Interaction and Uptake Challenges to Successfully Deploying Semantic Web Technologies
Techreport ID: kmi-06-18
Date: 2006
Author(s): Tom Heath, John Domingue, Paul Shabajee
