Carolyn Cole is a Research Scientist in VTT's Quantitative Science and Technology Studies team under the Foresight and Data Economy research area. She is also pursuing a doctoral degree in Economics and Business Administration at LUT School of Business. Her research focuses on the private sector's interaction with sustainability and social responsibility, with special attention to the role of public funding and policy mechanisms. Her expertise lies in quantitative methods and she specializes in the development of AI augmented research pipelines, centering on human-in-the-loop approaches and ethical practices. Recent applications have included technological foresight, social life cycle assessment, alternative economic scenarios, innovation policy, and energy justice.

Prior to VTT, Carolyn's work covered sustainable finance and ESG reporting intiatives with a focus on EU regulation. She has previously worked on antitrust economics at NERA Economic Consulting, where she designed and implemented predictive and inferential models for federal competition policy cases. Carolyn holds an MSc in Social Policy and Social Research and a BA in Economics & Mathematics. Carolyn's current research interests cross topics of innovation, technology, social and environmental sustainability, and new economic paradigms.