In this episode, we are joined by Prof. Dr. Johanna Pirker, professor of computer science at TU Munich and TU Graz, founder of the Game Lab Graz, and a member of the UN Independent International Scientific Panel on AI.
Johanna Pirker works at the intersection of AI, games, virtual and augmented reality, and human-computer interaction. In 2018, Forbes included her in the “30 Under 30 Europe” list for her work in using VR and games to improve digital education. In 2020, she received the Käthe Leichter Prize for her efforts in diversity in engineering and the games industry. Her book “The Game Is On: How Gaming Revolutionizes Our World” published in 2025, makes the case for gaming as a means to reshape how people learn, work, and interact.
Inspired by her participation in the Nextcloud Summit 2026 panel session “From open source to open ecosystems: Europe’s next digital play”, we invited Johanna to continue the conversation in our podcast. We tap into her perspective on where gaming meets learning, learning meets AI, and where open source tools foster innovation in her fields. What do video games and learning have in common? Why should we all learn how AI works and how it doesn’t? And finally, how can open source help us build a better future for science and innovation? Let’s find out!
I cannot think of anything negative coming out of open source. Open source is so good to show others what is going on, to involve them, to see what might not work yet, to find collaborations, to help to reproduce it, which is super important in science, to help boost open standards.
Johanna Pirker
Professor of Computer Science at TU Munich and TU Graz
In this episode of the Nextcloud Podcast, we meet Aline Blankertz, a German data economist and digital rights campaigner. Aline is an economist and Tech Economy Lead at Rebalance Now, where she works on strategies to counter concentrated power in digital markets. She combines years of experience in competition economics with a strong commitment to making markets democratically accountable.
This episode of the Nextcloud Podcast is an exciting contributor story. And just in time before holidays, we are talking about cooking... and code. Meet Christian Wolf, a long-term Nextcloud contributor and maintainer of the famous Cookbook app!
During his early coding days, Christian was trying to learn more about web applications. Seeking an app to sharpen his skills with, he came across the Cookbook app. Many years later, Christian is the main brain behind Cookbook, while the app is one of the most popular apps on Nextcloud App Store.
Christian shares with us how he got into coding and open source, his work on the Cookbook app and his vision for its future, and tips for people who want to start developing for Nextcloud.
We meet Simon Lindner, software engineer at Nextcloud, the developer of Nextcloud AIO, to duscover the history and present of Nextcloud AIO, Simon's personal journey, and, of course, everything a meticulous admin wants to know about the easiest way to host Nextcloud.
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