Dr Pandey holds a BTech degree in Information Technology from the Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, India. He obtained his first Master's degree from the École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Électronique et Électrotechnique, Paris, France, and second Master's degree from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr Pandey received his first PhD in Information Security from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjøvik, Norway and a second PhD in Applied Economics from the University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. He has completed an Executive program- Blockchain Strategy Program from the Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK and an Executive program in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy from the MIT Sloan & MIT CSAIL. His professional training includes Information Technology, Financial Markets, Economics, and Risk Management. His research interests lie in the areas of technology and economics, and applications of emerging technologies such as blockchain in various fields, including cybersecurity, digital economics, etc. He is currently an Associate Professor in Information Security at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway and a Research Scientist at the Centre for Cyber and Information Security, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjovik, Norway. He has been part of several nationally funded and EU funded projects on blockchain, cybersecurity, smart cities, etc. and has investigated the technical problems from a socio-economic perspective. Also, he is a Norwegian National Expert in the blockchain standards development committee of ISO/TC 307 and the FinTech standards development committee of ISO/TC 68.