Bio

I’m an award-winning Digital Sociologist and tech ethics activist based in the UK. I currently hold the position of Digital Sociologist at Ministry of Justice, HM Government. For 15 years, I’ve studied and written about the relationship between technology, information and society. During this time, I’ve also held lecturing positions at Goldsmiths, Cardiff University, University of Plymouth and Sub de Pub in Paris where I taught Design Thinking, Digital Research Methods, Campaign Analytics and Brand Strategy. I’ve presented keynotes and run workshops with audiences from a wide range of backgrounds on the impact, opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies. My work always features themes of diversity and inclusion, the value that the social sciences can bring to the technology industry (what many are now terming ‘the digital humanities’) and the impact that technology has on people and planet (what many call ‘tech ethics’). My research projects with Goldsmiths and Kings’ College have seen me collaborate with To Play For, ipsoft, Adobe, Mindshare and Rackspace. My research covers a range of technologies including AI, chatbots, VR and AR, and wearable technology and has gained international coverage with Wired, CNN, BBC, Fast Company, Campaign, Techcrunch, Forbes and others. In 2020, I was named one of Britain’s 100 people who are shaping the digital industry in the category Champion for Change. I sit on the AI Council for the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) and I am the Co-Chair of the Guardianship working group (EMEA and Americas) for the Sovrin Foundation. I hold the previous position of taskforce member for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Blockchain Cities and was one of 80 experts selected worldwide to attend the World Health Organisation’s first (invitation-only) conference on Infodemiology. My TEDx talk on ‘Technology is not a product, it's a system’ is available for viewing on TED and YouTube. ---- Methodologies: Ethnography & Netnography, Design Thinking, Usability testing, Experience Sampling, Social Listening & Conversation Analysis, Semiotics, Grounded Theory, Phenomenology, Systems Thinking. Selection of media: TEDx (Technology isn’t a product, it’s a system), The Week Unwrapped podcast (episode: AI vs the coronavirus), Sleepwalkers podcast (episodes The Watchmen and Poker Face). Selection of conferences: TedxSquareMile, CogX, Fifteen Seconds, Tech Festival, St George’s House Consultation, Global Ethics Day, Webbdagarna, WHO Infodemiology