Information School News

Public Voices in AI is a new project which aims to ensure that public voices are front and centre in artificial intelligence research, development and policy. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is investing £850,000 in Public Voices in AI, led by the  Digital Good Network  at the University of Sheffield. Professor Helen Kennedy, Director of the ESRC Digital Good Network, will be the project lead, with support from Dr Ros Williams, Digital Good Network Associate Director. Dr Susan Oman of The Information School leads the evidence review work package to understand how public voices are currently included in responsible AI research policy and practice. This work package will:  draw evidence together (academic, grey, other literatures) review evidence production (methods, motivations, money)  categorise and assess how public voices have been included develop an open and accessible database that is findable and reusable (according to FAIR principles ) for stakeholders acro...

 Self-tracking - the practice of capturing data about one’s own activities, often through wearable technology - is an ever-growing phenomenon, and one that is firmly established in the worlds of physical activity and public health. Recording statistics about our own activities is becoming commonplace, with our devices prompting us to measure things like step counts, heart rate, calories burned - even the quality of our sleep. Increasingly, this data is becoming linked to our perception of our own health and wellbeing, with healthcare providers even sometimes suggesting this kind of tracking as part of a programme of care. Dr Lee Pretlove - Information School PhD graduate and ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow recently began his 12-month ESRC-funded Fellowship (through the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership) looking at self-tracking specifically in relation to running communities, building on his PhD project and examining what this kind of relationship to our data could mean for physica...

  Following the recent release of her new book Understanding Well-being Data , Information School Lecturer Dr Susan Oman will be exhibiting her research at the University’s Festival of Social Sciences , which is being held in the first week of November as part of the national ESRC Festival of Social Science. Dr Oman’s digital exhibition presents three animations on: well-being, data and understanding. She asks questions about the power and potential of well-being data to shape society, and how thinking differently about these issues could lead to a more understanding society.   Find out more here: https://player. sheffield.ac.uk/exhibits/ understanding-wellbeing-data? fbclid=IwAR3BZFpMisA- w7F04pPdtvWpRG2xWdgohl- mwQYBIjoFYTW4iM7k1YS__40

We are currently recruiting for one Research Associate post to support the Economic and Social Research Council-funded project ‘Regional Technology Foresight’ Focusing on the Sheffield City Region as an internationally recognised manufacturing hub, this 24-month project will generate procedural solutions concerning the enhancement of a region’s ability to identify and exploit technological innovations, in order to maximise competitiveness. The closing date for applications is 6 April 2018 and further details on the role can be found here . If you have any questions about the role please contact Dr Jorge Tiago Martins at: jorge.martins@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Jorge Tiago Martins has been awarded £239,767 by the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) New Investigator scheme for the ‘Regional Technology Foresight’ project. The project will generate new knowledge and procedural solutions concerning the enhancement of regions’ ability to identify and exploit knowledge of technological innovations, in order to maximise competitiveness and sustainability. Focusing on the Sheffield City Region as an internationally recognised manufacturing hub, the project will be led by Dr Jorge Tiago Martins and supported by Prof Tim Vorley at Sheffield University Management School. “I am delighted to have received this ESRC New Investigators Award”, says Jorge. “Linking with industrial strategy, I believe the project will make an important contribution to better understand the processes of identifying, transferring and integrating technological innovations in UK regions”.

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly is invited speaker at the ESRC CASCADE-NET  Seminar “The role of Civil Society’s agency in governance and contingency planning: citizenship, participation and social learning” today. The seminar, organised by co-Investigator Dr. Martina McGuinness (Management School, University of Sheffield) is held in Inox Dine, Students’ Union Building, University of Sheffield. Dr Reilly's paper is entitled ‘Social media, citizen empowerment and crisis communication during the 2014 UK Floods’ and draws on his recently completed EC FP7 funded research project CascEff . The slides for my presentation can be found here

Last week, Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly, along with Dr Tina McGuiness from the Management School, ran an event for local schools entitled 'Could social media help you during a disaster?', as part of the 2017 ESRC Festival of Social Science. The description of the event was: Can social media help build disaster resilience in Sheffield? What role, if any, should social media users, and young people in particular, play in efforts to mitigate the effects of these incidents in their communities and help keep themselves and others safe? Recent research has suggested that social media can help emergency services during human made and natural disasters through the ‘push and pull’ of crisis information. The eyewitness perspectives shared by citizens on social media can help first responders build situational awareness and identify those areas most in need of assistance. At the same time, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can provide emotional and material support to those affec...

Research Associate Dr Elisa Serafinelli is due to present her recent paper 'Mobile Mediated Visualities: An Empirical Study of Visual Practices on Instagram', co-authored by Professor Mikko Villi from the University of Jyväskylä, at the 'Ways of Being in the Digital Age' review conference at the University of Liverpool. This conference will close the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) review. Dr Serafinelli's paper discusses how social platforms and smart mobile devices are affecting individuals’ visual, social and digital practices. In particular, it examines the social exchange of photographs online in order to advance an in-depth reading of contemporary mobile media. In its conclusions, this paper offers a conceptual apparatus that can help to understand the visual hyper-representation of social practices exemplified by the current trend of giving to everything a visual justification. You can find out more about the conference here.

Please join us for  ESRC Festival of Social Sciences  event 'Building Trust & Sharing Health Information Online'  organised by  Professor Peter Bath . This free event will discuss how people with life-threatening illnesses share information online and how people trust others. Trust is very important among people with serious illnesses who share personal details online, how do people know who to trust and who not? Further information on the project can be found here Date: Thursday 12 November 2015 Time: 6:30-8:30pm (with refreshments served afterwards) Venue: Crucible Theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield Registration: This free event is open to all, book your place here    

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences , Professor Peter Bath has organised the 'Building Trust & Sharing Health Information Online' event. The event will discuss how people with life-threatening illnesses share information online and how people trust others. Trust is very important among people with serious illnesses who share personal details online, how do people know who to trust and who not? Further information on the project can be found here . Date: Thursday 12 November 2015 Time : 6:30-8:30pm (with refreshments served afterwards) Venue: Crucible Theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield Registration: This free event is open to all, book your place here .