Information School News

Starting a business is inherently challenging and risky. Entering a world of experienced competitors where you have no standing or reputation means that it’s always going to be an uphill battle to gain recognition and start to be financially viable. What often makes this even harder is that the systems and processes that support businesses are largely modelled around companies that have a track record, not those just starting out. “When a startup is in its early stages - the first five years or so - it’s very difficult to have financial indicators that are above zero to show their funders that they are productive and are experiencing growth”, says Dr Efpraxia Zamani, Senior Lecturer at the Information School and one of four co-investigators engaged in research to address this problem. Dr Efpraxia Zamani With Anastasia Griva (from the National University of Ireland Galway, funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme), Dr Dimosthenis Kotsopoulos and Dr Angeliki Kara...

From 14th to 25th January Dr Jorge Martins is visiting the Finland Futures Research Centre at the Turku School of Economics , University of Turku, Finland. Jorge is hosted by Professor Markku Wilenius , who is an Advisor to the ESRC-funded Regional Technology Foresight project. Markku is Professor of Futures Studies and UNESCO Chair in Learning Society and Futures of Education. Turku School of Economics Finland Futures Research Centre Jorge’s visit to the Finland Futures Research Centre will strengthen collaboration and knowledge exchange on a number of key areas of research: methodological approaches to foresight studies, organisational futures, industry 4.0 and smart specialisation. During his visit Jorge will give three presentations of his work to academic colleagues and students at the Finland Futures Research Centre and the Turku School of Economics: Regional Technology Foresight: linking foresight to the innovation capability of regions – at the Helsinki and ...

Small-scale and localised innovation is increasingly seen as an important part of the activites of marginal producers in the Global South. Yet, given that such innovation is often difficult to identify and measure, it has rarely been explored as part of evidence-based policy. A recently post on the Sheffield Institute of International Development (SIID) blog by Information School Lecturer Dr Chris Foster looks to explore how we might start to quantify and build evidence-based research on such activities. It is based on research undertaken with Kenyan horticulture farmers. This blog accompanies a recently released paper on this topic written by Chris alongside ODI economist Aarti Krishnan.

Last week saw the release of the UNCTAD Information Economy Report for 2017. This is a flagship report that is distributed amongst policy makers globally and often sets the agenda for policy around ICT and digital in developing countries. This years' focus is on ‘Digitalization, Trade and Development’.                        Information School lecturer Christopher Foster has been closely involved in this years report, contributing to chapters which explore the practical and policy implications of digitalisation in small firms. This work, which draws on his research examines the current state of digitalisation within small exporting firms and some of the potential gains and challenges related to digital exclusion, platforms and automation. His background paper on the topic " Digitalisation and Trade: What Hope for Lower Income Countries? " is now available. The wider Information Economy Report provides an extensive outlin...

The ‘Assessing the Value of Blogs and Social Media to Research Communication and Impact’ panel was held at LSE on Wednesday 14 June at 5.00pm. The panel featured doctoral student Wasim Ahmed , from the Information School. The event was very well attended with over 70 delegates. Wasim noted that engaging with social media and blogs has the potential to generate more interest in academic work. Picture as the panel was underway. Credit: Carlos Arrébola Other panellists for the sessions included Kieran Booluck (Editor, LSE Impact blog); Chris Gilson (Editor, LSEUSAPP blog); Kathy Christian (Altmetric); Professor Daniel Miller (UCL ‘Why We Post’); Cheryl Brumley (The Economist); and Sierra Williams (Peer J). The panel was chaired by Amy Mollett (LSE Social Media Manager).

The World Investment Report is the flagship annual report produced by the UN Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ). This year it will focus on the importance of investment in the digital economy, highlighting that the digital economy is increasingly a crucial aspect of national economies, both in the Global North and South. Dr Chris Foster (Information School) was part of last week’s Expert Group Meeting in Geneva, which is supporting the production of this report. His contribution was based upon his previous in-depth research on the digital economy in East Africa, as well as his work on policy constraints and drivers for effective digital innovation. The report, the first to explore the global implications of the digital economy related to foreign investment, will be released in June 2017