宅男视频

Two academic leads have been appointed as Pro-Vice-Provosts to set the strategic direction of the new UCL Grand Challenges Theme of Data Empowered Societies. Professor Allison Littlejohn (UCL IOE, Faculty of Education and Society) and Professor James Hetherington (UCL Centre for Advanced Research Computing) will jointly lead the programme, the third of the new Themes to launch.听

The UCL Grand Challenges programme was established in 2008, with the aim of bringing a cross-disciplinary, thematic approach to tackling some of the most pressing social problems. The UCL Strategic Plan 2022鈥�2027 sets out the university鈥檚 commitment to grow the scope and scale of the Grand Challenges programme, covering not only research and knowledge exchange but also 宅男视频 approach to education and its institutional operations. The programme will develop an integral approach to how UCL understands and responds to the biggest issues facing humanity, inform and enable our partnerships, and offer context and critique for how universities can make a positive impact on the world.
听
The Strategic Plan identifies five new Grand Challenges Themes: Mental Health & Wellbeing, Climate Crisis, Data-Empowered Societies, Inequalities and Intercultural Communication, to be launched sequentially over the next four years.听

Professor Allison Littlejohn is Director of the UCL Knowledge Lab, one of the world鈥檚 leading research centres in human learning, media and technology. Her research examines how data and digital technology is reshaping new ways of knowing in professional contexts work across sectors including Health, Education, Energy and Finance. Professor Littlejohn joined 宅男视频 in January 2020. Previously she was Dean (Learning & Teaching), in the College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow; Academic Director of Digital Innovation at the Open University; and Founding Director of the Caledonian Academy at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Professor James Hetherington is Director of 宅男视频 Advanced Research Computing Centre (ARC), our service, research and innovation hub for the tools, practices and systems of computational science and digital scholarship. He鈥檚 interested in issues of reliability and trust in the application of large-scale computational models for public good. He works collaboratively to bring computational methods into new research fields, and to build the professional communities which enable safe digital innovation.听

He re-joined 宅男视频 in 2021 to found ARC, having previously been chief data science advisor to the Joint Biosecurity Centre during the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, Director of Digital Research Infrastructure at UK Research and Innovation, and Director of Research Engineering at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK鈥檚 national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.听

As joint Pro-Vice-Provosts, they will provide academic leadership to the new Theme, and support new collaborations, both within UCL and with external partners. In a joint statement, they said:听

鈥�鈥淒ata, through AI and Digital Twins, is having a profound effect on society. The effects of data can be empowering, offering ways to improve quality of life, productivity and wealth creation, and address challenges associated with health, climate and inequalities. At the same time data can also be disempowering for society, particularly in situations of intense surveillance, influence, and bias. These (often unseen) effects expose humans to increased vulnerabilities.听 听

Our vision for this Grand Challenge is to empower people by bringing transformative technologies and data use into harmony with the values, vulnerabilities and needs of society. We are excited about working with a broad community, creating close collaborations between researchers, educators, professionals, learners and innovators and innovators in all disciplines across UCL and beyond. Together we can safely enable a digital transformation that changes society in ways that are inclusive, fair and empowering for people and the planet.鈥�

Professor Geraint Rees, Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), said:

鈥�鈥淚鈥檓 delighted to welcome Professors Littlejohn and Hetherington to their new roles leading the Grand Challenges Theme of Data Empowered Societies. Technology touches all of our lives in profound and ever-evolving ways, and through our research, education and innovation 宅男视频 can offer new insight into how we can enable technological advances deliver public benefit. I鈥檇 like to extend my warmest congratulations to them both on this exciting role, as the Grand Challenges takes its next step forward.鈥�

听