COMPUTERISED SOCIETY & DIGITAL CITIZENS

Peak of Research Excellence

This Peak of Research Excellence is focussed on delivering outstanding, internationally leading research that generates new understandings of how society and citizens are affected and transformed by our dependence on computing. The Peak draws on Northumbria University’s extensive track record for research in digital citizens and the digital economy, in interaction design and social computing, as well as user-centred approaches to trust, privacy and security and, not least, our developing strength in citizen centred approaches to AI. Our academics are delivering research to understand societal questions and concerns around how citizens can be digitally empowered to engage with governments, political organisations, healthcare providers and civic authorities on a local and national scale.

OUR RESEARCH TACKLES:

• Diverse issues affecting engagement with democratic process

• Health and social care delivery

• The accelerated impact of AI on everyday lives

• Citizen susceptibility to online harms and misinformation

• Methods of improving individual and community cyber-resilience

• Novel means to provide citizens an equal voice in a digital world

This, necessarily interdisciplinary, research regularly attracts significant UKRI and EU funding and is routinely conducted in partnership with a huge range of UK and international partners from academia, the public sector, media, business and industry. The Peak was recently awarded £9.2million to fund one of the twelve AI-focussed UKRI Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) in Citizen-Centred AI.

HOW ARE WE IMPACTED AND TRANSFORMED BY OUR DEPENDENCE ON COMPUTING SYSTEMS?

Our academics are delivering high impact research to understand big societal questions around how citizens can be empowered to digitally – and interactively - engage with governments, political organisations, healthcare providers and civic authorities on a local and national scale.

This includes issues from how health and social care delivery is shaped by interactive technology, to how citizens are susceptible to cyber-attacks, and how all citizens – regardless of identity or background - are given equal voice in a digital world.

RESEARCHING HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTIONS

Northumbria University has one of the largest groupings of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers in the UK, bringing together a collective of experts in interaction design, usability and user experience (UX), social media and social computing, and user-centred approaches to trust, privacy and security.

The peak of excellence in this area has a track record in delivering outstanding, internationally leading research that generates new understandings of how society and citizens are impacted upon, and transformed by, our dependence on computing.

This, necessarily inter-disciplinary, research regularly attracts significant UKRI and EU funding and is routinely conducted in partnership with a huge range of UK and international partners from academia, the public sector, media, business and industry.