Lancaster University is ranked in the top one percent of universities in the world. In 2014 its Sociology Department ranked 3rd in the UK (The Guardian) and 26th on the planet (QS World University Rankings). This is in no small part due to the interdisciplinary nature of our research. The team gathered together here is drawn from the mobilities.lab and the Law School. Mobilities.lab builds on research in the Centre for Mobilities Research and the Computer Supported Co-operative Work Group, and the Law School has an outstanding reputation for research, which ranges from critical, socio-legal and interdisciplinary research to traditional “black letter” law. The mobilities.lab is a hub for cross-disciplinary R&D with academic, public and industrial partners. Projects include PALCOM: Palpable Computing: A new perspective on Ambient Computing http://www.ist-palcom.org, IMDE: Innovative Media for a Digital Economy, Catalyst: Citizens Transforming Society: Tools For Change, EPSRC http://www.catalystproject.org.uk, BRIDGE: Bridging resources and agencies in large-scale emergency management http://www.bridgeproject.eu/en. We specialise in studies of the digital dimension of contemporary ‘mobile lives’ with a particular focus on IT Ethics. This is interdisciplinary, qualitative, often ethnographic, mobile, inventive and experimental ‘public sociology’ that has produced internationally recognised insights and methodologies for socio-technical innovation in different settings (from art and architecture to emergency response). We co-edit the journal Mobilities (Taylor & Francis), and a book series Changing Mobilities (Routledge).
Role in the project
Domain analysis, evaluation of implications of the SecInCoRe concepts and systems and
study of ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI):
- Monitoring of project results on ELSI and development of possible strategies for handling privacy infringements and other risks
- Investigation of the mutual dependence of technology, organisational dynamics, human factors, ethical, legal and societal issues
- Inventory of ethical, legal and social issues around data collection, analysis and sharing practices
- Dissemination and exploitation (contribution to academic and public debates about social, ethical and legal issues)
Contact
Monika Buscher,
WWW: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/
