Education Data Futures: Critical, Regulatory and Practical Reflections

Beeban Kidron, 5Rights Foundation -Biography

Baroness Kidron is the founder of 5Rights Foundation and a Crossbench Peer in the UK House of Lords. She has been a world leading advocate for digital regulation and accountability on behalf children and young people. She is known as the architect of the Age Appropriate Design Code, which prompted a radical redesign of digital products and services to protect children’s safety and privacy. Baroness Kidron is a Commissioner on the UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, a member of the Global Council on Extended Intelligence and member of the Advisory Council for the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI. She has recently worked with bi-partisan lawmakers to introduce the California Age Appropriate Design Code Bill.

Sonia Livingstone, Digital Futures Commission and London School of Economics and Political Science -Biography

Sonia Livingstone OBE FBA is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published 20 books on media audiences, especially children and young people’s risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment. Her new book is “Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives” (Oxford University Press, with Alicia Blum-Ross). She leads the Digital Futures Commission with the 5Rights Foundation, and Global Kids Online with UNICEF, and researches on several UKRI and EC funded projects concerned with children’s digital lives.

Kruakae Pothong, Digital Futures Commission and London School of Economics and Political Science -Biography

Dr Kruakae Pothong is a Researcher at 5Rights and visiting research fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at London School of Economics and Political Science. Her current research focuses on child-centred design of digital services. Her broader research interests span the areas of human computer interaction, digital ethics, data protection, Internet and other related policies. She specialises in designing social technical research, using deliberative methods to elicit human values and expectations of technological advances, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and distributed ledgers.

Mark Mon-Williams, University of Leeds -Biography

Mark Mon Williams leads the NHS Applied Research Collaboration Yorkshire group responsible for ‘Healthy Schools, and is an executive member of the Born in Bradford project. He is the lead for the ‘Healthy Learning’ theme within the UK’s ‘ActEarly’ Prevention Research Programme. He leads a team investigating the interactions between environmental and genetic risk factors for physical and mental health multimorbidity within the Medical Research Council funded LINC programme.

Mai Elshehaly, University of Leeds -Biography

Dr Mai Elshehaly is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Bradford. She researches the role of data visualisation in improving communication between decision makers and underrepresented communities. Mai is a member of the advisory board for the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research, leads the Digital Education theme within the Centre for Applied Education Research and is co-Director of the Digital Makers Programme.

Kuldeep Sohal, University of Leeds -Biography

Kuldeep Sohal joined the Bradford Institute for Health Research at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2016 as the Programme Lead for Connected Bradford. Connected Bradford connects de-identified, longitudinal, data from the NHS and non-healthcare organisations for approximately 700,000 citizens across the Bradford region into a single database.

Leon Feinstein, University of Oxford -Biography

Leon Feinstein is the Professor of Education and Children’s Social Care and Director of the Rees Centre, University of Oxford. Previously, he was the Director of Evidence at the Children’s Commissioner’s Office, and Chief Analyst in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit in HM Treasury. He has a PhD in Economics from University College London, is a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, and a Visiting Professor at LSE and the University of Sussex. Leon was a Trustee at the What Works Centre for Social Care and a Member of the Youth Endowment Fund Grants Committee and the NSPCC Research Advisory Group.

Michael Veale, University College London -Biography

Dr Michael Veale is Associate Professor in digital rights and regulation at University College London’s Faculty of Laws. His research focusses on how to understand and address challenges of power and justice that digital technologies and their users create and exacerbate, in areas such as privacy-enhancing technologies and machine learning. He tweets at @mikarv.

Huw Davies, Cardiff University -Biography

Huw Davies is a lecturer in Digital Education, specialising in Data and Society, at The University of Edinburgh and a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute. Huw’s PhD is in Web Science and his areas of expertise include digital and media literacies and the digital sociology of education.

Rebecca Eynon, University of Oxford -Biography

Rebecca Eynon is a Professor at the University of Oxford, where she holds a joint appointment between the Department of Education and the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research examines the relationships between social inequalities, education and technology.

Janja Komljenovic, Lancaster University -Biography

Janja Komljenovic is a Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University. Her research focuses on digital markets in higher education, new forms of value in EdTech, and how things are turned into assets. She leads an ESRC funded research project, ‘Universities and Unicorns: building digital assets in the higher education industry’.

Ben Williamson, University of Edinburgh -Biography

Ben Williamson is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the Centre for Research in Digital Education, University of Edinburgh. He researches digital technologies and data in education policy and governance, leads a Leverhulme Trust funded project and is a collaborator at the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures. He authored Big Data in Education: The digital future of learning, policy and practice, and is an editor for Learning, Media and Technology.

Heather Toomey, Cyber Security and Information Governance specialist -Biography

Heather Toomey has worked in IT and information governance for twenty-four years, supporting educational settings across England with cyber security, online safety and data protection. Heather has previously led projects with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), DfE and Safer Derbyshire and is currently on the advisory board for the East Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre.

Najarian R. Peters, University of Kansas, School of Law -Biography

Najarian R. Peters teaches torts, Privacy Law and The Practice of Privacy Law at University of Kansas School of Law. Peters’ scholarship focuses on privacy policy, law, governance, and emerging technology. Peters is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. In 2020, Peters created PrivacyPraxis, an annual conference that brings together scholars, practitioners, and advocates to discuss privacy law and policy. Peters’ book is forthcoming with the University of California Press titled Marronage and Modernity: Privacy, Technology, and Black Liberation. Peters earned her J.D. at Notre Dame Law School.

Rosalind Edwards, University of Southampton -Biography

Rosalind Edwards is Professor of Sociology at the University of Southampton, and has researched and published extensively on family issues, services and policies. Ros is leading on the review of published reports and online discussions about data linkage and analytics, and the survey of parents’ attitudes, and contributing to all other aspects of the project.

Val Gillies, University of Westminster -Biography

Val Gillies is Professor of Social Policy/ Criminology at the University of Westminster. She researches in the area of family, social class, marginalised children and young people, and historical comparative analysis. Val is leading on the group and individual interviews with parents, as well as contributing to all other aspects of the project.

Sarah Gorin, University of Southampton -Biography

Sarah Gorin is the Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton. She has extensive experience of conducting research in the field of children’s social care. Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day conduct of research and is contributing to all aspects of the project.

Jen Persson, Defend Digital Me -Biography

Jen Persson is Director and founder of the NGO Defend Digital Me, founded in 2016, that campaigns for children’s privacy and digital rights in the UK education and wider public sector. She contributed to the Council of Europe digital citizenship working group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, and supported the Committee of Convention 108 in drafting the Council of Europe Guidelines for Data Protection in Education Settings, adopted in 2020. Defend Digital Me has published The Words We Use in Data Policy (2021), The Best Interests of the Child in the context of the Age Appropriate Design Code (2021) and The State of Biometrics 2022.

Stephen Bonner, Information Commissioner’s Office -Biography

Stephen Bonner leads programmes of work to develop strategic ICO positions, based on horizon scanning and research, on technology issues such as data, supervision of the large technology platforms in the ICO’s remit, online harms, the Digital Markets Unit and delivery of the Digital Regulatory Cooperation Forum workplan. He also leads on the implementation of the Children’s code.

Melissa Mathieson, Information Commissioner’s Office -Biography

Melissa Mathieson manages teams of investigators and policy professionals responsible for many of the UK’s most serious and high-risk issues in data protection and information rights. Melissa acts as the Director for Regulatory Futures, with responsibilities that include delivery of the Children’s code.

Michael Murray, Information Commissioner’s Office -Biography

Michael Murray is Head of Regulatory Strategy within the Regulatory Futures Directorate at the ICO. He leads the development of the ICO’s children’s policy, focusing on the Children’s Code. Michael supports colleagues undertaking supervision of the Children’s code

Julia Cooke, Information Commissioner’s Office -Biography

Julia Cooke is a Principal Policy Adviser in the Regulatory Futures team at the ICO. Julia works on policy issues at the intersections of data, children’s rights and emerging technologies, focusing on the best interests of the child, age assurance technologies and educating children about their data protection rights.

Ingrida Milkaite, Ghent University -Biography

Ingrida Milkaite is a postdoctoral researcher at the Law & Technology research group, Faculty of Law and Criminology, Ghent University, Belgium. She currently focuses on children’s rights in the context of the processing of children’s voice data, funded by the Flanders Research Foundation. Ingrida is a member of the Human Rights Centre, the UGent Human Rights Research Network, PIXLES and the European Communication Research and Education Association. Her doctoral research focused on a children’s rights perspective on privacy and data protection in the digital age, and the implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation in that context.

Amelia Vance, Public Interest Privacy Consulting -Biography

Amelia Vance is the founder and president of Public Interest Privacy Consulting, LLC. She advises government agencies, policymakers, companies, and other organisations on legal protections and actionable best practices to ensure the responsible use of child and student data. Amelia teaches privacy law at William & Mary Law School and is Co-Chair of the Federal Education Privacy Coalition. She has testified before the U.S. Congress and several state legislatures and served on the OECD expert group for the new Recommendation on Children in the Digital Environment. Amelia is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Riad Fawzi, Second Strand Solutions Ltd -Biography

Dr Riad Fawzi is the CEO of Second Strand Solutions Ltd, a fintech delivering software services and financial consulting to firms directly. He brings his many years of experience to his current role where he’s dedicated to helping firms managing their risk, regulatory and reporting requirements as simply and effectively as possible. His career spans academia in LSE, banking and consultancy with many of the world’s leading financial institutions.

Natalia Kucirkova, University of Stavanger and The Open University -Biography

Natalia Kucirkova is Professor of Early Childhood Education and Development at the University of Stavanger, Norway and Professor of Reading and Children’s Development at The Open University, UK. Natalia’s work is concerned with social justice in children’s literacy and use of technologies. Her research takes place collaboratively across academia, commercial and third sectors. Natalia is a Jacobs Foundation Research Fellow 2021-2023. She blogs for Psychology Today and her latest book is ‘The Future of the Self’.

Sue Cranmer, Lancaster University -Biography

Dr Sue Cranmer is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK. Her main research interests are in digital education and social justice. Sue has been published in leading journals within the field including the ‘British Journal of Educational Technology’ and ‘Technology, Pedagogy and Education.’ In 2020, Sue published a monograph, ‘Disabled children and digital technologies. Learning in the context of inclusive education,’ for Bloomsbury Academic.

Lyndsay Grant, University of Bristol -Biography

Dr Lyndsay Grant is a Lecturer in Education and Digital Technologies in the School of Education at the University of Bristol. Drawing on critical data studies, science and technology studies and sociomaterial theoretical approaches, my research explores how digital and data technologies reshape educational practices, policies and cultures. My current research is focused on exploring data intermediaries in education; anticipatory performance of educational futures and critical data literacy as a sociomaterial practice.

Andrew McStay, Bangor University -Biography

Andrew McStay is Professor of Digital Life at Bangor University, UK. His most recent book, Emotional AI: The Rise of Empathic Media, examines the social impact of technologies that use data about subjective and emotional life. Director of The Emotional AI Lab, current projects include cross-cultural social analysis of emotional AI in UK and Japan. Non-academic work includes IEEE membership (P7000/7014) and regular advising of policy organisations. He has a forthcoming book with Oxford University Press titled Automating Empathy.

Ari Beckingham, University of Edinburgh -Biography

Ari Beckingham is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. Her research makes use of augmented reality to encourage children to recognise the signs, understand the consequences and effects of climate change in their daily lives.

Larissa Pschetz, University of Edinburgh -Biography

Larissa Pschetz is a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Her research uses Design to engage people with complex themes such as the impact of socio-technological narratives on perceptions of time and the natural world.

Roger Taylor, Open Data Partners -Biography

Roger Taylor is an advisor for Responsible AI programme at Accenture. He was previously the Chair of the UK’s Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), an independent advisory body set up by the UK Government in 2018 to advise on the governance of data-driven technologies. Roger was the Chair of Ofqual and a member of the advisory panel to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. Roger co-founded Dr Foster in 2000, which pioneered the use of public data to provide independent ratings of healthcare. Roger has written two books: God Bless the NHS (Faber & Faber 2014) and Transparency and the Open Society (Policy Press 2016).

Jim Knight, Labour Peer -Biography

Jim Knight, The Rt Hon. the Lord Knight of Weymouth, works in education, digital technology and as a legislator. He is a director of Suklaa Ltd, providing advice to clients in education. Jim is a founder of xRapid, an AI diagnostic business. He is the Chair of E-Act Multi Academy Trust, the Digital Poverty Alliance and CAST. He is a board member of Century-Tech, MACAT International and GoBubble and sits on the advisory bodies for Nord Anglia, and BETT. As a government minister and MP, Jim’s portfolios included rural affairs, schools, digital and employment. He was a member of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet, before joining the Lords in 2010.

Timo Hannay, SchoolDash -Biography

Timo Hannay is the founder of SchoolDash, an education data analytics firm that works with a wide range of collaborators, including media, publishers, edtech, charities, trusts and government. He is also a non-executive director of SAGE Publishing and of Arden University, and an advisor to Ada Lovelace Day and Maths4Girls.He was previously the founding managing director of Digital Science and before that variously ran the online business of Nature Publishing Group, worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, wrote for The Economist, and investigated brain physiology at the University of Oxford and Waseda University in Tokyo.

Bill Thompson, BBC Research & Development -Biography

Bill Thompson is a Principal Research Engineer in BBC Research & Development where he leads the Future Value Research programme. A well-known technology journalist, he has been working in, on and around the Internet since 1984, and was Internet Ambassador for PIPEX, the UK’s first commercial ISP, and Head of New Media at Guardian Newspapers where he built the paper’s first website. He is an adjunct professor at Southampton University.

Jun Zhao, University of Oxford -Biography

Dr Jun Zhao is a Senior Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on investigating the impact of algorithm based decision makings upon our everyday life, especially for families and young children. For this, she takes a human-centric approach, focusing on understanding real users’ needs, in order to design technologies that can make a real impact.