About us

"Digital Wildfire: (Mis)information flows, propagation and responsible governance" 

This project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of the Research Councils UK 'global uncertainties' programme. 

The project runs from November 2014 to May 2016.

Principal investigator:

Marina Jirotka is Professor of Human Centred Computing at the University of Oxford. Her research aims to bring a richer understanding of socially organised practice and activity into the process of engineering technological systems. This can then support the everyday work, activity and interaction. Marina leads the Human Centred Computing group at Oxford; this is a an interdisciplinary research group that focuses on understanding the ways in which technology affects communication, collaboration and knowledge within scientific settings, workplaces and other social settings. 

Co-investigators:

Matthew Williams is a Reader in Computational Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. He is a founding member of the Collaborative Online Social Media Observatory (COSMOS) , which is used in the Digital Wildfire project. and in 2014 was appointed by the ESRC to their Social Media Experts Working group. Matt has a long term research interest in digital social research (DSR). 

William Housley is Professor of Sociology at the University of Cardiff. His research interests reflect a theoretically informed commitment to empirical sociological research that makes connections with other fields and disciplines. His current research interests include computational and digital sociology, and political communication, citizenship, interaction and the mediated public sphere. William is a co-founder of the Collaborative Online Social Media Observatory (COSMOS). COSMOS is funded by the ESRC and JISC and is used in the Digital Wildfire project.   

Pete Burnap is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Informatics at Cardiff University. He is an applied computer scientist and interdisciplinary researcher, working closely with the Cardiff School of Social Sciences and School of Engineering. His key research is Cyber Conflict, Crime and Security – more specifically, the analysis and understanding of online human and software behaviour, with a particular interest in emerging and future risks posed to civil society, business (economies) and governments. Pete is a founding member of the Collaborative Online Social Media Observatory (COSMOS). COSMOS is funded by the ESRC and JISC and is used in the Digital Wildfire project. 

Omer Rana is Professor of Performance Engineering at Cardiff University. His research interests extend to the three main areas within computer science: problem solving environments, high performance agent systems and novel algorithms for data analysis and management. The underlying theme which underpins all of these interests is the application of novel techniques for management and coordination in large scale systems, which may be parallel or contain a set of interacting entities connected over a network. Rana is a co-founder of the Collaborative Online Social Media Observatory (COSMOS). COSMOS is funded by the ESRC and JISC and is used in the Digital Wildfire project. 

Adam Edwards is a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University, Director of the Cardiff Centre for Crime, Law and Justice and a founding member of the Collaborative Online Social Media Observatory (COSMOS). COSMOS is funded by the ESRC and JISC and is used in the Digital Wildfire project. Adam’s principal research interest is in liberal democratic modes of governance and their security implications.

Rob Procter is Professor of Social Informatics at the University of Warwick. Over the past 10 years a great deal of his research has focused on innovations in computational research infrastructure, tools and methods. Recently, he has been applying these innovations in the large-scale study of uses of social media. He led a multidisciplinary team to work with the Guardian/LSE on the Reading the Riots project, analysing tweets sent during the August 2011 riots. 

Bernd Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology and Director of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University. His research is underpinned by the principle that technology is not a value per se. Technology aims to achieve particular functions or purposes and therefore needs to be capable of being assessed with regards to these purposes. More importantly, these purposes and functioning need to be open to debate and questioning. 

Research Associate

Helena Webb is the Research Associate for the Digital Wildfire project. She has a background in social science and is part of the Human Centred Computing group at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on conduct, collaboration and organisation in social settings and she has a particular interest in social interaction. 

Artist in Residence 

As project artist in resident Barbara Gorayska will be producing paintings that illustrate the theme of digital wildfires. Barbara’s academic background in Cognitive Technology, and Semantics and Pragmatics of Natural Language informs the development of her particular interest in the interface between science and visual art. Since 2007 she has been exploring meanings and issues that can be communicated through the poetry of painting.

Our project research and impact activities are assisted by a Steering Committee composed of relevant academic and non-academic experts. Committee members reflect the interests of key stakeholders on issues surrounding digital wildfires, advise on the progress of the study and provide assistance with our impact and dissemination strategy.