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Join us in this special episode as we explore UCL's evolved Grand Challenge, which aims to harness the power of data to tackle pressing societal issues and create more Data-Empowered Societies.
Narrator: Welcome to our special podcast for the launch of UCL’s evolved Grand Challenge: Data-Empowered Societies.
UCL Grand Challenges convenes cross-disciplinary collaborations to explore interconnected solutions to a range of societal issues. Over the years, the Grand Challenges has grown from a grassroots research funding programme to become an integral part of how we approach research, education and innovation at UCL, whilst we address the big issues facing humanity.
The Data-Empowered Societies Grand Challenge initiative is our latest theme to launch. Data-Empowered Societies seeks to use data for innovation, ethical management, and address inequalities, creating new prototypes, educational approaches, and practices that can transform our world.
In a recent workshop, we gathered feedback and insights from various UCL experts about the potential of data to empower societies. The discussions centred on how technology and data can address major societal issues and the importance of diversity in approaching these challenges. Participants emphasised the need for ethical considerations, community involvement, and standards in data-driven decision-making. All while taking into consideration UCL's strengths in data analysis, interdisciplinary collaboration, and data-driven disciplines
First, we spoke to Professor Allison Littlejohn, Professor of Learning Technology and Director of the UCL Knowledge Lab, about her hopes for the Data-Empowered Societies Grand Challenge and the key partnerships she’s excited about.
Alison: Data-Empowered Societies, of course, is very topical and very important in terms of, I guess, engaging all of the challenges, because any ways of addressing global challenges these days involves data, which is very important. UCL, [are] in a very good situation in that we have a number of different ingredients I think are really important to addressing these challenges of data and power societies. So first thing is, we need talented people who engage with society, broadly, globally., and so we've got a lot of very talented people within UCL.
We have a strategy. So we have 10 year plan, for example. it's not by any means a blueprint, but at least where we can go. And we also have a wonderful environment on the UCL campus and UCL east, and within that, all the different laboratories are places that people have to work. These are really essential ingredients in terms of addressing some of the challenges of Data-Empowered Societies.
Narrator: Let’s set the stage by understanding what Data-Empowered Societies aims to do. At its heart, the initiative aims to harness UCL’s strength in data-driven solutions to foster collaboration between academia, industry, and society to tackle global challenges. We want to play a part in creating high-impact, interdisciplinary partnerships that can drive real change.
We also spoke with Professor Jack Stilgoe from the Department of Science and Technology Studies. Jack emphasised the importance of identifying key research areas for impactful outcomes.
Jack: With the grand challenge for transformative technology, we tried not just to do and create new things, right? We weren't just interested in doing different things. We were also interested in doing things differently if you like. So it wasn't just, you know, creating new opportunities for people with an interesting technological idea to go out and try that technological idea. It was also changing relationships. So that ideas would come from new different from new places and take different forms. So we were really keen to get interdisciplinary collaborations happening across bits of the university that might otherwise not talk to each other. And I think what we showed is that with relatively small amounts of funding, you can make these relationships happen and seeds and things that then might lead on to something really quite exciting. And I think that's an approach that we would want to take into the new grand challenge as well. That approach of not just doing different things but doing things differently.
Narrator: One of the strengths of this Grand Challenge is its commitment to ethical data practices and inclusivity. While many people are understandably concerned about privacy, security and how our personal data is used, Data-Empowered Societies promotes responsible and equitable data usage. This initiative is not just about collecting data, but about using it in ways that are transparent, fair, and beneficial to all.
Let's hear from Samantha Ahern, Senior Digital Research Trainer, who will discuss the critical importance of ethical data practices and how to ensure that data usage empowers communities rather than exploiting them.
Samantha: How do we engage critically in society when we’re having to consider all the information there is? But also when you're working with groups, and you're working with communities and your doing science work, how do you make sure that they're empowered to have control over their data and that they're not being sidelined or exploited in that research process?
So I was at Munich a few weeks ago at a Think Tank, and there was a project around data ethics they’re running with Exeter, and one of the things we're talking about is, when we’re doing the data research and working with people, we need to train the people who we’re working with to ask the right questions of us, to make sure that we're being ethical and how we work with them and their data. There’s some data that you don't want published, indigenous knowledge that shouldn't be in the public space, that maybe you’ll research, but you're never gonna share it because it breaks all they’re values and belief systems so you want to really think about that as well.
Narrator: Like all of the Grand Challenge themes, Data-Empowered Societies will use UCL’s expertise to engage and inform policy professionals on how they can develop robust, evidence-based policy that delivers real social impact. Jack discusses this in more detail.
Jack: The other thing that I hope would come out of this would be some clear recommendations to governments and to organisations that want to use data in ways that are safe and trustworthy, and of public benefit, but they might not know where to start and I think UCL has a lot of people that could help those organisations make sense of data in publicly beneficial ways.
Narrator: We’re looking to work with not just those already deep in data work, but also those who may not realise the potential data holds for their own fields. The Data-Empowered Societies Grand Challenge is about sparking new ideas and partnerships, leading to innovative solutions that can make a tangible difference in society. Alison discusses this in relation to health data.
Alison: The health challenges that the world faces at the moment, we saw during the pandemic, of course, are not just having data, but the way that we gather data, that we use it, that we analyse it, that we manage these data to curate them is really important. And so we can expand that for all the other grand challenges. So society is very much dependent on data and how we use these data to solve some of the problems and this is why for me, this challenge is a really interesting one, because it's it fits with all the challenges.
Narrator: Now let’s hear from Dr. Jin Gao, Lecturer in Digital Archives at UCL’s Department of Information Studies, about her vision for Data-Empowered Societies and its relevance to her work.
Jin: So from my Information Studies point of view, I see Data-Empowered Societies as a way of doing data management and also preservation so how we could preserve and use and maintain data responsibly and also sustainably. So for example, we have an increasing number of different data and born digital data and not digitised data that is available and increasing on a daily base. And then how do we keep them alive? So for example, there are a lot of digital resources that go offline for different reasons, after a period of time. So how do we maintain those use of data that could really empower and enhance our understanding of our society?
Narrator: During the workshop, participants identified several ways to develop the Data-Empowered Societies Grand Challenge. These included mapping internal expertise and interdisciplinary connections within UCL, engaging student groups to inform challenge areas and develop critical skills, and reaching out to external partners. Let’s further discuss how Data-Empowered Societies can leverage UCL's diverse community to generate substantial societal impact. While we have already mentioned our data-driven disciplines, it's important to highlight the wide range of specialisations across UCL that we can unite. Alison weighs in on UCLs interdisciplinary strengths.
Alison: So first thing is, we need talented people who engage with society, broadly, globally. And so we've got a lot of very talented people within UCL. We have a strategy. So we have 10 year plan, for example. So there is a, it's not by any means a blueprint, but at least points us direction of where we can go. And we also have a wonderful environment on the UCL campus and UCL east, and within that, all the different laboratories and places that people have to work. These are really essential ingredients in terms of addressing some of the challenges of Data-Empowered Societies. But what also is some of the challenging things about working here at UCL is we're big and we're very diverse, so we need to find ways of connecting people and connecting ideas. And so for me, this is one of the things that we really need to focus on, and is being focused on so finding ways that the right people can get together at the right time, and that is very difficult when we're talking about interdisciplinarity, because how indeed, do we know sometimes these things are very serendipitous and happen through chance conversations, but we need to provide opportunities and time indeed for people to be able to do these kinds of things and to focus on what some of the challenges are. That's one thing that we're doing today with the Grand Challenge meeting. We need to make sure that this is a regular part of what we do, and also fostering these connections, I really enjoy coming along to these kind of meetings where I meet people from very different disciplines from my own, but finding those connections and ways of talking really sensibly about some of the challenges can also be quite difficult and complicated, and we can't just connect in a meeting like today. You know, we need to form connections over time, and really think deeply about some of the challenges. So I think these are some of the areas that UCL really needs to focus on, to bring together and to capitalise on the advantages that we have.
Narrator: As London’s Global University, we’ll be exploring ways to use our city as a living lab to pilot and test innovative ideas, creating scalable models for skills training and data literacy based on existing programs. This approach not only benefits our local community but also sets a precedent for global impact. Hear from Jack, who explores the ideas of UCL being a living lab.
Jack: I think there's a few things that I can imagine coming out of this this Grand Challenge. The first one would be a set of new experiments, and I think the university itself is quite an interesting laboratory for trying out new things, new relationships between scientists, engineers, social scientists, and the rest, on you know, good uses of data in the in the public interest.
Narrator: As we look ahead 10 years, we must consider how data will be collected, processed, and used. We’ll be looking to involve people and communities who are often under-represented in research, to ensure that our solutions are inclusive and sustainable, addressing systemic inequalities and decolonizing research. Let’s hear more on how our UCL colleagues envision the future of data and technology, and the role of Data-Empowered Societies in shaping that future.
Jin: So my vision is more centred around building a robust infrastructure that not only facilitates the sharing of data, but also emphasises the ethical and sustainable management of digital resources. So for example, we have an increasing number of own digital resources and digitised resources, and these type of data really enhance our understanding of our society and our cultural heritage, but how do we maintain and use them sustainably? We know that there are many resources go offline after a period of time for different reasons, and if we lose the data, we lose the opportunity to really potentially empower our society. So my vision at UCL is more about developing a digital preservation framework that could help us enhance the sustainability of digital data and resources. And so this aligns with the broader Data-Empowered Societies goal of empowering societies through responsible and sustainable data practices.
Alison: One of the things I really like to see from these from UCL is that we move forward in an ethical way. And people are talking about AI ethics all the time at the moment. But what does that really mean? Some of the work that we're doing in the Institute of Education with people who are working really on cutting edge of areas like astronomy and biosciences, for example, they're not just gathering but analysing massive amounts of data in a way that was not possible before, and they're, setting out what some of these physical scientists would look like for the next 50 years.
Samantha: For the moment, a lot of technology landed on us. There isn't much say, there's quite a bit of techno-determinism and the techno-imaginaries for those of the big tech, not necessarily of society and the greater good. So I would like a carbon neutral, sustainable tech infrastructure with informed citizens that can make meaningful decisions about their data and how their data is deployed for the greater good.
Narrator: Thank you for joining us in this special podcast for the launch of UCL’s Grand Challenge: Data-Empowered Societies. And a big thank you to Professor Allison Littlejohn, Professor Jack Stilgoe, Dr. Jin Gao, and Samantha Ahern for sharing their insights and perspectives.
Whether you’re an academic, a researcher, an industry professional, or a student, there’s a place for you in the Data-Empowered Societies initiative. Even if you don’t currently see how your work relates to data, this initiative is an invitation to explore new intersections and opportunities for collaboration.
To find out more about Data-Empowered Societies and how you can get involved, visit our website at www.UCL.ac.uk/grandchallenges.
If you have ideas or projects that align with Data-Empowered Societies, or if you need support for your Data-Empowered Society activities, please contact us at grand-challenges@ucl.ac.uk.