Web Science Institute 2021-22

October 2021

ADVANCING AN EQUITABLE AI SOCIETY

Web Science Institute Blended thinking Page 8

Empowering change for the better

Shaping the future of Web Science

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Welcome

WELCOME Welcome to the Web Science Institute (WSI) – we are at the forefront of Web Science research, training and enterprise and are based at the University of Southampton.

Despite the global pandemic, it has been a busy couple of years for our WSI community as we have continued to work (remotely) on a range of projects, research and events. We are also proud to have launched our Centre for Human-Centred AI that is training doctoral researchers to meet the challenge of shaping a future AI society.

We were delighted to host the ACM Web Science Conference for the second time online in 2021 focused on Globalisation, Inclusion and the Web in the Context of COVID. You can find out more about it later in this publication.

We also co-ordinate the University’s activities as a partner of The Alan Turing Institute and were delighted when 30 of our academics were included in the latest round of Turing Fellowships.

In this brochure you can find out more about the interdisciplinary research that we are supporting. A call in 2021 resulted in five new WSI-funded pilot projects and we had another year of new interdisciplinary projects started through the Research Collaboration Stimulus Fund. I hope you enjoy reading about what we have achieved over the last year and please get in touch if you would like to be involved in the future.

CONTENTS

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Web Science Institute Overview

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Empowering change for the better Stimulating new research

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Showcasing our expertise

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Our people

Shaping the future of the Web Science

Professor Dame Wendy Hall WSI Executive Director Digital technologies, and businesses and services using them, are pervasive in global society and are key drivers of the global economy. The University of Southampton has a strong history of research and education in digital technologies, but also in their application across other academic disciplines and the public and private sector. The Web Science Institute (WSI) plays a vital role in facilitating interdisciplinary research in this area across the University, bringing together leading-edge academics from a range of subjects to drive forward research in this important and growing area.

Education and training

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I hope you enjoy discovering more in this publication and are as impressed as I have been with the strength and breadth of activities that the WSI is supporting. I have no doubt that the importance and impact of these activities will continue to grow over the coming years.

Data democracy, art and artificial intelligence...

Research

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Funding the future Enterprise and impact

The University is now in its fourth year of membership of The Alan Turing Institute, the national body coordinating research in artificial intelligence, data science and their wider applications.

An increasing number of colleagues and disciplines are engaging with the Turing, and the WSI is playing a key role in co-ordinating these activities and our interaction with the other members of the Institute.

Professor Mark Spearing Vice-President, Research and Enterprise

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

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Brave Conversations and fireside chats International impact

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Overview

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

WEB SCIENCE INSTITUTE The Web Science Institute (WSI) co-ordinates Southampton’s leading-edge interdisciplinary socio-technical expertise in Web Science, data science and artificial intelligence (AI), harnessing our research, education and enterprise, to tackle urgent global challenges.

The World Wide Web

Web Science at Southampton

The World Wide Web is the largest information system in history. In 30 years, it has transformed the world, affecting the everyday lives of billions of people across the planet by reshaping business practice, social interaction and cultural expression. Its expansion has driven the formation of the Digital Economy and powered advances in data science and AI.

At Southampton, our top-class academics have played a pivotal role in both the creation and ongoing development of the Web. They were instrumental in the foundation of the discipline of Web Science that sits at the intersection of technology and society.

The scale of its impact and the rate of its adoption are unparalleled, providing a great opportunity as well as an obligation. To ensure the Web benefits the human race, we need to do our best to understand it.

Web Science has an ambitious agenda: to focus the analytical power of researchers from diverse disciplines to explore the social and organisational behaviours of the Web, as well as its underpinning technology.

The Web Science Institute brings together globally recognised researchers to explore the development of the Web from a socio-technical perspective. We focus on how the Web impacts on society and how society impacts the development of the Web. We work across all disciplines providing insight and intelligence that can lead policy, business strategy, civic engagement and individual choices to meet the challenges posed by Web technologies.

We create research collaborations with industry and academia, provide postgraduate education through our Centres for Doctoral Training and deliver an online programme of Continuing Professional Development in Data Science and AI.

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Our people

SHOWCASING OUR EXPERTISE The Web Science Institute (WSI) brings together outstanding interdisciplinary socio-technical expertise to drive the development of the Web forward.

Executive Directors

Directors

Visiting Professors and Fellows Honorary Professor Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee Inventor of the World Wide Web Professor Michael Boniface Director of the IT Innovation Centre

Professor Dame Wendy Hall Regius Professor of Computer Science

Dr Thomas Irvine Associate Professor in Music

Professor Anneke Lucassen Professor of Clinical Genetics Professor Les Carr Head of Web and Internet Science Group

Emeritus Fellow Dr Kieron O’Hara Philosopher, computer scientist and political writer Visiting Professors Dr Vinton G Cerf Internet pioneer Liam Maxwell Director of the Government Transformation at Amazon Web Services JP Rangaswami Chair of the Web Science Trust Board of Trustees Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt Principal of Jesus College, University of Oxford Dr Phil Tetlow Chief Architect at IBM Software Group

Professor Larry Lynch Head of School, Winchester School of Art

Bill Thompson Principal Research Engineer at the BBC Visiting Fellow Tom Barnett Entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of Web Technology

Dr Matthew Ryan Policy Director Professor Pauline Leonard Professor of Sociology

Professor Peter WF Smith Turing University Lead

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Dr Mark Weal Director of the CDT in Web Science Innovation

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

Advisory Board

Academic Advisory Board

Tom Barnett – Chair – Founder and CEO, Chronotis Liz Brandt – CEO, Ctrl-Shift Professor Les Carr – WSI Executive Director Dean Drew – Partner, Lester Aldridge Professor Susan Halford – Professor of Sociology, University of Bristol Professor Dame Wendy Hall – WSI Executive Director Professor Keith Jeffery – Keith G Jeffery Consultants Professor Pauline Leonard – WSI Executive Director Matt McNeill – Head of Google Cloud Platform, UK and Ireland Professor Steven Meers – Head of AI Lab, Dstl Lohan Presencer – Chairman, Ministry of Sound Group Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt – Principal of Jesus College, University of Oxford Bill Thompson – Principal Research Engineer at the BBC Dr Mark Weal – Director of the CDT in Web Science Innovation

Professor Les Carr – Co- Chair – WSI Executive Director Professor Pauline Leonard – Co-Chair – WSI Executive Director Professor James Batchelor – Director, Clinical Informatics Research Unit Dr Christian Bokhove – Associate Professor in Mathematics Education Dr Thomas Gernon – Associate Professor in Earth Science Dr Vadim Grinevich –Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Professor Dame Wendy Hall – WSI Executive Director Dr Thomas Irvine – Associate Professor in Music Professor Will Jennings – Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Professor Anneke Lucassen – Professor of Clinical Genetics Dr Tiejun Ma – Associate Professor in Risk Decision Analytics Professor Ben MacArthur – Professor of Applied Mathematics Professor David Martin – Professor of Geography Professor Sunil Manghani – Professor of Theory, Practice and Critique Dr William McNeill – Lecturer in Philosophy Dr Ajit Nayak – Associate Professor of Strategy Professor Tim Norman – Head of Agents, Interaction and Complexity Group Mr David Rew – Consultant General Surgeon, University of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Dr Matthew Ryan – Associate Professor in Governance and Social Policy Professor Joanna Sofaer – Professor of Archaeology Professor Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon – Professor in Information Technology Law and Data Governance Dr Ben Waterson - Lecturer in Transportation Dr Mark Weal – Director of the CDT in Web Science Innovation

Strategy Board Professor Mark Spearing – Chair Vice-President, Research and Enterprise Professor Jonathan Bull – Acting Dean of Faculty, Environmental and Life Sciences Professor Michael Butler – Dean of Faculty, Engineering and Physical Sciences Professor Les Carr – WSI Executive Director Lorna Colquhoun – Director of Research and Innovation Services Professor Diana Eccles – Dean of Faculty, Medicine Professor Jane Falkingham – Dean of Faculty, Social Sciences Professor Dame Wendy Hall – WSI Executive Director Professor Pauline Leonard – WSI Executive Director Professor Nicky Marsh – Associate Dean of Faculty (Research and Enterprise), Arts and Humanities Simon Mason – Head of Faculty Finance, Engineering and Physical Sciences Dr Mark Weal – Director of the CDT in Web Science Innovation

Our Partners and Collaborators include: BBC British Library Build Peace Business South Cabinet Office Cambridge Education Group Chronotis Ltd CleanWeb Comic Relief Ctrl-Shift Data Science Institute Department for Business Department for Communities and Local Government Deutsche Bank Digital Catapult

Dstl Elsevier Facebook Fawley Waterside FutureLearn Google Government Digital Service Hampshire Constabulary Haymarket Publishing Health Foundation Home Office IBM Instagram Interpol Irwin Mitchell Lester Aldridge Solicitors

Microsoft Research Ministry of Sound National University of Singapore Nuffield Southampton Theatres Office for National Statistics Open Data Institute Open Society Ordnance Survey Parliamentary Digital Service PLMR Privitar Roke Manor Research Solent Local Enterprise Partnership South East Regional Organised Crime Unit

Southampton City Council Spotify Switch Concepts Takeout Tech City UK Tesco The Alan Turing Institute The National Archive Tsinghua University Universal Music UK Verizon Web Science Trust WEDINOS Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN)

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Research

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

BLENDED THINKING Research lies at the heart of the Web Science Institute’s (WSI) success, positioning it as a world leader in Web Science knowledge and innovation, and fuelling its extensive education, training, enterprise and impact activities.

We facilitate exciting opportunities for researchers to collaborate in a range of interdisciplinary activities, which help to establish novel socio-technical approaches to tackle the major challenges facing society.

We also head major international research programmes that are funded by UK Research Councils, the EU, government and industrial partners.

We have research expertise in: Human-Centred AI Our research focuses on AI techniques, how to deploy AI in innovative solutions to complex social problems, how to manage the disruptive effects of AI on social infrastructure, and how to develop AI for the good of future society.

Social and Embodied AI Our research responds to the human and social challenges raised by universal networking through the Web and the Internet of Things.

We aim to encourage scholarships and action across the arts, humanities and social sciences.

New Forms of Knowledge Our research takes an interdisciplinary approach to working with social data, sensor data, government data and business data developing robust methodologies to make useful and actionable knowledge for researchers, government, industry and civil society.

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Ethics, Governance and Liberties Our research investigates the issues arising from protecting people’s privacy and security in an online environment, and explores open, fair, transparent and trustworthy means of data sharing.

Online Health Our research explores the opportunities for improving population health and the efficiency and reach of healthcare delivery through the development of online health interventions targeting human behaviours.

Digital Governance WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall and Emeritus Fellow Dr Kieron O’Hara have recently published a book Four Internets: Data, Geopolitics, and the Governance of Cyberspace that describes how Internet governance can prevent it fragmenting into a ‘Splinternet’. It features a foreword by Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google Vinton G Cerf.

Wendy and Kieron have previously published a policy paper Four Internets: The Geopolitics of Digital Governance that described four emerging views of how best to govern the Internet.

Trustworthy AI for the Future of Society The trustworthiness of new technologies such as AI is currently raising considerable concern for governments, academia, business and the general public. The UK Government’s Review of AI identified the urgency of the need to secure public trust and confidence in AI systems. Our research encourages investigations in all aspects of trustworthiness in relation to AI and Automated Decision Making.

Digital Futures Our research focuses on how the digital transformations of today are shaping the future, and how we might intervene in these processes to support an inclusive and productive outlook for all.

Democratic Futures We support research aimed at understanding and imagining how advances in automations, interaction and data sharing can maintain or improve inclusive, free and equal public spaces on the Web for work, play and learning.

Work Futures We lead interdisciplinary research exploring the impact of advances in digital technologies on careers and professions, working practices, working lives and organisational processes.

Our research explores the opportunities for improving population health and the efficiency and reach of healthcare delivery through the development of online health interventions targeting human behaviours.

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Research

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

DATA AND DEMOCRACY, ART AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE...

The WSI and its academics also play a significant role in many interdisciplinary, strategic groups and research projects across the University and in the wider academic community. Here are some of the areas that we are contributing our expertise to: Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub The TAS Hub spearheads work to ensure that autonomous systems such as driverless cars and robots are trustworthy by default and can ultimately benefit society and industry.

It is based at the University of Southampton, with King’s College London and the University of Nottingham as partners.

The Centre for Democratic Futures research project - Democratic Simulation for Citizen Participation - aims to support future democratic participation by building a Web-based simulation tool in the form of a game in which each player acts as a local government representative, implementing local laws as they see fit, and thereby learning about participation issues and democratic choices.

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WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall co-chairs the Hub’s Skills Programme that aims to develop the next generation of highly skilled TAS researchers, engineers and designers. Fellow WSI Executive Director Professor Pauline Leonard is also a member of the TAS Research and Engagement Committee and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee and is Co-Investigator on a research project examining Trustworthy Human-Robot Teams.

Social Data Foundation for Health and Social Care The WSI is supporting the Social Data Foundation for Health and Social Care that aims to strengthen existing relationships in data sharing to facilitate positive and sustainable transformation of health and social care.

The Foundation is led by WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall and WSI Director Professor Michael Boniface and is a partnership between the University, Southampton City Council and University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

Centre for Democratic Futures The Centre for Democratic Futures is a multidisciplinary team of internationally renowned academics from across the University of Southampton. This group of experts harnesses the power of their academic research to future-proof democracy, by identifying threats and investigating strategies that ensure the resilience of democracy.

The team works at the forefront of emerging technology, taking cutting-edge research and using it in innovative ways to help solve the big societal challenges being faced in the world today. WSI Director Professor Michael Boniface is Director of the Centre.

PETRAS

The PETRAS National Centre of Excellence aims to ensure that technological advances in the WSI Director Dr Matthew Ryan is a Director Internet of Things (IoT) are developed and of the Centre. applied safely and securely in consumer and business contexts. They do this by considering social and technical issues relating to the Southampton Institute for Arts cybersecurity of IoT devices, systems and and Humanities (SIAH) SIAH works across disciplines seeking new kinds networks. The WSI is one of a consortium of of critical and creative approaches particularly research institutions working with the world’s in disruptive and unexpected forms of data and largest socio-technical research centre on the future implementation of the IoT. analysis. Their researchers explore the relationships between technologies, concepts of the human and posthuman, creative practice Work Futures Research Centre and everyday life. WSI members Professor The Work Futures Research Centre (WFRC) is a Sunil Manghani and Dr Seth Giddings, from multidisciplinary network of academics from Winchester School of Art, are part of a working across the University of Southampton engaged group at The Alan Turing Institute called AI in researching cutting-edge issues facing the and Arts. changing worlds of work and organisation. A

IT Innovation Centre The IT Innovation Centre specialises in the advancement of innovative information technologies and their deployment in industry and commerce.

key focus is investigating the impact of fast paced digital technological change on working practices.

WSI Executive Director Professor Pauline Leonard is a Founding Director of the WFRC.

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Stimulating new research

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

EMPOWERING CHANGE FOR THE BETTER We are also supporting a range of projects through two funding sources – our Research Collaboration Stimulus Fund and the Web Science Institute (WSI) Pilot Project Fund.

The Research Collaboration Stimulus Fund aims to kick-start innovative research ideas across the University by providing £80,000 a year to stimulate and pump-prime research leading to collaborations and the development of full research grants or contracts proposals with non-academic partners.

Stimulus Fund Projects Supporting fertility treatment through AI

Digital Transformations: Domestic abuse support in a The high treatment burden of IVF often leads to post-pandemic world people discontinuing treatment prematurely, even when there is funding available.

Professor Ying Cheong, from Medicine, is leading a project that is applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to capture and utilise emotional data to create an efficient and supportive IVF treatment environment.

Ying’s research is developing and evaluating an AI-based solution using algorithms to triage those who need additional emotional support during fertility treatment. It will also predict the risk of IVF patients who will discontinue treatment.

The project aims to evaluate whether AI can utilise behavioural data to predict fertility treatment outcomes.

Read more about the project here.

We will develop algorithms which leverage a large existing database of emotional data captured by a clinically validated, smartphone application (MediEmo) and linked outcome data, with the aim to evaluate whether AI can utilise behavioural data to predict fertility treatment outcomes.

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The COVID-19 lockdown forced frontline service providers to explore innovative ways of delivering strategies to support their service users, as well as looking at how to ensure multi-agency collaboration was most effective.

Dr Rebecca Taylor, from Sociology, is leading a project investigating the role that digital technologies played in the UK in the innovation of domestic abuse services during and after the pandemic.

The research looks at how technologies were adapted, subverted or rejected, how they underpinned and shaped ongoing collaborative multi-agency practice and how women and families with different backgrounds and needs experienced these new remote services. It is being co-produced with domestic abuse service providers, local authority representatives and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) infrastructure organisations.

Read more about the project here.

Transforming health and social care Improvements in public health and patient care will depend on the availability of a wide range of health-related information integrated with advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, medical devices and robotics.

Professor Michael Boniface, from Electronics and Computer Science, together with WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall, is leading the Social Data Foundation that aims to transform health and social care through trustworthy data sharing by communities, patients and providers.

Personalised medicine, clinical decision support, and public health policies all depend on better insights from data, whilst increasing connectivity is creating new networks of healthcare that go beyond traditional institutional boundaries.

However, making connections between communities, providers and their datasets has a wide range of socio-technical issues - legal, ethical, operational and trust – that need to be addressed. This research aims to establish a Community Participation and Data Governance model that is implementable at the local and regional level, that can then be replicated nationally.

Read more about the project here.

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Stimulating new research

The WSI Pilot Project Fund aims to stimulate and pump-prime interdisciplinary research activity that will ultimately lead to collaborations and the development of full research grant proposals.

Proposals were invited across four themes - Social Data Foundation in Health and Social Care, Social and Embodied AI, Democratic Futures and Trustworthy AI for the Future of Society.

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

WSI Pilot Projects Helping meet the challenges of climate change and forecasting natural hazards The field of Earth observation is grappling with a deluge of observational data, acquired from satellites, autonomous vehicles and massive sensor networks. Interrogating these data streams provides new and valuable insights into Earth system behaviour on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.

Dr Thomas Gernon, from Ocean and Earth Science, is leading this project which is looking at using new technological approaches and shared data platforms to tackle pressing societal challenges such as climate change, land use optimisation and predicting natural hazards.

Thomas said: “Solving these problems will necessitate immersive trust-based collaborations between University research groups and large technology organisations motivated to develop future-proof, userfocused solutions.”

Chatbots in the gallery

Making sense of the argument

The use of audio-visual media devices to orient, guide, inform and entertain museum and gallery goers is well-established - from audio guides to interactive screens and XR approaches such as virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.

People engage in arguments on a daily basis and, with the rise of globalisation and webmediated connectedness, we are bombarded with huge amounts of argumentative data in the form of social media content, online interviews and televised political debates.

Dr Seth Giddings, from Winchester School of Art, is working with Dr Sarah Hayden, from English, and research students Samantha Schäfer and Lesia Tkacz, on a project to explore the use of chatbox applications in an art gallery setting.

Dr Rafael Mestre is leading this project that is looking at disentangling unstructured argumentative data by creating AI machines that can process and understand argumentative dialogues.

The past year has accelerated awareness among cultural institutions that their interpretive provision needs to take greater account of audiences’ diverse sensory and somatic experiences, and that meaningful efforts to develop new audiences require innovative as well as inclusive approaches to exhibition interpretation and access.

Argumentation mining (AM) is a field of research in computer science and computational linguistics that is still in its infancy and novel approaches are needed to improve the accuracy of the prediction algorithms and find applications to analyse relevant data.

This research will investigate multimodal audio-textual information in AM combining Working with Southampton’s John Hansard acoustic features from people’s speech, Gallery, the research will take AI and the Internet together with natural language processing techniques, to improve the accuracy of of Things to prototype portable or wearable The collaboration between the University’s state-of-the-art algorithms. This project will set National Oceanography Centre Southampton, systems that will engage and guide the visitor through voice-based interaction, offering a the base for multimodal AM, providing potential the wider University and IBM Emerging playful and accessible mode of engagement benefits to fields like political science, computer Technology will directly address the need for a science and social AI. reliable, results-driven and accessible geospatial with art and museum exhibitions.

AI infrastructure.

Read more about the project here.

Read more about the project here.

Read more about the project here.

Earth observational data can be used to tackle pressing societal challenges such as climate change and its impacts, land use optimisation and forecasting natural hazards.

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Research

THE ALAN TURING INSTITUTE AT SOUTHAMPTON The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence – named in honour of Alan Turing whose pioneering work in theoretical and applied mathematics, engineering and computing is considered to have laid the foundations for modern-day data science and artificial intelligence.

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“I am very excited have been given the opportunity to take part in the Turing Enrichment scheme. It will be especially rewarding to experience the diversity of approaches to data-driven science across different disciplines.”

Jack Doyle Turing Enrichment Student

Driving forward research

Researcher Spotlight

The Turing has just announced its new cohort of Turing Fellows and 30 Southampton academics have been awarded the prestigious accolade. Their 12-month fellowships will enable them to significantly enhance their research through active involvements with the Turing’s network of universities and partners.

Southampton’s new Turing Fellows are:

Dr Pamela Ugwudike Economics, Social and Political Sciences

− Professor Ben MacArthur Mathematical Sciences − Professor Sunil Manghani Winchester School of Art − Dr Stuart Middleton Electronics and Computer Science − Dr Helen Ogden Mathematical Sciences and S3RI The University of Southampton has been a − Dr Owen Rackham member of The Alan Turing Institute since Biological Sciences 2018, and the University’s activities, including − Dr Selin Ahipasaoglu −

Professor Sarvapali Ramchurn Turing Fellowships and Turing Research Mathematical Sciences Electronics and Computer Science Projects, are co-ordinated by the Web Science − Dr Thomas Blumensath −

Dr Matthew Ryan Institute (WSI).

Engineering Economics, Social and Political Sciences − Professor Jacek Brodzki − Dr Ruben Sanchez-Garcia Southampton and the Turing Mathematical Sciences Mathematical Sciences Southampton’s invitation to partner with the − Dr Stefano Coniglio − Professor Francesco Shankar Turing is recognition of the excellence of our Mathematical Sciences Physics and Astronomy research, our alignment with the Turing’s − Professor Christine Currie − Dr Sebastian Stein research interests, and our ability to bring Mathematical Sciences Electronics and Computer Science new expertise and opportunities which add to − Dr Alex Dickinson − Professor Andrew Tatem the core strengths of the Turing and its Engineering Geography and Environmental Sciences existing partners. − Dr Erengul Dodd − Dr Pamela Ugwudike Mathematical Sciences Economics, Social and Political Sciences Our researchers work alongside the Turing’s − Dr Rob Ewing industry, government and third sector partners − Professor Mike Wald Biological Sciences to spearhead cutting-edge research and apply Electronics and Computer Science − Dr Kate Farrahi this research to real-world problems, with the − Professor Ling Wang Electronics and Computer Science goal to create lasting effects for science, society Engineering − Professor Jeremy Frey and the world we live in. − Professor David Woods Chemistry Mathematical Sciences and S3RI − Professor Bharathram Ganapathisubramani WSI Director Professor Peter WF Smith is the − Dr Alain Zemkoho Engineering Turing University Lead, while WSI Executive Mathematical Sciences Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall is the − Dr Thomas Gernon University representative on the Turing Ocean and Earth Science University Partners’ Board. Susan Davies, WSI − Dr George Konstantinidis WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Co-ordination Manager, is the University Electronics and Computer Science Hall and WSI Director Professor Peter WF Liaison Manager. − Professor Pauline Leonard Smith also retain their roles as Turing Fellows.

Economics, Social and Political Sciences The Turing’s goals are to undertake world-class, multi disciplinary research in data science and artificial intelligence and apply it to real-world problems, drive economic impact and societal good, lead the training of a new generation of scientists, and shape the public conversation around data.

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

Pamela is a Turing Fellow with a Pilot Project.

Her research considers the ethics and social implications of AI technologies when applied in justice systems to predict crime risks and determine levels of criminal justice intervention. She is also exploring how platform algorithms integrated into online social networking sites interact with broad social factors to structure discourses about crime and punishment.

Read her full interview here.

As well as the Fellows, a number of other Turing accolades have also been awarded to our students and academics.

Turing AI Acceleration Fellow – Dr Sebastian Stein is leading a five-year £1.4m UKRI Turing AI Fellowship to create AI systems that are aware of citizens’ preferences and act to maximise the benefit to society. The project will develop and trial citizen-centric AI systems in a range of application areas such as smart home energy management, on-demand mobility and disaster response, including the provision of advice and medical support during epidemics like COVID-19.

Turing Doctoral Student – Joseph Early was selected as Southampton’s first Turing Doctoral Student, benefiting from the combined strength and expertise of the University and the Turing. His research focuses on allowing AI systems to be used in domains that require high levels of interpretable performance, such as medicine.

Turing Enrichment Students – Jack Doyle, Thomas Davies and David Massegur Sampietro are Southampton’s current Turing Enrichment Students. They get the opportunity to boost their doctoral research with a placement at the Turing, Bristol or Leeds for up to 12 months.

“I am looking forward to being part of the Turing community, where I will be able to learn the cuttingedge of artificial intelligence, have dedicated training and meet the biggest experts in the field.”

David Massegur Sampieto Turing Enrichment Student

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Research

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

SPOTLIGHT ON TURING RESEARCH

As the new cohort of Turing Fellows start on their exciting journeys, the University’s previous tranche of Fellows are coming to the end of their tenure. Here we look at some of the excellent research that they have achieved:

Professor Francesco Shankar Physics and Astronomy

Professor Adriane (Age) Chapman Electronics and Computer Science

Professor Jacek Brodzki Mathematical Sciences

Dr Thomas Irvine Music

Francesco’s Turing Fellowship focuses on developing a smart algorithm for optimising hypertension management strategies. He is exploiting techniques developed by his group in the context of extra-galactic astronomy to assist clinical decision-making in blood pressure treatments.

Age’s Turing Fellowship focuses on improving data sharing and determining the type of anonymisation techniques that should be applied for best privacy protection.

Jacek’s Turing Fellowship focuses on using topology – a branch of mathematics dedicated to the study of shape – to detect efficient architectures of neural networks.

Tom’s Turing Fellowship fuses jazz music with computer science and asks the question – why do machines struggle to make good jazz?

Data containing personal information needs to be anonymised before it can be shared but all anonymisation techniques are breakable.

Which anonymisation technique should be applied depends on the context or data environment in which the data is originally collected, as well as the data environment in which it will be shared.

The modern world thrives on data. While we tend to think of data as numbers, most of the data created in modern science, medicine, biology, in digital economy, in commerce and in digital security is vastly more varied: it can be a set of images, a collection of objects, a dynamic profile of an evolving system, sound or video recordings, tweets or posts on discussion forums.

In collaboration with the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, Francesco is generating a cutting-edge hierarchical Bayesian Monte Carlo model that can probe the complexities of blood pressure management within large populations.

He said: “This approach has yielded novel findings about how blood pressure measurement techniques and drug selection can influence blood pressure control within a population, and consequently the incidence of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes.”

In collaboration with the University of Manchester, her Turing project is the first study to explore how provenance (the history of data) can be used to automatically detect these data environments so that the appropriate technique can be chosen.

Age said: “Currently this is done by a human, which, due to the potential for error and Francesco has received additional support conservative estimation, means the data is not from the Science and Technology Facilities always shared as it could be. Our research is Council and Global Challenge Research Funding laying the groundwork for better and more to expand his work into comparing different complete data sharing among organisations strategies for the management of hypertension, while still protecting personal information and paving the way towards personalised treatment complements the Turing’s research challenge for each individual by leveraging the history of area in cybersecurity.” measured blood pressure distributions obtained during previous GP visits.

He added: “To transition our work to a stage of real-world impact, supported by Impact Acceleration grants, we have developed the first stage of a mobile app to act as a decision support tool for clinicians.”

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A common thread in modern data science is the analysis, classification and comparison of complex shapes. This is why topology is so useful in this context, as it provides numerical characteristics that allow the classification and comparison of complex structures.

Jacek said: “I am interested in developing new applications of topological ideas as well as foundational research into the methodology itself. We are investigating the quantification of the complexity of neural networks and developing new tools to assist architecture discovery. We are also concentrating on the systematic development of numerical characteristics that capture the essence of the complexity of the problem and the proposed network architecture.”

Jazz is the ultimate improvisation – complicated, clever, steeped in history and relies heavily on the musician’s experience and memory.

The research has involved collaborations with the AI and music lab at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan and Southampton’s Turner Sims Concert Hall. Together with Turner Sims, Tom will be ending his fellowship project with a festival of AI jazz in March 2022.

Tom said: “Jazz is a really historical type of music. It’s very much the passing down of knowledge from one generation to the next.

Jazz musicians learn history: the tunes and the different versions of the tunes. I wondered if computers are able to do that too. What I have been finding out is that machine learning algorithms, which work heavily with statistical methods, are often designed to iron out risk.

That’s important if a machine is driving your car or operating on you, but a problem if you are trying to make meaningful improvised art.”

Tom’s research could have lasting repercussions for the music industry. He added: “Big players such as Spotify and Apple Music are waiting for machines to understand music better. Teaching a computer to tell the difference between a samba and a rumba is trickier than you’d think. But, once computers can do that, the promise is that people will get what they want faster from the service. Beyond that I hope that providing a new frame for discussions about risk and improvisation in AI can help scientists in many fields re-imagine what AI can do.”

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Education and training

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF WEB SCIENCE Southampton academics have played a pivotal role in the development of the Web over the last 30 years, including being at the forefront of the development of the innovative discipline of Web Science.

Education and Training As the Web continues to evolve, we are committed to developing unique training opportunities to help shape its future using our vast range of experience in education and training.

We provide postgraduate education through our Centres for Doctoral Training and deliver an online programme of Continuing Professional Development in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the Southampton Data Science Academy.

Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Web Science Innovation The CDT in Web Science Innovation is an EPSRC-funded Centre that, together with the previous Web Science Doctoral Training Centre (DTC), has trained around 170 PhD students on its innovative, interdisciplinary four-year doctoral programme, preparing graduates to become agents of change in the Digital Economy.

The Centre has academic and industrial connections worldwide with research laboratories, external partner organisations and government organisations. Its alumni are already helping shape the future of the Web and society in a range of prestigious roles across the globe.

Human-Centred AI There is a global need to develop a large and highly skilled workforce that will drive an increasingly innovative economy, while understanding the adaptations necessary for working and living with AI, mitigating the risks it poses and shaping a future AI society.

Drawing on our expertise in HumanCentred AI, we are committed to training multidisciplinary doctoral researchers ready to meet this challenge through developing cutting-edge AI techniques, deploying AI in innovative solutions to complex social problems and managing the disruptive effects of AI on social infrastructure.

Southampton Data Science Academy

There is a global need to develop a large and highly skilled workforce that will drive an increasingly innovative economy, while understanding the adaptations necessary for working and living with artificial intelligence (AI), mitigating the risks it poses and shaping a future AI society.

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Data is of huge importance in today’s society, forming an integral element of the information age. It is already considered by many to be the next global currency.

Southampton Data Science Academy is part of the Web Science Institute and was developed in partnership with leading global education specialists Cambridge Education Group.

It aims to bridge the data skills gap in today’s increasingly data-driven world through worldclass training from industry-leading academics and thought leaders in the field of data science.

We offer a range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses in data science and AI primarily targeted at professionals who require general, as well as sector-related skills.

We have also developed courses for corporate partners and are currently developing modules on AI for non-STEM students. So far, we have trained more than 1,400 people and all of our courses are certified by the University of Southampton.

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Education and training

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

SHARING SUCCESS

Samantha Kanza PhD in Web Science, 2018

Keisha Taylor-Wesselink PhD in Web Science, 2020

Allison Noble PhD in Web Science, current student

Juljan Krause PhD in Web Science, final year

Samantha is an Enterprise Fellow at the University of Southampton and Network+ Co-ordinator of two EPSRC Research Networks: the Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Intelligence for Automated Investigations for Scientific Discovery Network (AI3SD) – a network that brings together researchers to show how cutting-edge artificial and augmented intelligence technologies can be used to push the boundaries of scientific discovery; and the brand new Future Blood Testing Network that aims to build a multidisciplinary community to develop digital health technologies for remote, rapid, affordable and inclusive monitoring and personalised analytics.

Keisha’s Web Science studies have given her an invaluable opportunity to work on projects and train in interdisciplinary research methods in ways that bridge the technological and the social. She has worked with multiple stakeholders and people of all disciplinary backgrounds, drawing on various disciplines to try to understand and address complex problems. Her PhD explored digital platforms and entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago and resulted in her presenting her research to their government.

Allison was fortunate to be able to spend a three-month online placement with Hampshire County Council’s Research and Insights team as part of her PhD, at a time when the Council was extremely busy facing community issues and obstacles related to coronavirus.

Juljan used Network Technology Futures Funding (NTF) to try and improve the transmission of research between academia and policy.

She is also part of a team of early career researchers from Chemistry and Computer Science at Southampton –Talk2Lab - that are using automated Internet of Things (IoT) technology to make laboratories more efficient and safer for staff and students. She is also leading an interdisciplinary Ethics Working Group, has recently been asked to sit on the Faculty Ethics Committee and is continuing to work on Semantic Web Research.

“The CDT was ahead of its time in designing training and methods for interdisciplinary research and projects that bridge the technological and the social. I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved in this.”

Keisha Taylor-Wesselink PhD in Web Science, 2020

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Samantha said: “I had an amazing time doing my Web Science PhD as I had the privilege of working with some amazing people. It really showed me the value of interdisciplinary projects and taught me how to appreciate the skills and approaches of disciplines outside my own. I’ve found that I really enjoy applying modern technologies to the scientific domain and I’ve been lucky enough to get a job and be involved in research projects that do exactly that.”

Since her PhD she has worked as a Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin for the EUfunded Shaping Interdisciplinary Practices in Europe (SHAPE-ID) project where she helped address the challenge of improving interdisciplinary co-operation between arts, humanities, social sciences and science, technology, engineering and maths; and as a researcher at the Human Sciences Studio at Accenture helping clients navigate shifting relationships between business, technology and society, related to issues such as sustainability and trustworthy technology.

Keisha has also started her own project Techilosophy, which explores culture and phenomena especially from indigenous cultures and the Global South which are inherently interdisciplinary.

She said: “The CDT was ahead of its time in designing training and methods for interdisciplinary research and projects that bridge the technological and the social. I count myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved in this. Since finishing my research, I have worked on amazing projects and continue to hone my skills and share knowledge as I look to create my own projects that take a multicultural, intercultural approach to interdisciplinarity.”

It was an exciting opportunity for her to use her research skills outside of her comfort zone and was part of an ongoing arrangement between the Council and the University’s Public Policy Unit.

She quickly discovered a huge difference between the pace at which things progress in academia and local government which helped improve her confidence in producing work at speed.

During the placement, Allison helped to research and create insights into COVID-19 messaging to various communities, running focus groups, creating presentations and examining pre-existing research to inform new insight projects.

She said: “I especially enjoyed moderating the focus groups as this let me work closer with other team members and allowed me to develop my qualitative skillset.

“It was an amazing experience to undertake this placement, and I am looking forward to engaging more with the Public Policy Unit in the future.”

Prior to starting his PhD, Juljan worked in a number of research-heavy roles at think tanks and a large financial institution and when he returned to academia he noticed how many academics felt frustrated that their hard work wasn’t picked up by policy-makers, particularly when it addressed really pressing issues.

He said: “From my own experience working in central Government, there was a genuine need for evidence-based research, but it was hard for researchers in Government to sift through tons of publications, opinion pieces and grey literature to find the evidence base that drove the kinds of policy recommendations that academics made.”

He put together a high-profile speaker series that gave researchers from Southampton a unique opportunity to engage with top level civil servants and Permanent Secretaries and directly share with these senior Whitehall decision-makers why their research matters.

He said: “The speaker series, generously funded by the NTF, was an excellent opportunity for Southampton academics to maximise exposure across Whitehall.”

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Publications

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

KNOWLEDGE SHARING Web Science Institute (WSI) PhD students work on a range of interdisciplinary research projects, supported by a supervisory team. Here is a sample of the publications, conferences, workshop items, reviews or book sections they have produced in 2019-2021.

Al Tamime R, Fares F, Giordano R, Hall W (2019).

Uncertainty during new disease outbreaks in Wikipedia. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2019). Vol 13(01), AAAI. pp. 38-46

Hewitt S, Tiropanis T, Bokhove C (2020). The reception of education reforms through the Blogosphere. In WebSci’20 12th ACM Conference on Web Science. ACM. pp. 194-201 (doi:10.1145/3394231.3397909)

Ayling J, Chapman A (2021). Putting AI ethics to work: are the tools fit for purpose? AI and Ethics, 1-36, [AIET-D-21-00058R1]. (In Press)

Hracs B, Webster J (2021). From selling songs to engineering experiences: Exploring the competitive strategies of music streaming platforms. Journal of Cultural Economy, 14 (2), 240-257

Chughtai H, Myers M, Young A, Borsa T, Cardo V, Demirkol O, Morgan C, Morton S, Prior C, Wilkin J, Young E, Özkula S (2020). Demarginalizing interdisciplinarity in IS research: interdisciplinary research in marginalization. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 46 (1), 296–315, [13]. (doi:10.17705/1CAIS.04613) Giordano B (2021). Allison Abra, Dancing in the English Style: Consumption, Americanisation and National Identity in Britain, 1918–50. Journal of Contemporary History, 56 (2), 443-445. (doi:10.1177/0022009420980678c) Gray B (2019). The role of social networks in Small Island Communities: lessons from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2019, United States. 08 - 11 Jan 2019

Javanshir R, Millard D, Carroll E (2020).

Structural patterns for transmedia storytelling.

PLoS ONE, 15 (1), [e0225910]. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225910) Kitromili S (2020). Tools make it possible authors make it real. In Authoring for Interactive Storytelling Workshop: 13th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. 3 pp Koops HV, de Haas WB, Burgoyne J.A, Bransen J, Kent-Muller A, Volk A (2019). Annotator subjectivity in harmony annotations of popular music. Journal of New Music Research, 48 (3). (doi:1 0.1080/09298215.2019.1613436)

McInnes N, Wills G, Zaluska E (2019). Analysis of a PBX toll fraud honeypot. International Journal for Information Security Research (IJISR), 9 (1), 821-830. (doi:10.20533/ijisr.2042.4639.2019.0094) Patone M, Zhang LC (2020). On two existing approaches to statistical analysis of social media data. International Statistical Review.

Priestley M, Sluckin T.J, Tiropanis T (2020).

Innovation on the Web: the end of the S-curve?

Internet Histories, 4 (4), 390-412. (doi:10.1080/24701475.2020.1747261) Shahini R, Davis H, Borthwick K (2019). Cultural challenges and research strategies in multicultural MOOCs. In INTED2019 Proceedings. IATED Digital Library. pp. 8364-8370 Thorburn R, Henry M, Paci F (2019).

Towards an integrated privacy protection framework for IoT: contextualising regulatory requirements with industry best practices.

Living in the Internet of Things, London, United Kingdom. 01 - 02 May 2019

Lessons from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season

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Enterprise and impact

MAKING A DIFFERENCE The Web Science Institute (WSI), drives positive societal and civic impact through our knowledge exchange and enterprise activities. Here are some of the ways we are making an impact:

The WSI is part of the Core Technical Group, that is charged with ensuring the town has ‘intelligent’ infrastructure. Other members of the group include Cisco, IBM, Siemens and Vodafone. The WSI is also informing the social and environmental decisions, advising on what makes a sustainable and cohesive community.

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The vision for an ‘intelligent’ town.

Image courtesy of Fawley Waterside Ltd

Creating an ‘intelligent’ town Work is progressing on building a new ‘intelligent’ town on the outskirts of Southampton. Fawley Waterside Ltd is building the new habitation on the former site of the UK’s largest oil-fired power station, which will be built from the ‘internet up’ fully considering what is required to create a successful and happy community.

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

Outline planning permission has been granted for the project by the New Forest District Council’s and the New Forest National Park Authority’s Planning Committee members, and demolition work has started on some of the site.

WSI Executive Director Professor Pauline Leonard said: “We are delighted to be working with Fawley Waterside on this ambitious plan to build a new social community. Our aim is to harness the latest technologies to create one of the best socially cohesive and environmentally sustainable places to live in the South.”

WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall added: “We are delighted to be part of the Core Technical Group and to help balance the social and the technical aspects of such an ambitious and brave project.”

White Papers

AI for the people

The WSI has initiated a series of white papers on policy matters concerning the Web and the internet. The papers help intelligent, generalist readers understand complex topics in Web, internet and artificial intelligence as they emerge, as well as help to shape policy responses for societies and organisations.

WSI Executive Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall has a significant role in the national Ada Lovelace Institute.

WSI Director Dr Matthew Ryan took over as Editor of the WSI White Paper Series in 2021 from WSI Emeritus Fellow Dr Kieron O’Hara who initiated the project in 2020. Matthew provides guidance and a review of proposed papers and can identify potential colleagues to provide collegiate advice.

Wendy is Chair of the Board of the Institute whose mission is to ensure that data and AI work for people and society. They aim to make sure that the transformative power of data and AI is used and harnessed in ways that maximise social wellbeing and put technology at the service of humanity.

Wendy said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for me to work with the Institute to ensure we continue to make a significant impact in the world of AI and data ethics by taking an evidence-led approach to the development of policy and practice in this area, which is something I am passionate about.”

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Enterprise and impact

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

FUNDING THE FUTURE Web-based start-ups are changing the world with online innovations revolutionising the way we shop, travel and socialise. The WSI-founded Z21 Innovation Fund is driving innovation into the real world by helping University start-ups get off the ground.

In collaboration with the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), we have invested £1m into 14 proof of concept projects which had the potential to be accelerated into new businesses and create jobs in the Solent region. Successful projects received acceleration support from Future Worlds including entrepreneurial mentoring, start-up video production and access to the Future Worlds’ Accelerator Space.

Here we share some of the successes: 28

Avian interactive game graphic © Nucleolus Software Ltd

BOON

TopMD

Nucleolus

BOON is an award-winning start-up that uses psychology research to design and create interactive online shopping assistants. Many shoppers get frustrated, lost or bored with the seemingly endless choice available to them online – they want to have the same engaging and personal experience that they receive in-store. BOON, developed by Southampton graduates Dylan Grey and Mike Oakley, creates engaging and fun digital shopping assistants, letting retailers offer an experience that is personal to each shopper. An AI-powered shopping assistant is added to a retailer’s online store, which takes users through a set of questions before using powerful filtering and bespoke AI to select the most compelling products from across the retailer’s catalogue.

TopMD is the world’s first pathway biomarkers platform that is revolutionising healthcare. It was created by a team of Southampton scientists and mathematicians to dramatically improve precision and accuracy of disease diagnosis by using topology to allow the high resolution investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease, enabling the development of targeted treatments for application in precision medicine.

Nucleolus is a knowledge-driven independent studio that specialises in building interactive experiences based on the research of the UK’s top academics.

The collaboration, including Southampton’s Professor Joerg Fliege, develops fun and educational projects by combining the team’s interdisciplinary skills of art, design, development and academic knowledge. They have developed the co-operative multi-player In collaboration with the University, scientists at game Avian that has collaboration, TopMD are leading the molecular phenotyping conservation and altruism at its core. The team in an €11m EU-funded, three-year DRAGON aimed to present a new way of playing with an project for COVID-19 advanced diagnostics. emphasis on healing, diplomacy and real-world problem-solving, sparking conversations about TopMD co-founder, Dr James Schofield said: these topics through gameplay.

“The Z21 fund accelerated the birth of TopMD. It allowed the development of the technology to a Joerg said: “Z21 provided our team with an Dylan said: “The financial backing from Z21 ideal opportunity to develop a theoretical idea helped us build our product faster, get access to marketable product to demonstrate to customers, raising private investment and straight into a viable product prototype. Equally excellent support and explore various go-tosecuring grant funding.” important to the financial support were the market strategies. Hundreds of thousands of opportunities for deep strategic discussions our clients’ customers have now used BOON to with experienced mentors -an invaluable help them discover great products for resource.” themselves or a gift recipient.”

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International impact

BRAVE CONVERSATIONS AND FIRESIDE CHATS

Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

Our latest events were: Meet the Author David Birch Author, advisor and commentator on digital financial services David talked about his latest book The Currency Cold War, which looks at the significant economic and political ramifications of the move towards digital money and examines both private and public approaches to conclude that business and government strategies for digital currency should be a priority. The event included an engaging talk followed by a question and answer session.

The Web Science Institute (WSI) is a truly global organisation. Our academics are spreading the message about the WSI and its research to all corners of the globe through a broad range of activities. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, our WSI community has been delivering keynote talks and lectures at various online events around the world.

Distinguished Lectures WebSci’20 and WebSci’ 21 conferences The WSI, on behalf of the University of Southampton, has organised and hosted the last two ACM Web Science Conferences. Due to the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 event had to be rapidly transformed from a physical to a virtual event, and this year due to the ongoing restrictions and the uncertainty regarding COVID-19 it once again was run online.

The 2021 five-day conference focused on Globalisation, Inclusion and the Web in the Context of COVID and attracted 270 delegates from as far afield as the USA and China – with one panel being held in English with Chinese subtitles.

It was opened by ACM President Gabriele Kotsis and President-Elect of the International Communication Association, Professor Noshir Contractor who shared their views on the future of the Web. During the five days, delegates could participate in spotlight panels, paper sessions, workshops, tutorials, Brave Conversations and a PhD Symposium.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall, one of the conference chairs, said: “Our second ACM Web Science conference at Southampton was a huge success and a truly global, interdisciplinary event. It was a good opportunity to reflect on how COVID-19 had changed the world and to discuss its impact on the Web in the future.”

The ACM Web Conference 2022

The ACM Web Conference 2022 is the 31st conference in the International World Wide Web Conference series and is taking place online from 25-29 April 2022, hosted in Lyon, France. The conference is managed by the World Wide Web Conference Committee, of which WSI Executive Director Professor Dame A highlight of the event was a keynote ‘In Wendy Hall is Chair. It is an annual international Conversation’ between Dame Wendy and academic conference, which started in CERN, Baroness Martha Lane Fox. They discussed and focuses on the topic of the future direction Baroness Lane-Fox’s contributions to public of the World Wide Web. It is the premier forum policy and the technological debate. The pair for researchers, developers, users and also explored the legislation processes and commercial ventures to discuss and debate the work going on within select committees and the evolution of the Web, the standardisation of its House of Lords that is relevant to Web Science. associated technologies and the impact of those technologies on society and culture.

The WebSci’22 conference is due to be hosted by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, Fellow WSI Executive Director Professor from 27-30 June.

Pauline Leonard is a Co-Chair of the Web and Society Track of the conference.

Web Science Trust

World Wide Web Consortium

The Web Science Trust (WST) is a registered charity that is hosted by the University of Southampton. It aims to support the global development of Web Science. The WSI was a founder member of the International Web Science Trust Network of Laboratories, which brings together world-class research laboratories to support Web Science research and education. The network now has 19 international research groups. The WST has also founded an annual Web Science Conference and a Summer School.

The University of Southampton, through the WSI, is a member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) – an international community that works together to develop Web standards. The W3C aims to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure the long-term growth of the Web. Members help drive the direction of core Web technology and exchange ideas with industry and research leaders.

The WST has recently released a series of podcasts called Untangling the Web. Hosted by Professor Noshir Contractor, the podcasts seek to open up the fascinating and extremely timely discipline of Web Science to the lay listener through conversations between expert researchers across the field. They deal with the process of how the Web is shaping society, even as society shapes the Web. Listen to the podcasts here.

Distinguished Lectures and Meet the Authors We run a series of distinguished lectures and seminars from leading experts around the globe offering opportunities for our staff and students to benefit from wide-ranging academic and industry expertise.

ElsaMarie D’Silva Founder and CEO of Red Dot ElsaMarie talked about how Safe City and then Red Dot Foundation came to be and how she has used this to engage 750,000 citizens and police to be agents of change.

Dr Daniel Susskind Fellow in Economics at Oxford University Daniel shared a thought-provoking view into the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and the challenge of automation, setting out the five stages individuals and companies are likely to go through in recovering from the crisis.

Professor Philip Howard Director of the Oxford Internet Institute Philip’s talk entitled Tomorrow’s Leviathan: Machine Learning in a Political World explored the notion of artificial intelligence (AI) having an influence – whether positive or negative – on politics; and the wider implications of AI influencing public opinion via social media.

Fireside Chat, held jointly with the Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub Professor Steven Meers Head of Dstl’s AI Lab Steven joined Professor Dame Wendy Hall to share their perspectives on the latest developments in Human-Centred AI and Autonomous Systems.

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Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

WSI@soton.ac.uk +44(0)23 8059 3523