The big issues

Digital technologies, devices and data are woven into the fabric of contemporary societies. The social and digital are co-evolving in a sociodigital world. Social Scientists are very good at understanding changes that have taken place to date. The more critical question, however, is how to understand sociodigital futures and what might be done to tip these towards fairer and more inclusive ways of life.  This is the mission of the newly-established ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures.

Our response

Launched on 1st May 2022 the Centre for Sociodigital Futures brings together expertise in the Social Sciences, Engineering, Humanities and the Arts, with the Universities of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Goldsmiths (University of London), the Institute of the Arts (University of London) and Lancaster.

Its five-year programme will explore how digital technologies are shaping (and being shaped by) everyday practices of consuming, caring, learning, moving (people and goods) and organising. At the same time, the Centre will explore how cutting-edge technologies – artificial intelligence, high performance networks, robotics, and augmented/ virtual and extended reality – are imagined and innovated for a range of futures linked to these areas of practice.

The Centre will work with six strategic partners - BT, Defra, Maybe* social media management platform, the National Centre for Cybersecurity and UNESCO - and an international network of University partners in Australia, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the US. 

The benefits

The ambition for the Centre is to make emerging sociodigital futures intelligible and actionable with direct impact on policymaking, organizational practice, community participation, and technology design. Through strategic collaborations the team will build capacity to identify, experiment with and utilise the potential of sociodigital future-making practices to support fair and sustainable societies.

How is BDFI involved?

The work of the centre is aligned with our mission and we'll share information and help academics make connections.

Find out more about the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures