Creating Emergent Socio-Digital Futures. With Susan Halford

My guest today is Professor Susan Halford, who is the co-Director of the Bristol Digital Futures Institute at the University of Bristol. Susan is our academic keynote at the 2021 Summit.

The Bristol Digital Futures Institute (BDFI) is a University Research Institute that pioneers transformative approaches to digital innovation. It brings together researchers from across the disciplines and works with partners in industry, government and civil society. The BDFI is developing in-depth systematic understanding of sociotechnical futures to drive the creation of digital technologies for inclusive, prosperous and sustainable societies.

During our conversation Susan explores the word ‘futures’ in the sense of recognising that futures are not fixed rather than in the sense of prediction, and explains the work and research that the Institute does.

She also discusses the difference between the terms ‘sociotechnical’ and ‘socio-digital’, and why it’s important that social scientists and technologists know enough about each other’s fields so we can collaboratively effectively. 

Lastly, Susan talks about 'response-ability' and briefly explores some of the ideas from Donna Haraway's book, Staying With The Trouble, that she finds incredibly provocative.

You can find Susan on Twitter at @susanjhalford and the BDFI at @DigiFutures.