IDSB Panel: Growing up and being in the digital age.

Who Should Attend 

People are surrounded by technology even from a young age. The modern smartphone has become a cornerstone of the modern economy. Social media has long since transitioned from a solitary activity into an empire of technical innovations that mediate our offline and online experiences.  

Growing up and being in the digital age is now an unavoidable part of everyday life.  

This session is open to anyone who is interested in, using or developing technology that is always present, always discussed and frequently polarised when determining if the digital age is helping or hindering people and society.  

Session Overview 

This brings together an expert panel from the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour in the University of Bath. The panel will be tasked with answering some of the most difficult questions when it comes to making sure we maximise the benefits and minimise the harms as people grow up with and live with technology that continues to evolve. From social media to generative artificial intelligence, there will also be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.  

About the Panel 
Adam Joinson, Professor of Information Systems conducts inter-disciplinary research on the interaction between human behaviour and technology and particularly at how the design of systems influences behaviour ranging from privacy and self-disclosure, cyber-security, social relations and patterns of influence. 

David Ellis, Professor of Behavioural Science, looks how data and ubiquitous technologies are changing the way we live in the digital age, including the impact of social media and smartphones. David and Adam are part of a new government-commissioned research project which will lay the groundwork for future studies into the impact on children of smartphone and social media use, and help to direct future government action 

Danaë Stanton Fraser is a Professor in Human Computer Interaction, looking particularly at our interaction with immersive ('XR') technologies.  Virtual reality (VR), and increasingly augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) are becoming more widely used as immersive content that utilises these technologies becomes more commonplace. One of Danae's areas of interest is in trust, security and identity in immersive and online environments.  

Olivia Brown is an Associate Professor in Digital Futures. Her research sits at the intersection of psychology and behavioural science, aiming to understand how intra- and inter-group processes influence individual and group behaviour in online and offline settings.  She is especially interested in how online interactions can influence offline behaviour, with a focus on extremism and terrorism. 

Katie Thomas is a doctoral researcher looking at privacy, security, and family online banking. Her research explores whether the current design of family banking apps effectively meets the privacy and security needs of families. With a background in psychology, she is particularly interested in user-informed research that examines real-world behaviours and challenges. 

About the Bath Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour 

www.idsb.ac.uk 

The University of Bath has one of the UK's most successful applied digital behaviour and security research groups. The Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour (IDSB) is a research institute which brings over 50 academic researchers together. We are experts in behavioural, economic, data and social science who take a “whole of society” approach to understanding challenges and opportunities associated with digital technologies.   

Our research is organised around five themes: 

• online safety and harms 

• global politics of security and technology 

• emerging and future technologies 

• human, economic and organisational aspects of cyber security 

• digital data and national security 

The IDSB leverages and combines Bath's unique expertise and resources, including a dedicated lab and novel online simulation environments, to create a single front door for interdisciplinary academic research and collaboration with government and industry. Through doing so we hope to help make the UK a more innovative, safe and resilient digital society, to develop the next generation of experts in digital security and behaviour and to advance the UK as a global leader in this domain. 

What can we do for you?  

• Help identify relevant academic expertise  

• Provide rapid response to emerging priorities relevant to national security  

• Synthesize academic knowledge into actionable insights   

• Co-create longer-term research projects based on real-world challenges 

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