Two leading academics from the University of Aberdeen have been appointed to an influential panel of experts advising on the development of a digitally enabled environment in the UK.
Georgios Leontidis, from the Department of Computing Science, and Abbe Brown, from the School of Law, have been appointed as Senior Experts to the Digital Environment Expert Network of NERC.
The network works towards the goal of creating a digitally enabled environment, bringing data, digitalisation and the physical environment into one space, providing solutions to real-world issues, for example climate change and ocean stewardship. This includes devising ideas and strategies to help inform NERC’s approach to research funding calls.
Georgios who is the University’s Interim Director for Data & AI, said that he is looking forward to using his expertise on data-driven approaches, artificial intelligence and data science to contribute to thinking and practice around a digitally enabled environment.
“This spans the whole pipeline of end-to-end systems development from data acquisition and processing to model development, visualisation and decision support,” he added.
“The University’s contribution to such networks through its academic experts is testament to our strong expertise in areas of strategic importance relevant to our Aberdeen 2040 strategy, such as Data & AI, and Environment and Biodiversity.”
Abbe said that she is keen to use her experience of intellectual property and its relationship to the physical environment in her role with the Expert Group.
She said: “My interest lies in how one considers intellectual property rights in relation to raw data – such as digital information relating to a geographical location – and where the control for this information lies and how it could or should be bought and sold.
“I hope to learn from and contribute to the interdisciplinary and public engagement work, with a particular focus on the question of private and public power over information and the environment.
“This will build on my research on the relationship between Intellectual Property and Climate Change Intellectual Property, Climate Change and Technology, as well as my involvement in the Song of the Ocean project.”
Abbe and Georgios’s appointments brings the number of University of Aberdeen academics on the Digital Environment Expert Network to three, with Burcu Yuksel Ripley from the School of Law already a member.
NOTE TO EDITORS
The NERC/UKRI Constructing a Digital Environment Programme exists to develop for the first time the thinking and practice around a ‘digitally enabled environment’, providing benefits for policy makers, businesses, communities and individuals. The focus of the programme is the combination of environmental science, with computer science, data science and behavioural science.
Key to the programme is the appointment of an Expert Network of leading influencer-practitioners, thought-leaders, and scientific and technical authorities whose work will identify best practices in ‘digital environment’ and help influence UK environmental policy thinking, drawing on expertise in the methodologies and tools for assessing, analysing, monitoring and forecasting the state of the natural environment.
