Author: Cian O’Donovan Publication: Research Europe and Research Professional News Link: researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-political-science-blog-2021-3-the-questions-we-should-be-asking-about-vaccine-passports/
Title: What is robotics made of? The interdisciplinary politics of robotics research Authors: Ola Michalec, Cian O’Donovan and Mehdi Sobhani Journal: Humanities & Social Sciences Communications Download full paper: nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00737-6 Abstract: Under framings of grand challenges, robotics has been proposed as a solution to a wide range of societal issues such as road safety, ageing […]
A short package Bloomberg ran on some of the technology roboticists have deployed in care homes during Covid. Some innovation studies and STS angles provided by me. It’s a snappy edit so here are some talking points I wrote-up in advance: Watch the video here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-01-04/robots-bring-smiles-to-care-homes-video Or inline here:
Most years between Christmas and New Year I make a mix-tape for friends. Here’s this year’s effort on Mixcloud. Tracklisting:clipping. – The Deep; The Revolutionaries – Kunta Kintae Dub; MC Yallah – Ndi Mukazi; Sarathy Korwar – Birthright (feat. Zia Ahmed, Mirande & Swadesi); Moor Mother and Yatta – Dial Up; Fort Romeau – Fantasia; […]
Author: Cian O’Donovan Abstract: Accountability structures in social care are critical. They facilitate democratic decision-making, responsibility and the equitable distribution of benefits. This study examines how innovation and technology is implicated in such structures.In the UK, innovation and technology researchers have predominantly imagined care as service provision, with accountability structured through paternalistic and technocratic configurations […]
A snippet of research that I’ve just been expunged from a working paper on how care and accountability are imagined in the UK’s social care infrastructures. An interview with Mike Padgham, managing director of the Saint Cecilia’s care home group in Scarborough reveals to the Financial Times the choice [care home operators like him] faced […]
My friend O overheard (oversaw?!?) this gem at one of those big summer conferences academics go to, the kind that migrated to Zoom in 2020. She knew I’d like it. I did. Skip forward a few months and I’m desparately hacking at a piece of writing that is far too shrub-like for its own good. […]
Presentation from 4S EASST 2020. Download PDF here.Authors: Carlos Cuevas Garcia, Cian O’Donovan, Federica Pepponi Presentation abstract: Scalability has been a key driver in research funding initiatives in the field of robotics. A widely spread assumption in this field suggests that for robotics to thrive it must create and keep adapting to an ever growing […]
Large funders of research are increasingly framing their research investments in terms of societal challenges. When funders like UKRI in the UK look across their portfolios, they often talk about expanding research capacity in a certain area to tackle these challenges. Say in AI research, or climate change, or sustainability. or even economic productivity. This […]
Backstage at the 2019 SciRoc Smart Cities robotics competition at the Centre:MK shopping mall in Milton Keynes, UK. What was inside this box was inevitably less intriguing than the possibilities of its exterior. But maybe that was the point of hosting a four day competition for robot developers inside of a shopping centre. Using a […]