Connecting your thinking
Corsham Institute’s ‘Observatory for a Connected Society’ brought a digital platform of research, data, analysis and opinion into the public domain, which showcased the latest insights into the opportunities and challenges of our digital society in one place for the first time.
In a partnership with research organisation RAND Europe, Corsham Institute developed the project with online community provider Disciple Media, together launching a mobile app that quickly built a community of influencers, academics, civil servants and tech-for-good practitioners, sharing knowledge about all aspects of the digital economy and the data-driven society.
The project formed part of Corsham Institute’s Communities Programme, which had a mission to develop both online and offline communities, creating test-beds, and bringing groups of citizen’s together to co-design projects, offering possible solutions to some of the challenges, as well as the opportunities, offered by digital technologies on society, as well as every individual’s daily life.
With the overall strap-line of ‘Connect Your Thinking’ the Observatory app was designed with different sections offering long reads, summaries, analysis and comment from a range of opinion formers, prominent thinkers and sector leaders.
Wide ranging analysis was provided by RAND Europe’s team of researchers and a comprehensive calendar was created offering information on relevant events, publications and public consultations.
The Monitor section provided authoritative, curated news and research on issues related to a connected society, including Digital Health, Cyber and resilience, Digital living, and Trust and ethics, with wide-ranging reports from, for example, the World Bank, Nesta, Demos, the Open Data Institute and the World Economic Forum.
The Observatory’s Analysis section offered unique access to facts and data, objective expert analysis, case studies and evidence; and our Comment section brought topical opinion pieces from prominent thinkers, sector leaders and experts, such as Jacqueline de Rojas, President of TechUK, on diversity in tech and Theo Blackwell, Chief Digital Officer for London. Over the lifetime of the project over 650 people downloaded and engaged with the App and content was posted every day by a team of interns and researchers.
The Observatory, was one of many outputs from the global programme of Thought Leadership events that Corsham Institute developed in partnership with RAND Europe, which were hosted at St George’s House.
St George’s House was founded in 1966 by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh and the then Dean of Windsor, Robin Woods, as a place behind the walls of Windsor Castle where people of influence and responsibility in every area of society could come together to explore contemporary issues in a discrete and secluded setting.
During 2016 and 2017, eight events were held and over 200 senior leaders and executives from industry, academia, the not-for-profit sector and government participated in the programme. The discussions covered many of the most pressing issues we face as a society and produced many forward-looking recommendations for policymakers and others.
The participants spent 24 hours focussing on specific areas and under strict Chatham House rules they considered, in the first year of the programme, the topics of Trust and ethics, Cyber and resilience, Digital living and Digital health.
In 2017 the programme continued with Digital Learning, Digital Currency, Civic Engagement and Open Science. Summary reports were also produced outlining key themes and recommendations. The 2016 and 2017 reports can be found on these links.
Their Thought Leadership programme was always focussed on exploring, understanding and finding solutions to the many issues surrounding the digital economy and our connected world and to understand where the adoption of digital technologies, and use of big data, can provide benefit to everyone in society.
The Civic Engagement reports, describes the huge challenge facing society as a whole;
“The increasing use of digital technologies has transformed the ways in which we interact, relate to others, and access and consume information. In many contexts, ‘society’ is arguably now more tangibly felt in the digital sphere than in the ‘offline’ world. Not only do digital technologies provide a way to connect with others across the globe, innovation in this space also offers newly enhanced and expanded opportunities for citizens to directly participate in civil society action and in democratic processes more broadly. [page 4]
Digital tools have the potential to empower citizens and policymakers alike. By strengthening community networks and lowering the barriers to participation, digital technologies can enable citizens to more effectively make their voices heard and affect positive social change in the public sphere.” [page 20]
As the Digital Learning Report concluded;
“It is important to recognise that the future should not be driven by technology. Rather than being an end in itself, the use of technology should be a tool to improve learning and outcomes for individuals by making learning more adaptive and flexible.” [page 20]
The first Thought Leadership reports and the Observatory for a Connected Society app, were launched at an event at the House of Lords in October 2016. Commenting on the impact of the Thought Leadership Programme, Jeffrey Thomas, co-founder of the Corsham Institute, thanked all the participants for engaging in such challenging & insightful debates that had, “created the impetus to address vital issues that the growth of digital accelerates”.
“We need a new framework”, he said, “which we are calling a ‘Digital Charter’, which will outline in clear, accessible language the role and responsibilities that we all have, as citizens and organisations, both in the public and private sector, to support an inclusive, safe and trusted digital world.”
Hans Pung, the President of RAND Europe, said that, “the Programme has examined a number of crucial dimensions of our connected society”, and that “digital challenges are not just technical, they affect our social norms, ways of governance and ethical frameworks”.
Lord Crisp, who welcomed people to the first House of Lords event said that, “this launch shines a light on the benefits and challenges of our connected society” and he recognised the need “for a concerted effort around data privacy and digital inclusion to ensure solutions best serve the public good”.
The Observatory for a Connected Society platform was a research and thought leadership test-bed that through a community of varied stakeholders offered a model for the future as to how information can be shared differently and how a community of committed practitioners, academics and business leaders could be created to share knowledge and understanding. With so much information now available in the public realm, the app was an accessible place for digests of information and clear analysis providing a one-stop shop for the most important of today’s information.
Corsham Institute’s Thought Leadership work is ongoing and developing new partnerships and models for the future, bringing together experts from academia, with innovative leaders from industry, and committed policy makers from the public sector and government.
Digital technology has re-imagined every aspect of society at an incredible speed far outstripping any cultural understanding, regulation or policy. Where the analogue society, that most of us grew up in, took millennium to develop, the digital one has revolutionised people’s lives, the economy and all of the institutions we rely on within only the last 30 years, since the invention of the world wide web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.
Corsham Institute continues to call for businesses, Government, organisations, as well as individuals, to find stronger and shared models of ethical behaviour, providing clear guidance on how to behave appropriately in the digital age, as the data-driven society and digital economy continues to encompass every aspect of our daily lives.