Professor Helen Kennedy FBA FacSS

Helen Kennedy FBA FacSS is Professor of Digital Society at the University of Sheffield. She is an expert in researching public attitudes to new technologies. She has written and spoken extensively about trust in technology, inequalities in public opinion about digital technologies and the related issues of ethics, fairness and transparency. She recently convened Public Voices in AI, part of the UK’s Responsible AI research programme.

Most of Helen’s research involves collaborating with non-academic stakeholders to enact positive socio-technical change. She has advised government departments and practitioner bodies. She was recently appointed to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology College of Experts, and the Government Skills College of Experts.

Helen leads the ESRC Digital Good Network, a research network asking what a good digital society looks like and how we get there. The network is developing a tool for businesses and organisations to evaluate the societal impacts of their digital technologies, the Digital Good Index. She also directs the Living With Data programme of research.