Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
The aim of the workshop was to identify projects and partners for future collaborative research and to discuss the potential for the establishment of a Centre for Digital Copyright Research in China at the Ningbo campus. The established Centre is expected to act as a Hub for research development between UK and China.
Researchers at the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) in collaboration with CREATe, the RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy at the University of Glasgow have launched an educational web resource aimed at A/AS Level Media Studies. The project, which was carried out during 2013-2014, was funded by RCUK under a contract with CREATe, University of Glasgow (Principal Investigator: Dr. Dinusha Mendis, Co-Director, CIPPM).
The Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP) at Bournemouth University is also part of the collaboration.
The web resource and downloadable PDF forms part of the already established Copyrightuser.org (initially funded by the Fusion Investment Fund, 2012-2013) and is titled, Contemporary Media Regulation: A Case Study in Copyright Law.
In particular, this educational web resource addresses Critical Perspectives in Media, Section B: Contemporary Media Issues and was approved by Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR) Examination Board at their Annual Conference on 21 March 2014.
The resource was disseminated to a large network of Schools in England and Wales in January 2015 and during 2015-2016, the researchers will map the impact of this educational resource by identifying how many Schools / students have opted to study Copyright Law as part of the Critical Perspectives in Media, Section B: Contemporary Media Issues.
The value of this educational resource has already been identified by the UK Government. In October 2014, Copyrightuser.org was mentioned by Mike Weatherley MP in his report Copyright Education and Awareness, in which he specifically mentioned this resource as an attempt to introduce copyright law into the AS/A Level Media Studies curriculum in schools in England and Wales. A write-up about it can be found here.
The content is shaped to enable teachers to explain the complexity and importance of copyright in media, and for the students to research copyright regulation and demonstrate their understanding within the Contemporary Media Regulation exam question.
This educational resource provides teachers with simple and straightforward information about copyright law. The focus is to bring together different perspectives on copyright issues. There is a consideration of the historical, contemporary and future copyright issues, with an emphasis on present.
The resource was formally launched in February 2015 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the press release titled ‘What we Should Teach Students about Copyright Law’ can be accessed here.
The educational resource was produced by a team consisting of:
Authors: Ms. Hayleigh Bosher and Dr. Dinusha Mendis (CIPPM)
Illustrations: Mr. Davide Bonazzi
Editor: Professor Ronan Deazley (Professor of Copyright Law, CREATe, University of Glasgow)
Educational Resource Development: Dr. Julian McDougall (CEMP)
Production: Mr. Bartolomeo Meletti (CREATe, University of Glasgow)
Questionnaire Respondents: see here
The Cluster Conflict, Rule of Law and Society of Bournemouth University (https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/centre/conflict-rule-of-law-and-society/) would like to invite you to an international one- day symposium in February which will discuss the events in the Ukraine.
This symposium discusses a new form of war, ‘Hybrid War’, under inclusion of aspects of ‘cyber-terrorism’ and ‘cyber – war’ before the backdrop of Russia’s ‘Ukrainian Spring’ and the continuing threat posed by radical Islamist groups in Africa and the Middle East.
It discusses the findings of an on-going Hybrid Threat project by the Swedish National Defence College. This interdisciplinary conference predicts that military doctrines, traditional approaches to war and peace and its perceptions will have to change in the future.
Four panels will discuss the following issues (preliminary schedule):
Panel 1: History of the Russian Ukrainian Conflict
Panel 2: Operational Aspects
Panel 3: Legal Aspects
Panel 4: Transitional Justice
Panel 5: Media in Conflict
Date of the conference:
February 25th 2015
Place:
Executive Business Centre
Bournemouth University
Dorset
BH8 8EB
United Kingdom
We invite you to submit proposals (200 word abstract) to the organising board if you wish to present at sbachmann@bournemouth.ac.uk and mklinkner@bournemouth.ac.uk and/or to indicate if you are willing to chair a panel. Deadline: 18 December 2014 for proposals
Academics from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands joined fellow researchers at Bournemouth University for a two day workshop on November 6-7. The workshop focused on organizational behaviour and legal development.
Presentations ranged from examining corruption in terms of foreign owned firms paying bribes and organizational wrong doing to legal issues involving IP issues and trademark violations at the London Olympics.
Bournemouth University PhD candidate, Nick Coppola, presented his paper “EU competence in IP matters: the strange case of geographical indications”. Coppola’s presentation explored the division of competencies between the European Union and its member states with regards to an often controversial form of intellectual property.
“I am presenting this paper again to the Italian Association of Agricultural Lawyers November 27 in Rovigo, Italy, so the opportunity to get feedback from colleagues in a smaller forum prior to the conference will help me to respond to potentially difficult questions from subject matter experts,” said Coppola. “Additionally, it was a good opportunity to discuss my paper with professors and peers who take a different approach to law. This has helped me to consider my research from an alternative perspective.”
Legal issues were further addressed when Dr. Lingling Wei presented her joint paper with Erikson about the event specific legislation for mega sporting events. Their paper intersects social sciences discussions with legal analysis.
“I think these interdisciplinary research workshops are a good way to work outside of the restriction of the legal field and have a good interaction with the social scientist,” added Wei.
Organizational behaviour was also explored at the workshop. Erasmus University Rotterdam candidate, Shaheen Naseer, presented her paper “Bureaucratic power and corruption, Imprinting of the past” which gave a contextual overview of how Pakistan’s bureaucracy has been influenced during its time as a British colony.
“The conference was a great opportunity for me to interact with academics from diverse backgrounds,” said Naseer. “The papers were at the forefront of knowledge and the floor discussions helped cross-fertilization of ideas. The conference was held in an atmosphere of collegiality and I enjoyed the great hospitality of the organizers”
Dr. Fabian Homberg, Bournemouth University and Prof. Klaus Heine, Erasmus School of Law, have started these workshops in 2011 as an informal way to foster intellectual exchange and to develop interdisciplinary research projects. This initiative will continue in the future and has also resulted in an ERASMUS+ Agreement between BU’s Business School and Erasmus School of Law which is active since the start of this academic year (2014/2015). This means exchange opportunities for undergraduates, post-graduates and post-graduate researchers and staff are now available between these two institutions.
The Swedish National Defence College (SNDC) invited Sascha Dov Bachmann for a two day visit to the Swedish capita as part of his ongoing affiliation with the SNDC.
Sascha, who works as an Associate Professor in International Law for the Law Department of BU also runs jointly with Dr. Melanie Klinkner the Cluster Centre for Conflict, Rule of Law and Society which has in the past organized a variety of security related activities.
During his visit from 5th to 7th November 2014 Sascha will give a presentation on Eco-warfare and discuss an upcoming publication on Hybrid War.
He will also discuss potential PhD projects and research collaborations as part of BU’s commitment to internationalization.
Friday 7th November 2014, Executive Business Centre
There has been much written on the latest developments relating to additive manufacturing or 3D printing as it is more commonly known. The recent rise of low-cost consumer 3D printers have also made the headlines and raised interesting and complex questions.
However, there is limited literature and debate on the implications of 3D printing surrounding intellectual property law, economics, policy, society and technology.
To understand these various implications, this event, co-sponsored by the ESRC and UKIPO and hosted by Dr. Dinusha Mendis Co-Director CIPPM, will bring together industry experts, social scientists, policy makers, lawyers, economists and manufacturers of 3D printing and as such will go beyond the developments in 3D printing in order to understand the implications for various stakeholders.
It will take place on Friday 7th November, 2014 at Bournemouth University’s Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, BH8 8EB (close to the main railway station).
The event will also provide the platform for a discussion and peer-review of the UKIPO Commissioned Report on the Intellectual Property Implications of 3D printing carried out by researchers at Bournemouth University and Econolyst.
This multi-disciplinary event will be complemented by an exhibition of 3D printing facilities provided by Bournemouth University together with one of the world’s largest 3D printing open-source companies, Ultimaker (Winner of Best Consumer Product and Best Consumer Software at the 2014 3D Print Show Global Awards).
The event is free to attend, although spaces are limited and registration is required. Those with a research interest in 3D printing are welcome to engage in debate on the challenges and opportunities facing this latest emerging technology.
For further information about the event and programme, please visit the CIPPM website. For queries, please contact BU Events (buevents[at]bournemouth.ac.uk) or Dr. Dinusha Mendis (dmendis[at]bournemouth.ac.uk)
The commitment and role of the international community in fighting Islamic State (IS/ISIL) are a daily item on the news. Therefore the Cluster for Conflict, Rule of Law and Society is holding a Workshop on ‘Contemporary Issues in International Law’ on Tuesday 28th October 2014, 10-13.00 in EB206.
The workshop brings together Undergraduate and Postgraduate students studying International Law and those interested in the issues of terrorism and the use of force in general. It will be a forum for discussion and debate on
The workshop will be led by Dr. Melanie Klinkner and Sascha Dov Bachmann, Associate Professor in International Law.
There will be tea, coffee and biscuits and interested staff and students are very welcome to join.
CIPPM Researchers Professor Maurizio Borghi, Dr. Marcella Favale, Dr. Fabian Homberg, Mr. Conor O’Kane, Mr. Bartolomeo Meletti, Dr. Dinusha Mendis and Professor Ruth Towse attended the All-Hands Meeting hosted by CREATe, University of Glasgow on 15-16 September 2014.
Set in the beautiful Mackintosh Suite of House for an Art Lover (designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh), the event showcased the projects and associated projects of CREATe’s consortium members. It also provided an opportunity to stage the projects through the medium of exhibition posters thereby capturing the creativity of the research – very much the theme of the two days.
The involvement of CIPPM Researchers in various CREATe projects led to a number of posters and presentations.
CIPPM, Co-Director, Professor Ruth Towse, Principal Investigator of the project, ‘Historical Analysis of the Role of Copyright in Music Publishing’ presented the research on the economic survival of the music publishing industry. CIPPM Director, Professor Maurizio Borghi and CIPPM Research Assistant Hyojung Sun also forms part of this team together with Professor Fiona MacMillan of Birkbeck College, University of London.
CIPPM Research Fellow, Dr. Marcella Favale presented her research carried out with CREATe Director and CIPPM Visiting Professor, Professor Martin Kretschmer and Professor Paul Torremans of University of Nottingham. The project titled ‘Is there a EU Copyright Jurisprudence’ attempts to understand how copyright jurisprudence is created.
CIPPM Member and Lead Producer of the project, Mr. Bartolomeo Meletti, presented the research on Copyrightuser.org Funded initially by Bournemouth University’s Fusion Investment Fund and extended by RCUK funding provided by CREATe, copyrightser.org is an online resource aimed at making UK copyright law accessible to creators and members of the public. It is a joint project between CIPPM, CREATe and the Centre for Media Practice (CEMP) at Bournemouth University.
CIPPM Co-Director and Principal Investigator of Copyrightuser.org, Dr. Dinusha Mendis and CIPPM Copyright Researcher and PhD Candidate Ms. Hayleigh Bosher forms part of the project together with leading UK copyright experts and various academic contributors who also form part of the copyrightuser.org team.
At the event, Dr. Dinusha Mendis was invited to speak in the ‘Rump Plenary Session’ (5 New Things for CREATe to Think About). In this context, Dr. Mendis spoke about her research on 3D Printing and IP Law.
CIPPM Member, Dr. Fabian Homberg presented his research carried out together with Dr. Kris Erickson (CREATe Research Fellow) and Professor Martin Kretschmer. Titled, ‘Kickstarter Loves the Public Domain’ the project considers how copyright works in the public domain are valued – with the focus on the poster/presentation being on the Kickstarter element of the project.
CIPPM Visiting Professor, Professor Paul Heald and CIPPM Co-Director, Dr. Dinusha Mendis also forms part of this project together with a number of other collaborators.
CIPPM Co-Director, Dr. Dinusha Mendis was invited as a Keynote Speaker to the 9th European Policy on Intellectual Property (EPIP) Meeting at the European Parliament, held from 4-5 September 2014.
The event hosted by the European Commission and the European Parliament, and organized by Dr. Georg von Graevenitz focused on interdisciplinary research in a wider policy context.
Dr. Mendis’ talk focused on her latest research into the Intellectual Property Implications of 3D printing, particularly the copyright implications arising from the use of 3D printing software and online tools.
Her talk also drew on the research carried out for a Commissioned Project by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO). The outputs from this project will be published in Autumn 2014.
A separate paper based on the talk and Commissioned by Law, Innovation and Technology (Hart Publishing) will be published later in the year.
For further information about the event, see Dr. Kris Erickson’s blog-post titled ‘Trans- Inter- and Cross- Disciplinarity at the 9th EPIP Conference, Brussels’.
The 10th Meeting of the European Policy on Intellectual Property Association will be hosted by CREATe, University of Glasgow from 2-3 September 2015. More details about the event can be found at the 2015 EPIP microsite here.
Sascha-Dov Bachmann, Associate Professor in International Law, was invited to present as a panel member the subject of Hybrid War/Threats/Ecothreats and Armed Conflict at the 5th International Symposium on Security and Military Law 2014 (the ISSML), to be held on September 25-27, 2014 in Seoul and organized by the Office of Judge Advocate General, Republic of Korea Army.
The purpose of the ISSML is to bring together leading authorities of the world including scholars, government officials, and military officers, to provide a meaningful opportunity to discuss, explore, and examine on current international law issues, and to serve as an effective forum of security and military diplomacy for peace and stability of the world.
This year’s ISSML has so far attracted high ranking military officers, government officials, scholars from 22 countries; and confirmed presenters including judge advocates having operational law assignments from US, UK, Australia, and S. Korea, Belgium General Counsel to the Office of Ministry of Defense and an ICRC Assembly member.
Sascha’s work on Hybrid War and Ecothreats has been published in various international and UK journals and is subject of continuing collaborative activities with colleagues and institutions from the UK, US, Sweden and Germany.
On Monday, BU researchers co-organised a workshop on Evolving Security and Privacy Requirements Engineering (ESPRE) at the 22nd IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE 2014) in Karlskrona, Sweden. The workshop brought together practitioners and researchers from around the world, who shared their thoughts about how security and privacy can be incorporated into the design of software as early as possible, without compromising productivity or sacrificing innovation. The RE conference series is one of the premier conferences in software engineering, and the ESPRE workshop is the successor of several successful secure software engineering workshops. Shamal Faily (SciTech) organised this workshop, together with colleagues from Germany (University of Duisberg-Essen), South Korea (Ajou University), and the USA (Carnegie Mellon University).
The workshop began with a keynote talk from Professor Angela Sasse (UCL), who described some recent research examining how companies build security into products they develop, and the need to change the discourse around usability and security. Three technical paper sessions followed, before the workshop was concluded with an invited talk by Aljosa Pasic (Atos Research & Innovation) on some of the market trends and business challenges in security engineering. Further information about the workshop itself can be found at http://espre2014.org .
We’re grateful to the Faculty of Science & Technology for co-sponsoring this workshop, and to all the workshop attendees for sharing their work.
Dr. Dinusha M
endis, Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) and Associate Professor in Law was recently invited to present her research in 3D printing and Intellectual Property (IP) law in Helsinki and Nottingham. Dinusha also hosted an event on this topic at Bournemouth University’s Festival of Learning in June 1014.
In April 2014, Dinusha was invited by the Department of Commercial Law at the Hanken School of Economics in Finland to present her most recent research in 3D printing and IP Law. The talk titled ‘Law and Technological Change: – 3D Printing Technology, New Business Models and Intellectual Property Law‘ explored the paths that intellectual property law may take in the adoption of 3D printing technology with particular emphasis on the utility of “law and technology” as a research method.
In June 2014, Dinusha hosted an event on ‘3D Printing: Understanding the Technology and Law’ at Bournemouth University’s Festival of Learning. The event was run in collaboration with the Media School and the School of Science and Technology. Further details about this event can also be found here.
In July 2014, Dinusha was invited to present her research at the 9th Annual Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing International Conference. The event hosted by the University of Nottingham and Econolyst Ltd., brings together industry experts from the field of Additive Manufacturing and 3D printing. As an invited speaker, Dinusha spoke on the ‘The Application of UK Copyright Law to 3D Printing and Mass Customisation’. A further insight into the talk can also be found on the Conference blog under the heading ‘Who is the creator: where does UK law stand on IP in 3DP?’
Dinusha continues to carry out both funded and independent research in this area and her most recent article titled ‘3D Printing Enters the Fast Lane’ was published in the Intellectual Property Magazine in July 2014.
On Monday 9 June, Dr. Dinusha Mendis of the Law Department hosted an event on ‘3D Printing: Understanding the Technology and Law’ at Bournemouth University’s Festival of Learning in collaboration with the Media School and School of Science and Technology.
The event which was held from 5-7 pm on 9th June 2014 included three short presentations and a tour of the 3D printing facilities at Bournemouth University.
The presentations focused on the various aspects of the technology and law relating to 3D Printing and were delivered by Dr. Leigh McLoughlin of the Media School; Mr. Gary Underwood from the School of Science and Technology and Dr. Dinusha Mendis of the Law Department, Business School.
Following the talks, the attendees were taken on a hands-on tour of the 3D printing facilities at Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University – and did not leave the event empty-handed. Each attendee was given a 3D printed momento to take home – as seen in the picture!
The event was enjoyable and very well attended – generating a wait list after the allocated tickets were sold out. Apart from that, the Festival of Learning provided the perfect platform to showcase the research relating to the legal and technological implications of 3D Printing. With a hands-on tour planned, it also provided the opportunity to engage the attendees in a more light-hearted manner.
The Festival of Learning has also acted as a spring board for a further event in the area of 3D Printing and Intellectual Property Law which will once again be hosted by Dr. Dinusha Mendis at Bournemouth University later this year.
The following video clip captures the essence of the Festival of Learning and provides an insight into the many exciting events which took place during 9-15 June 2014 at Bournemouth University.
Bournemouth University (BU) is teaming up with the Swedish National Defence College (SNDC) to organise a one day workshop in London on 18th June 2014 to analyse the implications of the recent events in Ukraine.
The event is sponsored by the SNDC and forms part of BU’s Conflict, Rule of Law and Society research activities. In particular, the workshop is aligned with the research projects by Dr Bachmann and Dr Klinkner in the area of international law and security. Dr Bachmann has recently authored two blogs on the topic: “Crimea and Ukraine 2014: A Brief Reflection on Russia’s ‘Protective Interventionism” and “Russia’s ‘spring’ of 2014”.
The workshop will bring together legal experts from Oxford, Sussex and Kings College as well as military experts to discuss a variety of issues arising from Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in spring 2014 and its continuing expansion into Ukraine. Particularly, the focus will be on the:
(1) Legality of Russia’s actions in Crimea and Ukraine and the Legality of Crimea’s referendum.
(2) Tactics and Operations: Russia’s use of Hybrid and Cyber Assets in its operations.
(3) History and Lessons for the future.
The organisers are Associate Professor Hakan Gunneriusson (SNDC) and Associate Professor Sascha DOV Bachmann and Dr Melanie Klinkner from Bournemouth University.
Bournemouth U’s Sascha Dov Bachmann (EBC) and Prof Joachim Sanden (Germany, Luneburg) presented a paper on National Security and Public Health at the IALS – SAS in London (http://events.sas.ac.uk/events/view/15689). Their topic “The Right to Liberty and Security, Public Health and Disease Control”uses the examples of the Escherichia coli (E. coli O157) outbreak in Surrey in August 2009 and the EHEC-O104:H4 outbreak 2011 in Germany by Fenugreek Sprouting seeds, to discusses potential human rights implications of food safety hazards across the food chain (see the European crisis management according to Art. 10 of EC regulation 178/2002 and the U.K. Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, the Public Health (Infectious Disease) Regulations 1988 and the Food Safety Act 1990). Both authors also touched upon potential legal vacuums and loopholes around public and civil safety and security when dealing with new health and environmental threats such as Avian or Swine influenza (flu), which can lead – especially if used as a potential means of bioterrorism – to a national health and security crisis and even mutate into an international pandemic. Consequently, any emergency responses by a state can also directly affect human rights.
The next Cyber Security seminar will be on:
‘Legal – URN (User Requirements Notation) Framework for Privacy Compliance’
Tuesday, 13th May
Coyne Lecture Theatre, Talbot Campus
4pm -5pm.
Bournemouth University is delighted to welcome Dr. Sepideh Ghanavati from CRP Henri Tudor, who will be visiting on the 13thMay to present an overview of the Legal-URN framework, which includes compliance analysis techniques and provides guidelines to manage multiple regulations at the same time.
The number of regulations an organisation needs to comply with has been increasing, and the pressure is building for them to ensure that their business processes are aligned with these regulations. However, because of the complexity and intended vagueness of regulations in general, it is not possible to treat them the same way as other types of requirements.
The cost of being non-compliant can also be fairly high; non-compliance can cause crucial harm to organisations, who may incur financial penalties or loss of reputation. Therefore, it is very important for organisations to take a systematic approach to ensuring that their compliance with related laws, regulations and standards is established and maintained. To achieve this goal, a model-based privacy compliance analysis framework called Legal-URN has been proposed.
If you would like to join us for this presentation, please book your place via Eventbrite.
We will look forward to seeing you!
Following the internal launch at BU on the 14th February 2014, BU Researchers at the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) launched the Copyrightuser.org at The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative Economy Showcase.
The event was held at Kings Place, London, on Wednesday 12th March 2014. The Showcase demonstrated the outputs and innovations of AHRC investments in the Creative Economy through presentations, workshops and exhibitions. The sectors exhibited on the day, included fashion, design, video games, architecture, broadcasting, archives, digital technologies and dance.
Amongst the various funded initiatives showcased on the day, Copyrightuser.org held a prominent exhibition stand and exhibited the website which was complemented by large posters, bookmarks and myth/reality cards (illustrated below) which explained the most common myths about copyright.
This high-profile event was attended by over 450 delegates and included policy-makers, business leaders in the creative industries, knowledge exchange practitioners, directors of research in universities, senior representatives from partner organisations in the Creative Economy, other strategic funding agencies in the sector, representatives from the AHRC’s investments in the Creative Economy and other stakeholders.
Keynote speakers included amongst others Sebastian Conran (Designer), the Hon David Willetts (Minister of State for Universities and Science), Ed Vaizey MP (Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries) and Professor Rick Rylance (CEO, AHRC).
Highlights from the day can be streamed here.
Copyrightuser.org was funded by the BU Fusion Investment Fund in 2012 and was developed by the Business School’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) in collaboration with Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP). Following the success of the Fusion Funded project, the CIPPM-led team went on to secure RCUK funding provided by CREATe in August 2013 to extend the scope of the project. Phase II of the copyrightuser.org is now underway.
The launched online resource aims to make UK copyright law accessible to creators and members of the public. This 1-minute video captures the concept behind the Copyrightuser.org project.
Using quantitative and qualitative methods the site aims to provide answers to the most pressing concerns that creators and the public have about copyright law. To achieve these aims, interviews with creators where conducted and a video for each creative sector was produced demonstrating their thoughts and questions about copyright, see the musicians video here for example. Secondly, 200 frequently asked questions posted by users online were sourced, analysed and coded down to the 20 most common.
The Copyrightuser.org has so far been received very well as evidenced by the positive feedback from various organisations, individuals, legal professionals and the creative industries.
During the launch, the website received 232 visits; and has now received over 1,558 visits to date.
Please also visit our twitter page – @copyrightuser to keep up with the Copyrightuser.org developments.
The copyrightuser.org team consists of:
Dr. Dinusha Mendis (Principal Investigator & Co-Director CIPPM)
Mr. Bartolomeo Meletti (Lead Multimedia Producer and CIPPM Research Assistant)
Ms. Hayleigh Bosher (PhD Candidate (Copyright) and CIPPM Research Assistant)
Professor Martin Kretschmer (Principal Investigator & Director CREATe)
Dr. Kris Erickson (Co-Investigator, CREATe).
The team is further assisted by a Production Team consisting of Marco Bagni (Art Direction, Design and Animation), Sar:co (Music and SoundFX), Davide Bonazzi (Illustrations) amongst others and an Editorial Board consisting of Professor Maurizio Borghi (Director, CIPPM); Professor Ruth Towse (Co-Director, CIPPM); and Professor Ronan Deazley (Professor of Copyright Law, University of Glasgow) amongst others.
In recent years, the field of Cybersecurity has attracted researchers and practitioners from academic fields ranging from Computer Science and Design, through to Psychology and Business Studies. To date, however, these communities have not been influenced by each other. Their research are disseminated in a variety of workshops and conferences across these fields. As a result, there is a misunderstanding of the role these different fields play in improving cybersecurity. For example, some researchers describe people are “the weakest link” and encourage designers to build systems that “Homer Simpson” can use safely. Unfortunately, treating users as a problem limits opportunities for innovation when people are engaged as part of a solution. Similarly, treating practitioners like cartoon characters disenfranchises the very people that a design is meant to support. Bournemouth University is one of the few institutions in the world with interests across the disciplines contributing to Cybersecurity, a small enough size for academics across these disciplines to engage with each other, and the vision necessary to fuel this engagement. To take advantage of the opportunities afforded to Bournemouth, an interdisciplinary seminar series in cybersecurity was launched in September 2013. The seminar series has attracted both staff and students from across the university, together with practitioners from local industry with interests in cybersecurity. So far, this has led to connections forming across the Faculty of Science & Technology, and the Media and Business schools. Resulting collaborations with our seminar speakers have also led to prospective KTP and Horizon 2020 proposals, and invitations to deliver guest lectures at other universities.
To build on this momentum in interdisciplinary cybersecurity activity at Bournemouth, we have created the Bournemouth European Network for Interdisciplinary Cyber Security (BENICS): a FUSION funded SMN activity. Over the coming year, BENICS will bring five invited European cybersecurity academics to Bournemouth to engage in short (one-week), focused collaborative visits. These visits will introduce invited academics to Bournemouth’s cybersecurity capabilities, allow them to share their interests with us as part of the cybersecurity seminar series, and engage in short and focused proposal building, research, or teaching resource creation activities.
Following each visit, Bournemouth and the visiting academic will engage in pump-priming activities; these will refine deliverables produced to sustain the momentum created during the visit. These deliverables will form the basis of a joint publication at an agreed international conference or journal.
Watch this space for more information about these visits, and please get in touch if you’re interested in engaging with BENICS and our cybersecurity research in general.
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Postgraduate Research Showcase & Celebration
Writing for The Conversation – upcoming training opportunities
Thinking about interdisciplinary research
Cancer Awareness Event at BU
BU Professor has been invited to a series of plenary and invited lectures.
An Interview of BU-lead EU H2020 FIRST project published in “Horizon”, the EU Research & Innovation Magazine
Update on Horizon Europe Guarantee
Research Information Network