Directorate
Melissa Terras
Director
Melissa Terras is the Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage at the University of Edinburgh‘s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, leading digital aspects of CAHSS research as Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Data, Culture and Society, and Director of Research in the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
In 2017 she was given an Honorary Professorship from UCL Department of Information Studies, where she was employed from 2003-2017, directing UCL Centre for Digital Humanities from 2013. She is a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute, and Expert Advisor to the UK Government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Chris Speed
Founding Director
Professor Chris Speed is Chair of Design Informatics at University of Edinburgh where his research focuses upon the Network Society, Design for the Digital Economy, and The Internet of Things. Chris has been involved in 25 research grants (leading on 9) since 2009 across ESPRC, ESRC and AHRC, has published over 120 papers and presented widely on the role of design in the Digital Economy.
He now leads the Creative Informatics programme, the EPSRC OxChain Project (£1.3m), ESRC After Money Project (£250k) and is Co-I to the EPSRC PACTMAN Project (£1.3m) and part of the £5m PETRAS IoT UK Hub. Chris is also a member of the EPSRC Digital Economy PAB.
Frauke Zeller
Professor of Human-Computer Interaction & Creative Informatics
Frauke Zeller is Frauke Zeller is Professor of Human-Computer Interaction & Creative Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University. Frauke has worked in three different countries as an academic and researcher – Germany, Canada and the UK – and her research expertise spans several disciplines, such as methods for big data analyses in audience analytics, AI ethics and Human Robot Interaction.
Stephen Coleman OBE
Co-Director
Stephen is the CEO and Co-founder of CodeBase.
CodeBase is a tech cluster that began in Edinburgh and now delivers mentorship in 25 cities across the UK. They currently provide support to more than 500 businesses and tenants have raised over $620m.
As CEO Stephen has focused on CodeBase’s growth, development of strategic partnerships, innovating the business model and building company culture.
Michael Smyth
Co-Director
Michael is an Associate Professor at the Interaction Design Research Group, Edinburgh Napier University, UK. He researches and teaches in the fields of interaction design and human computer interaction and is intrigued by the space between people and technology.
Michael is the Principal Investigator on the SpeculativeEDU Project funded under the Erasmus+ initiative.
Previously, he was the Coordinator of the FET Open UrbanIxD project and has worked on European Commission projects funded under Horizon2020, FP7, FP6 and FP5 initiatives. He is the co-editor of the book entitled “Digital Blur: Creative Practice at the Boundaries of Architecture, Design and Art”.
Michael Rovatsos
Co-Director
Michael Rovatsos is Director of the Bayes Centre, the University of Edinburgh’s new £40 million innovation centre for Data Science and AI, and a Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the School of Informatics.
Michael has 20 years research experience in Artificial Intelligence, where he has been involved in research projects worth over £17 million and authored over 90 publications. Most recently, his research has focused on ethical AI, developing algorithms and platforms that support the moral values of their stakeholders.
Ritchie Somerville
Head of Strategy, DDI Programme
Ritchie leads the strategy activity of the Data Driven Innovation Programme, enabling the operational activity of the programme across its five Innovation Hubs, ten economic sectors and the five forms of innovation being pursued. He has a diverse portfolio of experience in innovation and the public sector. From running CAD Design Labs, to roles in Urban Planning, Project and Programme Management, Business Development, Company Formation, Broadband, ICT and Smart City development; throughout there has been a linking thread of people-focused data and systems innovation.
A co-founder of the Edinburgh Living Lab, he is a current Committee Member of the BSi SDS/2 Smart Cities Committee, a Member of the Institute for Leadership and Management (ILM) and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
Ola Wojtkiewicz
Co-Director
Ola Wojtkiewicz is the Executive Director at Creative Edinburgh, a social enterprise that supports 5,000 plus members across Edinburgh’s creative industries to connect and thrive. She has over two decades of experience in various senior roles across the creative sector.
Ola previously managed numerous multi-genre projects at the University of Edinburgh, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh International Book Festival and Edinburgh International Festival. She specialises in cultural development, creative engagement, and multidisciplinary arts curation. She is a passionate and results-focussed cultural leader with an interest in diversity of thinking, civic debate, and sustainability.
Caroline Parkinson
Sector Engagement Manager - Creative Industries
Caroline is Director for Creative at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. She has worked as a freelance consultant in the creative industries, innovation and skills, and is also a professional photographer. She studied Business and Politics, alongside developing her creative practice in fashion, design, and photography. From 2010 – 2014 she was Director of Film, TV, Music, Creative Industries & Skills at Creative Scotland. Prior to this she was Director, Scotland & Northern Ireland for Creative & Cultural Skills from 2005 to 2010.
Burkhard Schafer
Co-Director
Burkhard Schafer is Professor for Computational Legal Theory and Director of the SCIPT Centre for IT and IP law at the University of Edinburgh. His main field of interest is the interaction between law, ethics, cognitive science and computer technology from doctrinal, comparative and legal-theoretical perspectives.
Burkhard’s research covers all aspects of technology law, including Data Protection, Intellectual Property, contract and delict law, as well as general questions of technology regulation and governance. He is particularly interested in new ways to represent law in computer code, and to automatise its application.
Candace Jones
Co-Director
Candace Jones is the Chair of Global Creative Enterprise at the University of Edinburgh Business School. Her research examines strategies, discourse, social networks and trajectories of creative industries She works with Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and Festivals Edinburgh, and leads Edinburgh Futures Institute MSc on creative industries.
She co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Creative Industries (2015). She is a member of the A.H.R.C. funded Policy and Evidence Center for Creative Industries and was funded the Danish government to analyse The Impact of Material Artifacts and Visual Representations on the Institutionalization of Innovations.She was Chair of Organization and Management Theory division of the Academy of Management from 2012-2016.
Delivery Team
Emma Pirie
Communications and Engagement Manager
Emma is Communications and Engagement Manager for Creative Informatics focusing on raising the profile of the programme and facilitating engagement with stakeholders, policy makers, partners and funders. She has an in-depth knowledge of Scotland’s arts, events and festivals having previously worked in senior PR and marketing roles for Dance Base, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh Science, the Traverse Theatre, Glasgow King’s, Glasgow Theatre Royal and Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Victoria Murray
Project and Engagement Manager
Joining Creative Informatics as Project and Engagement Manager from Edinburgh’s iconic Traverse Theatre, where she was Head of Brand and Audience, Victoria has over 15 years’ experience across creative industries including festivals, music, advertising, publishing, theatre and broadcast, including working on the ground-breaking National Theatre Live initiative. With particular expertise in brand communication, digital innovation and audience development, she is passionate about skills and knowledge sharing across creative companies for social change and benefit.
Olivia Salamon
Administrative Assistant
Olivia Salamon is the Administrative Assistant at Creative Informatics supporting the delivery team. Originally from Germany, Olivia holds a MA in Arts, Festival and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University Edinburgh and a BA in Arts and Culture Studies from Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands. Prior to joining Creative Informatics Olivia worked in artist administration and production across several art, theatre and music festivals in the Ruhr area, Germany.
Nicola Osborne
Programme Manager
Nicola leads the CI delivery team, working closely with academic and research colleagues, and engaging with creative industry organisations across the cluster.
Previously, Nicola managed innovative digital projects and undertook business development activities at EDINA.
Since 2014 Nicola has been Co-investigator (PI: Louise Connelly) on the Managing Your Digital Footprint research and co-tutor of the Digital Footprint MOOC, research that she has published on and disseminated through Edinburgh Fringe performances.
Nicola is a member of the Turing Institute Data Science and Digital Humanities Interest Group, the Journal of Open Research Software Editorial Advisory Board and the Association of Internet Researchers.
Courtney Bates
Programme and Finance Administrator
Courtney Bates is the Programme and Finance Administrator at Creative Informatics supporting the wider delivery team. Originally from South Carolina, US, Courtney is an artist and arts manager who holds a BA in Arts Management from the College of Charleston and an MA in Arts, Festival, and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University.
Courtney was previously the Executive Director for Threshold Repertory Theatre and The Flowertown Players Theatre companies in Charleston, SC, and released her first book of poetry in 2019. Since moving to Edinburgh in 2020, she is also a freelance producer and the Events Director for Junior Chambers International (JCI).
Diane Henderson
Programme and Evaluation Officer
Diane Henderson is Programme and Evaluation Officer, supporting the Delivery and Research teams in the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Creative Informatics programme. A graduate of Photography from Napier University, Diane has extensive experience working within the arts sector in Scotland. Previous roles include Front-of-House/Marketing Manager, Filmhouse; Lecturer in Photography, Edinburgh City Council; Business Development Manager, Traverse Theatre; Head of Development and Exhibitions, ECA; Managing Director, Docspace; General Manager, Cameo Cinema; Deputy Artistic Director Edinburgh International Film Festival; Programme Manager, Edinburgh International Culture Summit; Associate Director, French Film Festival UK and she continues to server as Producer, Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival. She is Vice Chair of the Scottish Youth Film Foundation, a former board member at New Media Scotland and Mediabase, a member of BAFTA UK and completed the Creative Bridge course in 2021.
Research Team
Vikki Jones
Research Assoocaite
Vikki’s research examines the communication of value and values in the arts and creative industries. It considers the extent to which value and values are foregrounded in cultural programmes and asks what a values-driven and equitable cultural landscape would look and feel like for artists, creatives, producers, and audiences.
Her work explores the developing language and contexts of data-driven cultural outputs. It considers the relationship and tensions between creativity and digital platforms; the challenges and labour of conducting digital research; and ways in which the data enacted by, through and for cultural work and programmes might be critically operationalised towards equitable cultural infrastructure.
Suzanne Black
Research Associate
Suzanne is a researcher whose work sits at the intersection of humanities enquiry and data-led methods. Her work, broadly speaking, combines literary studies and digital methods to understand the interconnectivity of the digital cultural sphere. She has previously taken contemporary fiction – both born digital amateur fanfiction and commercially published novels – as her objects of study and, in her time at Creative Informatics, looks forward to combining this with her creative industries experience working with events data and as an arts and entertainment journalist. Her PhD (University of Edinburgh, 2021) explores the effects of internet technologies on contemporary fiction.
Susan Lechelt
Research Associate
Susan is a researcher in Human-Computer Interaction, interested in designing playful interfaces and experiences that encourage curiosity and reflection. She is also passionate about investigating new methods for teaching novices about data and digital literacy. Susan has a mixed background spanning interaction design, computer science and cognitive science.
Her PhD at the UCL Interaction Centre focused on investigating how the new generation of physical computing toolkits can be designed to better support computing education in real classrooms — and to make learning about computing more creative and collaborative for children.
Ingi Helgason
Senior Research Fellow
Ingi is based at the Interaction Design & Creativity research group in Edinburgh Napier University’s School of Computing. Her main interests are around the experiential aspects of interacting with technology, and in creative and collaborative design processes.
Ingi has worked on several EU and UK funded research projects on topics including; speculative design, participatory design, urban interaction design, and presence research. She has also taught innovation, user experience and interaction design subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Inge Panneels
Research Fellow
Inge Panneels is an artist and academic whose creative practice engages with space and place. She established her studio in Edinburgh in 1998 working on public art projects across the UK and has exhibited internationally.
Her practice is informed by data collection, mapping, and digital making techniques developed over twelve years teaching at the Artists Designer Maker course at the University of Sunderland. This experience of the creative sector, and PhD research (AHRC) at Northumbria University into the creative mapping practices of artists, with a specific interest of how artists are charting climate change, informs her role as Research Fellow.
She has published books, chapters and articles on creative mapping practices, making practices and environmental creative practices. Her current research is focussing on sustainability practices in the creative sector and the role of creativity and creative practices in engendering culture shift.
Chris Elsden
Chancellor's Fellow
Dr Chris Elsden is an interaction design researcher, with a background in sociology, and expertise in the human experience of a data-driven life. Using and developing innovative design research methods, his work undertakes diverse, qualitative and often speculative engagements with individuals and organisations to investigate emerging relationships with technology – particularly data-driven tools, distributed ledgers and financial technologies.
On the Creative Informatics project, Chris’ own research explored ‘Creative Transactions’, considering how new financial technologies will mediate creative practice, business models and relationships with audiences. Chris has recently taken up a new post as a Chancellor’s Fellow in Service Design at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Design Informatics, but continues to work closely with the CI team.
Caitlin McDonald
Research Associate
Caitlin is an award-winning researcher, a strategist with 10+ years’ experience across the private and public sectors researching and advising on sociotechnical impacts, and an artist whose work exploring the personal through the digital has been featured in several international art exhibitions including the ACM’s Creativity and Cognition conference in 2022. Her current research focuses on the power of the creative industries to act as an innovation catalyst across the whole of the economy, and on the role of arts and culture as key indicators of a thriving society. Caitlin’s PhD (2011, University of Exeter) examined how information flows for cultural bodies of knowledge like dance are impacted by technoscapes (the digital world around us).
Creative Bridge
Yasmin Sulaiman
Head of Partnerships
Yasmin is Head of Partnerships at CodeBase, and previously ran the Creative Bridge programme, which is part of Creative Informatics. She works with startups across the UK, and in particular with founders from a creative industries background.
Prior to her work with startups, Yasmin was a journalist for over 15 years, and was Editor-in-Chief at The List and Executive Director at Creative Edinburgh. She’s also worked closely with the Edinburgh festivals, and is a Trustee at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Steven Drost
Chief Bridge Strategy Officer
Steven is a two time entrepreneur, once successful, once failed. He has extensive experience of hiring, building revenues, selling companies, fund raising, and more. He has the scars and war stories to prove it.
He is currently the CSO at CodeBase, and sees many startups per year. He loves to help business grow and network founders with peers, customers and investors. He has recently been appointed Trustee at David Hume Institute, Scottish policy think-tank based in Edinburgh.
Katherine Warren
Creative Bridge Lead
Kath is Creative Bridge Programme Lead at CodeBase, supporting creatives to develop their ideas and build networks. Her background is in events production, community building and the creative industries.
Prior to joining the Creative Bridge team, Kath was Programme Manager at Creative Edinburgh, leading on design and delivery of their events and skills programmes. She studied English Literature at University of Glasgow and has worked at a number of arts festivals across the UK, including Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hay Festival and Aberdeen’s Granite Noir festival.
