As part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, which took place in Oxford in early June, the Digital Hub hosted a discussion on the climate impact of digital health technologies.

Digital health technologies hold promise of greening healthcare by reducing visits to hospitals, encouraging prevention, and optimising processes and health pathways. At the same time, the environmental costs of AI and digital infrastructures have increasingly been highlighted by media and academic research.

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Over the past year, up-and-coming artists from Central St Martins worked on an experimental creative project with scientists from the University of Oxford which aimed to push the boundaries of art and science. The project saw the artists and biologists, statisticians and geneticists immerse themselves in each other’s disciplines, find their synergies and collaboratively produce new artworks involving digital approaches.

The subsequent exhibition and symposium welcomed over 100 guests to view the outcomes of the collaboration, and hear from the artists and scientists involved.

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The Digital Hub hosted a two day exhibition of new immersive work created by some of the UK’s best emerging digital artists, as part of a year-long collaboration between the University’s Cultural Programme and Mediale -an international media arts agency. The images below show highlights from the exhibition.

Image credit: Richard Cave Photography/Mediale

A discussion between Professor Sir NIgel Shadbolt, Principal of Jesus College, and Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School, about Sir Nigel’s new book ‘As If Human – Ethics and Artificial Intelligence’ (Yale, 2024).

Recorded in the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub on 12th November 2024, as part of the Digital Hub events programme.

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An evening of talks by research and creative partners on topics including teaching pronunciation with AI, interactions between linguistic diversity and biodiversity, and a prismatic Jane Eyre.

The event included a musical performance by Grammy Award winner Lekan Babalola (Percussion) and Kate Luxmoore (Clarinet).

Ben Goldacre wrote the Bad Science column in the Guardian for a decade while working as a doctor and academic; he has delivered two ministerial reviews on better use of data and evidence in health and education; his books have sold over 600,000 copies; his online lectures have had over 4 million views.

He is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College and Director of the Bennett Institute, where he builds major data infrastructure projects for the NHS including OpenSAFELY.org and OpenPrescribing.net; and drives initiatives for better use of open code and reproducible methods in research such as TrialsTracker.net and AllTrials.net.

In this talk, Ben talked about his career advocating for better research methods, and the differences – if any – in addressing these complex issues with the public, policymakers, and researchers.

The inaugural Digital Health Horizons Conference explored the dynamic interplay of digital health and medical artificial intelligence, exploring both the promising opportunities and significant challenges that lie ahead.

Digital Health Horizons was designed to foster an environment of knowledge-sharing and inspiration, with a morning session of keynote presentations and a panel discussion between experts from academia, policy-making, and industry, followed by poster presentations, and rapid-fire lightning talks given by early career researchers, and organised across two distinct tracks to cater to a broad range of interests and specialties.

The Inclusive Gaming Conference was a one-day conference which brought together students, academics, and industry professionals to discuss research initiatives, works in progress, and future directions for explorations of inclusive gaming.

Over 60% of UK adults play video games, but there is still a lack of diversity in the ways we research, talk about, create, and play games. The conference aimed to amplify voices not commonly heard in gaming spaces, and facilitated discussions about accessibility, neurodiversity, decolonialisation, gender, socioeconomic barriers, and other factors which influence inclusivity in gaming.

An evening event that brought together digital entrepreneurs from across Oxford in a pitching competition called the Hult Prize.

The Hult Prize competition challenges student entrepreneurs to pitch ideas on improving global sustainability through innovation. The winning team from Oxford will travel to one of 10 cities around the world to pitch for $1M in funding to transform their vision into reality.

A two-day conference, hosted in the Digital Hub by Esports Insider which explored all facets of gaming and esports within education.

The conference welcomed over 150 attendees and speakers from academia, education, and industry, as well as those simply passionate about video gaming and esports. As well as talks, networking sessions and workshops, the event also hosted a student tournament showcase between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.