Dr Mohammad Amir Anwar – Researcher Amir’s research focus is on the political economy of neoliberal globalisation in the Global South, mainly in India and Africa, with a particular interest on the growth of knowledge economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and its developmental impacts.
Dr Grant Blank – Survey Research Fellow
Grant Blank’s work focuses on the social and cultural implications of the Internet and related new communications technology.
Dr Martin Dittus – Digital Geographer
Martin’s research focuses on information geographies, mass-participation platforms and social computing. In his work he analyses and visualises emerging online practices at large scale.
Laura Dominguez-Garcia – Visiting DPhil Student
Laura’s research focuses on intercultural communication and sociology of language – English, French and Spanish – on the Internet.
Dr Tina Du – Visiting Fellow
Tina’s research focuses on understanding the interplay between humans, information and technology, including theories and applications related to human information behaviour and social impact of the Internet.
Dr Nicolas Friederici - Postdoctoral Researcher
Nicolas studies digital entrepreneurship and collaborative innovation in challenging environments, such as low-income and post-conflict countries in Africa.
Dr Iginio Gagliardone – Research Associate (OII) & Research Fellow (PCMLP, Oxford)
Iginio’s research focuses on the relationship between new media, political change, and human development and on the emergence of distinctive models of the information society in the Global South
Prof Mark Graham – Professor of Internet Geography
Mark Graham’s research focuses on Internet and information geographies, and the overlaps between ICTs and economic development.
Dr Marco J Haenssgen – Postdoctoral Scientist (TMCD)
Marco is a mixed-methods researcher working at the intersection of technology, public health, and international development. He currently studies the social implications of mobile phone diffusion in low- and middle-income countries.
Khairunnisa Haji Ibrahim – DPhil Student
Khairunnisa is interested in the digital representation of places and how these affect sense of place and place-making activities, the production, management and consumption of user-generated content, crowdsourcing and online mapping.
Prof Vili Lehdonvirta – Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
Vili is an economic sociologist who studies the social and economic dimensions of new information technologies around the world. His particular areas of expertise are virtual goods, virtual currencies, and digital labour
Dr Eleanor Marchant – Postdoctoral Researcher
Bringing an anthropological and communications perspective, Eleanor’s research explores the relationship between the internet, rapidly changing new technologies, and the African societies that shape and are shaped by them. She has a particular interest in technology entrepreneurship, misinformation, hate speech, algorithms, and the role of international technological actors in African countries.
Sanna Ojanperä – Researcher
Sanna Ojanperä’s research focuses on participation in knowledge economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and on the impacts these activities have on the society. More broadly, she is interested in understanding what development is and could be in today’s hyper-connected age.
Joe Shaw – DPhil Student
Joe Shaw is an OII DPhil student. His research interests are concerned with information geographies, urbanisation, disaster/risk, political economy and post-politics.
David Peter Simon – MSc student
David Peter Simon is an ethnographer and blogger pursuing a MSc. His current research orbits connectivity and innovation with a particular focus on communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Ralph Straumann – Visiting Researcher
Ralph Straumann is a Visiting Researcher. His research focuses, among others, on patterns and biases in user-generated content, particularly on knowledge-sharing platforms.
Dr David Souter – Research Associate
David works as an expert adviser to United Nations and other organisations on the relationship between information technology, the Internet and public policy, particularly development, environment, governance and rights.
Michel Wahome – Researcher
Michel studied digital entrepreneurship and innovation systems in Nairobi from an STS perspective, and now works on the Geonet project.
Dr Alex J Wood – Researcher
Alex Wood is a sociologist of work and employment, focusing on the changing nature of employment relations and labour markets. He is currently researching online labour markets and virtual employment relations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
Margie Cheesman – Doctoral Researcher
Margie is a doctoral researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute. She is an anthropologist of digital infrastructures and international development. Her current research is about blockchain technologies, transparency, power and futurity.
Alumni
Dr Heather Ford
When with CII, Heather Ford was a DPhil student who studied how Wikipedians write history as it happens. Her research covers online collaboration, conflict, historiography, alternative media, the Arab Spring and intellectual property rights. (personal blog)
Dr Christopher Foster
Chris Foster’s research focus is on technologies and innovation in developing and emerging markets, with a particular interest on how ICTs can support development of low income groups.
Dr Isis Hjorth
Isis is a cultural sociologist focusing on emerging practices associated with networked technologies. With CII, she was researching microwork and virtual production networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
Dr Stefano De Sabbata
Stefano De Sabbata’s research focuses on Internet and information geographies, as well as on geographic and mobile information retrieval.
