Mobility and transport are increasingly becoming part of the networked society as self-driving cars are developed, hiring an Uber or a shared bike via smartphone becomes mainstream, alongside the use of insurance apps while driving, fitbit step tracking, 'smart bike lights' gathering sensor data, bus stops with real-time departure times, and cars notifying the garage when they need a service. This shows how media are becoming an integral part of everyday mobility as different modes of transport (e.g. cars, bikes, public transport) generate an increasing amount of data, shared via networks, and interacted with through smartphones. Cars and cycling are key for comparison here in order to explore a mode of transport where these technologies receive substantial industry investment and policy attention - cars, - with one that has huge untapped potential - cycling. This project develops a Media and Communication Studies perspective of these innovations and changes around mobility and transport, which foregrounds the media elements of our experiences of and interactions with contemporary mobilities. This shifts the perspective away from objects such as cars, bikes or buses, and towards the way mobility data is generated, shared and used, and what changes this brings for culture, society and industry. Our modes of transport are becoming part of 'The Internet of Things' (IoT) where an increasing number of everyday objects are networked and share data. A Critical Data Studies approach to networked media and data will be used, plus a Mobilities Studies perspective, to explore how our everyday physical mobilities are closely linked to our media mobilities. The industry is building new business models around data and IoT interactions. Blockchain is an emerging technology that can be used to capture the value of these interactions and to build new business models. Mainly known for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain also has major use cases for the IoT-driven data economy, including the transport/mobility sector. All major car manufacturers have partnered with blockchain startups or invested in them. This project aims to understand how the emerging role of blockchain changes everyday experiences of media and mobility. The sustainability perspective that considers economic, social and ecological issues is also crucial to the fellowship: the ways blockchain technology could capture economic, social and environmental value from IoT and data-driven mobility, and how this translates into business models and user experience. Creative and industry approaches will be used, including analysis of case studies of artists/creatives engaging with car-based and bike-based media/mobilities alongside industry case studies. This creative/industry fusion approach draws on research showing how innovation thrives through 'fuse' or 'fusebox' approaches where creative artists come together with industry innovators and academic researchers, as outlined in the project events. The project responds to three 'Grand Challenges' set out in the UK Industrial Strategy: 'Growing the AI & Data-Driven Economy', 'The Future of Mobility', and the 'Shift to Clean Growth', thus contributing to industry needs to not just understand technical, economic and legal aspects of the IoT, blockchain and data in the context of mobility, but also to understand how everyday human engagement with these technologies is experienced, so that challenges and opportunities can be more fully understood. The leadership element of the project involves industry placements, shadowing of leading Professors, Visiting Fellowships, intense mentoring, international networking and organising events. Industry-facing outputs include two 'fuse' events, a website with a database of case studies, and a report. Academic outputs include a monograph, three journal articles, four conference presentations, plus organising a workshop and a symposium.

Modern slavery is a pervasive and persistent problem with estimates that globally 24.9m people are in forced labour. Eradicating modern slavery is a grand challenge made arduous by ongoing COVID-19 effects that are increasing commercial priorities in business decision making, relative to social factors. Internationally, transparency in supply chain (TISC) principles lie at the heart of recent legislation such as the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015) and Australia's Modern Slavery Act (2018). The premise is that transparency in large companies' supply chains will commit them to more rigorous investigations and management of modern slavery in global supply chains. However, links between transparency and socially responsible practices are poorly understood; research in multi-tier supply chains is limited and disclosure is often symbolic rather than substantive, with modern slavery statements providing vague commitments that lack details of action undertaken. Hence, the aim of this research programme is to build capacity for developing an understanding of how business decision-makers' behaviours and attitudes impact socially responsible supply chain practices. Ultimately, this will support policy implementation in a manner that prevents the creation of modern slavery victims and the high human costs of survivor recovery and support. The programme will extend relationships that have already been established with key stakeholders in: policy making (UK Home Office), policy implementation (Crown Commercial Service, CCS), large corporations, NGOs (e.g. the Ethical Trading Initiative, ETI), professional associations (Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, CIPS) and academia. The research methodology recognises the visually connoted themes in modern slavery, such as transparency. Therefore, photo-elicitation methods will be utilised in conjunction within a participatory action research (PAR) approach. Photo-elicitation will be utilised to bring to the surface the way people see modern slavery both in private and at work. It will establish practitioners' attitudes and actions relating to modern slavery and will reveal participants' perceptions about their ability to influence prevailing issues (agency). The combination with PAR will enable theoretical insights to be assessed in practical contexts. This will be through Government procurement policy and practice and government contractors' supply chain decision makers. The participatory approach will raise the consciousness of all involved in the research programme, helping to identify opportunities and consequences of change to accommodate more socially-oriented supply chain practices. The fellowship will be pivotal in building capacity to extend these relationships and, through research, influencing the development of coordinated changes to policy and practice. The CCS will provide access to participants in selected tier-one suppliers, through which supply chain practices will be investigated. Importantly, the programme will engage and co-create research methods with ETI who work directly with individuals and organisations to combat modern slavery through training and education. My fellowship will engage with RMIT University, Australia (Business and Human Rights Centre), CIPS and the International Slavery Museum as project partners for research co-design, recommendations and dissemination of results. The core outcome of the programme is to contribute to the development of high-quality research on transparency in supply chains that can be used to underpin socially responsible legislation and organisational practice.