Digital Oxford Podcast
A new podcast, hosted by Professor Anne Trefethen exploring how the University of Oxford is evolving in the digital era.
The Digital Oxford podcast is hosted by Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (People and Digital) at the University of Oxford and the lead for Oxford’s digital transformation programme. In conversations with colleagues from across the University, Anne is exploring how people, society, and organisations are evolving in the digital era. Each episode will spotlight digital developments in relation to themes such as culture, people, planet, process, data, and technology.
- Episode 1 - Introduction [13 October 2023]
- Episode 2 - AI and Oxford [23 November 2023]
- Episode 3 - Cybersecurity in the digital era [13 February 2024]
- Episode 4 - XR (eXtended reality) in teaching [12 March 2024]
- Episode 5 - The future of information [22 May 2024]
- Episode 6 - Research In The Digital Age
- Episode 7 - Online education and student experience
- Episode 8 - Digital Accessibility

In Episode 1, Anne talks to Professor Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford about how the institution aims to continue to advance learning by teaching and research and preserve its unique place in the world by being digitally fit for the future.
Anne is joined by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt to explore how AI is shaping Oxford University’s future. They discuss the fascinating history of AI from the early days of machine learning in the 1940s to today’s generative AI offerings. We discuss how AI is used in our daily lives and what this means for individuals, organisations, and society. The conversation covers data, ethics, and standards and how they influence how AI is used. Anne and Nigel then look at how the daily lives of Oxford’s academics, researchers, administrators, and students will evolve in the context of AI.

In this episode, Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice Chancellor of People and Digital at the University of Oxford is joined by Graham Ingram, Oxford’s Chief Information Security Officer and Ciaran Martin, Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government who, prior to joining the University was the founding Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ. They explore how Oxford University stays cybersecure; global perspectives; technological changes such as AI; the Oxford Secure programme; and strengthening our organisational capabilities through initiatives such as the cybersecurity competency centre.

In this episode, Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice Chancellor, People & Digital, is joined by Dr Sally Shiels, Consultant Anaesthetist and lead for virtual reality education at OXSTAR at the Nuffield Department for Clinical Neurosciences alongside Professor Kathryn Eccles, Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow, at the Oxford Internet Institute. They discuss how they and their colleagues are using XR featuring augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to enhance their teaching and learning outcomes.

Professor Anne Trefethen in conversation with Richard Ovenden, OBE. Richard is Bodley’s Librarian, Bodleian Libraries and Head of Gardens, Libraries, & Museums (GLAM) at the University of Oxford.
Anne and Richard explore the past, present, and future of information. Listen in as they discuss how Oxford’s digital transformation and emerging technologies are shaping information management. and what staff and students can do to help preserve Oxford’s information in the digital era.

In this episode, hear how the life and work of researchers differs in a digital world, in the context of research computing, research practice, and research management.
Anne is joined by Brian Marsden, Associate Head of Medical Sciences Division, Digital & Information, and Director of the NDM Biomedical Data Platform; Stephen Conway, Executive Director of Research Services; and Dave De Roure, Professor of e-Research in the Oxford e-Research Centre, in Engineering Science, and Academic Director of the Digital Scholarship at Oxford initiative (DiSc).

In this episode, Professor Anne Trefethen is joined by Matt Tinker, the head of Online Education here at Oxford, Sumathi Sekaran, the deputy course director of the Oxford Online programme in sleep medicine based at the Nuffield department for clinical neuroscience and for the first time ever a student, Kian Swingler, reading Fine Art at Christ Church. They discuss digital education; how digital tools are supporting accessibility in education and the student experience in digital Oxford.

In this episode, Professor Anne Trefethen is joined by Robin Christopherson, Head of Digital Inclusion at the UK charity AbilityNet and Professor Tim Soutphommasane, Chief Diversity Officer and Digital Accessibility Advocate at the University of Oxford. They explore how we can continuously reimagine our approach to improving people’s digital accessibility, usability, end-user experience, and digital inclusion.
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Would you like to feature on a new episode of Digital Oxford? Speak to the team at Digital.Transformation@admin.ox.ac.uk