Hi, I’m Catherine Flick! I’m a Reader in Computing and Social Responsibility in the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University. I also currently have a visiting fellowship at Staffordshire University.
I’m very excited about the social and ethical impact of technologies, and how we can make sure that development of a new technology creates a positive impact.
I have been a part of several European Commission-funded projects on responsible innovation in technology, computer ethics, and related topics.
I research the ethics of video games, and the ethics and social impact of emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and anonymous technologies such as Tor and the Darknet.
I teach computer ethics, research methods, and give guest lectures, academic and industry keynotes, and public talks on all kinds of social and ethical impact of technologies. I am also available for media enquiries.
Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, 2014
De Montfort University
PhD in Computer Ethics, 2009
Charles Sturt University
BSc (Hons I) in History and Philosophy of Science and Computer Science, 2005
University of Sydney
I am available to comment on ethics of technology, particularly emerging technologies. Previous media appearances can be found here:
EPSRC (2019-2028) The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (IGGI) is a leading PhD research programme aimed at the Games and Creative Industries.The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (IGGI) is a leading PhD research programme aimed at the Games and Creative Industries. I am a co-investigator and responsible innovation lead in this CDT.
Various - currently Tides Foundation funding on the recommendation of the Unity Charitable Fund (2022-23). This project is in conjunction with David Zendle at the University of York, Anders Drachen at Southern Denmark University, and Sebastian Deterding at Imperial College London. We work with Unity Technologies to analyse and investigate their immense playtime and transaction data from Unity Analytics-enabled games across multiple platforms. We have several PhD students involved.
EU HORIZON 2020 (2018 - 2021). This project, the successor to COMPASS, looks at integration of responsible innovation practices in large industry, focusing on the Smart Homes and Smart Health sectors. I coordinated a work package, and ran a series of workshops with local families in Leicester on their visions of future technologies.
EU HORIZON 2020 (2016-2019). This project, the successor to Responsible-Industry, looks at integration of responsible innovation practices in the cyber security, nanotechnology and biomedicine industry sectors. I ran a work package and a series of workshops with small companies in cyber-security.
EU HORIZON 2020 (2015-2018): Creation of digital games and an audio toolkit to raise awareness of hearing loss and simulation of hearing loss and hearing aids. My role was to be PI for the ethics and responsible innovation component.
(2016-2018). This is a project that refreshed the ACM’s Code of Ethics - which hadn’t been done since 1992. Part of my role was to analyse large qualitative datasets to extract feedback on drafts, and to be part of the writing team that rewrote the Code of Ethics.
These are the classes I teach (or have taught in the past) at De Montfort University to Business Computing and Informatics students. I use innovative practice where possible such as transformative reflective learning, constructive alignment, and methods such as peer marking and creative learning:
I also have taught the following postgraduate courses for PhD students:
Current:
Completed: