Kelly Page …

Well fire-up your ipads, update your blog and twits across Cardiff University unite! This month Cardiff University has announced a very specific appointment, a Professor of Digital Economy. This new position and the appointee, Professor Ian Hargreaves has most certainly brought a smile to my face and feeling of opportunity to the digital research and educational activities many of us are undertaking in the university. The Chair of Digital Economy was created in order to establish a cross-departmental research and education focus on issues arising from the growth of the digital economy. The chair is based jointly in Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies (JOMEC) and Cardiff Business School (CARBS).

The areas of interest for this role range from the future of business models in news media, a longstanding interest within JOMEC to the challenges and opportunities presented by digital communications in the delivery of public services, political communication and the impact of digital communication technologies on private business. Issues of interest of researchers such as myself in CARBS.

So if you’ve not heard of Professor Ian Hargreaves you can read more about his biography on JOMEC’s website, however the most recent highlights of his career include:

2003: Founding non-executive Member of the Board of the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
2006: Executive Member of the Ofcom Board, responsible for the regulator’s international activities and its work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
2008: Hee became Director of Strategic Communications at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, reporting to the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband MP.
2009: He was seconded part-time to conduct a review of Creative Industries in Wales for the Welsh Assembly Government, becoming known as The Heart of Digital Wales, or the Hargreaves Review.

So a very interesting appointment indeed! Here is a video interview with Prof. Hargreaves about “The Future of Journalism”. I’m curious to pose the question to him about “The Future of Digital Media Literacy in Higher Education.” With evolution comes new learning, new knowledge, new mindsets and a change in behaviour. What then is the universities position on Digital Media Learning and Literacies? By this I mean beyond the technologies … but to mindsets, culture and norms in what we do and how we deliver higher education – be it in Business, Media, Communications, Education or other areas of higher ed.

Food for thought!