Creative and Industry Approaches to Mobility in the Age of the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Data (CIAM)

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.

The research will principally four groups outside of academia, (1) transport and digital industry, (2) artists/creatives working with media technologies or mobility, (3) the general public and (4) public policy around transport, digital, safety, health.

1. Industry
The fellowship aims to impact industry, specifically around transport/mobility, e.g. the automotive and the cycling sector but also the digital sector (and potentially the insurance or payment sector).
Across these sectors, the project's impact aims are to:
- Provide a media-focussed framework for mobility innovation that could be used for business development
- Stimulate innovation by exposing business representatives to creative and artistic approaches to IoT/blockchain/data
- Provide evidence on how sustainability can inform new business models, services or products that engage with IoT, blockchain and/or data around mobility
- Provide sectors that are less likely to engage with digital technologies, such as the cycling industry, with best practice case studies of IoT/blockchain/data to inspire innovation
- Provide those parts of the transport industry that are already engaged with IoT/blockchain/data, such as the automotive sector, with use cases around other modes
- Provide the digital sector with new use cases around mobility
- Demonstrate how sectors such as insurance or finance could benefit from innovation in this area, for example reduced bike theft, incentivising active modes, micro-payments for mobility-related transactions

2. Artists/Creatives
The artists and creatives impacted will include those engaging with mobility or transport in their work, and those who work with digital media technologies.
For artists/creatives, the project's impact aims are to:
- Increase the awareness of and knowledge around digital technologies such as IoT/blockchain/data (for those working with mobility) and around mobility (for those working with digital media technologies), leading to new skills and expanded practice and potentially new funding streams
- Increase their capacity to engage with business and academia in productive ways
- Produce two new commissioned creative/art works that articulate the relationship between IoT/blockchain/data and mobility in critical and creative ways
- Support four further artists/creatives that work with IoT/blockchain/data and/or mobility in critical and creative ways
- Increase the visibility of around ten creativepractices/artworks through a public showcase/exhibition

3. The General Public
The fellowship also aims to impact the general public, mainly though the public/showcase exhibition.
For the general public, the project's impact aims are to:
- Provide a media-focussed perspective on mobility
- Increase awareness and understanding of IoT/blockchain/data by exposing them to creative/artistic and industrial uses of these around mobility
- Engender conversations and reflections on current and future ways digital technologies and mobility are intertwined

4. Public Policy
The fellowship could also have an impact on public policy, specifically, around transport, digital, safety, health, and funding.
For public policy, the project's impact aims are to:
- Provide a media-focussed framework for policies with relevance to mobility
- Stimulate debate on the use of funding instruments such as those associated with the industrial strategy and how they could benefit multiple mobility sectors, including cycling, expanding the current focus on cars
- Provide evidence on how policies could be linked to innovative business models, for example lowering of carbon emissions by incentivising sustainable mobility (e.g. car sharing, cycling) through blockchain/IoT/data approaches
Provide evidence on how safety and health policies could be addressed through mobility linked to blockchain/IoT/data, e.g. provide tax benefits or incentives for increased physical activity or observing speed limits.