We talked to Uno Fors, Professor and Head of the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University. He is also an Associate Director for Diversity and Inclusion and the Co-PI of the research project Learning and Sharing under Privacy constraints (DataLEASH) at Digital Futures.
Hi Uno Fors, describe your role at Digital Futures?
– I am one of the members of the Executive committee of Digital Futures and as such I am participating in the leadership of the center. I am also coordinating the Stockholm University (SU) activities within Digital Futures and responsible for spreading information about calls and facilitate SU researchers participation in Digital Futures activities. Recently, I also initiated the first call for Diversity and Inclusion projects, which now have been evaluated and soon will be decided by the Governing board.
Tell us a bit about your long-time experience in research and what motivates you as a researcher?
– I have two main research areas, that often can be combined. Technology enhanced learning (meaning how ICT can be used to support education and assessment), and Health informatics (meaning how ICT can be used to improve and transform healthcare). Two research areas that I am especially active in are Privacy and integrity aspects of healthcare data, that is what I focus on within the large DataLEASH-project. Another area is the development and use of Virtual cases for learning and assessment in healthcare (Virtual patients), teacher education (virtual pupils), law (virtual legal clients) etc.
Finally, tell us a little bit about yourself!
– My background is from Karolinska Institutet where I worked for 30 years, before I moved to Stockholm University in 2010. So I actually have a clinical education as a good ground for my research in healthcare informatics. However at Stockholm University I am professor of IT and learning, which is a somewhat unusual title for a person that started as a clinician. I have in the last 20 years worked a lot in low income regions and especially in sub-Saharan Africa with projects around health informatics and technology enhanced learning, which has widened my perspectives a lot regarding opportunities in settings where there is a huge lack of resources for education and research. You can do a lot even with small resources, if you do the right things… Privately, I am a great fan of nature photography!
