Dr Kutoma Wakunuma

Dr Kutoma Wakunuma is Associate Professor Research and Teaching in Information Systems. She holds a PhD in Information Communication Technologies for Development and Gender. She has worked and continues to work on a wide range of research projects where she has taken on roles of Principal Investigator, Lead Evaluator as well as being part of the coordination team of projects. Before joining DMU, some of her notable research experiences were as Research Fellow attached to the University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany under the Initiativkreis Ruhrgebiet initiative where she was one of three awarded for outstanding research out of sixteen international Research Fellows commissioned on the Fellowship. She had an opportunity to undertake some work experience at Bochum Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Germany which gave great insight into her industry work experience having worked at the Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in her native Zambia. She was also Research Assistant at Sheffield Hallam University before joining DMU as a Research Fellow and going on to be Senior Lecturer before her current Associate Professorship. She is also actively involved in teaching and holds teaching related positions including Module Leadership, Programme Leader in MSc Computing and Deputy Subject Group Leader for the IS Group. Her teaching has involved ICT4D, Computing Ethics, Research Ethics and Professionalism including Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT. She is also heavily involved in PhD Supervision in areas involving ICT4D, Emerging Technologies, Gender, Ethics and RRI. She has also examined several PhD thesis.

Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR)

Click here to view a full listing of Kutoma Wakunuma's publications and outputs.

Dr Wakunuma has an interest in understanding how modern technologies impact society both in the developed and developing world. In particular, she is interested in understanding the role that current and emerging technologies play in the development processes of both developed and developing countries. Having work experience in both these settings, she has developed a keen interest in understanding the ethics of technologies; digitalisation of both the Global South and Global North; gender implications related to accessibility, adoption and use of technologies as well as a keen interest in the UNs Sustainable Development Goals. Her work involves research in:

• ICT4D
• Emerging Technologies and Ethics
• Gender
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Civil Society Organisations research
• Social media
• Stakeholder evaluation
• Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)/Responsible Innovation (RI)

Some of Dr Wakunuma's esteem indicators include but are not limited to:

• Visiting Lecturer and PhD Supervisor within the Department of Computer and Systems Science at Stockholm University, Sweden
• Editorial Board Member - Journal of Responsible Technology
• Editorial Board Member - The Regional Journal of Information and Knowledge Management
• Independent Expert and Ethics Advisor with the European Commission
• European Commission proposal evaluator
• Invited evaluator for South Africa's National Research Foundation
• External peer reviewer on the Leading Fellows Postdoc (LFP) Programme which is a joint initiative of universities in the Netherlands funded by the EU
• Reviewer for such journals as: Telecommunications Policy; Information Technology & People; Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society; ETHICOMP series conference papers
• Guest Editor: Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society

• ICT for Development
• Computer Ethics
• Research Methods
• Gender
• Responsible (Research and) Innovation
• Privacy and Data Protection

• PhD - Information Communication Technologies for Development and Gender (Coventry University, UK) 
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCert. Teaching) (De Montfort University, UK)
• MA - Women’s Studies (Challenges in management and decision-making positions) (Lancaster University, UK)
• HND - Management Information Systems (Zambia Institute of Management)

• Research Ethics and Professionalism in Computing (IMAT5262)
• Responsible Research and Innovation (CTEC5813)
• ICT for Development (IMAT 3112)

• DMU award on Exploring Sustainable Development in Ahmedabad, India, 2019
• Coventry University PhD full Studentship, 2007
• The Open Society Institute scholarship award for the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme at Oxford University, UK, 2006
• United Nations World Summit on the Information Society Award in Tunis, Tunisia, 2005
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship for gender mainstreaming in a cross-cultural context with Foneta Gmbh in Chemnitz, Germany, 2004
• Initiativkreis Ruhrgebiet Fellowship. One of 3 out of 16 international scholars that was honoured for outstanding research in January 2002
• An Internet Society award on national network management training at the KEIO University in Yokohama, Japan, 2000
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship attend the International Women’s University in Germany, 2000
• Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) scholarship with LIFE academy in Sweden on Information Technology Management, 2000
• International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Conference award in Cape Town, South Africa, 2000 
• University of Arizona Women’s Studies support for The Future of Women’s Studies Working Conference in Tucson Arizona, United States of America, 2000

IFIP (International Federation of Information Processing) 9.4

• DITCh Plastic project, UKRI/GCRF funded, A multisectoral, international and interdisciplinary project aimed at utilizing digital innovations to accelerate the transition to a circular plastic economy (CPE) in Africa, 2020 - 2021(Co-PI)
• RRING (Responsible Research and Innovation Networked Globally) Project, EU funded 2018 – 2021 (DMU Principal Investigator)
• Hypatia project looking at encouraging teenagers especially girls to take up Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, EU funded, 2015 – 2018 (Principal Evaluator/Consultant)
• SATORI (Stakeholders Acting Together On the ethical impact assessment of Research and Innovation), EU funded, 2014 - 2017 (DMU Scientific Lead and WP Leader)
• Network Analysis of Civil Society Organisations Participation in Research Framework Programmes, EU funded tender, 2014 - 2016 (Senior Researcher)
• GREAT (Governance for Responsible Innovation), EU funded, 2013 (Senior Researcher)
• CONSIDER (Civil Society Organisations in Designing Research Governance), EU funded, 2012 - 2015 (Part of the coordination team and Senior Researcher)
• IDEGOV (Identification and Governance of Emerging Ethical Issues in Information Systems), CIGREF funded, 2011 - 2012 (DMU Scientific Lead)
• ETICA (Ethical Issues of Emerging ICT Applications), EU funded, 2009 - 2011 (Research Fellow and part of the Coordinating Team)

Among many others

• IFIP (International Federation of Information Processing) 
• Ethicomp
• DSA (Development Studies Association conference)
• GoNano conference 
• Digitalisation in Africa: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Technology Development and Justice Conference

Current Students
1. Aisha Abubakar - Identity Theft Investigation in Nigeria (1st)
2. Naome Gapara - Adoption of digital technology to increase South Africa's SME profitability and performance (1st)
3. Annabel Mwagalanyi - Caught between people and technology: Understanding the role support volunteers give to female refugees in accessing employment (2nd)
4. Abigail Udoma - eVoting in Nigeria (2nd)
5. Rachel Harris - The Violent Sexual Ethics of 21st Century Patriarchal Techno-Capitalism (2nd)
6. 1 PhD Supervision with Stockholm University - The use of Social Media by Women Entrepreneurs in the Beauty Salon Sector (2nd)
Please note that some of the above titles will alter slightly as the research progresses. Therefore take the titles as pointers to the research thesis under progress.

PhD Completions
1. Anietie Isong - The Influence of New Media Technologies on African Literature (2018 - 04)
2. Tilimbe Jiya - An Evaluation of Stakeholder Engagement in ICT Research Projects (2018 - 09)
3. Samuel Liyala - Exploring Performance Ethnography to illuminate mobile banking Capabilities in Western Kenya: Capability Approach Study (2012)

PhD Examinations
1. Molla Allemu - Impact of Human Activity on Protected Areas: A case study of Nech Sar National Park in Ethiopia (2020)
2. Job Timmermans - Implementing Responsible Research and Innovation in Research Projects (2017)
3. Fahad Naser K. Alqahtani - Identifying the critical factors that impact on the Development of Electronic Government using TOE Framework in Saudi E-Government Context: A Thematic Analysis (2016)
4. Michael Healey - Alienation and Information Communications Technology (2014)
5. Yahya AlHareth - An investigation into the contribution of e-learning to the improvement of higher education opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia (2014)
6. Eric Agyei-Bekoe - Empirical Investigation of the Role of Privacy and Data Protection in the Implementation of Electronic Government in Ghana (2013)

Information, Communication and Society Journal Reviewer

Information Technologies & International Development Reviewer

Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society Guest Editor, (2011)

0000-0002-8236-3221