Panayiota is a Greek citizen who moved to the UK in 2003 to pursue postgraduate taught and research study. Panayiota has been research-active for more than a decade and her research lies in the broader field of digital media research.
Panayiota’s research has addressed phenomena concerning Internet studies and digital/Internet research, and her work has explored various facets of digital divides/digital inclusion, as well as topics and case studies concerning digital media and civic activism, children and the Internet, gender and the Internet, and digital policy and regulation. Panayiota’s recent projects have explored the digital inclusion/exclusion of vulnerable people and have aimed to contribute to innovative and evidence-based solutions to issues arising in vulnerable people’s relationships with digital media.
Panayiota is the author of the books Digital Divides in Europe: Culture, Politics and the Western-Southern Divide(2011, Peter Lang) and Internet Studies: Past, Present and Future Directions (2014, Ashgate), the co-editor of Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services (Routledge, 2017), and the editor of Vulnerable People and Digital Inclusion: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives(Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).
Panayiota is the Co-Investigator of a Nuffield Foundation funded project on Gypsy and Roman and Travellers (GRT) and GRT youth’s digital inclusion. She is also currently working on research grant proposals for the study of online blaming of ethnic and racial minorities and digital migration, as well as for the development of a social lab framework that will unpack vulnerable people’s digital inclusion.
Recently, Panayiota completed focus group research on digital inclusion of vulnerable communities in the UK, the published outputs of which inform and pave the way for future research on the status and prospects of the digital inclusion of vulnerable people and the implications for vulnerable people's social inclusion and welfare.
In the past, Panayiota led AHRC funded research on digital inclusion and minority communities in Wales, UK, and worked as Co-investigator in British Academy funded research on digital inclusion, identity and literacy in the UK. Also, she had conducted research on the role of digital technologies in social research in the UK which was funded by the EPSRC Communities and Culture Network+ (CCN+).
- Research experience and expertise in digital divides/digital inclusion and Internet research/digital research/e-research
- Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
- Qualitative and quantitative research skills
- Experience in supervision of postgraduate research / PhD students
- Research project leadership and management
- Research consultancy
- PhD Media and Communications, 2009 (LSE, UK)
- MSc Media and Communications, 2004 (LSE, UK)
- MA Political Science, 200 (University of Birmingham, UK)
- BA Hons Political Science and Public Administration, 1998 (University of Athens, Greece)
- MED7366 Research in Practice (Semester 1)
- Vulnerable people’s digital inclusion;
- Digital inclusion of GRT youth;
- Digital migration;
- Blaming discourses of racial and ethnic minorities online.
Panayiota has supervised several PhD projects and welcomes PhD applications in the following areas:
- Digital divides/inequalities
- Digital inclusion
- Vulnerable or marginalised communities and their digital experiences
- Intersectionality in the digital realm
- Internet studies
- Internet research
Books
- 2022, Vulnerable People and Digital Inclusion: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan (Edited volume).
- 2018, Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services. London: Routledge (Co-edited with J. Choudrie and S. Kurnia).
- 2014, Internet Studies: Past, Present and Future Directions. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.
- 2011, Digital Divides in Europe: Culture, Politics and the Western-Southern Divide. Berlin: Peter Lang.
Journal articles
Book chapters
- 2022, Editor’s Introduction & Conclusion. In P. Tsatsou (Ed.) Vulnerable People and Digital Inclusion: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives? Palgrave Macmillan.
- 2018, Literacy and identity links forging digital inclusion? Critical reflections and signposts from a qualitative study. In J. Choudrie S. Kurnia and P. Tsatsou (Eds.) Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services (pp.335-58). London: Routledge (with G. Youngs and C. Watt).
- 2018, Introduction. In J. Choudrie S. Kurnia and P. Tsatsou (Eds.) Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services. London: Routledge (with J. Choudrie and S. Kurnia).
- 2018, Conclusion. In J. Choudrie S. Kurnia and P. Tsatsou (Eds.) Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services. London: Routledge (with J. Choudrie and S. Kurnia).
- 2013, Coping with cyberbullying: How can we prevent cyberbullying and how victims can cope with it? In P.K. Smith and G. Steffgen (Eds.) Cyberbullying Through the New Media: Findings from an International Network (pp. 121–35). East Sussex: Psychology Press (with C. McGuckin, S. Perren, L. Corcoran, H. Cowie, F. Dehue, A. Sevcikova & T. Völlink).
- 2013, Digital inclusion and connectivity of minority communities: the case of communities of disabled people. In J. Choudrie and C. Middleton. (Eds.) Management of Broadband Technology and Innovation: Policy, Deployment, and Use (pp. 122–41). London: Routledge (with G. Higgs, I. Stafford, R. Fry. & R. Berry).
- 2013, Digital inclusion: a case for micro perspective. In G. Youngs (Ed.) Digital World: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights (pp. 52–63). London: Routledge.
- 2011, Gender and sexuality in the Internet era. In K. Ross (Ed.) The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media (pp. 516–34). Blackwell Publishing.
- 2011, Mobile phones like any other ICT? The case of Greece and its adoption of mobile phones from a socio-cultural perspective. In Y.K. Dwivedi (Ed.) Adoption, Usage, and Global Impact of Broadband Technologies: Diffusion, Practice and Policy (pp. 92–108). Hershey, USA: IGI Global.
- 2010, The role of social culture in evaluation of Internet policies. The case of everyday and resistant culture in Greece. In E. Adomi (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Information Communication Technology Policy: Trends, Issues and Advancements (pp. 631–51). Hershey, USA: IGI Global.
- 2010, Digital Divides in Greece: the role of culture and regulation. Implications for the European Information Society. In L. Fortunati, J. Vincent, J. Gebhardt, A. Petrovcic & O. Vershinskaya (Eds.) Interacting with Broadband Society (pp. 207–25). Berlin: Peter Lang.
- 2009, Digital divides and children in Europe. In S. Livingstone & L. Haddon (Eds.) Kids Online (pp. 107-19). London: Policy Press (with P. Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt. & M-F. Murru).
- 2008, Digital divides and the role of policy and regulation in Greece: a qualitative study. In Avgerou, C. Smith, M.L. and P.v.d. Besselaar (Eds.) Social Dimensions of Information and Communication Technology Policy (pp. 141–60). NY: Springer.
- 2007, Theoretical and Methodological Foundations for a Knowledge Base of Regulatory Issues: Trust in Digital Business Ecosystems. In F. Nachira, P. Dini, A. Nicolai, M. Le Louarn and L. Rivera Lèon (Eds.) Digital Ecosystems Book (pp. 98–105). European Union Research Programme FP6 (with S. Elaluf-Calderwood).
Panayiota has presented commentaries in media outlets and research-informed analyses on non-academic platforms such as:
Panayiota has provided consultancy services to businesses, organisations and expert networks such as Wikistrat Inc., GlobalWonks, Network Plus, and UkSkill Digital.
