Deceptive Stories of Scale: A tale of digital health startups and the NHS'
MSc Applied Digital Health talk open for all
Thursday 24 October at 11:00 – 12:00pm
Speaker: Dr Alison Powell, Associate Professor- Media and Communications and the Data Science Institute at LSE
Venue: Blavatnik School of Government- Tun Razak lecture Theatre
Contact us and visitor information | Blavatnik School of Government (ox.ac.uk)

On September 5, 2023, Babylon Health, the ‘unicorn’ data-driven primary health-care app, filed for bankruptcy. Start-ups like Babylon have been integrated into the NHS at what’s been described as a time of crisis. Yet their integration brings distinct ways of working and distinct ways of thinking about data, knowledge and scale. Revisiting the story of the rise (and fall) of Babylon illustrates an important set of considerations connected with the perceived value of ‘scaling up’ technology-driven projects and companies, particularly those assumed to be of public benefit. This lecture highlights how narratives of scale-up generate risks of epistemic injustice, and presents some possible responses.
Date: 24 October 2024, 11:00 (Thursday, 2nd week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Blavatnik School of Government, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter OX2 6GG
Venue Details: Blavatnik School of Government- Tun Razak lecture Theatre
Speaker: Dr Alison Powell (Associate Professor)
Organising department: Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
Organiser contact email address: vivian.ansell@phc.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Vivian Ansell