Octavia is Associate Director (Public Participation & Research Practice) at the Ada Lovelace Institute. Leading Ada’s Public Participation Research and Research Practice teams, she directs and co-creates all Ada’s quantitative and qualitative research, to ensure that the voices of people are heard in processes and decision-making across policy, industry and public services. She leads organisational thinking on how Ada does research, including design, methods, integrity and ethics. And designed and implemented the impact framework that has guided our work since 2019.

Octavia holds an MA in Digital Media Culture, an MSc in Social Research and is currently a PhD candidate in UCL Science and Technology Studies, with a subject specialism in technology governance and corporate law. She is Co-Investigator to the UKRI-funded Public Voices in Responsible AI programme, a member of the Digital Good Network (DGN) College of Experts, a member of the Smart Data Research (SDR) UK public engagement advisory board and a Reviewer for IEEE Technology and Society Magazine.