Digit, a leading international centre of excellence jointly led by the University of Sussex and the University of Leeds, has been awarded a further £8.3million by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to study the UK's evolving digital work ecosystem.

As new digital technologies and AI are more widely adopted, the ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work (Digit) will study the economic and social impacts on people's working lives. The Centre will begin its new programme of research from January 2025, concluding in December 2029.

Digit has been funded by the ESRC since 2020. The Centre will continue to be jointly led by the University of Sussex and the University of Leeds, with partners at the University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, and Monash University in Australia, together with  the Institute for the Future of Work, FutureDotNow, and the Institute of Development Studies.

Digit will provide new insights into the vital partnerships between government, businesses, trade unions, and civil society communities necessary to ensure that productivity gains are widely shared, and that technology is effectively regulated in the emerging digital work ecosystem. The Centre will generate new evidence about how to support healthy working lives, improve digital skills, literacy and pay, and examine the consequences of digitalisation for job location and the environment.

Professor Jacqueline O'Reilly, FAcSS, Digit Co-Director and Professor of Comparative Human Resource Management, University of Sussex Business School, said: 

"Digital technologies are profoundly restructuring work, but the consequences are still uncertain. We know that employers' investment in digital technologies is poor and polarised; inequalities in skills and rewards are increasing; access to healthy working lives is unequal; and regional inequalities persist. The challenge is to successfully navigate this transition, building an inclusive digital work ecosystem, that supports improved economic performance, well-being, and job quality."

New research programme

The new research programme will focus on five themes: 

1. Digital ecosystem governance: How can key actors shape the evolution of an inclusive, healthy, and sustainable digital work ecosystem in the UK?
2. Digital decisions and adopters: Why do firms adopt, or not, new digital technologies and what are the consequences for employment?
3. Skills and rewards: What can be done to reduce the polarisation of skills, increase levels of digital literacy, and improve rewards at work?
4. Healthy working lives: How does digitalisation affect a healthy work-life balance and access to work?
5. Location and environment: How will digitalisation impact the location of jobs, regional development, and the environment?

Collaboration with government, business and community sector organisations

The Centre will also establish a series of CoLabs as an integral part of its research. CoLabs will bring together key actors from state, business, and community sectors to develop insight into emerging challenges, against a backdrop of rapid technological change. The programme will inform research design, facilitate real-time knowledge exchange, offer opportunities for co-produced research, and develop a network and platform for cutting edge thinking about the challenges involved in the digital transformation of work.

The Centre will host a Data and Policy Observatory to support effective dissemination of policy-relevant research.  An innovative and inclusive programme of training and support for Mid and Early Career Researchers, will develop the research leaders of the future.

Professor Mark Stuart, FAcSS, Digit Co-Director and the Montague Burton Professor of Human Resource Management and Employment Relations, Leeds University Business School, said:

“Through its new research programme, the Centre will develop a robust evidence base about employers' use of digital technologies at work and its impacts on people's working lives.  Tracking adoption and investment in AI and other new technologies through the representative Employers' Digital Practices at Work Survey will provide policymakers, business leaders and trade unions with essential insights about what is actually happening in the digital transformation of work.”

ESRC Executive Chair Stian Westlake said: 

“Our centres are at the forefront of ground-breaking social science research, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and making a real difference. By supporting these centres, ESRC ensures long-term investment in crucial areas while giving researchers the freedom to explore and innovate. 

“Three of these investments build on the work of centres that consistently delivered top-quality research that has positively influenced policy and improved lives. The wholly new centre will expand ESRC’s research portfolio even further, helping us understand the health effects of climate change.”