RAI RESEARCH SEMINAR
SEMINAR SERIES AT THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Anthropology and business – reflections on a long-term relationship
Dr Simon Roberts, RED Associates
Wednesday 20 March at 5.30 pm
Contrary to the repeated ‘discovery’ by journalists of anthropologists operating in the business world there is, in fact, a long history of interaction between anthropology and business. This talk will set my own career in the context of that longer story. Using my own experiences and stories to illustrate I will explore the settings in which anthropologists are now operating and the work they are conducting. I will look ahead to how this relationship may develop in the coming years and the opportunities this presents to the discipline.
Simon is a consultant at ReD Associates, an innovation and strategy consultancy with offices in Copenhagen and New York. Since completing his PhD on the satellite television revolution in a north Indian city, his career has focused on introducing the methods and theories anthropology to business and policy making. In 2002, he founded Ideas Bazaar, the UK’s first ethnographic research company which worked with technology, media and management consulting firms, and was engaged by several leading think tanks. Between 2006-11, Simon helped establish an R&D lab for Intel Corporation’s Digital Health division. His work at Intel focused on ageing, independent living and chronic disease, involving a global research programme and industry-academic collaborations with Irish universities
Simon’s work has been widely covered in print and broadcast media and he has published extensively on his research and on the business, design and innovation applications of anthropology. Simon is co-chair of EPIC (Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference) 2012 and 2013. He can be found on the web at www.ideasbazaar.com and on twitter @ideasbazaar.
This event is free, but tickets must be booked. To book tickets please go to http://simonroberts.eventbrite.co.uk/“>http://simonroberts.eventbrite.co.uk
