Rob Bray is a Research Fellow in the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Australian National University. Prior to his commencement at the university he had long career in the Australian Public Service as a policy analyst and researcher. In 2010 he was awarded the Public Service Medal in recognition of his work on poverty and hardship. Rob's current research includes the measurement of well-being and the role of the welfare system and its interelationship with participation. Recent publications include the first report of the Evaluation of New Income Management in the Northern Territory, and on the characteristics and outcomes of young carers in Australia.
Dr Navarria's research interests include the relationship between authoritarian regimes in Asia and the language and tactics of democracy; the role new communication media have in politics; the meaning of representation and the role of civil society in contemporary democracies. He is also interested and work on issues related to current Italian politics.. He is currently working on a research project focusing on the effects communication media have on prevailing power-dynamics between state and citizens in China. He is also co-editor of the Democracy Futures series, a joint global initiative between the Sydney Democracy Network and The Conversation. The material published in this series aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century. Dr Navaria and John Watson (Politics and Society Editor at The Conversation) coordinate the project. He is the convener of SDN fortnightly research seminars series. He has a PhD in Politics and Media from the University of Westminster and a Degree in Philosophy from the University of Catania.. I hold a PhD in Politics from the University of Westminster, United Kingdom, and a MA Degree in Philosophy from the University of Catania, Italy.
Nafis Alam is an Associate Professor at the Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) in the University of Nottingham - Malaysia Campus (UNMC). Prior to this, he was attached with Monash University at Sunway campus where he worked as lecturer in finance. Before that he worked with Multimedia University, Malaysia and CMC Sudan where he was the coordinator of the International MBA program. He has published quite extensively in the area of finance and his scholarly research has featured in leading journals like Journal of Assets Management, Journal of Banking Regulation, Journal of International Banking law & Regulation, Review of Islamic Economics; Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce and Journal of Financial Services Marketing among others. He also co authored three books in Islamic Finance among them is Encyclopedia of Islamic Finance which is first of its kind and has sold over 1000 copies worldwide.Dr. Alam is also Visiting Lecturer for Durham Islamic Finance Summer School, Durham University, UK. He is reviewer for leading finance & Islamic finance journals. He has also participated in leading Islamic finance conferences worldwide among them significant was participation in Harvard Islamic Finance forum at Harvard Law School and Gulf Research Meeting at Cambridge University, UK.
Tom is a lecturer in New and Digital Journalism at City University London. He is a former career journalist and worked for a decade as a reporter covering politics and as a regional correspondent at the Independent (Dublin); as Bureau Chief of the Leb News Agency (Beirut); and as Deputy Editor of the Irish Echo (Sydney). He has contributed to a number of books on local newspapers; press regulation; digital journalism; and has co-edited two books on FOI; FOI 10 years on: freedom fighting or lazy journalism (2015, Abramis) and Ireland and the Freedom of Information Act (2015, MUP). He was appointed by the Irish Government to sit on a national expert committee examining the Freedom of Information Act in Ireland in 2013, and gave evidence to a committee examining the UK's legislation at the House of Commons in 2015. He continues to write on media issues, contributes to radio regularly and is an active conference speaker.
Paul Nieuwenhuis was born in the Netherlands and studied in Australia, Belgium, Spain and Scotland, where he obtained his PhD from Edinburgh University. After a spell in consultancy, carrying out projects for most of the world’s car and truck makers and acting as a special advisor on state aid in the automotive industry to the European Commission (DGIV), he joined the Centre for Automotive Industry Research (CAIR) at Cardiff University in 1990. CAIR specialises in the economic and strategic aspects of the world automotive sector, giving it a rare overview of the industry. The centre has attracted contracts from car manufacturers, suppliers and governments, world-wide. Here he also developed his special interest in the problems of making personal mobility compatible with the need for sustainability. In 2001 he became a founder member of the ESRC-funded Centre for Business Responsibility, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University. He co-created an innovative course in Motoring Journalism together with the highly regarded Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and is also a director – in partnership with colleagues at the Cardiff School of Engineering – of the Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence at Cardiff University.
