Relinking the weak link. Building resilient digital households through interdisciplinary and multilevel exploration and intervention

What roles do socio-technical practices and infrastructures play in shaping security risks in technologies of the home and what tools and interventions can be developed to enable digitally resilient households?

The RELINK project aims to develop frameworks, tools and scenarios that address current and future risk and safety issues related Internet of Things (IoT) in connected homes and households.

The project will

a) conduct in-depth studies of households to understand consumers’ everyday uses, experiences and attitudes towards risks and vulnerabilities of IoT,

b) map out the overall technological and social infrastructures of consumer household IoT and the scope of digital vulnerabilities,

c) develop and deploy a set of current and future scenarios depicting possible risks and opportunities of technologies in connected households, and

d) devise a toolkit that enables households to ensure security in the use of household technologies.

The toolkit will include online resources, personal data protection risk assessment and awareness tools, guidelines and training modules. The scenarios will use narratives and fictional elements designed to encourage citizen and cross-sector reflection on security, technology and the future of the connected household.

The project will adopt a multidisciplinary mixed-method approach using ethnography, surveys, data analytics, visualization, and co-design methods. The project will put in place a comprehensive strategy for communication, knowledge sharing and dissemination through an online portal, and academic and public outreach engagements. It will also develop a policy recommendation framework for societal impact.