Julia Davidson OBE, PhD(LSE) is Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Executive Director of Research and Director of the Institute for Connected Communities at the University of East London. She is one of the UKs foremost experts on policy and practice in the area of cybercrime, online safety and internet regulation and is internationally recognised for her work in this area. She is Chair of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) Evidence Group. Prof Davidson provides expert advice to international and national organisations such as the Technology Coalition, UNICEF , the US Sentencing Commission, and the UN ITU, the Home Office, DCMS, she is a member of the Europol EC3 Expert Academic Advisory Group and a Member of the Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court Hague Justice Portal. She has directed a considerable amount of national and international research spanning 35 years and has recently led an H2020 project exploring the human and technical drivers of cybercrime and has directed research for OFCOM to underpin VSP guidance in the context of the Online Safety Act, she is currently leading a UKRI project exploring child safety in the metaverse and co-leading a project focusing upon the impact of screen time upon young children. She has also acted as an advisor on child Internet safety and children online to governments and practitioners in the MENA region, South America and has worked with the Bahrain Government and the Rwandan Government to develop a child online protection policy, she is currently working with partners in 5 African countries on child online protection. She has been awarded a substantial amount of research funding in excess of 10 million and was awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours in 2020 for services to Internet Safety. Professor Davidson has worked with the media since 2003 and has published widely in the cybercrime and Internet safety area, she has written 6 books and many academic articles. She has a PhD in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and was made Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Holloway University of London in May 2010, Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology in 2014 and she is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

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