Digital Economy MSc

When I left VoucherCodes back at the end of 2013 I was able to take some time out between my work there and starting Hoop in 2015. I was lucky to be able to do this as. I knew that I wanted to start a new company, but rushing into something would have been a mistake, the time to contemplate free of other distraction was welcome.

Over the years that followed I came to look back on 2014 as a missed opportunity however. I felt I could have done more with the time I had.

Fast forward to 2020 and I find myself in a similar position. There is no problem or business opportunity that has grabbed my attention yet, and while I have no doubt that one will, I am keen to put my new found time to good use.

To that end I have applied, and have just been accepted onto, the Digital Economy MSc at King’s. Going back to university has been on my mind for many years, and so I’m thrilled to be given the chance to do so now.

The course itself is perfect as it draws on my time studying politics and economics as an undergrad and my professional career working in technology. I am excited to examine the extraordinary ascent of technology from a critical view point, and consider what it means for our economic, political and cultural systems. The team at King’s also includes some fantastic academics whose experience I will be lucky learn from, Nick Srnicek, Mercedes Bunz, Maha Shaikh and Kate Devlin in particular.

It’s also strange to think about how much technology has moved on since I studied at Manchester. Note taking was all done by hand, nobody really took laptops to lecture halls, WiFi didn’t come as standard when getting a broadband connection – I didn’t even have an internet connection in my halls of residence – Kindle’s weren’t a thing, and the availability of audiobooks was limited and typically came on CD! Even if the goals of study are the same, the act of studying has been completely revolutionised.

As you can probably gather I am pretty excited. Who knows where this next chapter will take me, but wherever that is, you can expect to read more about it here.