Holly Patrick Thomson

Holly Patrick Thomson is a Lecturer in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University, where she contributes to research and teaching in management, human resources, and social informatics. She is affiliated with the Centre for Social Informatics and the Centre for Business Innovations and Sustainable Solutions, focusing on the dynamics of creative industries and freelance work.

• PhD research and supervision in organizational identity, labour precarity, and digital communities.
• Active involvement in interdisciplinary projects bridging computing and management.
• Regular participation in academic workshops and conferences.

Her research interests center on creative freelancers, online occupational communities, and peer advice systems. She investigates how digital platforms enable solidarity and knowledge exchange among precarious workers, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. Her work combines qualitative methods such as netnography with applied design research to develop tools supporting freelance well-being and professional development.

Recent publications highlight trends in digital transformation within creative sectors, organizational identity in cultural institutions, and labour ethics in industries like craft beer and journalism. Her articles reflect a strong interdisciplinary approach, integrating management theory, sociology, and information science.

She has received research funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, and the University of Edinburgh. Notable projects include:

• Scoping an AI Powered Peer Advice System for Creative Freelancers (AHRC, £5,000)
• A New Generation of Peer Advice Systems – Prototyping the Freelance Advisor App (British Academy, £9,998)
• Creatives in Crisis (University of Edinburgh, £5,000)

Holly supervises PhD students including Alan Brooke, Murad Karimi, and Paul Langford, and collaborates with researchers across disciplines such as computing and sociology. She is involved in lab-like project teams developing digital tools for peer advice and data collection on freelance working conditions. Her work aims to bridge academic research with practical policy implications for creative labour.