Marcus Foth

Marcus Foth is a Professor of Urban Informatics in the School of Design at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia, within the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice. He serves as a Chief Investigator in the QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) and is a founding member of the More-than-Human Futures research group. Foth is also a Course Coordinator for the Master of Design (Strategic Design) program and a Senior Associate with Outside Opinion. His academic journey includes a PhD and MA from Queensland University of Technology, along with a BCompSc(Hons) and BMultimedia from Griffith University.

Marcus Foth's research brings together people, place, and technology, with current foci including urban media and geoprivacy, data care in smart cities, digital inclusion and participation, blockchain and food supply chains, and sustainability and more-than-human futures. For over two decades, he has led research in ubiquitous computing and interaction design, particularly in smart city applications. Since founding the Urban Informatics Research Lab at QUT in 2006, the field has been adopted worldwide by industry (e.g., McKinsey, Intel, CISCO) and universities (e.g., NYU, University College London). His work has significantly influenced how academic research responds to societal challenges, particularly in the realm of urban development and digital technologies. Foth's research demonstrates a strong commitment to creating ethical and inclusive digital futures that balance technological innovation with human and environmental wellbeing.

His extensive publication record shows a clear trajectory toward more integrated approaches to urban technology, with recent work exploring blockchain applications for social good, the ethics of data in smart cities, and the relationship between digital technologies and environmental sustainability. There's a noticeable shift toward more critical examinations of technology's role in society, particularly regarding privacy, governance, and the inclusion of non-human perspectives in urban design. His most recent publications demonstrate increasing attention to blockchain applications for supply chain transparency, the governance challenges of virtual urban spaces like the metaverse, and the ethical implications of surveillance technologies in public health contexts.

• Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (2023)
• Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) (2021)
• National Award for Cutting Edge Research of the Planning Institute of Australia (2021) for the RAISE Toolkit
• Good Design Australia Award Winner for BeefLedger project (2020)
• Publons Peer Review Award (2018)
• ICT Researcher of the Year (Gold Disruptor) by Australian Computer Society (2017)
• Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (2017)

Marcus Foth has supervised numerous PhD and Master's students, with current research topics including designing infrastructure for autonomous vehicles in rural Australia, community support systems for autonomous vehicles, hostile interaction design, community advocacy regarding aircraft noise pollution, data ethics for smart cities, and immersive audio data visualization. His supervisory approach emphasizes participatory design and community engagement, reflecting his broader research philosophy. Foth has secured significant competitive research grants, including Australian Competitive Grants for projects on digital inclusion in low-income families, location awareness and geodata politics, digital participation through Living Labs, and sustainable food culture in cities. His research has attracted substantial funding that supports interdisciplinary teams working at the intersection of technology, urban design, and social justice.

Foth leads the More-than-Human Futures research group and has been instrumental in establishing the Urban Informatics field globally. He founded the Urban Informatics Research Lab at QUT in 2006, which has since inspired similar initiatives worldwide. His work with the Smart City Network and Florianópolis Forum demonstrates his commitment to international collaboration on urban technology challenges. Foth's research teams typically bring together experts from computer science, design, social sciences, and urban planning to address complex urban challenges through interdisciplinary approaches, with a particular emphasis on participatory methods and community engagement.