Ben Hammersley
FRSA, FRGS
3 April 1976
Leicester, England
Technologist, Futurist, Strategic Forecasting Consultant, Journalist
British
One
Education[edit]
Hammersley is the eldest of three children and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, from which he dropped out after a year.
Technology and strategic forecasting[edit]
Ben Hammersley has given keynote presentations to corporates and large events internationally.[1]
Until 2013, he was the UK Prime Minister's Ambassador to East London Tech City.[2]
Multimedia reporting and broadcasting[edit]
In 2015, Hammersley presented a six-part BBC World News series on cybercrimes.[3]
He has twice presented on BBC Radio 4's documentary strand Analysis, covering Facebook in November 2007,[4] and personal genetic testing in December 2008.[5] He also presented the five-part BBC series Futureproof Yourself.[6]
Hammersley previously worked as an internet reporter for The Times. He was Associate Editor and Editor-at-Large at the launch of the UK edition of Conde Nast's Wired UK magazine.[7]
In 2006, he pioneered multi-platform journalism for The Guardian[8] covering conflict in Afghanistan, and in 2007 also for the BBC[9] covering the election in Turkey. He later used the systems he developed to build The Guardian's pioneering range of blogs, including the award-winning Comment is Free.
Podcast[edit]
Hammersley is known for coining the term "podcast" in an article he wrote for The Guardian in 2004.[10] It was declared "Word of the Year" by the New Oxford American Dictionary in 2005.[11] Hammersley has said that he made the word up to pad out an article he was writing that was a little too short.[12]
Fellowships and associations[edit]
Hammersley is a member of the Transatlantic Network 2020,[13] and a trustee of the London chapter of the Awesome Foundation.[14] In August 2011 he was made a fellow of the UNAOC.[15] He is a judge of the Lovie Awards.[16]
In 2013, Hammersley became a fellow of the Robert Schuman School for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute,[17] Innovator-in-Residence at the Centre for Creative and Social Technologies at Goldsmiths, University of London, a member of the European Commission High Level Expert Group on Media Freedom,[18] and a non-resident fellow of the Brookings Institution.[19]
Personal life[edit]
Hammersley is married to Aleks Krotoski,[20][21] with whom he has a daughter.[22] Hammersley is a pilot, a licensed Emergency medical technician and Wilderness Medic, a triathlete and ultra-runner, a diver, photographer, and disaster response volunteer.
Bibliography[edit]
Hammersley has authored or co-authored several books on technology and journalism.