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Professor Corneliu Bjola will reflect on his academic journey in the field of digital diplomacy as a process of learning to recognise, confront, and work through epistemic blind spots. His trajectory is marked by recurring struggles with different forms of blindness to digital technology: first, underestimating its significance; then grappling with it analytically as its influence became unavoidable; and finally engaging with it more deeply, narrowing earlier blind spots while revealing new ones, particularly in relation to the strategic and ethical consequences of digital influence.
This talk will be followed by a reception.
About the speaker: Corneliu Bjola is Professor of Digital Diplomacy at the University of Oxford, UK, and the Head of the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group. His research focuses on the impact of artificial intelligence and quantum technologies on diplomatic practice, particularly in relation to decision-making, negotiations, and crisis management. He is the author and co-editor of several leading volumes on technology diplomacy and digital international relations. He has delivered training programmes for foreign ministries and international organisations and is frequently invited as an expert in debates on technology, global politics, and diplomacy. In 2026, he was included in the Tech Diplomacy Global 50, a ranking compiled by the Tech Diplomacy Global Institute, recognising the most influential leaders in advancing responsible technology policy, digital governance, and international cooperation.
About OxDSS Public Talks: “Digital scholarship” has become increasingly important, as the rise of digital methods continues to transform well-established research practices across all disciplines. Through the OxDSS Public Talk Series, we invite speakers from across the University of Oxford and beyond to share insights into how “the digital” has reshaped their academic and professional practice. Here, we aim to enable attendees to explore and discuss how those methods or insights developed within one field may be transferable or adaptable to other or their own disciplines and research interests.
