Dr Ciara Bracken-Roche

Dr Bracken-Roche’s current project explores the adoption and use of drone technologies in Canada and Ireland with a specific focus on policing and public safety agencies.

The project will create new knowledge about the relationship between police use of these technologies/techniques of governance and existing legal, social and technological norms.

Commenting on her appointment, Dr Bracken-Roche told Irish Legal News: “I am very happening to be returning to Ireland for this position and looking forward to being part of such a young, cutting-edge department.

“I hope to build up the area of surveillance studies within Irish academe and raise awareness around issues of surveillance in Ireland more broadly as well.”

Her most recent project, “Drones and big data: Governance techniques and their implications for policing in contemporary Canadian society”, was funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Dr Bracken-Roche’s current research programme investigates the contribution of unmanned aerial systems to the rapid expansion of security, policing, and commercial surveillance in Canada.

Throughout her academic career, her ongoing research interest has been about the relationship between governance and technology, and the social implications of technocratic governmentality.

She is happy to take on students in the areas of security, surveillance, technology-mediated policing practices, technocratic governance, privacy, civil liberties, and risk and governmentality studies.