Heather Ford is a writer, scholar and designer of public knowledge technologies. She researches how digital platforms shape what counts as knowledge and truth and works with libraries, teachers, lecturers and civil society organisations to improve digital and AI literacies for all.

She was the first public lead for Creative Commons South Africa, a former advisory board member of the Wikimedia Foundation and an alumnus fellow of the Reuters Digital Entrepreneurship programme at Stanford University. Her work has been covered by Slate, the New Scientist, the BBC, ABC, Der Welt and the Financial Times. Heather’s latest book, “Writing the Revolution: Wikipedia and the Survival of Facts in the Digital Age” published by MIT Press traces the power of Wikipedia to determine consensus truth about what happened and why in the context of current, historic events. It has been featured in several publications including the Financial Times and applauded as setting “(a) new benchmark for Wikipedia research” (Nathaniel Tkacz) and providing “a more clear-eyed explanation of what Wikipedia is, who Wikipedians are, and why it matters, than any other book published to date” (Andreas Kolbe, The Signpost).

Heather works as a Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney.