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Staff Profile

  • Dr Funmi Obembe is Head of Technology at the University of Northampton where she leads on the strategic development and operational management of the subject area (covering Computing, Engineering and Games programmes). In this role she is critical to the academic success, positive experience, graduate outcomes, and staff wellbeing. Additionally she serves as member of the Faculty’s Senior Leadership team and the Faculty’s executive committee.

    Previous roles include Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the School of Computer Science and Informatics at De Montfort University where she was Programme Leader for the Business Data Analytics, Computing for Business, Business Information Systems & Information and Communication Technology programmes.

    Prior to going into full time academia, Funmi worked in the technology industry/health informatics sector for over 18 years and is also a data development and analytics specialist. Funmi is passionate about bringing together in teaching and research both theoretical aspects of technology and their practical applications. Her main research areas are in technology enhanced learning, data science, open data/big data analytics, knowledge management and machine learning algorithms for knowledge representations. Funmi is also Career Chair for ACM-W UK and a Committee Member for the European Conference on Knowledge Management (ECKM).

  • Funmi is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has expertise and experience in the development of modules and programmes. Funmi is also passionate about promoting employability and industry engagement as part of the curriculum and teaching to enhance student development, experience, and readiness for their post study professional careers.

    Past and current areas of UG and PG teaching include:

    • MSc Dissertation/Project module leader
    • Big Data/Big Data Analytics
    • Project Management
    • IT Service Management
    • Database Systems and Design
    • UG Dissertation/Project module leader

    Organised events and talks include:

    • Digital Transformation Narratives – The NHS Perspective
    • A Day in the Life of a Data Professional
    • Organiser of ACM-W UK Careers in Tech Webinar Series
    • Help to Grow: Management (Training to help SME business leaders to increase productivity, seize investment opportunities and grow their business) – Digital Adoption Module
    • Bitesize Modules in Digital Skills – Introduction to Data Modelling Module
    • Doctoral Training Programme – Introduction to Sentiment Analysis
    • Talk on Advantages of using Gamification (Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology)
    • Talk on Communication for CPD Day for Applied A-Level Business Students (USP College)
    • Talk on Professions of the future: The Data Professional (DMU in collaboration with egitimAL, Ankara Turkey) 
    • Talk on Professions of the future: The Data Professional (DMU International office outreach event on Data Science and Technology – Russian International Schools)
  • Funmi’s research interests are in the areas of big data analytics, data science, open data, digital transformation, technology enhanced learning, knowledge management and machine learning algorithms for knowledge representations. PhD applications in these areas are welcome.

    Some recent projects include:

    • Development of an Open Data Academic Portal Repository (ODAP)
    • RE-skilling Businesses for new OpportUNities in the Covid-19 lanDscape (REBOUND)
    • The use of gamification as an innovative practice pedagogy to enhance student engagement and outcomes in a covid-19 era
    • Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility Commercial Outreach Project (CCSR-CO)
  • For publications, projects, datasets, research interests and activities, view Funmi Obembe’s research profile on Pure, the University of Northampton’s Research Explorer.

    • Obembe, F. (2023). Pracademics: Facilitating Smooth Transition from Industry to Academia. In: Dickinson, J., Griffiths, TL. (eds) Professional Development for Practitioners in Academia. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33746-8_8
    • Odunsi, T., Owoseni, A., Khene, C. and Obembe, F. (2022) ‘Digital Transformation in the Financial Services Sector: Implications for Sustainable Development in Nigeria’, Fourteenth Annual AIS SIG Global Development Pre-ICIS Workshop, ITU University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 10th December.
    • Obembe, F. (2022) The Use of Gamification as an Innovative Practice Pedagogy to Enhance Student Engagement during COVID-19 Pandemic. Gateway Papers: A Journal of Education and Pedagogic Research, 3(1), p.1. DOI: http://doi.org/10.3943/gp.55
    • Obembe, D., Kolade, S., Obembe, F., Owoseni, A., & Mafimisebi, O. (2021). Covid-19 and the tourism industry: an early-stage sentiment analysis of the impact of social media and stakeholder communication? International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2021.100040
    • Obembe, F. and Obembe, D. (2021) ‘The Impact of Digital Transformation on Knowledge Management During COVID-19’, European Conference on Knowledge Management, University of Coventry, 2-3 September.
    • Obembe, F. and Obembe, D. (2020) ‘Deep Learning and Tacit Knowledge Transfer: An Exploratory Study’, European Conference on Knowledge Management, University of Coventry, 3-4 December.
    • Obembe, F. (2020) ‘An Open Data Academic Portal: A Preliminary Study’, The 6th IEEE International Conference on Information Management, Imperial College, 27-29 March.
    • Obembe, F. (2020) ‘Promoting the use of gamification and digital tools to develop online learning communities and enhance student engagement’, Teaching, learning and personal tutoring: A virtual mini-conference, De Montfort University Centre for Academic Innovation, 11th September.
    • Obembe O., Buckingham C.D. (2010) Developing a Probabilistic Graphical Structure from a Model of Mental-Health Clinical Risk Expertise. In: Setchi R., Jordanov I., Howlett R.J., Jain L.C. (eds) Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems. KES 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6279. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
    • Obembe O., Buckingham C.D. (2010) Graphical Modelling in Mental Health Risk Assessments. COGNITIVE 2010: The Second International Conference on Advanced Cognitive Technologies and Applications, pp 72-77.
    • Obembe, O. and Buckingham, C. D. (2009) ‘Converting a Fuzzy Set Based Suicide Risk Assessment Model into a Bayesian Belief Network’, presentation at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Mathematical Psychology (SMP) 2009, Amsterdam, 1–4