Dr Cristobal Cobo

Cristobal Cobo coordinates research on innovation, open knowledge initiatives and future of learning. Currently he works on Networks of Excellence on Internet Science and OportUnidad, both project founded by European Commission.

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Cristobal Cobo collaborates at the Oxford Internet Institute on the Network of Excellence in Internet Science (FP7), focus on strengthening scientific and technological excellence by developing an integrated and interdisciplinary scientific understanding of Internet. He also coordinates the OportUnidad project (an Open Educational Resources initiative supported by ALFA III). Previously he worked on the ‘K-Network‘ project, focused on creating networks of innovation in the Atlantic Area to boost strategies for building a 21st Century Knowledge Society. He also collaborated on the Socio-Economic Services for European Research Project to study social and economic implication of the Internet (FP7).

In 2009 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance, University of Oxford, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). From 2005 to 2010 he was Professor and Director of Communication and New Technologies and editor of the educational platform of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO, Mexican Campus). In 2007 he participated as Academic coordinator in Mexico of the program ‘From Information to Innovative Knowledge: Tools and Skills for Adaptive Leadership’ at the University of Minnesota and FLACSO-Mexico. He has also been professor of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (2006) and the Technological Institute of Superior Studies of Monterrey (2005).

With John Moravec he is co-author the book “Invisible Learning: Toward a new ecology of education” (2010); In 2009 he published ‘Information Architecture, usability and Internet‘ (2009) and with Hugo Pardo he wrote ‘Planet Web 2.0, fast food media or collective intelligence’. He has worked on academic projects with organizations such as the Open University (UK), the University of Oxford, the University of Minnesota, the University of Toronto, the Open University of Catalonia, the Mexican Ministry of Public Education, Burson-Marsteller (Chile) and the Ministries of Education of Chile, Ecuador, Perú and Argentina, the Telefonica Foundation (Argentina and Mexico) and the European Commission (Program ALFA III).

Dr Cobo currently serves on the board of the New Media Consortium (NMC Horizon Project). He has served as external Evaluator for National Science Foundation and MIT Press (US), and as consultant for International Labour Organization (UN), and the International Development Research Centre (Canada). Invited Expert for RAND EU in future trends on technology and education commissioned by the Bureau of European Policy Advisors (BEPA). Dr Cobo currently serves on the board of the Global Open Educational Resources (OER) Graduate Network and in the ‘Open Education 2030’ board (coordinated by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies part of the Joint Research Center of the European commission). He also has collaborated in the design and development of academic online platforms like Internet Science (European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme), Mexican National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT), the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences-Mexico’s Open Knowledge Repository and Collaboratory, Invisible Learning (Education Futures) and Planet Web 2.0 (FLACSO).

Research interests

knowledge transfer, self-learning, digital awareness, skills for innovation, informal learning, knowledge workers, collective intelligence, future of work, human-computer interaction

Positions held at the OII

  • Research Associate, January 2015 –
  • Research Fellow, August 2010 – December 2014

Current projects

  • Transmedia Literacy

    Participants: Professor Rebecca Eynon, Dr Cristobal Cobo, Dr Huw C. Davies

    The transliteracy project aims to examine how young people use technology to learn outside formal educational settings.

Past projects