Towards a Smart Digital Forensic Advisor to Support First Responders with At-Scene Triage of Digital Evidence

Project Description: The project will lay the foundations for the development of a tool to support first responders conducting digital evidence triage across two distinct crime types (homicide and stalking and harassment). Through cross-disciplinary collaboration with six institutions (University College London; University of Derby; University of Southampton; University of Dundee; University of Essex), the project is working with the Forensic Capability Network (FCN) to develop a series of early-stage design prototypes for evaluation and discussion with relevant user groups and stakeholders.

Contribution: As Co-Lead for Work Package 2 (Data Management and Ethics); I am responsible for overseeing literature review(s), focus groups, and stakeholder engagement, to develop a data map with respect to the nature/type of digital devices and their evidential value. As Lead for Work Package 4 (Design Delivery), I oversee responsible for developing, testing, and evaluating design prototypes, user personas, and scenarios in collaboration with service users, gathering feedback to inform future development and use. I am also Co-Supervisor for the project’s Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA).

Outputs have thus far included: a project website, a project launch report (published by The Open University, June 2024); mid-project stakeholder event report (published by University College London, February 2025); various national and international conference presentations (to The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, October 2024, and The European Academy of Forensic Sciences, May 2025), articles in peer-reviewed journals (in preparation), a series of design artefacts/prototypes (in preparation), and an end-of-project event presenting recommendations at the UK House of Lords (November 2025).