Headshots of ten students at the Data Empowerment Clinic with smiles on their faces.

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Student lens: Transforming data empowerment through training and community

08 May 2026

Law
Society

The first cohort of the Data Empowerment Clinic brought together 16 students and 3 supervisors, providing a space for practical learning, and equipping students with tools to help tackle real-world data problems.

Since its launch in October 2025, the Data Empowerment Clinic has played a crucial role in training a new generation of researchers and informed practitioners, ensuring that the rise in the use of artificial intelligence is met with readiness, and that grassroots data empowerment movements are supported globally.

Part of the Centre for Data Futures, the Clinic has successfully built the capacity of students through real-world data empowerment projects. Central to their work is the training of data stewards, what Centre Director Professor Sylvie Delacroix describes as the missing profession of the 21st century: a gap that a university like King's is uniquely placed to address.

For postgraduate law student Clement, the experience has not only provided an opportunity to explore how laws can adapt to the fast-changing needs of the 21st century but has also enabled him to work on transformative projects that could benefit less-privileged communities.

As a law student, this is a perfect opportunity to reform and adapt the law to the 21st century and these really fast-changing trends.– Clement, Student at the Data Empowerment Clinic

For supervisor Marilyn Ordikian, whose background includes an interdisciplinary PhD spanning law and cybersecurity, a fundamental part of the Clinic’s work is how it challenges students to become problem-solvers.

Students are being exposed to people who think differently. They are also working with partners who come to them and ask, ‘We have this problem, how can you solve it?’ It’s that tangible aspect of the Clinic that really benefits them.– Marilyn Ordikian, Supervisor at the Data Empowerment Clinic

With Suha Mohamed as its Innovation Director, the Data Empowerment Clinic has already created an environment for peer-to-peer learning for students, supervisors and partners, working together to provide a community where organisations facing different geographical and socio-economic circumstances can engage in knowledge exchange.

Learn more about the Data Empowerment Clinic.