DSS Alumni Stories – Meet Jessica Ciucci

We present the alumni Jessica – a social anthropologist interested in online behavioural research and digitisation. Discover her career and professional journey!

Where are you from?
Città di Castello, Italy

Where are you now?
London, England

Where do you work?
Max Communications, digitising historical material and artworks.

Tell us about your career path.
I did my BA in Cultural Heritage in Italy. It was a mixed program. My degree focused on Cultural Anthropology, History of Art and Archaeology. After graduating, I moved to London and did my MA in Social Anthropology. After this, I applied to DSS and got in. My project was about climate change solutions. Our objective was to support climate change solutions with data-driven storytelling. The end goal was to present this issue to a broader audience that isn’t familiar with the topic or finds it too overwhelming. In the end, we created a website with all the collected research. After completing the traineeship, I reached out to one of the clients, The Visual Methodologies Collective and proposed a cli-fi study to explore ‘Climate Futures’ – an experiment in collaborating with AI to shed light on and contribute to future climate imaginaries. I worked for them for four months, and in 2020 I went back to London and found my current job.

What are your sources of inspiration?
The arts in general, painting/music/visuals.

How would you describe your time at DSS?
I joined the Data-Driven Transformation track in Spring 2019. I had a good time – the program helped me develop new skills that benefitted me as a researcher. Collaborating with designers, for example, helped me think outside the box and working in partnership with other professionals who had different cultural and academic backgrounds changed my mindset. This journey was also challenging, and it took me some time to adapt to it. Nevertheless, the experience taught me to self-organise and strengthened my ability to present to clients. It was a very stimulating environment, and it felt good to be surrounded by the alumni community and the DSS network in its entirety.

Is there something in particular that impacted you?
The realisation that others trusted my skills and that creativity was highly encouraged. As a recent graduate, I got the chance and freedom to explore my interests while helping manage the project.

What does digital transformation mean to you?
In a word, accountability. Digital spaces are ever-changing realms which are challenging to regulate. This concept connects with the idea of creating a more positive digital impact so that technology works for us, not through us.

Any advice to share?
I recommend being open-minded and, in general, connecting with people. I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of networking, which is something I have just started to understand.

What’s next for you?
I’m actively searching for another job – I’d like to go back to data-driven storytelling. Weaving interesting stories is my passion. Besides this, I will cultivate my other hobbies: painting and drawing.

Connect with Jessica
IG: @jessica.ciucci