Tom Bell

I’m a Researcher in computer science, with a passion for helping people to live faithful lives in this disruptive technological age.

To-date, I have spent my working life in the tech sector in a range of guises.

For a number of years, I worked with some of the finest inventors in the UK, drafting and prosecuting patent applications. But I eventually decided I preferred being the one doing the inventing myself.

I have since been working in research, technical leadership and consulting in computer science, and cyber security in particular, addressing some of the most pressing technical challenges we face today.

Instinctively I enjoy surrounding myself with technology. Not only do I find it fascinating, but I’ve always had that intuitive sense that technology can be a profound force for good. It can help us live more faithfully, safely and productively, in ways which honour our creator God.

But today, so much of what we now associate with technology is to our great detriment: addictive social media, online pornography, misleading or fake content, and a lack of privacy and security online.

So the question has to be asked: How can we live faithfully, safely and productively in such a disruptive online environment?

That’s the question we’re trying to answer with Redeeming Technology.

A little about me

I’m a husband and father, and follower of Jesus. We live in Southampton where our life revolves around our family, friends, work and church family.

I grew up over on the beautiful Isle of Wight before moving to Southampton in 2011 to study Electronic Engineering at the University of Southampton. Since then, I have been working within the technology industry, in patent law, local government, thought leadership and R&D, both in industry and academia.

In 2015, I published a book on programming with Imperial College Press. This was listed as one of ICPs ‘Notable Titles in Engineering’ in 2016 and has since helped hundreds of undergraduates and young professionals to develop their programming skills and develop their career prospects.

Having developed an interest in patentable inventions, I completed postgraduate studies in Intellectual Property law in 2017 at Queen Mary, University of London and spent several years helping innovative companies in the UK, Europe and worldwide make the most of their IP assets.

As someone who believes in the importance of small business to the local economy, I have advised a range of tech start-ups based in Southampton and beyond. I have also authored articles and legal essays for a range of organisations, including Future Worlds, Inside Careers, Leonards Review, D Young & Co, Activate UK, Conservative Home and the CIPA Journal.

I have always cared deeply about my local community and was privileged to serve as an elected Councillor in Southampton from 2018 to 2022. Through that role I spent time with constituents from all walks of life, understanding the issues they care about and striving to put their interests first. Particular areas of focus for me relate to digital skills and transformation, economic development and sustainable transport. Through serving as a Trustee of Southampton Voluntary Services for a number of years, I was also able to help them to leverage technology to achieve their charitable aims.

A passion for solving complex technical problems lead me to join the brilliant team at Roke Manor Research in 2018. There, I spend most of my time leading various horizon scanning and research programmes in machine learning, cyber security and network technologies. I also spend time engaging with wider partners, seeking to solve some of society’s greatest challenges through technology.

Alongside that work, I have been working towards my PhD with the University of Southampton, investigating the extent to which various techniques in ML and NLP can be applied to various challenges in cyber threat modelling.

As I mentioned above, I’m a follower of Jesus. All that really means is that I know I fall short of God’s standards, but also that He is unfailingly gracious to me. Jesus’ death on the cross, in my place, means I am forgiven, and can experience peace and friendship with God.

In all I do, I seek honour God and serve the people He has made. This means trying my hardest to love my family, friends, church and local community with the same kind of love that Jesus has shown me. I don’t always get it right and often let God down. But God never lets me down.

This inevitably means I get asked a lot to help people think through some of the big questions of life. I run a series of courses at my church, helping people to explore the message of Christianity. I also often find myself helping churches and other Christians think about technology, such as on the Equip course, and serving in public life from a Christian standpoint, such as on the CCF’s IMPACT course. If you’d like to ask me about any of this, please do!

When I’m not working, we enjoy adventure. I love to be in the snow (preferably on a pair of skis), in the mountains or on a bike. I also enjoy photography, serving in the Army Reserves, gardening, working out and reading anything non-fiction.

Speaking & writing

  • ‘Councils can rapidly accelerate clean transport by championing autonomous vehicles‘, ConservativeHome (2021)

    ‘We should embrace a “digital-by-default” approach to make council services more efficient‘, ConservativeHome (2019)

    ‘The EU undermines our rich democratic heritage‘, Above Bar Church (2019)

    ‘Councils should raise their readiness for cyber attacks‘, ConservativeHome (2018)

    ‘Cross-border invention risk management: infringement‘, D Young & Co. LLP (2017)

    ‘Updated PACE patent application prosecution procedure‘, D Young & Co. LLP (2016)

  • ‘Championing Digital Transformation‘, Roke Manor Research (2021)

    ‘The challenges of accommodating Autonomous Vehicles‘, Forbes.com (2021)

    ‘Faith and public life‘, Inspiration Bitesized (CotN) (2020)

    Post-election commentary, Premier Christian Radio (2018)

    ‘The early career of a Patent Attorney‘, IP Careers (2017)

    ‘Programming, pitching and patents – five questions with tech expert‘, Future Worlds (2016)

  • ‘The Dynamics of Post-Brexit Britain’, Keswick Convention (2019)

  • Seminar: ‘Technology and Christian Life’, CCS Mid-Year Conference (2022)

    ‘The Future of Cyber Essentials’, Cyber UK (2020)

    Seminar: ‘Campaigning as a Local Council Candidate‘, The CCF Impact Course (2019)

    ‘The Public Mood: A Perspective from Southampton’, CCF Prayers for the Nation, Parliament (2019)

    Seminar: ‘A Christian Perspective on Political and Cultural Engagement’, CCS Mid-Year Conference (2018)

    Lecture: ‘CIPA and the Patent Law Profession’, Bournemouth University (2017)

  • Editor, The Yellow Sheet (CIPA Journal) (2017/18)

    Co-Editor, Leonards Review (2016-19)

  • Chun Man Tsang, Tom Bell, Antonios Gouglidis, El-Haj, M. "Deciphering Cyber Threats: A Unifying Framework with GPT-3.5, BERTopic and Feature Importance". The 1st International Conference on Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security (NLPAICS), Lancaster, UK. 2024.

    ‘Bitcoin Trading Agents‘, University of Southampton (2014)

  • ‘Programming: A Primer‘, Imperial College Press (now World Scientific) (2016)

SOCIAL LINKS

Faithfully living with tehcnology