Helen Margetts is Professor of Society and the Internet at the OII. She is a political scientist of international standing in e-government and digital era governance, investigating the nature and implications of relationships between governments and the Internet and related information and communication technologies in the UK and internationally. She has published major research reports in this area for such agencies as the UK's National Audit Office, in addition to important books and articles. Her dissertation in this area was awarded the Walter Bagehot Dissertation Prize by the UK Political Studies Association in 1997 and in 2003 she and Patrick Dunleavy won the Political Science 'Making a Difference' from the UK Political Studies Association.

Professor Margetts joined the OII in 2004 from University College London where she was a Professor in Political Science and Director of the School of Public Policy. She began her career as a computer programmer/systems analyst with Rank Xerox after receiving her BSc in mathematics from the University of Bristol. She returned to studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1989, completing an MSc in Politics and Public Policy in 1990 and a PhD in Government in 1996.