A BETTER TECH

WATCH ALL OF A BETTER TECH HERE

How To Guide

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ABOUT

The 2021 NYU Public Interest Technology (PIT) Convention and Career Fair was a virtual hands-on event for professionals, researchers and students interested in creating a better world through technology. It was the first convening of its kind in the US, bringing together the country’s most talented students and leading researchers with organizations and companies that are at the forefront of creating responsible and accountable tech that serves the public interest.

Through hands-on workshops, dialogues, keynotes, ideas presentations, a hackathon and a virtual career fair, participants shared the latest developments in the PIT field, learned about careers in PIT, and connected with professionals working in this area across lots of different sectors and industries.

List of event elements including keynotes, workshops, ideas, dialogues, career fair, book fair, and hackathon.

Opening Keynote: Dr. Alondra Nelson and Dr. Charlton McIlwain

“Building Equity in Public Interest Technology”

***Tune in October 14, 2021 at 9:30am EST here on the website.***

What is public interest technology?

Public interest technology (PIT) is an emerging field in which technologists, designers, strategists, researchers, and policy makers leverage digital technologies to create more sustainable and inclusive economic and governance systems.

Public interest technologists ask questions like: How can digital tools address food insecurity? How might communities connect through virtual networks to address environmental challenges together?

The next generation is eager to build A BETTER TECH.

Dr. Alondra Nelson
Deputy Director, Science and Society, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Dr. Charlton McIlwain
Vice Provost, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, NYU

Dr. Rumman Chowdhury
Director, META team at Twitter

Dr. Freada Kapor Klein
Entrepreneur and Activist; Co-Chair, The Kapor Center

Dr. Allison Scott
Chief Executive Officer, Kapor Center

Irma Olguin, Jr.
Co-Founder and CEO, Bitwise Industries

Karen Hao
Senior AI Editor, MIT Technology Review

Vivian Schiller
Executive Director, Aspen Institute

Khari Johnson
Senior Writer, WIRED Magazine

Damon Beres
Editor-in-Chief, Unfinished Media

Michelle Shevin
Senior Program Manager, Ford Foundation

Kumar Garg
Senior Managing Director and Head of Partnerships, Schmidt Futures

Tom Kalil
Chief Innovation Officer, Schmidt Futures

Travis Moore
Founder and Executive Director, Tech Congress

Jenny Toomey
International Program Director, Ford Foundation

Dr. Ari Ezra Waldman
Professor of Law, Northeastern University

Dr. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation, Univ. of Oxford

Thomas Ramge
Writer and Technology Correspondent

Cyd Harrell
UX Researcher and Product Manager

Tara McGuinness
Founder, New Practice Lab

Dr. Sylvanna Falcon
Associate Professor, UCSC

Hana Schank
Director of Strategy for PIT, New America

Dr. Beth Noveck
Professor, Northeastern University

Lauryn Langster
Student, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Day 1 Day 2

The event will take place across two days (October 14 + 15) and is fully virtual. All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (EST). Visit our EVENTBRITE PAGE for a list of workshops and dialogues, and check the links below, which are updated frequently. If you don't see an Eventbrite page for the session you're looking for, please email us or check back.

DAY 1

Keynotes will be streamed on the website

THURSDAY OCTOBER 14, 2021

9:30am-10:00am EST

STREAMING

Welcome! Mona Sloane and Matt Statler

Keynote: Building Equity in PIT

Alondra Nelson (Deputy Director, Science and Society, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy)

Charlton McIlwain (Vice Provost, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, NYU)

[ 10:00am-10:30am EST Break ]

10:30am-11:10am EST Dialogues

SYNCHRONOUS

Paving the Way: Entry-Level Careers in Public Interest Tech Opportunities | Ariana Soto(Coding it Forward), Joey Headley, Flora Wang, Eric Richards
Unpacking the Racial Digital Divide | Alisa Valentin (FCC), Dominique Harrison (Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies), and Daiquiri Ryan (National Hispanic Media Coalition)

10:30am-11:50am EST Workshops

SYNCHRONOUS

Demystify AI: Comics as a Vehicle for Public Education | Julia Stoyanovich and Falaah Arif Khan(NYU Center for Responsible AI)
Foundations of Humane Technology | David Jay (Center for Humane Technology)

11:15am-11:55am EST Dialogues

SYNCHRONOUS

Cross-Sector Collaborations in PIT | Maria Luque, Johanna Okerlund, Shlomi Hod
The Open and Decentralized Web | Sal Kimmich (Sonatype), Drake Talley (Attentive), Derek Slater (Google), Lila Bailey (Internet Archive)
Sourcing Novel Data Science Questions from the Public | Alissa Talley-Pixley, Kelly Kowatch (University of Michigan)

12:00pm-12:30pm

SYNCHRONOUS

Hackathon Kickoff

12:15pm-1:00pm EST

STREAMING

Keynote: Philanthropy Panel

Michelle Shevin (Ford Foundation)

Jenny Toomey (Ford Foundation)

Tom Kalil (Schmidt Futures)

Kumar Garg (Schmidt Futures)

Travis Moore (TechCongress)

1:00pm-1:40pm EST Dialogues

SYNCHRONOUS

Technologists in Government Working for the Public Good | Stephanie Rodriguez and Grace Dewson (USofTech), Betsy Cooper (Aspen Institute), Michelle Skor (Bitwise Industries), Rachel Dodell (Coding It Forward)
Decolonizing AI: Perspectives from the Global South | Dr. Ahmed Ansari (NYU), Dr. Noopur Atal Raval (AI Now Institute),Dr. Syed Mustafa Ali (Open University), Dr. Maya Indira Ganesh
What Skills are Needed to Work in Tech and Data Ethics? | Natalia Domagala (UK Cabinet Office), Maria Axente (PWC), Dr. Dave Tarrant (The Open Data Institute)

1:00pm-2:20pm EST Workshops

SYNCHRONOUS

Using Tech for Local Civic Engagement | Christopher Jackson, Arti Garg (Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally)
Social Justice Informatics for Public Interest Technology | Kenneth Fleischmann (UT Austin), Amanda Masino (Huston-Tillotson Univ.), Angela Smith (UT Austin)

1:30pm-2:00pm EST

STREAMING

Keynote: Public Interest Technology Book Panel

Sylvanna Falcón (UCSC)

Hana Schank (New America)

Tara McGuinness (New America)

Cyd Harrell (UX Researcher)

Beth Noveck (Northeastern)

1:45pm-2:25pm EST Dialogues

SYNCHRONOUS

What We Can Learn From the Race Between Disruption and Democracy? | Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami (Stanford)
Assessing Digital Political Gendered Violence in Latin America | Luz Elena González (PIT Policy Lab), Saiph Savage PhD (Northeastern), Cristina Martínez Pinto (PIT Policy Lab), Yasmin Curzi, Barbara Liborio

2:30-3:00pm EST

STREAMING

Keynote: Big Data Book Panel

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger (Univ. of Oxford)

Ari Waldman (Northeastern)

Thomas Ramge (Writer & Journalist)

Beth Noveck (Northeastern)

2:30pm-3:10pm EST Dialogues

SYNCHRONOUS

Technology and the Administrative Burden | Emily Tavoulareas, Don Moynihan, Dan Hon (Georgetown University, Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation)
Mainstreaming the Embodied Knowledge and Lived Experiences of BIPOC PIT Practitioners | Maria Yuan, Tayo Fabusuyi & Dwayne Barnes (University of Michigan)

2:30pm-3:50pm EST Workshops

SYNCHRONOUS

Applying Data Equity + AI Ethics | Rachel Whaley, Eva Sachar (LA Tech4Good)
How Journalists Hold AI Accountable | Hilke Schellmann, Emma Cillekens (NYU)

4:00pm-4:30pm EST

STREAMING

Keynote: Journalism Panel

Vivian Schiller(Aspen Institute)

Karen Hao (MIT Tech Review)

Damon Beres(Unfinished)

Khari Johnson(WIRED)

DAY 2

Keynotes will be streamed on the website

FRIDAY OCTOBER 15, 2021

9:00am-10:00am EST

STREAMING

Keynote: Public Interest Tech and Venture Capital

Freada Kapor Klein (Kapor Center)

Allison Scott (Kapor Center)

Irma Olguin, Jr.(Bitwise Industries)

10:00am-2:30pm EST

STREAMING

IDEAS for A BETTER TECH

10:00am-3:00pm EST

SYNCHRONOUS

Career Fair

2:00pm-3:00pm EST

SYNCHRONOUS

Responsible Tech & PIT Senior Talent Networking Session

3:00pm-4:00pm EST

SYNCHRONOUS

Hackathon Presentation

4:00pm-4:30pm EST

STREAMING

Keynote: Careers in AI for A BETTER TECH

Rumman Chowdhury (Twitter) Lauryn Langster.png

Lauryn Langster (NYU Tandon)

Team

Mona Sloane, PhD

Principal Investigator; Senior Research Scientist, NYU Center for Responsible AI

Mona Sloane is a sociologist working on inequality in the context of AI design and policy. She frequently publishes and speaks about AI, ethics, equitability and policy in a global context.

Matt Statler, PhD

Principal Investigator; NYU Stern, Richman Family Director of Business Ethics and Social Impact Programming

Matt Statler serves as the Richman Family Director of Business Ethics and Social Impact Programming for Stern's Undergraduate College, leading and coordinating the four-course Social Impact Core Curriculum.