Crowdfunding Education

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Victoria Goldiee: “Nigeria’s education system has declined due to inadequate funding and facilities, low admission rates, and a nationwide shortage of qualified teachers. Consequently, receiving a quality education has become a privilege only accessible to families with financial means. According to research by the Nigeria Education and Training Services Industry, 49 percent of Nigeria’s youth enter into trade apprenticeships or expatriate to pursue a better education. In fact, Nigeria has the highest percentage of its students overseas of any African nation.

In February 2016, social entrepreneur Bola Lawal turned to crowdfunding to make educational opportunities accessible to Nigerians. He founded ScholarX as the vehicle to realize this mission through taking advantage of the largely untapped market of unclaimed scholarships, educational grants, and philanthropic donations for African students. The X in ScholarX represents the missing value and recognition that Nigerian youth deserve for their dedication to academic achievement.

“The idea for ScholarX came from the conversation with my friends on our shared experiences,” Lawal recounts, “because I also had difficulty paying for school like millions of Nigerians.” He adds that he was “even suspended from school because” of his inability to pay the tuition fee.

Like Lawal, more than 100,000 Nigerian students overseas rely on scholarships, many of which are backed either by oil and gas companies that aim to recruit students into the industry or by federal government grants for local students. But in recent years, these scholarships have been scaled back or scrapped altogether because of the ongoing economic crisis and recession. The crash of the foreign exchange rate of Nigeria’s currency, the naira, has further threatened the prospects of Nigeria’s overseas students, leaving many unable to pay tuition…(More)”

Need for Co-creating Urban Data Collaborative

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Blog by Gaurav Godhwani: “…The Government of India has initiated various urban reforms for our cities like — Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0), Smart Cities Mission (SCM), Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 (SBM-Urban 2.0) and development of Urban & Industrial Corridors. To help empower cities with data, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs(MoHUA) has also launched various data initiatives including — DataSmart Cities Strategy, Data Maturity Assessment Framework, Smart Cities Open Data Portal, City Innovation Exchange, India Urban Data Exchange and the India Urban Observatory.

Unfortunately, most of the urban data remains in silos and capacities for our cities to harness urban data to improve decision-making, strengthen citizen participation continues to be limited. As per the last Data Maturity Assessment Framework (DMAF) assessment conducted in November 2020 by MoHUA, among 100 smart cities only 45 cities have drafted/ approved their City Data Policies with just 32 cities having a dedicated data budget in 2020–21 for data-related activities. Moreover, in-terms of fostering data collaborations, only 12 cities formed data alliances to achieve tangible outcomes. We hope smart cities continue this practice by conducting a yearly self-assessment to progress in their journey to harness data for improving their urban planning.

Seeding Urban Data Collaborative to advance City-level Data Engagements

There is a need to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders including governments, civil societies, academia, businesses and startups, volunteer groups and more to share and exchange urban data in a secure, standardised and interoperable manner, deriving more value from re-using data for participatory urban development. Along with improving data sharing among these stakeholders, it is necessary to regularly convene, ideate and conduct capacity building sessions and institutionalise data practices.

Urban Data Collaborative can bring together such diverse stakeholders who could address some of these perennial challenges in the ecosystem while spurring innovation…(More)”

Improving Governance Outcomes Through AI Documentation: Bridging Theory and Practice 

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Amy Winecoff, and Miranda Bogen: “AI documentation is a foundational tool for governing AI systems, via both stakeholders within and outside AI organizations. It offers a range of stakeholders insight into how AI systems are developed, how they function, and what risks they may pose. For example, it might help internal model development, governance, compliance, and quality assurance teams communicate about and manage risk throughout the development and deployment lifecycle. Documentation can also help external technology developers determine what testing they should perform on models they incorporate into their products, or it could guide users on whether or not to adopt a technology. While documentation is essential for effective AI governance, its success depends on how well organizations tailor their documentation approaches to meet the diverse needs of stakeholders, including technical teams, policymakers, users, and other downstream consumers of the documentation.

This report synthesizes findings from an in-depth analysis of academic and gray literature on documentation, encompassing 37 proposed methods for documenting AI data, models, systems, and processes, along with 21 empirical studies evaluating the impact and challenges of implementing documentation. Through this synthesis, we identify key theoretical mechanisms through which AI documentation can enhance governance outcomes. These mechanisms include informing stakeholders about the intended use, limitations, and risks of AI systems; facilitating cross-functional collaboration by bridging different teams; prompting ethical reflection among developers; and reinforcing best practices in development and governance. However, empirical evidence offers mixed support for these mechanisms, indicating that documentation practices can be more effectively designed to achieve these goals…(More)”.

China’s Hinterland Becomes A Critical Datascape

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Gary Zhexi Zhang: “In 2014, the southwestern province of Guizhou, a historically poor and mountainous area, beat out rival regions to become China’s first “Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone,” as part of a national directive to develop the region — which is otherwise best known as an exporter of tobacco, spirits and coal — into the infrastructural backbone of the country’s data industry. Since then, vast investment has poured into the province. Thousands of miles of highway and high-speed rail tunnel through the mountains. Driving through the province can feel vertiginous: Of the hundred highest bridges in the world, almost half are in Guizhou, and almost all were built in the last 15 years.

In 2015, Xi Jinping visited Gui’an New Area to inaugurate the province’s transformation into China’s “Big Data Valley,” exemplifying the central government’s goal to establish “high quality social and economic development,” ubiquitously advertised through socialist-style slogans plastered on highways and city streets…(More)”.

Why Is There Data?

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Paper by David Sisson and Ilan Ben-Meir: “In order for data to become truly valuable (and truly useful), that data must first be processed. The question animating this essay is thus a straightforward one: What sort of processing must data undergo, in order to become valuable? While the question may be obvious, its answers are anything but; indeed, reaching them will require us to pose, answer – and then revise our answers to – several other questions that will prove trickier than they first appear: Why is data valuable – what is it for? What is “data”? And what does “working with data” actually involve?…(More)”

AI in Global Development Playbook

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

USAID Playbook: “…When used effectively and responsibly, AI holds the potential to accelerate progress on sustainable development and close digital divides, but it also poses risks that could further impede progress toward these goals. With the right enabling environment and ecosystem of actors, AI can enhance efficiency and accelerate development outcomes in sectors such as health, education, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and delivering public services. The United States aims to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared equitably across the globe.

Distilled from consultations with hundreds of government officials, non-governmental organizations, technology firms and startups, and individuals from around the world, the AI in Global Development Playbook is a roadmap to develop the capacity, ecosystems, frameworks, partnerships, applications, and institutions to leverage safe, secure, and trustworthy AI for sustainable development.

The United States’ current efforts are grounded in the belief that AI, when developed and deployed responsibly, can be a powerful force for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and addressing some of the world’s most urgent challenges. Looking ahead, the United States will continue to support low- and middle-income countries through funding, advocacy, and convening efforts–collectively navigating the complexities of the digital age and working toward a future in which the benefits of technological development are widely shared.

This Playbook seeks to underscore AI as a uniquely global opportunity with far-reaching impacts and potential risks. It highlights that safe, secure, and trustworthy design, deployment, and use of AI is not only possible but essential. Recognizing that international cooperation and multi-stakeholder partnerships are key in achieving progress, we invite others to contribute their expertise, resources, and perspectives to enrich and expand this framework.

The true measure of progress in responsible AI is not in the sophistication of our machines but in the quality of life the technology enhances. Together we can work toward ensuring the promise of AI is realized in service of this goal…(More)”

Artificial intelligence (AI) in action: A preliminary review of AI use for democracy support

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Policy paper by Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos: “…provides a working definition of AI for Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and the broader democracy support sector. It then provides a preliminary review of how AI is being used to enhance democratic practices worldwide, focusing on several themes including: accountability and transparency, elections, environmental democracy, inclusion, openness and participation, and women’s political leadership. The paper also highlights potential risks and areas of development in the future. Finally, the paper shares five recommendations for WFD and democracy support organisations to consider advancing their ‘digital democracy’ agenda. This policy paper also offers additional information regarding AI classification and other resources for identifying good practice and innovative solutions. Its findings may be relevant to WFD staff members, international development practitioners, civil society organisations, and persons interested in using emerging technologies within governmental settings…(More)”.

What roles can democracy labs play in co-creating democratic innovations for sustainability?

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Inês Campos et al: “This perspective essay proposes Democracy Labs as new processes for developing democratic innovations that help tackle complex socio-ecological challenges within an increasingly unequal and polarised society, against the backdrop of democratic backsliding. Next to the current socio-ecological crisis, rapid technological innovations present both opportunities and challenges for democracy and call for democratic innovations. These innovations (e.g., mini-publics, collaborative governance and e-participation) offer alternative mechanisms for democratic participation and new forms of active citizenship, as well as new feedback mechanisms between citizens and traditional institutions of representative democracy. This essay thus introduces Democracy Labs, as citizen-centred processes for co-creating democratic innovations to inspire future transdisciplinary research and practice for a more inclusive and sustainable democracy. The approach is illustrated with examples from a Democracy Lab in Lisbon, reflecting on requirements for recruiting participants, the relevance of combining sensitising, reflection and ideation stages, and the importance of careful communication and facilitation processes guiding participants through co-creation activities…(More)”

China’s biggest AI model is challenging American dominance

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Sam Eifling: “So far, the AI boom has been dominated by U.S. companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. In recent months, though, a new name has been popping up on benchmarking lists: Alibaba’s Qwen. Over the past few months, variants of Qwen have been topping the leaderboards of sites that measure an AI model’s performance.

“Qwen 72B is the king, and Chinese models are dominating,” Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue wrote in June, after a Qwen-based model first rose to the top of his company’s Open LLM leaderboard.

It’s a surprising turnaround for the Chinese AI industry, which many thought was doomed by semiconductor restrictions and limitations on computing power. Qwen’s success is showing that China can compete with the world’s best AI models — raising serious questions about how long U.S. companies will continue to dominate the field. And by focusing on capabilities like language support, Qwen is breaking new ground on what an AI model can do — and who it can be built for.

Those capabilities have come as a surprise to many developers, even those working on Qwen itself. AI developer David Ng used Qwen to build the model that topped the Open LLM leaderboard. He’s built models using Meta and Google’s technology also but says Alibaba’s gave him the best results. “For some reason, it works best on the Chinese models,” he told Rest of World. “I don’t know why.”..(More)”

Wired Wisdom

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Eszter Hargittai and John Palfrey: “Everyone has that one older relative who loves to post misinformation on social media. That older coworker who fell prey to a phishing attack. Or a parent who still can’t quite get the hang of using emoji in texts. By popular account, these incidents are typical of older generations who inevitably struggle with tech woes. But is that the full story?

Absolutely not, according to the findings of Internet researchers Eszter Hargittai and John Palfrey. Their eye-opening book on the Internet’s fastest-growing demographic offers a more nuanced picture—debunking common myths about older adults’ Internet use to offer hope and a necessary call to action. Incorporating original interviews and survey results from thousands of people sixty and over, Wired Wisdom shows that many, in fact, use technology in ways that put younger peers to shame. Over-sixties are often nimble online, and quicker to abandon social media platforms that don’t meet their needs. Despite being targeted more often, they also may be less likely to fall for scams than younger peers. And fake news actually fools fewer people over sixty, who have far more experience evaluating sources and detecting propaganda. Still, there are unseen risks and missed opportunities for this group. Hargittai and Palfrey show that our stereotypes can be hurdles—keeping us from building intergenerational support communities, aiding loved ones to adopt new technology that may improve their lives, and helping us all thrive.

Full of surprising insights, Wired Wisdom helps push readers beyond ageist assumptions, offers practical advice for older tech users and their communities, and ultimately questions what it really means to age well online—no matter your birthdate…(More)”