The satellite spectrum battle that could shape the new space economy

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Peggy Hollinger and Yasemin Craggs: “In early August, when corporate activity was in a summer lull, Elon Musk’s SpaceX quietly opened up a new front in a global battle over a scarce and precious resource: radio spectrum.

Its target was an obscure international regulation governing the way spectrum, the invisible highway of electromagnetic waves that enables all wireless technology, is shared by satellite operators in different orbits. And the chosen weapon was the US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission. 

On August 9, SpaceX petitioned the FCC to loosen globally agreed power limits on transmissions from operators like itself in low Earth orbit, the region of space up to 2,000km above the planet’s surface set to be a pivotal arena in the future of communication, transportation and defence.

The so-called equivalent power flux density rules were set more than 20 years ago to ensure signals from low Earth orbit did not interfere with those from systems in higher geostationary, or fixed, orbit.

SpaceX, which owns the world’s fastest-growing satellite broadband network, Starlink, told the regulator that these “antiquated power restrictions” were unfit for “the modern space age”. It went on to charge that the international process governing the rules had been hijacked by an alliance between the operators of older, geostationary systems and “America’s staunchest adversaries”. 

At stake was “US global competitiveness in the new space economy” and the future of satellite communication, it said. 

SpaceX’s broadside was the second attempt in less than a year to win a revision of these highly technical rules. Nine months ago at the World Radiocommunication Conference, where regulations governing spectrum use are decided, SpaceX and Project Kuiper — Amazon’s attempt to build a rival to Musk’s system — lost an initial attempt to win global support for a change to the power restrictions. 

Graphic explaining how radio interference can affect satellites

Although many in the industry believe a revision is long overdue, the discussions were tense and divisive, according to participants.

On one side were the upstart tech companies whose low Earth orbit satellite networks are threatening the business models of longer-established competitors with high-speed, low-latency broadband services…(More)”.

Building Power, Safety, and Trust in Virtual Communities

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book edited by Dina Darwish: “Virtual communities are a new frontier in the digital landscape. While these spaces are only in their infancy, it will not be long before they become a part of much of the population’s daily life. Before that becomes the case, it is important that we instill guidelines and parameters to ensure that those interacting with these digital spaces feel safe within them and are able to use them to their fullest capacity.

Building Power, Safety, and Trust in Virtual Communities examines how online groups help people learn and change the way they think. In this book, different people with different academic backgrounds, methods, and personal experience with virtual groups look at this question. Case studies are included to help exemplify these findings. Together, these chapters discuss how virtual communities are built in ways that thinkers, researchers, and practitioners can understand…(More)”.

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)”