Critical Datafication Literacy

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Ina Sander: “Despite the increasing influence of data technologies on our world, many people still lack a profound understanding of what this ›datafication‹ means for their lives and our societies. Ina Sander argues that this knowledge gap cannot be addressed by digital skills alone, but that more critical and empowering approaches are needed. Through a review of existing literacies, an analysis of established education concepts, and empirical research on online educational resources about datafication, she develops a framework for »critical datafication literacy«. Novel insights on the design strategies, pedagogical methods and challenges of practitioners who foster such education add to her analysis…(More)”.

The Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Philanthropy

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Open Access Book edited by Giuseppe Ugazio and Milos Maricic: “…acts as a catalyst for the dialogue between two ecosystems with much to gain from collaboration: artificial intelligence (AI) and philanthropy. Bringing together leading academics, AI specialists, and philanthropy professionals, it offers a robust academic foundation for studying both how AI can be used and implemented within philanthropy and how philanthropy can guide the future development of AI in a responsible way.

The contributors to this Handbook explore various facets of the AI‑philanthropy dynamic, critically assess hurdles to increased AI adoption and integration in philanthropy, map the application of AI within the philanthropic sector, evaluate how philanthropy can and should promote an AI that is ethical, inclusive, and responsible, and identify the landscape of risk strategies for their limitations and/or potential mitigation. These theoretical perspectives are complemented by several case studies that offer a pragmatic perspective on diverse, successful, and effective AI‑philanthropy synergies.

As a result, this Handbook stands as a valuable academic reference capable of enriching the interactions of AI and philanthropy, uniting the perspectives of scholars and practitioners, thus building bridges between research and implementation, and setting the foundations for future research endeavors on this topic…(More)”.

Design Thinking as a Strategic Approach to E-Participation

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Ilaria Mariani et al: “This open access book examines how the adoption of Design Thinking (DT) can support public organisations in overcoming some of the current barriers in e-participation. Scholars have discussed the adoption of technology to strengthen public engagement through e-participation, streamline and enhance the relationship between government and society, and improve accessibility and effectiveness. However, barriers persist, necessitating further research in this area. By analysing e-participation barriers emerging from the literature and aligning them with notions in the DT literature, this book identifies five core DT practices to enhance e-participation: (i) Meaning creation and sense-making, (ii) Publics formation, (iii) Co-production, (iv) Experimentation and prototyping, and (v) Changing organisational culture. As a result, this book provides insights into enhancing tech-aided public engagement and promoting inclusivity for translating citizen input into tangible service implementations. The book triangulates qualitative analysis of relevant literature in the fields of e-participation and DT with knowledge from European projects experimenting with public participation activities implying experimentation with digital tools. This research aims to bridge the gap between theoretical frameworks and practical application, ultimately contributing to more effective e-participation and digital public services…(More)”.

Veridical Data Science

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Bin Yu and Rebecca L. Barter: “Most textbooks present data science as a linear analytic process involving a set of statistical and computational techniques without accounting for the challenges intrinsic to real-world applications. Veridical Data Science, by contrast, embraces the reality that most projects begin with an ambiguous domain question and messy data; it acknowledges that datasets are mere approximations of reality while analyses are mental constructs.
Bin Yu and Rebecca Barter employ the innovative Predictability, Computability, and Stability (PCS) framework to assess the trustworthiness and relevance of data-driven results relative to three sources of uncertainty that arise throughout the data science life cycle: the human decisions and judgment calls made during data collection, cleaning, and modeling. By providing real-world data case studies, intuitive explanations of common statistical and machine learning techniques, and supplementary R and Python code, Veridical Data Science offers a clear and actionable guide for conducting responsible data science. Requiring little background knowledge, this lucid, self-contained textbook provides a solid foundation and principled framework for future study of advanced methods in machine learning, statistics, and data science…(More)”.

City Tech

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Rob Walker: “The world is rapidly urbanizing, and experts predict that up to 80 percent of the population will live in cities by 2050. To accommodate that growth while ensuring quality of life for all residents, cities are increasingly turning to technology. From apps that make it easier for citizens to pitch in on civic improvement projects to comprehensive plans for smarter streets and neighborhoods, new tools and approaches are taking root across the United States and around the world. In this thoughtful, inquisitive collection, Rob Walker—former New York Times columnist and author of the City Tech column for Land Lines magazine—investigates the new technologies afoot and their implications for planners, policymakers, residents, and the virtual and literal landscapes of the cities we call home…(More)”

Tech Agnostic

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Greg Epstein: “…Today’s technology has overtaken religion as the chief influence on twenty-first century life and community. In Tech Agnostic, Harvard and MIT’s influential humanist chaplain Greg Epstein explores what it means to be a critical thinker with respect to this new faith. Encouraging readers to reassert their common humanity beyond the seductive sheen of “tech,” this book argues for tech agnosticism—not worship—as a way of life. Without suggesting we return to a mythical pre-tech past, Epstein shows why we must maintain a freethinking critical perspective toward innovation until it proves itself worthy of our faith or not.

Epstein asks probing questions that center humanity at the heart of engineering: Who profits from an uncritical faith in technology? How can we remedy technology’s problems while retaining its benefits? Showing how unbelief has always served humanity, Epstein revisits the historical apostates, skeptics, mystics, Cassandras, heretics, and whistleblowers who embody the tech reformation we desperately need. He argues that we must learn how to collectively demand that technology serve our pursuit of human lives that are deeply worth living…(More)”.

Discounting the Future: The Ascendency of a Political Technology

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Liliana Doganova: “Forest fires, droughts, and rising sea levels beg a nagging question: have we lost our capacity to act on the future? Liliana Doganova’s book sheds new light on this anxious query. It argues that our relationship to the future has been trapped in the gears of a device called discounting. While its incidence remains little known, discounting has long been entrenched in market and policy practices, shaping the ways firms and governments look to the future and make decisions accordingly. Thus, a sociological account of discounting formulas has become urgent.

Discounting means valuing things through the flows of costs and benefits that they are likely to generate in the future, with these future flows being literally dis-counted as they are translated in the present. How have we come to think of the future, and of valuation, in such terms? Building on original empirical research in the historical sociology of discounting, Doganova takes us to some of the sites and moments in which discounting took shape and gained momentum: valuation of European forests in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; economic theories devised in the early 1900s; debates over business strategies in the postwar era; investor-state disputes over the nationalization of natural resources; and drug development in the biopharmaceutical industry today. Weaving these threads together, the book pleads for an understanding of discounting as a political technology, and of the future as a contested domain…(More)”

Mapmatics: A Mathematician’s Guide to Navigating the World

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Paulina Rowińska: “Why are coastlines and borders so difficult to measure? How does a UPS driver deliver hundreds of packages in a single day? And where do elusive serial killers hide? The answers lie in the crucial connection between maps and math.

In Mapmatics, mathematician Paulina Rowińska leads us on a riveting journey around the globe to discover how maps and math are deeply entwined, and always have been. From a sixteenth-century map, an indispensable navigation tool that exaggerates the size of northern countries, to public transport maps that both guide and confound passengers, to congressional maps that can empower or silence whole communities, she reveals how maps and math have shaped not only our sense of space but our worldview. In her hands, we learn how to read maps like a mathematician—to extract richer information and, just as importantly, to question our conclusions by asking what we don’t see…(More)”.

The Unaccountability Machine — why do big systems make bad decisions?

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

FT Review of book by Dan Davies: “The starting point of Davies’ entertaining, insightful book is that the uncontrolled proliferation of accountability sinks is one of the central drivers of what historian Adam Tooze calls the “polycrisis” of the 21st century. Their influence reaches far beyond frustrated customers endlessly on hold to “computer says no” service departments. In finance, banking crises regularly recur — yet few individual bankers are found at fault. If politicians’ promises flop, they complain they have no power; the Deep State is somehow to blame.

The origin of the problem, Davies argues, is the managerial revolution that began after the second world war, abetted by the advent of cheap computing power and the diffusion of algorithmic decision-making into every sphere of life. These systems have ended up “acting like a car’s crumple-zone to shield any individual manager from a disastrous decision”, he writes. While attractive from the individual’s perspective, they scramble the feedback on which society as a whole depends.

Yet the story, Davies continues, is not so simple. Seen from another perspective, accountability sinks are entirely reasonable responses to the ever-increasing complexity of modern economies. Standardisation and explicit policies and procedures offer the only feasible route to meritocratic recruitment, consistent service and efficient work. Relying on the personal discretion of middle managers would simply result in a different kind of mess…(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)”.