The Wisdom of the Crowd: Promoting Media Development through Deliberative Initiatives

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Craig Matasick: “…innovative new set of citizen engagement practices—collectively known as deliberative democracy—offers important lessons that, when applied to the media development efforts, can help improve media assistance efforts and strengthen independent media environments around the world. At a time when disinformation runs rampant, it is more important than ever to strengthen public demand for credible information, reduce political polarization, and prevent media capture. Deliberative democracy approaches can help tackle these issues by expanding the number and diversity of voices that participate in policymaking, thereby fostering greater collective action and enhancing public support for media reform efforts.

Through a series of five illustrative case studies, the report demonstrates how deliberative democracy practices can be employed in both media development and democracy assistance efforts, particularly in the Global South. Such initiatives produce recommendations that take into account a plurality of voices while building trust between citizens and decision-makers by demonstrating to participants that their issues will be heard and addressed. Ultimately, this process can enable media development funders and practitioners to identify priorities and design locally relevant projects that have a higher likelihood for long-term impact.

– Deliberative democracy approaches, which are characterized by representative participation and moderated deliberation, provide a framework to generate demand-driven media development interventions while at the same time building greater public support for media reform efforts.

– Deliberative democracy initiatives foster collaboration across different segments of society, building trust in democratic institutions, combatting polarization, and avoiding elite capture.

– When employed by news organizations, deliberative approaches provide a better understanding of the issues their audiences care most about and uncover new problems affecting citizens that might not otherwise have come to light….(More)”.

Automation in government: Harnessing technology to transform customer experience

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Matthias Daub, Tony D’Emidio, Zaana Howard, and Seckin Ungur at McKinsey: “Who knew that one could develop warm feelings for a German Federal Employment Agency chatbot? If you own a business and wish to apply for state funds to supplement your employees’ reduced salaries, then UDO will fill in the application form for you. “Let’s go!” the digital assistant declares, launching into a series of questions. The system displays reassuring expertise; the queries—about the size of your workforce, the extent of the reduction in working hours, and so on—are simple, clear, and sensitive to previous responses, and the interface offers soothing blue tones and rounded edges. UDO goes on to ask why the workers are on reduced hours: for economic reasons, such as the cancellation of a large order due to the coronavirus, or because of an unavoidable event, such as a measure to mitigate the spread of the pandemic? And by now, a powerful and comforting thought may well arise in the citizen’s mind: UDO really cares.

In this article, we argue that smart use of automation can enable governments to provide outstanding levels of customer experience, driven by innovations that are as sensitive to people as they are to technology. We begin by considering the challenges and rewards of enhancing customer experience for governments. Then we discuss the benefits to governments of using automation to improve customer experience. Finally, we turn from why to how, identifying three key practices common to successful automation initiatives in public services….(More)”.

An Open-Source Tool to Accelerate Scientific Knowledge Discovery

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Mozilla: “Timely and open access to novel outputs is key to scientific research. It allows scientists to reproduce, test, and build on one another’s work — and ultimately unlock progress.

The most recent example of this is the research into COVID-19. Much of the work was published in open access journals, swiftly reviewed and ultimately improving our understanding of how to slow the spread and treat the disease. Although this rapid increase in scientific publications is evident in other domains too, we might not be reaping the benefits. The tools to parse and combine this newly created knowledge have roughly remained the same for years.

Today, Mozilla Fellow Kostas Stathoulopoulos is launching Orion — an open-source tool to illuminate the science behind the science and accelerate knowledge discovery in the life sciences. Orion enables users to monitor progress in science, visually explore the scientific landscape, and search for relevant publications.

Orion

Orion collects, enriches and analyses scientific publications in the life sciences from Microsoft Academic Graph.

Users can leverage Orion’s views to interact with the data. The Exploration view shows all of the academic publications in a three-dimensional visualization. Every particle is a paper and the distance between them signifies their semantic similarity; the closer two particles are, the more semantically similar. The Metrics view visualizes indicators of scientific progress and how they have changed over time for countries and thematic topics. The Search view enables the users to search for publications by submitting either a keyword or a longer query, for example, a sentence or a paragraph of a blog they read online….(More)”.

Accelerating AI for global health through crowdsourcing

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Poster by Geoffrey Henry Siwo: The promise of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine is advancing rapidly driven by exponential growth in computing speed, data and new modeling techniques such as deep learning. Unfortunately, advancements in AI stand to disproportionately benefit diseases that predominantly affect the developed world because the key ingredients for AI – computational resources, big data and AI expertise – are less accessible in the developing world. Our research on automated mining of biomedical literature indicates that adoption of machine learning algorithms in global health, for example to understand malaria, lags several years behind diseases like cancer.


 To shift these inequities, we have been exploring the use of crowdsourced data science challenges as a means to rapidly advance computational models in global health. Data science challenges involve seeking computational solutions for specific, well-defined questions from anyone in the world. Here we describe key lessons from our work in this area and the potential value of data science challenges in accelerating AI for global health.


In one of our first initiatives in this area – the Malaria DREAM Challenge – we invited data scientists from across the world to develop computational models that predict the in vitro and in vivo drug sensitivity of malaria parasites to artemisinin using gene expression datasets. More than 360 individuals drawn from academia, government and startups across 31 countries participated in the challenge. Approximately 100 computational solutions to the problem were generated within a period of 3 months. In addition to this sheer volume of participation, a diverse range of modeling approaches including artificial neural networks and automated machine learning were employed….(More)”.

The Practice and Potential of Blockchain Technologies for Extractive Sector Governance

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Press Release: “Important questions are being raised about whether blockchain technologies can contribute to solving governance challenges in the mining, oil and gas sectors. This report seeks to begin addressing such questions, with particular reference to current blockchain applications and transparency efforts in the extractive sector.

It summarizes analysis by The Governance Lab (GovLab) at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). The study focused in particular on three activity areas: licensing and contracting, corporate registers and beneficial ownership, and commodity trading and supply chains.

Key messages:

  • Blockchain technology could potentially reduce transparency challenges and information asymmetries in certain parts of the extractives value chain. However, stakeholders considering blockchain technologies need a more nuanced understanding of problem definition, value proposition and blockchain attributes to ensure that such interventions could positively impact extractive sector governance.
  • The blockchain field currently lacks design principles, governance best practices, and open data standards that could ensure that the technology helps advance transparency and good governance in the extractive sector. Our analysis offers an initial set of design principles that could act as a starting point for a more targeted approach to the use of blockchain in improving extractives governance.
  • Most blockchain projects are preliminary concepts or pilots, with little demonstration of how to effectively scale up successful experiments, especially in countries with limited resources.
  • Meaningful impact evaluations or peer-reviewed publications that assess impact, including on the implications of blockchain’s emissions footprint, are still lacking. More broadly, a shared research agenda around blockchain could help address questions that are particularly ripe for future research.
  • Transition to a blockchain-enabled system is likely to be smoother and faster in cases when digital records are already available than when a government or company attempts to move from an analog system to one leveraging blockchain.
  • Companies or governments using blockchain are more likely to implement it successfully when they have a firm grasp of the technology, its strengths, its weaknesses, and how it fits into the broader governance landscape. But often these actors are often overly reliant on and empowering of blockchain technology vendors and startups, which can lead to “lock-in”, whereby the market gets stuck with an approach even though market participants may be better off with an alternative.
  • The role played by intermediaries like financial institutions or registrars can determine the success or failure of blockchain applications….(More)”.

Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU – Understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report edited by Misuraca, G., Barcevičius, E. and Codagnone, C.: “This report presents the final results of the research “Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society”, in short DigiGov. After introducing the design and methodology of the study, the report provides a summary of the findings of the comprehensive analysis of the state of the art in the field, conducted reviewing a vast body of scientific literature, policy documents and practitioners generated reports in a broad range of disciplines and policy domains, with a focus on the EU. The scope and key dimensions underlying the development of the DigiGov-F conceptual framework are then presented. This is a theory-informed heuristic instrument to help mapping the effects of Digital Government Transformation and able to support defining change strategies within the institutional settings of public administration. Further, the report provides an overview of the findings of the empirical case studies conducted, and employing experimental or quasi-experimental components, to test and refine the conceptual framework proposed, while gathering evidence on impacts of Digital Government Transformation, through identifying real-life drivers and barriers in diverse Member States and policy domains. The report concludes outlining future research and policy recommendations, as well as depicting possible scenarios for future Digital Government Transformation, developed as a result of a dedicated foresight policy lab. This was conducted as part of the expert consultation and stakeholder engagement process that accompanied all the phases of the research implementation. Insights generated from the study also serve to pave the way for further empirical research and policy experimentation, and to contribute to the policy debate on how to shape Digital Europe at the horizon 2040….(More)”.

Research 4.0: research in the age of automation

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Rob Procter, Ben Glover, and Elliot Jones: “There is a growing consensus that we are at the start of a fourth industrial revolution, driven by developments in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, robotics, the Internet of Things, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, 5G, new forms of energy storage and quantum computing. This report seeks to understand what impact AI is having on the UK’s research sector and what implications it has for its future, with a particular focus on academic research.

Building on our interim report, we find that AI is increasingly deployed in academic research in the UK in a broad range of disciplines. The combination of an explosion of new digital data sources with powerful new analytical tools represents a ‘double dividend’ for researchers. This is allowing researchers to investigate questions that would have been unanswerable just a decade ago. Whilst there has been considerable take-up of AI in academic research, the report highlights that steps could be taken to ensure even wider adoption of these new techniques and technologies, including wider training in the necessary skills for effective utilisation of AI, faster routes to culture change and greater multi-disciplinary collaboration.

This report recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic means universities are currently facing significant pressures, with considerable demands on their resources whilst simultaneously facing threats to income. But as we emerge from the current crisis, we urge policy makers and universities to consider the report’s recommendations and take steps to fortify the UK’s position as a place of world-leading research. Indeed, the current crisis has only reminded us of the critical importance of a highly functioning and flourishing research sector. The report recommends:

The current post-16 curriculum should be reviewed to ensure all pupils receive a grounding in basic digital, quantitative and ethical skills necessary to ensure the effective and appropriate utilisation of AI.A UK-wide audit of research computing and data infrastructure provision is conducted to consider how access might be levelled up.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) should consider incentivising institutions to utilise AI wherever it can offer benefits to the economy and society in their future spending on research and development.

Universities should take steps to ensure that it is easier for researchers to move between academia and industry, for example, by putting less emphasis on publications, and recognise other outputs and measures of achievement when hiring for academic posts….(More)”.

Reimagining Help

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Guide by Nesta: “Now more than ever, there is a need to help people live well in their homes and communities. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of diversifying sources of help beyond the hospital, and of drawing on support from friends, neighbours, local organisations and charities to ensure people can live healthy lives. We must think more flexibly about what ‘help’ means, and how the right help can make a huge difference.

While medical care is fundamental to saving lives, people need more than a ‘fix’ to live well every day. If we are to support people to reach their goals, we must move away from ʻexpertsʼ holding the knowledge and power, and instead draw on people’s own knowledge, relationships, strengths and purpose to determine solutions that work best for them.

We believe there is an opportunity to ‘reimagine help’ by applying insights from the field of behaviour change research to a wide range of organisations and places – community facilities, local charities and businesses, employment and housing support, as well as health and care services, all of which play a role in supporting people to reach their goals in a way that feels right for them….

Nesta, Macmillan Cancer Support, the British Heart Foundation and the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change have worked together to develop a universal model of ‘Good Help’ underpinned by behavioural evidence, which can be understood and accessed by everyone. We analysed and simplified decades of behaviour change research and practice, and worked with a group of 30 practitioners and people with lived experience to iterate and cross-check the behavioural evidence against real life experiences. Dartington Service Design Lab helped to structure and format the evidence in a way that makes it easy for everyone to understand.

Collectively, we have produced a guide which outlines eight characteristics of Good Help, which aims to support practitioners, system leaders (such as service managers, charity directors or commissioners) and any person working in a direct ‘helping’ organisation to:

  • Understand the behaviour change evidence that underpins Good Help
  • Develop new ideas or adapt offers of Good Help, which can be tested out in their own organisations or local communities….(More)”.

Digital Minilateralism: How governments cooperate on digital governance

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

A policy paper by Tanya Filer and Antonio Weiss: “New research from the Digital State Project argues for the critical function of small, agile, digitally enabled and focused networks of leaders to foster strong international cooperation on digital governance issues.

This type of cooperative working, described as ‘digital minilateralism’, has a role to play in shaping how individual governments learn, adopt and govern the use of new and emerging technologies, and how they create common or aligned policies. It is also important as cross-border digital infrastructure and services become increasingly common….

Key findings: 

  • Already beginning to prove effective, digital minilateralism has a role to play in shaping how individual governments learn, adopt and govern the use of new and emerging technologies, and how they create common or aligned policy.
  • National governments should recognise and reinforce the strategic value of digital minilaterals without stamping out, through over-bureaucratisation, the qualities of trust, open conversation, and ad-hocness in which their value lies.
  • As digital minilateral networks grow and mature, they will need to find mechanisms through which to retain (or adapt) their core principles while scaling across more boundaries.
  • To demonstrate their value to the global community, digital multilaterals must feed into formal multilateral conversations and arrangements. …(More)“.

Guide to Responsible Tech: How to Get Involved & Build a Better Tech Future

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Resource by All Tech Is Human: “How do you get involved in the growing Responsible Tech field? This guide is a comprehensive look at the vibrant Responsible Tech ecosystem. Aimed at college students, grad students, and young professionals, the “Responsible Tech Guide” is a mix of advice, career profiles, education journeys, and organizations in the space. Developed by All Tech Is Human, an organization committed to informing & inspiring the next generation of responsible technologists & changemakers….(More)”.