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Data & Society studies the social implications of data-centric technologies & automation.

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We produce original research on topics including AI and automation, the impact of technology on labor and health, and online disinformation.

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The Latest from Data & Society

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Online Event
Computing in/from the South: A Global Celebration
Join Data & Society, Catalyst, and Rede Mocambos for this special Global Launch event to honor the recent Catalyst Journal release edited by Sareeta Amrute and Luis Felipe R. Murillo.
Thursday, December 3, 2020 from 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. ET
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Online Event
Governing an Algorithm in the Wild
Join us for a conversation with Scientist and Researcher David Robinson and Data & Society Senior Researcher Alex Rosenblat on algorithmic governance.
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 from 3-4 p.m. ET
Academic Workshop
Trust and Doubt in Public-Sector Data Infrastructures
This workshop will bring together researchers who are thinking about government data from multiple nations/states, the infrastructures surrounding that data, and the epistemic battle over that data’s legitimacy.
Apply by January 8, 2021
RSVP
Online Event
Computing in/from the South: A Global Celebration
Thursday, December 3, 2020 from 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. ET
RSVP
Online Event
Governing an Algorithm in the Wild
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 from 3-4 p.m. ET
Academic Workshop
Trust and Doubt in Public-Sector Data Infrastructures
Apply by January 8, 2021

Data & Society Fellows Calls

Data & Society is seeking 2-3 Faculty Fellows (Deadline: December 16) who study the intersection of race and technology. We're also seeking a Public Fellow (Deadline: December 7) to curate a body of work related to algorithmic governance.

Fellowship Opportunities at Data & Society

About Us

Data & Society is an independent nonprofit research organization. We believe that empirical evidence should directly inform the development and governance of new technology. We study the social implications of data-centric technologies and automation, producing original research that can ground informed, evidence-based public debate.

We combine academic rigor with creative outreach to connect, convene, and sustain expert and practitioner networks. Since 2014, Data & Society has defined the field with original research and programming to break down disciplinary silos and connect provocative thinkers across sectors. Read more

Spotlights

Technology and the Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Data & Society has brought together voices on topics such as health misinformation, low-wage and gig economy workers, and racial disparities in COVID-19's impact, reporting, and analyses.

Essay
New Digital Infrastructures of Workplace Health and Safety
Aiha Nguyen discusses the state of workplace surveillance as a result of COVID-19.
Blog Post
Understanding medical uncertainty in the hydroxychloroquine debate
Smitha Khorana and Kellie Owens explain how social media companies arbitrate health information.
Event, Video
The Fact of Blackness
Kenyon Farrow and Tamara K. Nopper discuss strategies for demanding & using race-focused data during the pandemic.

Engaging Industry

What responsibility do tech companies have to the public interest? Data & Society researchers provide new frameworks to foreground ethics and equity in the design and development of new technologies.

Report
Good Intentions, Bad Inventions
Amanda Lenhart and Kellie Owns dismantle four common myths about our relationship to technology.
Report
Ethics Owners
Emanuel Moss and Jacob Metcalf present a new model of organizational responsibility in data-driven tech companies.
Blog Post
Looking for Race in Tech Company Ethics
Emanuel Moss and Jacob Metcalf identify where race and tech ethics intersect.

Race and Equity

Data & Society is committed to advancing racial equity in the design and governance of emerging technologies. Our work ranges from suggesting strategies to promote racial literacy and anti-racism in tech, to critiquing frameworks that forgo the lens of racial justice.

Report
Advancing Racial Literacy in Tech
Jessie Daniels, Mutale Nkonde, and Darakhshan Mir urge tech companies to adopt racial literacy practices in order to break out of old patterns.
Review
Sounding the Flat Alarm
Sareeta Amrute reviews Shoshana Zuboff's "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism."
Article
Those designing healthcare algorithms must become actively anti-racist
Kellie Owens and Alexis Walker list steps to enable anti-racist practices in medical research and practice.
Online Event
Computing in/from the South: A Global Celebration
Launch event for Catalyst Journal Vol. 6 No. 3
December 3, 2020
11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. ET
Data & Society Research Institute
Online Event
RSVP Now
Online Databite
Governing an Algorithm in the Wild
David Robinson in conversation with Alex Rosenblat
December 8, 2020
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Data & Society Research Institute
Online Event
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