On March 17th, the Data & Society Research Institute, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and New York University's Information Law Institute will be co-hosting a public event entitled “The Social, Cultural, & Ethical Dimensions of ‘Big Data’ ”. The purpose of this event is to convene key stakeholders and thought leaders from across academia, government, industry, and civil society to examine the social, cultural, and ethical implications of “big data,” with an eye to both the challenges and opportunities presented by the phenomenon.

This event is one of three conferences that OSTP is co-hosting with academic institutions across the country that will examine key questions on the use of “big data” and the future of privacy. Other events include a conference organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Big Data Initiative at CSAIL, and the MIT Information Policy Project that focused on the technical aspects underpinning privacy, and an event organized by the School of Information with the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at University of California-Berkeley which will explore the legal and policy issues raised by big data. These are all part of ongoing efforts by the Obama Administration to review the implications of collecting, analyzing and using massive or complex data sets for privacy, the economy and public policy.

The public event will be held at the NYU Law School starting at 5:15PM on March 17, 2014. This event will be open to the public, but to attend you must RSVP here. Space is limited. The discussion will also be livestreamed from the Data & Society website.

The evening will begin with comments from danah boyd from Microsoft Research and the Data & Society Research Institute. A senior official from the White House will open the evening with a keynote speech, followed by a lively discussion with an outstanding plenary panel comprised of Kate Crawford (Microsoft Research and MIT), Steven Hodas (NYC Department of Education), Alondra Nelson (Columbia University), and Shamina Singh (MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth). Anil Dash (ThinkUp / Activate) will moderate the panel. Finally, we will turn to comments and questions from the audience.

This conference is being organized by danah boyd (Microsoft Research / Data & Society Research Institute) with help from Helen Nissenbaum (New York University), Geoffrey C. Bowker (University of California-Irvine), and Kate Crawford (Microsoft Research / MIT Center for Civic Media).

 

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