Digital Counter-Storytelling

“Counter-storytelling” is a teaching method that amplifies marginalized perspectives to challenge dominant narratives about historically underserved communities. It allows students to link personal experiences and knowledge emanating from their communities with academic knowledge by capturing and sharing their stories through creative digital tools. Through collaborative processes with faculty, SJSU has integrated digital counter-storytelling as an authentic assessment device across ~250 faculty in 20 disciplines.

Speaker:
Jonathan Gomez, Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, San José State University

How PIT Principles Can Shape the Future of Artificial Intelligence

Since 2022, we’ve witnessed a whirlwind of AI product launches, PR battles and prophecies about the power of this emerging technology. As organizations from all sectors grapple with how to utilize, build and regulate AI technologies, what principles should guide our decision making? How can values like equity, transparency and accountability be built into the policies and processes that will guide the development and deployment of AI? This conversation between leading ethicists, computer scientists and policy researchers will explore the underlying frameworks that guide our conversations around AI, and how we can maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of this emerging technology.

Speakers:
Étienne Brown, Associate Professor of Philosophy, San José State University;
Charlton McIlwain, Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Pathways & Public Interest Technology

Designing Organizations for Inclusive Technologies

Speaker:
Darra Hofman, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator, School of Information, San José State University

The Power of Data in Social Justice: Insights and Careers in Public Interest Technology (STUDENT TRACK)

In this workshop, students will hear from two Data Scientists at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) about their journeys to public interest technology work, their day-to-day work on issues at the intersection of civil rights and technology, and the important role of robust data analytics within non-profit organizations. Through a discussion, Q&A, and case study, the session will give participants a greater understanding of the many pathways for getting into the public interest technology field and some of the important (but often under discussed) aspects of working as a public interest technologist.

Speakers:
Marissa Gerchick, Data Scientist and Algorithmic Justice Specialist, ACLU;
Tobi Jegede, Data Scientist and Algorithmic Justice Specialist, ACLU

PIT Competencies vs. Competent in PIT

How do you make a distinction between academic PIT competencies and, qualifying someone as competent to do PIT work? Panelists will discuss the creation of a PIT Framework used with the classroom vs outside in the working world. Additionally, the discussion will touch on PIT competencies vs. PIT justice themes, how to give students experiential learning experiences within the framework of an external opportunity, and what happens when students go “Rogue” in reconciling courses, movements, justice, and jobs.

Speakers:
Lauri Goldkind, Professor of Social Work, Fordham University;
Erhardt Graeff, Associate Professor of Social and Computer Science, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering;
Meghna Virick, Associate Dean, Lucas College of Business

PIT in Climate Action

As a fundamentally interdisciplinary field, public interest technology offers powerful methods for tackling the complex, multifaceted challenges presented by climate change. Rather than providing tech-driven quick fixes, PIT places community needs at the center of our processes for developing and deploying technologies to help us deal with ongoing climate crises. This discussion with climate scientists, engineers, political leaders and policy analysts will explore how we can respond to natural disasters, climate migration and other pressing challenges using technology as a tool, not the solution itself.

Speakers:
Lisa Frazier, Senior Researcher, OSU Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy;
Jasmine McNealy, Fellow New America Public Interest Technology Program (moderator)

Smart Cities: Smart for Whom?

While we hear a lot about Smart Cities, whose interests are centered in these conversations?

Speakers:
Ahmed Banafa, IDE Faculty & Advisor, Davidson College of Engineering, San José State University;
Brian Hofer, Chair, City of Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission;
Jonathan Reichental, PhD, University of San Francisco

PIT+Law

In today’s digital world, law and technology are increasingly intertwined in ways that both threaten and uphold our safety, dignity and civil rights. As law enforcement deploys emerging technologies like facial recognition, and lawmakers grapple with how to regulate AI, public interest technologists and lawyers identify civil rights concerns, advocate for people harmed by emerging technologies, and develop new tools to facilitate equitable access to justice. In this conversation, leaders from federal advocacy, legal nonprofits and law schools will share field-building lessons from PIT + Law, and explore ways to build, utilize and enforce legal systems and tools that uphold rights and dignity for all communities in an increasingly technological world.

Speakers:
Laura Bingham, Executive Director Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology (iLIT), Temple University, Beasley School of Law;
Eduardo Gonzalez, Program Officer, Civil Justice at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
Miguel Willis, Innovator in Residence, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Betwixt and Between: Public Healthcare Delivery in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

PIT dilemmas surrounding the delivery of a fundamental human right of healthcare to individuals least able to pay in the rapidly expanding domain of AI. A panel of clinicians and healthcare administrators serving populations whose care is primarily paid by public programs. The panel will respond to a series of questions on gap between the promise of AI enabled care and the everyday needs of people whose care is covered by public programs.

Speaker:
Joe Grzywacz, Associate Dean of Research, SJSU College of Health and Human Sciences

10:00 am -10:50 am

Live from the Studio

1:15 pm-2:00 pm

Keynote Panel: Public Interest Technology Business Models

2:00 pm–2:55 pm

Fireside Chat: Meeting the Moment with San José State University President Cynthia Teniete-Matson, esteemed scholar Safiya Noble of UCLA and Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation

During a year of widespread protest and civil unrest on campuses around the world, universities have been forced to confront questions of safety, community and the role of higher education. Through public interest technology, universities have a unique opportunity to facilitate healthy public discourse while also creating research, education and career opportunities that leverage technology to respond to the crises stirring the hearts and minds of our students and faculty. In this fireside chat, San José State University President Cynthia Teniete-Matson will be in conversation with esteemed scholar Safiya Noble of UCLA and Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, about public interest technology and the opportunities for higher education in this historic moment.

Speakers:
Cynthia Teniente-Matson, President, San José State University;
Safiya U. Noble, Professor and Author, University of California, Los Angeles;
Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation

3:00 pm–3:10 pm

Closing Remarks