Channel: Harvard University

Category: Education

Description: To read case studies of our 2021 Tech Spotlight Finalists, visit belfercenter.org/techspotlight After a year in which so many lost so much, the Belfer Center’s Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) project recognized purpose-minded technologists who innovated in the face of crisis. These pioneers mobilized, organized, and charted a path forward to tackle fundamental problems spanning the medical field, structural racism, and privacy concerns in our online world. In a ceremony on May 20th, TAPP Faculty Director and Belfer Center Director Ash Carter joined author and professor Safiya Noble and Wired’s global editorial director Gideon Lichfield to honor the finalists of the annual Tech Spotlight program. In a conversation moderated by Wired’s Lichfield, Kasia Chmielinski talked about the role of the Dataset Nutrition Label in combating algorithmic bias. The ACLU’s Chard Marlow discussed the need to shift ownership over surveillance technologies to local citizens and decisionmakers. Payel Das shared how the Molecular Explorer helps researchers identify possible antiviral drugs to fight COVID-19. Alissa Starzak of Project Galileo reminded attendees of the extraordinary volume of cyberattacks being waged on the digital systems of civil society groups and social organizers. And the Census Bureau’s Michael Hawes examined the challenge of protecting the privacy of census respondents.