Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:
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Economic and Social:
Business and Industry
Citizenship and Governance
Culture
Human Rights
Labour
Media
Peace and Security
Private Sector
Refugees
Safety
Science and Technology
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| Geographic scope: |
International
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| Country of activity: |
United States of America
Italy
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| Mission statement: |
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| Year established: |
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| Year of registration: |
2013 |
| Organizational structure: |
Data & Society is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) research institute based in New York City. Our community includes staff and fellows from cultures and countries around the globe. We are committed to the independence and autonomy of Data & Society’s initiatives and convenings. Data & Society Research Institute has an organizational structure comprised of the following: – Governing Board of Directors (5) – Special Advisors (26) – Staff & Researchers (42) – Data & Society Fellows Community (45) – Data & Society Campers |Domestic & International Visitors Network (40) https://datasociety.net/people Data & Society Research Institute prior collaborations have included both UNICEF and UN Global Pulse. The Institute also benefits from working within an increasingly vibrant network of research institutes, university labs, and non-profits grappling with questions of justice, fairness, and equity at the intersection of the sociological and the technical. These include Upturn, HRDAG, Karen Levy’s new program at Cornell, AINow, the Tech Policy Lab at UW, the Data Justice Lab at Cardiff University, OII, CIPT at Princeton, the Data Equity Lab at Parsons, CIS Bangalore, the Klein-Berkman Center and MIT Media Lab to name a few in our networks. Since expanding this field is one of our four objectives, our engagement strategy seeks to reach beyond organizations and research institutes that represent core expertise on these topics in order to more broadly engage academia, civil society and media actors who we believe will carry this work into other communities. We do this field-building and field-expanding work through our fellowship program that offers “organizational bridge” fellowships to civil society representatives from organizations grappling with questions about the implications of data-centric and automated technologies for their work. We also pursue this objective through topical engagement commitments, such as the work we are doing with labor rights organizations to bridge our research findings around low-wage workers and the gig economy to the strategic discussions around future directions happening at organizations including the National Employment Law Project, Workers’ Lab, and Partnership for Working Families. We are doing similar engagement work in sectors including media, health, and government and civil society – for example our research on refugee connectivity. The work and well-being of Data & Society is strengthened by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, and much more. We are committed to making certain that a wide array of perspectives are heard and that our research is publicly available. The design and emerging governance systems of data-centric and automated technologies are rarely informed by an empirical evidence base that foregrounds concerns for accountability, fairness and justice, or an awareness of how such systems – even built with the best of intentions – may be vulnerable to manipulations or weaponization. As billions of dollars in investment are poured into the development of AI and machine-learning, little investment is going towards understanding the social and cultural implications of these systems, and using empirical evidence to challenge assumptions about where and to whom benefits and harms accrue. Where that research is happening, there is rarely a bridging function to move those findings robustly into advocacy, governance and design forum with civil society, media, government and industry. We do not accept funding that would affect our ability to pursue work free of external interference, and we fiercely protect the independence of our researchers and fellows in their intellectual activities and individual funding relationships. |
| Number and type of members: |
******************************** BOARD OF DIRECTORS ******************************** An independent governance body comprised of five distinguished members: danah boyd – Founder and President of the Board, Data & Society; Principal Researcher, Microsoft Catherine Bracy – Co-Founder and Executive Director, TechEquity Collaborative Anil Dash – CEO of Glitch Alexander Macgillivray – Former United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer Alondra Nelson – President, Social Science Research Council, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University ******************************** DATA & SOCIETY ADVISORS ******************************** John Borthwick – CEO, Betaworks Brad Burnham – Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures Gabriella Coleman – Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy, McGill University Cathy Davidson – Founding Director, The Futures Initiative; Distinguished Professor, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Edward W. Felten – Director, Center for Information Technology Policy; Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs, Princeton University Tarleton Gillespie – Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research; Affiliated Associate Professor, Dept. of Communication, Dept. of Information Science, Cornell University Nick Grossman – General Manager for Special Projects, Union Square Ventures Joichi Ito – Director, MIT Media Lab Alice E. Marwick – Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Hilary Mason – General Manager for Machine Learning at Cloudera; Founder at Fast Forward Labs; Data Scientist in Residence at Accel Partners Charlton D. McIlwain – Associate professor of Media, Culture & Communication, NYU Andrew McLaughlin – Founding Executive Director, Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale; Co-Founder and Partner, Higher Ground Labs; Venture Partner, betaworks Deirdre Mulligan – Associate Professor, UC Berkeley School of Information Gina Neff – Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute; Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford Claudia Perlich – Senior Data Scientist, Two Sigma; Advisory Scientist, Dstillery; Adjunct Professor, NYU Stern Latoya Peterson – Deputy Editor, Digital Innovation, The Undefeated (ESPN) Andrew Rasiej – Co-founder Personal Democracy Forum and Civic Hall; Chairman, NY Tech Alliance Joel Reidenberg – Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law; Founding Academic Director, Center on Law and Information Policy Clay Shirky – Associate Arts Professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University; Associate Professor, Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism Micah Sifry – Co-founder, Civic Hall and Personal Democracy Media Shamina Singh – President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth; Executive Vice President, Sustainability at Mastercard Baratunde Thurston – Futurist Comedian; Writer; Activist Janet A. Vertesi – Assistant Professor, Sociology, Princeton University Christina Xu – Writer, Magpie Kingdom; Faculty, SVA Seth Young – consultant Ethan Zuckerman–Director, Center for Civic Media, MIT |
| Affiliation with NGO networks: |
Data & Society Research Institute prior collaborations have included both UNICEF and UN Global Pulse. |
| Funding structure: |
Fundraising campaigns
Grants from Governments
Donations and grants from domestic sources
Foreign and international grants
Funds from other Non-Governmental Organizations
Other sources
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| Funding structure other: |
https://datasociety.net/about/#funding |
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