EVENT: Design Problems With Conflict Data

Talk: Design Problems with Conflict Data 

A couple of years ago, people in the international aid business, and in the peace and security business, started seeing a surge in the tools floating around to "innovate" the work: drones; use of big data and dashboards; biometrics; semantic analysis from social media and "data exhaust"; tracking and surveillance systems; early warning tools; mass mobile organization tools. Many of the tools clearly emerged out of military and intelligence communities, or from corporate R&D searching for faster better ways to sell product. Some actors have hurtled down the path of innovation, others have remained staunchly stuck in outdated methods. But what are the problems? Why, with all the incredible tools available to us now, can't food be delivered faster in a more targeted way to those who need it most, Ebola be stopped sooner, human rights violations be addressed more justly, child soldiers be disarmed and re-integrated more holistically, can't social media-driven revolutions be sustained? Why has there been a plateau in terms of applying technology to millennia-old problems of justice and peace? How can we rapidly prototype new tools for this area? This short talk will address some meta-design problems that may be limiting more rapid progress in this area. A class which will allow students to continue the conversation and focus work on conflict and social justice will be offered in the Spring. 

Bio:

Christina Goodness is the Chief of Information Management for the Department of Peacekeeping at the United Nations. Her work focuses on information strategy, policy and design and oversight of projects including open data, data mapping and visualisation, field mission crisis information support, intranet, social networking and community building. She has provided support to field operations in Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, to the OPCW-UN Joint Mission for the Elimination of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, and most recently served as the Chief Information Management Officer for the UN Ebola Emergency Response mission (UNMEER). Christina brought over 15 years’ experience from the private sector as a multimedia producer and consultant serving Fortune 500 clients before joining the UN. Christina is a graduate of New York University’s ITP, where she co-founded the Drive-by effort, and where she has taught courses on Digital Identity and Evasion, Open Government Data (ITPCamp), and Technology for Social Justice. She has lectured at Columbia's SIPA, the New School, and TechChange.org. Christina studied Art, Film and Latin American Studies at Smith College, with summer studies at Columbia School of Journalism. Christina is from a rural town of 200 people in Hawaii, and grew up there without electricity. She is now married happily in Brooklyn, has two children, and loves to dive and eat her catches.