Our Projects
We are collaborating across disciplines to develop solutions at the intersection of technology and society. Here is some of our latest work.
Featured Projects
Education
Globally Unified Air Quality Project
The Globally Unified Air Quality project (GUAC) has designed a powerful air-quality monitoring device that won’t break the budget with a multitude of sensors to provide in-depth measurements on air quality — enabling individuals and enterprises to gain a better understanding of the air they breathe.
Learn MoreForced Migration: Big Data and Displacement
The Big Data and Displacement project aims to develop methods and approaches for using big data in conjunction with traditional administrative and survey data to understand and eventually forecast mass movement of people who are forced to migrate.
Learn MoreThe Digital Service Collaborative at the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation
Government services touch our lives daily in countless ways. In an effort to improve those interactions and increase public trust, governments around the world are working to reimagine how they provide services in a digital age. However, most governments are not equipped for this new way of working.
Learn MoreAll Tech & Society Projects
New Project Reimagining Consent in the Digital Age
Show PopupNew Data Collaboratives led by Beeck Center
Show PopupData Opportunities Ecosystem launched at Beeck Center
Show PopupBuilding New Capacity for Government Service Delivery
Show PopupInfusing Ethics into Courses at the Boundaries of Emerging Tech Issues
Show PopupNew Publication Analyzes the “Right to be Forgotten”
Show PopupGeorgetown’s Annual Hackathon Gives Students Hands-on Experience Computing for Social Impact
Show PopupUnderstanding the Impact of Your Online Footprint
Show PopupCross-Sector Experts Implement Data for Social Good
Show PopupFaculty and Postdocs Map How Legal Frameworks Apply to Computing
Show PopupBeeck Center Partnership Offers Playbook on Tough Public Sector Data Questions
Show PopupTrainings for Congressional Staff Strengthen Understanding of New Technologies
Show PopupInvestigation of Face Recognition Technology Demonstrates Risks to Privacy and Civil Liberties
Show PopupNew Beeck Center Report Proposes Building a Network Aimed at Digital Transformation in Government
Show PopupNew Center for Security and Emergency Technology Launches
Show PopupLaw Students Urge Federal Election Commission to Regulate Online Political Ads
Show PopupBaker Future Fellows Gain Hands-On Policy Leadership in Experiential Fellowship
Show PopupMaster’s in Health Informatics Prepares Students To Tackle the Future of Medical Data
Show PopupMaster’s Program in Communications, Culture & Technology (CCT) Brings Together Diverse Skill Sets
Show PopupNew Joint Degree Combines Data Science with Public Policy
Show PopupLaw Students Work with MIT Computer Scientists to Write Policies for Emerging Technologies
Show PopupEthics Lab Students Gain Hands-On Learning at the Intersection of Data and Ethics
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New Data Collaboratives led by Beeck Center
The Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation is forming and advising a variety of data collaboratives for social good where people work together using shared data to tackle real-world challenges. Topics include 2020 Census, integrated data systems for improving social service delivery and enabling evidence-based policymaking, making visible for local communities and law enforcement the connection between policing and prosperity, and other topics such as opioids, disasters and carbon emissions.
Learn MoreData Opportunities Ecosystem launched at Beeck Center
The Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation has formed a Data Opportunities Ecosystem to reduce the barriers to leveraging data for social impact by addressing the technical, policy, and cultural aspects to ethical and responsible use of data among and between the public and private sectors. The Data Opportunities Ecosystem brings together the diverse voices necessary to collectively develop the best practices and tools necessary to advance the adoption of strong data practices.
Learn MoreBuilding New Capacity for Government Service Delivery
The Digital Service Collaborative at the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation aims to build capacity for the individuals and teams working on government service delivery and to support the relationships and responsiveness between governments and the people they serve. The collaborative is building a body of research around government digital service work, creating tangible, useful resources for people working in this space, and cultivating the community of digital service professionals. Additionally, by supporting efforts in the public and private sectors to responsibly share and use data, the collaborative will address some of society’s most challenging issues and support civic engagement with public institutions.
Learn MoreInfusing Ethics into Courses at the Boundaries of Emerging Tech Issues
Integrating awareness and reflection on the ethical issues raised by new technology is essential to instilling a moral lens for their use. Ethics Lab’s “Engaged Ethics Initiative” develops and delivers infusion modules for courses tackling issues in emerging technology, such as International Privacy & Surveillance. These infused courses enable students to learn about technology with an appreciation of the human and social values that should shape its use.
Learn MoreNew Publication Analyzes the “Right to be Forgotten”
A new publication from a leading faculty member in the Communications, Culture, and Technology program provides critical insights into the social, legal, and technical issues surrounding digital oblivion on a global network. This gripping analysis into the debate over data ownership, permanence and policy carries enormous weight as these issues are relevant for all digital citizens.
Learn MoreUnderstanding the Impact of Your Online Footprint
A project led by Georgetown’s Department Computer Science helps individuals determine and understand the potential risk associated with their online footprint. With the growth of social networks, public information about individuals is widely available on the Internet–while much of this information is not sensitive, it is not uncommon for users to publish some sensitive information, including their birth dates and addresses, on social networking sites. The availability of this potentially sensitive data can (and does) lead to abuse, exposing users to fraud, stalking, and identity theft.
Learn MoreFaculty and Postdocs Map How Legal Frameworks Apply to Computing
In a partnership between the Law School’s Institute for Technology Law & Policy and the Computer Science department, Georgetown faculty and post-docs are exploring how legal protections apply to new computing techniques to uncover new ways to protect consumers’ privacy. The work has implications for federal government agencies and companies looking for ways to share data in an anonymized way through the use of differential privacy. The team’s research will be presented at the Privacy Law Scholars Conference, to federal agency clients, and at other convenings in 2019.
Learn MoreBeeck Center Partnership Offers Playbook on Tough Public Sector Data Questions
The Beeck Center released a playbook in partnership with Deloitte that explores opportunities and potential growth areas for the use of data and the role of Chief Data Officers within government. The report aims to help catalyze the further evolution of CDOs within government and provide an accessible guide for executives who are still evaluating the creation of these positions.
Learn MoreTrainings for Congressional Staff Strengthen Understanding of New Technologies
The Institute for Technology Law & Policy’s annual immersion course for Congressional staff attracts staffers from both parties to strengthen their understanding of new technologies. Technologists, business leads, academics and other experts share the latest information on business practices, technical issues, the regulatory landscape and how new technologies are evolving on the ground.
Learn MoreInvestigation of Face Recognition Technology Demonstrates Risks to Privacy and Civil Liberties
The Center on Privacy & Technology’s investigation of law enforcement face recognition offers a framework for Congress and state legislatures to address the very real risks that face recognition creates. The FBI, state, and local police departments are all building their own face recognition systems, without full knowledge of how these systems impact privacy and civil liberties or how to avoid potential for harm.
Learn MoreNew Beeck Center Report Proposes Building a Network Aimed at Digital Transformation in Government
A recently released report by the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation proposes a Digital State Network (DSN), a new network comprised of technologists, policymakers, government leaders, legal experts, and civil society leaders. The network would help build capacity within the public sector to understand, implement, and manage a digital government that can deliver for its citizens.
Learn MoreNew Center for Security and Emergency Technology Launches
Funded by the Open Philanthropy Project, the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) combines world-class expertise in artificial intelligence and advanced computing with Georgetown’s extensive networks in security policy to produce analysis of the national security implications of emerging technologies.
Learn MoreLaw Students Urge Federal Election Commission to Regulate Online Political Ads
In May 2018, students in Georgetown Law’s IPR Tech and Communications Clinic filed comments with the Federal Election Commission, urging new rules to require public disclosure of paid political ads on social media. Students worked on the comments on behalf of three civil rights organizations, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Color of Change.
Learn MoreBaker Future Fellows Gain Hands-On Policy Leadership in Experiential Fellowship
Launched in partnership with New America, the Baker Future Fellowship gives students exposure to cutting-edge thinking in the intersections between emerging technology (especially automation and artificial intelligence), work, opportunity, and social impact. As part of their work, Fellows perform data analysis and policy research, write thought pieces, and participate in weekly skill-building sessions to cultivate their leadership capacity.
Learn MoreMaster’s in Health Informatics Prepares Students To Tackle the Future of Medical Data
A new master’s degree program at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine is aimed at the future practicing clinical informaticians who will lead this field. In contrast to similar degree programs at other institutions, this new program will teach students to view the data they analyze from an ethical perspective, with the goal of using data science to improve health, health care outcomes and reduce costs—all with public policy and social justice in mind.
Learn MoreMaster’s Program in Communications, Culture & Technology (CCT) Brings Together Diverse Skill Sets
CCT students learn to cut across institutional and disciplinary boundaries and explore how our society uses media and technology to communicate from social, economic, political, and cultural perspectives. Backgrounds, skill sets, and academic focuses are diverse—from economists studying theories of culture and communication to artists building robots.
Learn MoreNew Joint Degree Combines Data Science with Public Policy
Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy and Graduate Analytics program now offer a joint degree for students interested in pursuing a concentration at the intersection of data science and quantitative public policy analysis. The course is oriented towards public service and civic engagement but relevant in the private and nonprofit sectors.
Learn MoreLaw Students Work with MIT Computer Scientists to Write Policies for Emerging Technologies
Georgetown Law’s Federal Legislation Clinic and Center on Privacy & Technology offer a first-of-its-kind class pairing Georgetown Law students with MIT computer science students over the course of a semester. Teams of students work together on projects that focus on where policy meets the real world. The course culminates in student presentations to regulators and policy experts in Washington, D.C.
Learn MoreEthics Lab Students Gain Hands-On Learning at the Intersection of Data and Ethics
Digital innovations like machine learning and AI are transforming our lives, creating potential for both tremendous social good and unprecedented challenges. Using Ethics Lab’s signature blend of ethical theory and creative exercises, students in a new Data Ethics course tackle these issues and work on projects to address questions such as: How can big data be used for the public good? Does the use of predictive analytics in employment and policing decisions reduce or reinforce bias? Is privacy dead—and should we care?
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