1. Monthly archive
  2. December 2015

December 2015

Can computers be racist? Big data, inequality, and discrimination

[Commentary] It seems like everyone is talking about the power of big data and how it is helping companies, governments, and organizations make better and more efficient decisions. But rarely do they mention that big data can actually perpetuate and exacerbate existing systems of racism, discrimination, and inequality.

The problem with big data is that its application and use is not impartial or unbiased. If an employer searched the name of a prospective hire, only to be confronted with ads suggesting that the person had a prior arrest, you can imagine how that could affect the applicant’s career prospects. So while we’re lead to believe that data doesn’t lie -- and therefore, that algorithms that analyze the data can’t be prejudiced -- that isn’t always true. The origin of the prejudice is not necessarily embedded in the algorithm itself: Rather, it is in the models used to process massive amounts of available data and the adaptive nature of the algorithm. As an adaptive algorithm is used, it can learn societal biases it observes.

Net Neutrality in Court This Week: The Story of How We Got Here

[Commentary] Earlier in 2015, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to ensure the Internet remains an open platform for consumers and innovators. The new rules (adopted as part of the Open Internet Order) are a capstone to over a decade of policy battles and litigation over how the FCC regulates broadband Internet service.

For close observers of the net neutrality saga, Dec 4 brings a sense of déjà vu, as the agency again heads to Court to defend net neutrality rules at oral argument. The FCC’s relevance in the broadband era, along with how consumers, content creators, entrepreneurs, and network providers interact with each other, hangs in the balance. How did the FCC find itself back at the DC Circuit? It has been a long and winding road, but here are the highlights.

Government has advantage in net-neutrality court face-off

[Commentary] In a federal court face-off against the nation’s biggest broadband providers, US government lawyers upholding network neutrality rules may enjoy a slight advantage -- two of the three judges ruling on the case have shown indications of being sympathetic to the government’s position.

David Tatel, Sri Srinivasan and Stephen Williams, judges for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, will hear oral arguments Dec. 4 on lawsuits filed against the Federal Communications Commission over its Open Internet Order, or net neutrality rules. The three-judge panel reviewing the legality of the rules has a decidedly liberal tilt that bodes well for the FCC, those following the case said. Judge Tatel, whom President Bill Clinton appointed in 1994, is the most notable. He was one of three judges that ruled in 2014 that parts of the FCC’s previous net neutrality rules passed in 2010 were unlawful because the agency lacked the authority to regulate the providers if they weren’t classified as a common carrier such as a phone company. Judge Tatel wrote the opinion in that case and some legal scholars believed he gave the FCC a roadmap for writing rules that would pass legal scrutiny.

Starting Up the Broadband Economy

[Commentary] 2015 has been a good year for policies that ensure everyone can access the Internet on fair, open, and competitive terms. From network neutrality to the breakdown of the Comcast-Time Warner merger, the Federal Communications Commission is working hard on behalf of the Internet economy to prevent an already top-heavy Internet service provider marketplace from getting a lot worse.

When it comes to startups, every single dollar counts, and the cost of carrying the exorbitant prices for broadband access is a real deterrent. This is precisely why we’ve joined with a broad sector of the broadband world to help cure the underlying “disease” of this control over broadband access. The campaign is called Competify, and while the branding is lighthearted, the message is very serious. Better, faster and more affordable broadband networks fuel the startup economy, and the only way we’ll get there is through more competition. And we need policymakers to help to us do it. We urge the FCC and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to ensure that our voices are heard, and that real reform happens now. America’s entrepreneurs are counting on it.

[Evan Engstrom is the policy director at Engine, a nonprofit that supports the growth of technology entrepreneurship through economic research, policy analysis and advocacy on local and national issues]

Richard Culatta to Step Down as US Director of Educational Technology

For Richard Culatta, impatience is a virtue. That much is clear in the flurry of edtech initiatives undertaken during his time as Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the US Department of Education. “I’m not the most patient person in the world,” he admits. “We have kids’ futures at stake here and we don’t have the luxury of taking a long time.” His time at the department, however, is drawing to a close. Culatta announced on Dec. 2 that he will step down from the post at the end of 2015. “This was a very hard decision” to make, he said. “I absolutely would not do it if we did not have a phenomenal team that would continue and accelerate the work.”

Culatta joined the education department in November 2011 as a deputy under Karen Cator, who was then director of the office. Since then, his team has embarked on a wide range of education technology initiatives, from establishing a nationwide network of education leaders to hosting gaming and data “jams” for developers and designers. Culatta’s next step will be working “at the state level” back home in Rhode Island, where he first dipped his toes in digital learning as an instructional technologist at the University of Rhode Island.

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