ATLANTA (Feb. 23, 2024) — The Carter Center and Georgia Institute of Technology today commemorated the new joint Governance and Technology Fellowship.

The Center’s Democracy Program and Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology are supporting one fellowship during the spring 2024 academic semester for a doctoral candidate researching the intersection of technology and democratic governance.

“I am thrilled to visit Georgia Tech again and celebrate our strong partnership,” said Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander. “There is an important relationship between technology and democracy. Together, we are committed to promoting secure and transparent technologies that reinforce democratic principles.”

The fellow, Daniel Nkemelu, who is from Nigeria, is working closely with the Carter Center’s Democracy Program director, data scientist, and members of the digital threats to democracy initiative.

The fellowship builds on the institutions’ long collaboration, including with Michael Best, executive director of the Institute for People and Technology, who played an important role in establishing this fellowship.

“From social media platforms to computer-based voting machines, technologies today are profoundly impacting democracies across the globe,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “This new fellowship and our ongoing partnership with The Carter Center express a shared commitment to strong democracies supported by secure technologies.”

The fellowship began in January. It aims to advance the fellow’s research agenda and give access to experts in democratic elections and participatory democracy. The fellow will also connect the Carter Center’s Democracy Program with Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology research.

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Contact: In Atlanta, Maria Cartaya, maria.cartaya@cartercenter.org

The Carter Center
Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.

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About the Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its more than 47,000 undergraduate and graduate students, representing 50 states and more than 148 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in Europe and Asia, and through distance and online learning.

As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1.2 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society. 

Georgia Tech researchers Jessica Roberts, Alex Endert, and Jayma Koval earned a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to boost their efforts in promoting air pollution data literacy among middle school students and the public. 

The grant will fund the researchers’ top two projects — designing and installing a public information kiosk and organizing a summer camp that uses environmental data to teach data literacy to middle schoolers.  

Air Quality Index (AQI) data that is readily available helps people decide whether it’s safe for a morning jog or to send their kids outside to play. However, the researchers want to help people understand the big picture.  

“The AQI is good for helping make just-in-time decisions,” said Roberts, an assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing who researches how technology influences social learning experiences. 

 “It doesn’t help us think about what’s causing all this. ‘How can I allocate my resources toward pollution mitigation efforts? What should I do as far as where I live and the situation around me?’”  

Data visualization provides perspective

Roberts said most people know enough about AQI that they understand safe and dangerous levels, which helps them in the present. However, environmental and air quality data that provides insight into long-term trends and solutions tends to be more complex.  

“There are a lot of questions about how to get from this AQI value — this little number on your phone — to all the complex online data repositories that are available,” she said. “Air quality sensors spit out data all the time, but people don’t know how to access them. There’s nothing that bridges this simple number with these complex numbers.”  

To solve this problem, Roberts approached Endert, an associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing and faculty member of the Institute for People and Technology, who designs interactive visualization tools that make data more understandable.  

“What excites me about this project is that it allows people to reason about their data through the visualization of air quality and places where they live and allows them to ask questions,” Endert said. “‘Why is it worse over here but not as bad where I live? What’s causing that? Why is it bad this time of the year but better at other times?”  

Read more at cc.gatech.edu >>

Atlanta communities most vulnerable to bias and inequity in artificial intelligence (AI) are the focus of a new Atlanta-based ethics initiative being funded by a $1.3 million Mellon Foundation grant.

The Atlanta Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence (AIAI) Network, which is set to formally kick off during an event at Science Gallery Atlanta from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 4, brings together computing, humanities, and social justice researchers from Georgia Tech, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, and community partner DataedX.

Carl DiSalvo, Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing professor,and faculty member of the Institute for People and Technology, is an AIAI co-principal investigator (co-PI). Andre Brock, an associate professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication serves on the network’s steering committee.

DiSalvo said the idea for the AIAI Network had been in the works for years. However, the researchers now have the needed funding thanks to the Mellon Foundation. The grant allows the network to hire its first graduate students for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Read more at cc.gatech.edu >>

Through the Master’s Program in Human-Computer Interaction (MS-HCI) at Georgia Tech, students like Rajath Pai don’t have to wait long to gain first-hand industry experience.

Pai, a first-year student in the two-year MS-HCI program, has already helped Starbucks design its app to entice customers to try new menu items.

Pai and fellow MS-HCI students had more opportunities on Feb. 6 to meet industry representatives during Interactivity@GT.

Organized by MS-HCI at Georgia Tech and the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT), Interactivity@GT replaces the former GVU Spring Showcase. The event provides Ph.D. and master’s students with the chance to promote their research and design work.

A keynote speech by Karen Holtzblatt, co-founder of InContext Enterprises and co-creator of contextual inquiry, kicked off the half-day event. Contextual inquiry is considered industry standard practice for gathering field data to understand how technology impacts the way people work.

After the keynote, MS-HCI students made one-minute pitches about their work to industry representatives for potential employment opportunities. Along with Ph.D. students representing IPaT, the MS-HCI students then showcased their research through a two-hour poster and networking session.

“I think this event is unique,” said Dick Henneman, director of the MS-HCI program at Georgia Tech. “Other programs might have a job fair, but our students are making connections with alumni and other company-sponsored projects.

“Right now, there’s a bit of a slump in the tech market. Our students have something unique that sets them apart, and that’s being from our MS-HCI program, which distinguishes them from the person who went to a 12-week UX bootcamp.”

Companies participating in Interactivity@GT included Starbucks, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, FanDuel, HSBC, NCR, State Farm, Infoblox Home Depot, and Verizon.

Carrie Bruce, the assistant director of the MS-HCI program, said the program has built a strong network of connections since it started almost 30 years ago. MS-HCI alumni have provided a stable core for that network.

“We’ve pushed out a lot of fabulous students who’ve been in industry for 10 years or more, and now they’re in leadership positions,” she said. “We’ve got people who know our program from varied perspectives at companies around the world.”

Pai said he connected with an MS-HCI alumni working at Starbucks who was happy to advise him on his first-year research project.

“She gave us some much-needed industry feedback and guided us on how we’re supposed to do something or what we could have done better,” he said.

Working with the alumna, Pai gained insight into how Starbucks customers think about their environment when they’re using the app. Pai found that many customers use the app to order items they are already familiar with, and they are unlikely to deviate from their routine.

Pai suggested the idea of drink maps, which tell customers which menu items are trending at nearby stores. Seeing a drink they haven’t tried trending at other stores might persuade customers to try something new.

“The experience gives us immediate insight into what is expected of us in industry,” Pai said. “We’re learning the methods in class but also learning how they are applied in industry, which helps us to build things and processes that would work in industry.”

The MS-HCI program at Georgia Tech is a four-semester interdisciplinary program and a collaborative effort among four Georgia Tech schools — the School of Interactive Computing, the School of Industrial Design, the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, and the School of Psychology.

For more information about the program and the admission process, visit the MS-HCI website.
 

Visit the original story posted by the College of Computing to see more pictures.