[Air-L] Webinar: Do the next billion users need more innovation? Rethinking automation for the common good

[Qing Huang]

Associate Professor Payal Arora from Erasmus University Rotterdam will
visit the United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society to
share her insights in “Rethinking automation for the common good”. We are
happy to invite researchers who have the interest to join this Webinar
between *14:00 and 15:00 (GMT+8) on August 19, 2019.*

*LINK*
https://zoom.us/j/818591023
Before joining this Zoom meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can
download the Zoom app from https://zoom.us/download. Otherwise, you will be
prompted to download and install Zoom when you click our join link.

*ABSTRACT*
The 21st century is marketed as the age of innovation. With just “a laptop,
a smartphone, and the cloud,” we can access any service anytime. While
traditional institutions such as the educational system in low- income
countries is regarded as a “stunning market failure” according to the likes
of Matt Keller, Senior Director of Global Learning XPRIZE, the market
“success” of new technology will step in and take its place. Smart
technology will replace not-so-smart people. Technology entrepreneurs today
are busy making all-inclusive, self-contained autonomous apps for the next
billion users –the majority of whom are outside the West and live in
countries with weak institutions. Centralized reform should be discarded
for personalized solutionism. Automation of self-help is the foundation of
the innovation age.
This talk will argue against this popular narrative and bring to question
this laboratory approach to social progress – and why we have become more
forgiving of technological failure than of human failure.

*SHORT BIO*
Payal Arora is the author of several books including the Award-winning ‘The
Leisure Commons: Spatial history of web 2.0,’ ‘Dot Com Mantra: Social
Computing in the Central Himalayas,’ and the newly released ‘The Next
Billion Users: Digital Life beyond the West’ with Harvard University Press.
Much of her research focuses on global technology innovation and
inequality. She has published over 50 papers in her field and has given 140
presentations across 79 cities in 31 countries, including a TEDx talk on
the future of the internet. She has consulted for both the public and
private sector including Hewlett Packard, Dutch Brewers, GE, Shell, and
UNESCO and sits on several boards including the Facebook Advisory
Committee, Columbia University Earth Institute’s Connect to Learn, and The
World Women Global Council in New York. She has held Fellow positions at
NYU, GE, Rio’s Institute of Technology and Society, and the University of
Bremen. She has degrees from Harvard University (Masters in International
Development Policy) and Columbia University (Doctorate in Language,
Literacy & Technology). She is the Founder and Executive Director of a
digital campaigning organization, Catalyst Lab, and is an Associate
Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

*ABOUT UNU-CS*
UNU-CS conducts UN policy-relevant research and generates solutions,
addressing key issues expressed in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development through high-impact innovations and frontier technologies.
UNU-CS is situated in Macau Special Administrative Region (S.A.R), China,
and it is the only UN entity in this region. The Pearl River Delta, which
embraces Macau, Hong Kong, and Guangdong Province, is considered an
emerging Silicon Valley due to its booming economy and technological
innovations. The strategic location provides an exciting opportunity for
researchers and experts to maximize the impact of their work. More
information can be found at https://cs.unu.edu.


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*Qing Huang *
Communication Team
United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society (UNU-CS)
Casa Silva Mendes, Estrada do Engenheiro Trigo No 4, Macau SAR, China
Tel: +86 13297968113 | Email: qing at unu.edu
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