Newswise — New York University has launched the Alliance for Public Interest Technology, a group of NYU faculty focused on the responsible and ethical creation, use, and governance of technology that will support new research, develop pipelines for diverse students doing public interest technology work, and build collaborations with academic and non-academic institutions.
“This alliance will harness and channel the university’s talent and resources to advance public interest technology while also giving young scholars and students the grounding to navigate the intersection of technology and policy,” says Charlton McIlwain, vice provost for faculty engagement and development and the alliance’s co-chair. “Its creation will only enhance NYU’s focus on socially conscious research and the application of technology for the greater good, committing our faculty and students to being leaders in the critical, responsible, and ethical creation, use, and governance of technology in society.”
Public Interest Technology (PIT) work at NYU is already a core part of the university’s overall strategic approach to research, education, and service. This currently takes place both within and across departments and schools, individual campuses, and NYU’s global academic centers.
NYU’s Alliance for Public Interest Technology will expand upon this work by supporting PIT students and graduates, assessing and evaluating their training and career trajectories, supporting new interdisciplinary PIT research, and developing pipelines for diverse students doing PIT work.
The Alliance has also recently become part of the Public Interest Technology Universities Network (PIT-UN), which was formed in 2019. This partnership fosters collaboration between more than 20 universities and colleges committed to building the field of PIT and growing a new generation of civic-minded technologists.
In this capacity, NYU will collaborate with other charter institutions in the network—Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, the University of California at Berkeley, Pardee Rand Graduate School, the University of Virginia, the City University of New York, Georgetown University, Princeton University, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and others on new and innovative PIT curricula, new projects related to educating government employees and public servants about technology and data science, and on initiatives related to technology and racial and social justice.
For more on NYU’s Alliance for Public Interest Technology, please visit https://www.nyualliance.org/.
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