Ethics of Digitalization Research Sprints
The Research Sprint program was an educational initiative at the Berkman Klein Center (BKC) that gathers experts and emerging scholars to address current social, ethical, and policy concerns in digital technology. Started during COVID, this program invited undergraduate and graduate students from across the globe to join together online to study and address specific concerns within the broader topic of the ethics of digitalization. For the eight to ten weeks of the sprint, student participants were put in active dialogue with senior academics, and practitioners. This dialogue deepened participants’ understanding of digital challenges and alternatives, and culminated in outputs such as policy briefs, best practices recommendations, open educational resources, and technology oversight recommendations. Sprints were often held in collaboration with partnered organizations and allowed participants to generate real-world practical solutions constrained by the organization’s resources, timelines, and interests.
The sprints were:
The sprints were:
- Spring 2024: Exploring Urban Sustainability with Open City Data [BKC web page]
- Fall 2022: Digital Identity in Times of Crisis [BKC web page]
- Spring 2022: Takedowns and Transparency Research Sprint: Global Norms, Regulation and the Nature of Online Information [BKC web page]
- Fall 2021: Alternative Data Futures: Cooperative Principles, Data Trusts, and the Digital Economy [BKC web page]
- Summer 2021: AI Policy Research Clinic with the City of Helsinki [BKC web page]
- Spring 2021: Digital Self Determination Research Sprint [BKC web page]
- Fall 2020: Digital Ethics in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 & Access to Education and Learning Spaces [BKC web page]