Practice
http://editors.cis-india.org
daily12015-09-24T04:58:50ZManuel Beltrán - Institute of Human Obsolescence - Cartographies of Dispossession
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/manuel-beltran-ioho-cartographies-of-dispossession
<b>Join us at the Delhi office of CIS on Thursday, April 4, at 5 pm for a talk by Manuel Beltrán, founder of the Institute of Human Obsolescence (IoHO), which explores the future of labour and the changing relationship between humans and machine. Cartographies of Dispossession (CoD), their current project at IoHO, explores the forms of systematic data dispossession that different humans are subject to, and investigates how data becomes both the means of production as much as the means of governance. </b>
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<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/ManuelBeltran_IoHO.jpg/image_large" alt="Manuel Beltrán - IoHO" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Manuel Beltrán - IoHO" /></p>
<h6>Image credit: Manuel Beltrán</h6>
<h3>Institute of Human Obsolescence - Cartographies of Dispossession</h3>
<p>The Institute of Human Obsolescence (IoHO) explores the future of labour and the changing relationship between humans and machine. Our work develops from a scenario in which forms of manual and intellectual labour traditionally performed by humans are increasingly automated by new technologies. In this context we investigate and challenge the socio-political and economic implications of new forms of labour, such as the production of data. The IoHO developed several projects exploring the production of data as a form of labour, as a different paradigm through which to interrogate and challenge dynamics of ownership over the production of data and the economic and governance objects emerging through it. Previous lines of inquiry around the framework of Data Labour Rights include Data Basic Income, Data Cooperative, Data Production Labour series, Investigative Discussion Sessions and Data Workers Union.</p>
<p>In this talk founder of the IoHO Manuel Beltrán, will introduce the work of the IoHO and discuss their current project Cartographies of Dispossession (CoD). CoD explores the forms of systematic data dispossession that different humans are subject to, and investigates how data becomes both the means of production as much as the means of governance. The project looks at the implications of how the dispossession of data unequally occurs in different contexts, through different means and for different purposes.</p>
<p>Instruments such as the Right Of Access provided by GDPR emerge from a European context but the flows of data operate in a transnational scale. We are exploring the potential and limits of this instrument in combination with others such as the Right To Information in India as tools to investigate and repossess our production of data across borders. We are particularly interested in feedback and discussing in how to think further about this last part.</p>
<h3>Manuel Beltrán</h3>
<p>Manuel is an artist and activist. He researches and lectures on contemporary art, activism, contemporary social movements, post-digital culture and new media. As an activist, he was involved in the Indignados movement in Spain, the Gezi Park protests in Turkey and several forms of independent activism and cyber-activism in Europe and beyond. In 2012 he co-founded the art collective Plastic Crowds and since 2013 he is head and co-founder of the nomadic school and artistic organization Alternative Learning Tank. In 2015 he founded the Institute of Human Obsolescence, through which he explores the future of labour, the social and political implications regarding our relationship with technology and the economic and governance systems surrounding the production of data.</p>
<h4><a href="http://speculative.capital">http://speculative.capital</a></h4>
<h4><a href="https://dataworkers.org">https://dataworkers.org</a></h4>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/manuel-beltran-ioho-cartographies-of-dispossession'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/manuel-beltran-ioho-cartographies-of-dispossession</a>
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No publishersumandroPracticeArtRAW EventsDigital LabourResearchers at WorkEvent2019-04-01T08:00:05ZEventSequoia India’s Designathon 2016
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/sequoia-india-designathon-2016
<b>Along with their annual hackathon, Sequoia India organised a designathon in Bangalore on September 10-11, 2016. The participants picked one of three tracks - gamification, information visualisation, and smart acceleration - and developed an interface design or clickable prototype or a demo video. Sumandro Chattapadhyay was invited to participate as a mentor for the information visualisation track.</b>
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<h4>URL: <a href="http://www.sequoiahack.com/sequoia-design/">http://www.sequoiahack.com/sequoia-design/</a></h4>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/sequoia-india-designathon-2016'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/sequoia-india-designathon-2016</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroPracticeResearchers at Work2016-09-17T13:39:12ZBlog Entry7 Ways to Con/fuse the Internet with Analogy (Intergalactic Mix) - Talk by Surfatial
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/7-ways-to-con-fuse-the-internet-with-analogy-intergalactic-mix-talk-by-surfatial-september-26-6-pm
<b>Surfatial, a trans-local collective that works with text and sound will talk about their essay which was recently published. The talk will also address concerns on how the internet can be used in alternate contexts including presenting work in alternative formats and using the internet for synchronous collaborative cultural production.</b>
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<p><strong>The talk will be held at the Centre for Internet & Society's office in Bangalore on September 26 at 6.00 p.m.</strong></p>
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<h2>Abstract</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Surfatial will present their work as a trans-local collective that works with text and sound. They will talk about their essay which was recently published on the RAW blog, as well as concerns of how the internet can be used in alternate contexts. As a continuation from their essay <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/blog_101-ways-of-starting-an-isp-no-53-conversation-content-weird-fiction"> 101 ways of Starting an ISP: No. 53- Conversation Content and Weird Fiction</a> they are interested in exploring alternate formats of presenting the work they produce and in using the internet for synchronous collaborative cultural production.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">They structure this talk as a storytelling session and will share stories of how the internet is used on other planets. Stories of the internet on seven planets will be shared. Each story will describe its specific conditions of operation. These stories are seven ways of doing so. How will an external search engine index these stories? Will they be fact or fiction? The external archive of the search engine will be ways to con/fuse the internet with our narratives.</p>
<h2>Speakers</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Surfatial is a trans-local collective that operates through the internet. They use conversations to aid learning outside established structures. They are concerned with enabling dis-inhibition through the internet, for expressing what may not be feasible in physical reality. They organise internet-based audio conferences called study-groups where they deal with philosophical questions and a self-reflective exchange of individual experiences. They have previously presented their work at Soundphile 2016, Delhi; play_book (in collaboration with Thukral & Tagra), Gurgaon; CONA, Mumbai, and Mumbai Art Room. Their upcoming engagement is with ZK/U, Berlin.</p>
<ul>
<li>Facebook - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/surfatial">https://www.facebook.com/surfatial</a></li>
<li>Website - <a href="http://www.museumofvestigialdesire.net/offices/surfatial">http://www.museumofvestigialdesire.net/offices/surfatial</a></li>
<li>Twitter - <a href="https://twitter.com/surfatial"> https://twitter.com/surfatial</a></li></ul>
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<p>Surfatial is Malavika Rajnarayan, Prayas Abhinav and Satya Gummuluri.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/7-ways-to-con-fuse-the-internet-with-analogy-intergalactic-mix-talk-by-surfatial-september-26-6-pm'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/7-ways-to-con-fuse-the-internet-with-analogy-intergalactic-mix-talk-by-surfatial-september-26-6-pm</a>
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No publishersneha-ppPracticeResearchers at WorkEvent2018-07-02T18:33:42ZEventCreativity, Politics, and Internet Censorship
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/creativity-politics-and-internet-censorship-20160525
<b>In collaboration with Karnataka for Kashmir, we organised a discussion on 'Creativity, Politics and Internet Censorship' on May 25, 2016. Mahum Shabir, a legal activist and artist, Mir Suhail, political cartoonist with Kashmir Reader and Rising Kashmir, and Habeel Iqbal, a lawyer who has worked with several justice groups in Kashmir, shared some of their work and experiences. This discussion was organised as part of Port of Kashmir 2016, a series of events bringing together a small collective of people using different modes of art and activism to address crucial challenges to free speech and democracy in the state. </b>
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<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cis-india/website/master/img/MahumShabirHandwara.jpg" alt="null" />
<h6>Mahum Shabir talking about the Handwara case. Source: Swar Thounaojam.</h6>
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<p>The discussion began with Mahum Shabir giving an overview of the work at the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, specifically on the Handwara case. She spoke of the role of the internet, and social media in particular, in perpetuating the gaze of the state, while also bringing up the larger question of how media propagates a certain way of looking at Kashmir, particularly women, marginalised groups and victims of violence. Internet blockades and media censorship pose several obstacles for the circulation of information, resulting in the need for surreptitious ways of communication as a necessary way to counter predominant narratives in the discourse around occupation. The implications of these for the rights of women in particular, the curbs on freedom at different levels, and the undercurrent of violence that is prevalent in everyday life, came up as significant questions.</p>
<p>Mir Suhail presented some of his cartoons, and shared some poignant personal experiences of growing up in a state under military occupation. His works reflect his concerns about a changing society, from understanding strife as an almost normalised state of existence, to now a phase of industrialization and control of resources. He spoke on the politics of exercising creative freedom in the present, and his attempt to encourage conversations on contemporary issues through his art. The role of technology in facilitating these conversations is as crucial as it is contentious, for it also brings up questions of surveillance and privacy;his art tries to navigate through some of these questions in different ways.</p>
<p>Habeel Iqbal, a lawyer who has worked on the Shopian and Handwara cases, spoke on some of the legal aspects of censorship and surveillance related issues in Kashmir, particularly in instances involving social media. He discussed some of the challenges faced by activists, social workers and political groups in working on certain cases, particularly in gathering and circulating information or in writing about sensitive issues. Self-censorship is often the only option for people working on these issues, as he elaborated through some personal experiences.</p>
<p>The discussion included questions on the possibilities opened up by privacy tools, such the use of encryption and to the extent to which they affect communication. Access to these technologies is a factor here; besides, transparency is also a goal for most human rights organisations working in the state. Social media, and social messaging apps in particular often function as an alternative to mainstream media as a means of communication, and it is interesting to see the questions it opens up for censorship. Examples of activism using not just the internet, but the network (through USBs and hard drives) were also discussed. The responses to such forms of activism, from across the world were interesting to engage with, as it tries to tackle predominant perceptions about the state. The economic aspects of different strategies of censorship and surveillance, through curfews and blockades and its broader implications for socio-economic development in the state were also discussed. The talk provided several insights into the problems and challenges to freedom of speech, the censorship of ideas, and its repercussions for creative freedom and politics in Kashmir.</p>
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<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cis-india/website/master/img/MirSuhailPostcards.jpg" alt="null" />
<h6>Postcards of cartoons by Mir Suhail. Source: Swar Thounaojam.</h6>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/creativity-politics-and-internet-censorship-20160525'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/creativity-politics-and-internet-censorship-20160525</a>
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No publishersneha-ppResearchers at WorkPracticeArtCensorship2016-06-17T07:07:40ZBlog EntryThe Zen of Pad.ma: 10 Lessons Learned from Running Open Access Online Video Archives in India and beyond
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-zen-of-padma
<b>Sebastian Lütgert and Jan Gerber, the co-initiators of, and the artists/programmers behind the pad.ma (Public Access Digital Media Archive) project will deliver a lecture at CIS on Wednesday, February 03, 6 pm, on their experiences of learnings from running open access online video archives in Germany, India, and Turkey. Please join us for coffee and vada at 5:30 pm.</b>
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<img src="http://cis-india.org/raw/the-zen-of-pad-ma-10-lessons-learned-from-running-open-access-online-video-archives-in-india-and-beyond/leadImage" alt="The Zen of Pad.ma - Lecture by Sebastian Lütgert and Jan Gerber, Feb 03, 6 pm" />
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<h2>The Zen of Pad.ma</h2>
<p>Eight years after the launch of Pad.ma and three years since the inception of Indiancine.ma, Sebastian Lütgert will take a closer look at some of the strategies -- decisions and decision making processes, foundational principles and accidental discoveries -- that may have helped make these projects sustainable. While most of the lessons begin with concrete questions related to software and technology, most of them will end up pointing beyond that: towards a general theory of collaboration, towards strategies against premature separation of labor, and towards a few practical proposals for successful self-organization on the Internet.</p>
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<h2>Biographies</h2>
<p><strong>Sebastian Lütgert</strong>, media artist, programmer, filmmaker and writer, lives and works in Berlin. Co-founder of Bootlab, textz.com, Pirate Cinema Berlin, Pad.ma and Indiancine.ma. Lecturer at the Academy of the Sciences in Berlin, various publications on cinema, copyright, radical subcultures and the politics of technology.</p>
<p><strong>Jan Gerber</strong>, video artist and softwate developer, lives and works in Berlin. Co-initiator of Pirate Cinema Berlin, Pad.ma and Indiancine.ma, author of numerous Open Source software projects, most recently Open Media Library. Involved in a variety of open-access archive projects around the world.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-zen-of-padma'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-zen-of-padma</a>
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No publishersneha-ppPracticeDigital HumanitiesDigital MediaOpen AccessResearchers at WorkEventArchives2016-01-28T08:25:18ZEventA.I. Hype Cycles and Artistic Subversions
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/ai-hype-cycles-and-artistic-subversions
<b>Gene Kogan will give a talk on "A.I. hype cycles and artistic subversions" on Friday, January 22, 2016 at the Centre for Internet and Society office, 6 pm - 8 pm.</b>
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<p><img src="http://www.genekogan.com/images/style-transfer/ml_egypt_crab_maps.jpg" alt="Gene Kogan - Style Transfer - Mona Lisa" width="800" /></p>
<h6>Mona Lisa restyled by Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Crab Nebula, and Google Maps. <a href="http://www.genekogan.com/works/style-transfer.html">Style Transfer</a>. Gene Kogan.</h6>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Recent years have seen a resurgence of popular interest in machine learning and artificial intelligence, as emerging methods have set new scientific benchmarks and introduced classes of neural networks capable of imitating human behavior, among other impressive feats. More importantly, the study of these algorithms is rapidly crossing over into mainstream culture and industry as AI applications begin to inhabit more of our daily lives. Numerous initiatives have appeared, attempting to demystify and make these previously obscure research tracks more accessible to the public. Open source software like Torch, Theano, and TensorFlow have equipped amateurs with the same software which is achieving state-of-the-art results in industry and academia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This talk will examine the most recent wave of artistic projects applying these methods in various cultural contexts, producing troves of machine-hallucinated text, images, sounds, and videos, demonstrating a previously unseen capacity for imitating human style and sensibility. These experimental works attempt to show the capacity of these machines for producing aesthetically meaningful media, yet challenging and subverting them to illuminate their most obscure and counterintuitive properties.</p>
<p>A recent article by the speaker about this: <a href="http://bit.ly/1OhFcQr">From Pixels to Paragraphs: How artistic experiments with deep learning guard us from hype</a>.</p>
<p>Relevant projects by the speaker that will be presented include: <a href="http://bit.ly/1RyUH76">Style Transfer</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/1QDNxOI">A Book from the Sky 天书</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/1QDNClo">Learning to Generate Text and Audio</a>, and <a href="http://bit.ly/1QDNG4D">Deepdream Prototypes</a>.</p>
<h2>Gene Kogan</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Gene Kogan is an artist and programmer who is interested in generative systems and applications of emerging technology in artistic and expressive contexts. He writes code for live music, performance, and visual art. He contributes to numerous open-source software projects and frequently gives workshops and demonstrations on topics related to code and art.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He is a contributor to openFrameworks, Processing, and p5.js, an adjunct professor at Bennington College and NYU, a former resident at Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, and a former Fulbright scholar in Bangalore, India, 2012-2013.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/ai-hype-cycles-and-artistic-subversions'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/ai-hype-cycles-and-artistic-subversions</a>
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No publishersharathGenerative ArtArtPracticeMachine LearningResearchers at WorkEventArtificial Intelligence2016-01-01T07:52:20ZEventLaunch of Silicon Plateau Vol-1
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/launch-of-silicon-plateau-vol-1
<b>Please join us on Friday, November 27, 2015 at 6.30 pm for the book launch of Silicon Plateau Vol-1.</b>
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<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/SiliconPlateauVolume1_Cover.png/image_preview" alt="Silicon Plateau Vol-1 - Cover" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Silicon Plateau Vol. 1 - Cover" /></p>
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<h3>Born from a collaboration with or-bits.com and the Researchers at Work (RAW) programme at the Centre for Internet and Society, Silicon Plateau is the first volume of a publishing series aimed at observing how the arts, technology and society intersect in the city of Bangalore. Guided by our belief in the importance of understanding technologies in their specificity rather than their universality, Silicon Plateau presents observations emerging from the personal experiences and perspectives of a variety of contemporary artists, writers and researchers, national and international, who either live in or have spent a period of time in the city, or have just crossed paths with its communities.</h3>
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<h3>Silicon Plateau Vol–1 features works by Abhishek Hazra, IOCOSE, Tara Kelton, Anil Menon, Achal Prabhala, Sunita Prasad, Sreshta Rit Premnath, Renuka Rajiv, Anja Gollor & Mirko Merkel, and Christoph Schäfer.</h3>
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<h3>VENUE: T.A.J. Residency, No. 21 (New No. 53), 2nd Cross, Wheeler Road Extension, Cooke Town, Bangalore, 560084.</h3>
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<h3>PLEASE NOTE: Coming from Pottery road up to Wheeler Road Extension there are three roads called 2nd Cross. Take the third one on the right-hand side, just after D'Costa Café. The road is also marked with a blue sign for CCBI. Also note that our building does not have parking.</h3>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/launch-of-silicon-plateau-vol-1'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/launch-of-silicon-plateau-vol-1</a>
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No publishersumandroSilicon PlateauPracticeResearchers at WorkEvent2015-11-26T04:32:41ZEvent Where's My Data? Submission for Knight News Challenge 2015
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/wheres-my-data-submission-for-knight-news-challenge-2015
<b>We are very excited to be contribute to a join submission with DataMeet and Oorvani for the Knight News Challenge 2015. We are proposing "an application for users to search for locally-relevant data, discuss missing data, demand data, explore and respond to data demands by others, and start data crowd-sourcing exercises." Please go to the submission page and support our project. The text of the proposal is available below. It was prepared by Nisha Thompson of DataMeet, Meera K of Oorvani, and I. The 'Where's My Data' banner is created by Nisha using icons from the Noun Project.</b>
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<p><strong>Please support our project by visiting and 'applauding' it on the Knight News Challenge website: <a href="https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/data/entries/where-s-my-data">https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/data/entries/where-s-my-data</a>. You will have to log in to the website though, apologies for that.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Where's My Data? Search, Demand, and Collect Data</h2>
<h3>In one sentence, describe your idea as simply as possible.</h3>
<p>An application for users to search for locally-relevant data, discuss missing data, demand data, explore and respond to data demands by others, and start data crowd-sourcing exercises.</p>
<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/CISRAW_WheresMyData.png/image_preview" alt="KNC 2015 - Where's My Data" class="image-inline image-inline" title="KNC 2015 - Where's My Data" /></p>
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<h3>Full Description</h3>
<p>The proposed application aims to solve two key problems in accessing reliable data faced by citizens, journalists, and researchers. The first problem is knowing where a required data set can be found, and the second problem is collecting the required data set if it does not exist in the first place.</p>
<p>Many individual initiatives have been developed to collect specific data. For example, Powercuts (http://powercuts.in/) was a Ushahidi installation to crowd-source data using Twitter, Kiirti (http://www.kiirti.org/) was used to map complaints about auto drivers, IChangeMyCity (http://www.ichangemycity.com/) is a platform that collects general complaints from around Bangalore. However, these apps were either short lived because they could not sustain their one premise or they do not give insight into what people want to know and what data is important to them. Also, they often did not open up this data to be used by others, beyond visualisations offered on the sites.</p>
<p>Citizens have many questions regarding their urban surroundings - how much water is coming to the neighbourhood daily, where are the waste pick up trucks, what is the status of a road repairing process, etc, the answers require data that either is difficult to get or doesn't answer their query in the way they want. Journalists and researchers are also interested in collecting and analysing these same data sets. A one off platform for one issue won't properly represent the demand for information in modern day (data starved) India.</p>
<p>For example, a local residents’ group wanted to impress on their elected rep the seriousness of the incidence of a disease, as the local government was not taking concrete steps to manage the emerging epidemic. In the absence of official data on suspected cases of illness, this application could help them to reach out through e-mails and social media networks to do a quick survey on how many residents or their family members have got affected.</p>
<p>The application will not only make it easier to undertake such crowd-sourcing efforts, but also to share the data back and make it open for usage by others, including journalists and researchers.</p>
<p>We are already building an Urban Open Data Platform for Bengaluru, India. The application will allow searching this portal and any other such portal, especially if any is developed by the municipality. It will also pipe the crowd-sourced data to this Urban Open Data Platform.</p>
<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/CISRAW_CitizenMatters.jpg/image_preview" alt="KNC 2015 - Citizen Matters" class="image-inline image-inline" title="KNC 2015 - Citizen Matters" /></p>
<p> <img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/CISRAW_OpenBangalore.png/image_preview" alt="KNC 2015 - Open Bangalore" class="image-inline" title="KNC 2015 - Open Bangalore" /></p>
<p>This tool will reduce duplication of data gathering, gives data a longer shelf life and acts as a source of public data that feeds into a city-wide urban Open Data Portal under development by a consortium that we are part of.</p>
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<h3>How will the Application Work?</h3>
<ol><li>The application will allow the user to search for data across the data catalogues connected to the application.</li>
<li>If the data is not found, the user can post details about the required data, which other users in her/his networks can see and comment on. They can either point the person towards an existing data set, or support the need to collect the data being demanded.</li>
<li>When the user finds out that the data set s/he needs does not exist, the application will allow her/him to start a crowd-sourcing exercise, using various channels such as e-mails, social media posts, web-based questionnaires, etc.</li>
<li>For each of these channels, a separate plug-in will be developed so as to open up the software development process. For this project, we will focus on developing plug-ins for two channels: 1) questionnaires integrated with the <a href="http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/">Citizen Matters</a> website, and 2) use tweets to collect replies using a unique hashtag.</li>
<li>User can share the crowd-sourcing request within her/his own social networks, or use one of the groups (say, the Citizen Matters group focusing on local journalism, or the <a href="http://datameet.org/">DataMeet</a> group focusing on open data enthusiasts in the city) to share their calls for data collection.</li></ol>
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<h3>Briefly Describe the Need that You're Trying to Address</h3>
<p>A common cry in Indian cities is the lack of datasets required to understand issues, either at local or at national scales. This tool will be the place to voice demands, ask others about potential sources, or an easy way to create data sourcing activities.This will enable journalists, advocacy organisations, and researchers to search for data and help others to find the data they are looking for. It also records demands for non-existing data and helps take initiatives to collect such data.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>What Progress have You Made so Far?</h3>
<p>The team is already working on an Urban Open Data Platform, that will host public data, and a data catalog. We have already executed a few crowd-sourcing projects, and helped develop tools for journalists and researchers interested in civic issues.A data source search tool has been in development in the form of Open Data JSON <<a href="https://github.com/datameet/opendata.json">https://github.com/datameet/opendata.json</a>>. A Bangalore focused data catalog has been in use for awhile as well and provides a base of data to use for people’s search <<a href="http://openbangalore.org">http://openbangalore.org</a>>.</p>
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<h3>What would be a Successful Outcome for Your Project?</h3>
<p>Success for this project means having a better understanding of what information is needed most by people and what data is required. We will gain detailed evidence regarding what kind of data people want. This entails a collection of questions, who is asking and from where, and what data gaps exist. The number of crowdsourcing projects initiated shows the intensity of the need, and how comfortable citizens are asking for data and proactively starting a data collection project.</p>
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<h3>Please List your Team Members and their Relevant Experience/Skills</h3>
<p>Meera K, Oorvani Foundation, a media group who will provide editorial support to curate data, dissemination of data or queries, and audience reach. Nisha Thompson and Thejesh GN, from DataMeet, open data community, who will provide the technology and community aspects of the tool. Sumandro Chattapadhyay of the Centre for Internet and Society, will help planning the project and linking the effort with other Indian and global initiatives in open data and development.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/wheres-my-data-submission-for-knight-news-challenge-2015'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/wheres-my-data-submission-for-knight-news-challenge-2015</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroCityOpen DataPracticeCrowdsourcingResearchers at Work2015-10-05T15:00:16ZBlog EntryAnnouncing Silicon Plateau #01
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01
<b>We are very pleased to announce that the RAW programme is supporting a new collaborative publishing project led by T.A.J. Residency / SKE Projects and or-bits.com. The first volume of the series titled 'Silicon Plateau' will feature contributions by a group of artists, researchers, and writers, including IOCOSE, Tara Kelton, Anil Menon, Sunita Prasad, Achal Prabhala and Sreshta Rit Premnath, along with contextual writing and documentation material. Here is an excerpt from the editorial note written by Marialaura Ghidini, the co-editor of the volume.</b>
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<img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01/image" alt="Sreshta Rit Premnath - New York Living in Bangalore" title="Announcing Silicon Plateau #01" />
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<p>The scope of the series is to explore the contemporary interaction between the arts and technology as informed by experiences of Bangalore (the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India). Such exploration will be guided by the
perspectives of contemporary artists, writers and thinkers, national and international, who have either spent a period of time in the city or crossed paths with its communities whose work and interests — from
the creative industry to law and historical research — lie at the intersection between the arts and technology. The approach we have adopted to explore how technology informs the arts and the socio-cultural environment, and how the latter affects usages and understandings of technological tools, is multidisciplinary and hybrid, and uses the city of Bangalore as the starting point for broader reflections and actions.</p>
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<p>Advocating for the importance of thinking about digital and web technologies in their specificity rather than their universality, the series will propose across-disciplines narratives about the encounters — fortuitous, anticipated or even inconvenient — that artists, writers, technologists, lawyers, economists and more have had with the city. The nickname of Bangalore, <em>Silicon Plateau</em>, which derives from its geographical location on the Deccan Plateau in the state of Karnataka, has been used as the title of the series because we think it metaphorically highlights the contradictions inherent to our exploration. Adopting the term <em>plateau</em>, which indicates the reaching of a state of little change, to refer to a city that has transformed at rapid speed over the last few decades results in a linguistic combination that reflects the complexities inherent to discussing arts and technology in relation to local histories and occurrences rather than global narratives and popular beliefs.</p>
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<p>This fist edition of <em>Silicon Plateau #01</em> will focus on the way in which the city is represented in the public realm, from public spaces to those manufactured by the real estate industry. It will look at
representations of Bangalore as a set of phenomena triggered by the ways in which the IT industry is reflected in the city, such as its market-driven narratives, and how passers-by and short term residents
encounter them in the everyday. The contributors have been invited to reflect on how these modes of presenting and representing often lead to the creation of metaphors and cultural signs that might tell us
more about discussing the interaction between the arts and technology.</p>
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<p><em>Silicon Plateau #01 </em>will be about that which lies behind first ‘impressions’ and constructed representations as determined by uses and understanding of technology, the tools and its infrastructures,
existing, imagined, or projected.”</p>
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<p><em>Silicon Plateau #01</em> will be released, in print and online, in May 2015 and launched soon after.</p>
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<p><em>Image Credit: <a href="http://sreshtaritpremnath.com/" target="_blank">Sreshta Rit Premnath</a>, Projections (1964/2014), photocopies on corrugated plastic and chroma key paints.</em></p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01</a>
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No publishersumandroSilicon PlateauPracticeResearchers at Work2015-10-05T15:00:59ZBlog EntryAn Artist's Hunt for Lost Stepwells
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hunt-for-lost-stepwells
<b>As part of the Maps for Making Change project, Kakoli Sen has brought to light some facts which she stumbled upon while mapping the stepwells in Vadodara. She mapped these and also discovered 14 such architectural heritage structures. The news was covered in the Times of India.</b>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hunt-for-lost-stepwells'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hunt-for-lost-stepwells</a>
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No publisherpraskrishnaPracticeResearchers at WorkMaps for Making Change2015-10-05T15:05:26ZNews Item