Centre for Internet and Society

Exposing Data: Art Slash Activism

yelena — 2013-03-01T05:44:23Z

Tactical Tech and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) invite you to the first round of discussions on the intersection of Art and Activism at CIS office in Bangalore on 28 November 2011. Ward Smith (Lecturer, University of California, LA), Stephanie Hankey and Marek Tuszynski (Co-founders, Tactical Technology Collective), Ayisha Abraham (Film maker, Srishti School of Art Design) and Zainab Bawa (Research Fellow, Centre for Internet and Society) are leading the conversations.

The Exposing Data Project

An NGO sets up a database to track elected representatives’ participation in the Parliament, the spending for their constituency, and keeping a track of their political mandates and promises.

A geographer tracks the movements of US Government satellites and visualises their paths to form curious visuals of ‘State secrets’.

A photographer travels to an island in the Pacific Ocean to take pictures of the plastic debris found in the stomach of a Laysan albatross carcass.

Each of these examples is about how data that serves as evidence can be collected and visualised in different formats. The NGO can output its data as infographics, the geographer creates non-cartographic maps and the photographer’s images serve as testimony to increased pollution levels. We live in database times. Never before in human history have we consumed, produced and shared as much data as we do now in bits and bytes through our digital devices, coded as images and graphs and spreadsheets. The power to do so has allowed individuals and communities around the world to expose and reveal things that have been invisibilised and obscured, robbed of language and articulation.

At the same time, the visual immediacy of such data sets and the ability to manipulate it to construct new ways of looking at our reality, often hides the fact that the production and use of data as evidence is not benign or neutral. While data itself claims a certain objective fact value, the politics involved in identifying something as data are subject to strong power confluences.

The Centre for Internet and Society and Tactical Technology Collective, Bangalore, propose the Exposing Data Project as a series of conversations between people working across art, activism, politics, information science, cartography, geography, social sciences, humanities and technology science to share, learn, discuss, debate and explore processes, methods, challenges and implications of what it means to live in a data-rich world.

Art Slash Activism

The first round of discussions will be looking at the intersections of Art and Activism, but without falling into the usual traps of looking at art as the vehicle of activism or activism as a form of art. Hence, instead of Art and Activism, we are looking at Art Slash Activism exploring how data visualisation, data representation, and new forms of data mapping re-articulate what it means to be political.

The event will bring together professionals such as Ward Smith (Lecturer, University of California, LA), Stephanie Hankey and Marek Tuszynski (Co-founders, Tactical Technology Collective), Ayisha Abraham (Filmmaker, Srishti School of Art Design) and Zainab Bawa (Research Fellow, Centre for Internet and Society). Rather than being a seminar to instil practical knowledge, the aim of Art Slash Activism is to engage participants in a curated conversation on the use of data as evidence and its dissemination through visual depiction as a catalyst for change. We are seeking a variety of perspectives when answering questions such as whether data can have a universal reach through visual presentation; how we can utilize various forms of representation to spread awareness; and what happens when information cannot be represented as data.

Art Slash Activism is a multidisciplinary learning experience that will involve members of the art community, open data activists, designers, and others active in the processes of social change in a creative, playful and innovative manner that will result in textual and visual documentation which will serve as a knowledge corpus for researchers and practitioners interested in these questions.

Bio of the Speakers

Zainab Bawa
Zainab is a PhD scholar at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), Bangalore. Zainab primarily works as an independent researcher on issues of governance, politics, property and how technology is embedded in state-citizen interactions and society. In the course of her work, she is associated with the Centre for Internet and Society and the Centre de Sciences Humaines - New Delhi. Zainab is also a designated partner at HasGeek Media LLP, Bangalore.

Ayisha Abraham
Ayisha Abraham lives and works in Bangalore as an installation artist and short filmmaker. She works at the Srishti School of Art, Design, Technology, as a visual arts consultant and is a member of the BAR1 (Bengaluru Artists Residency).

Stephanie Hankey
CO-founder & executive director, Stephanie has been working to strengthen the use of technology by civil society in the global South since 1998, initially working with the Open Society Institute establishing their Technology Support for Civil Society Program, before co-founding Tactical Tech in 2003. Stephanie has a background in information design, was editor-in-chief of Pulp and worked as a creative director and producer for a number of London-based multimedia companies. She has a Masters in Information and Interaction Design from the Royal College of Art London, and a certificate in Campaigning and Lobbying from NCVO.

Marek Tuszynski
Co-founder & director of programmes & technology, Marek has been working to help advocates use technology since 1995. In the mid-nineties he co-founded the International Network of Contemporary Art Centres and worked with others to create a television programme about independent culture in Poland. He was director of the Stefan Batory Foundation’s Internet programme (Warsaw), sat on the board of Klon/Jawor (a research and infrastructure NGO) and The Second Hand Bank. Marek worked as a consultant to many funding agencies focusing on information and communication strategies for civil society in Central Asia.

Ward Smith
Ward Smith is a librarian who works with academics, activists and artists to design and implement information systems that aid in the development and documentation of their work. He has recently worked with the Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, the Arts, Computation, Engineering program at UC Irvine, the Southern California Library, the 2009 Digital Arts and Culture Conference, and rhizome.org.

This event is free and open to everyone. However, we would appreciate a confirmation of attendance ahead of time so as to ensure that your space is reserved. To confirm your attendance please write to: yelena.gyulkhandanyan@gmail.com

VIDEOS

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/art-activism

Design!Public II in Bangalore ― Event Report

yelena — 2011-10-20T08:48:04Z

Design Public, a high-level conclave on innovation, took place in Bangalore at the National Gallery for Modern Art on October 14, 2011. The event was organized by the Centre for Knowledge Societies in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society, the Centre for Law and Policy Research, Mint, and others. The conclave brought together industry experts, scholars, and activists to create a dialogue about design and innovation in the public interest. This blog post captures the developments as it happened on this day.

The day consisted of discussions on several related topics, as well as engaging the participants in interactive challenge sessions.

Aditya Dev Sood, from the Centre for Knowledge Societies, kick-started the event with some words about the value of innovative thinking. Reflecting upon lessons learned from the previous Design Public conclave, Dr. Sood explained that while the previous event focused on governance innovation, the second Design Public conclave will reflect on the importance of citizen participation in innovation. After brief introductions of the conclave participants and speakers, the first session on Innovation and the Indian Corporation began.

Mr. Krishnan demonstrated the ingenuity of innovation through the history of the Indian mousetrap, in which he described three generations of mousetraps, which increase in the scale of functionality and effectiveness with each new proceeding product. One of the recurring views that emerged during the conversation was that while the Indian society is highly innovative, large Indian corporations do not generally take part in innovation. Harish Bijoor explained why there is a lack of motivation on the part of Indian corporations to innovate by stating, "what happens to large companies is that they get too preoccupied with success." The comfort that comes with the achievement of success makes Indian corporations unmotivated to pursue innovative ideas. Mr. Krishnan also added that "the Indian corporate is too regimented, which kills innovation. Most innovators are outside of corporations."

A distinction between innovation in India and the West was made, stating that in most Western societies, innovation occurs at the top most resource-rich layer of society. In India it is the opposite. Entrepreneurship happens on a grassroots local level. Arun Pande offered a thought on improving the current trends, stating that large companies can play a role in innovation by collaborating with small entrepreneurs working on social issues. It was agreed among the speakers that Indian corporations need to focus on innovative ideas to tackling some of India’s grand challenges and improving the quality of life for the citizens.

On that thought, the second panel began on the question: Is Innovation in the Public and Social Sectors Possible? Sunil Abraham, the panel moderator, introduced the session by giving an example of modern innovation, speaking about Spice M9000 and the extremely efficient and economic way in which it is manufactured. The device comes with features such as a dual SIM card, radio receiver, a receiver for terrestrial television, two large boom-box speakers, and a projector. Five thousand of these devices can be manufactured in Shenzen, China for Rs 2 crores within approximately 45 days.

The panel was asked whether academic knowledge and innovation can be incorporated into practical government policies. Ashwin Mahesh answered this question by stating, "the structure of absorbing information from academia is not present in the public sector." The speakers agreed that the government needs to encourage innovation and support its citizens to pursue innovative solution-based initiatives. Rohini Nilekani was of the opinion that "you need solution-based thinking on two levels, the state and local." Mr. Mahesh added that "the government needs to empower small communities to solve their problems and drive things locally, from the bottom-up." The necessity for private-public partnerships was a clear theme throughout the conversation, Pratham Books being given as a successful example of such endeavour. Mrs. Nilekani explained that "we need to break down the distinction between what is public and what is private. We need to work towards a common goal. We need to innovate and design checks and balances to wheel public interest."

The third panel was on The Challenge of Start Up innovation. Aditya Mishra from the Headstart Foundation defined a startup as something that makes a meaningful impact on society. According to Mr. Mishra, the startup ecosystem is problematic in India because large corporations generally do not engage in partnerships with startups. Naresh Narasimhan pointed out that "there is a notion that startup entrepreneurs do not have enough knowledge, so they get dismissed." It was further explained that aspiring entrepreneurs in India do not have enough spaces where networking and business negotiations could take place. Zackery Denfeld was of the opinion that there is a lot of innovation happening in the middle level, but more innovation needs to be done at the lower level. There is a need to focus on smaller start-ups. Design should be done at a higher paste. People should be able to fail fast, learn from mistakes, and start-up again.

The Theory and Practice of Innovation was the next panel. Upon being asked to give a single sentence definition of design, the speakers provided several enlightening answers. M. P. Ranjan stated that it is human intentions and actions that generate value. Reto Wettach added that design encompasses "methods which help define solutions, and goals which help solve these problems." One of the emerging thoughts from the discussion was that design has a value that is measurable beyond monetary gain. Furthermore, when you take public issues into consideration, the non-designers are just as important as designers. "Everybody has privileged information which they can bring into the synthesis of a solution," stated Eswaran Subrahmanian.

Having learned from each other and the inspiring ideas that were circulating the panel discussions, the participants were given three scenarios for which they were asked to brainstorm innovative approaches and solutions. The scenarios were Online Higher Education, Quality Maternal and Child Healthcare, and Toilet-training for All. During these sessions, the participants were confronted with problems faced by communities in India, which included the lack of higher education opportunities in rural areas, the need for proper and timely administered antenatal care, as well as the need to ensure village sanitation infrastructure. The solutions given to these problems highlighted the importance of a participatory approach to problem solving. Empowering community members and encouraging local leadership in innovative projects ensures their sustainability.

Concluding remarks on lessons learned and a way forward brought the afternoon to an end. Some of the final thoughts were that consensus is integral in the public space. End users and community members need to be involved in the process of design and innovation. While one must look beyond the government for instituting solutions to public problems and concerns, the role of the government, especially the local government, is also important. All sectors of society need to be engaged in design and innovation. "Persistence and methodology can make us an irresistible force," pointed out Ashwin Mahesh.

On that note, the conclave came to an end, but without a doubt, the lessons and inspiration gained by the participants will continue on.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/design-public