Studying Up Machine Learning Data

Research in machine learning (ML) has argued that models trained on incomplete or biased datasets can lead to discriminatory outputs. In this commentary, we propose moving the research focus beyond bias-oriented framings by adopting a power-aware perspective to "study up" ML datasets. This means accounting for historical inequities, labor conditions, and epistemological standpoints inscribed in data. We draw on HCI and CSCW work to support our argument, critically analyze previous research, and point at two co-existing lines of work within our research community \,---\,one bias-centered, the other power-aware. We highlight the need for dialogue and cooperation in three areas: data quality, data work, and data documentation. In the first area, we argue that reducing societal problems to "bias" misses the context-based nature of data. In the second one, we highlight the corporate forces and market imperatives involved in the labor of data workers that subsequently shape ML datasets. Finally, we propose expanding current transparency-oriented efforts in dataset documentation to reflect the social contexts of data design and production.

‘Scaling Up’ the Social Impact of Innovation in Services – Significant Findings and Best Practice Examples from Specialty Research

„Social innovation” have gained the focus of interest of many researchers and professionals preoccupied to find solutions to heavy societal problems manifesting themselves as challenges or obstacles for public organizations in the field of services of general interest. The present article explores the specialty research on the impact of social innovation concentrating on the most recent trends and concepts that better describe the ways that can lead to the „diffusion” of social innovation, particularly in the domain of services that are designed with the goal to ensure a higher quality life for all citizens. The main objective of our paper is to contribute to the conceptual field of innovation, by presenting a clear definition and by highlighting the newest trends in research. We also tried to identify what are the possible strategies to be applied by stakeholders in order to ensure the process of scaling up, bringing examples that prove the relevance of this concept in the field of public services. In light of recent developments in the field of social innovation, we consider that both research and practice related to „scaling up” need further evolution and more efforts in order to become solid points of reference for all interested parties. At the same time, the development of rigorous systems of evaluation of the effects and impact of innovation is strongly needed. The methods used are mainly qualitative, based on the evaluation of the specialty literature on innovation in services, and comparative, applied to highlight similarities and differences between various cases of innovation in the social sector that may be transferred in the public sector.

Useful Servant or Dangerous Master? Technology in Business and Society Debates

This review argues that the role of technology in business and society debates has predominantly been examined from the limited, narrow perspective of technology as instrumental, and that two additional but relatively neglected perspectives are important: technology as value-laden and technology as relationally agentic. Technology has always been part of the relationship between business and society, for better and worse. However, as technological development is frequently advanced as a solution to many pressing societal problems and grand challenges, it is imperative that technology is understood and analyzed in a more nuanced, critical, and comprehensive way. The two additional perspectives invite a broader research agenda, one that includes questions, such as “Which values and whose interests has technology come to emulate?”; “How do these values and interests play out in stabilizing the status quo?”; and, importantly, “How can it be contested, disrupted, and changed?” Any research that endorses green, sustainable, environmental, or climate mitigating technologies potentially contributes to maintaining the very thing that it seeks to change if questions such as these are not being addressed.

Consolidating and Upscaling Molecular Research Capacity in Nigeria: On Who's Account?

Molecular research and researchers engage in studies that seek to understand the structures, functions, and interactions of biomolecules as the basis for cellular and systemic effects in living organisms. This research approach was made possible by considerable technological advancements that equip researchers with tools to view biomolecules. Although molecular research holds great promises for improving lives and living, the technological requirements and equipment to undertake molecular research are quite expensive, often requiring a heavy start-up capital or investment. In developing countries such as Nigeria, where the majority of the population lives below the poverty line and research funding is abysmally low, such heavy investments into research that do not provide immediate solutions to societal problems are difficult. This is mostly due to limited resources available to tackle many urgent and pressing needs, and limited perspective and understanding of policymakers, leading to infrastructural and skilled personnel deficit to support molecular research. Despite all these, the field of molecular research continues to grow exponentially globally, hence, funding and investments into this critical life science research area have become imperative. With the rich biodiversity of humans, animals, and plants in Nigeria, and the huge burden of infectious diseases in the country or region, global advances in genomics and proteomics studies will be incomplete without adequate contribution from Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa region. This paper examines the progression and challenges of undertaking molecular research in Nigeria, and how Nigerian molecular research scientists are tackling these issues, with recommendations for improved molecular research capacity and output in the country or region.

Citizen Engagement With Open Government Data

Citizen engagement with open government data (OGD) can enhance the effectiveness of governments and improve not only the quality of public policy making but also public services provisioning and ability to address societal problems. Although previous research gives insight into citizen's drivers and inhibitors for engaging with OGD, they have not yet been integrated into a single conceptual model. The aims of this study are twofold: 1) to systematically review the literature on individual citizens' drivers and inhibitors for engaging with OGD and 2) to develop a conceptual model of citizen engagement with OGD based on the findings of the literature review. To attain this objective, the authors systematically analyzed 52 papers published in the period 2009-2019. Seven categories of drivers of citizen engagement are identified: citizen's profile, personal, performance-related, economic, social, technical, and political. Three groups of inhibitors are also identified: citizen's profile, technical, and political. This study helps in understanding how the engagement of citizens can be enhanced.

Motives, benefits, and challenges of Higher Education expansion in China

China believes in education as an investment of human capital for future returns. It has been a long-time desire for the Chinese government to expand and invest in higher education. The leadership of Deng Xiaoping inspired Chinese people about education it should be open over the world, for the future, and towards modernization. The purpose of higher education in global views is to promote the development of a nation in political, economic, technical, and social spheres. There are gradual changes in higher education after the open policy in China, which influences the expansion of higher education institutions. Higher education acts as a tunnel to prepare several professionals and talents, which will be helpful to the social changes in science and social science programs. Global competence leads the Chinese government to expand higher education in enrollment rate and improves the quality of higher education in acquiring competent knowledge that copes with the global market. This paper focused on reviewing literary works on motives, benefits, and challenges of higher education expansion in China through reviewing different studies from local and international perspectives. From compulsory through higher education, the curriculum should place a greater emphasis on competency. To deal with the wind of unemployment caused by the rise of higher education in China, the government should encourage and support graduates to find innovative and creative skills. For China's economy to grow quicker, a well-educated society requires graduates to apply their skills to solve many societal problems.

The Necessity of Economic Reparations for African-American Families from an Abolitionist Praxis

Racism has caused untold societal problems throughout U.S. history, damaging reputations, job prospects, livelihoods, and the physical and mental well-being of millions. While economic reparations will not wholly resolve the problem, they will serve as an acknowledgment of the problem and the associated damages that have been caused as a result of the manifestation of racism in every arena of life. The degree to which racism is present in the United States has been an ongoing and repeated problem within the country since the 1600s. Racism leads to inequality in public resource allocation; inequality in public resource allocation goes against the founding principles of the nation and are still evident in today’s society. Current efforts to address systemic racism are most frequently viewed as points of contention, which disproportionately decreases the ability to effectively resolve the problem by fostering and creating an environment in which people are pitted against one another instead of working in conjunction to address the problem. One way that this divide can be addressed is through the provision of economic reparations made by the upper class. From an economic praxis, members of the upper class must pay reparations to African-American families due to their historic use of racism as a means of exacerbating wealth inequity.

Avoidance and engagement: Do societal problems fuel political parties’ issue attention?

An important part of political parties’ competition for votes is to what extent parties avoid or engage the issues that rival parties talk about. Despite a large literature on this topic, it remains largely unknown when parties engage. Drawing on research on political attention allocation and party behaviour, this study argues that societal problems are a central source of issue engagement: The engagement is due to a pressure to not ignore electorally important problems. The analysis shows that issue engagement emerges because parties address the same issues in a negative development. Moreover, and particularly important for the issue engagement, parties attend more to a negative development if other parties already attend to the development, particularly at elections. The argument is tested across 16 issue areas through the collection and coding of 5523 press releases from seven parties in Denmark at a quarterly level from 2004 to 2017.

Responsible Innovation Definitions, Practices, and Motivations from Nanotechnology Researchers in Food and Agriculture

The growth of responsible innovation (RI) scholarship has been mirrored by a proliferation of RI definitions and practices, as well as a recognition of the importance of context for RI. This study investigates how researchers in the field of nanotechnology for food and agriculture (nano-agrifoods) define and practice RI, as well as what motivations they see for pursuing RI. We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with nano-agrifood researchers from industry and academia in the USA, where we asked them to describe their RI definitions, practices, and motivations. We analyzed the emergent themes from these interviews, including how the themes aligned with four prominent RI principles (anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity, responsiveness). We found that nano-agrifood researchers largely focused their descriptions of RI definitions, practices, and motivations around a narrow envisioning of the RI principle of anticipation — emphasizing product safety, efficacy, and efficiency. We also found noteworthy tensions surrounding the less frequently mentioned RI principles. For example, some researchers envisioned inclusion as a way to align products with industry interests while others saw it as a way to align products with the public good. Concerning motivations for RI, some researchers viewed RI as a way to protect one’s reputation and avoid lawsuits while others viewed it as a way to improve human well-being and solve societal problems. Given these findings, future efforts to foster RI within nano-agrifoods should promote discussions among researchers concerning what it means to responsibly innovate and what practices this could entail, particularly beyond ensuring product safety, efficacy, and efficiency.

Navigating the Boundaries of Youth Violence Prevention and Reduction: Reflections on Power in Community Engaged Scholarship

Community-engaged scholars grapple with power asymmetries in community-university partnerships, generally working from the assumption that deliberate practices are required to moderate the researchers’ power vis-a-vis that of the community. In this article, we suggest that this dyadic framing masks the complexity of power dynamics within communities, of which the university is just one part, and examine how power is negotiated in the boundary zones of a partnership. We use Third Generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a conceptual framework to analyse the structural and cultural dimensions of the boundary zone in which research, learning and action in our partnership occurred (Engeström 1996). A brief story sheds light on our boundary work which uses research and data to span, broker and shake institutional boundaries for the purpose of youth violence prevention and intervention. Our analysis illuminates the potential and limitations of our power to foster transformational change. It also allows us to show that underestimating power differentials and the diversity of values and cultures within an organisation and between a university and a community partner, and certainly across multiple institutions in the case of a cross-sector partnership, can slow down and even thwart work to address societal problems.