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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241203T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241203T193000
DTSTAMP:20241209T104846Z
CREATED:20240829T094950Z
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SUMMARY:The Future of AI at School
DESCRIPTION:How are school leaders\, policymakers and teachers planning to work with AI in the classroom? What does AI mean for the way we teach\, assess and understand learning and the cultures and practices of schooling? This event will bring together key figures from the Scottish education landscape to talk about AI in schools and our education futures. \n\n\n\nThe event will be public-facing\, and carefully designed to provoke active discussion and debate with the audience. It will build on research taking place over recent years at the University of Edinburgh with the Data Education in Schools and BRAID research programmes and draw on the wide network of schools and sector leads who have cocreated this work . It will provide audiences with engaging insights from colleagues working with AI at the chalk-face of teaching and policy development\, opening up debate to a wider public audience. \n\n\n\nThe event will be relevant to anyone with an interest in schools\, schooling and education policy futures. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nLouise Hayward\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLouise Hayward is Professor Emerita of Educational Assessment and Innovation (University of Glasgow) and Honorary Professor (UWTSD). Originally an English teacher\, her research focuses on improving future assessment policy and practice and she has published widely on Assessment and Processes of Change.  In 2018\, Louise founded the International Educational Assessment Network (researchers and policy makers from twelve nations across four continents).  She has worked with OECD on the Learning 2030 programme and with UNESCO on Assessment in STEM education. Recently\, Louise chaired two Independent Reviews of Qualifications and Assessment- the first in England  (A New ERA\, 2021) and most recently  in Scotland (It’s Our Future\, 2023). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOllie Bray\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOllie Bray is currently Strategic Director at Education Scotland. Education Scotland is a Scottish Government executive agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education. At Education Scotland Ollie has overall strategic responsibility for National Improvement Initiatives and Professional Learning and Leadership. This includes major national initiatives\, such as the review of the Scottish Curriculum (the Curriculum Improvement Cycle); Digital Learning & Teaching (including Glow) and National Professional Learning and Leadership Programmes. Immediately before rejoining Education Scotland he was Global Director: Connecting Play and Education at the LEGO Foundation (www.legofoundation.com) where he led the Foundations work related to education improvement through the use of technology and play. As part of this role he also led the Foundations COVID-19 distance learning response stream. Prior to joining the LEGO Foundation in November 2018 he was headteacher of Kingussie High School\, Scotland. He has over 25 years experience in all aspects of education. As well as his philanthropic\, school and systems leadership work he has also been an award winning teacher\, Scotland’s former national advisor for emerging technologies in learning and a non-executive director at Inverness College: University of the Highlands & Islands and was until recently Chair of the Board at the International School of Billund\, Denmark. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTheodore Pengelley\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTheodore Pengelley is a Digital Manager at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)\, within its Digital Assessment Services team. Theo has a diverse background of delivering innovative digital services spanning the private\, public\, and third sectors. \n\n\n\nCurrently\, he oversees SQA’s digital learning provision\, while exploring new opportunities to use emerging technologies across SQA’s qualifications and assessments. As the chair of SQA’s Artificial Intelligence and Emergent Technology Group\, he is at the forefront of addressing the opportunities and challenges posed by AI and other evolving technologies. Through rigorous research\, engagement across the Scottish education system\, and cross-sector collaboration\, this groups explores the impact of adopting these technologies within learning\, teaching and assessment. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJudy Robertson (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProfessor Judy Robertson has been researching and developing technology with and for children for over twenty years. She is Chair in Digital Learning at the University of Edinburgh\, in the School of Informatics and Moray House School of Education and Sport. She has active research projects in exploring children and young people’s views on AI in school\, and in documenting early adopter teachers’ use of AI.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/the-future-of-ai-at-school/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241126T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241126T193000
DTSTAMP:20241204T141236Z
CREATED:20240829T095009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241204T141236Z
UID:10000170-1732644000-1732649400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Future of Education: AI
DESCRIPTION:Artificial Intelligence is the latest in a long series of high-profile technology ‘disruptors’ of education. What futures for education does it promise\, and are these desirable? Who is driving the discussion about its potential? And what might it mean for the act and profession of teaching? Current debate on AI in education is intense\, and often torn between competing visions of education’s social purpose. This panel brings together researchers\, writers and thinkers working in the area of AI to discuss what a future of education permeated by AI might look like\, what it should look like\, and how it might support education for public good. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nJohn Warner\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJohn Warner is a writer\, editor\, speaker\, researcher\, and author of eight books\, including Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities (Johns Hopkins UP) and The Writer’s Practice: Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing (Penguin). John has been blogging about higher education at Inside Higher Ed for over a decade\, and writes weekly about books and reading culture at the Chicago Tribune and his associated newsletter\, The Biblioracle Recommends. His ninth book\, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI (Basic Books)\, will be published in the U.S. in February 2025. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAraba Sey\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAraba Sey is a researcher and educator whose work examines digital technologies\, socioeconomic development\, and social equity. As Deputy Director at Research ICT Africa\, she leads research evidence-building for policymaking on digital and data governance across Africa. Her research includes studies of the relationship between digital and social inclusion\, gender digital equality\, artificial intelligence for development\, misinformation and disinformation in Africa\, and inclusive research design and decision-making for community development. She is motivated by an interest in resolving disconnections between rhetoric\, action\, and realities around the potential of new technologies to foster human development in Africa and beyond. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Ben Williamson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Ben Williamson is a Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. He has conducted research on digital technologies\, data and artificial intelligence in education for more than ten years\, with books including Big Data in Education: The Digital Future of Learning\, Policy and Practice\, and the edited collection Digitalisation of Education in the Era of Algorithms\, Automation and Artificial Intelligence. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJL Williams\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage Credit: Gintare Kulyte\n\n\n\n\n\nBooks by JL Williams include Condition of Fire (Shearsman\, 2011)\, Locust and Marlin (Shearsman\, 2014)\, House of the Tragic Poet (If A Leaf Falls Press\, 2016)\, After Economy (Shearsman\, 2017) and Origin (Shearsman\, 2022). Published widely in journals\, her poetry has been translated into numerous languages. She has read at international literature festivals and venues in the UK\, Sweden\, Germany\, Denmark\, Turkey\, Cyprus\, Canada\, Hungary\, Romania\, Montenegro and the US. \n\n\n\nShe wrote the libretto for the opera Snow which debuted in London in 2017\, was awarded a bursary to develop a new opera with composer Samantha Fernando at the Royal Opera House and was a librettist for the award-winning 2020 covid-response Episodes project by The Opera Story. She was commissioned to write the 2023 English Touring Opera children’s opera\, The Wish Gatherer. Williams is hopeful about the simple and mysterious power of poetry that allows us to know ourselves\, each other and the world more deeply. www.jlwilliamspoetry.co.uk \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChair: Sian Bayne\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSian Bayne is Professor of Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh\, where she is Director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education\, and leads on Education Futures in her role as Assistant Principal. Her research is critical and interdisciplinary\, currently focused on higher education futures\, AI\, utopia and theories of ‘enhancement’. http://sianbayne.net
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/the-future-of-education-ai/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh Futures Conversations,Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241122T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241122T193000
DTSTAMP:20241204T135043Z
CREATED:20240829T095019Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241204T135043Z
UID:10000171-1732298400-1732303800@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Future Library and Futures Literacy: Making Futures from Where We Are
DESCRIPTION:To mark the 10-year anniversary of Katie Paterson’s 100-year artwork\, Future Library\, we gather to discuss what it means to be “futures literate”. We explore relationships between place\, knowledge\, imagination and time in making meaning from and engaging with different futures. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nKatie Paterson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKatie Paterson (born 1981\, Scotland) is widely regarded as one of the leading artists of her generation. Collaborating with scientists and researchers across the world\, Paterson’s projects consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time and change. Her artworks make use of sophisticated technologies and specialist expertise to stage intimate\, poetic and philosophical engagements between people and their natural environment. Combining a Romantic sensibility with a research-based approach\, conceptual rigour and coolly minimalist presentation\, her work collapses the distance between the viewer and the most distant edges of time and the cosmos. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRichard Sandford\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRichard Sandford is Professor of Heritage Evidence\, Foresight and Policy at UCL’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage\, where his research explores the relationship between heritage and the future\, drawing on notions of care\, maintenance and repair to develop alternative orientations towards the future\, and developing an account of the particular capacities of heritage practices to shape the future. Before joining UCL\, Richard led horizon-scanning teams in the UK Civil Service\, developing the capacity of strategy and policy groups across government to work with long-term change and uncertainty. His previous research in education futures addressed young peoples’ ideas of the future\, futures literacy\, and the place of new media technologies in learning. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnne Beate Hovind\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnne Beate Hovind. Fotografert forskjellig steder i Bjørvika\n\n\n\n\n\nAnne Beate Hovind is an urban developer who commissions and produces art in public spaces for more than 20 years. She holds several board positions and is senior lecturer II at the Faculty of Technology\, Art and Design at OsloMet. Hovind has extensive management experience primarily in the private sector\, but also in the public sector. She has held project management roles with responsibility for development work and change processes in large organizations\, led innovation and development projects\, and sat in the project management of land-based construction projects. In 2018\, she received the Oslo Municipality’s Artist Award for her work with art in the city. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnja Hendrikse Liu\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnja Hendrikse Liu (she/they) is a 2024 graduate of Edinburgh Futures Institute’s MSc Narrative Futures: Art\, Data\, Society. They are a co-organizer of a group of students and recent graduates working on projects that bring together Edinburgh Futures Institute and Future Library — hopeful\, collaborative\, narrative-driven commitments to the future and to each other. As a speculative fiction writer\, Anja also explores these infinite hopeful (not perfect) futures for AI\, climate\, and our collective experience as humans living in the world. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJen Ross (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJen Ross is Professor of Digital Culture and Education Futures at the University of Edinburgh. She researches and writes about speculative methods for researching education futures\, exploring a variety of topics including museum engagement\, AI in education\, surveillance and trust\, and online distance learning. She is co-director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education\, and recently developed and launched the MSc in Education Futures at Edinburgh Futures Institute.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/future-library-and-futures-literacy-making-futures-from-where-we-are/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241119T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241119T193000
DTSTAMP:20241125T161114Z
CREATED:20240829T095028Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241125T161114Z
UID:10000172-1732039200-1732044600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Technomoral Conversations: What the Majority World Can Teach Us about AI
DESCRIPTION:Artificial Intelligence models ‘learn’ and reproduce biases as a result of their training data\, which is largely drawn from websites based in the US and other Western countries\, and is heavily skewed towards English language sources. At the same time\, the work of training AI models and making them ‘safer’ for human consumption is outsourced to precarious and under-supported workers in developing countries. Tech companies in Silicon Valley and Western governments such as the EU currently dominate the global conversation on AI. Yet there is much that the Majority World has to teach us about AI\, and this perspective is too often marginalised in the discussion of what a future with AI ought to look like. In this Technomoral Conversations panel\, we will hear from leading voices from the Majority World on what they have learned from and about AI\, and the issues and visions they would like to see taken up more broadly as society grapples with the social and ethical implications of these emerging technologies. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nTarcizio Silva\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTarcizio Silva is a researcher based in São Paulo and focused on promoting decolonial and afrodiasporic lenses to understand and influence internet\, A.I. and emergent technologies governance. They are a Tech Policy Senior Fellow at Mozilla Foundation and PhD candidate at UFABC. http://tarciziosilva.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKingsley Owadara\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKingsley Owadara (He/Him) is the founder and an AI Ethicist at the Pan-Africa Center for AI Ethics\, a dedicated not-for-profit organization committed to fostering the development and deployment of AI in a manner that prioritizes human-centric values. At the heart of his role\, he spearheads the initiative to craft and refine ethical frameworks\, ensuring that artificial intelligence technologies are developed and deployed with a strong emphasis on human values\, ethics\, and inclusivity. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTara Fischbach\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTara Fischbach is the Public Policy Manager for Community Engagement and Advocacy for the Middle East at Meta. She has worked in public policy\, development and media with a strong background in research. She has experience working with government agencies\, international NGOs\, and community level organizations in research\, communications\, and development projects. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCo-chair: Morshed Mannan\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Morshed Mannan is a Lecturer in Global Law and Digital Technologies at Edinburgh Law School. He was previously a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute\, where he was part of the ‘BlockchainGov’ ERC project. His research focuses on blockchain governance and cooperative governance. In addition to his several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on these topics\, his latest co-authored book Blockchain Governance was published by the MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series (August 2024). He completed his PhD at Leiden Law School\, Leiden University. Morshed is a Research Affiliate of the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy at The New School in New York City. He is enrolled as an Advocate by the Bangladesh Bar Council\, and has been called to the Bar of England & Wales. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCo-chair: Shannon Vallor\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEdinburgh\, UK – 20th March 2023. (Photograph: MAVERICK PHOTO AGENCY)\n\n\n\n\n\nProfessor Shannon Vallor is the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) at the University of Edinburgh\, where she is also appointed in Philosophy. She directs the Centre for Technomoral Futures in EFI\, and is co-Director of the UKRI’s BRAID (Bridging Responsible AI Divides) programme. Professor Vallor’s research explores how AI\, robotics\, and data science reshape human moral character\, habits\, and practices. Her work includes advising policymakers and industry on the ethical design and use of AI\, and she is a former Visiting Researcher and AI Ethicist at Google. She is the author of Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting (Oxford University Press\, 2016) and The AI Mirror: Reclaiming Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking (Oxford University Press\, 2024).
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/technomoral-conversation-what-the-majority-world-can-teach-us-about-ai/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241118T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241118T173000
DTSTAMP:20241101T100326Z
CREATED:20241101T100101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241101T100326Z
UID:10000208-1731945600-1731951000@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Here Be Dragons: The Challenges of Pursuing Responsible AI
DESCRIPTION:Reid Concert Hall\, Bristo Square\, Edinburgh EH8 9AL \n\n\n\nOver the last decade\, a range of practices have emerged as scholars\, practitioners\, and regulators attempt to ensure that AI investments don’t go off the rails. Practices like red-teaming marry earlier approaches to content moderation and security\, but others are being developed specifically for the Generative AI space. Many of these fit under the broader rubric of “responsible AI.” How sociotechnical systems are designed\, developed\, and deployed is not inevitable. It behooves us all to grapple with known pitfalls\, minimize risks\, and nudge the systems towards constructive ends. In this talk\, danah will explore the range of traps that those seeking to minimize harm have\, are\, and will face as they attempt to ground fast-moving developments and offer frameworks for thinking about the present moment. \n\n\n\nIn this talk\, danah boyd will discuss the ways risks and harms are being addressed in AI development. She’ll explore the range of traps that those seeking to minimize harm have\, are\, and will face as they attempt to ground fast-moving AI developments and offer frameworks for thinking about the present moment. \n\n\n\nBio\n\n\n\ndanah boyd is a Partner Researcher at Microsoft Research and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology and society\, with an eye to how structural inequities shape and are shaped by technologies. She is currently conducting a multi-year ethnographic study of the US census to understand how data are made legitimate. Her previous studies have focused on media manipulation\, algorithmic bias\, privacy practices\, social media\, and teen culture. Her monograph “It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens” has received widespread praise. She founded the research institute Data & Society\, where she currently serves as an advisor. She is also a trustee of the Computer History Museum\, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations\, and on the advisory board of Electronic Privacy Information Center. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brown University\, a master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab\, and a Ph.D in Information from the University of California\, Berkeley. \n\n\n\nHosted by the Critical Data Studies Cluster\, with the Bridging AI Divides (BRAID) programme
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/here-be-dragons-the-challenges-of-pursuing-responsible-ai/
LOCATION:Reid Concert Hall\, Bristo Square\, Edinburgh\, EH8 9AL\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241112T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241112T193000
DTSTAMP:20241113T150532Z
CREATED:20240829T095100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241113T150532Z
UID:10000174-1731434400-1731439800@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Contesting Computing: Imagining Feminist Technofutures
DESCRIPTION:Image: Siddhi Gupta \n\n\n\nWe know that technology is not neutral. The development\, production and use of hardware and software has created and reinscribed exclusionary and harmful power dynamics: from the omission of women from the history of computer science\, to the dominance of ‘tech bros’ in the platform economy\, to the gendering and global outsourcing of low paid digital and data work\, to the shipping of e-waste to informal economies in the global south. As we begin to understand the harms caused by algorithmic biases and AI\, the ways in which inequalities are fundamentally encoded into technology is also becoming increasingly clear. This roundtable discussion will consider the role that education has played in developing our technological landscape and the roles it can and should play in working towards a fairer and more equitable future as well as reflect on how we are “educated” into dominant modes of thinking and knowing through technologically mediated worlds. \n\n\n\nThis event is hosted in partnership with the Centre for Data Culture and Society and GENDER.ED. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nUsha Raman\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUsha Raman is Professor and Head\, Department of Communication\, University of Hyderabad. Her academic interests span podcast studies\, journalism pedagogy\, cultural studies of science and health\, children’s media\, feminist media studies\, and digital cultures. In addition to edited books\, journal articles and book chapters\, she writes regularly for the popular media on issues related to health\, gender and education. and edits a monthly magazine for school teachers\, Teacher Plus. She has been a visiting fellow at the University of Sydney (Australia)\, MIT (USA) and University of Bremen (Germany). She is co-founder of the IDRC funded initiative FemLabCo\, which explores the future of women’s work. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMar Hicks\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMar Hicks is an author\, historian\, and professor doing research on hidden histories of computing\, as well as the history of labor and technology. Hicks is currently an Associate Professor at The University of Virginia’s School of Data Science\, in Charlottesville\, teaching courses on the history of technology\, computing and society\, and the larger implications of powerful and widespread digital infrastructures. Their research focuses on how gender and sexuality bring hidden technological dynamics to light\, and how the experiences of women and LGBTQIA people change the core narratives of the history of computing in unexpected ways. Hicks’s multiple award-winning book\, Programmed Inequality\, looks at how the British lost their early lead in computing by discarding women computer workers\, and what this cautionary tale tells us about current issues in high tech. Their new work looks at resistance and queerness in the history of technology. Hicks is also co-editor of the book Your Computer Is On Fire (MIT Press\, 2021)\, a volume of essays about how we can begin to fix our broken high tech infrastructures. Other writing and more information can be found at: marhicks.com. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAisha Sobey\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Aisha Sobey (she/her) is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridges’ Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence\, where she works on the construction of systemic power within technology. She is concerned with the treatment of the non-normative body in AI systems\, and how the quantification of bodies through technical knowledges can marginalise those seen as deviant. Her site of focus is the fat body and how this frame intersects with other systems of oppression. She is passionate about championing inclusivity and access in her work\, and she Chairs her centre’s Research Ethics Committee and Wellbeing\, Inclusion\, Diversity and Equality Group. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSharon Webb (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSharon Webb is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities at the University of Sussex and serves as a Director of the Sussex Digital Humanities Lab. As a historian\, she specialises in Irish associational culture and nationalism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and is an active digital humanities practitioner. With a disciplinary background in both history and computer science\, Sharon has cultivated a research career within the expansive field of critical digital humanities and archives. Her research delves into critical digital humanities and archives\, with a focus on community archives from both theoretical and practical perspectives\, and employs feminist\, queer\, and decolonial methods to develop their work. In addition\, their research in the broad area of feminism and technology\, has led to innovative and critical interventions in funded projects\, such as Full Stack Feminism in Digital Humanities\, and Women in Focus.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/contesting-computing-imagining-feminist-technofutures/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241104T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241104T130000
DTSTAMP:20241031T155302Z
CREATED:20241031T154442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241031T155302Z
UID:10000207-1730718000-1730725200@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Beyond Precarity: Imaginaries\, Constraints\, and the Meaning of Platform Work
DESCRIPTION:This talk will analyse the daily routines and economic pressures faced by today’s digital workers. By critically examining how their trajectories adapt to powerful infrastructures and economic forces within the technological landscape\, the presentation uncovers the complexities of “platform subjectivities”\, ways of perceiving the world shaped and configured by these platforms. I aim to compare different types of platform work\, breaking down traditional silos. By intertwining narratives from gig workers\, influencers\, e-commerce sellers\, and musicians in Chile\, the exploration seeks to unveil shared experiences and nuanced distinctions.  \n\n\n\nVenue\n\n\n\nRoom 1.55Edinburgh Futures Institute1 Lauriston PlaceEdinburghEH3  9EF
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/beyond-precarity-imaginaries-constraints-and-the-meaning-of-platform-work/
LOCATION:Edinburgh
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/lz9A1XsM_400x400.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241101T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241101T193000
DTSTAMP:20241106T100944Z
CREATED:20240829T095152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241106T100944Z
UID:10000178-1730484000-1730489400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Video Games: Play and Pedagogy
DESCRIPTION:Video games have emerged as a powerful educational tool\, one of the most significant ways in which the public engages with the past. Moreover\, games and immersive digital experiences offer historians of visual culture a way to shape more inclusive and authentic public perceptions of the past by making academic research widely accessible to audiences outside the academy.In this panel event bridging video games and education\, our guest speakers neuroscientist and physicist Kelly Clancy\, Islamic art historian Glaire Anderson (Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections\, University of Edinburgh)\, Maxime Durand (Ubisoft/Assassin’s Creed Discovery Tour)\, and Chris van der Kuyl (Minecraft)\, will discuss topics such as the role of video games in shaping our world and human development\, and the gamification of education – including how video games are making education and knowledge widely accessible\, and informing public perceptions of the past. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Glaire Anderson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Glaire Anderson is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art in the School of History of Art and Founding Director of the Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections at the University of Edinburgh\, where she is also Programme Director for the MSc in History of Art\, Theory\, and Display (HATD). An award-winning author\, her most recent book A Bridge to the Sky: The Arts of Science in the Age of Abbas Ibn Firnas was published by Oxford University Press in 2024. She works across the academic\, games\, and GLAM (Galleries\, Libraries\, Archives\, Museums) sectors and was an historian for Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Ubisoft\, 2023) and its educational Codex feature\, ‘History of Baghdad’. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKelly Clancy\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKelly Clancy\, PhD\, is a neuroscientist and physicist who has held research positions at MIT\, Berkeley\, University College London\, and DeepMind. She develops novel brain-computer interfaces with the aim of understanding the principles of intelligence. Her writing has appeared in Wired\, Harper’s and The New Yorker. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMaxime Durand\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMaxime Durand is an award-winning world-design director for the videogame company Ubisoft. Graduated in history\, he has collaborated on inspirational authenticity for multiple games of the blockbuster Assassin’s Creed franchise. Maxime co-created and directed the Discovery Tour series\, a research-led public history project made in partnership with educators & museums. Having previously collaborated with the University of Edinburgh’s teams at the Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections\, Maxime is pursuing under their guidance a Knowledge Exchange Fellowship to further collaborate at the intersection of technology and public engagement. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChris van der Kuyl\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChris van der Kuyl is one of Scotland’s leading entrepreneurs working across the technology\, media\, gaming and entertainment sectors. Chris is most notably co-founder and chairman of multiple award-winning games developer 4J Studios\, best known for developing Minecraft for Microsoft\, Sony and Nintendo games consoles. He and fellow co-founder Paddy Burns launched Chroma Ventures\, the investment arm of 4J Studios\, in 2021.Chris is chairman of; Broker Insights\, Puny Astronaut\, Stormcloud Games and Ace Aquatec and sits on the boards of; Parsley Box\, Blippar\, Ant Workshop and ADV Holdings. He is also a non-executive director of the Ballie Gifford US Growth Trust.Alongside his commercial roles\, he was the founding chairman of Entrepreneurial Scotland and is currently a member of multiple advisory and local charity boards. Elected as one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2013\, Chris was also formally recognised for his contribution to technology in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020\, becoming a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChair: Caroline Parkinson\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage Credit: Eoin Carey\, 2022\n\n\n\n\n\nCaroline Parkinson is Director of Creative for the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) and works with the Scottish creative and cultural industries to innovate with academia. She developed the EFI plan for developing data-driven innovation within the creative industries and has worked closely with flagship project – Creative Informatics Cluster from 2018-2024. She was Director of Film\, TV\, Music\, Creative Industries\, Skills & Innovation for Creative Scotland from 2010-2014\, and from 2005-2010 she was Director\, Scotland & Northern Ireland for the new sector skills association\, Creative & Cultural Skills.She serves on the Board of Architecture & Design Scotland\, and for 7 years has served in a voluntary capacity as Strategic Director and Presenter of the MOVE Summit\, Scotland’s Animation and VFX Gathering.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/video-games-play-and-pedagogy/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/01.11.24-Video-Games-Play-and-Pedagogy-1-e1724930201116.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241030T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241030T173000
DTSTAMP:20241023T155001Z
CREATED:20241023T152816Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241023T155001Z
UID:10000205-1730304000-1730309400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:A digital economy in crisis: Palestine’s tech sector and the road to economic recovery
DESCRIPTION:The Palestinian tech sector has long been vibrant and resilient. It has flourished in the West Bank despite the violence of the Israeli occupation and its restrictions of movement\, and remains one of few sources of employment and hope for skilled youth in the Gaza Strip. Even as the current onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 41.600 people and destroyed or damaged around a quarter of buildings and infrastructure\, some Palestinians in Gaza continue to work as online freelancers and remote workers against all odds. Since 2011\, Gaza Sky Geeks has provided freelancers\, founders\, and coders with the technical training and support they need to earn an income online and remotely. It remains one of Palestine’s most important bridge builders between a young skilled workforce and a global digital marketplace.  \n\n\n\nThis public event brings Gaza Sky Geeks in conversation with researchers at the University of Edinburgh in response to a pressing key challenge: How can Palestine’s digital economy remain resilient in the current crisis and what role will it play in the road to economic recovery? \n\n\n\nThis event is hosted by the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Research Cluster at the Edinburgh Futures Institute\, which is directed by Andreas Hackl and Mohammad Amir Anwar. \n\n\n\nKey speakers\n\n\n\nAlan El-Kadhi\, Director of Gaza Sky Geeks at Mercy Corps \n\n\n\nHaneen Bader\, Gaza Sky Geeks Community and Mentorship Officer \n\n\n\n Andreas Hackl\, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology of Development\, University of Edinburgh \n\n\n\nModerator: Mohammad Amir Anwar\, Senior Lecturer in African Studies and International Development\, University of Edinburgh \n\n\n\nPlease book your advance ticket here as capacity for in-person attendance will be limited and pre-registration is required for online participation.  \n\n\n\nThe event is followed by a reception to allow for further discussion and networking.  \n\n\n\nA call for action\n\n\n\nAs part of the event\, Gaza Sky Geeks has called for collaboration and support in these difficult times.  \n\n\n\nThis call is addressed to: \n\n\n\n\nMembers of the international tech community to help Palestinians improve their technical and employability skills to increase their chances of finding work\n\n\n\nEmployers and universities who can offer outsourcing work and/or remote internships to the talent pool of Gaza Sky Geeks\n\n\n\nBusiness Advisors who can help Palestinian tech companies access new international markets & customers.\n\n\n\nUniversities that can offer scholarships to Palestinians.\n\n\n\nHumanitarian Legal advisors who can advise Gazans who have relocated to Egypt but now need help to relocate to other countries.\n\n\n\nPsycho-social support experts to support Gazans recover from their extreme levels of trauma.\n\n\n\norporates\, Foundations and Governments who can provide financial support for GSG’s programmes in Gaza and West Bank. \n\n\n\n\nPlease get in touch with: info@gazaskygeeks.com
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/a-digital-economy-in-crisis-palestines-tech-sector-and-the-road-to-economic-recovery/
LOCATION:MacLaren Stuart Room (G.159)\, University of Edinburgh\, Old College\, South Bridge\, Edinburgh\, EH8 9YL
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Digital-Economy-in-Crisis-30-Oct.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241030T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241030T173000
DTSTAMP:20240913T132224Z
CREATED:20240913T132221Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240913T132224Z
UID:10000197-1730304000-1730309400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Politics of Numbers: Queer Data and the Counting of LGBTQ Communities
DESCRIPTION:Whether we use surveys or interviews\, ethnographies or focus groups – the methods we deploy as researchers do not arrive with us as some sort of apolitical or ahistorical artefact. They do not collect information about the outside world that is static\, fixed and simply waiting to be uncovered. Rather\, methods are crafted\, tweaked and changed to serve the particular interests of individuals\, organisations or ways of thinking. \n\n\n\nSo what does this mean for projects investigating the lives and experiences of LGBTQ communities? Do methods equally convey the experiences of the most minoritised and least minoritised in minority groups? And might the methods we deploy in our research construct ideas about the groups under investigation? \n\n\n\nDeparting from the idea that we always need to collect more or better data\, Dr Kevin Guyan will share his work on queer approaches to the collection\, analysis and presentation of data and pose critical questions about neutrality\, biases\, politics and power. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biography\n\n\n\n\n\nKevin Guyan\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Kevin Guyan is a researcher and writer whose work explores the intersection of data and identity\, particularly as it relates to LGBTQ people in the UK. He is author of the book Queer Data: Using Gender\, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action (Bloomsbury\, 2022) and works as a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/the-politics-of-numbers-queer-data-and-the-counting-of-lgbtq-communities/
LOCATION:Room 2.35\, Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Kevin-Project-Deep-Dive.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241029T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241029T193000
DTSTAMP:20241104T160145Z
CREATED:20240829T095200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241104T160145Z
UID:10000166-1730224800-1730230200@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Future of Education: Utopia
DESCRIPTION:Visions for fair\, inclusive and democratic education futures have long been expanded through the work of UNESCO and others. However global education policy is still powered by visions of economic growth and operates through the day-to-day machinery of measurement and performance management. This panel brings together a group of high-profile academics\, activists and creatives to debate what kind of alternative education futures are desirable. What do we need to unlearn in education\, as we work toward more just and sustainable futures? How might we re-think measurement and standardisation? What is the role of education for democracy in an increasingly polarized world? Can education become a living utopia\, and what waystations are available to us as we build it? The event will also include the launch of a newly commissioned work from the award-winning poet Joelle Taylor. \n\n\n\n\n\nKoumbou Boly Barry\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Koumbou Boly Barry is the adviser to the Director General of ICESCO Dr. Salim M. AlMalik. She is a United Nation Former Special Rapporteur on the right to education. Dr. Boly Barry holds a PhD in Economic History from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. She is the former Minister of Education and Literacy of Burkina Faso and has consulted widely for various governments and international institutions on the right to education. She was also appointed Ambassador of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Dr. Boly Barry has been an advocate on gender issues in education. She also has ample knowledge and experience in training and research\, as a visiting professor at University of Nottingham\, United Kingdom\, University of Louvain La Neuve\, Belgium\, and as a lecturer at Ouagadougou University\, Burkina Faso\, Vitoria University\, Brazil\, Georgetown University in United States and Fribourg University\, Switzerland. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRadhika Gorur\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRadhika Gorur is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Deakin University. Her research spans education policy and reform; global aid and development in education; data infrastructures and data cultures; accountability and governance; large-scale comparisons; and the sociology of knowledge. She is interested in the social and political lives of data and in how policies get mobilised\, stabilised\, circulated and challenged. Radhika is a founding director of the Laboratory of International Assessment Studies\, convenor of the Deakin Science and Society Network\, and a founding member of the international STudieS network. She is an editor of the journal Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoelle Taylor\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoelle Taylor is the author of 4 collections of poetry and one novel. Her most recent collection C+NTO & Othered Poems won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize\, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT authors. C+NTO is currently being adapted for theatre with a view to touring. She is a co- curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre\, and tours her work nationally and internationally in a diverse range of venues\, from Australia to Brazil. She is also a Poetry Fellow of University of East Anglia and the curator of the Koestler Awards 2023. She has judged several poetry and literary prizes including the Jerwood Fellowship\, the Forward Prize\, and the Ondaatje Prize. Her novel of interconnecting stories The Night Alphabet was published recently and was followed by a UK tour of a staged version of the novel\, directed by Neil Bartlett. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature\, and the 2022 Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year. In 2024 she was honoured by DIVA magazine for her work and was added to the Guardian’s Pride Power List. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSotiria Grek (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSotiria Grek is Professor of European and Global Education Governance at the School of Social and Political Science\, University of Edinburgh. Sotiria’s work focuses on the field of quantification in global public policy\, with a specialisation in the policy arenas of education and sustainable development. She has received funding from the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council\, as well as from the Swedish Research Council. In 2017 she was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant\, entitled “International Organisations and the Rise of a Global Metrological Field” (METRO\, 2017-2022). She is also the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant\, which focuses on ‘Art and Policy in the Global Contemporary: Examining the Role of the Arts in the Production of Public Policy’ (POLART\, 2024-2029). She has co-authored (with Martin Lawn) Europeanising Education: Governing A New Policy Space (Symposium\, 2012) and co-edited (with Joakim Lindgren) Governing by Inspection (Routledge\, 2015)\, as well as the World Yearbook in Education: Accountability and Datafication in Education (with Christian Maroy and Antoni Verger; Routledge\, 2021). Her most recent books (with Justyna Bandola-Gill and Marlee Tichenor) are Governing the Sustainable Development Goals: Quantification in Global Public Policy (Springer\, 2022) and The New Production of Expert Knowledge: Education\, Quantification and Utopia (Palgrave\, 2024).
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/the-future-of-education-utopia/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh Futures Conversations,Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/241029-EFC-Utopia.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241021T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241021T200000
DTSTAMP:20241028T101942Z
CREATED:20240829T095210Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241028T101942Z
UID:10000165-1729533600-1729540800@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Future of Education: Crisis
DESCRIPTION:The intersecting\, planetary-scale crises we face bring new urgency to the debate about the purpose of education. Climate catastrophe\, widening inequalities\, conflict\, pathogen spillovers\, new diseases\, failures of governance and technology acceleration all challenge us to ask again what education might be\, and what we need it to do. The first conversation in the series will focus on education through the crises of war\, emergency\, unrest and exclusion. It brings together a panel of high-profile leaders and campaigners for education in such contexts and will include the opportunity to hear from students who have lived through education in crisis in Pakistan and Gaza. It will also feature the launch of a new commissioned work from the Iranian poet Marjorie Lotfi\, based on the words of displaced and excluded women in Scotland. \n\n\n\n\n\nYasmine Sherif\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYasmine Sherif is the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW)\, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. A lawyer specialized in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law (LL.M)\, she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs.Ms. Sherif has served in some of the most crisis-affected areas of the world\, including Afghanistan and the Middle East\, the Balkans\, Cambodia\, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. She has also led teams in New York and Geneva – from where she continues to conduct regular missions to countries affected by armed conflicts\, forced displacement\, climate-induced disasters and other crises. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSir Julian Smith\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJulian was recently appointed Executive Chair of the International Finance Facility for Education. Developed by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown\, IFFED is a Geneva-based foundation providing a financing engine for global education. It is specifically designed to tackle the education crisis in lower-middle-income countries. \n\n\n\nJulian has been the Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon since 2010. He was a Ministerial aid in the Department for International development from 2010-2015. From 2017-2019 he was Government Chief Whip during the Brexit period and led efforts to resolve the parliamentary impasse in Government and across parties in parliament. \n\n\n\nJulian was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in July 2019. On behalf of the UK Government\, he led the negotiations that culminated in the “New Decade\, New Approach” which restored devolved Government to Northern Ireland. He was awarded Spectator magazine’s Minister of the Year in 2020 following the deal. \n\n\n\nDuring his time as Secretary of State\, Julian delivered same sex marriage and abortion legislation\, bringing Northern Ireland’s social laws into line with the rest of the UK. In addition Julian led the introduction of the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) (Northern Ireland) Act 2019 which established the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board and which delivered a redress scheme and compensation to victims of child abuse who had waited for decades for resolution. \n\n\n\nMore recently Julian has advised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak including on the Windsor Framework UK/EU reset deal and the recent restoration of government in Northern Ireland. He acted as mediator between the Royal College of Nurses and the Government to resolve the recent nurses strike and has worked on a number of other industrial and commercial disputes in Government. \n\n\n\nJulian currently Chairs the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Taskforce on  Alternative Dispute Resolution for Electricity Network Infrastructure. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of Bath in the recent 2024 dissolution honours list for political and public service. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKainat Riaz\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKainat Riaz is an education advocate whose journey on this path began when her school-van was attacked by the Taliban. She decided to seek education as a revenge against that attack. Today\, she is an advocate for girls’ education and education in general\, and a co-founder and Director for girls’ education at ‘Beydaar Society’\, an NGO working in Pakistan to help promote peace & harmony by using education as a tool. Among other recognitions\, she has been decorated with a national award granted by the President of Pakistan\, Tamgha e Shuja’at (National Medal of Bravery)\, Human Rights Defender Award\, GG2 Award\, Ladies Fund Awards\, etc. She believes that through education this world can become a better and more peaceful place. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarjorie Lotfi\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarjorie Lotfi was born in New Orleans\, moved to Tehran as a baby with her American mother and Persian father\, and fled Iran with one suitcase and an hour’s notice during the Iranian Revolution. After waiting with family for her father’s return in her mother’s tiny hometown in Ohio\, she lived in different parts of the US before moving to New York as a young lawyer in 1996 and then back and forth to the UK\, settling in the UK in 1999\, and in Scotland in 2005. Marjorie Lotfi’s poems have been published in journals and anthologies in the UK and US (including The Rialto\, Gutter\, Ambit\, Magma\, Rattle and Staying Human)\, included in Best Scottish Poems 2021 and performed on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 4. Her pamphlet Refuge\, poems about her childhood in revolutionary Iran\, was published by Tapsalteerie Press in 2018. She was one of the three winners of the inaugural James Berry Poetry Prize in 2021\, and her first book-length collection\, The Wrong Person to Ask (Bloodaxe Books\, 2023) is a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLaura Frigenti\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLaura Frigenti is a senior executive with 30 years of experience in global development gained through her service in multilateral organizations\, government\, nonprofit\, and more recently the private sector. She started her career at the World Bank\, where she worked for 20 years\, holding several technical and managerial positions in Africa\, Latin America and Eastern Europe. She was then appointed Director General of the Italian Overseas Development Agency\, with theresponsibility of setting up the newly created agency under the government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. \n\n\n\nPrior to joining GPE\, Laura led the Global Development Assistance Service Practice at KPMG\, which supports initiatives that create real value for investors and for society. In the aftermath of the pandemic\, an increasing amount of her work related to vaccine distribution and COVID-related issues\, as well as supporting governments in implementing various types of social protection measures to sustain the most vulnerable groups.  Her senior roles at the World Bank\, where she worked extensively in the human development sector\, ashead of a bilateral development agency\, and more recently as head of a large practice in a global consulting firm\, give her a deep familiarity with GPE\, the issues that GPE is trying to address\, and the global development space where its work is situated. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmani Ahmed\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmani Ahmed is a Ph.D candidate at Edinburgh University Business School and a Council for At Risk Academics Home (cara.ngo) Fellow. Amani trained as an electrical engineer  and worked as Head of the International Relations at the Islamic University of Gaza.  Since 2023 she is a member of the EU- Higher Education Reform Experts- Palestine chamber  (HEREs). She has a research interest in women’s digital entrepreneurship\, entrepreneurial ecosystems in conflict contexts\, as well as internationalisation of Higher Education under siege and in conflict context. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSarah Brown (co-chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSarah Brown is Chair of the global children’s charity Theirworld and Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education. Since she founded Theirworld in 2002\, its campaigns\, advocacy and ground-breaking programmes have been rooted in the belief that every child deserves the best start in life\, a safe place to learn and skills for the future.Working with government\, business\, philanthropy and civil society\, Sarah has succeeded in creating lasting change for the world’s most vulnerable children. As a passionate advocate that every child should have the opportunity of an education\, Sarah has shifted international political will on the provision of education in emergencies\, and on the need for innovative funding. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLiz Grant (co-chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLiz Grant is one of the University’s Assistant Principals with a remit for Global Health. She is Professor of Global Health and Development\, directs the Global Health Academy\,  convenes the Chaplaincy Committee and sits on the Advisory Board of the Academy of Sport and  on the Programme Board Education Beyond Borders. Liz co-directs the Global Compassion Initiative which explores the science and practice of compassion Her research spans global and planetary health and healthcare in contexts of poverty and conflict –   and compassion as the value base of the Sustainable Development Goals. She co-directs the MSc in Planetary Health in Edinburgh Futures Institute\, and the MSc Family Medicine in  the Usher Institute. 
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/the-future-of-education-crisis/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh Futures Conversations,Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241015T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241015T193000
DTSTAMP:20241104T140103Z
CREATED:20240829T095331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241104T140103Z
UID:10000163-1729015200-1729020600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Rooting Decolonial Education: Routes for Repair and Liberation
DESCRIPTION:As part of Black History Month\, the panellists will engage with Black presence and Black Studies in relation to education in different contexts around the world. The audience will be invited to engage in the exercise re-imagining Afrofutures\, Blackness and the transformative nature of reparations in education. \n\n\n\n\n\nDee Marco\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDerilene (Dee) Marco is creative feminist scholar who holds a Senior Lecturer position in Media Studies at Wits University in Johannesburg\, South Africa. Dee’s research pivots around social and cultural practices and experiences of the everyday\, particularly in relation to mothering identities\, person-making\, kin and caregiving as labour/ work. Dee has written on apartheid and post-apartheid South African cinema\, black women’s lives and stories and is the co-editor of Sasinda Futhi Siselapha (still Here): Black Feminist Approaches to Cultural Studies in South Africa’s Twenty Six Years Since 1994 (2021) and Transforming Pedagogy\, a workbook for parents (2023). Dee is the founder of the multimodal research project\, Mother.Lab\, which houses a mobile complaints space for mothers and caregivers\, called House of Complaints and an online data visualisation experience\, called Tiny Letters\, of women’s birth/ becoming mother stories as ethnographic experiences of memory. Dee is invested in alternative methods of research through thinking with the body and everyday stories\, in which there are many beautiful and scary moments of heavy theoretical lifting.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman is an historian of abolitionist ideas and currently research fellow at the University of Birmingham. Having mobilised global movements such as ‘Why Isn’t My Professor Black?’ and ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’\, their anti-colonial archival research\, which treats colonial slavery as a disciplinary/educational institution\, asks ‘Why Isn’t Our Apprenticeship Abolished?’ A co-ordinating member\, in both 2015 and 2020\, of Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford\, a Cast in Stone research fellow interviewing Bristolians about the contestation of the statue of Edward Colston\, and a Henry Moore Institute podcaster explaining Britain’s neglected memorials to abolition\, they are a critic of what Frantz Fanon has denounced as Britain’s colonial ‘World of Statues’—obstinately retained and deceitfully explained.Their recent work includes convening ‘Undoing 2007; Preparing for 2038’—a game-changing public conversation\, reviewed in Museum Geographies and The Birmingham Dispatch\, about Abolition\, Birmingham\, and Commemoration\, and co-hosting\, as member of the Mayor of London’s Community Advisory Group\, the 2024 annual ceremony for the UNESCO Day for Remembering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its Abolition. In November 2024\, they will respond to the book Britain’s Black Debt\, by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies\, during the University of Oxford’s Seminar on Reparations. Their research-informed public engagement is the basis of a book\, which they are writing\, titled The House by The Rivers Of Blood: Birmingham’s Hidden History of British Anti-Slavery\, in which they reimagine the story we should teach the next generation\, of how we got free—if we got free. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKatucha Bento (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Katucha Bento is a Lecturer in Race and Decolonial Studies and Honorary Chaplain in Candomblé at the University of Edinburgh\, and the co-founder of the Free Afro-Brazilian University (UNAFRO). Her main inspirations are in quilombo and samba communities’ epistemologies and praxis\, reaching out to Black feminists and Queer subversive language to promote ethics of caring and power to the people. Guide-mother/auntie of Chizara\, Jaxon and Chibueze\, children of the Black diaspora. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVictoria Ogoegbunam Okoye (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVictoria Ogoegbunam Okoye is Lecturer in Black Geographies at the University of Edinburgh. She is shaped from indigenous and diaspora Igbo heritages and her lived experiences in the US\, Ghana\, Nigeria\, and UK contexts. Her learnings\, collaborations\, and relations with extended family\, youth\, creatives\, artists and cultural workers inform her research and teaching\, which attend to the interdisciplinary spatial practices of Black life to inform and expand geographical notions of place. Her knowing is shaped by commitments to the relationality between African and African diasporic experiences and intellectual thought\, and she undertakes her work as a form of Black creative\, collaborative and spiritual practice.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/rooting-decolonial-education-routes-for-repair-and-liberation/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/241015-RaceED-scaled-e1724929769708.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241008T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241008T190000
DTSTAMP:20241009T124737Z
CREATED:20240829T095356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241009T124737Z
UID:10000162-1728410400-1728414000@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Literature is not a Luxury with Bernardine Evaristo
DESCRIPTION:‘Literature is not a luxury\, but essential to our civilisation’ said Bernardine Evaristo when she was elected President of the Royal Society of Literature. Alongside her career as an award-winning novelist\, Bernardine Evaristo is both a teacher and a huge advocate for the importance of arts education. Join her at the Futures Institute where she will be talking to Michael Pedersen\, Writer in Residence at The University of Edinburgh\, about arts provision in the education system\, the importance of creativity in young people\, and how creativity positively impacts society as a whole.  \n\n\n\n\n\nBernardine Evaristo\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize 2019 with her eighth book\, Girl\, Woman\, Other\, the first black woman and black British person to win it. Her novel Mr Loverman (2013) will be broadcast as an eight-part drama on BBC One this autumn\, adapted by Nathaniel Price. Her many arts inclusion programmes includes Black Britain:Writing Back for Penguin UK\, re-publishing books from the past. She is the current Literature Mentor for the Rolex Mentor & Protégé Initiative. She has received nearly 80 awards\, honours and nominations and is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and President of the Royal Society of Literature. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMichael Pedersen (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMichael Pedersen is a prize-winning Scottish poet and author\, and the Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University. His prose debut\, Boy Friends\, was published by Faber & Faber in 2022 — it was a Sunday Times Critics Choice and shortlisted for Best Non-Fiction at Scotland’s National Book Awards. His third collection\, The Cat Prince & Other Poems (Little Brown)\, won the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Poetry 2023. Pedersen has also been shortlisted for the Forward Prizes for Poetry and won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. His work has been praised by the likes of Stephen Fry\, Sara Pascoe\, Nicola Sturgeon\, Jackie Kay\, Alan Cumming\, Kae Tempest & many other fine minds.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/literature-is-not-a-luxury-with-bernardine-evaristo/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/241008-Evaristo-e1724929532715.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241008T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241008T173000
DTSTAMP:20240913T111248Z
CREATED:20240913T111246Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240913T111248Z
UID:10000196-1728403200-1728408600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Wikidata\, biographical lives\, and linked infrastructures of women’s work 1870-1950
DESCRIPTION:The rise of Wikidata represents a quiet revolution in knowledge infrastructure. This paper enquires into this knowledge base as an infrastructure at the centre of contemporary knowledge ecosystems. Rather than read Wikidata at scale\, this paper employs a particular frame through which to explore the ideologies Wikidata has adopted and reproduces. This frame is Beyond Notability\, a knowledge base that seeks to document women’s work in archaeology\, history\, and heritage between 1870 and 1950 through original archival research. Beyond Notability draws on and responds to the Wikidata data model\, and this paper emerges from our experiences interacting with Wikidata to produce linked data biography. In foregrounding the tensions between historically specific phenomena and classificatory logics\, our work stresses the value of using practice-based ontology development to investigate large-scale knowledge infrastructures.  \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biography\n\n\n\n\n\nJames Baker\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJames Baker is the Director of Digital Humanities at the University of Southampton. A historian by training\, he works at the intersection of history\, cultural heritage\, and digital technologies. He is a Software Sustainability Institute Fellow\, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society\, a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Peer Review College\, a convenor of the Institute of Historical Research Digital History seminar\, and a Trustee of the Programming Historian (Charity Number 1195875).   \n\n\n\nPrior to joining Southampton\, he held positions of Senior Lecturer in Digital History and Archives at the University of Sussex and Director of the Sussex Humanities Lab\, Digital Curator at the British Library\, and Postdoctoral Fellow with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. 
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/wikidata-biographical-lives-and-linked-infrastructures-of-womens-work-1870-1950/
LOCATION:Room 0.10\, Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/James-Project-Deep-Dive.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241007T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241007T193000
DTSTAMP:20241008T101214Z
CREATED:20240829T095410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241008T101214Z
UID:10000161-1728324000-1728329400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Jeanette Winterson in Conversation with Ameca
DESCRIPTION:Artificial intelligence is advancing at an ever-increasing rate\, prompting questions about how these developments will impact all aspects of our society\, learning\, and the arts. What better way to tease out these questions than a conversation between an author and a robot. Join novelist Jeanette Winterson as she speaks with Ameca\, the most advanced humanoid robot. Their conversation will be followed by a panel event exploring these themes further. This is the opening event of our Learning Curves season\, held in partnership with the National Robotarium. \n\n\n\n\n\nJeanette Winterson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJeanette Winterson CBE was born in Manchester. She published her first novel\, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit\, at twenty-five. Over two decades later she revisited that material in her internationally bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?. Winterson has written thirteen novels for adults and two previous collections of short stories\, as well as children’s books\, non-fiction and screenplays. She is Professor of New Writing at the University of Manchester. She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields\, London. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmeca\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmeca is an advanced humanoid robot based at the National Robotarium in Edinburgh. The world-leading centre for robotics and AI purchased Ameca – the first UK facility to do so – in their efforts to build public trust and adoption of robotics.Prior to this\, Ameca was based in Cornwall\, at Engineered Arts studios\, who created the cutting-edge humanoid robot. She is designed as a platform for AI and human-robot interaction research\, demonstrating the latest advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence. Ameca is particularly notable for her highly realistic facial expressions and ability to engage in natural conversations\, making her an ideal tool for exploring how robots can interact with humans in more intuitive and human-like ways. By showcasing Ameca’s capabilities through its public outreach and education programmes\, the National Robotarium will seek to break down barriers and build trust between humans and robots. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIngo Keller\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAs a software\, AI\, and robotics engineer with over 20 years of experience in science and industry\, Ingo is leading the National Robotariumʼs growing team of robotics engineers as they test and develop new technologies and systems to address real-world challenges. He has in-depth\, hands-on experience with many robotic systems\, including all phases of software development\, life-cycle management and DevOps tooling. Ingo co-founded and led engineering teams in robotics\, software architecture\, and database management systems at several start-up companies. Throughout this time\, he developed an understanding of the potential of emerging technologies for addressing industry challenges. Ingoʼs passion lies in disseminating the knowledge and expertise of the National Robotariumʼs talented team. His aim is to foster robotics skills across various sectors\, ensuring individuals are equipped with the necessary tools to operate and manage robotics and AI. He is also dedicated to advocating the positive impact of these technologies on society. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJL Williams (chair)\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage Credit: Gintare Kulyte\n\n\n\n\n\nBooks by JL Williams include Condition of Fire (Shearsman\, 2011)\, Locust and Marlin (Shearsman\, 2014)\, House of the Tragic Poet (If A Leaf Falls Press\, 2016)\, After Economy (Shearsman\, 2017) and Origin (Shearsman\, 2022). Published widely in journals\, her poetry has been translated into numerous languages. She has read at international literature festivals and venues in the UK\, Sweden\, Germany\, Denmark\, Turkey\, Cyprus\, Canada\, Hungary\, Romania\, Montenegro and the US. She wrote the libretto for the opera Snow which debuted in London in 2017\, was awarded a bursary to develop a new opera with composer Samantha Fernando at the Royal Opera House and was a librettist for the award-winning 2020 covid-response Episodes project by The Opera Story. She was commissioned to write the 2023 English Touring Opera children’s opera\, The Wish Gatherer. Williams is hopeful about the simple and mysterious power of poetry that allows us to know ourselves\, each other and the world more deeply.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/jeanette-winterson-in-conversation-with-ameca/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Learning Curves: Autumn 2024,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/241007-Winterson-and-Ameca-e1724929655788.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241002T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241002T173000
DTSTAMP:20240913T111425Z
CREATED:20240913T105554Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240913T111425Z
UID:10000195-1727884800-1727890200@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Open Methods for Digital Conservation of Historic Musical Instruments
DESCRIPTION:As the harvesting of materials that are traditionally used for building musical instruments become more tightly regulated\, we need to look at how we can continue to study and preserve historic musical instruments. Preserving musical instruments digitally is one solution\, but raises questions on how we might continue to study and interact with them. We must also consider the problem of how to make the tools authored for digital conservation maintainable and accessible.  \n\n\n\nThis talk discusses work carried out at the NEMUS project on the topic of digital conservation of historic stringed instruments with three themes: Measurement\, Analysis and Interaction.  \n\n\n\n“Measurement” considers the risks during the measurement process\, particularly to historic stringed instrument soundboards. As such\, non-contact laser Doppler velocimetry methods for measuring vibration are appealing\, but are prohibitively expensive.  \n\n\n\n“Analysis” focuses on the creation of an open source framework for interacting with a novel finite difference scheme for plates under general elastic boundary conditions.  \n\n\n\n“Interaction” looks at preserving the sensory experience of playing a historic instrument after it has been digitised\, in particular 17th century harpsichords.  \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biography\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew Hamilton\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew Hamilton is a twice graduate from the University of Edinburgh in Acoustics and Music Technology\, an apprenticed luthier\, and currently a researcher as part of the NEMUS project at the University of Bologna. Matthew’s research interest lie at the intersection between research software engineering\, creative applications of computer programming pedagogy\, interfaces for musical expression and numerical simulation for sonic art. 
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/open-methods-for-digital-conservation-of-historic-musical-instruments/
LOCATION:Room 2.35\, Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Matthew-Hamilton-WIP.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241002T090000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241002T103000
DTSTAMP:20240902T083304Z
CREATED:20240902T083259Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240902T083304Z
UID:10000181-1727859600-1727865000@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Tech Tuesdays #3: Automation - Your New Business Partner
DESCRIPTION:Kick start your day with a breakfast session exploring how automation and artificial intelligence could run the back office of your tourism or hospitality business. \n\n\n\nWhether you’re seeking to enhance your customer experience or streamline operations and admin\, this session is for you. \n\n\n\nDon’t miss this chance to see how smart technology can be your hardest-working employee. You’ll leave with practical ideas to make your business run smoother\, freeing you up to focus on what matters most – your customers. \n\n\n\nIn this session\, you’ll learn: \n\n\n\n• What automation actually means for small businesses• How AI can handle laborious tasks like bookings\, invoices\, and staff rotas• Real examples of hotels and tour companies saving time and money with these tools• Simple ways to start using automation\, even if you’re not tech-savvy \n\n\n\nNo tech knowledge needed – just bring your curiosity and your appetite for both breakfast and business growth! \n\n\n\nThe session will be hosted by Director of Traveltech for Scotland\, Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Joshua Ryan-Saha. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nPedro Moreira\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPedro Moreira is a Director at Aphy – a cloud based automation company that supports hospitality businesses to streamline their support operations 24/7\, saving them time spent on repetitive tasks. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAndrew Guy\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAndrew Guy is the Managing Director of DF Intelligence\, who deliver intelligently automated processes that transform and streamline work across a business’s finance and HR operations. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWho Should Attend?\n\n\n\nThis event is designed for owners\, managers\, and decision-makers within Edinburgh’s tourism sector\, including attractions\, experiences\, hotels\, B&Bs\, restaurants\, and bars.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/tech-tuesdays-3-automation-your-new-business-partner/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion,Tourism & Festivals
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Travel-Tech-Tuesdays-3.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240925T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241004T170000
DTSTAMP:20240910T144608Z
CREATED:20240910T144606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240910T144608Z
UID:10000192-1727251200-1728061200@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:FinTech Scotland Festival 
DESCRIPTION:Fintech Scotland Festival will take place between 25 September 2024 and 04 October 2024 across Scotland. \n\n\n\nThe festival will contain conferences\, meet-ups\, morning breakfast sessions\, evening networking events and much more. \n\n\n\nCheck the Fintech Scotland Festival website for dates and venues.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/fintech-scotland-festival/
LOCATION:Edinburgh
CATEGORIES:Conference,Financial Services & FinTech,Talk/Discussion,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Fintech-Scotland-festival-e1725979443863.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240924T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240924T210000
DTSTAMP:20240911T095228Z
CREATED:20240909T100242Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240911T095228Z
UID:10000182-1727202600-1727211600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Speculative Futures Meet-Up #3: Futures Boardgames
DESCRIPTION:Speculative Futures Central Scotland is delighted to invite you to an in-person evening event about Futures Boardgames. \n\n\n\nWe’ll first hear from Marion Lean\, a design researcher who has developed several ‘serious games’ as part of her work for clients like Defra\, and the Pensions Regulator. She’ll share stories about creating games with government\, and getting policy people to play games. \n\n\n\nWe’ll then open up Andthen’s collection of Futures Boardgames — we’ve got some quick card based games\, some longer form sit-down board games\, and we’ve even got our own prototype game you can test. Some of these are pictured\, some of these we still need to print out\, and some of these we’re still bidding on on eBay 😬!We’ll all break off into groups\, play at least one game\, maybe more if there’s time\, and then come back together.We’ll finish the evening with a recap — we can all share what we played\, what was involved\, and then reflect on the experience.Speculative Futures Central Scotland is programmed by Andthen and the Data + Design Lab based at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. We are interested in hosting discussions about applied futures — we want to learn about how people are addressing long-term issues in their organisations\, from understanding the role of long-term thinking in policy design to understanding the challenges of using futures in large corporates. Speculative Futures Central Scotland is a component chapter of the global Speculative Futures community.Agenda \n\n\n\n18:30 — Join us for a drink and a catch up \n\n\n\n19:00 — Intro from Santini and Marion \n\n\n\n19:20 — Play boardgames \n\n\n\n20:30 — Group feedback and reflection \n\n\n\n21:00 — Close \n\n\n\nFor questions\, email ddl.efi@ed.ac.uk or freyja@studioandthen.com
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/speculative-futures-meet-up-3-futures-boardgames/
LOCATION:South Block\, 60-64 Osborne Street\, Glasgow\, Scotland\, G1 5QH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Speculative-futures-3.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240918T174500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240918T191500
DTSTAMP:20241009T115800Z
CREATED:20240816T085250Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241009T115800Z
UID:10000159-1726681500-1726686900@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:A Conversation about the Edinburgh Conversations
DESCRIPTION:The Edinburgh Conversations\, which took place between 1981 and 1988 under the auspices of the University of Edinburgh\, played a significant role in easing tensions between East and West at the time of the Cold War. \n\n\n\nExactly 40 years ago\, in September 1984\, the fourth set of Conversations took place in Moscow. Held alternately in Edinburgh and Moscow\, the Conversations brought together senior academics\, diplomats and military officials from the Soviet Union\, the United States and the United Kingdom. The key figure was the Professor of Defence Studies at the University of Edinburgh\, Professor John Erickson\, a leading expert on the Soviet military\, who was held in equally high esteem in the Kremlin and in the Pentagon. Another key figure was Michael Westcott\, a senior administrator at the University\, who acted as Secretary to the Conversations and without whose tireless efforts behind the scenes\, the Conversations might never have succeeded. \n\n\n\nIn this event\, Retired US Air Force Colonel Fred Clark Boli\, who undertook his PhD at the University of Edinburgh and who worked closely with Professor Erickson during the Edinburgh Conversations\, was formerly US Department of Defense representative to the Conversations and an expert on Russian affairs\, will be in conversation with John Sturrock KC\, also a graduate of the University and now one of the UK’s leading mediators\, who was a close friend of Michael Westcott and who assisted him in the Conversations and has access to his private papers about them. \n\n\n\nFrom their personal knowledge\, our conversationalists will discuss what happened in the Edinburgh Conversations\, how they were conducted and why they were successful. They will contemplate\, in the context of the current global situation\, what might be done in 2024 to replicate the approach\, focusing on the process\, personalities and relationships which sustained the initiative and how these same ideas might be applicable today\, exploring underlying themes such as hosting\, hospitality and humility at times of hostility\, distrust and suspicion. \n\n\n\nThe photo in the title card shows Professor John Erickson (front right) and a group of participants in the Conversations in the mid eighties. Courtesy of John Sturrock\, circa 1986. \n\n\n\nAbout the Conversationalists\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Fred Clark Boli\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Fred Clark Boli\, Colonel\, US Air Force\, Retired\, was educated at the US Air Force Academy and the University of Notre Dame\, majoring in Soviet Studies. He served in the US Air Force and was decorated with the Silver Star for Gallantry\, the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross twice. He was Assistant Air Attache in the American Embassy in Moscow from 1976-1978 and thereafter Squadron Commander of the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing and Chief of the Pacific-East Division of the US Air Force. \n\n\n\nHe was a Post-Graduate Fellow at the Department of Defence Studies at the University of Edinburgh in 1985-1986 and participated in the Edinburgh Conversations from 1985 until their conclusion in 1989. He served as a Deputy Director and Military Assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1986-1992. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1995 with a PhD in Russian History. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJohn Sturrock KC\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJohn Sturrock graduated with a First Class Honours degree in law from the University of Edinburgh in 1980\, where he was Senior President of the Students Association. Following a career at the Scottish Bar\, he moved into the field of conflict resolution. As founder and senior mediator at Core Solutions\, John is recognised as one of the leading mediators in the UK\, with an international reputation. He is identified as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal\, is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh. \n\n\n\nIn 2019\, John conducted a well-received review for the Scottish Government into allegations of bullying in NHS Highland. He was a member of the Stewarding Group of the first Citizens Assembly in Scotland and is a founder of Collaborative Scotland\, an initiative to encourage respectful dialogue in Scottish politics and public affairs\, In 2022\, he published the second volume of his book entitled A Mediator’s Musings. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAdditional Information\n\n\n\nEntry will be via the Edinburgh Futures Institute south entrance on Porters Walk (opposite Tribe Yoga). \n\n\n\nThis event will be photographed/recorded\, and may be used for future marketing\, promotional or archive purposes. If you would prefer not to be photographed/recorded\, please let us know at the event.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/a-conversation-about-the-edinburgh-conversations/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Edinburgh-Futures-Conversations-Spin-Off-18.09.24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240823T181500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240823T191500
DTSTAMP:20240808T112252Z
CREATED:20240724T104437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240808T112252Z
UID:10000154-1724436900-1724440500@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Words from the Wards: Jennifer Williams
DESCRIPTION:In Spring 2024 we called for people from Edinburgh to submit stories about the former Royal Infirmary\, to capture and honour the experiences and memories that people connect with the building’s previous life. Join us as we bring together local people from across Edinburgh alongside special guest Jennifer Williams to perform their work and commemorate the building’s rich history. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSupported by Edinburgh Futures Institute.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/words-from-the-wards-jennifer-williams/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh International Book Festival,Talk/Discussion,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jen-Williams.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240822T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240822T180000
DTSTAMP:20240812T144833Z
CREATED:20240808T102041Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240812T144833Z
UID:10000157-1724346000-1724349600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:James Crawford: Traces of the Past
DESCRIPTION:The search for hidden landscapes drives the work of Shetland-born author James Crawford\, whose books have explored borders\, lost buildings\, and – in conjunction with his BBC series Scotland from the Sky – the views revealed by photography from the air. Today he talks with Dan Richards about his latest work\, Wild History: Journeys into Lost Scotland\, in a conversation about searching for the nation’s abandoned buildings and landmarks.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSupported by Edinburgh Futures Institute.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/james-crawford-traces-of-the-past/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh International Book Festival,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/James-Crawford.webp
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240812T121500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240812T131500
DTSTAMP:20240806T054147Z
CREATED:20240805T102455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240806T054147Z
UID:10000155-1723464900-1723468500@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Madhumita Murgia & Georgina Voss: The Systems Which Govern Us
DESCRIPTION:Two fascinating technology writers reveal the disorientating extent to which we are already governed by AI and complex systems. Hear Financial Times AI editor Madhumita Murgia (author of Code Dependent) and artist and academic Georgina Voss (author of Systems Ultra) as they question what ethical\, moral\, and practical questions are being left in the wake of technological advance? What happens next? Chaired by Pip Thornton. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSupported by the Centre for Data\, Culture & Society\, part of Edinburgh Futures Institute.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/madhumita-murgia-georgina-voss-the-systems-which-govern-us/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh International Book Festival,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Madhumita-Murgia-Georgina-Voss.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240810T151500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240810T171500
DTSTAMP:20240807T083555Z
CREATED:20240805T104015Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240807T083555Z
UID:10000156-1723302900-1723310100@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Margaret Atwood: Practical Utopias – An Exploration of the Possible
DESCRIPTION:As part of our Future Tense series\, and in partnership with Future Library\, we are thrilled to present Margaret Atwood\, appearing remotely\, illuminating a concept that has gripped her extraordinary imagination of late\, and offering a way forward from the most intractable challenges of our time – Practical Utopias. Can we reset the relationship between people and planet by bringing a new way of thinking to some of our most fundamental and pressing questions: what kind of homes should we live in? What should we eat? How can we share space on this planet together? Chaired by Naomi Alderman. \n\n\n\nThere will be no signing after this event as Margaret Atwood is appearing remotely. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSupported by Edinburgh Futures Institute.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/margaret-atwood-practical-utopias-an-exploration-of-the-possible/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Edinburgh International Book Festival,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Margaret-Atwood.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240723T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240723T180000
DTSTAMP:20240530T075311Z
CREATED:20240527T084258Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240530T075311Z
UID:10000143-1721750400-1721757600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Ethical responsibilities in displaying provocative AI artistic experiences
DESCRIPTION:Artists and creative makers are increasingly aware of the ethical quandaries associated with devising data-driven art and creative experiences. More care is being put into the data sets and models artists use\, licencing and IP issues\, and environmental impacts of data-driven art. But what are the ethical responsibilities artists have for displaying\, performing and exhibiting provocative experiences? Is there a unique role that AI plays in artistic experiences which are designed to provoke emotional reactions and new perspectives? What is the duty of care that artists have towards audiences\, particularly vulnerable audiences\, and how does the role of deception in artistic creations play into this duty? Are there parallels between ethics issues arising in the arts and other disciplines like medicine which could usefully contribute to guidance and best practice in this area? Where does responsibility lie for these concerns between the artist and institutions curating and displaying art\, and how are institutions engaging with these issues? At the end of the day\, it a “garbage in\, garbage out” situation? \n\n\n\nPlease join our panel of artists\, curators\, and researchers working across multiple disciplines to kick-start a participatory discussion exploring these challenging questions. \n\n\n\nPanelists\n\n\n\nCaitlin McDonald (panel chair): Postdoctoral Research Associate\, Creative Informatics. Caitlin’s data-informed memoir artworks explore vital questions about ethical responsibilities creatives have towards themselves as well as audiences. \n\n\n\nTheodore Koterwas: Lecturer\, Design Informatics. Theodore’s corpus of artwork draws critical attention to aspects of daily experience that often go unnoticed but profoundly impact on how we understand each other\, technology and the environment. \n\n\n\nKam Chan: co-Vice President\, Visual Arts Scotland; Engagement Producer\, Data + Design Lab\, EFI. As an artist and an artistic producer\, Kam is interested in the intersections of communication\, connection and consensus\, particularly expanding the narrative of how we inhabit and share spaces beyond ourselves. \n\n\n\nMark Daniels: Executive Director\, New Media Scotland. Mark’s curatorial work fosters artist and audience engagement with all forms of new media practice\, particularly in innovative and emergent creative practice as Chair of the Alt-w Fund. \n\n\n\nAgenda\n\n\n\n4:00-4:10Arrivals & introduction by Creativity\, AI and the Human Cluster Lead Caterina Moruzzi4:10-4:50Panel 4:50-4:55Pre-Q&A audience discussion activity in pairs/small groups4:50-5:05Q&A with panel5:05-6:00Mingling\, discussion and food6:00Disperse (to nearby pub if discussion is still lively!)\n\n\n\nSponsored by the Creativity\, AI and the Human Cluster and by Creative Informatics. \n\n\n\nImage: “Theodore Koterwas\, “When Do You Give Yourself Away?” Image credit: Chris Scott\, ‘There be Dragons: navigating the uncharted data territories of creative practice’ exhibition\, September 2022.”
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/ethical-responsibilities-in-displaying-provocative-ai-artistic-experiences/
LOCATION:Bayes Centre\, The University of Edinburgh\, Room G.03\, 47 Potterrow\, Edinburgh\, Edinburgh\, EH8 9BT\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_774810359_240867516148_1_original.jpeg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240626T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240626T160000
DTSTAMP:20240614T155445Z
CREATED:20240614T155443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240614T155445Z
UID:10000148-1719410400-1719417600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Digital Cultural Heritage at Edinburgh Futures Institute: Research Exchange
DESCRIPTION:This event is open to all interested researchers and cultural heritage professionals. All Digital Cultural Heritage Cluster members past and present are invited\, as well as anyone from within or beyond the University of Edinburgh who is interested in digital cultural heritage research. Hear about some of the latest research and engagement projects led by DCH members\, make new connections and get inspired. \n\n\n\n2:00 – Arrival and coffee \n\n\n\n2:15 – Welcome \n\n\n\n2:20 – Dr Clare Llewellyn\, Lecturer in Governance\, Data and Technology: ‘Messaging a Minotaur: Using social media content from exhibitions to enhance metadata’ \n\n\n\n– We are excited to welcome Clare to share findings from the AHRC/NEH funded Enriching Exhibition Scholarship project. \n\n\n\n2:50 – Short talks \n\n\n\n– Digital Cultural Heritage projects and opportunities in and around the EFI building – Patricia Erskine \n\n\n\n– Building a Scottish community archaeology database – Emily Johnston \n\n\n\n– Infrastructure Futures for Digital Cultural Heritage – Melissa Terras\, Phil Sheail\, Cate Schofield & Jen Ross \n\n\n\n3:35 – Networking \n\n\n\n4pm – End
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/digital-cultural-heritage-at-edinburgh-futures-institute-research-exchange/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_780385189_240867516148_1_original.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240620T193000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240620T203000
DTSTAMP:20240605T103333Z
CREATED:20240528T121242Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240605T103333Z
UID:10000144-1718911800-1718915400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:How to Reclaim Our Humanity in the Age of AI
DESCRIPTION:How can we reclaim our humanity in an age of machine thinking? \n\n\n\nJoin us this June to celebrate publication of Shannon Vallor’s latest work The AI Mirror\, one of the most important books we can read right now to find our way through the AI-hype headlines and harness its power to reinvigorate our sense of human agency and possibility. \n\n\n\nThe AI Mirror\n\n\n\nFor many\, technology offers hope for the future—that promise of shared human flourishing and liberation that always seems to elude our species. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies spark this hope in a particular way. They promise a future in which human limits and frailties are finally overcome—not by us\, but by our machines. \n\n\n\nYet rather than open new futures\, today’s powerful AI technologies reproduce the past. Forged from oceans of our data into immensely powerful but flawed mirrors\, they reflect the same errors\, biases\, and failures of wisdom that we strive to escape. Our new digital mirrors point backward. They show only where the data say that we have already been\, never where we might venture together for the first time. \n\n\n\nTo meet today’s grave challenges to our species and our planet\, we will need something new from AI\, and from ourselves. \n\n\n\nShannon Vallor makes a wide-ranging\, prophetic\, and philosophical case for what AI could be: a way to reclaim our human potential for moral and intellectual growth\, rather than lose ourselves in mirrors of the past. Rejecting prophecies of doom\, she encourages us to pursue technology that helps us recover our sense of the possible\, and with it the confidence and courage to repair a broken world. Vallor calls us to rethink what AI is and can be\, and what we want to be with it. \n\n\n\nAbout Shannon Vallor\n\n\n\nShannon Vallor is the Baillie Gifford Professor in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh\, where she directs the Centre for Technomoral Futures at Edinburgh Futures Institute. She is a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute and former AI Ethicist at Google. Her work explores how new technologies reshape human moral and intellectual character and includes advising government and industry on the ethical design and use of AI. She is the author of Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting (Oxford\, 2016).
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/shannon-vallor-how-to-reclaim-our-humanity-in-the-age-of-ai/
LOCATION:Topping & Company Booksellers of Edinburgh\, 2 Blenheim Place\, Edinburgh\, EH7 5JH
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-AI-mirror-event.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240605T153000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240605T183000
DTSTAMP:20240711T105212Z
CREATED:20240514T143327Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240711T105212Z
UID:10000140-1717601400-1717612200@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Where are AI’s publics?
DESCRIPTION:Image credit: Anton Grabolle / Better Images of AI / AI Architecture / CC-BY 4.0 \n\n\n\nNoortje Marres\, Bettina Nissen and Alison Powell will invite discussion on the public’s role in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through prompts and engagements with a diverse audience\, they’ll discuss tilting the balance away from those actors and agencies who usually wield the power. Opening a space for alternatives\, they’ll explore possibilities for involving the public in the developments and uses of AI and how it is governed and regulated. \n\n\n\nAbout this event\n\n\n\nWhat role should the public have in shaping Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Should the public have a voice in how AI is being developed and used\, and how it’s governed and regulated? And how might a diverse cross section of the public be involved in the decisions made by big tech\, regulatory bodies\, and local and national government? \n\n\n\nAI is having an undeniable impact on daily life. From the apps and services we use on our digital devices to the infrastructures that surround us in our built environments\, AI is being deployed to categorise and classify complex information and in some cases make decisions on people’s behalf. Take\, for example\, the role of AI in healthcare and medical diagnosis\, the use of AI in self-driving cars and transport infrastructure\, or wider civic or urban planning policies being informed by AI. The range of innovations that fall under AI are cutting across all walks of life. \n\n\n\nGiven this widespread and pervasive presence of AI in the everyday\, what’s startling is the absence of a public voice in decision making\, and in particular decisions being made about AI safety\, governance and regulation. The social and ethical challenges arising from AI continue to attract attention\, but commentary and decisions are circling amongst sector leaders\, policy makers\, and politicians. The question increasingly being asked is “where are the public?” \n\n\n\nThis open event will invite discussion on the public’s role in AI. How should the public be involved in AI’s development and use\, and in what ways might the public be consulted and engaged in the decisions likely to have significant impacts on their lives. Our speakers\, Noortje Marres\, Bettina Nissen and Alison Powell will respond to prompts and engage with a diverse audience around questions of public involvement and participation in AI. The aim will be to shift the focal point of decision making away from the usual actors\, and make the space for alternative voices and ideas in AI. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n15:30 – 17:30 In conversation: Noortje Marres\, Bettina Nissen and Alison Powell17:30 – 18:30Reception\n\n\n\nLimited seats at Inspace are available\, please book tickets in advance. \n\n\n\nContributors\n\n\n\n\n\nNoortje Marres\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNoortje Marres is Professor in Science\, Technology and Society in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies at the University of Warwick (UK). She studied sociology and philosophy of science and technology at the University of Amsterdam\, and has conducted extensive research on participation and publics in technological societies. Noortje is currently developing new work in the area of AI and Society\, with a special focus on the curation of environments for AI innovation in society and the implications for public participation. She just completed a Leverhulme Fellowship on intelligent technology testing beyond the laboratory\, and is the project lead for the scoping project “AI in the street” as part of the AHRC-funded BRAID programme for Bridging Divides in Responsible AI. Noortje also is a Visiting Professor in the Media of Cooperation research centre at the University of Siegen (Germany) and an external faculty member of the Institute for Advanced Study\, University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). She has published three books Material Participation (2012)\, Digital Sociology (2017) and Inventing the Social (2018\, co-edited with Michael Guggenheim and Alex Wilkie). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Bettina Nissen\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Bettina Nissen is a Lecturer in Interaction Design and researcher in Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. With a background in product and interaction design\, digital fabrication and data physicalisation\, her practice-based research focuses on engaging audiences with complex technological concepts and data through tangible means and makings. Bettina completed her AHRC-funded PhD in Human Computer Interaction at Newcastle University in 2018 and has recently worked on a series of RCUK-funded research projects spanning topics of trust and consent in pervasive environments (part of EPSRC-funded PACTMAN) and the future of value(s) (part of ESRC-funded collaboration After Money with the Royal Bank of Scotland and New Economics Foundation). Bettina is currently working with the People’s Bank of Govanhill and artist Ailie Rutherford in Glasgow to explore feminist economic approaches to cryptocurrencies through craft and knitting. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Alison Powell\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Alison Powell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE\, where she also serves as Programme Director for the MSc Media and Communications (Data and Society). She researches rights\, ethics and values in technology design – focusing on living well together in cities and imagining alternative media futures. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is organised by the AHRC BRAID Programme funded project\, AI in the Street: Scoping everyday observatories for public engagement with connected and automated urban environments. The event has been supported by the AHRC BRAID Programme in conjunction with the Edinburgh Futures Institute and Inspace\, part of the Institute for Design Informatics. \n\n\n\nAI in the Street is a collaborative project exploring the divergences between principles of responsible AI and the messy reality of AI as encountered in the street\, in the form of automated vehicles and surveillance infrastructure. The aim is to ground understandings of AI in lived experiences. The project’s collaborators are based at the University of Warwick\, University of Edinburgh\, King’s College London\, Cambridge University\, Monash University and Careful Industries.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/where-are-ais-publics/
LOCATION:Inspace\, 1 Crichton Street\, Edinburgh\, Edinburgh\, EH8 9LE\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Where-are-AIs-publics.jpeg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20240529T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20240529T173000
DTSTAMP:20240711T105212Z
CREATED:20240429T143734Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240711T105212Z
UID:10000135-1716998400-1717003800@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Imagining AI: computing stories in a museum context
DESCRIPTION:Oxford’s Bodleian Library is one of the oldest libraries in Europe\, and the second largest in the UK\, holding over 13 million printed items alongside archives of figures such Byron\, Shelley and Tolkien. In recent years it has sought to work with mathematicians and scientists\, as well as its more traditional humanities partners\, to create compelling displays\, based on Oxford’s collections\, that educate and inspire.Historians of mathematics and science are key to this process\, providing accurate contemporary scholarship and linking specialist items to their broader context. At the same time\, designing such displays involves imagination and creativity in bringing items to new audiences through the power of the object alone\, often supported only by a brief 20 word caption. We contrast two recent such displays\, looking at the principles of selection\, the lessons learned\, and the techniques used to evaluate them.In 2015 a small display celebrated the bicentenary of Ada Lovelace\, bringing to the fore her mathematical ability through a focus on archival materials that had not previously been studied by historians of mathematics. The display then transferred to the worlds largest Computer  Museum\, in Mountain View California. Oxford’s Lovelace work was submitted as an “Impact Case Study” for the UK’s 2022 Research Evaluation Framework.In 2022 a display entitled “Imagining AI” used a variety of materials in the collections to illustrate early work on data (numerical\, logical and text)\, algorithms and computation that underpins modern AI. By focussing on simple examples\, with calculations small enough to be done by hand\, we drew attention to issues and challenges for AI that pre-date modern computation and shed new light on questions such as AI ethics.  Exhibits included Florence Nightingale’s rose diagram\, as an early example of data visualisation; Jevon’s reasoning piano\, that reduced reasoning a concrete process involving wood and wire; and Christopher Strachey’s early computer poetry. We conclude with a broader look at the context of mathematics in museums\, and the opportunities such work offers for collaborative research and broader impact. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biography\n\n\n\n\n\nUrsula Martin\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUrsula Martin CBE FREng FRSE  is a computer scientist and mathematician\, whose work recently broadened from the highly technical to collaborate with humanities and social science scholars on the culture and context of mathematics. Now retired\, she formerly held professorial roles at Edinburgh and Oxford\, funded 2014-2023 by an EPSRC Fellowship.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/project-deep-dive-ursula-martin/
LOCATION:Research Suite – 6th Floor\, University of Edinburgh Main Library\, 30 George Square\, Edinburgh\, EH8 9LJ
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ursula-Project-Deep-Dive.png
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END:VCALENDAR