December 6, 2018
Open Data and Economic Ownership in West African Agriculture
Mobile apps are empowering millions of rural farmers across the West African country of Ghana. But there may be a flip side.
Digital Impact was created by the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford PACS and was managed until 2024. It is no longer being updated.
November 27, 2018
Sorting Algorithms: The Role of Civil Society
Policy expert Rhodri Davies wants civil society organizations to “get to grips” with artificial intelligence, which he says would minimize potential negative consequences.
November 19, 2018
Flipping Our Algorithmic Assumptions
When it comes to solving social ills with algorithms, is optimism the enemy? “We should assume they will be discriminatory,” writes Lucy Bernholz. “There is no ‘clean room’ for social innovation.”
October 1, 2018
Algorithmic Bias: Better Policy and Practice for Civil Society
In this 2018 virtual roundtable, experts in tech and data ethics explore how civil society organizations can work toward better policy for predictive technologies.
September 10, 2018
Algorithmic Risk Assessment in Pretrial Detention
With the help of a Digital Impact grant, one Philadelphia-based nonprofit is taking on predictive technology in the criminal justice system, one algorithm at a time.
July 27, 2018
The Internet of Things: Risks and Rewards of a Connected Future
Podcast and Transcript: Nonprofit tech experts discuss how the Internet of Things has sparked a new era of social impact.
May 28, 2018
Internet Health Report Uncovers Three Issues of Growing Concern
Who controls the internet? How open is it? Who is welcome online? Is it safe? Who can succeed there? Mozilla’s Internet Health Report, an open source compilation of data, research, and stories, shows how the internet is evolving across these five issues. The editor of the report, Solana Larsen, joined Digital Civil Society Lab Director […]
May 24, 2018
Does my algorithm have a mental-health problem?
Thomas T Hills, professor of psychology at the University of Warwick and Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute, explains the ramifications of algorithms, which are “increasingly being made in our own image.”
April 16, 2018
Digital Identity — A Missing Piece for Civil Society?
“What if the people involved in building blockchains or developing AI or setting standards for the Internet of Things were as diverse and worldwide as the people whose lives are affected by these things?”
January 16, 2018
Robot Nonprofits and Algorithmic Philanthropy
This post is part of a series of excerpts from Philanthropy and Digital Civil Society: Blueprint 2018, the ninth annual industry forecast from Lucy Bernholz. Read the entire Blueprint series and join the conversation on social media with #blueprint2018. Big data, open websites, and algorithms make certain kinds of research much easier. Scanning job postings as a […]