Algorithmic discrimination in Brazil

Algorithmic discrimination in Brazil

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
By Ricardo Ruiz and Felipe Fonseca, originally published at Brigston's Institute Action to Activism research blog. Digital technologies are increasingly used worldwide to mediate social dynamics, manage access to rights and ensure participation in economic life. However, the way such technologies are created has blind spots, sometimes literally. There is not enough discussion about the extent to which a digital infrastructure embeds discriminatory and racist assumptions when developed and deployed critically. Racism is a pervasive and complex problem. Even though it appears in very diverse forms in different societies, its effects are felt by populations everywhere. The public discussion about the topic can benefit from innovative and engaging ways to make visible the intricate tension between ethnicity, class, economy and power. These questions motivated the creation of a co-design lab in partnership between the University of Bristol, Berlin-based Global Innovation Gathering and other collaborators. The lab focuses on algorithmic discrimination in Brazil, following a series of previous collaborations. It is part of the...
Read More
Aravinth Panch : Generating A Cycle of Thinking For Longevity

Aravinth Panch : Generating A Cycle of Thinking For Longevity

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Ecosystems services encompass the vital benefits that nature bestows upon us to sustain life on our planet. Diverse natural elements such as forests, wetlands, rivers, oceans, and the myriad of animal species inhabiting our world are all examples of how different ecosystems exist. During Aravinth’s enlightening mentoring session, you will have the opportunity to delve into the different roles in safeguarding these ecosystems for the well-being of our planet. To deepen our understanding of the intrinsic value that nature brings to human lives, we must incorporate practices that keep us accountable and acknowledge the true worth of natural resources within our maker practices. Aravinth, an ardent social entrepreneur, dedicates his efforts to empowering underserved communities in war-affected regions of Sri Lanka. His work focuses on enabling these communities to address local socio-economic and environmental challenges effectively. As a co-founder of DreamSpace Academy, a non-profit social enterprise, Aravinth actively fosters positive change through various impactful initiatives. DreamSpace Academy operates on challenge-based learning,...
Read More
Bahar Kumar : Reversing Power Dynamics In Community

Bahar Kumar : Reversing Power Dynamics In Community

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
In this mentoring video presented by Bahar Kumar, we dive deep into what entrepreneurial communities look like and to also discover the impact/need for building such spaces. Baharserves as Director at Impact Hub Kathmandu', formerly Nepal Communitere. In this role, she leads a vibrant community-based innovation hub that supports ambitious changemakers, enabling them to transform their ideas into successful ventures. With a deep commitment to empowering visionaries Bahar employs methodologies like human-centered design to gain profound insights into the communities' needs. By understanding these needs she strives to design innovative and relevant solutions that address pressing challenges. Her expertise in community engagement and innovative problem-solving has been instrumental in fostering positive change. Through her multifaceted experiences and qualifications, Bahar Kumar exemplifies a dedicated leader and advocate for social innovation. Her work at Impact Hub Kathmandu showcases her unwavering commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and catalyzing positive social impact. As she mentions, “it is through entrepreneurship that we can build impact at scale;...
Read More
Georgia Nicolau: Advancing Empathy; For Commitment To Care And Responsible Innovation

Georgia Nicolau: Advancing Empathy; For Commitment To Care And Responsible Innovation

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Georgia Nicolau, an esteemed participant in the critical making mentoring program, hails from Brazil and possesses a diverse skill set, such as being a creative professional, researcher, writer, trained facilitator, and consultant. Her expertise lies in the realms of social organizations, collective action, innovation, and culture and the arts. Notably, she played a pivotal role in co-founding the Procomum Institute in 2016—an NGO that champions the commons-oriented approach in her Southern American country. At the institute, she serves as Program Director, enabling partnerships and institutional development. She initiates an in-depth exploration of the pedagogy employed by the Procomum organization. Their pedagogy serves as a means to comprehend the foundation of their community-focused work particularly in terms of integrating local knowledge. What does this mean, you ask? And also, why is this important? To address these questions effectively let us explore the analysis of the seven principles underlying the organization’s pedagogy. First is faith in people and their encounters. The notion that every...
Read More
Critical Making Mentoring Program 2022 in Review

Critical Making Mentoring Program 2022 in Review

By Melanie Chan Comment Closed
As part of the H2020-funded Critical Making project, we embarked on a series of initiatives that resulted in various interactive tools and literature tailor-made for academia, practitioners, and educators. A true gem among these initiatives was the Critical Making Mentoring Programme, a remarkable 9-month journey where makers received invaluable guidance from a group of esteemed mentors. They include Saad Chinoy, Co-Founder of SpudnikLab; Georgia Nicolau, Founder of Instituto Procomum; Bahar Kumar, Strategic Advisor at Communitere; Emilio Velis, Executive Director of Appropedia Foundation, and Aravinth Panch, Co-Director of DreamSpace Academy. We're thrilled to bring you the exciting highlights of the mentoring program and our talented mentees' inspiring experiences. Together, they explored the fundamental principles of the critical making framework in open science hardware, social innovation, and environmental sustainability. Our program welcomed 13 ambitious mentees from around the globe, including Brazil, Ecuador, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Iraq, and beyond! It was a meaningful co-learning experience where mentees gathered online to share their visions of addressing specific...
Read More
Saad Chinoy : Curating A Curious Mind That Goes Beyond Conventional Thinking

Saad Chinoy : Curating A Curious Mind That Goes Beyond Conventional Thinking

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Covid-19 one could say, is a thing of the past. However, the lingering effects can still be seen today. Although pain, suffering, isolation, and many online Zoom calls are associated with this period, some positive outcomes have emerged from the pandemic. For example, we can look towards the trailblazing organization TechForGood. It utilized the pandemic as a source of inspiration to bring individuals from the community to uphold principles that employ appropriate technology, design thinking, and sustainability to create assistive tech. As Saad Chinoy states, "an unintended consequence of being forced to do online things has this unexpected positive benefits of equalizing everyone and so.. we are relatively better now at trying to troubleshoot tech issues, and so that's exactly the skills the people who volunteered could bring to the table and trying to apply that skill [to help fix tech]". The Professional Geek individual Saad embodies the qualities of a geek, a maker, and a coffee enthusiast and, as a...
Read More
Emílio Velis: Cultivating The Skill Of Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

Emílio Velis: Cultivating The Skill Of Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

By Ann Joshua Comment Closed
Emilio Velis, serving as the executive director of the Appropedia Foundation, brings a wealth of expertise in sustainability and international development. His work encompasses various facets of the open movement aiming to create social impact. Emilio initiates a vital conversation that dives into the essence of documenting and highlights its significance in the context of knowledge transfer. As Emilio describes, documentation is the process by which different motivations try to explain a series of statements that reflect facts about the world as experiences and narratives. Open-source documentation aims to facilitate collaboration and humanize the process by bridging connections between individuals. Thus, creating a chain reaction which begins by: an idea written down, to creation, implementation, utilization, and ultimately finding solutions. Documenting presents an opportunity for others to understand and appreciate the shared knowledge. In addition, the personal value each contribution holds can motivate others to think critically, build upon ideas, and explore alternative possibilities. In essence, this paves the way...
Read More
Watch the Stream! GIG 10th anniversary

Watch the Stream! GIG 10th anniversary

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Check the online transmission! GIG supports the work of its 155 members in 47 countries. GIG facilitates global exchange between innovators and innovation spaces, and implements various projects. As the world becomes more complex and fast-paced, so do the challenges, threatening the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Therefore, GIG enables cross-cultural connections and global knowledge exchanges, in order to support our members and their communities to develop solutions that best suit their local needs. We co-create and implement long-term projects that offer collaborative solutions to systemic problems in different localities.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgx5azRaagE ...
Read More
Filling the gaps in Iraq

Filling the gaps in Iraq

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
We sat down to talk with Nawres Arif this past Thursday to discuss his maker program in Iraq. Nawres is a trained pharmacist but considers himself to be more than that. He is also an artist, designer, and robot maker. In around 2003, Nawres became a part of the global maker movement. His passion for making things and his hope to share his passion with others led him to found ScienceCamp in 2013. ScienceCamp became the first-ever maker space in Iraq. Nawres says that among many other goals, this maker space's main aim is to develop ways to “use science to make life better.”  Listen to the interview: Nawres told us that the traditional education model in Iraq does not allow students to explore their passions. Learning tends to be more theoretical than hands-on, “education needs to be more practical, interactive, and fun.” He found a solution to this problem in the maker movement. He tells us that the maker movement mixes...
Read More
Noni Hub: Equipping Youths to Prototype for Local Needs

Noni Hub: Equipping Youths to Prototype for Local Needs

By Melanie Chan Comment Closed
Equipping young people with technological and entrepreneurial skills to solve local community problems is the mandate of one particular makerspace in the Northern region of Ghana.  Noni Hub, located in Wa, is a budding innovation that aims to foster innovation, creativity, and making scalable technological solutions. Mustapha Dauda, an African Maker and Engineer in electronics and robotics, leads the maker space's activities. Welcoming individuals enthusiastic about bringing their ideas to life, the activities of the makerspace include a three-week training program encompassing sessions on design, ideation, prototyping, and constructing. Participants are taught the design thinking process to develop functional solutions and trained on relevant maker techniques such as 3D modelling and woodwork to prototype their solutions. Check the Interview with Mustapha Dauda below: For Mustapha, seeing people embrace the maker movement and bring new ideas is exciting. Recounting an experience where one participant in the program wanted to set up a bee farm but could not afford to buy a beehive, he...
Read More