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The CPSR Compiler - May 2009

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The CPSR Compiler - May 2009 - 1.0
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COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS for SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Turning Thoughts to Actions

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Knight Commission Invites Public Input on Community Information Needs

A project of the Aspen Institute and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Commission Invites Public Input on Community Information Needs

What information do Americans need to accomplish the personal goals and to be effective citizens in our democracy? How are they getting their news and information? And what would they do to improve the quality of news and information available to them?

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy (www.knightcomm.org) has been conducting the first major study in the digital age to identify the information needs of communities in a democracy, assess how and whether those needs are being met, and recommend steps to improve the fulfillment of those needs.

Now the Commission, in partnership with PBS Engage, is seeking public input from citizens across the nation from Tuesday April 21 - Friday May 8, 2009 at www.pbs.org/publicinput. The site offers an interactive experience and includes a preliminary draft of the introduction to the Commission's report, survey questions for the public to answer, highlight videos from some of the public forums and meetings held by the Commission, blogs about the Commission's work, and a forum for citizens to express their thoughts and opinions.

During the public input period, Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, and Co-Chair of the Commission, will answer citizens' questions about the Commission's work via Google Moderator, which enables participants to both submit and vote on questions they think should be answered

The Commission's upcoming final report will include recommendations for achieving the news and information environment that democratic communities need in order to thrive. The Commission launched in June 2008 with an aggressive agenda to assess the information needs of citizens from a variety of different types of communities in order to make concrete recommendations to public policy makers about improving local information flow. The free flow of news and information in communities is essential to effective democracy. With the digital age transforming media worldwide, reducing traditional journalism in a number of communities, the Commission is focused on how Americans will get the news and information they need to make informed decisions for themselves and for their communities.

Over the past year the Commission held seven public forums and meetings in communities across the nation and heard from more than 100 speakers, including community organizers, educators, journalists from old and new media, labor leaders, technology engineers and strategists, entrepreneurs, futurists, public officials, policy analysts, economic consultants and community foundation representatives. The Commission has also received significant input from an informal advisory network of journalists, academics, and people involved in policy and community work.

The Knight Commission, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, operates out of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in Washington, D.C. It includes seventeen respected representatives of journalism, communities and public policy with diverse perspectives, including Co-Chairs Mayer and Theodore B. Olson, Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and former U.S. Solicitor General, and ex-officio members Alberto Ibargüen and Walter Isaacson, presidents respectively of Knight Foundation and the Aspen Institute. The Commission's executive director is Peter Shane, a law professor at The Ohio State University, who is advised by a committee of journalists, policymakers and academic experts from a variety of fields. For more information on the Knight Commission, visit www.knightcomm.org.

Peter M. Shane
Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law and
Director, Project on Law and Democratic Development
The Ohio State University
Moritz College of Law
55 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

Executive Director, Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy www.knightcomm.org

Phone: 614-688-3014
FAX: 614-688-8422
URL: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/pshane
E-Mail: shane.29 (at) osu.edu or pshane (at) andrew.cmu.edu

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Liberating Voices Pattern Language Project News

The biggest news is that we now have our first pattern available in a non-English language. Miguel Angel Perez Alvarez has translated the "Indigenous Media" pattern into Spanish to create "Medios de Comunicacion Indigenas". And Gilson and Pedro Schwartz from Brazil have started translating "Civic Intelligence" into Portuguese. If you're interested in helping out with a translation of any of the patterns into another language, please let Doug Schuler know! (see http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/pattern-table-of-contents.php)

And we're still moving towards a Drupalization of the Public Sphere Project site. Volunteers welcome!!

In other news, CPSR's first executive director, Gary Chapman, along with colleagues at the University of Texas and the University of Porto are organizing the first "International School on Digital Transformation". Doug Schuler and other friends of CPSR will be faculty members at the school.

From their website:

Applications are now open for the first International School on Digital Transformation, to be held July 19-24, 2009, at the University of Porto in Porto, Portugal. The application deadline has been extended to April 30, 2009. The School is accepting applications from advanced students and recent graduates from around the world with an interest in how digital technologies are changing societies and the world as a whole.

The International School on Digital Transformation will be an intensive six-day residential program, conducted in English and bringing together emerging and established scholars and professionals from around the world. During the week-long session, innovators in digital communications will serve as teachers and mentors, presenting their current projects and research and participating in discussions with advanced students and professionals beginning careers in the field. Presenters and students will be regarded as peers during the School.

The School will focus on these themes:

  • Democratic transformations of society through digital media
  • Innovations in transparency and political participation using new online tools
  • Grassroots civic activities using digital technologies
  • Building effective communities with the Internet
  • Reaching out to new users with mobile and online technologies
  • Prospects for digital communication in developing regions
  • Digital arts and culture in a globalized, online world

The goals of the International School include:

  • Combining lectures on current research and innovation with practical experience, using accessible, low-cost digital technologies
  • Providing an informal venue for sharing expertise, perspectives, and best practices and for mentoring advanced students
  • Fostering a sustainable network of scholars and activists in the field of digital technology, communication and social change

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(c) Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility 2009


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Created by hdihuyen
Last modified February 14, 2009 10:12 AM
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