April 2025 - netsociety - server-nexa.polito.it

The New Commons Challenge: Advancing AI for Public Good through Data Commons
by Public discussion list (with public archive) open to anyone who wishes to discuss Internet & Society issues. April 15, 2025

April 15, 2025

$200,000 in funding available for innovative data commons that enhance local decision-making and disaster response NEW YORK CITY, New York—The Open Data Policy Lab, a collaboration between The GovLab at New York University and Microsoft, has launched the New Commons Challenge, an initiative to advance the responsible reuse of data for AI-driven solutions that enhance local decision-making and humanitarian response. The Challenge will award two winning institutions $100,000 each to develop data commons that fuel responsible AI innovation in these critical areas. With the increasing use of generative AI in crisis management, disaster preparedness, and local decision-making, access to diverse and high-quality data has never been more essential. The New Commons Challenge seeks to support organizations—including start-ups, non-profits, NGOs, universities, libraries, and AI developers—to build shared data ecosystems that improve real-world outcomes, from public health to emergency response. Bridging Research and Real-World Impact “The New Commons Challenge is about putting data into action,” said Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer at The GovLab. “By enabling new models of data stewardship, we aim to support AI applications that save lives, strengthen communities, and enhance local decision-making where it matters most.” The Challenge builds on the Open Data Policy Lab’s recent report, “Blueprint to Unlock New Data Commons for AI,” which advocates for creating collaboratively governed data ecosystems that support responsible AI development. How the Challenge Works The challenge unfolds in two phases: Phase One: Open Call for Concept Notes (April 14 – June 2, 2025) Innovators world-wide are invited to submit concept notes outlining their ideas. Phase Two: Full Proposal Submissions & Expert Review (June 2025) - Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal - An interdisciplinary panel will evaluate proposals based on their impact potential, feasibility, and ethical governance. Winners Announced in Late Summer 2025 Two selected projects will each receive $100,000 in funding, alongside technical support, mentorship, and global recognition. “Generative AI can only be as powerful as the data that informs it. Microsoft is committed to advancing equitable access to public data that enables well-performing and representative AI solutions worldwide,” said Burton Davis, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft. A Growing Coalition of Support The Challenge is backed by leading institutions committed to ethical AI and open data. Partners include Direct Relief / CrisisReady, and Harvard Law School Library, and UNESCO as International observer, which will provide subject-matter expertise and evaluation support. “We’re seeing a surge in AI-powered tools for disaster response and climate resilience,” said Andrew Schroeder, Vice President of Research and Analysis at Direct Relief and Co-Director of the CrisisReady project with the Harvard Data Science Initiative. “For these tools to produce genuine public benefit, they require high-quality, diverse datasets—which is exactly what the New Commons Challenge is driving forward.” Harvard Law School Library’s Greg Leppert, Executive Director of the Institutional Data Initiative, added: “Expanding access to data is key to ensuring that, as the potential of AI grows, all of humanity is empowered along with it. Our work with libraries to publish vast data collections of knowledge is born from the same public-interest principles that animate this Challenge.” UNESCO’s Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi, Director for the Division of Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, emphasized the broader implications: “As we have been emphasizing in several multilateral recommendations and guidelines, ethical and human rights-based approaches must guide innovation. The New Commons Challenge offers a concrete framework for how data collaboration can align AI with societal needs.” Join the Challenge The New Commons Challenge is now open for applications. Interested participants can find more details, including the full challenge guidelines, at newcommons.ai. For inquiries, please contact me or newcommons(a)opendatapolicylab.org.

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by Public discussion list (with public archive) open to anyone who wishes to discuss Internet & Society issues. April 10, 2025

April 10, 2025

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RV: Hypertextes (CIS-CNRS online book club): three sessions in English, one tomorrow April 10
by Public discussion list (with public archive) open to anyone who wishes to discuss Internet & Society issues. April 10, 2025

April 10, 2025

Dear all, I’m forwarding this valuable information from our colleagues at the Centre for Internet and Society of CNRS in France. Thanks, Armando Guio ________________________________ De: MUSIANI Francesca <francesca.musiani(a)cnrs.fr> Enviado: miércoles, 9 de abril de 2025 15:17 Para: contact(a)networkofcenters.net <contact(a)networkofcenters.net> Cc: ALEXANDRE Olivier <olivier.alexandre(a)cnrs.fr>; VASLIN Celine <celine.vaslin(a)cnrs.fr> Asunto: Hypertextes (CIS-CNRS online book club): three sessions in English, one tomorrow April 10 Dear all, Please allow me to share the announcement of the final three sessions of Hypertextes, the online book club of the Centre for Internet and Society of CNRS. All three of them will be in English, and one is tomorrow afternoon! Hoping to see you there! Francesca --- Inscription : https://evento.renater.fr/survey/hypertextes-7oi2n9xz<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__evento.renater.fr_surv…> Jeudi 10 avril 2025, 16h à 17h Ya-Wen Lei (Harvard University), pour son ouvrage The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China (Princeton University Press, 2023). Sa présentation sera discutée par Séverine Arsène, politologue et sinologue, chercheuse associée au médialab (Sciences Po). Since the mid-2000s, the Chinese state has increasingly shifted away from labor-intensive, export-oriented manufacturing to a process of socioeconomic development centered on science and technology. Ya-Wen Lei traces the contours of this techno-developmental regime and its resulting form of techno-state capitalism, telling the stories of those whose lives have been transformed — for better and worse — by China’s rapid rise to economic and technological dominance. Drawing on groundbreaking fieldwork and a wealth of in-depth interviews with managers, business owners, workers, software engineers, and local government officials, Lei describes the vastly unequal values assigned to economic sectors deemed “high-end” versus “low-end,” and the massive expansion of technical and legal instruments used to measure and control workers and capital. She shows how China’s rise has been uniquely shaped by its time-compressed development, the complex relationship between the nation’s authoritarian state and its increasingly powerful but unruly tech companies, and an ideology that fuses nationalism with high modernism, technological fetishism, and meritocracy. Some have compared China’s extraordinary transformation to America’s Gilded Age. This provocative book reveals how it is more like a gilded cage, one in which the Chinese state and tech capital are producing rising inequality and new forms of social exclusion. + d'infos sur cette séance : https://cis.cnrs.fr/hypertextes-ya-wen-lei/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_hypertexte…> Lundi 28 avril 2025, 16h à 17h Quinn Slobodian (Boston University), , pour son livre Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right (Princeton University Press, 2025). Sa présentation sera discutée par Théo Bourgeron (University of Edinburgh) et Apolline Taillandier (University of Cambridge and University of Bonn). + d'infos sur cette séance : https://cis.cnrs.fr/hypertextes-quinn-slobodian/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_hypertexte…> Lundi 12 mai 2025, 18h30 à 19h30 Thomas S. Mullaney (Stanford University), , pour son ouvrage The Chinese Computer. A Global History of the Information Age (MIT Press, 2024). Sa présentation sera discutée par Camille Paloque-Bergès (HT2S, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers). + d'infos sur cette séance : https://cis.cnrs.fr/hypertextes-thomas-s-mullaney/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_hypertexte…> -- Francesca Musiani, Ph.D. Directrice de recherche | Research Professor, CNRS<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cnrs.fr_&d=DwMF-g&c…> Directrice | Director, Centre Internet et Société<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_&d=DwMF-g&…> (UPR 2000 CNRS) Directrice adjointe | Deputy Director, GDR Internet, IA et Société<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_presentati…> (GDR 2091 CNRS) I'm also associated with: i3-CSI<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.csi.ensmp.fr_&d=DwM…>, MINES ParisTech | Internet Governance Lab<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__internetgovernancelab.…>, American University I co-lead projects: DIGISOV<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__digisov.org_&d=DwMF-g&…> | TIGre<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__netgouv.hypotheses.org…> I help co-editing: Internet Policy Review<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__policyreview.info_&d=D…> | RESET<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__journals.openedition.o…> I'm an advisor for: ISOC France<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.isoc.fr_&d=DwMF-g&…> | ANSSI<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ssi.gouv.fr_agence…> | IAMCR<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__iamcr.org_governance_i…> I'm here on the Web (FR<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_francesca-…> | EN<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cis.cnrs.fr_en_frances…>), including my publications. <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_franmusian…>

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Fwd: Webinar Invite | Data Governance Disconnect — The US has no Strategy for the Data that Underpins AI
by susan ariel aaronson April 2, 2025

April 2, 2025

Hi. I'd be grateful if you could put this out on your lists. Thank you. [image: YouTube] <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/2on5m2> HOME <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/iho5m2> | ABOUT <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/y9o5m2> | RESEARCH <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/e2p5m2> | PUBLICATIONS <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/uuq5m2> | RESOURCES <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/anr5m2> | EVENTS <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/qfs5m2> | CONTACT US <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/67s5m2> *Upcoming Webinar* Webinar 50: *Data Governance Disconnect — The US has no Strategy for the Data that Underpins AI* Time: *Friday, April 11 at 10:00AM EST* Stay tuned for new speakers to be announced! PLEASE REGISTER TO RECEIVE YOUR WEBINAR LINK <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/2su5m2> The President and Vice President <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/ilv5m2> of the US have made it clear: AI is a national security and economic priority. Vice President Vance declared, “this administration will ensure that American AI technology continues to be the gold standard worldwide and we are the partner of choice for others -- foreign countries and certainly businesses -- as they expand their own use of AI.” <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/ydw5m2> But the Biden and Trump Administration have not paid sufficient attention to a key element of the AI supply chain, data. In contrast with Germany, Switzerland, and other countries, the US has no national strategy for the role of data in the economy or for the various types of data that underpin foundation models. <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/e6w5m2>The US also has no clear strategy for domestic or international dataset <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/uyx5m2> sharing beyond the NAIRR, <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/ary5m2>which could be defunded. The Biden Administration issued the first executive orders since Reagan, to limit the free flow of data and data broker sales to some countries. Please join us for Webinar 50 which will explore the implications of U.S. data policies for AI development. *Speakers: * Cobun Zweifel-Keegan <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/qjz5m2>, Managing Director, IAPP Clara Langevin <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/6b05m2>, AI Policy Specialist, Federation of American Scientists *Moderator:* Dr. Susan Aaronson <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/m405m2>, Founder and Director, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub. co-PI, Governance, NSF Trustworthy AI Institute for Law and Society Please register to receive your Zoom link and/or access to the Online Event Page to attend. *Questions? *Contact Dr. Susan Aaronson, saaronso(a)gwu.edu <https://click.gwu.edu/click/id5bgi/6bk5bgke/2w15m2> Manage <https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1949788/1935780/493894052/3355904…> your preferences | Opt Out <https://click.gwu.edu/optout/id5bgi/6bk5bgke?s=2kH93j59EjDb7T_oLymOFFkxJoou…> using TrueRemove™ Got this as a forward? Sign up <https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1949788/1935780.493894052/> to receive our future emails. View this email online <https://click.gwu.edu/message/id5bgi/6bk5bgke>. 1957 E St NW None | Washington D.C., DC 20052 US This email was sent to mmoreno1(a)email.gwu.edu. *To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.* -- *Susan Ariel Aaronson, Ph.D.* *Research Professor of International Affairs and GWU Public Interest Technology Scholar,* *co-PI, NSF-NIST Trustworthy AI Institute for Law and Society * *Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University* https://elliott.gwu.edu/susan-aaronson https://www.trails.umd.edu/ *Director, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub* *https://datagovhub.elliott.gwu.edu/ <https://datagovhub.elliott.gwu.edu/>* *Also,* *Senior Fellow, Economics, Center for International Governance Innovation * https://www.cigionline.org/person/susan-ariel-aaronson *To see many of my publications go to:http://goo.gl/j9bdKY <http://goo.gl/j9bdKY>*

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