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[Commlist] Call for participation: October Tech & Society Symposium on the Roles Funders Play in Digital/Data Rights, Justice, Equity, and Inclusion

Wed Jul 26 16:17:03 GMT 2023


Call for Participation (Interest forms needed by August 11th): October Symposium Researching the Roles Funders play in Advancing Digital/data rights, justice, equity, and inclusion in the U.S. and beyond (in person/virtual options)

As the COVID-19 pandemic made clear, being online has become essential to everyday life worldwide. Yet, while the digital world seems here to stay, to what extent do we get to choose to be part of it, or not?

What are the risks of being either online /or/ offline?

Being online carries many harms and risks <https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/> associated with misinformation, surveillance, artificial intelligence (AI), datafication, discrimination, tracking, profiling, etc.

Being offline, whether by choice or circumstance, means being cut off from essential services and also experiencing social isolation.

And what are the necessary protections or remedies to address these risks or harms?

Globally, these are the concerns of those working to advance digital/data rights <https://digitalfreedomfund.org/digital-rights-for-all/>, justice <https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/pathways-to-digital-justice/>, equity <https://ctu.ieee.org/what-is-digital-equity/>, and inclusion <https://www.un.org/techenvoy/sites/www.un.org.techenvoy/files/general/Definition_Digital-Inclusion.pdf>. And all of these efforts require funding.__

Yet the issue of “funding” is often the "elephant in the room”. An important concern for everyone, but something many don’t talk about. This is likely because, as experts <https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo23530413.html> have noted, “Philanthropy is everywhere…[It] is not just a beneficent activity or a funding mechanism. It can also be a form of power”.

For example in the U.S.: A September 2022 report <https://bit.ly/46UvOx0>__examining U.S. philanthropic giving toward digital equity found that in spite of the pandemic highlighting the urgency of addressing digital inequity, philanthropic funding in this space has largely remained stagnant. According to the report, “Funding for digital equity makes up less than 1% of overall giving by large foundations”.

We invite you to join the RGK Center at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in co-creating a timely, inclusive, and robust exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives to build and share knowledge together about the many roles funders play in the fields of digital/data rights, justice, equity, and inclusion worldwide.

Our questions include:

·What is the state of scholarship on the roles funders (governmental, corporate, or philanthropic) have been playing to help prevent or remedy the many risks and harms of living in a digital society?

·What are lessons learned, success stories, and best practices related to funding in these fields? What’s working and what’s not? What challenges have funders and grantseekers faced?

·What should funders focus on next, why, and how?

Our goals invite collaboration to…

·Identify under resourced types of interventions necessary to keep people safe in a digital society.

·Generate ideas about how to strengthen and expand equitable access to funding ecosystems to advance the fields of digital/data rights, justice, equity, and inclusion worldwide.

·Initiate collaborations that build, share, and mobilize necessary knowledge to inform governmental, corporate, and philanthropic investments in these fields of work.

We seek a wide variety of participants (scholars, policy advocates, community leaders, public officials, technologists, policymakers, journalists, funders, etc.) from the following sectors:

·Government (public sector)

·Corporate (private sector)

·Social sector (civil society/civic sector)

Please consider joining this conversation by adding your insights, questions, and participation preferences here:



Call for Participation | RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service <https://rgk.lbj.utexas.edu/call-participation>

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