mit media laboratory collaborating partner: harvard center for international development principal...
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MIT Media Laboratory
Collaborating Partner:Harvard Center for International Development
Principal Investigators:Alex (Sandy) Pentland, Mitchel Resnick
Board:Nicholas NegroponteJeffrey SachsJose Maria Figueres
MIT Media Laboratory
Collaborating Partner:Harvard Center for International Development
Faculty: Walter Bender, Mike Best, Justine Cassell, David Cavallo, Glorianna Davenport, Joseph Jacobson, Amar Gupta, Geoffrey Kirkman, Henry Lieberman, Scott Manalis, Bakhtiar Mikhak, Seymour Papert, Deb Roy, Ted Selker, Brian Smith
Two Revolutions:
Communications
Sensors and Actuators
Economic disruption and opportunity
Flattened organizations, empowered individuals
Network penumbra: new players join
Distribution of Internet Hosts, July 1999
Africa0.3%
LAC2%
Developing Asia-Pacific
4%
Autralia, Japan &
New Zealand
6.4%Europe22%
Canada & U.S.66%
Other6%
Internet Access Charge (% of GDP per capita)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
USA
Australia
Finland
Japan
Turkey
Mexico
Senegal
Guinea
Mozambique
Ethiopia
Uganda
Sierra Leone
Percentage ofHouseholds
GartnerBase: All US Adults (198 million) - February 2000
59%
83%
73%
35%
0%10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%80%
90%
100%
Lower Lower Middle Upper Middle Upper
Access by Socioeconomic Status
Dataquest
What is a Digital Nation?
What is a Digital Nation?
Access to digital technology
What is a Digital Nation?
Access to digital technology
Fluency with digital technology
Ivan Illich: Tools for Conviviality
“People need not only to obtain things, they need above all the freedom to make things among which they can live, to give shape to them according to their own tastes, and to put them to use in caring for and about others.”
The Media Lab
How people and machines can work together for expression, learning, creativity
History and Growth
Method:Apprenticeship, not lecturesInvention, not description
Research Consortia (TTT, DL, NiF)
Pre-competitive: we work on high-risk research
Leveraged: each member puts in small fraction of total cost
High-impact research: important research problems affect many different practical applications
Value to Sponsors:
Technology transfer
Voice in research direction
Personal Connections: Fellows, meetings, visits to discuss research, education of senior personnel, brainstorming problems
Joint projects
How Digital Nations is different
Addressing major social challenges: Learning and education Health care Community development
How Digital Nations is different
Addressing major social challenges: Learning and education Health care Community development
New types of sponsors and partners
How Digital Nations is different
Addressing major social challenges: Learning and education Health care Community development
New types of sponsors and partners
Focusing where needs are greatest: Children Seniors Under-served communities Developing nations
Action Projects Learning Hubs
Lincos
Computer Clubhouses
Silver Stringers
PIE Network
Benefits of memberships
Access to research results
Influence direction of research
Executive visits
Action projects
Connections with other members
Graduate-student fellows
Ways to Join
Examples: Learning Lab Denmark Telmex
Foundations, international agencies
Corporate support
Digital Nations Fund
Research Themes
Learning
Community
Multicultural Computing
Commerce
Sustainable Development
Health
Low-Cost Technologies
