During the Feb. 16 Liberation Technology Seminar, five teams from Stanford University’s John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship program shared their ideas on using technology to push the boundaries of journalism. The first speaker,Girma Fantaye, is an Ethiopian journalist in exile. Ethiopia leads the world in the number of refugee reporters (79 fled the country between 2001 and 2011). Under the context where print journalism is unable to function independently, Fantaye is attempting to create an online journal that will provide critical coverage of the nation’s politics. He discussed the various challenges involved in such a project and why it has promise in repressive environments.
Deepa Fernandes and Michelle Holmes presented Illumin.us, a project that aims to empower non-professional journalists to create compelling news stories for the media. Mobile technologies have enabled average citizens to gather powerful stories and democratize the process of choosing which stories get told. Today, anyone can create breaking news. While the tools for production are widely available, a lot of coverage is of poor quality due to the lack of journalistic training. To combat this, the Illumin.us team is creating a mobile “pocket coach” to help anyone who wants to tell a story. The app will contain the basic tools and tips for capturing news and will be available to the curators of news. It will encourage people to use their own mobile devices to report anything from breaking news to simple stories worth sharing.
Martyn Williams then discussed his project to protect sources in an online environment. A few decades ago, newspapers went to great lengths to keep the identities of their journalists secret. Today, TV stations rely heavily on user submitted content online that is vulnerable to government surveillance. Williams’ goal is to use cheap and open source technologies to ensure that those submitting to news organizations are safe and accredited.
Djordje Padejski and T. Christian Miller are working on a freedom of information platform that will enable investigative journalists to access government information legally from any country with The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) type law. They argued that much of the information provided by Wiki leaks could be legally obtained through FOIA and other “Right to Know” laws, but there is no easy mechanism through which journalists can access public records internationally. Padejski and Miller’s project—the FOIA machine—would facilitate the usage of these under-utilized access laws. By automating the process, they hope to decrease bureaucracy, time and legal constraints. The FOIA machine will even target transnational issues by appealing to multiple governments’ records, revealing dissonance and promoting accuracy.
Emad Mekay from Egypt, discussed using technology to share government information from the U.S. with newspapers in the Middle East and North Africa. After covering the Arab Spring, he came to Stanford to work on projects to help the Arab media. Impressed by the openness of information in the U.S., Mekay came up with a plan to create an online news agency, using U.S. information technology and Freedom of Information laws to make Arab regimes more accountable and U.S. policy in the Middle East more transparent. The agency will act as a foreign correspondent for media outlets in the Middle East with a focus on getting news about the Middle East and North Africa region available in official sources in the U.S.
In this session of the Shorenstein APARC Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellows Research Presentations, the following will be presented:
Yasunori Kakemizu, "Strategy of CATV in the Competitive TV Market: Open vs. Closed Models"
After prospering for more than a half-century in the United States, the cable industry is taking on a new competitor, Over-The-Top providers (OTT). OTT providers are a product of the information technology revolution that emerged from the invention of Internet protocol of the late 20th century. In his research presentation, Kakemizu tries to answer the question: What is the strategy of the cable industry in the United States and what will happen to it in the near future? Kakemizu analyzes the current threat and opportunity facing cable television companies, focusing on the strategies against OTT, such as Netflix and Hulu.
Hideaki Koda, "Driving the Electric Vehicle Forward: Reshaping Car Sharing with EV and ICT"
Should the all-electric vehicle challenge the traditional car head-on in the mainstream market? The answer may be "no" if you look back on the history of disruptive innovations. An innovative technology at its dawn often succeeds first in a smaller, untapped market where its strengths shine and its weaknesses are shadowed (or even turned into strengths). It then enters the mainstream market over time by achieving more maturity, as typically shown in the computer market. Then where is the market for the electric vehicle? It might be car sharing, which is thought to be a potentially large market. Koda discusses how to combine electric vehicles and car sharing with information and communications technology (e.g. Big Data processing) to achieve a win-win solution for all by taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the electric vehicle.
Haiming Li, "Competing Strategies for China's Large Commercial Banks"
Competing strategies are critical to China's large commercial banks, as they determine future direction of development for these banks. Research shows that following five strategies, namely a strategy for lead changes, a strategy for globalization, a strategy for diversification, a strategy for systematic risk management, as well as a strategy for establishing a decision-making support system, need to be adapted. Coordinated implementation of these strategies will enhance the competitiveness of China's large commercial banks both home and abroad.
Yoshimasa Waseda, "Nantotechnolgoy for Fuel Cells: The Impact and Analysis of the Status Using Patent Information"
Judging from the need to reduce increasing dangers of future global climate change, clean energy has become more important and is a key issue for future development. Fuel cells are a candidate for achieving clean energy in the future although they currently have some disadvantages. Many researchers study the application of nanotechnology for fuel cells to solve these disadvantages using the unique phenomena of nanomaterials. In this presentation, Waseda discusses the impact of nanotechnology for fuel cells and analyzes the status of each region using patent information.
Philippines Conference Room
Yasunori Kakemizu
Speaker
Sumitomo Corporation
Hideaki Koda
Speaker
Mitsubishi Electric
Haiming Li
Speaker
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
About the topic:This talk will present four important but largely unexplored topics in regarding conflict in cyberspace – two in some detail and two in a passing mention. These include escalation dynamics, uncertainties in threat assessment, offensive cyber operations for the private sector, and attribution in practice.
About the Speaker: Herbert Lin is chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies, where he has been study director of major projects on public policy and information technology. Of particular note are two recent studies: a 2009 study on offensive information warfare (Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities), and a 2010 study on cyber deterrence (Proceedings of a Workshop on Deterring Cyberattacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options for U.S. Policy). Prior to his NRC service, he was a professional staff member and staff scientist for the House Armed Services Committee (1986-1990), where his portfolio included defense policy and arms control issues. He received his doctorate in physics from MIT.
CISAC Conference Room
Herbert Lin
Chief Scientist, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies
Speaker
Download the podcast and listen to executives and entrepreneurs from the Valley sharing their insights on how they are building successful businesses which leverage cloud computing to re-shape their industries, from enterprise solutions to mobile consumer applications, in this featured event at Stanford Graduate School of Business for Stanford's annual Entrepreneurship Week.
About the panel discussion
“Cloud makes it easier and cheaper than ever for anyone anywhere to be an entrepreneur and to have access to all the best infrastructure of innovation”, noted Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn.
By reducing IT design and deployment costs significantly, enabling greater access to data and services across geographies, and harnessing flexible computing power, cloud enables innovation in firms and fuels a start-up boom across the globe. CHAIN and SPRIE are pleased to present a panel of executives, investors and entrepreneurs to share their insights about building successful businesses by leveraging cloud computing.
PANELISTS
James Dai, CEO and founder of CalmSea Inc.
Jim Dai, Chief Executive Officer, CalmSea
Jim is the CEO and founder of CalmSea Inc., a provider of business optimization solutions for retailers. Jim has 25 years of experience in software industry, with a proven track record of delivering quality product and services to customers. Before founding CalmSea Inc, Jim was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Altos Ventures. Prior to that, Jim was the Sr. Vice President of Products for DemandTec, responsible for Product Management, Engineering, Operations, Customer Support and IT. Jim was instrumental in DemandTec’s successful IPO in 2007. Prior to joining DemandTec, Jim held executive management positions at Siebel, Vivant!, DoubleTwist, Informix and Oracle.
Jim holds a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master Degree in Management from Stanford University.
Sam Ghods, Vice President of Technology, Box.com
Sam Ghods, Vice President of Technology, Box.com
Sam Ghods, Vice President of Technology, Box.com
Sam Ghods is the Vice President of Technology at Box, where he manages the design and architecture of Box's application and technology stack. Prior to joining Box, Sam was a developer at essembly.com, which is now part of Project Agape. Before essembly.com, Sam was the lead developer at zexsports.com, where he was responsible for development, server management, and architecture.
Sam attended the University of Southern California, where he studied computer engineering and computer science for two years before joining Box in 2006.
Ken Oestreich, Senior Director of Marketing, EMC
Ken Oestreich, Senior Director of Cloud and Virtualization Marketing, EMC
Ken Oestreich is Sr. Director of Cloud and Virtualization Marketing at EMC. With over 20 years in enterprise software and data center technology, he is now helping EMC define the market for cloud computing and IT transformation.
Prior to EMC Ken was with Egenera Inc, a data center infrastructure play (funded by Pharos Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners) and Cassatt Corp, a data center automation startup (funded through Warburg Pincus). Earlier in his career, he was with Sun Microsystems in various new product management capacities. Ken also helped found the Liberty Alliance, an industry-wide body defining federated identity standards for the internet.
Ken began his career in Electrical Engineering, controlling adaptive optics with Litton Industries. He holds a BSE in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.
He frequently blogs at fountnhead.blogspot.com and tweets as @fountnhead.
Cindy Padnos, Founder and Managing Director, Illuminate Ventures
Cindy Padnos is the founder and managing partner of Illuminate Ventures, an early stage, high-tech venture capital firm. Illuminate invests in start-ups leveraging new technologies and business models, with a focus in the fast growing category of cloud computing. Current investments and board seats include BrightEdge, CalmSea, Hoopla and Xactly Corporation.
Named by Fast Company as one of the Most Influential Women in Technology in 2010 and by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Influential Women in Business in the Bay Area in 2011, Cindy has been helping accelerate emerging technology companies for over 25 years - as an entrepreneur, advisor, investor and board member. She has raised and deployed more than $100 million in venture funding to help launch dozens of innovative start-ups and bring them to successful outcomes.
Cindy is an advisor to Astia and Project Olympus and sits on the Business Board of Advisors for Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business where she received her MBA/MSIA.
Robert Scoble, Start-up liaison, Rackspace; Blogger of 'Scobleizer'
Robert Scoble (Moderator), Startup Liaison Officer, Rackspace
Robert Scoble is a blogger, technology evangelist, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure at Microsoft from 2003-2006, and he was one of the five guys who started Microsoft's famous Channel9 video community. Subsequently, he worked for Fast Company as a video blogger. He currently works at Rackspace as Startup Liaison Officer through the sponsored content and social networking site building43.com. He is the co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. Described by The Economist as a “minor celebrity among geeks worldwide who read his blog religiously”, Scoble has the distinction of followcost.com naming a unit of measurement to quantify how annoying it will be to follow someone on Twitter as the “milliscoble.”
The Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) is dedicated to advancing the understanding and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship in leading regions around the world. Through interdisciplinary and international research, seminars and conferences, publications and digital content, as well as education for students, industry and government leaders, SPRIE impacts the arenas of academia, business, and policy.
China America Innovation Network (CHAIN) is committed to build an ecosystem of mentors, experts, professionals, and peers based in U.S. and China that will enable entrepreneurs to access resources from both countries and realize their entrepreneurial ambitions. The CHAIN network currently has over 6000 members from 1,000+ companies, representing a diverse range of sectors in the technology and related financial industries.
About Entrepreneurship Week (E-Week) at Stanford
Stanford E-Week
E-Week celebrates the power of the entrepreneurial spirit at Stanford. The university continues to play a major role in the inception and development of many entrepreneurial ventures. Many of our faculty, staff, alumni, and current students have started businesses or bring entrepreneurial approaches to their work. To concentrate this passion for entrepreneurship, E-Week is presented anually by the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network, a federation of two dozen entrepreneurship-related campus groups.
N302, Oberndorf Event Center
3rd Floor, North Building (above Arbuckle Dining Pavilion)
Knight Management Center, Stanford Graduate School of Business
655 Knight Way, Stanford, CA 94305-7298
N302, Oberndorf Event Center
3rd Floor, North Building (abo
Helen Nissenbaum is Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, and Computer Science, at New York University, where she is also Senior Faculty Fellow of the Information Law Institute. Her areas of expertise span social, ethical, and political implications of information technology and digital media. Nissenbaum's research publications have appeared in journals of philosophy, politics, law, media studies, information studies, and computer science. She has written and edited four books, including Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life, which was published in 2010 by Stanford University Press. The National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Ford Foundation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator have supported her work on privacy, trust online, and security, as well as several studies of values embodied in computer system design, including search engines, digital games, facial recognition technology, and health information systems.
Nissenbaum holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Before joining the faculty at NYU, she served as Associate Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University.
Sloan Mathematics Center
Helen Nissenbaum
Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, and Computer Science
Speaker
New York University
Mobile phone coverage and adoption has grown substantially over the past decade, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. In the absence of public goods infrastructure in many countries, mobile phone technology has the potential to reduce communication and transaction costs and improve access to information, goods and services, particularly for remote rural populations. Research suggests that mobile phone coverage has had positive impacts on agricultural and labor market efficiency in certain countries, but empirical microeconomic evidence is still limited. This paper presents the results of several mobile phone-related field experiments in sub-Saharan Africa, whereby mobile phones have been used for learning, money transfers and civic education programs. These experiments suggest that mobile phone technology can result in reductions in communication and transaction costs, as well as welfare gains, in particular contexts. Nevertheless, mobile phone technology cannot serve as the “silver bullet” for development, and careful impact evaluations of mobile phone development projects are required. In addition, mobile phone technology must work in partnership with other public good provision and investment to achieve optimal development outcomes.
Speaker Bio:
Jenny C. Aker is an assistant professor of economics at the Fletcher School and department of economics at Tufts University. She is also a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development and a member of the Advisory Board for Frontline SMS.
After working for Catholic Relief Services as Deputy Regional Director in West and Central Africa between 1998 and 2003, Jenny returned to complete her PhD in agricultural economics at the University of California-Berkeley. Jenny works on economic development in Africa, with a primary focus on the impact of information and information technology on development outcomes, particularly in the areas of agriculture, agricultural marketing and education; the relationship between shocks and agricultural food market performance; the determinants of agricultural technology adoption; and impact evaluations of NGO and World Bank projects. Jenny has conducted field work in many countries in West and Central Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, DRC, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Sudan, as well as Haiti and Guatemala.
Abstract A global struggle for control of the Internet is now underway. At stake are no less than civil liberties, privacy and even the character of democracy in the 21st century.
Many commentators have debated whether the Internet is ultimately a force for freedom of expression and political liberation, or for alienation, and repression. Rebecca MacKinnon moves the debate about the Internet’s political impact to a new level. It is time, she says, to stop arguing over whether the Internet empowers individuals and societies, and address the more fundamental and urgent question of how technology should be structured and governed to support the rights and liberties of all the world’s Internet users.
Rebecca MacKinnon is a Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, where she conducts research, writing and advocacy on global Internet policy, free expression, and the impact of digital technologies on human rights. She is author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom (Basic Books, January 2012). MacKinnon is also cofounder of Global Voices, an international citizen media network. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Global Network Initiative.
Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, MacKinnon worked as a journalist for CNN in Beijing for nine years and was Beijing Bureau Chief and Correspondent from 1998-2001, then served as CNN’s Tokyo Bureau Chief and Correspondent from 2001-03. From 2004-06 she was a Research Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, where she began her ongoing research and writing about the Chinese Internet in addition to launching Global Voices with colleague Ethan Zuckerman. In 2007-08 she taught online journalism at the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre. In 2009 she conducted research and writing as an Open Society Fellow, and in the Spring of 2010 she was a Visiting Fellow at Princeton’s Center or Information Technology Policy.
MacKinnon received her AB magna cum laude from Harvard University and was a Fullbright scholar in Taiwan in 1991-92.
Sloan Mathematics Center
Rebecca MacKinnon
Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow
Speaker
New America Foundation
Information technology (IT) is one of the transformative forces in the world today. As an engine of innovation and growth, it has transformed the economic structure in a wide range of areas, and it has reorganized social activities in ways not yet completely understood. IT also raises critical policy issues, particularly around the role of information privacy, security, and networks. Japan’s IT sector has experienced major shifts in its regulatory and industry structure as it developed cutting-edge services but became isolated from global markets.