The Center's DescriptionThe Center fulfills its mission through work and activities in two strategic areas: AREA 1: ENRICH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE Work locally and globally to foster the use of science and technology to create a more just, humane world. To this end, the Center conducts the following activities: - Values Into Design doctoral workshop and faculty development –bring doctoral students and professors from around the country to develop a replicable training module on the implications of ethical, social, and political values in the design and implementation of information system technologies. - Technology Benefiting Humanity awards judging process – assemble an interdisciplinary judging panel to oversee the impartial selection of 25 social benefit entrepreneurs to be honored by San Jose’s Tech Museum for their innovative uses of technology to benefit humanity. - Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) program – enhance the necessary business skills of Social Benefit Entrepreneurs to turn their “proof of concept” technology innovations or adaptations into scaleable, sustainable enterprises that effectively address urgent human needs such as sanitation, clean drinking water, and shelter. AREA 2: SUPPORT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Bring together a wide range of stakeholders to enhance public understanding, business decisions, and public policy on urgent scientific and technological issues. The General Public 1) Public Consensus Conference – engage the public in an informed discussion to influence policy debates on important science and technology issues. - “Municipal Broadband Conference”—October 2006 2) CSTS International Conference – convene local, national, and international stakeholders to address the social and technical aspects of effective knowledge sharing, and the potential benefits to those most in need around the world. - “Innovation Challenge for Silicon Valley”—November 2006 - “Values and Science in Public Policy”—April 2008 The Silicon Valley Community 1) Forum Series and Symposia - host town hall meetings that explore challenging ethical and social dimensions in the design and implementation of technology. “Video Gaming: Playing with Ethics?”—November 2005 “The Ethics and Politics of Search Engines”—February 2006 “Traces of Ourselves: The Ethics and Politics of Databases”—May 2006 2) Corporate Partnership and Executive Podcast Series – explore the major social and organizational consequences of technological advances and the new, Internet-based, global knowledge economy through events and web based streaming audio and transcripts. The Academic Community 1) The Greater Academic Community 2) The Santa Clara University Community - Faculty Research and Teaching- to foster cross-disciplinary research and curriculum development in areas of relevance to the Center. The Center supports innovative teaching and research across campus through research grants. Faculty from Communication, Engineering, and Political Science are among recent Center grantees. - SCU Undergraduate and Graduate curriculum enrichment – examine the social, political, and environmental consequences of science and technology from the humanistic perspectives of conscience and compassion. |
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