In the last decades the globe has witnessed an acceleration of the globalization process thanks to ICTs and the existence of the Internet. Applied to our professional and personal spheres, both of them have facilitated social, cultural and economic exchange. Thus, the access to wider political perspectives, the easiness of …
As we examine the digital landscape that we have come to exist within, it quickly becomes apparent that it is riddled with imperfections, biases and flaws. The ever expanding IoT (Internet of Things), all communicating and interacting with one another to capture as much information as possible while delivering …
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, there has been an exponential rise in the spread of information technology worldwide, and consequently, a corresponding globalisation of data analytics. In this period, digital technologies have become available to populations that were previously digitally invisible, and many stakeholders are taking advantage of …
The time has come for us to wrap up our ‘BetaFutures’ blog. Over the last six weeks, we have shared a wide range of blog posts on topics from digital campaigning and online ‘slacktivism’ to the promises and peril of social media proliferation at a global level. We have focussed …
What’s the headline? This post aims to reflect upon the role in which Facebook – as a gateway for the spread of disinformation – incites violence and political divide, particularly analyzed within the context of Myanmar’s political history and a recent Internet activity boom as part of the tech giant’s …
As we traverse the digital landscape, we are being subjected to constant tracking and surveillance which siphons off our personal and sensitive information to feed the big data machine. What’s alarming is the number of entities that are involved in the process, some can be characterized as benign hoarders; …
Paying attention to accessibility of services and products has gained more and more attention over the past few years. One possible explanation to this is the European accessibility act. The main purpose of the directive is to enhance the accessibility of products and services. It applies not only to businesses, …
As a place for knowledge exchange, urban areas have gathered the greatest revolutions and innovations of recent history. The fact of being articulated through shared spaces has facilitated discussion and trade amongst both local and foreign individuals, eventually bringing development and prosperity to their populations. As a metaphor of these …
Fake news. We usually discuss it within the context of algorithms built to prefer fake news over real ditto on platforms like Facebook and Twitter – a dangerous spiral where our worldview perceptions are manifested instead of being (often rightfully) challenged. But what we don’t always discuss is the level …
The deployment of algorithms in various areas of society is becoming more widespread and pervasive. Given the numerous issues that have been identified with the way in which algorithms function; especially when it comes to inherent biases, the programming and coding as well as the human to computer interaction …
