Trust, Transparency and Technology: Building Digital Equity through a Civic Digital Commons

Sponsored by Moody College Technology; Information Policy Institute and by UT Good Systems

Gwen Shaffer is a professor in the Department of Journalism and Public Relations and Director of Research for the College of Liberal Arts. Her telecommunications policy research examines the complex nature of social exclusion in the informational age. Her current research focuses on the data privacy implications of “smart city” technologies such as surveillance cameras, automated license plate readers and sensors. She is the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded project focused on the City of Long Beach’s vision to use data in ethical ways that avoid reinforcing existing racial biases and discriminatory decision-making.