Dr. Michael L. Best to speak on ICTD research at ARNIC lunchtime seminar
Tuesday, September 4th, 2018
ICTD is dead—long live ICTD.
After the experience of three years as founding director of an information and communication technology and development (ICTD) research institute within the United Nations, along with the many global challenges experienced within today’s cyberspace, Dr. Michael L. Best believes that the ICTD research community is undertaking a necessary reboot. A number of core tenants of digital systems are now being questioned: Is more online speech necessarily good? Is openness desirable? Do we trust a marketplace of ideas? Similarly, core tenants of ICTD are undergoing interrogation: is there any longer a North/South digital divide? Is the internet a merit good and useful to development? In the ARNIC lunchtime seminar series, Dr. Best will use this seminar to debate the future of ICTD. Is it in decline or is it more important than ever?
Dr. Michael L. Best is associate professor with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology where he directs the Technologies and International Development Lab. He was founding director of the United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society (UNU-CS) in Macau SAR, China. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and has served as director of Media Lab Asia in India and head of the eDevelopment group at the MIT Media Lab. Dr. Best has over 100 published papers in journals, proceedings, and books. He is the recipient of awards including the Stephen A. Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement (2014), People & Technology Award, Georgia Tech Research Corporation (2011), and Ivan Allen Faculty Legacy Award (2009).
This ARNIC seminar will be held in ASC 236 on Tuesday, September 4 at 12:30pm—lunch will be served. Please email Sierra Bray for more details: sierra.bray@usc.edu.