Hybrid address: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech

Critical Digital Infrastructures and Interfaces (CDII) at Deakin University is excited to host an international Keynote talk by Professor Payal Arora, on their latest work titled “Pessimism to Promise: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech” (forthcoming from Harper-Collins India and MIT Press) (register below for in-person or online) and an HDR/ ECR Workshop and Masterclass with Payal on 3 and 18 June (details below).

Professor Arora’s Talk will introduce a radical paradigm shift in the way we think about AI and tech, taking hope and inspiration from the aspirational users of new technologies around the world.

When it comes to tech, the mainstream headlines are bleak: Algorithms control and oppress. AI will destroy democracy and our social fabric, and possibly even drive us to extinction. While legitimate concerns drive these fears, Payal Arora points out that we need to equally account for the fact that tech affords young people something incredibly valuable—a rare space for self-actualisation. Outside the West, where most of the world's youth reside, there is a significant different outlook on tech: in fact, there is a contagion of optimism toward all things digital. These users, especially those in marginalised contexts, are full of hope for new tech. As AI disrupts sectors across industries, education, and beyond, who better to shine the light forward, Arora argues, than the Global South, the navigator of all manner of forced disruptions, leapfrogging obstructive systems, norms, and practices to rapidly reinvent itself?

Speaker bio

Payal Arora is a Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University, and Co-Founder of FemLab, a feminist futures of work initiative. She is a digital anthropologist and an author, speaker, and consultant. Her expertise draws from more than two decades of user experiences among diverse marginalized communities worldwide to shape inclusive designs and policies. She is the author of award-winning books including ‘The Next Billion Users’ with Harvard Press. Her upcoming book with MIT Press & Harper Collins India, ‘From Pessimism to Promise: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech” comes out in the summer 2024. Forbes named her the “next billion champion” and “the right kind of person to reform tech.” She has been extensively covered in the international media including by the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, Quartz, 99% Invisible, Tech Crunch, FAZ, NRC, CBC, The Boston Globe etc. She has consulted on inclusive innovation, feminist design, and AI ethics for diverse organizations such as IDEO, Adobe, Spotify, Google, UNESCO, KPMG, GE, UNHCR, and HP etc. She has given more than 350 talks in 115 cities in 67 countries alongside figures like Jimmy Wales and Steve Wozniak and TEDx talks on the future of the internet and innovation. She sits on several boards for organizations such as the World Women Global Council in New York and has held Fellow positions at GE, ZEMKI, ITSRio, MICA, and NYU and is a Rockefeller Bellagio Resident alumnus. She is Indian, American, and Irish, and is currently based in Amsterdam.

Workshop: Monday 3 June 9:30 am - 11:30 AM AEST

Location: Deakin Downtown (remote access option)

Masterclass: Tuesday 18 June 10:45 - 12:45 AEST

Location: RMIT (remote access option)

Join with Deakin University’s Critical Digital Infrastructures and Interfaces (CDII) research group for these exciting opportunities—we are thrilled to host a workshop and masterclass that showcase the influential work of Payal Arora, Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University (Netherlands) and Co-Founder of FemLab.

The events are specifically designed for Higher Degree Researchers (HDRs) and Early Career Researchers (ECRs), offering a unique platform which will afford a series of opportunities to *Review* Payal’s soon to be published work together (3 June), *Configure* your own work in response (shared by circulation on 10 June), and finally *Exchange* ideas in person with Payal (18 June).

Workshop and Masterclass Highlights

1.) Deep Dive into "Pessimism to Promise". Participants will engage with the themes of Professor Arora’s forthcoming book, published by MIT Press, which advocates for a transformative shift in our understanding of AI and technology. This book draws inspiration from the aspirational users of new technologies globally, promoting a hopeful perspective towards the future of technology.

2.) Interactive Sessions. Participants will receive exclusive access to the introduction of "Pessimism to Promise" prior to a vibrant discussion session. This session will also be accessible via Zoom to accommodate remote participants.

3.) Personal and Professional Growth. The workshop provides a rare chance to 'unsettle' your current research, encouraging you to re-evaluate and possibly recalibrate your work in light of Professor Arora's extensive research on femtech, futures of work, and unbiased design for inclusive technologies.

4.) Collaborative Environment. Prepare a 500-800 word response linking your research or new ideas to the critical insights offered by Professor Arora’s work. These reflections will be shared among participants on 10 June, setting the stage for a masterclass with Professor Arora on 18 June, where deeper explorations and discussions will unfold.

Special Features

Networking Opportunities: Meet and connect with like-minded peers and experts in an intellectually stimulating environment.

Catered Event: Enjoy lunch on us, facilitating informal interactions and discussions among participants.

Limited Spaces: To ensure a productive and interactive experience, spaces are limited. Participation requires submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI), link here by 2 June, and to register for the keynote here

Venues: Deakin Downtown (3 June) and RMIT (18 June), Melbourne CBD. Remote access via Zoom will be available, and communicated via email.

The workshop and masterclass are not just events; this is an opportunity to shape the future of your research and contribute to a more inclusive, creative and promising future in/with technology.

The workshop and masterclass are being run as part of a festival of ideas that span , , , and events, please check out the full set of opportunities.

Here is an abstract of Payal Arora’s book.

Here is and explanation of the workshop and masterclass

Expression of Interest (EOI), link here by 2 June

CDII Bios

Toija Cinque is Associate Professor in Communications (Digital Media). Cinque’s projects focus on problems and affordances of digital life, particularly on media developments of digitisation, datafication and platformization (i.e., data-driven and algorithmically steered platforms), and their socio-cultural and environmental implications. Cinque co-authored and co-produced Memories That Make Us: Stories of post World War 2 Italian migration to Australia, a feature documentary that won Best Ethnographic Film in the New York International Film Awards and was Official Selection in the Asti International Film Festival, Italy; and, Fiorenzo Serra Film Festival, Italy. Cinque’s sole-authored monographs are Changing Media Landscapes: Visual Networking (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Emerging Digital Media Ecologies (Routledge, forthcoming). Other books include The Dark Social: Online Practices of Resistance, Motility and Power (co-edited, Routledge, 2023); Materializing Digital Futures: Touch, Movement, Sound and Vision (co-edited, Bloomsbury, 2022); and, Communication, Digital Media and Everyday Life (co-written, Oxford University Press, 2015).

Dr Luke Heemsbergen’s research looks at where emerging technologies meet society and intervenes to unsettle assumptions and rewire potentials for our shared digital futures. He co-leads Critical Digital Infrastructures and Interfaces at Deakin University, is a member of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, and is a founder of CAVRN.org. Previously, he served at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Canada. His work on emerging tech appears in international and national media, including The New York Times, Wired, ABC Australia, and Australian Financial Review, as well as diverse academic presses. His recent book Radical Transparency and Digital Democracy is published by Emerald.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Deakin Downtown, Level 12, Tower 2, Melbourne, Australia