Smart City PDX and Make+Think+Code invite you to a forum/conversation/unconference on civic data and digital/data privacy in our region. This participant-driven meeting will create space to share opportunities, concerns, and challenges related to privacy and civic data in our region.
In a digitally networked world, as more and more personal information is collected, shared, and used across a variety of contexts, we need tools and policies to safeguard privacy and anonymize data while ensuring transparency and open access to support research, advocacy, and civic innovation.
Inviting all policymakers, technologists, community groups, librarians, educators, researchers, advocates, activists, artists, and designers to help us create a model of open civic data and data/digital privacy that reflects our values and empowers our communities.
Join Make+Think+Code and Smart City PDX on Thursday, January 17, 2019, to provide feedback, ideas, and insights to the City of Portland's efforts in navigating the operational and ethical issues in open civic data initiatives. Smart City PDX is partnered with the Mayor’s Office, the Office of Commissioner Fritz, and the Office of Equity and Human Rights in developing principles and procedures to promote and preserve privacy rights and information protection values. A key piece of this work is to foster engagement with and outreach to diverse stakeholders in the community impacted by data collection.
Through a series of short lightning talks, an unconference format, and a forum, we will explore critical questions around civic data collection and archiving (including issues of equity and bias); implications of technologies and systems that can rapidly collect data about individuals (and tools to subvert these); and ways of ensuring that government use of data is in service to the community.
Please share with anyone else you think might be interested. Our conversation will be richer and more impactful with a greater diversity of individuals, expertise, and groups.
Focus for the Day:
Operationalizing City of Portland Draft Privacy and Information Protection Principles
Tools for Personal and Community Data/Digital Privacy
Engagement and Advocacy: Ongoing/potential Legislation/Policy discussions
Democratization of civic data: tools and objectives.
When: Please join us for lunch at 12:30 and for talks and conversations after. You are welcome to join later during any of the sessions and/or attend the reception if that fits in better with your schedule. We do have limited space so we ask that you register (and cancel if you need to so somebody else can use the spot).
Schedule:
12:30 pm - Registration, Lunch, and discussion of the City Principles draft document
1:30 pm - Introduction: City Principles, Christine Kendrick and Hector Dominguez
1:45 pm - Panel Lightning talks by Gabriela Rodriguez, Samuel Pastrick and moderated q&a
2:15 pm - Unconference
3:45 pm - Discussion
4:15 pm Conclusion: Next steps: Future meetings and plan
4:30 pm - Reception, snacks, networking
Bios
Gabriela Rodriguez
Software Engineer turned into project manager. Organizer, facilitator and activist focus on the intersection between media and technology, feminism, free and open source software, open data, security & safety.
Samuel Pastrick
As CUB's Outreach Manager, Sam tackles a range of information and communications technology and energy policy issues at the Oregon Legislature, Public Utility Commission, and within the City of Portland. He also directs CUB's membership-related campaigns. Before joining CUB in 2014, Sam worked on low-income weatherization, building performance, and lead poisoning prevention initiatives at the Portland-based nonprofit, Community Energy Project. He studied Environmental Management & Policy at the University of Maine. Outside of work, he hangs out with his wife, enjoys the outdoors, and gets way-too-worked-up about politics.
Christine Kendrick, Smart City PDX Coordinator
Christine is an air quality scientist specializing in monitoring, policy and the public health impacts of air pollution. Her work on sensors and data collection projects focuses on the technical, ethical, and policy questions surrounding the uses of distributed sensors and Internet of Things technologies. She has a PhD in Environmental Science and Resources with a focus on urban air quality, data analysis and instrumentation.
Hector Dominguez, Open Data Coordinator, Smart City PDX
Hector comes from a mixed background of entrepreneurship, research and non-profit organizations, with expertise on Internet of things, advanced analytics, robotics and automation and Artificial Intelligence. Hector has developed sensor networks for agriculture, food production, forest monitoring and the oil industry. Hector has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on manufacturing solar concentrators and sustainable manufacturing.