June 2020: Free tix, reimagined music, and journalism solutions

June 2020: Free tix, reimagined music, and journalism solutions

The NYC Media Lab is excited to share with you our monthly update. Today, we announce a Prototyping Challenge with Consumer Reports that explores consumer privacy. You know those 6 point type forms that are unreadable? We’re going to unpack consumer disclosures. The challenge is to make them readable by humans. Timely and relevant, we think.

And we’ve got five amazing teams lined up to unlock how we create and experience music with our new partner ASCAP.

What do privacy and music have in common? They’re core to our digital lives — complex and multifaceted. These are challenging times and we’re here to work with you on solutions.

Please reach out if the NYC Media Lab team can support your efforts in any way.

Steve Rosenbaum
Managing Director, NYC Media Lab
steve@nycmedialab.org NEW & NOTEWORTHY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NYCML & Consumer Reports Consumer Data & Privacy Prototyping Challenge

NYC Media Lab and Consumer Reports are seeking university teams to explore how we can make privacy policies and terms of service more useful to average consumers.

It’s hard for consumers to make informed choices around companies’ privacy practices when choosing among products and services to use — it’s so complex and no one has time. How can we make privacy policies and terms of service more useful to average consumers?

The NYC Media Lab and Consumer Reports team will select up to five teams of university faculty and graduate students to explore and build solutions that address one of the following topic areas:

• What kind of valuable information can CR synthesize and provide to people about companies’ privacy disclosures?
• How can we make these documents, and in the information they contain, useful for everyday people?

Participating teams will work alongside and receive guidance from Consumer Reports’ Digital Labs team, and teams will be awarded with a grant of up to $5,000 per team. Applications are open now through June 28, 2020 (11:59pm EST). LEARN MORE & APPLY HERE.

MUST-WATCH: How We’re Preparing Students for the Workforce of the Future

“Our project aims to give kids a real, deep, visceral, and intuitive understanding of where stars and planets come from.” We teamed up with Verizon to launch the 5G EdTech Challenge which brings 5G based-solutions through cutting-edge tech into underserved schools. WATCH HERE. LAUNCH: Summer 2020 ASCAP Music & Design Challenge Officially Kicks Off!

After an intensive interview process, we’re thrilled to announce our summer 2020 NYCML x ASCAP Music & Design Challenge participants:

• Chillers: Dana Bevilacqua, Michael Mcphee, Claire Pelofi
• CnC: Cy Kim, Cezar Mocan
• CoCreative: Son Luu, Sachiko Nakajima, Chenhe Zhang
• MIDI: David Azar, Arnab Chakravarty, Dana Elkis, Matt Ross
• Octavia Immersive: Jess Chase, Douglas Goldstein, Marcel Truxillo

During this 10-week prototyping challenge, these graduate student teams will work closely with mentors and partners from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) to develop, build, and test prototypes that might unlock new ways we create and experience music.

How might we reimagine the keyboard in new digital mediums? How will emerging tech open new pathways for collaborative composition? How can we experience music through an accessibility lens? We hope to answer these questions and many more when this music and design challenge crescendos in a Virtual Demo Day in August 2020. Stay tuned!

REMINDER: Follow @NYCMediaLab on Instagram

@NYCMediaLab We know, we know…we’re late to the Instagram game. But better late than never? Follow us @NYCMediaLab and we’ll promise to keep you up-to-date on #SolarCat, #FortniteConcerts, #NewsWellness, and our continued commitment to equality, justice, and peace. ✊ ✌️ VIRTUAL EVENTS MUST-WATCH: Why News Matters — Exploring Journalism Solutions

For the final episode of our Spring Virtual Open House, we invited industry experts to discuss “Why News Matters” as we explored journalism solutions in these pivotal times.

The highlights:

• Craig Newmark shares what he would have done differently in 1995 if he knew then what he knows now. Hint: craigslist launched in 1995.
• Aspen Digital executive director Vivian Schiller reflects back on her time at NPR: “I wish we had pushed harder on collaboration between (and among) local NPR member stations — who all operate independently — and other local media.”
• NYU Journalism professor Jay Rosen explains the “truth sandwich”: First impressions are very powerful and the first speaker of the lie has an advantage over those who come later and try to debunk it. First, state what is true, then you repeat that a dubious of false claim has been made, and then you restate what is true so that the first impression and last impression are of the true thing.

Watch or listen to the full panel discussion HERE.
ICYMI: Web Freedom Discussion on Section 230 Is More Relevant Than Ever

Should government get to decide what citizens can and can’t say on social media platforms? If not them, then who? And should the decision-making process be public knowledge?

Given the current climate around social media giants Facebook and Twitter, we highly recommend brushing up on Section 230 which, since 1996, has given websites broad legal immunity. Watch the NYCML x SXSW panel discussion with Cornell Tech visiting fellow Yaël Eisenstat, UN special rapporteur David Kaye, Federal Election commissioner Ellen Weintraub, and NYCML managing director Steve Rosenbaum. FREE TIX: DSSelevate Virtual Web Series

According to research from executive recruiting firm Burtch Works, 85% of data scientists and 74% of predictive analytics professionals are male. By either metric, less than 30% of roles are filled by women.

Data Science Salon Elevate is a unique female-focused virtual conference which brings together specialists to educate each other, illuminate best practices, and innovate new solutions. Learn as female thought leaders from Dropbox, LinkedIn, iRobot, and more share their wisdom and experience. A handful of FREE tickets are up for grabs through this special discount link (tickets are typically $25).

KEEP IN TOUCH…

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