Craig Newmark Philanthropies Renews Support for Center for Applied Data Ethics at the University of San Francisco Data Institute
SAN FRANCISCO (July 9, 2020) – The Center for Applied Data Ethics (CADE) of the University of San Francisco’s (USF) Data Institute has announced that Craig Newmark Philanthropies has renewed its support of CADE for another year with a gift of $500,000. CADE was launched in 2019 to address issues surrounding the misuse of data through education, research, public policy and civil advocacy.
Originally funded by a generous gift from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the organization of craigslist founder Craig Newmark, CADE’s first year included a tech policy workshop and a data ethics seminar series, all of which were open to the community at-large along with research and data ethics certificate courses.
“We are grateful to Craig Newmark for supporting our efforts to help educate the public on data ethics issues and to work on-the-ground to continue to address these urgent problems,” explained Rachel Thomas, Director of CADE.
Diversity is a crucial component of addressing data ethics challenges. CADE’s commitment to supporting underrepresented students and researchers included providing 23 full fellowships to workshops and courses this year. CADE will continue to host speakers who bring a variety of experiences and viewpoints, as well as amplify experts from a range of backgrounds.
“Commerce, our personal lives, and the affairs of nations rely on increasing flows of data,” said Newmark. “That information can be used to improve peoples’ lives or it can work against us, and we rely on groups like CADE to set our moral compass.”
During its first year, CADE leveraged existing resources, such as Data Institute relationships with over 130 partner companies, and completed long-term projects with Airbnb and Human Rights Data Analysis Group. CADE partners with tech industry employees and founders, civil rights groups, policy makers, nonprofits, and academic researchers to promote ethical practices and policies around data. Additionally, data ethics research fellows Ali Alkhatib, Razvan Amironesei and Nana Young have recently joined CADE for year-long, full-time fellowships.
“These fellows bring expertise in an interdisciplinary range of fields, including bioethics, public policy, anthropology, computer science, data privacy and political philosophy,” said Thomas. “We hope to be able to expand this program in the future.”
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About the University of San Francisco Data Institute
Established in 2016, the USF Data Institute serves as the umbrella organization for data science education, research and programming at USF. The Data Institute offers MS Data Science, BS Data Science and continuing education certificates. For more information, visit datainstitute@usfca.edu.
About Craig Newmark Philanthropies
Craig Newmark Philanthropies was created by craigslist founder Craig Newmark to support and connect people and drive broad civic engagement. It works to advance people and grassroots organizations that are getting stuff done in areas that include trustworthy journalism, voter protection, gender diversity in technology, and veterans and military families. For more information, please visit Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
About the University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco is a private, Jesuit Catholic university that reflects the diversity, optimism, and opportunities of the city that surrounds it. USF offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate, professional, and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, law, education, and nursing and health professions. At USF, each course is an intimate learning community in which top professors encourage students to turn learning into positive action, so the students graduate equipped to do well in the world — and inspired to change it for the better. For more information, visit usfca.edu.