Science, Technology and Data

BY JESSICA “ZHANNA” MALEKOS SMITH As the U.S., the U.K., Russia, China, South Korea, and Israel begin developing fully autonomous weapons (FAW) systems, the issue of state responsibility for such systems remains undeveloped. In fact, the term “state responsibility” did not even appear in the United Nation’s Group of Governmental Experts Chair’s summary of the […]

As we put more of our lives and data online, personal data and its management has become a much more controversial issue. What are Singapore’s laws on the issue, and how do we balance technological progress with personal privacy? Jarret Huang explains.

BY BRENDAN ROACH In 1950, British mathematician Alan Turing took to the pages of the philosophical journal Mind to pose a question that has flummoxed philosophers and scientists ever since: can machines think?[1] At the time of writing, the question was almost preposterously optimistic: the world’s first computer, the ENIAC, was barely five years old […]

BY ANGELICA QUICKSEY and EMILY BROAS An internet connection is a gateway to the modern world: communication, education, economic opportunity, entertainment, and more. Yet, 19 percent of U.S. households lack a home broadband subscription and are excluded from these benefits. The digital divide – the gulf between those who have ready access to the internet […]

BY AYNA AGARWAL About three years ago, a little-known researcher named Aleksandr Kogan began a social science experiment at Cambridge University. Nothing unusual here. But just a few years later, he became embroiled in a Silicon Valley scandal of epic proportions. Over 80 million raw profiles of users—including their friends, activity, and private information—were scraped […]

BY KAVI PATEL Cryptocurrencies often evoke glamorous images of overnight billionaires in first-world countries and technology experts who are making blockchain their new pet project. However, the asset’s next target users come from a starkly different background. Rather than turning to cryptos for greed or technical expertise, this next wave is adopting the currency trend […]

BY DEVASHISH CHANDRA In 2017, Elon Musk commented that artificial intelligence is more dangerous than North Korea. Exponential technological growth led by artificial intelligence and machine learning has generated tremendous fear and anxiety. However, this apprehension isn’t a new one for humanity. In the 16th century, the scientific revolution, which led to the emergence of modern empirical […]

BY EMILY MIDDLETON Imagine a traffic system so smart that it can cut your commute in half. Imagine paths that heat up in winter, so you don’t have to walk in the snow. Imagine sensors that make it easier for the blind to get around the city, and quicker for ambulances to reach their patients. […]

BY ASAD RAMZANALI If you believe the standard Silicon Valley narrative, technologies like artificial intelligence will cause unprecedented levels of job loss. The solution is universal basic income (UBI), an unconditional cash transfer for every citizen. While UBI may alleviate poverty and modernize welfare programs, it is not a solution for mass unemployment. If labor […]

BY HAMADA ZAHAWI A year ago I was a part of a delegation from the Harvard Kennedy School competing in the Student Challenge at the World Government Summit in Dubai, UAE. Against twelve teams, we won with a pitch to incentivize civic engagement through citizen-government digital coins that directly activate the power of the people. […]

BY JEFFREY VOTH Former NSA Director, Mike McConnell recognized the agency was trapped in a slow-motion cybersecurity crisis long before explosive security breaches were revealed by The New York Times. “We have had a train wreck coming,” Mr. McConnell said. Cybersecurity will be a significant portion of the FY 2018 federal budget with more than […]

BY ANGELICA QUICKSEY Although quantitative data and analysis can help us design better policies and programs, we have edged alarmingly close to a worldview that suggests the use of data automatically scrubs away ideology and prejudice. This worldview neglects the ways that numbers can reflect human biases and the ways data can be dangerous. Data […]