Public Interest Technology and the Intersection of Tech and Writing
By Moriah Stanley
On the podcast episode Of the people, By the people, For the People, Professor Donig speaks with Hana Schank about public interest technology. She defines this new term as the focus of technologie’s data, design, and delivery in service to problem solving for the public. Schank talks about how technology is facing challenges now that need to be addressed, she likens the challenge to that of law in the seventies. Due to the fact that there is no direct pipeline of technologists to the human sector, there is a lack in that arena. This is of course, no surprise. Within the capitalist structure of our country (where money talks), who would naturally choose the less glamorous route of public sector technology when they could land the epically cool job at Google? Hana Schank explains that she found the work of the public sector more interesting and more complex. This is an interesting discussion that reveals a true issue in the world at the moment. Perhaps because the private sector is so powerful, that is why we don’t see technological innovation that has a true human interest in mind. The public interest being an integral part of technology would work as an antidote to the ever increasing power of the attention seekers (app creators) of silicon valley.
The intersection of writing and technology is fascinating, and it also speaks to the importance of combining the humanities with tech. Schank explains how her skill to organize information to produce a desired result in writing has transferred to her ability to work in the tech world. This makes me wonder, what other fascinating intersections can we find when we overlap skills of one discipline with that of tech?
Public interest technology varies from level to level. When we think about how many people are impacted by the advancement of PIT, it argues for itself that it needs more attention. In regards to the statement that twitter is responsible for the lack of nuanced conversation, I would have to agree. The short form, grabby “tweets” seem to be the method of choice when it comes to conversation- at least on the internet and more specifically Twitter. On the one hand, it enables them to write out their thoughts with brevity, but on the other, the writing of public policy on a social media site almost seems laughable. Perhaps this is the growing pains of the technological age, in which things that don't seem quite right are happening at the intersection of technological spheres and political spheres.
Slow innovation is a direct contrast to “the move fast and break things,” and importantly so. Government moves slowly, it is how the bureaucratic system is set up- so that nothing too destracic can happen overnight. This also means that the type of work that Schank is doing, will take time. Though it is much slower than the break things ideology of the private sector of silicon valley, it could also imply that the changes can be longer lasting and reach farther.