Software that can Enhance Your Mission

This has very little to do with technical knowledge and everything to do with power.  —Cathy O'Neil

Eddie Glenn, Leyla Mahabadi

Eddie Glenn

Software Engineer

Giving Program Manager

 

former lawyer - current techie

Leyla Mahabadi

Marketing and Spanish

Carlson School of Management

 

current student - future unlimited

How do you feel about tech?

On a scale of 1-5 rate your confidence with tech

What tech is your org  using?

 

 

 

What apps are you using?

Do you have any developers or IT staff? What do they do for you?

Your relationship to technology

 

  • Can tech serve your mission? Your expertise?
    • Where technology ends
    • Where social justice begins
  • Unwitting consumers can be exploited
  • Critical consumers can guide the industry

Only You Can Answer!

  • What's your core mission?
  • What problems are you solving?
  • Underlying problems?
  • Interrelated Problems?
  • Correlations?
  • Causations?

 

Tech can limit you

Software Development Process

Prepare for Development

  • Brainstorming solutions
  • Designing
  • UX Research

Software Development

  • Build a solution

 

Case Studies

 

Part 1: Benefits of Tech

Part 2: Dangers of Tech

Part 3: Build a Framework

Part 4: Breaking Barriers

Tech Benefits

  1. Communication
  2. Logistics
  3. Convenience - tipping point in human behavior
  4. Data collection
  5. Data analysis
  6. Not an exhaustive list

What problems tech already solved?

Communication

connect isolated voices

Communication

Anonymity, Promoting Safety

  • Silent Choir - www.silentchoir.org
    • Anonymously and confidentially report sexual harassment
  • Blockchain
  • Encryption

Logistics

automation, communication, tracking

Food in Location A.

People that need food in Location B.

People that can move the food are in Location C.

Convenience

tipping point in human behavior

Business/Psychology Lesson: Make it easy to pay for music.

 

 

Philanthropy Lesson: Make it easy to donate.

 

Tech Benefits

  1. Communication
  2. Logistics
  3. Convenience - tipping point in human behavior
  4. Data collection
  5. Data analysis
  6. Care to add any?

Tech Dangers

  1. Privacy violations, cyber security, etc.
  2. Extend our prejudices
  3. Problems, solutions, and technology will evolve
  4. Technical solutions for social problems
  5. Humans are dynamic
  6. Every algorithm has ethical implications
  7. Not an exhaustive list

Internet: inherently dangerous

Text

Extend our Prejudices

Extend Our Prejudices

Artificial Intelligence has been used to  expedite criminal sentencing.

 

Secret algorithm

 

Can we avoid creating "algorithmic bias"?

Problems Evolve

CompStat

1990s: Jack Maple's "Charts of the Future" implemented as NY crime cut in half, several times over

...

2010s: CompStat notorious for incentivizing "juking the stats"

“The numbers became the boss”

"Technical" solutions and "social" problems.

This is a problem?

  • moral?
  • cultural?
  • moral?
  • social?
  • legal?
  • political?
  • spiritual?

What is technology's role here?

Humans are Dynamic

What makes a good teacher?

 

Math gives easy answers:

- Use a Secret algorithm like the "Value-added model score"

- It can't be biased! It's math!

 

 

"analyzing test results of only twenty-five to thirty students is statistically unsound"

Ethical Algorithms

Dynamic Scheduling

 

- use math to schedule staff efficiently

- clopening

"combines user tracking with stimuli calculated to foster addiction and behavior modification" -- Jaron Lanier

Tech Dangers

  1. Privacy violations, cyber security, etc.
  2. Extend our prejudices
  3. Problems, solutions, and technology will evolve
  4. Technical solutions for social problems
  5. Humans are dynamic
  6. Every algorithm has ethical implications
  7. Care to add more?

Framework:

When is Tech Helpful?!

Ask these questions early and often about your problem space

  1. What are the "social" problems? 
  2. What are the "technical" problems?
  3. What tech feels natural?
  4. What's the minimum viable product?
  5. Who already solved this problem? 
  6. Let's add some more

Social vs. Technical

  1. Develop expertise in YOUR field

  2. Tell techies what to make for you

Natural Patterns of Life

Israeli-Palestine Conflict

Goal: Help the younger generation transcend prejudices that set communities apart.

Patterns of Life

Community organize where the community is already organizing?

Where are uncomfortable topics most comfortable?

Minimum Viable Product

It's surprisingly difficult to whittle down

all your good ideas 

to find a great idea to start with

Experiment Creatively

What's the value proposition?

Who already solved my problem?

Use Existing Tech

 

Donate to pay others' utility bills.

 

 

 

 

They sought out existing technology, applied it to help with a social problem.

Continuous Improvement

  1. Analyze problem(s)

  2. Identify possible tech solution

  3. Explain that solution to others. (Ask for help?)

 

4.  Experiment! MVP!

5.  Rinse and Repeat

Thanks for coming!

 

Stay in touch!

eddie@softwareforgood.com

@EddieGdotMe

leylamahabadi@gmail.com

 

 

I'd love to hear your feedback,

questions, problems, and crazy ideas!

Custom Software on a Budget

  • Open Source

  • Partnerships with tech companies

  • Tech companies adopt a project

  • Meetups

  • Freelancers

  • Aspiring developers

  • Hackathons

 

Think of an idea big enough

to get a nerd excited

Different kinds of apps

  1. Basic Website: static page, sharing information, very limited number of people can edit it

    • ​Wix, Squarespace

  2. Fancy Websites

    • Wordpress (with plugins) 

  3. Commercial Web Apps

    • Salesforce, Google suite 

  4. Custom Websites 

    • Wordpress, generic database 

  5. Web Applications: 100% customizable

  6. Mobile Apps: 100% customizable 

Different kinds of problems

  • Communication

    • Distributed teams, real time collaboration

  • Logistics

    • All the moving pieces

  • Automation

    • Simplify your life

  • Accessibility

    • Help your clients better

  • Data Collection, Aggregation, Analysis

    • Gain insight

  • There are definitely more...

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