MIT Technology and Policy Program

MIT Schwarzman College of Computing is home to some of the world’s most well-known programs in their field, including a variety of smaller, computationally-intensive graduate programs. In these specialized programs, students and faculty address challenging interdisciplinary problems using data, computational methods, and a host of interdisciplinary techniques. These programs prepare students to contribute in a variety of ways: from promoting responsible and beneficial data-driven policies to developing new computational methods.
The inaugural Grad School Fair is a showcase for these programs:
– the MIT Center for Computational Science and Engineering (CCSE), which offers Doctoral and Master of Science Programs in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE)
– the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), which offers the Doctoral Program in Social and Engineering Systems (SES), the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Statistics (IDPS) and the Technology and Policy Program (TPP).
Register now to learn more, find out how to apply, and to meet students, faculty, and program staff.
Questions can be submitted / up-voted in advance via https://app.sli.do/event/nHwrSWoJ8wj1g9hQHctjfG (or Slido.com #7702607).
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible and inclusive for individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability-related accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact scc-grad-fair@mit.edu and indicate your need as soon as possible but no later than October 7, 2022.

Interested in applying to TPP? Join us for an informational webinar. Use this link to register: https://bit.ly/3d3r1Se.

In her research, Dr. Lily Baum Pollans argues that, through municipal waste management, cities have potent agency to alter the structures that permit endless consumption, ultimately slowing, and maybe even reversing, the unsustainable one-way flow of materials through the economy. Waste policy-making and waste research can be messy and demanding. But the climate emergency and the many related ecological and social crises caused by our globally extractive and exploitative economic system demand this kind of complicated, and sometimes actually dirty, work.
Registration for this free event is required. Register here.

After almost a year of progress on Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Plan for the Decade – including last month’s launch of the five flagship projects of the Climate Grand Challenges competition – we invite you to join us to hear more about what’s happening and to share your own ideas:Moderators: MIT Climate Nucleus co-chairs, Professors Noelle Selin and Anne White.
The event will also be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person, so don’t miss it!

Algorithms are increasingly used to assist in hiring decisions. In this talk, we will explore the relationship between these new algorithmic tools and policy. In particular, we will examine how discrimination law applies to algorithms, and in turn, how algorithms are influencing the design and implementation of new regulation.
Registration is required. Register here.

The AI and machine learning future is high stakes — but to what extent do the public and its citizens understand those stakes?

We invite you to participate in this IDSS/TPP workshop to explore some of the critical AI policy and political issues facing society.
Much of the AI and data related conversations proceeds in ways that are exclusive and disconnected from the populations that stand the most to lose from algorithmic bias and discrimination. Current notions of fairness in AI are insufficient to deal with the inequities that drive the development and deployment of AI.
In this session, participants will have the opportunity to think collectively about the best ways to build a more accessible conversation around data and AI related rights.
MLK Visiting Professor S. Craig Watkins will draw from his own research and engagement with the MIT community to offer some initial perspectives that will establish a framework for the workshop’s ideation sessions.
The goal of the workshop is to help participants develop frameworks for research and policy related activities designed to empower communities to be more involved in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

Register here; light refreshments will be served.
MIT’s Technology and Policy Program and its Research to Policy Engagement Initiative aims to create a community of researchers who can learn, apply, and contribute to developing best practices in bridging knowledge to action on societal challenges, across experiences in different research domains. The initiative seeks to connect researchers from diverse disciplines, policymakers and other stakeholders interested in the implementation aspects of technology by creating a discussion space for technology-policy interfaces. This year’s theme is Policy for Whom?

Much has been said about the outcomes of COP-26, the UN’s latest Conference of the Parties on climate change. But what can we learn from the COP’s process of engagement, especially for the many MIT researchers involved in cross-boundary collaborations? In this moderated panel, several COP attendees will describe their activities and offer lessons learned for future efforts.
Deepa Rao, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
Greg Sixt, Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS)
Iulia-Madalina Streanga, Woods Hole Oceanology Institute (WHOI)
Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia, MLK Scholar & Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI)
Michael Mehling, Center for Energy & Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR)
Registration required: https://bit.ly/3odRcJk

Whether related to the environment, Internet + cybersecurity, health, future of education + work, housing + planning, or another area, hackathons have become a popular way to engage with students, researchers, and practitioners alike on complex issues. Usually a weekend event, they involve taking real-life data and/or situations and brainstorming solutions.
But how impactful (and in what way) are these events after the weekend? Do (and if not, can) they affect future research, policy initiatives, and/or the discourse surrounding these problems? How do they help us answer the question on policy (including hackathons and other policy-related initiatives) for whom? Please join us for a facilitated discussion to help hack the hackathon!
There will be a small reception after the event with light food and refreshments for our in-person attendees.
For in-person attendees, please fill out the following form for contact tracing: https://forms.gle/k3bjJfF4s5D1knmW9
For virtual attendees, the Zoom link will also be provided upon successful registration here:
https://mit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJApdu2rrDojEtPtOHxD94ADheCdFvVINkr-