2017 IDRG Fellows
Mark LatoneroMark Latonero leads the Data & Human Rights initiative at the Data & Society Research Institute in New York City where he is also a visiting scholar at NYU. He is a senior research fellow at the University of Southern California, where, as a research professor and the research director of Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, he led the Technology and Human Trafficking initiative.
Mark works on the social implications of technology, policy, and data-driven approaches that involve vulnerable populations. He has published reports on human trafficking and online/mobile technologies (2011/2012), counter-trafficking media in Indonesia (2014), labor exploitation and technology in the Philippines (2015), and online child protection in South Asia (forthcoming). Research has been supported by U.S. Department of Justice, Humanity United, USAID, and UNICEF. He has led field research in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. He recently served on a National Academy of Sciences committee on the commercial exploitation of children. Latonero has published in academic journals such the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication and the International Journal of Crisis Response and Management and in outlets such as Foreign Affairs. His work has been covered by the Associated Press, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBS Radio, CNN, Fast Company, Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, and The New York Times. Latonero completed his PhD at the University of Southern California Annenberg School and was a postdoctoral research scholar at the London School of Economics. |
Dani PooleDani Escudero Poole is a third year doctoral student in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her academic and research interests are broadly in the subfields of humanitarian response, human rights, and econometrics, and cross-cutting issues such as gender equality. She is particularly interested in the health impacts of humanitarian action, violence prevention, and human rights-based approaches to population health.
At Harvard, Dani works at the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative on evaluating the use and effectiveness of information communication technologies in emergencies and disasters. Dani is also working with Dr. Till Baernighausen to assess trends in exposure to violence in South Africa over the past decade and to analyze the intersection of violence and the HIV epidemic. Dani completed her Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) at Brown University, and received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Seattle University. |
Julie RicardJulie Ricard is Data-Pop Alliance IDRG Fellow. She is a double-masters graduated in International Development by the Paris School of International Affairs (Sciences Po Paris) and in Gender Studies by Université Paris Diderot (Paris VII). Her professional and academic interests revolve around development-related topics, with an emphasis on social issues and intersectionnality.
At Paris VII, her research focused on the incorporation of women in poverty fighting rhetoric in Brazil, in particular within Conditional Cash Transfers Programs. Julie also conducted research on migrations for the National Committee for Refugees in Brazil and has field experience working with vulnerable populations, including asylum-seekers and refugees. She has worked in international organisations such as UNDP and the French Agency for Development, where she supported the implementation of the gender strategies by doing research and developing capacity-building knowledge products. Julie completed her Bachelor of Arts with a focus on Latin American studies at Sciences Po Paris. |
IDRG FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM OVERVIEW
2016/17 Focus Theme: Digital Data Streams & the European Refugee Crisis
Sparked by the coincidence of multiple man-made and natural disasters since early 2014, over 1.5 million refugees have attempted to cross the Mediterranean from Northern Africa into Europe. With many more attempting other routes as well, it is fair to say that the European continent is facing a true Refugee Crisis. Given the scale of this phenomenon, but also its high complexity and rapid evolution, it is understandable that governments and international organisations are keen to find new ways to deal with this level of migration. Untapped data sources in the form of satellite imagery, social media can contribute to more reliable, and faster monitoring of refugee flows for operational and policy purposes. However, the risks involved in accessing these new sources of information are still generally poorly understood.
Why a Fellowship?
The IDRG aims to build bridges between those who have in-depth knowledge about refugee policies on the one hand and technology experts on the other; and between academics and practitioners who might benefit from a sustained hands-on dialogue about what works, and what does not in the emerging field of data responsibility. By capturing the experiences of participating fellows in the annual report, and by having IDRG fellows present at the annual conference in The Hague, the IDRG aims to underline the importance of combining both theory and practice in developing comprehensive data responsibility approaches. Together with the participating partner and the IDRG secretariat, the fellows decide on the specific topic for their paper. The topic should relate to data responsibility in a broad sense.
Approach
Each year, IDRG partners have the option to select a fellow working on the IDRG focus topic for that year. Through the fellowship programme, researchers and practitioners will spend time learning from each other’s environments during a two-week period, sponsored by the IDRG with a stipend for travel, accommodation, meals and incidental expenses.
An IDRG partner organisation representative will go to the field to work with field-based representatives of IO’s or NGOs who are working with digital data at an external organisation for two weeks. In this period, which the fellows will document the new insights they have acquired regarding potential risks of using digital data in the context they have visited, to contribute to new standards for responsible data use. These lessons will be presented at the annual IDRG conference in the form of a report per fellow, included in the annual IDRG report.
Important Dates for the 2016/17 Fellows
- October 1st 2016 Fellows Selection
- October 19th 2016 First Virtual Meeting of Fellows Group (weekly calls)
- January 14th - 29th 2017 Field Trip by IDRG Fellows
- January & February 2017 Transcriptions and Paper Writing
- March 3rd 2017 IDRG Conference in The Hague
Situation in IDRG and Impact
The lessons learned by the IDRG fellows will inform the broader work of the IDRG, as it aims to advance the debate about data responsibility in the context of assisting vulnerable populations. The lessons learnt from the IDRG fellows will reach highly relevant organisations as the IDRG report is disseminated and promoted through the communications channels of the IDRG partners.
Support by the Municipality of The Hague
In close collaboration with the City of The Hague and key partners from all over the world, Leiden University is contributing to a co-creation space for experimentation in downtown The Hague: the Hague Humanity Hub. The IDRG, including this fellowship program, are part of this hub as a ‘cross-over project’, involving additional partners. As part of this larger initiative, the fellows contribute towards unleashing the potential of the Data Revolution to tackle a variety of global challenges.