HOW TECHNOLOGY FAILS US, AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

SAGE Ocean Speaker Series #3

Our digital lives are built on the promises of strangers. Promises about how technology will change your life, or who will maintain this code, or what will happen to your data. These promises are hard to keep: organizations have changes of heart or changes of fortune. Ninety percent of new organizations fail. Eighty percent of open-source software projects are unsuccessful. When projects and organizations fail, the technology that we rely on may change, or be abandoned, or disappear entirely.

This talk will cover what we can do about it. Keith Porcaro, fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, will present his work on data trusts, a legal tool for governing and protecting digital movements.

About Keith Porcaro

Keith Porcaro is a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center. A lawyer and technologist, his work focuses on the formation of legal norms in a digitizing society. Keith is the co-founder of Digital Public, which uses trusts to help communities protect and govern digital assets. Keith is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a class on Criminal Justice Technology, Policy, and Law. Previously, Keith was CTO/General Counsel at SIMLab, where he helped governments, legal aid organizations, and other nonprofits use technology to make services more accessible. Keith has a JD from Duke University School of Law and a BSFS from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He is licensed to practice law in California.

This event is free to attend, with pizza and drinks provided.

Space is limited, so please RSVP if you plan to come along.