MIT Media Laboratory Collaborating Partner: Harvard Center for International Development Principal Investigators: Alex (Sandy) Pentland, Mitchel Resnick.

MIT Media Laboratory

Collaborating Partner:Harvard Center for International Development

Principal Investigators:Alex (Sandy) Pentland, Mitchel Resnick

Board:Nicholas NegroponteJeffrey SachsJose Maria Figueres

MIT Media Laboratory

Collaborating Partner:Harvard Center for International Development

Faculty: Walter Bender, Mike Best, Justine Cassell, David Cavallo, Glorianna Davenport, Joseph Jacobson, Amar Gupta, Geoffrey Kirkman, Henry Lieberman, Scott Manalis, Bakhtiar Mikhak, Seymour Papert, Deb Roy, Ted Selker, Brian Smith

Two Revolutions:

Communications

Sensors and Actuators

Economic disruption and opportunity

Flattened organizations, empowered individuals

Network penumbra: new players join

Distribution of Internet Hosts, July 1999

Africa0.3%

LAC2%

Developing Asia-Pacific

4%

Autralia, Japan &

New Zealand

6.4%Europe22%

Canada & U.S.66%

Other6%

Internet Access Charge (% of GDP per capita)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

USA

Australia

Finland

Japan

Turkey

Mexico

Senegal

Guinea

Mozambique

Ethiopia

Uganda

Sierra Leone

Percentage ofHouseholds

GartnerBase: All US Adults (198 million) - February 2000

59%

83%

73%

35%

0%10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%80%

90%

100%

Lower Lower Middle Upper Middle Upper

Access by Socioeconomic Status

Dataquest

What is a Digital Nation?

What is a Digital Nation?

Access to digital technology

What is a Digital Nation?

Access to digital technology

Fluency with digital technology

Ivan Illich: Tools for Conviviality

“People need not only to obtain things, they need above all the freedom to make things among which they can live, to give shape to them according to their own tastes, and to put them to use in caring for and about others.”

The Media Lab

How people and machines can work together for expression, learning, creativity

History and Growth

Method:Apprenticeship, not lecturesInvention, not description

Research Consortia (TTT, DL, NiF)

Pre-competitive: we work on high-risk research

Leveraged: each member puts in small fraction of total cost

High-impact research: important research problems affect many different practical applications

Value to Sponsors:

Technology transfer

Voice in research direction

Personal Connections: Fellows, meetings, visits to discuss research, education of senior personnel, brainstorming problems

Joint projects

How Digital Nations is different

Addressing major social challenges: Learning and education Health care Community development

How Digital Nations is different

Addressing major social challenges: Learning and education Health care Community development

New types of sponsors and partners

How Digital Nations is different

Addressing major social challenges: Learning and education Health care Community development

New types of sponsors and partners

Focusing where needs are greatest: Children Seniors Under-served communities Developing nations

Action Projects Learning Hubs

Lincos

Computer Clubhouses

Silver Stringers

PIE Network

Benefits of memberships

Access to research results

Influence direction of research

Executive visits

Action projects

Connections with other members

Graduate-student fellows

Ways to Join

Examples: Learning Lab Denmark Telmex

Foundations, international agencies

Corporate support

Digital Nations Fund

Research Themes

Learning

Community

Multicultural Computing

Commerce

Sustainable Development

Health

Low-Cost Technologies