Public Interest Technology (PIT) focuses on the design, development, and realization of socially responsible solutions to the challenges of a technology-driven world. This emerging field brings together researchers, technologists, policymakers, and more from across disciplines and across sectors.PIT practitioners view technology as a tool to solve public interest issues and design technology in a socially responsible, equitable, and ethical manner. Quoting Dr. Francine Berman, the director of PIT@UMass, “Public interest technology is about the design, development, and realization of social responsibility in a tech-powered world. PIT solutions are people-centered, sensitive to the communities and cultural environments they will be deployed in, and use data, AI, and other technologies responsibly.”

Dr. Francine Berman is the Director of Public Interest Technology and PIT@UMass co-founder. She is a public interest technologist and data scientist. Her current focus is building the community, infrastructure, content, and trajectory of the nascent area of Public Interest Technology. Her previous scholarly work has focused on data stewardship and preservation, particularly with respect to the policy, practice and infrastructure needed to ensure the integrity, longevity and usefulness of the data on which modern research relies. Dr. Berman sees her current work in PIT as a way to design, develop, and manage technology as a tool to maximize benefits, minimize risks and advance humanity in a tech-driven world. “I think I've been interested in PIT issues and social responsibility my whole career… There are social impacts to the way we design and deploy and manage technology—social impacts to essentially all the decisions we make.  I’ve always been interested in those impacts, whatever job I've had." (Read full interview transcript)(Personal Website)

Security and surveillance are words used interchangeably for the cameras we see tucked away in corners of stores, doorways of homes and even in classrooms. They offer a sense of security and have been of aid in times of crisis. However, these cameras have also been one of the propagators of the ‘surveillance state’ that has a history of targeting groups and violations of privacy and ironically security of unassuming individuals. This is a great example of technology that was created for public interest but due to human biases, and overlaps of imperfect, unjust systems have turned into harborers of harm. What is your general reaction to security cameras?

You can't get pretty far on campus without your University Identity Card. ID cards allow for payments, access to buildings, services and equipment. The possession of these creates a limited, privileged group. ID cards, in theory, are just a piece of plastic but they represent massive databases and multiple systems - financial, social, even political. These databases are valuable sources of information, and worth billions on the advertising market. To policy makers, they aid in decision making and policy execution. But, in the absence of concrete legislation, these databases can be misused. It is fascinating that something as mundane as a university ID card is actually part of such a complex, elaborate system. This kind of thinking is part of public interest technology. What do you use your ID card for?

When it comes to current technologies, accessibility is a major concern. As defined by the Department of Justice in their Office of Civil Rights resolutions, “accessible” means that a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. Ranging from accessible university web pages to wheelchair buttons at the front of building doors, there have been numerous initiatives to make UMass more accessible for all students.