News/Research
29 Jun, 2017

Andrea Gagliano, Sasha Volkov and Transparency Times

Did you spot the Transparency Times in your wanderings across campus?

BCNM graduate student Andrea Gagliano and Sasha Volkov installed the Transparency Times in various locations across Berkeley over the last few weeks of the Spring semester in 2017 as part of their final project for the MIMS program in the Information school.

See the exhibit here.

Using a newpaper dispenser as a base, Transparency Times is a transportable, modular installation that can be shipped to various locations to be adapted by organizations. In its exhibit at Berkeley, it offered a commentary on the Internet of Things.

The pair created a physical, hands-on installation for citizen stakeholders to explore issues inherent in the Internet of Things and the rise of the smart city. Smart cities build on the promises of consumer-level IoT devices: efficiency, security and convenience. However, they magnify privacy and security vulnerabilities to the community or national level and can heighten socio-economic disparities. Gagliano and Volkov created Transparency Times to engage affected communities in discussions around the development of these smart communities with the aim of maximizing appropriate benefits while minimizing harm.

Gagliano reported being pleased that the stories motivated participants to interact with each other as well as the installation. By increasing the IoT knowledge-base of social organizations, Gagliano and Volkov believe these organizations can advocate for changes that benefit rather than harm their local communities.

Read more here.