Interdisciplinary Tech Policy Lab launched with $1.7 million Founding Gift from Microsoft

Friday, September 13, 2013

The University of Washington announced the launch of a pioneering laboratory designed to examine cutting-edge issues such as cybersecurity, consumer privacy and online censorship, and to improve national policies on new technologies. Leaders from the UW unveiled the lab at a ceremony last night at the University’s campus. They were joined by Microsoft Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Brad Smith and Microsoft Corporate Vice President & Head of Microsoft Research, Peter Lee in announcing the company’s founding gift of $1.7 million. The new Tech Policy Lab brings together

Joe Janes interviewed on "To the Point"

Monday, September 9, 2013

Warren Olney explored predictive search technologies like Google Now on his popular public broadcasting show, "To the Point." Olney interviewed Associate Professor Joe Janes to understand how these technologies might impact libraries. Janes, whose recent book, "Libraries 2020" includes new technology themes, was asked about whether or not predictive search poses risks to the act of searching, researching and learning typically associated with libraries. Janes compared active search as we know it to the passive search offered by predictive technologies and suggested it means decidi

Doctoral student's film examines the perils of undocumented border crossings

Friday, September 6, 2013

Bryce Newell's documentary film, "We Have a Wall: Saving Lives on the Tinaja Trail," is the story of undocumented migration and humanitarian service, told from the perspectives of four undocumented immigrants and the volunteers who place water, food, and first aid supplies along the migratory trails to try and save the lives of people who cross from Mexico into the U.S. through long stretches of desert.  According to the film's website, volunteers have dropped water and aid containers along popular routes of migration for years, and also search the desert for dying immigrants.&nbs

Howard Schmidt to keynote inaugural conference on cloud security management

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The International Confernece on Cloud Security Management brings together a diverse group of international researchers, practitioners and academics to discuss emerging concerns about securing information in the cloud and find ways to collaborate on potential solutions. ICCSM 2013 will be held October 17-18 on the University of Washington campus and is hosted by the UW Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity (CIAC). Howard Schmidt, who keynotes the two-day conference, is the former cybersecurity advisor to President Obama and served as the vice chair of President Bush’

Katie Davis receives 2013 Yahoo! ACE Award

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Katie Davis, assistant professor at the University of Washington Information School, was selected to receive the 2013 Yahoo! ACE (Academic Career Enhancement) Award. Under the ACE program, ‘future superstar’ faculty members at top U.S. universities are nominated by Yahoo! Lab scientists and campus relationship managers to receive the honor and a $10,000 unrestricted gift. The goal is to establish key relationships between Yahoo! and newly hired faculty. “I'm honored to receive this award from Yahoo!,” said Davis. “The funds will support my current work investigating the potenti

Amy Ko part of $3M NSF-funded project to make programmers’ lives easier

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Everyone has experienced an application error or wished for the next great feature. Software developers get frustrated, too. They want the users of their software to have a great experience and achieve exactly the results they envision – or better. Unfortunately, the tools and methods developers use to improve their applications make it difficult to experiment and compare with alternative designs. For the sake of efficiency, developers often use what they know works rather than exploring a variety of options and finding the best solution. A new $3 million grant from the National Scienc

iSchool graduates strive for peak performance at REI

Thursday, August 8, 2013

What do ice axes and usability testing have in common? One is a tool for scaling mountains, the other a tool for improving websites—and both can be found at Recreational Equipment Inc., better known as REI. Professional opportunities in the information field are numerous and varied, as any UW iSchool grad can tell you. Library, software and high tech are obvious career paths. Less obvious to some, however, are the myriad opportunities in retail. REI was founded in Seattle in 1938 and is now headquartered in Kent, WA. The purveyor of outdoor recreational gear now boasts 128 retail store

Big Data expert Jevin West joins the iSchool as assistant professor

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

A session with Jevin West can be a geek-fest in the very best way. Out comes the magic marker and next thing you know there’s a white board filled with circles and arrows and nodes illustrating impact factors in a vast matrix you’ve never imagined. It’s Big Data at its finest, a big thing in the information field and a critical area of specialization for this newly hired assistant professor at the University of Washington Information School. Like many in the field, West actually started elsewhere in academia and let his passion guide him toward information. As an undergraduate biology

Emma Spiro: New assistant professor researches social media use in disasters

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

In the uncertain days following the Boston Marathon bombings, with suspects on the loose and the city in lockdown, police and city departments quickly acquired thousands upon thousands of Twitter followers. Most communication officials maximized the microblogging opportunity, updating critical information on events in real-time and using tweets to correct misinformation. Some, however, failed to take advantage of the social media phenomenon. One public information officer, who acquired a slew of Twitter followers over three hours that bloody Monday, didn’t release any more tweets for a we

Eying the future of libraries

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

iSchool Associate Professor and MLIS Program Chair Joseph Janes has created something a of a stir with his newly released book “Library 2020: Today’s Leading Visionaries Describe Tomorrow’s Library,” published earlier this year by The Scarecrow Press. iNews sat down with Janes for a question-and-answer session on the work. iNews: How did you get started on this project? What was the impetus for your book? Janes: There’s lots of discussion about the future of libraries these days from lots of different perspectives, and that conversation has deepened over the last couple years.

Katie Davis and Bob Boiko interviewed about badges in the PSBJ

Monday, August 5, 2013

The concept of awarding badges for a new skill has been around awhile - think Scouting. But what if the same concept could be used to enhance your resume? The Open Badges initiative led by Mozilla, with the help of the MacArthur Foundation, helps any organization create an online badge to enable someone to identify an earned skill. The story was picked up in a recent Puget Sound Business Journal article entitled, "Badges? You may be asked to show one to prove a skill." Assistant Professor Katie Davis and Senior Lecturer Bob Boiko were interviewed for the article because of their work

iSchool Professor appointed to group advising Governor on Cybersecurity

Friday, July 12, 2013

Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, research associate professor and director of the Center for Information and Cybersecurity, has been appointed to Washington state’s new Cyber Unified Coordination Group (CUCG), which will advise Governor Inslee in the event of a significant cyber attack. “Our soldiers and airmen have matriculated through the degree programs she has created and managed and we are huge fans of her message on the current state of Cybersecurity and the need for more public-private partnerships to create the next generation of Cyber Warriors our nation needs,” noted Major General

Global study stresses importance of public Internet access

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Millions of people in low-income countries still depend on public computer and Internet access venues despite the global proliferation of mobile phones and home computers. However, interest in providing such public access has waned in recent years, especially among development agencies, as new technologies become available. But a five-year, eight-country study recently concluded by the Technology & Social Change Group at the University of Washington Information School has found that community access to computer and Internet technology remains a crucial resource for connecting people to

Ph.D. candidate Elisabeth Jones awarded Garfield Fellowship

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for Library and Information Science is awarded to outstanding doctoral students pursuing library and information research. Elisabeth Jones garnered one of only six Garfield Fellowships awarded by Beta Phi Mu, the library and information studies honor society.  Jones' dissertation, "Constructing the Universal Library," compares the motivations, internal self-definitions, and initial implementations of four large-scale attempts to democratize access to book-based information. Beta Phi Mu was founded in 1948 by a group of leadin

Barbara Endicott-Popovsky appointed to ARC leadership team

Monday, July 1, 2013

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) launched a new cybersecurity initiative to stop adversaries from infiltrating and damaging network infrastructure. Research Associate Professor Barbara Endicott-Popovsky will work with the initiative as part of her iSchool duties. The Asymmetric Resilient Cybersecurity Initiative (ARC) explores ways to protect energy generation facilities, including nuclear systems, and improve the ability to anticipate, monitor and respond to threats to prevent counter terrorism. “I am honored to hold a central role in this effort,” said Endicott-Popo