[Music]
you
[Music]
I distinctly remember the day my dad
brought home the first iPhone my sister
and I were sitting at the kitchen
counter when he came in with a box he
had been talking about this piece of
technology for weeks but it was finally
real we could hardly contain our
excitement when we opened up the box
to me my 12-year old selves it seemed
too good to be true I could call my
grandma across the country and listen to
Britney Spears all at once but this was
probably my first memory of being
enamored with a piece of technology the
iPhone was something revolutionary the I
and iPhone stood for the user it was the
first phone design for you the phone
completely changed the way that we
interact with mobile devices it made it
incredibly personal imagine I told you
to take out your phone unlock it and
pass it to the person next to you it
makes me nervous what does that person
now know about you they know who you
talk to where you go what you read it
encapsulates your thoughts but
technology goes even deeper than this
the technology we create at some level
is a representation of ourselves and in
turn shapes who we are for this circular
relationship between the two is
problematic
because the people who create technology
are not necessarily representative of
those who use technology Facebook Google
snapchat these services are used
worldwide but the software was created
by a homogeneous group of people as a
result the products I design are are
targeted towards a very specific person
and that may earn they may not be
representative of who you are
as a student and my you Abu Dhabi I’ve
had the
unique opportunity to be able to visit a
variety of countries in the region and
see how massively global these these
companies have become a few weeks ago I
was in Mumbai India their small
manufacturers were shipping their
products worldwide with Amazon the city
was hyper connected with whatsapp
shop-windows had signed for Wi-Fi as I
walked down the street there are three
girls taking a selfie with their Android
phone the fact that I’m even pointing
these things out seems strange of course
there are these things in the city like
Mumbai but it’s the fact that we take
for granted the ubiquity of this
technology that I think it deserves a
few minutes of our time think about it a
piece of technology built in California
halfway around the world from Mumbai is
spread across cultures whether the
social implications of this it’s easy to
think about technology as something
that’s fact
as something that’s objective it’s just
a combination of logic and algorithms
but in fact there’s it embedded in the
code that we write there are a series of
assumptions that come from our cultural
paradigms to illustrate this I want to
share a story with you about a time when
technology failed to represent a diverse
group of people a few years ago I
interned with an organization in Jordan
that worked with Iraqi and Syrian
refugee girls that summer I think I got
more Facebook friends that I had in my
entire life the Facebook was engrained
into the social circles of these girls
just as much as it wasn’t mine but the
way we use Facebook was very different
to me Facebook was a representation of
myself my personality I posted pictures
of things I like to do and they like
pages that represented my own beliefs
unique personalities in individualism
was something that was valued from where
I was from but to these grows they never
posted photos of themselves on Facebook
and often they didn’t even you
the real names so them Facebook was
primarily a tool for communication when
I asked them why they didn’t post photos
on Facebook they seemed confused but
they hinted that it wasn’t really what
their parents wanted I realized that
maybe there was a difference the
important difference here to me Facebook
was a representation of who I was as an
individual but to them it was a
representation of their family of their
family name so how can Facebook design a
platform for both of us that bridges
cultural divides we both had to conform
to the constraints of Facebook the
profile picture and the rules of the
Facebook wall but these design choices
in turn shape the way that we interact
with others these design choices in turn
have shapes the way the millennial
generation has become very
individualistic despite the fact that
the young Syrian girls and I use
Facebook in a very different way it’s
still shaped us in the same direction we
both became more individualistic as a
result of using this software but what
would the effect have been if the social
media was centered around the Syrian
girls what if it was sent based on
groups and what defined you was what
group to are part of instead of your
individual Facebook page these design
choices can fundamentally influence the
way our social interactions and
ourselves but you may be thinking of
course the things we create our
representation of ourselves and of
course they shape who we are but
technologies like Facebook are
incredibly important because they have
the capability to reach 1.8 6 billion
people at any given moment and they do
this every day that kind of reach is
something that not many other things
have and so that’s why it’s so
incredibly important that we care about
diversity specifically
in technology because technology has
such a vast reach and impact the fact
that minorities such as women are so
grossly underrepresented in technology
is not just a moral problem or a
humanitarian cause it’s something that
we need to all care about we all have a
stake in this because the people who
create the algorithms that in turn
create these algorithms in turn shape
our thoughts and influence our decisions
the people who create the technology
influence the cultural fundamentals
behind the technology and furthermore
creativity the creation of our original
thought is something diverse minds are
really good at and we can’t afford to
lose the potential of these minds so how
do we involve more more diversity in
technology this seems like a really
broad and complex abstract task but I
tried addressing this question last year
while living in Berlin Germany I started
I hope to start a program to teach
coding to refugees and women who are new
to Berlin the students were from a
variety of backgrounds Khadija was an
Iraqi girl who had just arrived to
Berlin it was interested in learning to
code Mohammed was from Syria by had
lived in Dubai and Cairo and sorry in
multiple businesses he was interested in
how technology could help him achieve
some of his entrepreneurial goals
Rami had just graduated and was looking
to do more fun than software engineering
work nada brought her son Mahmoud to
class every single time and fed him
cookies to distract them while she wears
a code the dedication of the students
was incredible but how could I keep them
inspired I thought back to my own
experiences in the beginning learning
computer science was hard when I first
started out my freshman year and told
people guys computer science major
people looked at me and said you don’t
look like a computer sciences or when
are you going to change your major so in
the class I worked hard to overcome the
stereotype of the nerdy coder who stays
up all night drinking Red Bull I also
wanted to make the class practical one
of the students came up to me the first
day of class and said I’m a really
terrible student so this is going to be
pretty hard I was like the class hasn’t
even started yet but nonetheless it made
me realize that if I want the class to
be accessible I need to focus on the
opportunities and potential of coding
and not just the code itself finally
another aspect of the class was that I
centered it around projects because if
you can get a group of diverse people
creating their own tools it can create
greater diversity in technology so all
of the students had their own projects
they range from one student created Ossa
a website that would guide newcomers to
Arab restaurants German classes and
government offices another site
connected Syrian refugees with Syrian
doctors and yet another platform
provided and offered tours to local
Berliners who wanted to see the city
from a refugee perspective these tools
were what this what the refugees wanted
and needed well of course the
information essentially could be out
there somewhere
Yelp could have offered a review for an
arab restaurant or Google Maps could
have guided you to the German language
class but the way but the tools they
created deliver the information in a
manner in medium that reached refugees
best as a result the technology
reflected their culture instead of them
having to change for it
as a result seven of the students who
went through the curriculum
are now working in the job leveraging
their technical skills and now every one
of them has the ability to create
technology that reflects their own
worldview engaging underrepresented
populations in working in pursuing
careers in code is addressing the
problem that there’s a growing divide
between those who use and those who
create technology but this is just one
way and this is just how I did it so how
are you going to inspire those around
you to do the same think about it we
have like it’s something that all of us
care about creating a group more diverse
and open community is going to be what
shapes the digital world of tomorrow
thank
[Applause]
you
[Music]
I distinctly remember the day my dad
brought home the first iPhone my sister
and I were sitting at the kitchen
counter when he came in with a box he
had been talking about this piece of
technology for weeks but it was finally
real we could hardly contain our
excitement when we opened up the box
to me my 12-year old selves it seemed
too good to be true I could call my
grandma across the country and listen to
Britney Spears all at once but this was
probably my first memory of being
enamored with a piece of technology the
iPhone was something revolutionary the I
and iPhone stood for the user it was the
first phone design for you the phone
completely changed the way that we
interact with mobile devices it made it
incredibly personal imagine I told you
to take out your phone unlock it and
pass it to the person next to you it
makes me nervous what does that person
now know about you they know who you
talk to where you go what you read it
encapsulates your thoughts but
technology goes even deeper than this
the technology we create at some level
is a representation of ourselves and in
turn shapes who we are for this circular
relationship between the two is
problematic
because the people who create technology
are not necessarily representative of
those who use technology Facebook Google
snapchat these services are used
worldwide but the software was created
by a homogeneous group of people as a
result the products I design are are
targeted towards a very specific person
and that may earn they may not be
representative of who you are
as a student and my you Abu Dhabi I’ve
had the
unique opportunity to be able to visit a
variety of countries in the region and
see how massively global these these
companies have become a few weeks ago I
was in Mumbai India their small
manufacturers were shipping their
products worldwide with Amazon the city
was hyper connected with whatsapp
shop-windows had signed for Wi-Fi as I
walked down the street there are three
girls taking a selfie with their Android
phone the fact that I’m even pointing
these things out seems strange of course
there are these things in the city like
Mumbai but it’s the fact that we take
for granted the ubiquity of this
technology that I think it deserves a
few minutes of our time think about it a
piece of technology built in California
halfway around the world from Mumbai is
spread across cultures whether the
social implications of this it’s easy to
think about technology as something
that’s fact
as something that’s objective it’s just
a combination of logic and algorithms
but in fact there’s it embedded in the
code that we write there are a series of
assumptions that come from our cultural
paradigms to illustrate this I want to
share a story with you about a time when
technology failed to represent a diverse
group of people a few years ago I
interned with an organization in Jordan
that worked with Iraqi and Syrian
refugee girls that summer I think I got
more Facebook friends that I had in my
entire life the Facebook was engrained
into the social circles of these girls
just as much as it wasn’t mine but the
way we use Facebook was very different
to me Facebook was a representation of
myself my personality I posted pictures
of things I like to do and they like
pages that represented my own beliefs
unique personalities in individualism
was something that was valued from where
I was from but to these grows they never
posted photos of themselves on Facebook
and often they didn’t even you
the real names so them Facebook was
primarily a tool for communication when
I asked them why they didn’t post photos
on Facebook they seemed confused but
they hinted that it wasn’t really what
their parents wanted I realized that
maybe there was a difference the
important difference here to me Facebook
was a representation of who I was as an
individual but to them it was a
representation of their family of their
family name so how can Facebook design a
platform for both of us that bridges
cultural divides we both had to conform
to the constraints of Facebook the
profile picture and the rules of the
Facebook wall but these design choices
in turn shape the way that we interact
with others these design choices in turn
have shapes the way the millennial
generation has become very
individualistic despite the fact that
the young Syrian girls and I use
Facebook in a very different way it’s
still shaped us in the same direction we
both became more individualistic as a
result of using this software but what
would the effect have been if the social
media was centered around the Syrian
girls what if it was sent based on
groups and what defined you was what
group to are part of instead of your
individual Facebook page these design
choices can fundamentally influence the
way our social interactions and
ourselves but you may be thinking of
course the things we create our
representation of ourselves and of
course they shape who we are but
technologies like Facebook are
incredibly important because they have
the capability to reach 1.8 6 billion
people at any given moment and they do
this every day that kind of reach is
something that not many other things
have and so that’s why it’s so
incredibly important that we care about
diversity specifically
in technology because technology has
such a vast reach and impact the fact
that minorities such as women are so
grossly underrepresented in technology
is not just a moral problem or a
humanitarian cause it’s something that
we need to all care about we all have a
stake in this because the people who
create the algorithms that in turn
create these algorithms in turn shape
our thoughts and influence our decisions
the people who create the technology
influence the cultural fundamentals
behind the technology and furthermore
creativity the creation of our original
thought is something diverse minds are
really good at and we can’t afford to
lose the potential of these minds so how
do we involve more more diversity in
technology this seems like a really
broad and complex abstract task but I
tried addressing this question last year
while living in Berlin Germany I started
I hope to start a program to teach
coding to refugees and women who are new
to Berlin the students were from a
variety of backgrounds Khadija was an
Iraqi girl who had just arrived to
Berlin it was interested in learning to
code Mohammed was from Syria by had
lived in Dubai and Cairo and sorry in
multiple businesses he was interested in
how technology could help him achieve
some of his entrepreneurial goals
Rami had just graduated and was looking
to do more fun than software engineering
work nada brought her son Mahmoud to
class every single time and fed him
cookies to distract them while she wears
a code the dedication of the students
was incredible but how could I keep them
inspired I thought back to my own
experiences in the beginning learning
computer science was hard when I first
started out my freshman year and told
people guys computer science major
people looked at me and said you don’t
look like a computer sciences or when
are you going to change your major so in
the class I worked hard to overcome the
stereotype of the nerdy coder who stays
up all night drinking Red Bull I also
wanted to make the class practical one
of the students came up to me the first
day of class and said I’m a really
terrible student so this is going to be
pretty hard I was like the class hasn’t
even started yet but nonetheless it made
me realize that if I want the class to
be accessible I need to focus on the
opportunities and potential of coding
and not just the code itself finally
another aspect of the class was that I
centered it around projects because if
you can get a group of diverse people
creating their own tools it can create
greater diversity in technology so all
of the students had their own projects
they range from one student created Ossa
a website that would guide newcomers to
Arab restaurants German classes and
government offices another site
connected Syrian refugees with Syrian
doctors and yet another platform
provided and offered tours to local
Berliners who wanted to see the city
from a refugee perspective these tools
were what this what the refugees wanted
and needed well of course the
information essentially could be out
there somewhere
Yelp could have offered a review for an
arab restaurant or Google Maps could
have guided you to the German language
class but the way but the tools they
created deliver the information in a
manner in medium that reached refugees
best as a result the technology
reflected their culture instead of them
having to change for it
as a result seven of the students who
went through the curriculum
are now working in the job leveraging
their technical skills and now every one
of them has the ability to create
technology that reflects their own
worldview engaging underrepresented
populations in working in pursuing
careers in code is addressing the
problem that there’s a growing divide
between those who use and those who
create technology but this is just one
way and this is just how I did it so how
are you going to inspire those around
you to do the same think about it we
have like it’s something that all of us
care about creating a group more diverse
and open community is going to be what
shapes the digital world of tomorrow
thank
[Applause]
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