Tag: startups

Event Review: NYC Media Lab Summit

On September 26, 2019, I attended the NYC Media Lab Summit held in downtown Brooklyn. The mainstage program took place at the New York City College of Technology (City Tech CUNY) for the first half of the day. The second half of the day was dedicated to interactive demos and workshops and took place at both City Tech and the New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering.

NYC Media Lab describes itself as dedicated to “driving innovation and job growth in media and technology by facilitating collaboration between the City’s universities and its companies” (About – NYC Media Lab, n.d.) Pratt Institute is part of NYC Media Lab’s consortium with goals “to generate research and development, knowledge transfer, and talent across all of the city’s campuses” (About – NYC Media Lab, n.d.), which also includes The New School, School of Visual Arts, Columbia University, NYU, CUNY, IESE, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Member companies of NYC Media Lab include Bloomberg LP, Verizon, The New York Times, and NBCUniversal, to name a few.

The Media Lab Summit held itself like a typical conference, where you check in to receive your name badge upon arrival and are treated to coffee and pastries. Then everyone takes their seats before the main program begins in the auditorium where the Executive Director of the program, Justin Hendrix, makes his welcome address and does introductions.

Innovation Panel discussion

Up first was the Innovation Panel, which featured speakers Yael Eisenstat, R. Luke Dubois, Desmond Patton, and Tony Parisi. The panel featured a mix of academics and professionals who all addressed the topic of artificial intelligence, or AI. It was interesting to hear that everyone agreed that AI is the future but that they all held concerns about whether it will be accessible to all. Another potential issue that was brought up in relation to AI is what seems like our current overdependence on data. One panelist raised serious concerns about this overdependence and worried whether this could lead to the complete disregard of an innate human characteristic, which is critical thinking. All panelists agreed that critical thinking is essential and sees it playing a key role throughout the use of AI and other technological advancements.

What I ultimately took away from this Innovation Panel was that critical thinking is needed now more than ever. I think we have always understood that critical thinking is crucial as it is what keeps us human. AI is capable of making decisions for us, but the ability to be able to critically think about the potential impacts of our decisions and asses our judgments remains entirely human. This emphasis on critical thinking reminded me of the Phoebe Sengers reading in which she also discusses machine culture but stresses that science and the humanities need “to be combined into hybrid forms” as “neither is sufficient alone” (Practices for Machine Culture, n.d.). Like the panelists, Sengers recognizes the strengths in both and how each can complement the other, especially in AI.

Next up were the showcases. The showcases were meant to present and demonstrate projects, prototypes, and startups created by students and faculty from NYC Media Lab programs. Two of the showcases that stood out to me the most were a subway accessibility app for the blind and a retina technology startup.

Access to Places presentation

Students from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program created an app called Access to Places with the goal to make subway stations much more accessible for the blind. The app utilizes iOS’ text-to-speech voiceover technology to provide information such the location of entrances and exits, service delays or changes, and arrival and departure times. Notifications also help the blind to navigate around station layouts.

Retina Technologies presentation

Retina Technologies was formed by medical students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The startup aims to change the way people access ophthalmologists in both urban and rural areas. Through the use of virtual reality headsets, the startup hopes to increase access to ophthalmologists for those who cannot easily visit one in rural areas while also improving the patient experience for those in urban areas.

Access to Places and Retina Technologies both stood out to me the most because of the users that they were designing for. Instead of creating a product that catered to the majority of the population, they reached out to those with specific needs that often get neglected in the startup and tech conversations. I immediately thought of the Sasha Costanza-Chock paper on “Design Justice” and the discussion on who designers are actually designing for. The majority of startups and apps tend to assume the average user is able to access or use a product without any accommodations, much like how Costanza-Chock discusses that designers “assume” that “a user has access to a number of very powerful privileges” (2018). Visiting an ophthalmologist or getting onto the subway without any trouble are privileges that most designers tend to assume users have. Access to Places and Retina Technologies decided to instead focus on the needs of these specific user groups rather than create another app or startup that assumed they were just like every other user.

Many innovative and creative projects were demonstrated, and I was in awe over it all, but it was the discussions that were held that enlightened me. What I took to be the overall theme of the Media Lab Summit was accessibility and the continued mission to make this collaboration between media and technology available to all. I still believe that technology has this amazing potential to change and impact lives, but we must make it available to everyone to see it happen. The Media Lab Summit and our class discussions and readings only continue to highlight this necessity and how we as information professionals cannot simply ignore it as technology advances.

References:

About – NYC Media Lab. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nycmedialab.org/about.

Costanza-Chock, S. (2018). Design Justice: towards an intersectional feminist framework for design theory and practice. DRS2018: Catalyst. doi: 10.21606/drs.2018.679

Sengers, P. (n.d.). Practices for Machine Culture: A Case Study of Integrating Cultural Theory and Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/phoebe/mosaic/work/papers/surfaces99/sengers.practices-machine-culture.html.

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Event Attendance Blog Journal: Made in Africa Tech Conference- Dr. Rabina, Event Review

            This past Friday on September 20th, 2019 I attended the Made in Africa Tech Conference which took place in Silver Springs, Maryland. Organized by Leslie Tita who’s background is in UX Design, he is also the founder of the Made in Africa Conference and  I/O Spaces , where the event was held. Taking place from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., attendees were able to hear and learn from industry leaders in the African community.

            The conference began with keynote speaker Will Jawando, Montgomery County Council member. He gave spoke briefly on the immigrant’s population in Silver Springs, shining light on the African Community and their work along with discussing identity within the Black Community. Also coming from a Nigerian background, a powerful statement from Jawando that stood out to me is “We can be fully African and fully American, we need to normalize our combined culture.”

            Following Jawando’s introduction, the panel discussions began with the topic African Fin Tech Temperature: Are Accelerators and Incubators Ready for Business?The speakers of this session were Chinedu Enekwe and Rebecca Enonchong. The session discussed the growth of Africa’s Fintech companies along how the owners of these companies are not seeing their own profit. There has been an increase of startups on the continent with the leading countries being South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. A major factor in the increase of startups is due to high investor confidence from foreign investors. Despite the positive results of an increase of fintech startups, the foreign investors are taking advantage of this business owners, hence why profits are not being seen.

            The session that really caught my attention and that was relatable to my future career in the field of User Experience to is Perspectives on Reframing Patient Care and management via Tech Apps. The speakers wereMohamed Kamara, Tawani Anyangwe, and Dr. Nkobena. Kamara and Anyangwe both come from a computer science/software engineering background while Dr. Nkobena is a pharmacist. They discussed the outcomes of combining technology and healthcare, resulting in telemedicine and telehealth apps, how it can improve the healthcare system, and why Africa needs to utilize these methods more. Some of the positives discussed were managing chronic conditions, prescribing medication, reducing hospital readmissions, and overall lowering costs. 

            Through these healthcare applications patients can have a doctor available to them immediately despite location. Patients have the option of video calling, sharing images, or texting their physician. It is determined by preference and urgency. The applications are required to be HIPPA compliant in order for medical diagnosis and treatment to be offered. According to PC Magazine, with the increase of telehealth and telemedicine applications, it is creating a competitive marketplace resulting in lower health care costs. By reducing time to access and fuel consumption, along with increasing preventative care, these applications are transforming health care. Dr. Nkobena discussed the benefits of telehealth and telemedicine from the doctor’s perspective also. Due to E-Prescriptions, she is able to receive prescriptions electronically and fulfill prescription request in a much faster time. This is a prime example of enhancing quality patient care. 

            In my research of creating these kinds of applications, I came across Science Soft Professional Software Development also known as scnsoft.com. it as an IT consulting service that creates custom and platform-based solutions for Healthcare companies. They develop a range of patient applications such as patient engagement, telemedicine, medication, mental health, rehabilitation, and wellness. Their approach to creating to creating patient applications consist of many factors. First, they believe in creating in creating condition-based applications rather than one-size-fits-all. The application should address specific patient needs. Next, it should provide secure date exchange options meaning two-way communication. SCNSOFT emphasizes guaranteeing the integrity of protected health information. They also emphasize the importance of a user-friendly interface, stating that all their applications combine performance, style, and usability. With a focus on their end-users, creating easy to navigate applications that have practical value and appealing design is priority. Medical device integration is the fourth factor. Being able to integrate all types of medical tracking and medicine devices results in the better health outcomes and allows systematic care. Some examples are instant glucometers, heart rate monitors, and smart asthma inhalers. Last but not least, the final factor is support. ScienceSoft has a support team available at all times to assist with issues regarding the application. 

            Rebecca Enonchong was the closing keynote speaker and ultimately who I was most thrilled to hear speak. She is mentioned previously but I did not describe who or what she does because I wanted to discuss her last. She is a Cameroonian technology entrepreneur and the founder of AppsTech. She is also an investor and part owner of I/O Spaces. Her donations to the field of technology in Africa is what she is best known for. Enonchong spoke on the development of her business AppsTech which provides enterprise applications solutions. Her company turned twenty years old this year, originally being based in Marlyland. It has now expanded to having several offices in different locations across the United States, Europe, and Africa, including her home country of Cameroon along with consumers in over forty countries.  She also discussed her non-profit The Africa Technology Forum which is dedicated to helping startups in Africa. 

            This conference opened my eyes so much to the impact I want to leave in the field of technology, especially in regards to Africa. The creators of this conference being from Cameroon inspired me tremendously because I am also Cameroonian. I learned an extreme amount of beginning a startup and creating applications that are usable not only here in the United States but also in Africa. It was a reminder that my vision is bigger than myself. My future career in the field of User Experience is also for the betterment of my people. From the organizer of the event, Leslie Tita to Dr. Nkobena and Rebecca Enonchong, and many others mentioned and not mentioned, I was inspired to not forget my roots once I reach my destination.

Duffy, J., Duffy, J., & Duffy, J. (2015, February 11). 10 Apps That Are Changing Healthcare. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/article/331934/10-apps-that-are-changing-healthcare

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.scnsoft.com/healthcare/mobile/patient-apps

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