Seeding Societal Futures
Rapid technological advances in the workforce, education system, and community design have the potential to reshape our society in the coming years, redefining how humans interact with and are valued by the larger economy. It is vitally important to ask why an innovation is necessary, how it is developed and deployed, and who benefits from it.
The Block Center's Seeding Societal Futures Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University is dedicated to leveraging our key strengths in technology, analytics, and policy to promote innovations that make the world more efficient, kinder, humane, and inclusive. Our projects strive to be inclusive in their design, ethical in their implementation, and effective in their ability to positively impact communities.
As the “action arm” of the Center, the Seeding Societal Futures Initiative connects CMU faculty with community partners to execute projects that prioritize equitable, human-centered design.
Build Back Better Regional Challenge: Expanding Pathways to New Economy Careers
As a part of the Southwest Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative, the Block Center is playing a central role in establishing a highly coordinated, regional upskilling system serving the regional robotics and advanced manufacturing fields, opening up a range of training options outside of traditional four-year and advanced degrees, and ensuring that programs evolve based on industry needs.
The Block Center announced the first portfolio of annual subawards for projects leading or supporting skills-focused training programs that help Southwestern Pennsylvanians secure jobs in robotics and advanced manufacturing in our region. [Read more.]
Developing Automation Policy to Ensure Worker Health and Safety in the Hospitality Sector
The Human-Computer Interaction Institute-based research team is continuing work to co-design automation implementation policies for workers and customers in the hospitality industry to ensure their health and safety. The work cooperates with the AFL-CIO Technology Institute, the labor union UNITE HERE!, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). [Read the full story.]
Faculty team:
Jodi Forlizzi
Sarah Fox
Chinmay Kulkarni
Can Ridesharing Help the Disadvantaged Get Moving?
Citizens with lower education and skill levels often confront challenges when seeking employment. The jobs best suited for their skills may be geographically distant from their homes, and the existing public transportation system may not provide them with an easy way of commuting to those jobs. Effective cooperation between governments, regulatory authorities, and transportation networking companies could remove those barriers and make ridesharing systems available to disadvantaged citizens.
To assess citizen response to a public ridesharing policy, the Block Center, in collaboration with Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, led a series of field experiments in Pittsburgh and adjacent areas of Allegheny County. [Read more.]
Faculty team:
Lee Branstetter
Beibei Lei
Lowell Taylor