FAIR Data and Democracy: Investments to Accelerate Computational Democracy Research

AI capabilities are coming on line quickly and transforming scientific workflows. The productivity gains will not be equally accessible; their advantages will be enjoyed by the communities that have the requisite scientific infrastructure in place. Democracy studies is not well prepared. Our theories, concepts, measures, and data are well developed, and legible to humans, who can bring their subtle judgements to any given research task. The problem is that this collection of knowledge is not legible to and actionable by computers because we have not rendered it in a language that a computer can understand. Computers need descriptions of data, measures, concepts, and theories that are rendered using the formal tools that they can operate upon. This workshop convenes AI experts and democracy data infrastructure experts to identify and develop these renderings and resources. Kellogg is well-positioned for leadership. We have rich traditions of democracy knowledge and scholarship; we can collaborate with other domain specialists that are also investing, such as MEDem; and, we can chart a course of advancement with the support of global institutions that have evolved to assist in this work, such as the Go FAIR Foundation and CODATA.

Workshop Website