Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo Presentation

Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University, will give the talk, "Governing Sociotechnical Systems."

Abstract: Sociotechnical systems are complex arrangements in which people and technology interact in context. Governance within these systems—whether through formal policies, informal management strategies, or encoded structure or design—is critical in impacting social outcomes. Sanfilippo’s research incorporates governance theory into critical sociotechnical studies and specifically explores the sociopolitical implications of data, knowledge, and technology practices using both computational and institutional analysis approaches. Her work is premised by the belief that information and technology access play an important role in social justice. This talk will present an overview of sociotechnical governance and examples from Sanfilippo’s past and current scholarship that address key research questions, including: Who participates in information and technology governance? Is sociotechnical  governance perceived to be legitimate? What contributes to inequality in information environments? She will also discuss how this perspective can advance collaborative efforts toward modeling and managing complex interacting systems; guide decision-making; and support equitable participation in a diverse public sphere.

Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo is a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) at Princeton University. She studies governance of sociotechnical systems, exploring collaborative governance arrangements around data and knowledge, including social justice issues. Her mixed-methods research, which combines computational social science approaches and institutional analysis, is informed by her interdisciplinary background; she studied political science, international studies, Spanish, and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as an undergraduate and completed her masters and doctoral studies in information science at Indiana University, Bloomington’s School of Informatics and Computing. Madelyn was previously affiliated with AI Now and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, as well as a postdoctoral research scholar at the Information Law Institute at New York University's School of Law, where she studied knowledge commons governance, collaborating with members of the Privacy Research Group.

Questions? Contact Lori Kelso