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Dr. Bhorat will help educators in the U.S. develop curricula that blend computer science and ethics

(SAN FRANCISCO | MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2023) – Mozilla is excited to welcome Dr. Ziyaad Bhorat as our newest Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) fellow.

During his fellowship, Dr. Bhorat will support U.S. faculty that are embedding ethics into their computing curricula — and, in the long-term, encourage the next generation of digital builders to create technology in the public’s interest.

RCC — which recently expanded to India and Kenya — was launched in 2018 to break down barriers between computing curricula and the social sciences at colleges and universities. It invites computer science students to ask not just what’s possible?, but also what’s responsible? In the U.S. alone, RCC has been implemented at 19 universities, impacted over 15,000 students, and created 100 distinct courses. RCC is a joint initiative between Mozilla, Omidyar Network, Schmidt Futures, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Mellon Foundation, and USAID.

The Los Angeles-based Dr. Bhorat is a South African political theorist focused on AI, global digital governance, and democratic politics. He has researched and written on topics ranging from Aristotelian virtue ethics to AI judges for academic journals as well as media outlets in the U.S., UK and South Africa.

Dr. Bhorat recently finished joint postdoctoral appointments at the Berggruen Institute; University of Southern California’s (USC)’s Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life; and as a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. He is currently also helping to build the first center on generative AI at USC as a collaboration between the nation’s top film and media/communications schools. He holds an MBA from Oxford University and has worked in digital media and telecoms industries across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Says Dr. Ziyaad Bhorat: “I'm eager to bring perspectives on power and justice into conversations about computing across U.S. universities — particularly when it comes to building trustworthy AI. As RCC grows its footprint, I’m excited to be a part of the journey.”

Says Steve Azeka, Program Lead for the Responsible Computing Challenge: “Dr. Bhorat’s wealth of knowledge and experience make him an essential addition to the RCC team. Mozilla is excited to follow along with his outsized impact in this vital space.”

The second RCC cohort in the U.S. will be announced later this year.