Mozilla’s next annual festival will explore COVID-19 tracking apps, the Digital Agenda of Amsterdam, how we teach tech, and much more
(Amsterdam, December 15, 2021) — After a successful online festival in 2021, MozFest will return in 2022 as a hybrid event, unfolding both online and in Amsterdam in March 2022. Thousands of participants from all over the world will convene and collaborate to make more trustworthy AI a reality.
MozFest 2021 featured a record 9,500 participants from 90 countries. Buiilding on that momentum, the 2022 edition will feature a virtual event from 7 to 10 March 2022, plus an in-person event from 25 to 27 March 2022. The in-person event will unfold at various locations in Amsterdam, such as the OBA and the Marineterrein on Kattenburg. Partners that have committed to the 2022 festival so far include Gemeente Amsterdam, Hogeschool van Amsterdam and Waag.
Here’s what to expect at MozFest 2022:
An open-source festival
Artists, activists, technologists, designers, students and journalists from all over the world will participate, addressing issues like privacy, trustworthy AI and digital rights. The program is curated almost entirely by the MozFest community: Members can submit an idea for an online session and other community members then curate these proposals. The diverse backgrounds of the participants ensure a broad and creative perspective on the various issues. The goal? To break the status quo and reshape the online world.
A packed program
The full program of both the online and live events can be found at MozFest Plaza. New sessions are added to the program daily. See a selection of the 2022 programming below...
Tech education for the new internet generation
How do we educate a new generation of responsible and ethical tech leaders? At MozFest 2022, Tania de Sousa Dias of Humanity in Tech hosts a session on reinventing tech education. To teach young people to create and maintain a healthy internet and trustworthy AI, we need to help them develop a critical understanding of technology and its societal implications.
The impact of COVID-19 tracking apps
What information are governments collecting from their citizens through all the COVID-19 tracking apps? Is it all necessary, and what will happen to it in the future? In this session, The Centre for Internet & Society will present an interactive tool that visualizes this for India and let visitors see what they are all sharing at what time.
Think about the Digital City Agenda for Amsterdam
The Digital City Agenda 2020 states how the digital rights of Amsterdam residents will be protected and how Amsterdammers can benefit from the possibilities of a data-driven world. With the city council elections just around the corner, the current city council finds it a good time to gather feedback, suggestions and general reflections on the Digital City Agenda so that a next city council can move forward with it.
Why is blackgirlhair.js so important?
Babusi Nyoni (Triple Black agency) built a machine learning model for identifying and classifying the hairstyles of black women: blackgirlhair.js. The project is a breakthrough in the field of machine learning, because to this day the application of this technology is not representative and inclusive for the people who will use it. At MozFest, Babusi will talk about why he built this and why blackgirlhair.js is so important.
An equitable digital future for young Amsterdammers
What role can libraries play in creating a just and equal digital future for the newest internet generation? Research by the City of Amsterdam shows that a quarter of Amsterdam's residents are not keeping up digitally (meaning: no access to the internet or to working equipment). The design lab of the OBA (Amsterdam Public Library) is investigating how we can create digital equality for all Amsterdam residents from birth. From this research, a prototype of a library service will emerge in January 2022 that will be tested and evaluated at MozFest.
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MozFest: March 7-10, 2022: https://mozillafestival.org
MozFest House Amsterdam: 25-27 March 2022, various locations in Amsterdam
Contact MozFest 2022:
Kapitein Communicatie
Jeske +316 16354894 or Marlies +316 41134760