In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Bruke Kifle hosts Jacki O'Neill, Director of the Microsoft Africa Research Institute (MARI) in Nairobi, Kenya, where she is building a multi-disciplinary team combining research, engineering, and design to solve local problems globally. Her research interests span AI, HCI, social science, and technology for emerging markets. An ethnographer by trade, Jacki has focused on technologies for work—with the aim of making work better; and technologies for societal impact, with the aim of supporting underserved communities. She has led major research projects in the future of work from new labor platforms to workplace AI and chat; digital currencies and financial inclusion; and Global Healthcare. She has received two innovation awards and 16 patents (from new interaction mechanisms to crowdsourcing), and has served on the program and organizing committees of major conferences such as CHI, CSCW, ICTD, and ECSCW for many years.
In the interview, Jacki traces her path from her early days growing up in Plymouth, UK to discovering an interest in computing at the University of Manchester after initially studying psychology. She describes how her background has influenced her approach in the design of technology and some primary methodologies she has used. Jacki reflects on the establishment and mission of MARI, and the benefits and challenges of collaborating across different multidisciplinary teams. She also shares what she sees as the biggest opportunities for technology in Africa and what local problems can be solved, touching on her approach to cross-cultural differences such as AI and equitable language systems. Finally, Jacki offers some exciting future directions and visions for computing in Africa and advice for making a social impact in the field.
Partha Talukdar - Episode 52
Rosalind Picard - Episode 51
Edward Y. Chang - Episode 50
Ranveer Chandra - Episode 48
Yael Tauman Kalai - Episode 47
Noriko Arai - Episode 46
Eugenio Zuccarelli - Episode 45
Regina Barzilay - Episode 44
Kush Varshney - Episode 43
Anima Anandkumar - Episode 42
Mor Peleg - Episode 41
Robert Metcalfe - Episode 40
H.-S. Philip Wong - Episode 39
Pattie Maes - Episode 38
Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman- Episode 37
Holly Urban - Episode 36
Pat Pataranutaporn - Episode 35
Team V Bionic - Episode 34
Neil Trevett - Episode 33
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