Author Archives: Katya Abazajian

Originally published by the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation on Medium. A pandemic may seem like the worst time to fix slow-changing, infrastructural data challenges, but there is no better time to begin correcting systems that just aren’t working. Chief Data Officers (CDOs) manage critical data infrastructure that helps states innovate and makeContinue reading “Data is Critical Infrastructure for Disaster Recovery”

Last week, CityLab published a piece by Chilean journalists Juan Pablo Garnham and Nicolas Alonso connecting the Metro fare hikes in Chile to the structural instability and state oppression that the country’s residents have mobilized to protest over the last few weeks. When I first saw the headline about Chilean protests under the CityLab bannerContinue reading “Urbanists play an important role in city protests”

Originally published on the Sunlight Foundation blog. Anyone who has worked in social services will tell you that navigating bureaucratic government systems can often be the most time-consuming and soul-sucking part of the job. In her TED talk in 2015, Hillary Cottam, a social entrepreneur and design research expert, highlighted the ways in which social serviceContinue reading “Opening decisions in the social services ecosystem”

Authors: Katya Abazajian and Becca WarnerOriginally published in the Sunlight Foundation blog. In September 2018, the New York Times reported that a security breach at Facebook had exposed 50 million users to data theft. The breach of such a ubiquitous social media site, which houses a host of personal data from email addresses to credit cardContinue reading “Digital rights in the era of data collection and smart city tech”

Originally published on the Sunlight Foundation blog. Recent breaches of data privacy at Facebook have been flash points for discussion and potential Congressional action about how private companies are collecting, storing, and using our personal data. As tech companies around the world scramble to implement new privacy policies, repair trust in their products, and comply with new privacyContinue reading “Cities should be smart about smart cities agreements”

Authors: Katya Abazajian and Alex DoddsOriginally published on the Sunlight Foundation blog. As we all learn more about how personal data lives online and affects us offline, people are understandably asking questions about how municipal governments are collecting or protecting sensitive data. The City of Seattle in Washington, which has been recognized for excellence in open data,Continue reading “How Seattle, WA is balancing openness with privacy”