Introducing ACM | Impact
A new initiative by ACM at UCLA
ACM | Impact is a new ACM initiative that facilitates programs, events, and conversations around socially responsible engineering, social impact technology, and tech policy. We formed the Impact team and spearheaded our first initiatives during Fall 2020. We aim to continue our momentum for sparking conversation, reflection, and conscious change through bigger and bolder events this Winter 2021, and are excited to uplift the voices of a community of individuals who are dedicated to examining and utilizing tech for the betterment of society.
why create impact?
It’s been a busy start to January — with barely a two week winter break, a Senate runoff election, unprecedented allowances and bans of social media usage by authority figures, and the breach of the U.S. Capitol by rioters, we as students have been overwhelmed with the increasingly volatile state of society. As we watch the news, read articles, and observe what’s going on in the world, we’re increasingly incensed to do something about it. And as technologists, we have the power to create technology that improves the lives of others, advocate for policies that maximize social good, and analyze how our work impacts society.
This past summer, these increasing feelings of restlessness and desire to analyze and hopefully improve the effects we have on society through technology came to a head. Thus, we created ACM Impact, ACM at UCLA’s newest initiative — we want to bring together innovators, policy enthusiasts, and social changemakers to one community, focused on the intersection of tech and social good. Want to learn about social media companies’ moderation of tech platforms? The impact of Section 230? Interested in finding ways to pursue social impact tech as a career? We’re here to learn, discuss, and help you find the answers to these questions and more.
fall quarter: first initiatives!
Last quarter, we hosted our first event series, Intro to Tech Ethics, where we presented workshops on topics such as autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, and big tech regulation. We also hosted an event on COVID-19’s Impact on Tech Workers, hosting guest speaker Aline Lerner from interviewing.io to learn about how tech recruiting for college students has been affected. Through these events, we brought together computer science students to discuss the moral issues surrounding advanced technologies and the actions of high-tech companies.
winter quarter plans
This year, we hope to continue our work with a biweekly Careers in Social Impact Technology series, where we’ll talk about social impact technology, host a panel of industry professionals who work in social impact tech, and feature student speakers who have incorporated open source and social impact work into their college careers. Keep an eye out for this event series on our Facebook page!
We’ll also be sharing blog posts on technology policy via this Medium publication, about topics such as AI governance and the effects of technology on the environment. Our team will be creating easily digestible infographics for our Instagram about tech policy and current events issues.
how to get involved
Beyond coming to our events this quarter and reading our online content, you can join the ACM Impact discussion by joining the ACM at UCLA Discord server, where we have an #impact channel to share updates, articles, and more.
You can also sign up on our interest form to receive occasional emails with content about our events, updates, and other opportunities! If you have any questions at all, you can ask via our interest form, Discord channel, or message our Facebook page.
