Knight Foundation

A "ciber cafe" in Cuba. Photo by Flickr user Lars Kristian Flem. With roughly 5 percent of its population accessing the open Internet, Cuba remains one of the least digitally connected countries in the world. As part of Roots of Hope’s second annual “Code for Cuba Hackathon,” participants gathered at Facebook’s headquarters in Silicon Valley this April where teams worked on innovative ideas to help more Cubans get connected.

Vanessa Pino helps a cook prepare icing for pastries. Courtesy Cuba Study Group. Let others consider the national and global political implications of the thawing relations between the United States and Cuba. Ruben Valladares looks at the small paper tray for french fries as he’s having lunch at a Pollo Tropical and wonders aloud how he might produce them back at his shop in Havana. Sitting next to him, Niuris Higueras — who runs Atelier, one of the best restaurants in Havana, just patronized by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his delegation in their recent visit — was considering the cost benefits of using paper plates with real silverware. For entrepreneurs, and perhaps especially for these entrepreneurs, there is no lunch break. The challenges for micro-empresarios in Cuba are many, some obvious, some easy to overlook for people living in an open, consumer society. But so are, suddenly, the opportunities — and there’s much to catch up.

Marilyn Johnson is the CEO of the International Women’s Forum and formerly a 35-year marketing executive at IBM. She is a sought-after speaker and has been featured in Working Mother magazine, ESSENCE magazine, Minority Business News, The Financial Times, The Atlanta Tribune, The Network Journal Magazine, Enterprising Women magazine, Uptown Professional and BizWomen. One of the most common questions asked of any child is the proverbial, “so, what do you want to be when you grow up?”  For most of us, the answer at six is not the same answer at 26 or even 56. As we mature, it changes many times and our professional journeys evolve. I’ve been a school teacher, a news broadcaster and a marketing executive at IBM. Now I’m the CEO of the largest global membership organization for women leaders – the International Women's Forum.  I could not have told you at 26 that this is where I would be spending my time and energy. However, the one thing that has remained constant across my life is that I’m determined to make a difference.

From left; Michelle Srbinovich, General Manager WDET 101.9FM, Vincent Duffy, News Director, Michigan Radio, Stephen Henderson,during the panel: The State of Community News and Engagement during Knight Foundation's Media Learning Seminar 2015. Photo by Patrick Farrell. Does the future of informed communities hinge on collaborative journalism projects, or fiber-optic cables that provide faster Internet access? The work of civic technologists, or nonprofit news startups? There are a variety of approaches to fostering more informed and engaged communities – many of which were discussed in depth at Knight’s 2015 Media Learning Seminar. A gathering of foundation, media and tech leaders, the 8th annual seminar focuses on ways to ensure communities have the information they need to make important decisions. The seminar covered a lot of ground, so we rounded up the takeaways from our blog, plus session videos to help you catch up on what you missed.

Susan Crawford, Co-Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University, during the closing lunch presentation at the Knight Foundation's Media Learning Seminar 2015, held at the Biscayne Bay Marriott Hotel. Photo by Patrick Farrell.  Think of a smart city, only smarter. A city where a deluge of data generated from sensors, smartphones, and economic reporting pulse through fiber-optic cables to open platforms where they can be sliced, diced and displayed publicly. Author Susan Crawford calls it “The Responsive City,” in a book by the same name. Such cities, besides being economically agile, help democracy function by making government more transparent and steering citizen debates away from ideology and toward data-centric problem-solving.

Digital futurist Amy Webb at the 2015 Media Learning Seminar in Miami. Photo by Patrick Farrell.  When digital media futurist Amy Webb gives a presentation on what's about to impact the media world, the audience often is split: Some folks are inspired by the possibilities of technologies disrupting our lives, while others don’t want to bother with them. Webb opened her talk Monday at Knight’s Media Learning Seminar acknowledging that common reaction – and proceeded to make her point: She demonstrated Crystal, a new web app that predicts personality traits based on a person’s web footprint. Some in the audience squirmed. Perhaps they aren’t for everyone, but then many of Webb's tech trends to watch are already impacting the way we consume information.

Sree Sreenivasan, chief digital officer of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the 2015 Media Learning Seminar in Miami. Photo by Patrick Farrell.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a 175-year history, three locations, a storied collection – and now a 70-person digital team thinking of new ways to connect the physical with the virtual. In fact, the museum spends “as much time thinking about and appreciating our visitors who come in person as well as those who come online,” Sree Sreenivasan, the museum’s chief digital officer, told the crowd at Monday’s Knight-sponsored Media Learning Seminar. “That’s a huge step for a physical space.” In his current job, he focuses on seeking out and shaping the future of culture, which means engaging more people in art online. So far, he joked, his greatest achievement at the museum was creating a hashtag for every exhibit. Why? Because the audience of museum-goers demanded it. Clearly, though the museum is doing much more to experiment with new technologies and digitally push the envelope.