FAQ | EthicalGEO

What is EthicalGEO?

The EthicalGEO initiative seeks to activate thinkers, innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, practitioners, students, and everyday citizens and bring them in to a global dialog that shines a light on their best ideas about the ethical challenges and opportunities posed by the many geospatial technologies and data sources that are reshaping our society. Just as the EthicalAI dialog has enabled a broad-based discussion about the future implications of AI, and the ways in which our society might steer the technology to our purposes, the EthicalGEO initiative seeks to spur a similar conversation around the flurry of geospatial innovations that have become part of our daily lives.

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We’re working on a fix, but if you have an issue submitting your video, just make sure to refresh the page after going to “Upload Video”…once refreshed, it should auto forward to the Upload Video form. Contact us if you have issues.

How do I learn more about the contest rules?

A summary and detailed rules for the contest can be found at General Video Contest Rules and Complete Video Rules (.pdf).

How can you participate?

Everyone on Earth is invited to shape the EthicalGEO dialog by submitting their ideas in the form of a 3-minute video. These big ideas will become publicly available (after a quick moderator review designed to exclude inappropriate content) for the world to see, comment on, and to seek partnership in advancing common ideas and goals. From all of these submissions, 7 will be selected to receive a 1 year, $7,500 award, to advance their ideas as an American Geographical Society EthicalGEO Fellow.

Who is eligible?

Citizens and residents of Canada, Mexico, or the United States who are 18 years of age or older. We hope to expand geographical eligibility in future years.

What is an EthicalGEO Fellow?

Many people have observations about the ethical implications of the geospatial innovations reshaping our daily lives. Fewer people have novel ideas about how our society might adapt, innovate and evolve to harness the power of geospatial data and technology while mitigating its ethical challenges. The AGS and Omidyar Network seek to identify those thought leaders from industry, government, academe, the social sector, students, teachers and general citizens and elevate their innovative ideas and projects by naming them EthicalGEO Fellows, providing modest financial support, and a global platform for advancing their ideas.

What kinds of topics fall within EthicalGEO?

Countless new technologies, with location at their core, are on the horizon and will shape the ethical fabric of our future society. What big ideas do you have to help us harness the upsides while mitigating the downsides? What project do you want to undertake to help the community navigate the future? How do you propose to activate new communities, to empower them, and bring them to bear on these important issues? The EthicalGEO initiative is open to your novel ideas and initiatives to begin our journey to a more ethical future.

So many geospatial innovations have been reshaping the ethical landscape of our everyday lives. Global Positioning Systems, satellite remote sensing, drones, cyber/location technologies, augmented and virtual reality, self-navigating autonomous vehicles, smart cities, internet of things, online cadastral data, census data, artificial intelligence and deep learning, geocoded commercial transactions and credit information, geocoded public records data, indoor location innovations, etc.

How do I get started?

The video submission page will open by August 1, 2019, but get a running start now on creating your video submission.

To make your ideas go viral, we ask that you put together a 3-minute video about your ideas and your proposed project. The video can be as simple as you speaking in to a webcam or smartphone, and as complex and well produced as you please. When the EthicalGEO website opens for submissions, create an account/profile, upload your video with a supporting short description, and attach relevant documents. Then, invite all of your friends, colleagues and the rest of the world to vote for and comment on your submission. Help drive the EthicalGEO discussion in to non-traditional communities in order to raise awareness and to broaden the discussion.

Anyone on Earth is invited to submit their ideas into the EthicalGEO process in order to shape this new global dialog. Anyone on Earth can vote for, comment on, and spread the good word regarding these ideas. Then, the AGS EthicalGEO Steering Committee will select 7 individuals to participate as AGS EthicalGEO Fellows.

What should be in my EthicalGEO video?

What big challenge are you trying to address, or what big opportunity do you seek to harness?
What is your big idea, project, or initiative and how will you go about executing?
What kind of change do you hope your effort will affect on our society?
As always, who you are will likely matter, so finding a short, crisp way of introducing yourself and your credibility is important.

What are the responsibilities of an AGS EthicalGEO Fellow?

EthicalGEO Fellows will be required to attend a special EthicalGEO workshop attached to the AGS’s annual Geography 2050 symposium, Nov 21-22 2019 in New York City. EthicalGEO Fellows’ travel arrangements to Geography2050 will be coordinated and paid for by AGS.
EthicalGEO Fellows will be required to make a final presentation, in the form of a lightning talk, at a meeting in June 2020 in Washington DC. Travel arrangements for EthicalGEO Fellows to attend the final presentation will be coordinated and paid for by AGS.
EthicalGEO Fellows will be asked to opportunistically participate on panels at various conferences and events over the course of the year to get their ideas out to broaders audiences. These events are optional, but desired.
EthicalGEO Fellows will be asked to participate in responding to media inquiries about their work.
EthicaGEO Fellows will publish their final work product in an AGS-approved archive under an open content license, for the rest of the world to build on.

If selected, when would I start?

Selections of EthicalGEO Fellows will be by September 20. Your work can begin then, and the AGS Council and Staff will work with you to support your efforts. Your presentation in NYC, Nov 21-22, 2019 will be critical in driving this important dialog, and in finding collaborators who can help in your success.