In this hyper-mediated era and data-controlled society, a world in which our every online move and interaction is tracked for the benefit of the most powerful political and economic interest groups, our seemingly free or spontaneous choices are in fact increasingly ruled by algorithms; our activities are recorded as data patterns that in turn serve to influence the consumption of media and information. Instead of restating some of these worrying tendencies or simply listing dry data trends, the potential power and creative use of data and technology formed the basis of a refreshingly educational and well-organized panel event entitled “We Are Data”, convened on 16 May at Downtown Cairo’s Cimathèque. A co-organized event shedding light on an ongoing collaboration between Cairotronica and Impakt, the goal of this session was to explore how we can support autonomy and agency with regard to data, from more creative angles. Held biennially since 2016, Cairotronica is an Electronic and New Media Arts festival in Cairo, which aims to be an international platform for electronic art in the Middle East. It encourages people from different fields including artists, academics and technology experts to come together…
“We Are Data”: Inspiring Cairo Event Presents Grassroots Approaches to Technology
May 18, 2019
