Pitt Schools to Cohost “Government Secrecy In
the Information Age” Presentation Jan. 19

In a time when terror threats provoke potentially counter-productive measures that impede openness, the need for a thorough and dispassionate discussion of openness in democratic societies is paramount. Alasdair Roberts, an international authority on transparency in government, will examine this issue in a presentation titled “Government Secrecy in the Information Age” Jan. 19, 4:30–6 p.m., in the Bigelow Room of Oakland’s Pittsburgh Athletic Association. The event will be hosted by Pitt’s Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the School of Information Sciences. A reception will follow.

Roberts contends that the “right to know” has been used over the intervening years to challenge overreaching Presidents and secretive government agencies. Yet, despite these global efforts to foster openness in government, secrecy still persists, and in many cases thrives. Beyond simply lamenting bureaucratic behavior, Roberts will examine the evolution of governmental openness, especially as it relates to technological innovation. He will draw on various countries’ experiences to discuss how privatization, globalization, and networking of security agencies are complicating the fight against secrecy. In the process, he will offer a comprehensive look at the global efforts to restrict secrecy and will provide a guide to those areas in which the battle over secrecy is most intense.

Roberts is an associate professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and is director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. He has written more than 30 journal articles and book chapters and is the recipient of the Johnson Institute’s Best Paper in Ethics and Accountability. In addition, he has been a fellow of the Open Society Institute and the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, and is a member of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue”s Transparency Task Force. He is the author of Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

This event is free and open (of course!) to the public. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served. Register at www.johnsoninstitute-gspia.org/events.asp. For further information, visit www.johnsoninstitute-gspia.org or contact ethics@gspia.pitt.edu or 412-648-1336.

—John Fedele

Race and Social Problems Series to Feature Local and National Experts

Topics ranging from empowering girls to pursue productive futures to examining employment trends for young Black men will highlight the Reed Smith Spring 2006 Speaker Series at Pitt’s Center on Race and Social Problems. All talks are free and open to the public and will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the School of Social Work Conference Center, 2017 Cathedral of Learning. Lunch will be provided, and registration is not required. For more information, call 412-624-7382 or visit www.crsp.pitt.edu.

The series will kick off Jan. 23 with a talk by Harry J. Holzer titled “Employment Trends for Young Black Men: Causes and Policy Implications.” A professor of public policy and associate dean at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute, Holzer has studied the low-wage labor market, particularly the problems of minority workers in urban areas. In recent years, he has focused on employer skill needs and hiring practices as well as the employment problems of less-educated young men. He also is analyzing the turnover rates and job performance of welfare recipients in the workplace.

Prior to his appointment at Georgetown, Holzer was chief economist for the U. S. Department of Labor, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, and a professor of economics at Michigan State University. His Multi-City Project on Urban Inequality generated a unique matched dataset on both low-wage workers and employers in a number of U.S. metropolitan areas.

Other presenters and the titles and dates of their presentations are: Gwen Elliott, founder and CEO of Gwen’s Girls, “Empowering Girls: Gender-Specific Approaches for Productive Futures,” Feb. 14; Richard Schulz, director of Pitt’s Center for Social and Urban Research, “Enhancing the Quality of Life of Latino, Black, and White Dementia Caregivers: The REACH II Randomized Control Trial,” March 15; and Orlando Patterson, the John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and Special Advisor for Social Policy and Development to former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, from 1972 to 1980, “Father Absence Among African-Americans,” April 5.

The Center on Race and Social Problems, housed in Pitt’s School of Social Work, hosts a lecture series every spring and fall to provide an opportunity for faculty, students, and community members to engage in race-related discussions of mutual interest.

—Sharon S. Blake

Medical and Security Informatics Expert to Lecture Here Jan. 19

Hsinchun Chen, McClelland Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Arizona and founding director of that university’s Artificial Intelligence Lab and Hoffman E-Commerce Lab, will give a lecture titled “Medical Informatics and Security Informatics in Digital Libraries” from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Jan. 19. The lecture will take place in Room 501 in Pitt’s Information Sciences Building and will be preceded by a Meet the Speaker Coffee at 1 p.m.

Chen’s lecture is part of the Digital Libraries Colloquium Series, presented by Pitt’s School of Information Sciences (SIS), University Library System, and Department of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University and its University Libraries, and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

In his presentation, Chen will review several critical directions for digital library research and present research of relevance to medical informatics and security informatics, including overviews of such systems as HelpfulMED, GeneScene, COPLINK, BorderSafe, and BioPortal.

Chen’s COPLINK system helps public safety agencies share and analyze criminal information. The system, which has been recommended as a national model for public safety information sharing and analysis, has been adopted in more than 150 law enforcement and intelligence agencies. This research has recently been expanded to border protection (BorderSafe), disease and bioagent surveillance (BioPortal), and terrorism informatics research (Dark Web), funded by the National Science Foundation, Central Intelligence Agency, and Department of Homeland Security.

Chen has received numerous awards in information technology and knowledge management, including the AT&T Foundation Award, the SAP Award, the Andersen Consulting Professor of the Year Award, the University of Arizona Technology Innovation Award, and the National Chiao Tung University Distinguished Alumnus Award. He also is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow. A scientific counselor and advisor to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, and the National Library of China, Chen has served as an advisor for major international research programs in digital libraries, digital government, medical informatics, and national security. His recent books include Medical Informatics: Knowledge Management and Data Mining in Biomedicine and Intelligence (Springer, 2005) and Intelligence and Security Informatics for International Security: Information Sharing and Data Mining (Springer, 2006).

Presented since 2001, the Digital Libraries Colloquium Series offers international experts in the emerging field of digital libraries. For more information, visit www.sis.pitt.edu/updates/colloquia/DL.html or contact Kelly Shaffer, SIS director of external relations, at 412-624-2677 or kshaffer@mail.sis.pitt.edu.

—Karen Hoffmann