Digital platforms have transformed interactions in public and private spheres. They have promised a myriad of benefits such as increasing efficiency, access to goods and services, reducing transaction costs and information asymmetry. This has prompted governments worldwide to support and leverage these technologies to improve living standards. Despite these benefits, there are mounting concerns regarding the governance of platforms. For instance, third parties have at their disposal various digital tools and strategies to manipulate public opinion and to achieve self-serving economic and political interests. Users are also exposed to significant privacy risks as platform operators, app developers and other third parties extract and process large amounts of personal data. These issues have important implications for individual internet users and the online community as a whole. They are considered along with AI as some of the most important issues affecting internet health today. In this talk, we will examine APIs' role in information spread by exploring the landscape of APIs, their usage patterns, and propagation pathways, and provide recommendations to address the issues identified. We then offer provocations and avenues for future research on the study of AI and Data governance for improving the health of digital platforms.

 

Dr Araz Taeihagh 's talk on Improving the digital health of platforms: APIs, AI and Data Governance       View video