In partnership with the Information Technology program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), the Public Interest Technology Initiative (PIT@UMass) is pleased to announce a new undergraduate academic certificate in public interest technology, set to launch during the fall 2023 semester.
Public interest technology (PIT) focuses on the development and realization of socially responsible solutions to the challenges of a technology-driven world. The five-course PIT Certificate, open to all students regardless of major, is designed to help students strengthen technical and social literacy skills while developing pragmatic strategies for promoting all aspects of public interest technology to society. Courses will prioritize topics such as privacy, safety, security, sustainability, and equity. A capstone course will bookend the curriculum by providing students with real-life experiences in addressing PIT-related challenges.
PIT@UMass Director Fran Berman explains, “This certificate provides documentation that students have the skills and experience to assess the social impacts of tech-enabled solutions and enables them to further explore concepts taught in the new, all-campus Introduction to Public Interest Technology course.”
The ultimate goal of the certificate is to provide students with the necessary educational tools to develop a public interest technology perspective and further develop their sense of social responsibility, which students will leverage as they move into professional careers and engage with their communities.
According to the director of the UMass Amherst Information Technology program and professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation and the School of Public Policy, Charlie Schweik, “Here at UMass Amherst, we want to teach the next generation of leaders in a tech-centered world, to keep socially responsible thinking central in their minds whenever they apply technology as they innovate in their chosen fields. The undergraduate PIT Certificate will help UMass educate students, regardless of major, to think critically about topics such as equity, ethics, privacy, security, safety, social justice, and sustainability and expose them to various social control approaches to address these issues from economics, law, public policy and administration, and design.”
The Public Interest Technology Initiative at UMass Amherst seeks to develop educational, research, practice, and outreach offerings across UMass Amherst’s diverse schools and colleges and seeks to empower students and the broader community with the critical thinking, expertise, and information needed to promote personal and professional social responsibility and the common good in a tech-driven world. PIT@UMass is proud to be a member of the national Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN).
The PIT Certificate will be administered out of the UMass interdisciplinary IT Program (https://www.umass.edu/itprogram/) in partnership with PIT@UMass. For more information on the specific course requirements and additional background information, please visit the Public Interest Technology webpage.