Inaugural Human Rights By Design fellows publish white papers

Collage of white paper title pages and portraits of Brie McLemore and Ifejesu Ogunleye.

Brie McLemore and Ifejesu Ogunleye, the first cohort of the Human Rights By Design Fellowship program co-sponsored by Taraaz and the CITRIS Policy Lab, have published white papers on the human rights implications of emerging technology.

McLemore, a doctoral student in the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at UC Berkeley, studied the inequitable distribution of benefits and risks of smart cities in the United States. Her paper, “When the Streetlights Come On: How ‘Smart Cities’ are Becoming a Surveillance State,” provides policy recommendations for building just and equitable smart cities.

Ogunleye, who recently received her master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Rausser College of Natural Resources, explored the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the economic development of Nigeria. Based on a study of the health care, agriculture and energy sectors, her paper, “Artificial Intelligence for Economic Development in Nigeria,” establishes an ethical framework to guide sustainable and inclusive deployment of AI tech.