Research
I do lots of research. Currently, I am an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington in Seattle. I have had research fellowships at the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington D.C., the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research in London, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto.
My two most active research projects are the World Information Access Project and the Project on Information Technology and Political Islam.
Some of the research, such as my 1$Can bet with Dr. Jennifer Stromer-Galley, is driven by friendly competition with colleagues. Other research projects are large, formal organizations. I have a short version of my research biography, but for more complete record of my research, please see my curriculum vitae.
I strongly believe in sharing data, references, and ideas as soon as I think they might be of value, even at the risk of being plagiarized. I post reference lists and prepublication versions of manuscripts, and organize conferences and distribute raw data as a service to other people with similar interests. My project to develop a database of literature about how new information technologies are being used to solve social problems in developing countries is online at the Sustainable Development and ICT Database. Teaching and research are often integrated, and undergraduate students were heavily involved in producing the research behind the Seattle Newmediapedia and the December 2004 WiFi Map of Seattle.