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IS40910

Academic Year 2021/2022

Digital Policy (IS40910)

Subject:
Information Studies
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Information & Comms Studies
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Elizabeth Farries
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
Blended
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

Technological innovation continues to bring new considerations to policy-making in our digital age. Effective tech solutions and practice must be synthesised with economic, social and cultural considerations which in turn require evaluations of legality and human rights.

With this contextualisation, students will consider fundamental digital policy issues with special attention to public and private sector developments including surveillance, digital security, intellectual property, digital inclusion, platform regulation, disinformation and democracy, digital identity, artificial intelligence governance, privacy and data protection.

Developing these issues, specific module topics will be presented in order to critically theorise policy development questions. Topics may include facial recognition technology, pandemic tracking apps, smart cities, social media content moderation, gendered online harassment, policing surveillance technology, intelligence sharing, administrative digital ID systems, automating copyright enforcement, and telecoms data retention.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

1. Research and describe contemporary digital policy issues
2. Demonstrate familiarity with national, European, and international regulatory bodies, frameworks, and social and cultural contexts
3. Understand and explain how and why the following issues matter in digital policy arenas: social, economic and cultural rights; privacy, association, and expression rights; and data protection rights
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the technical, human, and organisational resource dimensions of policy design

Indicative Module Content:

Information ownership and intellectual property
Access and control
Surveillance
Cybersecurity
Harmful contents
Automation processes and artificial intelligence
Privacy.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Autonomous Student Learning

176
Lectures

24
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lecture
In-class discussion
Critical reading and writing
Desk research

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Project: Oireachtas submission on a key digital policy concern with 5 minute slide presentation Unspecified n/a Graded Yes
30
 Yes
Project: Policy review brief on an existing digital policy issue Unspecified n/a Graded Yes
40
 Yes
Project: Case study of key digital policy and organisation Unspecified n/a Graded Yes
30
 Yes

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on each case study and the policy briefing will be delivered through the Brightspace VLE after the project is submitted.

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