Kean Birch Archives - Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change

Digital charter bill will do little to protect Canadians' personal data

patilpos — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 22:23:00 +0000

Bill C-27 is a welcome sign that the government is taking Big Data seriously, but it needs some serious finessing before it’ll do more than reinforce the status quo - Kean Birch The federal government has tabled Bill C-27, the digital charter implementation act, which covers consumer privacy, data protection tribunal processes and the regulation […]

The post Digital charter bill will do little to protect Canadians' personal data appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

The changing dynamics of innovation in technoscientific capitalism

paultran — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 19:10:56 +0000

Kasra Babashahiashtiani is a geography MA student under the supervision of Dr. Kean Birch, with whom he examines the economic geography of Canada’s AI ecosystem as part of an SSHRC-funded project titled “The changing dynamics of innovation in technoscientific capitalism”. In 2017, the Government of Canada announced the Pan-Canadian National AI strategy and pledged $125 […]

The post The changing dynamics of innovation in technoscientific capitalism appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

Kean Birch: Big Tech poses challenges our outdated competition laws were not designed to address

paultran — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 22:57:24 +0000

Those who think competition law does not need to be updated to address the harms caused by Big Tech fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the high-tech giants Author of the article: Kean Birch, Special to National Post Publishing date: Nov 29, 2021 Everywhere we look around the world, competition policy and laws are being redrawn […]

The post Kean Birch: Big Tech poses challenges our outdated competition laws were not designed to address appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

Global Political Economy

paultran — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 19:35:22 +0000

EUC researchers are producing critical analyses of contemporary global capitalism, feminist perspectives on geopolitics, and psychoanalytical interpretations of global development. We are also exploring the changing worlds of work, employment and labour organizing; the global rise of right-wing populism; and new structures of accumulation through technoscientific capitalism. Projects Work at Sea: Explaining Labour Relations in […]

The post Global Political Economy appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

Exploring how personal data is accounted for, governed, and valued by Big Tech firms

paultran — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 15:26:47 +0000

by DT Cochrane When I began my post-doctoral work with Professor Kean Birch, I was excited to engage with the faculty and students of the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change. With an academic background in economics, and a PhD from 91��ɫ’s Graduate Program in Social & Political Thought, I thought I had much both […]

The post Exploring how personal data is accounted for, governed, and valued by Big Tech firms appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

This is how Canada should deal with Big Tech

paultran — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 03:50:00 +0000

By Kean Birch Big Tech was in the policy spotlight again recently with another U.S. Congressional hearing on Oct. 1, this time focused on “Proposals to Strengthen the Antitrust Laws and Restore Competition Online.” The hearing was the culmination of a long Congressional investigation into Big Tech — defined as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google/Alphabet, and […]

The post This is how Canada should deal with Big Tech appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

This is how Canada should deal with Big Tech

paultran — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 22:35:29 +0000

By Kean BirchContributor Tue., Oct. 13, 2020timer3 min. read updateArticle was updated Oct. 09, 2020 Big Tech was in the policy spotlight again recently with another U.S. Congressional hearing on Oct. 1, this time focused on “Proposals to Strengthen the Antitrust Laws and Restore Competition Online.” The hearing was the culmination of a long Congressional investigation into […]

The post This is how Canada should deal with Big Tech appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

From Entrepreneurship to Rentiership? The Changing Dynamics of Innovation in Technoscientific Capitalism

inist — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 14:42:00 +0000

Principal Investigator: Kean Birch. Funding: SSHRC Insight Grant. Term: 2018-2023. This project examines the extent, manifestation, and policy implications of ‘rentiership’ in contemporary, technoscientific capitalism. Rentiership is defined as the capture of value from the ownership and/or control of assets, rather than the production of new goods and services. It involves fieldwork on the following […]

The post From Entrepreneurship to Rentiership? The Changing Dynamics of Innovation in Technoscientific Capitalism appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

What can Canada learn from the U.S. Congressional hearing on Big Tech monopolies?

paultran — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 17:44:50 +0000

In late July, the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Antitrust held an important hearing on the monopolistic power of Big Tech — Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google. I recommend watching the hearing; it’s long but worth it if you want insight into what we need to do to avoid damaging our economy and society further. Big […]

The post What can Canada learn from the U.S. Congressional hearing on Big Tech monopolies? appeared first on Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.