27.09.2019
Big Tech
How Silicon Valley Reshapes our Cities
On Friday September 27, Mike Isaac, technology reporter for The New York Times, will visit De Dépendance on the occasion of his new book Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber. The book is a tale of hubris and excess set against a technological revolution, with billions of dollars and the future of transportation at stake. It’s a story that touches on the major themes of Silicon Valley in the last decade: how rapid developments in technology can crash into long-entrenched labor systems, throw urban development into upheaval and overturn an entire industry in a matter of years. So what are the (hidden) financial structures behind tech giants like Uber? Which are the transformative effects on the urban fabric of our cities? And how should we interpret the increased public criticism and regulatory scrutiny of these companies?
Participants
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Mike Isaac
Mike Isaac is a technology reporter based in The New York Times’s San Francisco bureau, where he covers Facebook, Uber and Twitter, among other companies. He has won the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business reporting, runs the weekly technology newsletter Bits, and often appears on CNBC and MSNBC as a tech expert.
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Letizia Chiappini
Letizia Chiappini is a PhD candidate in Urban Studies (UrbEur Doctorate) at the University of Milan-Bicocca and in the Geographies of Globalization (GoG) research group at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests revolve around urban transformations and societal changes under digital capitalism.
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Geert Maarse
Geert Maarse is a journalist and programme-maker. Having worked for Erasmus University for over five years, he is specialized in connecting scientific research to public debate. He has a background in Business Administration and Cultural Studies. He is the founder and regular host of Studio Erasmus, a monthly science magazine broadcasted by OPEN Rotterdam. He worked on a documentary and published in a number of online and offline media (de Volkskrant, Vers Beton, Erasmus Magazine).