Martin Hilbert (born in 1977) is a
social scientist
Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
who is a professor at the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
where he chairs the campus-wide emphasis on
Computational Social Science
Computational social science is an interdisciplinary academic sub-field concerned with computational approaches to the social sciences.
This means that computers are used to model, simulate, and analyze social phenomena.
It has been applied in a ...
. He studies societal digitalization. His work is recognized in academia for the first study that assessed how much information there is in the world;
in public policy for having designed the first digital action plan with the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations (
eLAC Action Plans
in international relations, is an intergovernmental strategy that conceives of information and communications technologies (ICTs) as instruments for economic development and social inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is based on ...
); and in the popular media for having alerted about the intervention of
Cambridge Analytica
Cambridge Analytica Ltd. (CA), previously known as SCL USA, was a British political consulting firm that came to prominence through the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. It was started in 2013, as a subsidiary of the private intell ...
a year before the scandal broke.
Career and research
Hilbert served as Economic Affairs Officer of the United Nations Secretariat for 15 years (
UN ECLAC), where he created the Information Society Program for Latin America and the Caribbean He conceptualized the design of the
eLAC Action Plans
in international relations, is an intergovernmental strategy that conceives of information and communications technologies (ICTs) as instruments for economic development and social inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is based on ...
, which has led to six consecutive generations of digital development agendas for Latin America and the Caribbean (2005–2025).
Hilbert studies the conditions and effects of digitalization (information & communication) and algorithmification (knowledge) on human processes and societal dynamics. His research has found audiences in communication science, information science, international development, evolution and ecology, technological forecasting, complexity science, network science, economics, physics, psychology, women's studies and multidisciplinary science.
Consulting
Hilbert has provided technical assistance in the field of digital development to more than 20 countries and contributed to publicly traded companies as digital strategist. He has consulted with governments and companies, especially in Latin America, which has earned him media-titles like “guru of big data”.
Teaching
Hilbert's university courses are available as
MOOCs on
Coursera
Coursera Inc. () is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offe ...
. His teachings on "Digital Technology & Social Change" consists of an introduction to the digital age, being informed by his hands-on experience at the United Nations and his regular consultancy work. His methods course is an introduction to the scientific method, informed by complexity science, executed with computational tools and called “University of California Computational Social Science”. It was the first UC-wide online course that involves faculty members from all 10 UC campuses (17 different lecturers).
Awards & Recognitions
Hilbert's numerous peer recognitions span from awards for visual infographics, and written interviews, to an endowed chair position at the Library of Congress, and ranked at the 'Top-100 Best Online Courses of ALL TIMES, as well as two awards for online teaching from the University of California Office of the President's Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI).
References
External links
Martin Hilbert webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilbert, Martin
Living people
1977 births
21st-century American social scientists