University of Washington Center for an Informed Public co-founder Jevin West, an Information School associate professor, joined a research and policy delegation on Sept. 15 at the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, State Sen. Marko Liias, and various leaders from across Washington. The goal of the trip was to build upon a Memorandum of Understanding Washington state officials signed with the government of Finland in 2021 to support stronger economic ties.
Earlier this year, the CIP received funding in the 2022 Washington state supplemental budget to build deeper ties with researchers, educators and librarians in Finland working in the areas of misinformation, disinformation, and media literacy. This work falls within the fifth area of the state’s MOU — new technologies changing ways how societies interact. Finland has faced disinformation campaigns throughout its history and with its recent admittance into NATO, these issues will be even more pertinent.
During his visit to Finland, West, who studies data science, the science of science and misinformation, was focused on building research and educational ties with scholars and teachers in Finland who work on mis- and disinformation and media literacy.
“Finland has been a world leader in the development of media literacy programs,” West said. “We hope to foster the exchange of ideas and expertise with our peers in Finland to help inform our own work at the University of Washington to improve the ways we teach people lessons and strategies for navigating rumors, mis- and disinformation online and elsewhere in their lives.”
West met with researchers and educators at the University of Helsinki, within the Finnish government, and at Centers of European Excellence focused on threats to national security such as mis- and disinformation. The goal is to share research methods, teaching programs and ideas for addressing these challenges that are far from unique in the United States.
Photo of Helsinki, Finland by Ninara via Flickr / CC BY 2.0
