RSVP required below to get food.

Everyone has a strong physical and emotional connection to the divisions of private and public space, though few ever have the chance to explore the consequences of crossing those lines. This talk will reveal the whispered conversation societies have been having for millennia, in which we discover what defines private space and what happens to us as individuals and communities when those lines become blurred. We'll talk about security in the ancient world, revolutions both French and industrial, and the role of governments as determined attackers.

Schuyler Towne is obsessed with locks. He got his start as a competitive picker, winning the American Open and competing internationally as well. At an early point in his lock collecting he came across an old "Yale & Towne" padlock. This potential familial connection drove his interest further and he spent the next several years of his life trying to understand everything he could about locks. From how they work and why they fail, to the stories of who invented them and when and where they came into existence.

In this age of streaming data and 24/7 connectivity, the options for civic engagement are many. But what does it really mean to be an effective citizen? Is there an app?

To find out, join us as the Center for Civic Media hosts Tom Steinberg, founder of mySociety.org, a UK-based consultancy that's become one of the innovators in helping individuals participate in civic life and demand accountability from their government.

Tom joins Center director Ethan Zuckerman for a conversation about tools and techniques to encourage civic engagement in a connected society.

RSVPs are now closed.

Corruption, a universal problem, victimizes the poor bottom billion of the global population. These poor are bypassed by trickle-down growth strategies. They suffer chronic poverty. Corruption robs them of services and social safety benefits intended to alleviate their plight. Decades of efforts to reform government’s own accountability systems to control corruption have shown limited results. The new frontier is to empower citizens and communities to hold the state accountable and make it responsive to their needs.

Drawing on his world-wide experiences, Dr. Vinay Bhargava will present examples of communities fighting corruption and share ideas on the huge unfulfilled roles and challenges for civic media to make a difference in this important movement.

Bhargava is currently Chief Technical Advisor and a Board Member at an international anti-corruption NGO – the Partnership for Transparency Fund – which supports CSOs to promote citizen engagement in fighting corruption. He is a former Country Director, at the World Bank. He is an international development expert, with 30 years of experience in South Asia, East Asia, Western Africa, Eastern Europe and Middle East.

He is also a visiting professor at the Hiroshima and Kobe Universities in Japan delivering courses and seminars in foreign aid effectiveness.

His published works include books and papers on: “Combating Corruption in the Philippines”; “Challenging Corruption in Asia”; “Stimulating Demand for Good Governance: An Agenda for Enhancing the Role of the World Bank”; “Global Issues for Global Citizens”; and “Making a Difference in Difficult Governance Environments”. He has contributed to the Many Faces of Corruption, a book published by the World Bank.

The Center is once again hosting the the MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference, with this year's theme being "The Story and the Algorithm".

While space limits attendance to invitation-only*, we're providing a live stream of each session, liveblogging, and immediate archiving/availability of both the video and blogged record. So even if you can't be here in person, you can participate.

• The livestream of sessions will be available at knightfoundation.org/live
• You can check out the schedule and attendee list
• And on Twitter, use and follow the #civicmedia hashtag. You can even follow all attendees with one click

Here's the full info...

On June 17-19, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and MIT's Center for Civic Media will host the 2012 MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference: "The Story and the Algorithm". The conference is the leading gathering of media innovators shaping the future of news and information, and winners of the first Knight News Challenge of 2012, on networks, will be announced during the conference.

The MIT Center for Civic Media was the Knight News Challenge's first large grant recipient, allowing the Center to partner with Knight Foundation in its core mission to foster informed and engaged communities.

Data, shared by governments, corporations, researchers, and increasingly by the public, is changing the ways we report and share news. We are developing new techniques to navigate this data and transform it into visualizations and insights that reveal unexpected truths about our society. But data alone isn't always enough to make complex issues understandable. As data proliferates, the ability to present a clear story becomes even more crucial. The future of news lies at the intersection of the story and the algorithm—the place where new data meets compelling narratives.

This year's MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference will explore the intersection between data and narrative, algorithms and stories. Speakers and panelists will discuss new ways to tell stories based on data, examine new platforms for reporting and sharing news; and discuss the limits of exclusive focus on either narrative or data alone in complex situations. Attendees will have many opportunities to participate, including a storytelling event where you will be invited to share your own unexpected discovery.

* We're dead-serious about the invitation-only restriction. MIT has very, very strict rules about room capacity, so if you weren't invited and/or didn't register, you'll be turned away.