New research by Dr. Sera Linardi, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and founding director of the Center for Analytical Approaches for Social Innovation (CAASI) is attracting attention—even ahead of its official publication.
“Teaching Note-Preparing Social Work Students to Work with Public Interest Technology,” introduces public interest technology (PIT), an emerging interdisciplinary field dedicated to designing, deploying, and governing technology to serve the public interest and enhance people’s well-being. The research contributes to ongoing national conversations about how the field prepares professionals to address complex social challenges and will be published in full in the Journal of Social Work Education. Linardi is one of three authors credited in the final publication, alongside Dr. Soobin Kim from the University of Georgia Athens and Helen Petracchi from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work.
The paper emerged from a 2021 Year of Data and Society grant that supported the development of the course ‘PIA 2250: Working with Public Interest Technology and Civic Data’. PIA 2250 is an interdisciplinary course designed for students from non-technical fields preparing for careers in public service, social work, and policy—fields where decisions about AI, civic data, and technology are unavoidable. By framing students as future bridges between technologists and the communities they will serve, the course emphasizes social justice, accountability, and human impact. The course curriculum was co-developed by CAASI, the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC), the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the Frederick Honors College.
The research was presented at the Council on Social Work Education’s 2024 Annual Program Meeting and has drawn additional attention in recent days ahead of its release. In January, Linardi and Kim were guests on the InSocialWork podcast hosted by the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. The pair discussed how algorithmic systems shape access to public benefits and services and the importance of ensuring technology is developed and governed in ways that advance the public good.
This isn’t the only place you can find Linardi’s research. Her paper, “Experienced and Prospective Wait in Queues: A Behavioral Investigation,” co-authored with Dr. Jing Luo from the University of Science and Technology Beijing and Dr. León Valdés from the University of Pittsburgh School of Business, was recently published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM). This research was supported in part by a previous NSF grant through CAASI’s Pitt Smart Living Project. Bridging research and practice through interdisciplinary methods, the paper combines experimental economics with operations research, understand how 1,163 participants across 31 queue configurations translate the annoyance of standing in line into monetary costs.