EAGER: SAI: Illuminated Devices: A Sociotechnical Approach to Empowering Digital Citizens and Strengthening Digital Infrastructure

加强美国基础设施（SAI）是美国国家科学基金会的一个项目，旨在促进以人为本的基础研究和潜在的变革性研究，以加强美国的基础设施。有效的基础设施为社会经济活力和广泛的生活质量改善提供了坚实的基础。强大、可靠和有效的基础设施刺激私营部门的创新，发展经济，创造就业机会，使公共部门提供的服务更有效率，加强社区，促进机会平等，保护自然环境，加强国家安全，并推动美国的领导地位。为了实现这些目标，需要来自科学和工程学科的专业知识。SAI侧重于人类推理和决策、治理以及社会和文化过程的知识如何使有效基础设施的建设和维护成为可能，从而改善生活和社会，并以技术和工程的进步为基础。我国数字基础设施的新来者需要培训和支持。图书馆等社区机构可以帮助数字学习者，但COVID表明，如果没有面对面的访问，就很难取得进展。该项目旨在让学习者通过他们的数字设备简单而直接地与导师联系，并在每一步提供支持，从而使以社区为基础的数字辅导计划的好处无处不在。该项目将开发一个轻量级的数字门户，为学习者提供与真人导师的直接联系，即使是那些以前没有数字设备经验的人也可以访问。这些服务将提高数字知识和技能，增强信心，减少数字焦虑。设计的系统将包括一个轻量级的跨平台数字门户，为学习者提供与真人导师的联系。为了提供个性化的帮助，门户将允许导师看到这个人试图在设备上做什么。学习者还可以使用摄像头向导师展示他们正在看的内容，以便在其他数字设备上获得帮助。对于学习者来说，所有的功能都将以一种减少分心并保持学习重点的方式设计。虽然该项目将专注于通过门户网站进行导师与学习者的直接互动，但该系统将被设计为允许未来基于人工智能的自动化补充人类辅导。项目团队将人因心理学、社会学和计算机科学的研究人员与图书馆和劳动力发展专业人员联合起来，这些专业人员站在帮助公民浏览信息基础设施的第一线。照明系统的开发将遵循基于设计的研究方法，其中来自真实用户的测试结果通知并推动系统的新变化。测试将包括来自一些服务不足的数字群体的反馈：农村居民、老年人和美洲原住民社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI) is an NSF Program seeking to stimulate human-centered fundamental and potentially transformative research that strengthens America’s infrastructure. Effective infrastructure provides a strong foundation for socioeconomic vitality and broad quality of life improvement. Strong, reliable, and effective infrastructure spurs private-sector innovation, grows the economy, creates jobs, makes public-sector service provision more efficient, strengthens communities, promotes equal opportunity, protects the natural environment, enhances national security, and fuels American leadership. To achieve these goals requires expertise from across the science and engineering disciplines. SAI focuses on how knowledge of human reasoning and decision making, governance, and social and cultural processes enables the building and maintenance of effective infrastructure that improves lives and society and builds on advances in technology and engineering.Newcomers to our nation’s digital infrastructure need training and support. Community institutions like libraries can help digital learners, but COVID showed that progress is difficult without face-to-face access. This project aims to make the benefits of a community-based digital tutoring program available anywhere by having learners connect to tutors simply and directly through their digital devices, with available support at every step. The project will develop a lightweight digital portal that offers the learner a direct connection to human tutors that will be accessible even to those with no previous experience with digital devices. These services will improve digital knowledge and skills, increase confidence, and decrease digital anxiety. The designed system will involve a lightweight, cross-platform digital portal that offers the learner a connection to human tutors. To allow personalized help, the portal will allow the tutor to see what the person is trying to do on the device. Learners will also be able to use the camera to show a tutor what they are looking at in order to receive help with other digital devices. For the learner, all features will be designed in a way that reduces distraction and keeps the focus on learning. While the project will concentrate on direct tutor-learner interaction via the portal, the system will be designed to allow future AI-based automated supplements to human tutoring. The project team unites researchers in human factors psychology, sociology, and computer science with library and workforce development professionals who are on the front lines of helping citizens navigate information infrastructure. Development of the Illuminated system will follow a Design-Based Research approach, where test results from real users inform and drive new changes to the system. Testing will include feedback from a number of underserved digital groups: rural residents, older adults, and Native American communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.