Research Center Events

Leading Experts Convene for 2011 Workshop on Information in Networks

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Researchers studying information in networks gathered at NYU Stern for the third annual Workshop on Information Networks (WIN) Summit, organized by Sinan Aral (pictured at left), assistant professor of information, operations and management sciences; Arun Sundararajan, associate professor of information, operations and management sciences; and Foster Provost, professor of information, operations and management sciences.
"Harnessing the power of information in today’s complex and interrelated networks is key to understanding and potentially solving some of today’s most pressing business and societal issues,” explains Professor Aral. “WIN provides a forum for experts from various fields, including computer science, economics, physics and sociology, to network and explore the distribution, diffusion, value and influence of information in networks.”

Researchers from prominent institutions from around the world, including NYU Stern, Facebook, Inc., Microsoft Research, Yahoo! Research, Blinq Media, Media Six Degrees, Cambridge University, Columbia Business School, Harvard Medical School, MIT Sloan, the United States Military Academy and the University of Pennsylvania, shared cutting-edge research related to information in networks.

Topics of discussion included:
  • The Evolutionary Significance of Human Social Networks
  • Meme Tracking in Social Media Networks
  • How Social Networks affect Consumer Demand
  • The Emergence of Local, Elite Networks and how they Influence Political Performance
  • Innovation and Creativity in Collaborative Knowledge Networks
Additional research highlights included:
  • Duncan Watt of Yahoo! Research on “Collaborative Problem Solving in Networks”
  • Professor Sinan Aral and PhD student Sean Taylor’s study on “Peer Effects and the Dynamics of Product Use”
  • Professor Vasant Dhar’s research on the “Diffusion of Catastrophic Risk in Financial Networks”
  • Professor Arun Sundararajan and PhD student Lauren Rhue’s study on “Digital Access, Political Networks and the Diffusion of Democracy”
  • Professor Foster Provost’s co-authored study on “Geo-Social Targeting for Mobile Advertising,” with David Martens of the University of Antwerp
  • Professor Sundararajan’s joint study on “Trust, Reciprocity and the Strength of Friends Ties: Experiments on an Online Social Network,” with Ravi Bapna and Alok Gupta of the University of Minnesota and Sarah Rice of the University of Connecticut.
  • Professor Aral and PhD student Sean Taylor’s study on “Viral Incentive Systems”

Read more about WIN

Find out more about Stern’s Department of Information, Operations and Management Sciences