September 2008 - change - Mailing Lists

TIER Workshop on October 17 and 18
by Eric Brewer 29 Sep '08

29 Sep '08

http://www.citris-uc.org/TIER October 17-18, 2008 112 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley The Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions (TIER) Research Group is hosting a two-day workshop, at which TIER students and invited guests will present research at UC Berkeley related to information and communications technology in developing regions. With many of our students graduating this year, we'll also use this opportunity to look back at our last 5 years of experiences, talk about what we've learned, and discuss our collective vision for the future of ICTD research within TIER, at UC Berkeley, and at large. This will be a multi-format workshop, with 10-15 minute research talks, demonstrations, and discussion panels. We are honored to have Prof. Tim Unwin, Professor of Geography and UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at the University of London, serve as our keynote speaker. For the current agenda: http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu/wiki/Workshop:2008 To register for the workshop: http://www.citris-uc.org/TIER If you have any questions, please contact CITRIS at +1 510 643 9034 or citriseditor(a)citris-uc.org. The 2008 TIER Workshop is sponsored by CITRIS, the Blum Center for Developing Economies, the UC Berkeley School of Information, the UC Berkeley College of Engineering, and the National Science Foundation.

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CfP: Human-Centered Computing in International Development (CHI '09 Workshop)
by Yaw Anokwa 29 Sep '08

29 Sep '08

Apologies for duplicate postings. CALL FOR PAPERS: Human-Centered Computing in International Development Workshop at CHI '09 Conference (http://www.chi2009.org/) April 4-5, 2009 Boston, Massachusetts, USA From Kansas to Kigali, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have evolved to reach wider audiences in the past few decades, resulting in changes in goals, context, and target groups, as well as ethical contexts. This leads us to ask the critical question of who we are designing for, how, and why. On the one hand, interactive applications have permanently affected the field of Human-computer Interaction, whose concerns were traditionally cognitive. On the other hand, interactive systems are increasingly taken up in the developing world, both by richer urban elites and growing middle classes, and by urban and rural users in more economically marginal areas. These situations involve very different contexts of use, and demand new design solutions. In designing for inclusivity, these ICT tools are of value to the end-user only if they are made relevant. More than ever, therefore, it is important, to cultivate design practices that allow for meaningful embedding of interactive systems in the cultural, infrastructural, and political settings where they will be used. The goal of the workshop is to exchange success/failure stories, methodologies, and best practices, to develop new partnerships, and to learn from each other. The workshop is open to anyone in fields such as Human-Computer Interaction, International Development, Social Sciences, Public policy, Computer Science, Education, Economics, and Healthcare who is interested in contributing to this dialogue. TOPICS Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: - Sustainability: A key tension between research and development projects is that of developing sustainable projects - when sustainability generally goes well beyond the scope of typical research - Governments, Policies: We are often working in countries that are not our own, and must deal with foreign governments. Selected participants will share insights on working with local governments, importing equipment and securing permission to do research. - Development Theory: Working towards building a common vocabulary, workshop participants with grounding in development theory will be asked to think about what should be considered foundational knowledge for researchers working on human-centered design for international development SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Please send a 2-4 page position paper describing one of the following: * your experience in this area, * your findings, * your interest aligned with the above topics, * methodologies you have used in research or practice that you feel might be relevant in this area, * some other appropriate question you might want to discuss at the workshop, or * a proposal you might have for a collaborative group HCI4D task (i.e. the website or the joint bibliography), which we could debate at the workshop. To participate in this workshop at CHI 2009, e-mail position papers to Nithya Sambasivan at nsambasi(a)ics.uci.edu Deadline for submissions is 23rd October, 2008. Notification of acceptance is on/around 28th November, 2008. ORGANIZERS Susan Dray (Dray and Associates, Inc., USA) Melissa Ho (University of California, Berkeley, USA) Matthew Kam (Carnegie Mellon University / UC Berkeley, USA) Neesha Kodagoda (Middlesex University, UK) Ann Light (Video Educational Trust/QMUL, UK) Nithya Sambasivan (University of California, Irvine, USA) John C. Thomas (IBM T.J. Watson Research, USA) PROGRAM COMMITTEE Andrew Dearden (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) Jose Abdelnour-Nocera (Thames Valley University, UK) Ban Al-Ani (University of California, Irvine, USA) Michael Best (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) Yishay Mor (London Knowledge Lab, UK) Osvaldo Rodriguez (Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina) Josh Underwood (London Knowledge Lab, UK) Niall Winters (London Knowledge Lab, UK)

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project 10 to the 100th
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Sep '08

25 Sep '08

Google's Project 10 to the 100th is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. Submission deadline is October 20th, 2008. Check it out at http://www.project10tothe100.com/index.html/

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FW: Jobs @ Digital Green
by Richard Anderson 24 Sep '08

24 Sep '08

________________________________________ From: studyhall-discuss-bounces(a)lists.cs.princeton.edu [studyhall-discuss-bounces(a)lists.cs.princeton.edu] On Behalf Of Rikin Gandhi [riking(a)microsoft.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 7:14 PM To: DSH discussion; dsh-hubs(a)googlegroups.com Subject: (dsh-discuss) Jobs @ Digital Green As most of you know, we’re in the process of spinning out the Digital Green project (www.digitalgreen.org) into an independent non-profit/NGO. We have a number of key leadership positions that we’re looking to fill. I’ve attached two documents (digitalgreen_jobs1.pdf and digitalgreen_jobs2.pdf) that outline these roles. Please feel free to circulate to the opportunities to any colleagues, friends, mailing lists, etc. that might be interested. Thanks! Cheers, Rikin

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Computing and the Developing World seminar (CSE 590f)
by Richard Anderson 23 Sep '08

23 Sep '08

Computing and the developing world is a research area that explores how information and communication technologies can be used to address fundamental problems in health, education and livelihood in resource constrained environments . CSE 590f is a weekly seminar for students and faculty interested in the area. This fall Joyojeet Pal and I will be leading the seminar. The seminar will provide an introduction to the area by reading the basic papers in the area. The format will be discussion, with discussion leaders responsible for guiding a discussion (but not giving a full recap of the paper). A list of topics is available from the seminar website: http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/cse590f/CurrentQtr/ We will be working out paper selection and specific topics shortly. For Wednesday, would like people to read: The Case for Technology for Developing Regions. Eric Brewer, Michael Demmer, Bowei Du, Kevin Fall, Melissa Ho, Matthew Kam, Sergiu Nedevschi, Joyojeet Pal, Rabin Patra, and Sonesh Surana. IEEE Computer. Volume 38, Number 6, pp. 25-38, June 2005. Readings will be available on: http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/cse590f/CurrentQtr/readings.… The readings are password protected for cse590f students. To access them, the user is: cse590f and the password is: student If you are taking the seminar, please sign up for the cse590f mailing list. A note on mailing lists: the change mailing list, change(a)cs.washington.edu<mailto:change@cs.washington.edu> should be used for general communication about computing and the developing world. The cse590f list will be used only for seminar specific information. - Richard

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ICTD survey
by Yaw Anokwa 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

i'm sure rabin and joyojeet would love help from uw folks in this survey... Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:33:35 -0700 From: "Rabin Patra" <rkpatra(a)cs.berkeley.edu> Subject: [TIER] Reminder to complete ICTD survey To: TIER <tier(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu> Dear ICTD'ers(!) Here is the last reminder to answer our survey. To those of you have already started the survey and saved a partial response, please submit as soon as possible. http://shirin.cs.berkeley.edu:8000/limesurvey/index.php?sid=92227&newtest=Y You could of course respond because you see how integral a part of grad research it is collecting (and responding to) questionnaires -- but hopefully so that we can understand the growing field of ICTD somewhat better! thanks, thanks, and best wishes, Joyojeet Pal, Rabin Patra, Sergiu Nedevschi

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Fwd: [TIER] CALL FOR PANELS International ICT and Development Conference 2009
by Brian DeRenzi 20 Sep '08

20 Sep '08

Begin forwarded message: > From: joyojeet(a)berkeley.edu > Date: September 17, 2008 1:54:10 PM PDT > To: "TIER" <tier(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu> > Subject: [TIER] CALL FOR PANELS International ICT and Development > Conference 2009 > > Subject: CALL FOR PANELS – International ICT and Development > Conference 2009 > > 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication > Technologies and Development (ICTD2009) > > April 17-18, 2009 > Carnegie Mellon Doha Campus, Qatar > http://www.ictd2009.org > CALL FOR PANELS > > The 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and > Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2009) will be held > 17-19 April 2009 at Carnegie Mellon's state-of-the-art campus in Doha, > Qatar. This conference will act as a focal point for new scholarship > in the field of ICT and international development. Confirmed speakers > include a Keynote by William H. Gates, Chairman of Microsoft > Corporation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. > > For the first time in the history of ICTD, we are inviting proposals > for panels. > > PANEL PROPOSALS > > The organizers of ICTD2009 would like to spur more reflective dialogue > among researchers and between researchers and development > practitioners. Therefore a small number of panels will be chosen to > be added to the program. > > ICTD2009 remains a single track conference, and the panels will not > conflict with the plenary sessions in which original research papers > will be presented. Rather they will be held in parallel with open > times in the program. > > We invite panel proposals that will add to the emerging ICTD > discipline by having multiple points-of-view reflect on issues that > affect the practice of ICTD research and its relationship to > development practice. Therefore key assessment criteria we will use > to evaluate the panel proposals are: > (1) Does it reflect on a novel or unresolved issue in the practice of > ICTD research. > (2) Does it reflect on a novel or unresolved issue in disseminating or > scaling the results of ICTD research into general practice. > (3) Does it introduce challenges in the practice of development that > ICTD research has yet to address adequately. > > Panel proposals will also be evaluated on the quality of the panel > participants experience to address the topics being proposed. > > Panel proposals need to include: > (1) Title for the Panel > (2) Summary of what the panel will cover (max 500 words) > (3) Names, affiliations, and contact information of 3-5 panelists who > have made a commitment to participate > (4) Abstract of each panelist’s position statements (max 500 words) > (5) Brief biography of each panelist > > Proposals will be reviewed by the Panel and Workshop Committee. > > All submissions should be emailed to panels(a)ictd2009.org > > For the latest information, please see the conference website at > http://www.ictd2009.org > . > > Please also address questions of other e-mail correspondence to > panels(a)ictd2009.org > . > > > IMPORTANT DATES > (Please check the conference website for latest information.) > > November 2, 2008 Panel Proposals due > > January 30, 2009 Final decisions sent out to those submitting panel > proposals > > February 28, 2009 Panel Position Paper > > April 17-19, 2009 Conference > > CONFERENCE FOCUS > ICTD spans information and communication technologies (ICT) and their > role in global socio-economic development. Every sector is involved > – > governments, academia, small start-ups, large corporations, inter- > governmental organizations, and non-profits and non-governmental > organizations. In spite of the tremendous energy and resources behind > these projects, scientifically sound research in this space is just > beginning to emerge: What is the actual impact of ICTD projects? What > novel technology is required to meet development needs? What > methodologies lead to the success or failure of a project? > > The goal of the ICTD conference is to provide a forum for academic > researchers and scholarly practitioners working with ICT applied to > development. The conference will be scientifically rigorous and multi- > disciplinary – papers reporting high-quality original research are > being solicited. The conference will bring together researchers and > reflective practitioners in both the social and technical sciences, > with anticipated representation from anthropology, sociology, > economics, political science, computer science, electrical > engineering, industrial design, and the like., in addition to domain > specialists in various development fields such as healthcare, > agriculture, enterprise, education, governance, etc. > > For the purposes of this conference, the term “ICT” will comprise > computing devices (e.g., PCs, PDAs, sensor networks), technologies for > voice and data connectivity, the Internet, and related technologies. > Application domains include, but are not restricted to, education, > agriculture, enterprise, healthcare, poverty alleviation, general > communication, and governance. > > VENUE > Qatar is a rapidly growing economy in the region and the world which > has set its targets of moving beyond a hydrocarbon economy into > becoming a regional and global leader in knowledge and information. > Qatar is a modern, stable nation with a vibrant international > population, and hosted the Asian Games in 2007. Education City brings > leading educational and research institutions to Qatar, including > Cornell, Georgetown, Texas A&M, and Carnegie Mellon in Qatar offers > degree programs in Computer Science, Business Administration, and > Information Systems. This provides an ideal venue for hosting > ICTD2009, in a geographic location close to major population centers > around the world, easily accessible by direct flights. > > _______________________________________________ > TIER mailing list > Website: http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu > TIER(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu > https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tier

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Fwd: [TIER] CALL FOR WORKSHOPS International ICT and Development Conference 2009
by Brian DeRenzi 20 Sep '08

20 Sep '08

Begin forwarded message: > From: joyojeet(a)berkeley.edu > Date: September 17, 2008 1:53:01 PM PDT > To: "TIER" <tier(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu> > Subject: [TIER] CALL FOR WORKSHOPS International ICT and > Development Conference 2009 > > Subject: CALL FOR WORKSHOPS – International ICT and Development > Conference 2009 > > 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication > Technologies and Development (ICTD2009) > > April 17-18, 2009 > Carnegie Mellon Doha Campus, Qatar > http://www.ictd2009.org > CALL FOR WORKSHOPS > > The 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and > Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2009) will be held > 17-19 April 2009 at Carnegie Mellon's state-of-the-art campus in Doha, > Qatar. This conference will act as a focal point for new scholarship > in the field of ICT and international development. Confirmed speakers > include a Keynote by William H. Gates, Chairman of Microsoft > Corporation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. > > WORKSHOP PROPOSALS > > The organizers of ICTD2009 would like to provide a venue for ICTD > researchers to disseminate best practice methods and detailed > descriptions of solutions to other researchers and development > practitioners. Therefore, a few workshop sessions will be chosen to > be added to the program in the morning and afternoon before the formal > opening of the conference in the evening of April 17th. > > There will be two ways to propose a workshop: > > (1) A proposal to provide a workshop (e.g. Innovative evaluation > techniques with low-literacy populations) > (2) A proposal for a workshop to be provided (e.g. Can you provide a > workshop on evaluation techniques for when working with low-literacy > populations.) > > We invite workshop proposals that will further to the emerging ICTD > discipline by enhancing the skills of ICTD researchers and scholarly > practitioners. > > Proposals will be evaluated in terms of: > (a) Will it enhance the practice of ICTD researchers and > practitioners. > (b) Is there a demand for the workshop. > (c) Do the workshop presenters have the skills and experiences to lead > the workshop. > > Proposals to provide a Workshop need to include: > (1) Title for workshop > (2) Description of the workshop (500 word max) > (3) Time required > (4) Intended audience and expected number of attendees > (5) Presenters, contact information, and bios > (6) Outline of the content of the workshop, including: > (6a) Learning goals > (6b)Topics covered > (6c) Format(s) used (e.g. lecture, small group discussion, > demonstration) > (6d) What training materials, if any, will be needed? Will you > provide them? Will you need the conference to provide them? > (6e) Do you anticipate needing to charge fees for participation? > If so, do you have ideas for sponsorship? > > Proposals requesting a workshop to be provided needs to include: > (1) Title for workshop > (2) Description of the desired workshop > (3) Intended audience and anticipated number of attendees > (4) Potential presenters & contact information (if known) > (5) Desired topics to be covered and learning outcomes > > Proposals will be reviewed by the Panel and Workshop Committee. > > All submissions should be emailed to workshops(a)ictd2009.org by > November 2, 2008. > > For the latest information, please see the conference website at > http://www.ictd2009.org > . > > Please also address questions of other e-mail correspondence to > workshops(a)ictd2009.org > . > > > IMPORTANT DATES > (Please check the conference website for latest information.) > > November 2, 2008 Workshop Proposals due > > January 30, 2009 Final decisions sent out to workshop presenters > > April 17-19, 2009 Conference > > CONFERENCE FOCUS > ICTD spans information and communication technologies (ICT) and their > role in global socio-economic development. Every sector is involved > – > governments, academia, small start-ups, large corporations, inter- > governmental organizations, and non-profits and non-governmental > organizations. In spite of the tremendous energy and resources behind > these projects, scientifically sound research in this space is just > beginning to emerge: What is the actual impact of ICTD projects? What > novel technology is required to meet development needs? What > methodologies lead to the success or failure of a project? > > The goal of the ICTD conference is to provide a forum for academic > researchers and scholarly practitioners working with ICT applied to > development. The conference will be scientifically rigorous and multi- > disciplinary – papers reporting high-quality original research are > being solicited. The conference will bring together researchers and > reflective practitioners in both the social and technical sciences, > with anticipated representation from anthropology, sociology, > economics, political science, computer science, electrical > engineering, industrial design, and the like., in addition to domain > specialists in various development fields such as healthcare, > agriculture, enterprise, education, governance, etc. > > For the purposes of this conference, the term “ICT” will comprise > computing devices (e.g., PCs, PDAs, sensor networks), technologies for > voice and data connectivity, the Internet, and related technologies. > Application domains include, but are not restricted to, education, > agriculture, enterprise, healthcare, poverty alleviation, general > communication, and governance. > > VENUE > Qatar is a rapidly growing economy in the region and the world which > has set its targets of moving beyond a hydrocarbon economy into > becoming a regional and global leader in knowledge and information. > Qatar is a modern, stable nation with a vibrant international > population, and hosted the Asian Games in 2007. Education City brings > leading educational and research institutions to Qatar, including > Cornell, Georgetown, Texas A&M, and Carnegie Mellon in Qatar offers > degree programs in Computer Science, Business Administration, and > Information Systems. This provides an ideal venue for hosting > ICTD2009, in a geographic location close to major population centers > around the world, easily accessible by direct flights. > > _______________________________________________ > TIER mailing list > Website: http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu > TIER(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu > https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tier

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Natalie's in Forbes
by Richard Anderson 16 Sep '08

16 Sep '08

The current issue of Forbes has an article on the TEM group at MSRI, which mentions Natalie's work on the Digital Green project. Sidebar mentioning Natalie http://www.forbes.com/technology/forbes/2008/0929/074a.html Slide Show http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/09/10/microsoft-india-testing-tech-cz… Full article http://www.forbes.com/technology/forbes/2008/0929/074.html

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FW: [uw-dev] Tomorrow @ dub: Gerry Douglas, University of Pittsburgh, "Touchscreen Clinical Workstations At The Point Of Care: Guiding Protocols and Managing Data In Malawi"
by Richard Anderson 16 Sep '08

16 Sep '08

-----Original Message----- From: uw-dev-admin(a)cs.washington.edu [mailto:uw-dev-admin@cs.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Travis Kriplean Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 9:48 AM To: dub(a)dub.washington.edu; uw-dev - Mailing List Subject: [uw-dev] Tomorrow @ dub: Gerry Douglas, University of Pittsburgh, "Touchscreen Clinical Workstations At The Point Of Care: Guiding Protocols and Managing Data In Malawi" Hello, A reminder that this Wednesday Gerry Douglas, Director of Baobab Health and a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh, will be joining us to talk about work that he has been doing in Southern Africa helping to improve health care through easy-to-use clinical workstations. Please be sure to come by! We'll be meeting in our normal place in CSE 403. Cheers, Travis ---------------------------------------------- *Where:* CSE 403 (directions below) *When:* September 17th, 12-1:20PM *Who:* Gerry Douglas, Director of Baobab Health and Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh Food will be provided! *Title:* Touchscreen Clinical Workstations At The Point Of Care: Guiding Protocols and Managing Data In Malawi *Abstract:* Malawi, Africa has a population of 14 million. One million are HIV positive and there are just 280 doctors in the country. This tremendous disparity between healthcare workers and people in need of treatment contributes to high mortality rates particularly for women and children. Treatment protocols exist that do not require physician expertise. These protocols can ensure a minimum standard of care, but to be effective they must be rigorously followed and carefully monitored. Baobab Health, a Malawi-based non governmental organization, has been addressing this crisis for the past eight years by applying medical informatics principles to resource-poor settings. The core of Baobab's approach is the introduction of easy-to-use touchscreen clinical workstations at the point of patient care. This system efficiently and accurately guides low-skilled healthcare workers through the diagnosis and treatment of patients according to nationally established treatment protocols. In addition, the system captures timely and accurate data that is used by healthcare workers during patient visits to supplement decision making. This data is aggregated and used at a national level for policy making and analysis. This technology-dependent approach has required both hardware and software innovations, including alternative power approaches, intuitive touchscreen-based user interfaces for users with no computing experience, and low-cost information appliances that are significantly more robust in harsh environments than traditional computers. To date 800,000 patients have been issued nationally unique patient ID numbers and more than 19,000 receive HIV care guided by a Baobab system. *Bio:* Gerry Douglas is the Director of Baobab Health and a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a Masters in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Victoria. Mr. Douglas has focused his research on the application of medical informatics principles to improving healthcare delivery in developing countries. His work focuses primarily on augmenting clinicians' ability to deliver healthcare in resource-poor settings through the use of a point-of-care system; an approach that is novel in this setting. A secondary focus of his work relates to improving the completeness and accuracy of clinical data collected at point of care. SPEAKER SCHEDULE You can see the entire speaker schedule for the quarter here: http://dub.washington.edu/events/meetings/. You can also subscribe to the Google Calendar feed by either searching for "dub group" within Google Calendar or adding designusebuild(a)gmail.com <mailto:designusebuild@gmail.com> in the Google Calendar interface. Please send me a mail (travis(a)cs.washington.edu <mailto:travis@cs.washington.edu>) if you are interested in giving a talk or have a suggestion for a speaker. SEMINAR LOCATION We are meeting in room 403 of CSE (on the 4th floor). You can take the stairs or the elevator to the fourth floor. The Paul Allen Center is located south of the HUB. For a campus map with the CSE location circled, please see the map image at http://www.washington.edu/home/maps/southcentral.html?CSE. _______________________________________________ uw-dev mailing list uw-dev(a)cs.washington.edu https://mailman.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/uw-dev

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