January 2010 - change - Mailing Lists

Change Meeting for CSE Affiliates Day
by Yaw Anokwa 06 Apr '10

06 Apr '10

This Thursday at Change, we will be trying something special for CSE Affiliates Day. We will be hosting the “Technology for Under-Served Regions” session. Please note the change in time and place. 11:40-11:45: Introduction and Overview, Carl Hartung 11:45-12:00: Digital Study Hall Evaluation Study, Amit Saxena 12:00-12:15: Open Data Kit, Carl Hartung 12:15-12:30: Building a Grassroots Transportation Information System, Ruth Anderson Find out more at http://www.cs.washington.edu/affiliates/meetings/talks0910.html#3-305 What: CSE Affiliates Day When: Thursday, October 22 from 11:40 to 12:30 Where: UW, Paul Allen Center, Room 305

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Fwd: KRG meeting Wed 2/3 from *12:30-1:30pm*
by Brian DeRenzi 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

This may be of interest to some folks. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Diana L. Arper <arperd(a)u.washington.edu> Date: 2010/1/29 Subject: KRG meeting Wed 2/3 from *12:30-1:30pm* To: "Diana L. Arper" <arperd(a)u.washington.edu> KRG MEETING The next Kenya Research Group meeting is next Wednesday, 2/3 from *12:30-1:30pm* (NEW TIME) in the Ninth and Jefferson Building, conference room 1309. Dr. Patrick Odawo will be presenting on “I-TECH Health Informatics Activities in Kenya”. Dr. Odawo is the eHealth Project Director for University of Washington I-TECH in Kenya, a program facilitating increased use of electronic medical records in the health system. MEETING LOCATION 1309 in the Ninth and Jefferson Building (13th Floor) The Ninth & Jefferson Building is located at 908 Jefferson Street, on the northeast corner of Ninth Avenue and Jefferson Street and less than one block north of Harborview Medical Center. The entrance is on Jefferson, and parking is on Terry between Jefferson & James Streets. >From the lobby, take the elevators to the 13th floor. Room 1309 is located just outside the 13th floor lobby. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KRG NEWS Congratulations (!) to... Bhavna Chohan for receiving a CFAR New Investigator Award for her research proposal titled “Development of ARV resistance in early treated HIV-1 infected infants”. Jennifer Slyker for receiving a CFAR HIV-Associated Malignancy Research Pilot Award for her proposal titled “Control of oncogenic viruses during infancy: the role of concurrent primary HIV infection and HAART”. Lisa Cranmer for being selected for a Platform Presentation at the 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting, May 1-4, 2010, for the abstract titled "Detection of Latent Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection among BCG-Vaccinated Kenyan Infants Born to HIV-1 Infected Mothers". John Kinuthia for being selected for an oral presentation at the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2010), February 16-19, 2010, for the abstract titled "Co-factors for HIV Incidence during Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period". The following manuscripts which include authors from KRG are in press or accepted: Jared Baeten, Deborah Donnell, Mubiana Inambao, Grace John-Stewart, Saidi Kapiga, Rachel Manongi, Allan Ronald, Bellington Vwalika, Connie Celum, for the Partners in Prevention HSV/HIV Transmission Study Team. Male Circumcision and Male-to-Female HIV-1 Transmission Risk: A Multinational Prospective Study. AIDS. 2009 Dec 29. [Epub ahead of print]. Buzkova P, Brown E, John-Stewart G. Longitudinal Data Analysis for Generalized Linear Models under Participant-driven Informative Follow-up: An Application in Maternal Health Epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 2010 Jan 15;171(2):189-97. Epub 2009 Dec 9. Connie Celum, Anna Wald, Jairam R. Lingappa, Amalia Magaret, Richard S. Wang, Nelly Mugo, Andrew Mujugira, Jared M. Baeten, James I. Mullins, James P. Hughes, Elizabeth A. Bukusi, Craig R. Cohen, Elly Katabira, Allan Ronald, James Kiarie, Carey Farquhar, Grace John Stewart, Joseph Makhema, Myron Essex, Edwin Were, Kenneth H. Fife, Guy de Bruyn, Glenda E. Gray, James McIntyre, Rachel Manongi, Saidi Kapiga, David Coetzee, Susan Allen, Mubiana Inambao, Kayitesi Kayitenkore, Etienne Karita, William Kanweka, Sinead Delany, Helen Rees, Bellington Vwalika, Wendy Stevens, Mary S. Campbell, Katherine K. Thomas, Robert W. Coombs, Rhoda Morrow, William L. H. Whittington, M. Juliana McElrath, Linda Barnes, Renee Ridzon, and Lawrence Corey for the Partners in Prevention HSV/HIV Transmission Study Team. Twice-Daily Acyclovir to Reduce HIV-1 Transmission from HIV-1/HSV-2 Dually-infected Persons within HIV-1 Serodiscordant Couples: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial. N Engl J Med, In Press. Choi R, Farquhar C, Juno J, Mbori-Ngacha D, Lohman Payne B, Vouriot F, Wayne S, John-Stewart G, Bosire R, Fowke K. Infant CD4 C868T polymorphism is associated with increased HIV-1 acquisition overall and via breastmilk. Clin Exp Immunol, In Press. Farquhar C, Mbori-Ngacha D, Overbaugh J, Wamalwa D, Harris J, Bosire R, John-Stewart G. Illness during pregnancy and bacterial vaginosis are associated with in-utero HIV-1 transmission. AIDS. 2010 Jan 2;24(1):153-5. Mitchell CA, Balkus JE, Agnew K, Lawler R, Hitti J. Metronidazole for bacterial vaginosis in early pregnancy changes the vaginal microenvironment but is an ineffective treatment. J Women’s Health, 2009; 18:1817-24. Otieno P, Kohler P, Bosire R, Brown E, Macharia S, John-Stewart G. Determinants of failure to access HIV care in mothers referred to ART programs in Nairobi, Kenya. AIDS Care 2009, In Press. Padian NS, McCoy SI, Balkus JE, Wasserheit JN. Weighing the Gold in the Gold Standard: Challenges in HIV Prevention Research. AIDS, In Press. Walson J, Stewart B, Sangare L, Mbogo L, Otieno P, Piper B, Richardson B, John-Stewart G. Prevalence and correlates of helminth co-infection in Kenyan HIV-1 infected adults. PLoS Neg Trop Dis, In Press. Apologies if we have not listed your recent publications - please let us know about them and we will add them to our publication webpage! http://sites.google.com/site/kenyaresearchgroup/publications ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONFERENCES Let us know if you will be attending future conferences, including: Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), San Francisco, February 16-19, 2010 XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), Vienna, Austria, July 18-23, 2010 International HIV Transmission workshop, Vienna, Austria, July 15-16, 2010 * If you will be presenting, we’d like to include this on our website. Send us your presentation date/time and abstract to be included on our conference page: http://sites.google.com/site/kenyaresearchgroup/Home/conferences -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you forget where or when the meeting is, you can check our website: http://www.kenyaresearchgroup.org/

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Dimagi is Hiring
by Yaw Anokwa 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

dimagi is one of those companies that is connected to pretty much every good ictd project i've heard off. a lot of us at uw use them to implement much of the research we end up scaling. e-imci, commcare, open-data-kit, etc are all successful thanks to the work dimagi does. more importantly, they go out of their way to build technical capacity in country as well as support a ton of open source projects. anyway, i can't say enough nice things about that company... --------------------------- Software Engineer Dimagi, Inc Boston, MA 02129 Dimagi is a small but growing company looking for exceptional software developers to join our ranks. We are based in Boston but our systems are deployed primarily in rural Africa. We offer a fun and stimulating environment, a chance to see the world, and to make a difference in places that need it most. At Dimagi, you can do right by coding well. We work on a broad range of issues, including strengthening community health programs, electronic medical records, care coordination, and remote data collection. We have projects in Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh, Senegal, Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, Afghanistan and the United States. We are seeking a full-time programmer to join our core team in Boston and lead or support development on multiple projects. The ideal candidate prefers small organizations to large ones, multi-tasking to single-project assignments, and enjoys travel and field work. Our developers share a passion for rapid prototyping, design iteration, and focusing on making things work. Depending on the specific skill set and preference, the candidate would immediately focus on one of several potential roles: - Core developer on a project to coordinate cancer care with various domestic partners and systems for a NIH funded research project with Boston Medical Center. - Core developer on an open source J2ME mobile health application for community health workers. - Core developer on a C# based medical record system that is the national HIV care system in Zambia and being piloted in Ethiopia. - Core developer on a Python/Django based web application to help manage community health programs. Required Skills - Excellent programming skills - Excellent technical documentation - Excellent communication skills - Strong problem solving and debugging skills to troubleshoot complex deployments - Self-managed Love your work. Please send your resume and cover letter to jobs(a)dimagi.com. www.dimagi.com

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Breona Gutschmidt on MIT's One Laptop Per Child
by Yaw Anokwa 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

This Thursday at Change, UW grad student Breona Gutschmidt will presenting on her work on One Laptop Per Child. In 2009, the One Laptop Per Child organization (www.laptop.org) founded by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT’s Media Lab, ran a pilot program called OLPCorps. The intention was to provide funds and 100 of the group’s iconic green and white XO laptops to university student teams partnering with established NGOs in order to deploy the computers in rural African locations. University of Washington graduate student Breona Gutschmidt wrote one of the 30 winning proposals, and, partnering with the East African Center for Women and Children (EAC), headed up a team of graduate students to launch the XO laptops at the Vutakaka Junior School in Takaungu, Kenya, this past summer. She’ll give an overview of the project, including highlights, challenges and assessment, and bring a couple of XO laptops to show-and-tell. Breona Gutschmidt has spent the last several years working in the technology and education field and is currently pursing an MEd in Educational Communication and Technology at UW’s College of Education. Among other projects, she has written and edited multimedia curriculum for an educational software company called Apex Learning, and she spent several months in Takaungu, Kenya in 2004 implementing a youth and technology project for 12-18 year-olds. She has a B.A. in creative writing and has worked as a writer and editor at companies including Microsoft, the Seattle Art Museum and the University of Washington. Breona enjoys exploring questions of how new software and hardware will be implemented and developing curriculum tools for new and emerging technologies. She is particularly interested in the intersections between education, technology and creative expression and education, technology and health. What: Breona Gutschmidt on One Laptop Per Child When: Thursday, January 27 at Noon Where: UW, Paul Allen Center, Room 203

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Join HCDE this Friday for Stephen Vick of Stustainable Harvest
by Yaw Anokwa 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

Please join the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) this Friday for our Winter 2010 Usability Issues in HCDE Seminar Series. The presentation format is a 30-minute talk followed by a Q&A session. Members of the UW community and the public are welcome. The week's featured speaker is: Who: Steven E. Vick, Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers Topic: Global Traceability: Environmental and Technological Challenges in the Developing World When: 12:30-1:20 pm, Friday, January 29, 2010 Where: Loew Hall, room 216 Abstract: For the past 13 years, Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers has advocated for total traceability and transparency within the coffee supply chain. Since 2003, we have utilized a proprietary, internal tracking system to manage the supply for the 320 containers (13 million pounds) of green coffee we import annually into the United States, Europe, and South Africa. We represent one out of every eight pounds of certified organic green coffee imported into the United States. Because the system has been used strictly internally for the past six years, the available information has been limited to what we could enter through our interactions with producer groups and roaster customers. As food security has become more of a global concern, we have decided to take this system to the next level, opening it up to our entire supply chain - from the coffee grower, to the roaster, to the consumer. My work in East Africa over the past year presented countless opportunities to colle! ct data and understand the challenges we have to consider as we build-out the current piece of the traceability system: an iPhone app that allows coffee washing station managers enter farmer cherry delivery information and track separated daily lots. Bio: For most of 2009 Stephen has been living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in northwest corner of Tanzania, working with coffee farmers there, as well as in Burundi and Rwanda for Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers. Prior to his work, Stephen was the Director of Training and Education for Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon. Working for Stumptown allowed Stephen the opportunity to expand his palette and judge at international coffee competitions around the world including the Cup of Excellence and the World Barista Championship. Further, by visiting places where coffee is grown, it gave Stephen a greater understanding of the challenges facing coffee producers with regards to quality. This understanding has shifted the focus of his work and passion to the producer side of the coffee supply chain, taking a job with Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers as the head of quality control projects. Stephen earned his Bachelor of Science from the UW's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering in 2001 and worked on HCDE projects at Zoka Coffee Roaster, a local cafe with an international reputation. During his time at the UW and in Seattle, Stephen rapidly developed an appreciation for coffee and the complex process it undergoes before reaching the consumer's cup. Stephen was born and raised in the great state of Oregon. HCDE's Winter 2010 Usability Speakers Series is scheduled for Fridays, 12:20 - 1:20 pm in room 216 of Loew Hall. View the full Winter 2010 Usability Speakers Series schedule is online at: http://www.hcde.washington.edu/nav-courses/521/win10 . Registration for UW students is available by entry code; contact the HCDE adviser by emailing Gian Bruno at gbruno(a)uw.edu. Thank you. Kate Long Publication Coordinator Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) Box 352315 |423 Sieg Hall University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 Phone: 206.543.7108 | Fax: 206.543.8858 katelong(a)u.washington.edu

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Second Workshop on Technology and Disability in the Developing World
by Joyojeet Pal 27 Jan '10

27 Jan '10

Second Workshop on Technology and Disability in the Developing World June 18th, 2010 http://change.washington.edu/access/workshop_2/ Call for Abstracts: Presentations and Posters Submission Deadline: March 10th, 2010 (we will notify those accepted by April 10th) Following an extremely successful first workshop on Technology and Disability in the Developing World in October 2009, the University of Washington is pleased to announce the second workshop on Technology and Disability in the Developing World on Friday, June 18, 2010. Our first workshop brought together researchers and practitioners interested in technology and disability in the developing world to share knowledge and start building partnerships. The second workshop will focus on low-cost assistive technologies (AT) appropriate for developing country environments. Aspects to consider in addition to affordability when determining appropriateness of AT include safety, durability, utility, maintenance, infrastructure limitations (e.g. lack of electricity, lack of personnel trained in providing AT services), and socio-cultural relevance. Top papers will also be identified for inclusion a leading journal on technology and development. The workshop will be a multi-disciplinary gathering with practitioners, technologists, social scientists, and industry partners. We invite scholars (students and faculty) and practitioners from all disciplines to submit abstracts (1000 words max) addressing one or more of the following topic areas by March 10th, 2010. Selected presenters will be notified by April 10th. On-line submission form will be available February 5th. * Ethnographic research among communities of persons with disabilities in developing countries related to AT * Determining AT user needs in low-resource environments * Innovative low-cost AT products (electronic and non-electronic) currently being used in developing countries * Low-cost AT production for effective use of limited resources (e.g. use of local materials, capacity building of local manufacturing and distribution channels) * AT distribution and support services to increase supply and effective use (e.g. international cooperation, recycling and refurbishment, servicing, AT training programs for people with disabilities and professionals) * Policy issues impacting investment in low-cost AT research, production and delivery * Implementation of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities articles related to AT * Information technology that is compatible with AT Guidelines: All abstracts must be submitted in English. Total word count, excluding author names, affiliations and titles, must be under 1000 words. Papers and poster abstracts should discuss relevant research and/or program and policy experiences, have a strong evidence base, and include recommendations for advancing low-cost AT for people with disabilities in developing countries. Review and selection: The advisory committee<http://change.washington.edu/access/tddw_advisory> will select a limited number of presentations and posters that best fit the focus of the workshop: low-cost assistive technologies. Other criteria for abstract selection include innovation and demonstrated and/or potential impact on people with disabilities in developing countries. Reviewers will also aim to identify a representative cross section of different disabilities (mobility, visual, hearing, learning/cognitive), regions, and types of AT such as augmentative or alternative communication, computer and cell-phone based AT (hardware and software), prosthetics and orthotics, aids for vision impaired, aids for hearing impaired, and wheelchairs/mobility aids. Note: Due to limited funding, the majority of selected presenters will be responsible for their own travel and related expenses. Attending workshop: If you are not submitting an abstract but are interested in attending this workshop, please fill out this brief form<https://catalysttools.washington.edu/webq/survey/bmatter/93559>. A limited number of slots will be available and selected attendees will be responsible for their own travel and related expenses. Becky Matter and Joyojeet Pal Co-Chairs

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2010 Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges Program
by Jerome White 26 Jan '10

26 Jan '10

The application window for Yahoo's Key Scientific Challenges Program opens today; see http://www.labs.yahoo.com/ksc for more information. In brief (from my source), "This might be a great opportunity for [a] PhD Student to receive $5000 and to collaborate with Yahoo. Please forward to appropriate faculty/students." I thought the announcement appropriate for this group because of two ICT-centric sub-categories: "Green Computing" and, especially, "Internet Experiences." Feel free to forward this on. jerome

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Technology for Employability in Latin America: Research With At-Risk Youth & People With Disabilities
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

Since the early 1990s, there has been an increasing interest in technology training centers to build employability options of socially excluded groups in Latin America. Four researchers — Joyojeet Pal, Jay Freistadt, Michele Frix, and Phil Neff — from the Technology & Social Change (TASCHA) group at the University of Washington Information School examined investments into computer centers providing basic technology training for people with disabilities and at-risk youth. Using primary research in five countries — Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela — this report discusses the ways in which technology training impacts the employability concerns of two populations with diverse needs and histories of social and economic exclusion from formal labor markets. This report provides scholars and policy-makers an expansive survey of the landscape of issues around technology employability for socially excluded populations. Findings are broadly divided into three segments: Environmental factors that impact such projects including the aspirational environment and the discourse of technology Short-term impacts of these programs including the creation of pathways to employment, community-building, as well as impacts on self-esteem and stigmatization and the potential of mismatched employment expectations from access to these programs Factors that influence the success of such programs including cost, certification, and accessible technology Download a PDF of the full report at http://cis.washington.edu/files/2009/11/tascha_ict-employability-latin-amer…

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change t-shirts available
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

hey all, we have 25 change shirts available for $15. these shirts are high quality american apparel shirts and will identify you as a generally awesome person. the unisex shirts are gray and look like http://is.gd/71ZS1. the women's shirts look the same, but are black. if you'd like one, put your name, email and size in the form at http://is.gd/71Z5S. sizing information is at http://americanapparel.net/sizing/default.asp. the shirts will be available for pick up after the change meetings on thursdays. with such a small batch available, this is first come, first serve and your name must be in the form above before you get one. yaw

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ICTD 2010 Call for papers / Call for sessions
by Richard Anderson 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

ICTD call for papers and call for sessions/workshops/panels is attached. This information is all on the conference website as well: http://www.ictd2010.org/ The paper submission deadline is April 2, 2010.

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