July 2010 - change - Mailing Lists

IHME student in Sri Lanka solicits your ideas
by A. Flaxman 28 Jul '10

28 Jul '10

Hi Change Group, I hope you're having a nice summer. Kyle Foreman is a student here at IHME who is working in Sri Lanka for the summer, and he has a nice ICT4D-style problem that you might have good ideas about. He wrote a blog post the spells it all out here: http://healthyalgorithms.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/guest-post-from-the-field/ The one paragraph summary: keeping track of something as simple as the number of people who die each year is very difficult here. Patient records are kept at each hospital, then they are tabulated and sent to a regional office, then tabulated at a district office, ad nauseam, until they finally reach the national level. It takes literally years (they just finished the 2006 returns), is full of errors (because they do it all by hand), and is very incomplete (because every step along the way there's further tabulation which strips away valuable data). They thus have difficulty identifying problems (especially outbreaks), targeting resources, and assessing the outcomes of their efforts. --Abie

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Fwd: Job opportunity in UW Clinical Informatics Research
by Yaw Anokwa 22 Jul '10

22 Jul '10

jan's group does a lot of interesting health work in kenya and haiti. sounds like a great opportunity to mix hci and global health... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jan Flowers <jflow2(a)u.washington.edu> Date: July 22, 2010 3:30:58 PM PDT Subject: RE: Regarding job opportunity in UW Clinical Informatics Research Group for Interaction Designer/Developer Here is the link to the posting on UW Hires: https://uwhires.admin.washington.edu/eng/candidates/default.cfm?szCategory=… It’s listed as a web computing specialist simply because we don’t have a title in the school of nursing that fits better. But the actual working title of the position would be of a user interface / interaction designer. We would really like to find someone with a strong sense of aesthetics, plus the ability to back up design decisions with evidence/research. Example portfolios would be especially helpful to us when they apply. If people want, they are more than welcome to contact me for more information – Jan Flowers, jflow2(a)uw.edu. I appreciate any help you can give us. Thank you! Jan On Jul 21, 2010, at 4:54 PM, Jan Flowers wrote: Hello, I am a technical program manager with the UW Clinical Informatics Research Group under the School of Nursing. We recently posted a job opportunity looking for an user interface - interaction designer on our web application development team working on both domestic and global health web and mobile clinical computing projects. I remembered that the UW had a group with interest in HCI and thought the posting might be of interest for someone in the group. Is there a mailing list that I could send the job opportunity to that would reach people in the group? I’d appreciate any help you could give me in finding an enthusiastic qualified candidate for this type of work. Jan Flowers Technical Program Manager, Global Health University of Washington Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems (BNHS) Clinical Informatics Research Group (CIRG) e. jflow2(a)u.washington.edu p. 206.334.5263 UW Tower Box 359442, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle 98195

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Esoko is Hiring
by Yaw Anokwa 20 Jul '10

20 Jul '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Laura Drewett <lmdrewett(a)gmail.com> Date: July 19, 2010 1:58:31 PM GMT+02:00 Hi All, Just passing around a job advert . . . we are hiring a variety of techie positions (Systems Manager, Software Developers, Technical Manager, Product Managers, & Mobile Engineers). We are also looking for a Senior Business Consultant for my team . . . This is a senior role to establish business plans, provide trainings & consulting, and develop strategies for key Esoko partners across Africa. We are looking for a great communicator with natural talent at both senior policy making level, as well as with farmers in the field . . . Looking for someone who is interested and motivated by innovative private business models that leverage ICTs to drive economic development! Take a look at this link: http://www.busylab.com/jobs/index.htm

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Volunteer programmer to work with PIH on electronic protocols
by neal lesh 19 Jul '10

19 Jul '10

Volunteer Java Programmer (Work can be done remotely) Partners In Health's supported projects in Mexico and Guatemala are piloting phone-based technology that allows health workers in remote areas to use clinical protocols on cell phones. Partners In Health seeks a programmer proficient in Java to help translate clinical protocols that are currently in the form of paper flowcharts into the open source software program called CommCare. This position is an excellent opportunity to connect programming skills with social entrepreneurship and global health, working with an organization dedicated to delivering high quality care to the poorest people of the world. The project will directly benefit rural, underserved areas of Chiapas, Mexico and Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Time commitment is 12+ hours per week for at least 10 weeks. The work can be done remotely with communication with people based in the PIH Boston office. The Volunteer will be supervised and mentored by programmers at Dimagi, Inc. and by the PIH Project Coordinator and Clinical Director for Chiapas and Mexico. CommCare is a program based on JavaRosa, an open source platform for mobile data collection. CommCare is a collaborative project among many partners including Dimagi, Inc, D-tree International and the computer science department of the University of Washington. To apply, please send a resume and statement of interest to lpalazuelos(a)pih.org .

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Fwd: [eHealth_connection] FW: PAHO/WHO Vacancy Notice PAHO/10/FT337 Advisor, eHealth
by Gaetano Borriello 17 Jul '10

17 Jul '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Brown, Karl <kbrown(a)rockfound.org> Date: Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 12:57 PM Subject: [eHealth_connection] FW: PAHO/WHO Vacancy Notice PAHO/10/FT337 Advisor, eHealth To: ehealth_connection(a)yahoogroups.com FYI *From:* Knowledge Management and Communication KMC - Knowledge Sharing [mailto:IKM-SHARING@LISTSERV.PAHO.ORG] *On Behalf Of *Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) *Sent:* Wednesday, July 07, 2010 11:02 AM *To:* IKM-SHARING(a)LISTSERV.PAHO.ORG *Subject:* PAHO/WHO Vacancy Notice PAHO/10/FT337 Advisor, eHealth *Advertisement of Vacancy Notice* *VACANCY NOTICE:* PAHO/10/FT337 *TITLE: Advisor, eHealth* *GRADE:* P-4 *POST Number:* .6275 *DURATION OF CONTRACT:* Two years, first year probationary period. *OFFICIAL STATION:* Washington D.C. *ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION/AREA:* KMC * CLOSING DATE:* *18 August 2010* For a copy of the vacancy notice: http://bit.ly/dhmeZb OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME : To establish the principles and practice of knowledge management and communication as fundamental to public health and a key component of technical cooperation and capacity building. As such, it oversees the equitable and efficient dissemination of health information and communications to priority audiences, especially in Member Countries, as well as PAHO's knowledge sharing processes and information and communications products. It ensures that PAHO is widely recognized as a source of authoritative scientific and technical information and safeguards PAHO's intellectual property against any use contrary to the Organization's mission and principles. Description of duties: Under the general supervision of the Manager, Knowledge Management and Communication (KMC), and the direct supervision of the Senior Advisor, Knowledge Management (KMC), the incumbent is responsible for, but not limited to, the following assigned duties: a) Provide technical advice and formulate strategies and work plans for the implementation of the Organization's Regional Program on eHealth, including the development of a corporate conceptual model and communities of practice and thematic networks in support of this Program; b) Provide authoritative advice and guidance on matters related to integrated eHealth systems to improve access to public health information; c) Establish the objectives for the eHealth Team and design strategies to accomplish them; establish the planning and budget of the Team, as well as executing the work plan; ensure that the Organization-wide eHealth strategy is aligned with the Organization's business needs and strategic plans; d) Formulate the strategic model for mobilization of resources in support of the National Health Policies to promote the use of information and communication technologies to improve health systems performance; e) Develop policies and guidelines to promote capacity building to maintain and implement eHealth solutions; f) Create a network of Collaborating Center on e-health with the objective of identifying and analyzing e-health practices to promote best practices and synergies; g) Provide technical advice and support for the promotion of information and knowledge management, including the adoption of new technologies of information and communications for content management in health; h) Ensure that PAHO is widely recognized as a source of authoritative scientific and technical information on the eHealth approach to use information and communication technology to improve health systems performance; collaborate with staff and Member States in applying evidence-based principles and methods to planning, developing capacity, administering and evaluating technical programs and projects. i) Identify opportunities for collaboration in scientific and technical information production and knowledge sharing across PAHO, within WHO, with other UN organizations or with other partners; establish and maintain partnerships that promote and support such collaboration; provide assistance, when called upon, to institutions of Member States in the area of eHealth and knowledge management; j) Lead proposals to strengthen organizational capacities to improve scientific and technical information production and knowledge sharing policies and procedures; plan and guide the implementation of the Regional Strategy for the Web and the Intra-Extranet in the Organization; Regional Strategy for Virtual Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing in PAHO and Member States; k) Supervise staff of the Team; provide training, advice and guidance on issues arising from the day-to-day activities of the office; monitor changes in workload in order to ensure equitable distribution of work to maintain optimal efficiency and output as well as job satisfaction; redistribute work when necessary; follow up on any deviation of work output; l) Provide leadership, guidance and monitoring of staff through the setting of clear work objectives, timely and effective use of performance reviews and feedback mechanisms, regular communications, and solving interpersonal or technical conflicts; m) Perform other related duties as assigned . REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Education: A university degree in one of the health, social, or information management sciences and a master's degree in a library science, knowledge management or in a related field from a recognized institution. Skills: Key Behavioral Competencies: -- Intrainstitutional Action: Operates in a fair, consistent and equitable manner, and displays such behavior by example. Ensures that the mission and the values of the Organization as well as the setting in which projects will be carried out are the drivers in one's technical work. Understands the results required and performs to that standard. Behaves consistently in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the Organization. -- Communication: Leads the development of an environment that actively establishes and proactively engages in productive dialogues that involve multicultural environments. Encourages the skills and behaviors that facilitate productive dialogues. Expresses points of view effectively. -- Information Management: Processes and analyzes the data objectively, presenting it clearly and equitably. Leads the effort to acquire relevant and selected information that facilitates the achievement of organizational results. Evaluates/leads the evaluation of information systems on the basis of its advantages/disadvantages for processing information relevant to the area of work. -- Knowledge Management: Supports and develops networked and community working. Identifies, develops and nurtures networks and communities. Identifies and builds on working networks that enable knowledge and information flow. Designs and implements knowledge and information services. Enables utilization of knowledge and information sources. Delivers relevant knowledge and information in most appropriate form. Participates in and learns from networked and community approaches. -- Analysis, Synthesis, and Forecasting: After analyzing situations on the basis of the available evidence and knowledge, leads one's area of responsibility toward individual and collective actions. Encourages the importance of continual analysis. Verifies and promotes that action is taken in situations that will require future intervention, based on ongoing analysis. Leads others in decisions needed to implement required actions. Is capable of anticipating the implications of analyzed situations between one and two years ahead. -- Teamwork: Embraces and leads consensual decision-making, that is, leading the fulfillment of team decisions, even when they may not fully coincide with one's own opinions or proposals. Knows how to manage difficult team situations and promotes consensus building. Takes responsibility for the team's successes and failures. -- Continuous Learning: Leads others, through both management oversight and one's own behavior, to take advantage of all opportunities to share knowledge and sources of learning with subordinates, colleagues, and staff across the Organization. Likes to be up to date with the best practices in the field. Is able to contribute to internal initiatives to improve the effectiveness of the Organization. -- Resource Mobilization: Works in an objective manner to obtain and apportion resources (financial and non-financial) according to need. Supports and advises technical areas to enable best use of resources are aligned with the mission and vision of the Organization. Is able to work in a multicultural environment. Is flexible and has the ability to work well under pressure. Is able to give feedback to partners within and outside the organization about the use of the resources and the results acquired. *Technical Expertise:* -- Theoretical and practical expertise in all aspects related to knowledge management, media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods to include alternative ways to promote knowledge management as well as knowledge of public health related information sources and the use of information and communication technologies in public health including eHealth, mHealth and library services and systems. -- Ability to analyze current information networks, systems and portals and possess the capability to develop and plan innovative and appropriate solutions for improvement. -- Excellent knowledge and skills for the design, organization and coordination of complex library and information networks processes. -- Knowledge of business and management involved in strategic planning, resource allocation and coordination of people and resources. -- Strong inter-personal skills, diplomacy and tact to effectively communicate with senior level health officials in public and private sector and civil society, multiple stakeholders and professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds. -- Ability to manage multiple issues and tasks in a complex organizational environment to re-prioritize actions on short notice. -- Strong professional oral and writing skills including the development of reports, oral presentations, and technical/persuasive documents for consideration at the highest levels of the Organization. *IT Skills: *-- Demonstrated ability to effectively use a computer and utilize software programs such as Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and SharePoint. Demonstrated understanding of and experience with scientific, web-based and open source information systems as well the ability to operate desktop, web related applications, knowledge management and virtual collaboration tools and methodologies. Experience: Nine years of combined national and international progressively responsible experience in knowledge management, including ehealth, library work, management and operation of networks, information networks, systems and portals. Languages: Very good knowledge of English or Spanish with working knowledge of the other language. Knowledge of French and/or Portuguese would be an asset. Additional Information: ALL APPLICANTS MUST APPLY ON-LINE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS POSITION. A WRITTEN TEST AND/OR INTERVIEW MAY BE HELD FOR THIS POST. CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED ONLY IF THEY ARE UNDER SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. ALL APPLICANTS ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE AN ON-LINE PERSONAL HISTORY FORM. THE POST DESCRIPTION IS THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSES. * ** *** * * * *This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics; Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues. [DD/ KMC Area] “Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”. * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *PAHO/WHO website: http://66.101.212.219/equity/ KMC List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/archives/ikm-sharing.html *Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho** *** * * IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you. __._,_.___ Join our eHealth social network, at http://ehealth-connection.ning.com/ Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional Change settings via the Web<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eHealth_connection/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbTZlazJn…>(Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest<eHealth_connection-digest@yahoogroups.com?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest>| Switch to Fully Featured<eHealth_connection-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Fully+Featured> Visit Your Group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eHealth_connection;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbWY3bnBxBF9TA…>| Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> | Unsubscribe <eHealth_connection-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe> __,_._,___

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Kuang Chen on Quality Data Collection on Mobile Phones
by Yaw Anokwa 13 Jul '10

13 Jul '10

Kuang Chen (http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~kuangc/) is a PhD student at Berkeley. After finishing his Bachelor's at UW-CSE, he has been focusing on data management systems that help low-resource organizations and people in the developing world. He works on improving local practices in data collection and quality and his USHER (paper,slides) system is a great example of the practical tools he builds. Kuang explains in the video below that “Data quality is a critical problem in modern databases. Data entry forms present the first and arguably best opportunity for detecting and mitigating errors, but there has been little research into automatic methods for improving data quality at entry time. In this paper, we propose USHER, an end-to-end system for form design, entry, and data quality assurance. Using previous form submissions, USHER learns a probabilistic model over the questions of the form. USHER then applies this model at every step of the data entry process to improve data quality. Before entry, it induces a form layout that captures the most important data values of a form instance as quickly as possible. During entry, it dynamically adapts the form to the values being entered, and enables real-time feedback to guide the data enterer toward their intended values. After entry, it re-asks questions that it deems likely to have been entered incorrectly. We evaluate all three components of USHER using two real-world data sets. Our results demonstrate that each component has the potential to improve data quality considerably, at a reduced cost when compared to current practice.” Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdl5ECWtHcU Paper: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~kuangc/publications/icde10-usher.pdf Slides: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~kuangc/publications/icde10-usher.slides.pdf

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neal lesh post on local tech capacity
by Yaw Anokwa 11 Jul '10

11 Jul '10

neal lesh (former uw-cse grad and public health guru) has written an insightful post on local tech capacity. it's worthwhile read. http://www.open-mobile.org/news/beware-foreign-expert

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Social Enterprise Development Manager for Grameen in Indonesia
by Yaw Anokwa 10 Jul '10

10 Jul '10

Grameen Foundation is looking for a software technologist to manage R&D at their Social Enterprise Incubator. Current projects are heavily weighted to mobile apps and the services that back them. An employee at Grameen describes the perfect candidate as "That person would be part software project manager, product manager, architect, and business person. Yes, I know, that's a lot to ask of one person. :-) We know we might not get everything perfect in one person, but this is what we're trying to get." Details at http://id.jobsdb.com/ID/EN/Search/JobAdSingleDetail?jobsIdList=200003000049…

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GHDonline panel July 19-30
by neal lesh 09 Jul '10

09 Jul '10

GHDonline.org is pleased to host its second Health IT Expert Panel from July 19-30 on: Local Software Development for Global eHealth. Join the Health IT online community in discussing in-country coding and the development of local eHealth capacity. With panelists: Jacob Mtalitinya, ITIDO, Tanzania. William Aviles Monterrey, Sustainable Sciences Institute, Nicaragua. Lim Chanmann, InSTEDD iLab, Cambodia. Ali Habib, Interactive Research and Development, Pakistan. and moderators Ahmed Mohammed Maawy, DataDyne and Melissa Louden, University of Cape Town. The discussion will occur over posts to the Health IT community from July 19th to July 30th, which you can access via email or through the web. To participate join free at www.ghdonline.org/accounts/signup/ and set your notifications to "per post" to join the conversation by email. Spanish and French translations will be available on the discussion page. For help, please email healthitpanel(a)ghdonline.org About GHDonline.org: Launched by the Global Health Delivery Project in July 2008, GHDonline.org is a web-based collaboration platform where more than 3100 professionals from 1100+ organizations across 130 countries share proven practices, connect with colleagues, and find resources they need to improve health outcomes in resource-limited settings. Members exchange practical tools and advice in one or several public communities each guided by a team of experts and focused on a specific issue in health care delivery.

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Jonathan Donner on Mobile Livelihood Services
by Yaw Anokwa 09 Jul '10

09 Jul '10

Jonathan Donner (http://jonathandonner.com/) is a researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft Research India in Bangalore. He’s been living in Cape Town and doing work on the impact of mobiles on micro and small enterprises. His insightful talk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r5OTR64d1k describes a collection of initiatives delivering support via mobile phones to small enterprises, small farms, and the self-employed. Using a review of 26 examples of such services currently operational in Africa, the analysis identifies five functions of mobile livelihood services: Mediated Agricultural Extension, Market Information, Virtual Marketplaces, Financial Services, and Direct Livelihood Support. It discusses the current reliance of such systems on the SMS channel, and considers their role in supporting vs. transforming existing market structures. Relevant papers can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/jdonner/. http://change.washington.edu/2010/07/jonathan-donner-on-mobile-livelihood-s…

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