August 2010 - change - Mailing Lists

volunteers sought for Spark MicroGrants
by neal lesh 31 Aug '10

31 Aug '10

Spark MicroGrants (http://www.sparkmicrogrants.org/) is a new initiative that capitalizes on the potential of local innovators by hosting contests in which community members propose their own solutions to social problems. After selecting a winning proposal, Spark provides seed funding in the form of a small "microgrant". Past competitions have focused on water & sanitation, promoting safe pregnancies, and food security. Spark is seeking volunteers with computer skills to help create a new website to help manage MicroGrants. Please email info(a)sparkmicrogrants.org if interested. Spark is also seeking volunteers (with our without technical skills) to be Advocates for current projects in Rwanda and Uganda, including: - Karambe Village, Rwanda: People of Karambe Village have to walk 3-5 kilometers before they reach a tap that is often dry. They are currently designing a project to drill a well and water tank to improve access to water for the over 500 village members. - Wanteete Village, Uganda: Eighty women in Wanteete Village have come together to address their concerns about pre-primary education. Their children have to walk miles to over crowded classrooms and many do not have pre-primary education. Advocates are paired with the MicroGrant community of their choice and work remotely to support and promote their competition. Advocate responsibilities include: helping to raise the money for the community project; reviewing and commenting on proposals written by community members; advertising and promoting the grantee's heroic work in the press. No prior work experience is needed-only enthusiastic compassion! In addition to helping a community in need solve its own problems you will learn about a pressing issue for those living in extreme poverty, and get a ground-level view of how they can be addressed. The time commitment is approximately 2 hours per week for at least two months. Students can build class projects around MicroGrants. Although Advocates may have the chance to review grant submissions and discuss projects with experts in the field; Spark MicroGrants is really about enabling the community to define their own problem, design their own project and carry out the work for it. Please email info(a)sparkmicrogrants.org or apply at http://microgrants.supportlocalsolutions.org/get-involved/advocates if interested.

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D-tree hiring or Malawi
by neal lesh 28 Aug '10

28 Aug '10

Hi everybody, D-tree International (www.d-tree.org) is hiring for a full-time field coordinator in Malawi to help design and deploy CommCare, a phone-based application to support community health workers. Please see attached description for more details. Take care, neal

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TEDxChange
by Scott Macklin 27 Aug '10

27 Aug '10

TEDxChange with Melinda Gates To register for this free event go to: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/805837281/ We hope you'll join us on September 20, 2010 to watch the live feed from NYC of TEDxChange. Convened by Melinda French Gates and featuring some of the world’s most inspired thinkers and doers, including TED Curator Chris Anderson. TEDxChange marks the anniversary of the Millennium Development goals: Ten years in, where does the global community stand in the work to save and improve lives around the world? And what does the future hold? The Seattle event will be co-hosted by the University of Washington’s Master of Communication in Digital Media program (MCDM, which held TEDxSeattle last April) in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Come early for a free networking coffee and pastry breakfast. MCDM Director Hanson Hosein will welcome participants, followed by his colleague, Anita Verna Crofts who will give a short talk entitled, “Transforming the Transaction: Food for Thought on Community Partnerships that Change the World .” Our special guest, Bill Gates Sr. will then provide introductory remarks for TEDx Change, to what promises to be an inspiring 90 minutes of ideas about The Future We Make. When and Where Date: Monday, September 20, 2010 Time: 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. PDT (Seattle, Washington) Where: University of Washington campus, Kane 130 Online Participation Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TEDxSea Twitter: twitter.com/TEDxSea (Offical hashtag: #TEDxSEA) Blog: http://www.flipthemedia.com

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Fwd: The eHealth Intelligence Report - Tuesday 24 August 2010
by Thomas A. Odeny 25 Aug '10

25 Aug '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: eHealth intelligence report <ehir(a)who.int> Date: Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 11:47 AM Subject: The eHealth Intelligence Report - Tuesday 24 August 2010 To: [image: eHIR banner] *Conferences & Events . Calls for Abstracts . Trainings & Seminars . Social Media **@** *http://www.who.int/goe/ehir ------------------------------ Publications:: Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa (to be pubished in the Journal of Economic Perspectives)<http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1424175/> While current research suggests that mobile phone coverage and adoption have had positive impacts on agricultural and labor market efficiency and welfare in certain countries, empirical evidence is still somewhat limited. In addition, mobile phone technology cannot serve as the “silver bullet” for development in sub-Saharan Africa. Careful impact evaluations of mobile phone development projects are required to better understand their impacts upon economic and social outcomes, and mobile phone technology must work in partnership with other public good provision and investment. Scientific Articles:: Public Health in an Era of Personal Health Records: Opportunities for Innovation and New Partnerships (J Med Internet Res 2010;12(3):e33) doi:10.2196/jmir.1346 <http://www.jmir.org/2010/3/e33/> In the near future, citizens will be able to control and manage their own health information through electronic personal health record systems and tools. The clinical benefits of this innovation, such as cost savings, error reduction, and improved communication, have been discussed in the literature and public forums, as have issues related to privacy and confidentiality. Receiving little attention are the benefits these will have for public health. The benefits and potential for innovation are broad and speak directly to core public health functions such as health monitoring, outbreak management, empowerment, linking to services, and research. Coupled with this is a new relationship with citizens as key partners in protecting and promoting the public’s health. :: New Technology and Health Care Costs — The Case of Robot-Assisted Surgery (18 August 2010 - NEJM)<http://healthpolicyandreform.nejm.org/?p=11926&query=home> Technological innovation in health care is an important driver of cost growth. Doctors and patients often embrace new modes of treatment before their merits and weaknesses are fully understood. These technologies can lead to increases in costs, either because they are simply more expensive than previous treatments or because their introduction leads to an expansion in the types and numbers of patients treated. :: Medical informatics: Past, present, future ( Int J Med Inform. 2010 Sep;79(9):599-610. Epub 2010 Jul 7.)<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20615752> Objective: To reflect about medical informatics as a discipline. To suggest significant future research directions with the purpose of stimulating further discussion. Methods: Exploring and discussing important developments in medical informatics from the past and in the present by way of examples. Reflecting on the role of IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association, in influencing the discipline. eHealth Worldwide:: Malawi: Using Touchscreen Electronic Medical Record Systems to Support and Monitor National Scale-Up of Antiretroviral Therapy in Malawi. PLoS Med 7(8): e1000319. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000319 (August 10, 2010)<http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.100…> Gerry Douglas and colleagues describe the rationale and their experience with scaling up electronic health records in six antiretroviral treatment sites in Malawi.The scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa is unprecedented. Effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems are essential to track patient access to and retention on ART; to encourage feedback to improve clinic-based care; and to ensure rational drug forecasting and timely procurement to prevent drug stock-outs [1]. Complete and accurate data are a fundamental prerequisite for any M&E system. :: Norway: Digital prescription takes first steps (12 August 2010 - ePractice.eu) <http://www.epractice.eu/en/news/333849> In practice, when the patients participating in the pilot need a prescription, their doctors send it to a central database via their computer. The only thing the patients need to do to have the medicines delivered at the pharmacy, is to provide their social security number to the chemist. Digital prescriptions bring many advantages to those involved in the process. :: South Korea: Design and implementation of a standards-based interoperable clinical decision support architecture in the context of the Korean EHR International Journal of Medical Informatics Volume 79, Issue 9, September 2010, Pages 611-622 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20620098> In 2000 the Korean government initiated efforts to secure healthcare accessibility and efficiency anytime and anywhere via the nationwide healthcare information system by the end of 2010. According to the master plan, electronic health record (EHR) research and development projects were designed in 2005. :: Turkey: Turkish mobile firm links to docs (20 August 2010 - eHealtheurope)<http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/6179/turkish_mobile_firm_links_to_docs> The HelloDoctor service will give Avea customers in the 81 cities covered by its 3G service the ability to speak directly to one of 20 doctors at one of Acibadem’s call centres over a video link, 24 hours a day, seven says a week. The doctors will offer general medical advice and recommendations on medicines, rather than diagnosing illnesses or prescribing treatments. They will also provide nutritional information to children and advice on growth conditions. Articles:: Telemedicine burgeoning in BRIC countries (18 August 2010 - HealthcareIT)<http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/telemedicine-burgeoning-bric-countries> The study, "Telemedicine Market in Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC) - Advanced Technologies, Global Forecast," shows that the telemedicine sector in those fast-emerging economies is expected to reach a market size of $418.4 million by the year 2014, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent from 2009 to 2014. Innovations and breakthroughs:: Social networks can warn of disease after disasters<http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/social-networks-can-warn-of-disease-after…> In Haiti, we have developed the Haiti Epidemic Advisory System (HEAS) to inform — but not displace — existing public health surveillance capabilities. HEAS is the world's first infectious disease forecasting centre, working rather like a short-range weather service. It is built on peer-to-peer sharing of the information vital to doctors facing harrowing medical challenges. :: Student's project could have big effect on global health<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7149755.html> Rice University senior Andy Miller took on a school project last year to design a highly functional but portable, low-cost microscope. Eighteen months later, health care workers in the developing world may have a device to diagnose disease where people live. Using off-the-shelf parts and a minimalist approach, Miller invented a 2 1/2-pound, battery-powered microscope that a new study shows is just as good at diagnosing tuberculosis as hospital machines that retail for $40,000. Miller's costs $220. :: Ushahidi Platform <http://www.ushahidi.com/> The Ushahidi Platform allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline. Our goal is to create the simplest way of aggregating information from the public for use in crisis response. :: Revolutionary HIV/AIDS Point-of-Care Diagnostics System Debuts at AIDS 2010 <http://www.globalhealth.org/news/article/12679?utm_source=feedburner&utm_me…> Continuum, a global innovation and design consultancy headquartered in Boston, announced today that the company has collaborated with Daktari Diagnostics, a company developing point-of-care diagnostics for global health, to create the Daktari CD4, a revolutionary HIV/AIDS point-of-care test that can perform critical, low-cost CD4 counts to guide HIV treatment. OpinionsWhy medicine needs broadband (By Joel White, Executive Director, Health IT Now Coalition)<http://mobihealthnews.com/8640/white-why-medicine-needs-broadband/> Over the past decade the ability of even small medical practices to access the Internet using a broadband connection has given us an entirely new set of tools to be far more efficient in the backroom record-keeping of a practice, better able to bring high-tech diagnostics and treatments to rural areas; and, ... For more information, contact *ehir@who.int* <ehir(a)who.int> Related links *www.who.int/ehealth* <http://www.who.int/topics/ehealth/en/> -- Dr Thomas A. Odeny, International AIDS Research and Training Program Scholar, University of Washington, Seattle WA

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Workshop at ICTD 2010, CFP: Bridging the Gap between Technical and Social Researchers to Foster International Development through Mobile Platforms
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Aug '10

25 Aug '10

============================================================ CALL FOR PAPERS Qual Meets Quant: Bridging the Gap between Technical and Social Researchers to Foster International Development through Mobile Platforms Workshop to be held at the 4th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, ICTD 2010, London, 13-16 December 2010 www.qualmeetsquant.org ============================================================ Scope and Motivation -------------------- The increasing ubiquity of mobile phones in developing economies has enabled the capture, for the first time in history, of massive amounts of behavioral human data in areas of interest to international development. Proper analysis of such data could provide important insight into areas from health and education to microfinance and agriculture. Unfortunately, much of the research related to mobile phones and development has been done in methodological silos: technical researchers focus on quantitative analysis; ethnographers perform in-depth qualitative research; and policy makers extrapolate policies from published research. This workshop intends to bring together technical and social researchers, as well as policy makers, to explore the potential of mixed-method approaches to analyzing these new sources of data. On one hand, large quantitative datasets are being generated by mobile devices adopted either for personal use or as data-gathering tools by practitioners from NGOs. On the other, ethnographers and social researchers carry out qualitative research to gain a deep understanding about mobile technology acceptance and human behavior. Finally, organizations such as the United Nations and the National Statistical Institutes periodically compile large datasets of statistical information including demographic and socio-economic indicators to assess social progress. Joint analysis of quantitative data gathered through ubiquitous technologies, qualitative research and statistical indicators is likely to provide a deeper understanding than would be possible from analyzing any single body of evidence in isolation. In fact, interactions between these fields might provide a first step to move beyond mere correlations and seek the cause-effect relationships that policy makers aim to understand. To foster this collaboration, the workshop will consist of short paper presentations followed by a round table focused on evaluating new analytical approaches and understanding how different research techniques can be combined towards a holistic understanding of mobile technology and its potential to foster international development. Technical and social researchers as well as policy makers are welcome to the workshop. IMPORTANT DATES: Paper submission deadline: 15th October, 2010. Notification of acceptance: 15th November, 2010. Camera-ready submission: 23rd November, 2010. Registration for ICTD2010 required. Early Registration before 22nd September. TOPICS OF INTEREST: * Techniques For Social Computing * Data Collection and Analysis * Spatio-temporal Analysis * Multiple-source Analysis * User Modeling and Personalization * Mixed-method approaches * Research Design * Adaptive Interaction * Causality Inference * Social Network Analysis * Mobility Analysis * Data Mining and Visualization Application Domains * M-Education and Mobile Learning * M-health * M-banking, Microfinance and Microcredit * M-Government * M-Agriculture * M-Employment * M-Commerce * Social Protection * Transportation Systems * Disease Surveillance * Urban Planning COMMITTEES ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Vanessa Frias-Martinez, Telefonica Research, Madrid, Spain Kentaro Toyama, University of California, Berkeley Jenna Burrell, University of California, Berkeley Nathan Eagle, Santa Fe Institute, USA PROGRAM COMMITTEE Araba Sey, Change, University of Washington, USA Bill Thies, Microsoft Research, India Christoph Stork, Research ICT Africa Network (RIA) Emma Brunskill, University of California, Berkeley Enrique Frias-Martinez, Telefonica Research, Madrid, Spain Ernest Mwebaze, Makerere University, Uganda Fabiano Teixeira, Inter-American Development Bank, IADB Gudrun Wicander, Karlstad University, Sweden Javier Simó, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain John Quinn, Makerere University, Uganda Jorn Klungsoyr, University of Bergen, Norway Joshua Blumenstock, University of California, Berkeley, USA Julian May, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Juliana Rotich, Ushahidi Kathleen Diga, IDRC, Canada Muto Megumi, Japanese International Cooperation Agency, JICA, Japan Neal Lesh, D-Tree International, USA Raul Zambrano, United Nations Development Program, UNDP, USA Tapan Parikh, University of California, Berkeley, USA Ugo Vallauri, Royal Holloway, UK

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TechnoServe is Hiring
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Aug '10

25 Aug '10

TechnoServe, a nonprofit business organization that provides business- and market-based solutions to poverty in developing countries, seeks qualified candidates for a "Cocoa Livelihood Project (CLP) -- Market Information System Implementation". See http://dpaste.com/hold/233898 for the full job posting. TechnoServe also has other jobs listed at http://www.technoserve.org/resources/jobs and http://www.technoserve.org/take-action/become-a-volunteer.html

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Fwd: [dub] Interested in Public Health Informatics?
by Yaw Anokwa 24 Aug '10

24 Aug '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rebecca Hills <hillsr(a)uw.edu> Date: Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 11:01 Subject: [dub] Interested in Public Health Informatics? To: dub(a)dub.washington.edu Please join us for the Autumn 2010 Public Health Informatics Colloquium offered by the department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics. This colloquium will cover a variety of topics from the field of Public Health Informatics including: surveillance, communicable disease, case reporting, registries, chronic disease, electronic laboratory reporting, health information exchange, alerting, the intersection of public health and clinical care, interoperability, meaningful use and population health as well as public health-provider communication and more. We've got some great speakers lined up so far and expect this will be an informative series of talks leading to some stimulating discussion. Please join us! Course: MEBI 591C SLN: 15990 Credits: 1 Time: Wednesdays, 3:30 - 4:20 p.m. Location: T-360 Facilitators: Rebecca Hills and Bill Lober Website: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/workspace/hillsr/14843/ for more information, please see the website or email Rebecca at hillsr(a)uw.edu _______________________________________________ dub mailing list dub(a)dub.washington.edu http://dub.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/dub

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Foster school's global social entrepreneurship competition (GSEC)
by Rohit Chaudhri 23 Aug '10

23 Aug '10

Hi folks, fyi, UW's foster business school is accepting applications for the GSEC, the deadline is Nov 4th. http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipco… Has anyone from change submitted a proposal to this in the past? thanks to YoonSung for the reminder. Rohit.

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Fwd: ICTD 2010 Workshop
by Yaw Anokwa 23 Aug '10

23 Aug '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: VANESSA FRIAS MARTINEZ <vanessa(a)tid.es> Date: Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 10:45 AM Subject: ICTD 2010 Workshop To: VANESSA FRIAS MARTINEZ <vanessa(a)tid.es> Dear all, We finally have the CFP ready to be shared! Find attached the PDF and txt versions of the call. We'd really appreciate if you helped us get the word out to your peers and colleagues. The submission deadline is 15th October, and we expect to send out the reviews by the 15th of November. Do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions. Cheers, vanessa ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vanessa Frias-Martinez, PhD Research Scientist @ Data Mining and User Modeling Group Telefonica Research, Madrid, Spain www.vanessafriasmartinez.org +34 913373953 "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better", Samuel Beckett --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Fwd: [TIER] new Gates Foundation challenges exploration grants: Create Low-Cost Cell Phone-Based Applications for Priority Global Health Conditions
by Melody Clark 22 Aug '10

22 Aug '10

Interesting, due Nov 2: http://www.grandchallenges.org/MeasureHealthStatus/Topics/CellPhoneApps/Pag… _______________________________________________

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