March 2013 - change - Mailing Lists

Can Technology End Poverty ?
by ashish makani 08 Apr '13

08 Apr '13

Hi Folks A thoughtful article from HBR http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/03/can_technology_end_poverty.html ashish

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Fwd: [TIER] Cell and Self Conference at Michigan
by Nicola Dell 31 Mar '13

31 Mar '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Eric Brewer <brewer(a)eecs.berkeley.edu> Date: Sun, Mar 31, 2013 at 6:10 PM Subject: [TIER] Cell and Self Conference at Michigan To: tier(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu http://ictd.si.umich.edu/cell-and-self-conference/ Cell and Self Conference<http://ictd.si.umich.edu/cell-and-self-conference/> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor April 26-27, 2013 Around the world, more than one and half a billion people carry powerful computers on them. Cell phones have become an extension of one’s self and identity, signifying the unique and interconnected nature of our lives. Mobile phones are unique portals to carry, transmit, create and archive various aspects of our selves, and are conduits to understand, project, explore and validate the self. The cell phone is a *simulacra *of a reality and signification of symbols, signs and meanings of culture and media. It is also a window to external world where our perceptions of self, other, and realities collide; offering new possibilities and challenges to how we conduct research in the social sciences! Talks by several of the speakers are in the ICTD space, these include Gaetano Borriello <http://cellandself.com/?p=82>, Tapan Parikh<http://cellandself.com/?p=73> ,Jonathan Donner <http://cellandself.com/?p=69>, Revi Sterling<http://cellandself.com/?p=76> , Kathi Kitner <http://cellandself.com/?p=80>, Bilal Butt<http://cellandself.com/?p=67> , Joyojeet Pal <http://cellandself.com/?p=71>, Sirpa Teheunen<http://cellandself.com/?p=78> among others. The Cell and Self conference is being organized on April 26th and 27th at the University of Michigan. For more details, click here<http://cellandself.com/> _______________________________________________ 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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Jeremy Wacksman from Dimagi
by Nicola Dell 31 Mar '13

31 Mar '13

Please join us on Tuesday April 2nd for the first Change seminar of the spring quarter! A number of mHeatlh projects have been piloted, but only a small subset of these have achieved any type of scale. There is a common, if unconscious, perception among many organizations that all you have to do is buy mobile phones in order to have a successful mHealth project. This often leads to insufficient capacity, unreasonable expectations, and ultimately failure. Dimagi, a developer of open source mobile-based tools for community health workers, has put substantial effort into developing a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model to help understand what resources are required for a successful project. Additionally, the Dimagi field team has developed strategies to encourage its partner organizations to build their capacity, plan appropriately, and take full ownership. This experience is being employed in India and several countries in Africa in order to help organizations understand what resources are required for a successful mHealth project. Jeremy Wacksman, a Program Analyst with Dimagi will be presenting an overview of the TCO model Dimagi has developed, as well as some observations and reflections from a year of field work in India where he worked on several deployments of CommCare, a mobile phone-based, open source, case management and data collection tool for community health workers. What: Jeremy Wacksman from Dimagi When: Tuesday, April 2nd, 12-1pm Where: The Allen Center, CSE 203

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Course Announcement: Register for the Change seminar
by Nicola Dell 31 Mar '13

31 Mar '13

Hello Everyone, In preparation for the Spring quarter, I want to invite you all to register for the one credit Change Seminar (CSE 590 C1, SLN: 12614<https://sdb.admin.washington.edu/timeschd/uwnetid/sln.asp?QTRYR=SPR+2013&SL…>) on Tuesdays from 12-1pm in the Paul Allen Center, Room 203. Change (http://change.washington.edu) is a group of faculty, students, and staff at the UW who are exploring the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in improving the lives of underserved populations, particularly in the developing world. We cover topics such as global health, education, micro finance, agricultural development, and general communication, and look at how technology can be used to improve each of these areas. This Spring we will have a series talks presented by external speakers working in the area. We are in the process of scheduling speakers, so stay tuned to our calendar (http://is.gd/3PkTF) or mailing list ( http://is.gd/3PlkS) for more information. Please consider enrolling. If you are unable to enroll, feel free to come to any of the meetings you are interested in attending! The seminar is available for all UW students and the content is designed to be widely accessible. We encourage students from all departments to enroll/attend if interested. Please forward this message to the relevant mailing lists, and we hope to see you on Tuesday April 2nd at noon in Room 203 of the Paul Allen Center. Thanks, Nicki

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Fwd: USAID/Humanity United Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention
by Yaw Anokwa 27 Mar '13

27 Mar '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mia Newman <mnewman(a)humanityunited.org> Date: Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 7:14 AM Subject: USAID/Humanity United Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention Hello - I'm writing to you on behalf of USAID and Humanity United, who have partnered together to launch the Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention<http://www.thetechchallenge.org/>. The Tech Challenge is a prize-based challenge that hopes to spark new interdisciplinary partnerships and new thinking on the application of technological solutions to daunting problems in conflict situations. I came across your website, and this seems like something that might be of interest you and your network at Nafundi. We do hope you decide to participate. Our second and final round formally launched in early March. Three challenges are now open, soliciting excellent proposals to compete for prizes of up to $10,000. The open challenges are: *Model | *How can we better understand – and predict – which communities are most at risk for mass atrocities? *The challenge<http://www.thetechchallenge.org/#!model> : *Create a predictive algorithmic model to help identify community-level risk factors that make communities more or less likely to experience acts of violence. This challenge will be launched on the TopCoder platform, a community of almost 465,000 software developers, algorithmists and digital designers from around the globe. *Communicate | *During conflicts and crises, vulnerable populations are often left completely isolated, unable to communicate with neighboring communities, much less the outside world. *The challenge<http://www.thetechchallenge.org/#!communicate> :* Create technological innovations to enable better communication with and among conflict-affected communities during a conflict. This challenge will be launched on the InnoCentive platform, a global leader in crowd-sourcing innovative solutions to important business, social, policy, scientific and technical problems. InnoCentive has over 285,000 registered solvers worldwide. *Alert | *The worst atrocities often happen in remote areas, making it incredibly difficult for human rights organizations to gather and verify critical information about what has occurred. *The challenge<http://www.thetechchallenge.org/#!alert> :* Develop simple, affordable, trainable and scalable technologies to allow human rights organizations and others to gather and/or verify information from hard-to-access areas. This challenge will be hosted on OpenIDEO, an open innovation platform for social good that uses a unique, collaborative approach where a broad mix of people create new solutions together – all concepts are openly available, shareable and reusable by anyone. * * Submissions will be evaluated by a distinguished panel<http://www.thetechchallenge.org/judges.html> of technologists, human rights experts, and government policy-makers, including Samantha Power, Ethan Zuckerman, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Alec Ross, and Patrick Meier. The Challenges are open to participants from around the world and from a breadth of disciplines, especially outside the traditional human rights space. It would be great if you could also pass along this email to anyone you think might be interested in participating! We're hoping to spread the word as much as possible. Feel free to contact me with questions or comments, and you can also read our FAQ<http://www.thetechchallenge.org/faqs/Tech_Challenge_for_Atrocity_Prevention…> for more information. Thanks so much, Mia Mia Newman John Gardner Fellow | Humanity United 1700 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Ste 520| Washington, DC 20006 mnewman(a)humanityunited.org | 202.503.3212

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Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) - hiring an RA for spring quarter!
by Melody Clark 26 Mar '13

26 Mar '13

Please feel free to apply if interested and/or pass along to any UW listservs or UW students that would be interested in the position below. If you have any questions, please let me know. Many thanks! Melody Research Assistant - Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) <https://ischool.uw.edu/about/jobs/students/research-assistant-technology-so…> Global Impact Study - Spring 2013<https://ischool.uw.edu/about/jobs/students/research-assistant-technology-so…> University of Washington Information School Location: The Information School, UW - Roosevelt Commons Position Title: Research Assistant, Global Impact Study Start Date: April 1, 2013, or as soon as possible End Date: June 15, 2013, possible extension into summer quarter. Deadline to Apply: This position is open until filled. Priority will be given to applicants that apply before March 31, 2013. This position will average 20 hours per week. Position Description The University of Washington Information School's Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA<http://tascha.uw.edu/>) has an outstanding opportunity for a research assistant to contribute to the Global Impact Study<http://www.globalimpactstudy.org> of Public Access to Information and Communication Technologies. Duties include: * Synthesizing research findings into written summaries, visualizations such as infographics, and other research outputs * Support communications and dissemination activities for the Global Impact Study * Preparing research materials, such as reports and research briefs, for web publication and release (including formatting and/or editing, depending on skills) * Tracking metrics of communications activities, such as social media data and website analytics and reporting on them for internal use * Supporting TASCHA staff and researchers in research communications as needed Requirements The successful applicants will have some experience with all or most of the following criteria * Exceptionally strong oral and written professional communication skills * Strong organizational skills and positive work practices (i.e., take initiative, flexible with shifting priorities, meeting deadlines, and the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team) * Ability to plan and carry out tasks with minimal supervision * Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications * Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop) * Experience in graphic design for print and web and/or infographic design Desired qualifications The successful applicants will complement the basic analytic skills with some of the following: * Experience writing concise content and/or creating graphic visualizations based on research findings and data; * Familiarity with social science research; * Website or database development and maintenance skills; and * Interest in or experience with information and communications technologies (ICT) and international development (ICT4D). Qualified students with an interest in the impact of public access technology and international development, and who are enrolled in the Information School, HCDE, Communications, or similar are encouraged to apply. Students from other departments with sufficient qualifications will also be considered for this position. Academic Student Employees (ASE) will be compensated at the union regulated rate with a partial tuition waiver and benefits. Percentage of tuition waived depends upon the academic program the applicant is enrolled. ASEs must be enrolled for a minimum of 10 credits per quarter (2 credits during summer) to be eligible. Questions regarding compensation should be directed to iSchool HR at iapply(a)uw.edu<mailto:iapply@uw.edu>. To apply 1. Please include a cover letter briefly describing your skills and experiences relevant to this type of work in one page or less. 2. Attach a current resume that includes your work history and academic accomplishments. 3. Attach a copy of your most recent complete transcript for the academic program(s) you are currently pursuing (does not have to be official; PDF format will be accepted). 4. Attach no more than 7 samples in PDF format or provide a link to your web portfolio of your very best non-academic written content and/or graphic design and/or infographic design projects. Please submit all application materials via iCareers<https://ischool.uw.edu/current/career-services> and search for job # 509. Non-Information School students can apply through HuskyJobs; search for job # 68871<http://careers.washington.edu/HuskyJobs>. This position is open until filled. Applications received by Sunday, March 31, 2013 will be given priority consideration. All candidates will be contacted within two weeks of closing date. This job classification is governed by a negotiated labor contract and is subject to union shop provisions. For more information about union shop provisions, visit: www.washington.edu/admin/hr/jobs/apl/union-info.html<http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/jobs/apl/union-info.html> The University of Washington is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and covered veterans are encouraged to apply. -- Melody Clark Technology & Social Change (TASCHA) melclark(a)uw.edu<mailto:melclark@uw.edu> | 206.685.7819 Twitter: @taschagroup<https://twitter.com/taschagroup> | @ictimpact<http://twitter.com/#!/ICTimpact> | @melodyrclark<https://twitter.com/#!/melodyrclark> tascha.uw.edu<http://tascha.uw.edu/>

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RA wanted for summer quarter; undergrad positions also available
by Justin McReynolds 26 Mar '13

26 Mar '13

Our group is in need of RA's and undergraduates for summer quarter, and likely the next academic year. Can you please post this to your lists? Thank you, Justin McReynolds mcjustin(a)uw.edu Technical Program Manager Clinical Informatics Research Group University of Washington We're looking for students who program (PHP, Python, Ruby and/or Java) to work on open-source health informatics software with the UW's Clinical Informatics Research Group (CIRG). Experience working with Linux systems and databases is a plus; health/clinical experience not necessary. Gain experience working here at UW with teams on domestic and international clinical and public health projects. Opportunities for collaboration on posters and publications. Work includes mobile development with open source tools such as Apache Callback/Cordova, cPRO, and OpenDataKit. Hourly and RA opportunities. Please contact Justin McReynolds (mcjustin(a)uw.edu<mailto:mcjustin@uw.edu>) outlining experience and availability. Links: UW CIRG<http://cirg.washington.edu/> Computerized Patient Reported Outcomes (cPRO)<cprohealth.org> OpenELIS Global - Laboratory Information System<http://sites.google.com/site/openelisglobal/> OpenELIS Global Source Code<http://code.google.com/p/openelisglobal/> iSante Electronic Medical Record System in Haiti<http://code.google.com/p/isante/> OpenMRS Electronic Medical Record in Namibia +<http://www.openmrs.org/> UW OpenDataKit<http://www.opendatakit.org/>

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Data Science for Social Good
by Emily M. Bender 25 Mar '13

25 Mar '13

This summer fellowship program may be of interest: http://www.ci.uchicago.edu/datasciencefellowship/ Emily -- Emily M. Bender Associate Professor Department of Linguistics Check out CLMS on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/uwclma

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Part-time CTO with Sayfty.com
by Sajan Ravindran 25 Mar '13

25 Mar '13

Hi, This looks like an interesting position for someone interested in technology and women's safety issues. The position is based in New York. If interested, please get in touch with Shruti Kapoor at shruti(a)sayfty.comdirectly. Regards, Sajan -----------------------------------------------------------------Part-time Chief Technology Officer (Midtown)About Us We are a pre-venture early stage startup working towards women's personal safety tools. We aim to help women in developing countries protect themselves against violence. Through our products we want to help women become more alert and secure. Overview We are an early stage start up looking for a Part-time Chief Technology Officer (CTO). You will steer the successful development and execution of the technology roadmap with proposed timelines and deliverables. Applicants must be willing to participate in product/service development as the offering evolves. Additionally, the CTO must be an architect, web developer, interface designer and debugger. The CTO will be responsible for all technical aspects of the business and manage any technical resources or team members as the company grows. Responsibilities Identify opportunities and risks for delivering the company's vision Develop the site from scratch, including: business requirements, system requirements, coding, QA, timely deployment, performance monitoring and documentation Evaluate and identify appropriate technology platforms for delivering the company's services Lead strategic planning to achieve business goals by identifying and prioritizing development initiatives and setting timetables for the evaluation, development, and deployment of all infrastructure and web-based services Select and manage staff of web developers to ensure on time delivery and exceptional quality of product and service for customers Experience Hands-on experience coding in more than one currently popular web application frameworks Hands on experience with system design and architecture Amazon AWS experience preferred Previous success in the startup world highly desired Experience working within e-commerce and software development companies preferred Skills Ability to discern user requirements and develop specifications Skilled in Ruby, PHP or Java, MySQL, Postgres or MongoDB, Node.js, jQuery, Backbone, CSS, HTML5 Familiarity with technical requirements of Social Internet marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Ability to articulate ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences Superior analytical and problem-solving abilities Education BS/MS in Computer Science or equivalent experience Compensation Limited cash + Equity compensation

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Using Technology to Create Value
by Yosem Companys 21 Mar '13

21 Mar '13

From: End Poverty in South Asia <no-reply(a)blogs.worldbank.org> ** Using Technology to Create Value [image: SAR Technology]*Join an Online Discussion with Sri Lankan youth entrepreneurs on Friday, 22nd March at 3-5pm on the **World Bank's Sri Lanka Facebook page * <https://www.facebook.com/WorldBankSriLanka>*and learn from their experiences in the online field.* The Internet is now an indispensible part of our lives for most of us. Whether it be checking email or Facebook or looking up something on Google or Wikipedia, we just can’t live without it (or at least, we feel that way!). However, it’s the way in which the Internet, by converging audio-visual, telecom, and computer networks into what we now call Information and Communications Technology (ICT), <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communications_technology>has made it easier for anyone with an idea or a dream to go out there and use these tools to create solutions, services, and products and create value, that makes it so powerful and empowering. Click here https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/node/817 to view full story.

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