October 2014 - change - Mailing Lists

CU Boulder ATLAS Institute Master Program - ICTD Track
by Sarah Revital Sterling 31 Oct '14

31 Oct '14

[cid:image001.png@01CFF397.E924FB80] The ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder is now taking applications for the Master's in Technology, Media and Society program. For details about the Information and Communication Technology for Development (MS-ICTD), please visit http://atlas.colorado.edu/masters. The ATLAS Masters of Science encourages applicants with diverse backgroundsand global perspectives. Hear from current students in this short video, http://bit.do/ictdvideo. Now in its fifth year, with graduates working at leading NGOs, technology companies and policy organizations, the MS-ICTD track gives students an incredible advantage entering ICTD careers. Please forward this information to colleagues, students or friends who might have an interest in advancing their graduate studies in ICTD. Questions? Contact Ruscha Cohen (ruscha.cohen(a)colorado.edu<mailto:ruscha.cohen@colorado.edu>). [cid:image002.png@01CFF397.E924FB80]

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Tomorrow at Change: Grégoire Lurton - Improving the usability and usage of routine HIS
by Trevor Perrier 27 Oct '14

27 Oct '14

Please join us at Change this week - Grégoire Lurton <http://www.healthdata.org/about/gr%C3%A9goire-lurton>from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) will be presenting current research on Health Management Information Systems. What: Grégoire Lurton: Improving the usability and usage of routine Health Systems data in Developing Countries. When: Tuesday, Oct 28 at 12pm Where: The Allen Center, CSE 203 *Abstract:* Emphasizing the importance of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) as well as their overall weak performance in providing reliable data is becoming a stencil of the discussions on health systems in developing countries. Many efforts have been made to improve data collection in these settings. This talk presents ongoing reflections on ways to improve HMIS data usage, focusing on data management and data analysis innovations. Based on current research at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and at CSE’s Data Science Incubator, we present two examples of HMIS data leveraging. A first example will present how metadata from Excel spreadsheets have been used to compile and standardize batches of reports from Kenyan HMIS. A second example shows how data from Open Street Map can be matched with HMIS data from Nigeria to estimate geo-localization of health services. Finally, we will offer preliminary reflections on how the increasing availability of structured HMIS data changes the way information and decision making should be linked. Using Alain Desrosières’ typology of the use of statistics for policy making, we will propose the possibility of a Learning State as being most adapted to the data available through HMIS. *About the speaker:* Grégoire Lurton is a second year PhD Student in Global Health at UW, and Research Associate at IHME. His research explores how data from in African countries’ HMIS can be used to inform policy making. Grégoire graduated from the French National School of Statistics and Economic Administration and from Sciences-Po Paris. He spent 5 years in West Africa, working with NGO Solthis, building Health Information Systems for national HIV programs in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Niger and Mali.

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RA job opening for Project Information Literacy (PIL)
by Melody Clark 24 Oct '14

24 Oct '14

(I'm just passing this along) Project Information Literacy (PIL), a national and ongoing research study, in partnership with the University of Washington's Information School, is in the second year of a two-year quantitative study about lifelong learning and recent college graduates. During the second year, data will be collected using follow up telephone interviews and analyzing data from a large-scale online survey administered in fall 2014, as funded by the federal agency, The Institute of Museum and Library Services. The study is investigating how a sample of relatively recent graduates from nine colleges and universities in the US put information literacy competencies into practice as they meet their lifelong learning needs for staying competitive and employable in the workplace and engaging in civic affairs and personal development in life at large. This position purpose is to work under the direction of the Principal Investigator, providing overall project coordination for the duration of the two-year grant (September 2013 - September 2015). The RA participates in carrying out the following research activities: Scheduling, managing, and conducting follow up interviews with subjects that are recent college graduates, contributing expertise to interpreting both qualitative and quantitative findings and their significance, running statistical analysis of data from the online survey results, and writing reports and making presentations, as needed, about research findings. Full job description here: https://ischool.uw.edu/about/jobs/students/research-assistant-%E2%80%93-pro… -- Melody Clark Communications Specialist Technology & Social Change (TASCHA) melclark(a)uw.edu<mailto:melclark@uw.edu> | 206.303.7910 Twitter: @taschagroup<https://twitter.com/taschagroup> | @melodyrclark<https://twitter.com/#!/melodyrclark> tascha.uw.edu<http://tascha.uw.edu/>

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FW: Announcing Foster School D-Prize Competition!
by Melody Clark 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

-- Melody Clark Communications Specialist Technology & Social Change (TASCHA) melclark(a)uw.edu<mailto:melclark@uw.edu> | 206.303.7910 Twitter: @taschagroup<https://twitter.com/taschagroup> | @melodyrclark<https://twitter.com/#!/melodyrclark> tascha.uw.edu<http://tascha.uw.edu/> From: Jessica Rush [mailto:jrush73@uw.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:03 AM To: tascha(a)uw.edu Subject: Announcing Foster School D-Prize Competition! Hello, I’m pleased to announce that the Global Business Center is partnering with D-Prize to launch the first Foster School D-Prize Competition<http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/Pages/D-Prize.aspx> - a new business for global impact competition opportunity for UW graduate students! We need your help spreading the word and encouraging graduate students to apply! The competition challenges UW graduate student teams, which must include at least one MBA, to address distribution and scalability challenges for proven global poverty solutions. Specifically, UW students will be grappling this year with 1) improving vaccine supply chains 2) distributing solar lamps and 3) providing “sugar daddy awareness” classes to reduce HIV infections. The competition will run in a series of rounds from December 15-March 13 with the opportunity for a team to win $10K to launch their solution on the ground summer 2015. The Global Business Center will be hosting a Matchmaking event/information session<https://catalyst.uw.edu/catalyst/chooser/2d25552c3b57ad689081c118aeb1a1a3> for teams and individuals on Thursday, November 6, 5-6 p.m. in the Douglas Forum, 4th Floor Bank of America Executive Center (Map)<uw.edu/maps/?exed>. Students can register here<https://catalyst.uw.edu/catalyst/chooser/831ad92ddfecbe1d28f5316347efb6c3> for that event. The first deadline is 12/15 for a two page concept note and team resumes. To find out more, please go to: http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/Pages/D-Prize.aspx. Thank you for your help in letting UW graduate students know about this unique opportunity! Jess Rush ___________ Jessica Rush Assistant Director, MBA Global Programs Global Business Center Foster School of Business jrush73(a)uw.edu<mailto:jrush73@uw.edu> 206.616.9565 Jessica Rush Assistant Director MBA Global Programs Global Business Center Foster School of Business Box 353200 jrush73(a)uw.edu<mailto:jrush73@uw.edu> 206-616-9565

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Event: Overview of the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) and the U.S. Impact Study
by Melody Clark 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

Are you interested in the effects of technology on economic and social development? Do you wonder if mobile phones will replace PCs? Interested in the role libraries play in communities and development? Curious about open data and open research? Passionate about access to technology, communication, and information resources? Well, we have a great event for you! Come learn about the Technology & Social Change Group<http://tascha.uw.edu/> (TASCHA) and the U.S. IMPACT Study<http://impact.ischool.uw.edu/> on November 3rd, 2014! At this event, we will introduce TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study, two research groups focused on issues like digital inclusion, impact & evaluation, and access to information, communication, and technology resources. While especially targeted to newcomers to the university community, both TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study are always coming up with new interests and projects so people who know us already are encouraged to come as well. We'll cover the fields we operate in, our missions, research projects, and other activities. You'll meet some of the researchers, program staff, and students who work at TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study. For those interested, we'll also discuss how you can get involved with our research. There'll be plenty of time for questions and discussion, and of course, yummy refreshments! We hope to see you there! * What: Overview of TASCHA & the U.S. Impact Study * Where: University of Washington, Bloedel Hall, Room 070 (lower level of Bloedel - follow signs for the Information School) * When: Monday, November 3, 2014, 3:30-5:00pm * Online: Not in Seattle? Can't make it person? Join us online via Adobe Connect via https://ischool.adobeconnect.com/tascha/ About TASCHA<http://tascha.uw.edu/> The Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington Information School explores the design, use, and effects of information and communication technologies in communities facing social and economic challenges. With experience in 50 countries, TASCHA brings together a multidisciplinary network of social scientists, engineers, and development practitioners to conduct research, advance knowledge, create public resources, and improve policy and program design. Our purpose? To spark innovation and opportunities for those who need it most. Like us on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/tascharesearch> | Follow us on Twitter<https://twitter.com/taschagroup> About U.S. IMPACT Study<http://impact.ischool.uw.edu/> The U.S. Impact Study research group conducts research and evaluation aimed at advancing digital inclusion initiatives at the national, state, and community levels in public libraries and community technology centers. Much of our work is aimed at developing common measures of impact and identifying the critical aspects of digital inclusion programs that lead to life-enhancing outcomes for users. Our work has provided a substrate for digital inclusion frameworks in a number of initiatives including the national Digital Inclusion Framework<http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/BuildingDigitalCommunities_Framew…>, a tool to support the development and growth of digitally-connected communities; the Edge benchmarks framework<http://www.libraryedge.org/> for public library technology; and the Impact Survey<http://impactsurvey.org/>, an online tool to help organizations measure the impact of their programs. -- Melody Clark Communications Specialist Technology & Social Change (TASCHA) melclark(a)uw.edu<mailto:melclark@uw.edu> | 206.303.7910 Twitter: @taschagroup<https://twitter.com/taschagroup> | @melodyrclark<https://twitter.com/#!/melodyrclark> tascha.uw.edu<http://tascha.uw.edu/>

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Fwd: Fulbright - Humphrey Networking event (Oct 24th - 6-9pm - Sieg 233)
by Gaetano Borriello 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Koen De Couck <kdecouck(a)uw.edu> Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 9:05 AM Subject: Fulbright - Humphrey Networking event (Oct 24th - 6-9pm - Sieg 233) To: Dear UW faculty and students, This friday (October 24th), we will have our first Fulbright - Humphrey networking event. Both groups are international grantees supported by the U.S. Department of State. The Humphrey fellows are mid-career professionals that are local ngo leaders in their home country. Fulbrighters are grad-level international students working on pressing global challenges. We would like to invite any interested staff or student member to join us friday night and share ideas. We will get you introduced and help you network. There will be a short speeddating to break the ice, whiteboards for idea sharing and a 45 minute documentary on the Venus Project "Designing a future without poverty or hunger". Cross-discipline and very inspirational. This event might be particularly of interest to any member interested in ICT for development or working on international community projects. When? Friday Oct 24th, 6 - 9 pm Where? Sieg hall 233 (HCDE Design lab) Interested? Please RSVP using the link below: *http://www.meetup.com/UWHCDE/events/213963622/ <http://www.meetup.com/UWHCDE/events/213963622/>* Best wishes, Koen De Couck (Fulbrighter Belgium, on behalf of UW Fulbright students)

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This Week At Change: Nicki Dell - A Camera-Based Mobile Health System
by Trevor Perrier 20 Oct '14

20 Oct '14

*What*: Nicki Dell: Field Evaluation of a Camera-Based Mobile Health System in Low-Resource Settings *When:* Tuesday, Oct 21 at 12pm *Where:* The Allen Center, CSE 203 Please join us this week at Change as Nicki Dell presents findings from a field evaluation in Zimbabwe where her Android based diagnostic tool into was interoperated into the health services work flow. *Abstract:* The worldwide adoption of mobile devices presents an opportunity to build mobile systems to support health workers in low-resource settings. This paper presents an in-depth field evaluation of a mobile system that uses a smartphone’s built-in camera and computer vision to capture and analyze diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. We describe how health workers integrate the system into their daily clinical workflow and detail important differences in system usage between small clinics and large hospitals that could inform the design of future mobile health systems. We also describe a variety of strategies that health workers developed to overcome poor network connectivity and transmit data to a central database. Finally, we show strong agreement between our system’s computed diagnoses and trained health workers’ visual diagnoses, which suggests that our system could aid disease diagnosis in a variety of scenarios. Our findings will help to guide ministries of health and other stakeholders working to deploy mobile health systems in similar environments. *About the speakers:* Nicki Dell is a final year PhD Candidate in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her research interests lie in human-computer interaction and mobile computing with a focus on designing and evaluating systems that improve the lives of underserved populations in low-income regions. Her PhD thesis focuses on the technical, user interaction and deployment challenges of integrating mobile, camera-based systems into resource-constrained environments. Nicki obtained a BS in Computer Science from the University of East Anglia (UK) in 2004 and an MS in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington in 2011. Nicki has won several awards and fellowships including a Graduate Facebook Fellowship and a Google Anita Borg Scholarship. She has completed internships at Microsoft Research in Redmond, USA and in Bangalore, India and has helped to organize the Change group at the University of Washington since 2011.

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[Apply by Monday] Upcoming CommCare "Advanced Topics" Workshop inMalawi
by Gillian Javetski 15 Oct '14

15 Oct '14

*Dimagi will be hosting the first CommCare Advanced Topics Workshop in Malawi! *Applications <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lMkXjDbkyKJqGkgEd__Gda0UuUzCWQgGRgZFyN1LJH…> * are due Monday, October 20th. * The workshop will focus on building participants’ ability to use Dimagi’s CommCare platform <http://www.commcarehq.org/> and build mobile applications for Frontline Workers. While previous CommCare workshops have provided participants with a general mServices overview and an introduction to CommCare app-buildingi, this workshop’s focus will be on building on participant's knowledge of CommCare and developing advanced technical skills needed to deploy and maintain highly-tailored mobile programs. Because the workshop will focus on advanced material, it will be most beneficial for people with previous experience with CommCare. Workshop applicants who have not previously built a CommCare application will be asked to complete our online tutorial <https://wiki.commcarehq.org/display/commcarepublic/Beginner+Tutorial> prior to the workshop. *The goals of the workshop are to:* - Build CommCare users’ technical skills across three main areas: - *App building skills* - including advanced technical skills. - *Device Management *- installing, updating, and troubleshooting applications. - *Project Management *- utilizing reports, exports, supervision tools, dashboards, SMS for performance improvement, etc. - Share general best practices and lessons learned with participants from other CommCare projects - Foster a CommCare user community in Malawi - Get input from users and identify new features to add to the CommCare roadmap Workshop Details: - Dates: November 11-13 - Time: 9:00AM -- 5:00PM - Location: Sunbird Capital Hotel <https://www.google.com/maps/place/Capital+Hotel/@-13.955909,33.796477,7z/da…>, Lilongwe, Malawi - Language: The workshop will be run in English - Workshop Fee: Free! Lunch and coffee will be provided daily. Per diems or travel stipends are not available. For those interested in attending, please submit your application <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lMkXjDbkyKJqGkgEd__Gda0UuUzCWQgGRgZFyN1LJH…> by October 20th, 2014. Attendance will be limited to 20 participants. Please refer any questions you have about this workshop and similar workshops to workshops(a)dimagi.com. Thanks, Gillian

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This Week At Change: Aditya Vashistha - Digital Content for Low-Income Visually Impaired People in India
by Trevor Perrier 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

*What*: Aditya Vashistha: Educational Content Creation and Sharing by Low-Income Visually Impaired People in India *When:* Tuesday, Oct 14 at 12pm *Where:* The Allen Center, CSE 203 Please join us this for a talk by Aditya Vashistha <http://www.adityavashistha.com/> based on formative work he conducted this summer in India working with MSRI and TEM <http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/tem/>. *Abstract:* Low-income visually impaired people face a wide variety of educational challenges which are magnified in the developing world. Digital assistive technologies (such as screen readers) are typically out of reach, so individuals depend on Braille and audio recordings to access educational content. Unfortunately, there are acute shortages of Braille and high quality audio books for many subjects, leaving students scrambling for ways to continue their education. We present a formative study that examines the educational landscape for low-income visually impaired communities in rural and peri-urban India, the challenges they face in accessing educational content, and the solutions they have invented. We conducted interviews with 16 stakeholders, including students, teachers, and content producers, to understand the education ecosystem in their communities and how they use technologies such as basic mobile phones to consume, create, and share educational content. In particular, we found that these communities have established an informal network of peer-produced audio content that is shared via Bluetooth, memory cards and CDs. Our analysis suggests ways in which technology can improve access to professionally authored materials and augment these informal networks of peer-production. *About the speakers:* Aditya Vashistha is pursuing Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Washington where he design, build and evaluate technologies for marginalized rural and urban communities to improve their access to information, healthcare and education. Much of his research lies at the intersection of Social Computing and Information and Communication Technologies for Development. His current focus is to build and evaluate scalable voice based communication platforms that enable the next billion people to access the Internet, social media platforms, and crowdsourcing platforms on their non-Internet-enabled mobile phones.

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RA position at UT-Austin School of Information in ICT4D
by Gaetano Borriello 07 Oct '14

07 Oct '14

*The University of Texas at Austin School of Information* *Research Assistant Position for ICT4D Research* A graduate research assistant position in ICT4D research is available at The University of Texas at Austin School of Information for a new doctoral student entering the PhD program in Fall 2015. Interested applicants must apply to the doctoral program and be admitted through the school’s normal selection process as explained online: iSchool PhD admissions <https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/admissions/phd>. Please note the application deadline is *November 15, 2014*. Interested students should contact Professor Diane Bailey via email: debailey(a)ischool.utexas.edu. Applicants must be fluent in Spanish, willing to conduct extended qualitative fieldwork in South America (likely as the sole researcher on our team at a site) as well as quantitative work, and interested in the topic of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D). This abstract <http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1412924&HistoricalAwards=fa…> describes the research project. The position includes three years guaranteed (and four expected) of full tuition plus a stipend of $24,000 dependent upon satisfactory performance in the doctoral program and on the project. As a Ph.D. student in the School of Information, you would be eligible for continued funding through in-coming grants, teaching assistantships, and instructor positions. We welcome inquiries from students interested in pursuing academic careers, coming from diverse academic and social backgrounds. Applicants with professional work experience are particularly encouraged to apply, as are students currently completing their masters or undergraduate degrees. Diane E. Bailey School of Information · University of Texas at Austin Diane.bailey(a)ischool.utexas.edu http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~debailey/

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