- change - Mailing Lists

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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Fwd: [CEGA] Annual Bank Conference on Africa - Berkeley, June 8-9
by Gaetano Borriello 06 Oct '14

06 Oct '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Temina Madon <tmadon(a)berkeley.edu> Date: Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 3:28 PM Subject: [CEGA] Annual Bank Conference on Africa - Berkeley, June 8-9 To: "cegafaculty(a)lists.berkeley.edu" <cegafaculty(a)lists.berkeley.edu> Dear colleagues, We are pleased to share the Call for Papers for the Annual Bank Conference on Africa (ABCA) 2015, to be held on June 8-9, 2015, in Berkeley, California. The title of the conference is “Confronting Conflict and Fragility in Africa.” Full papers are due on January 31, 2015 at <abca(a)worldbank.org>. The Annual Bank Conference on Africa Berkeley, California (USA), June 8-9, 2015 Confronting Conflict and Fragility in Africa http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Event/Africa/ABCA - Annual Bank Conference on Africa/abca-call-for-papers-2015.pdf The second Annual Bank Conference on Africa (ABCA) will cover various topics pertinent to the causes, solutions, and understanding of conflict and fragility in sub-Saharan Africa. It is being organized jointly by the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California at Berkeley and the World Bank (Office of the Chief Economist for the Africa Region). The conference will include a Keynote Address by Professor Edward Miguel (UC Berkeley and Faculty Director, CEGA), and opening remarks by Makhtar Diop (World Bank Vice-President for the Africa Region), as well as invited contributions by Chris Blattman (Columbia University), James Fenske (Oxford University), and other senior scholars. Submitted papers with a focus on Africa are now welcome on any of the following topics: • analysis of the causes and duration of conflict and violence • the impacts of conflict or fragility on: economic growth and poverty reduction; trade and foreign investment; public service delivery; environment and natural resources • the impacts of government policies on conflict and fragility • links between climate, conflict and fragility • the political economy of ending conflicts • data and measurement issues pertinent to conflict and fragility As well as papers that examine the following in the context of conflict or fragility: • economic growth, urbanization, structural transformation, agriculture, education, health, labor, safety nets, or gender Full papers should be submitted in PDF format by January 31, 2015. Submissions should be e-mailed to abca(a)worldbank.org, and will be considered by a program committee including Edward Miguel (UC Berkeley), David Evans, Francisco Ferreira, and Laura Chioda (World Bank). Decisions will be made by February 28. Limited funds to support travel for successful African presenters may be available. Visit the CEGA/J-PAL/IPA Funding Calendar at http://goo.gl/8zjG6 (calendar view) or http://goo.gl/xGw04 (list view).

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This Week At Change: Melissa Densmore and Alex Densmore
by Trevor Perrier 06 Oct '14

06 Oct '14

*What*: Melissa Densmore and Alex Densmore: Employer-Issued Mobile Devices and Pay-As-You-Go Solar Energy *When:* Tuesday, Oct 7 at 12pm *Where:* The Allen Center, CSE 203 Please join us this week for two mini talks by Melissa and Alex Densmore about their work in ICTD. Melissa will be talking about her recent work exploring how frontline workers use employer provided mobile devices for personal use. Alex will be sharing his experiences trying to provide affordable solar energy with Simpa Energy. *Abstract:* Part 1: Mobile devices are increasingly powerful and flexible tools for computing and communication. When ICTD workers are given a mobile phone “for work”, what else do they do? And to what extent can or should an employer shape that use? This talk will examine rules that development projects impose to govern use of mobile devices. This work maps these rules against actual instrumental (work-related, non-prescribed) and non-instrumental (personal) device use, and enforcement of these rules, in eight projects using a popular mobile-based job aid, CommCare. We present early insights from qualitative analysis of two such deployments in India identifying a range of often conflicting policy choices that affect device use for project mission and/or professional and personal empowerment. We explore tradeoffs for morale, work quality, mission, and device integrity. We identify user remote availability, soft intimidation, and validation as mechanisms to shift authority and credibility of information sources. The implications of our findings are increasingly important as governments and NGOs arm frontline workers with mobile devices as tools to improve service delivery. Part 2: Simpa Energy is a market leader in providing affordable solar energy in rural areas. This talk will include a brief overview of Simpa's business model, its technology, and some of the unique challenges of working in rural India. *About the speakers:* _Melissa Densmore_ is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at University of Cape Town. Prior to joining UCT, she completed a postdoc at Microsoft Research in Bangalore, India as part of the Technology for Emerging Markets group, where she has been conducting a trial comparing the effectiveness of community health workers using interactive mobile health education materials to health workers using paper flipbooks. Other work includes a delay-tolerant tele-consultation system for doctors in Ghana and contributions to infrastructure enabling village health centers to consult with doctors at the Aravind Eye Hospitals. Her research interests include human computer interaction for development (HCI4D), mobile health, and last-mile networking. Recipient of the 2008 Yamashita Foundations for Change Prize, she has been doing ethnographic fieldwork, systems design, and deployments in Ghana, India, Mexico, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda since 2004. Melissa completed her PhD at University of California, Berkeley in Information Management and Systems, a 3 year ethnographic study of the use of Internet and mobile technologies by health practitioners and NGO staff in a health financing program in Uganda, has an MSc in Data Communications, Networks and Distributed Systems from University College London, and holds a BA in Computer Science from Cornell University. _Alex Densmore_ is an energy-access professional and formerly the Lead Hardware Engineer at Simpa Energy, where he designed the electronic controls for Simpa's pay-as-you-go electric metering system. His past work includes a wide range of engineering projects in developing contexts, including an internet-enabled solar charge controller, gravity flow water systems, and various solar power installations. Previously, he worked as a building energy modeler for The Integral Group, evaluating designs for low-energy HVAC systems. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

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