- change - Mailing Lists

TOMORROW -- What is TASCHA & the US IMPACT Study
by Karen Hirst 01 Oct '13

01 Oct '13

What is TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study? An introduction to our research and people for UW students TOMORROW - October 2, 2013, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm Roosevelt Commons Building (4311 - 11th Ave NE), 4th floor, Multi-Purpose Room Can't make it person? Join us online via Adobe Connect via https://ischool.adobeconnect.com/tascha/ Are you a UW student interested in the effects of technology on economic and social development? Do you wonder if mobile phones will replace PCs? 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 (TASCHA)<http://tascha.uw.edu/> and the U.S. IMPACT Study<http://impact.ischool.uw.edu/> on October 2, 2013! 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 UW students new to the university community, both TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study are always coming up with new interests and projects so students 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 the fabulous researchers, program staff, and students who work at TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study. For those interested, we'll also discuss how UW students 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! 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 University of Washington U.S. IMPACT Study team is investigating the use and users of public access computing centers through a series of studies designed to gather and disseminate information on the impacts these centers have on the individuals, families and communities taking advantage of their services. Karen Hirst Administrative Coordinator Technology & Social Change Group Information School 4311 11th Ave. NE, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98105 206-685-2492 tascha.uw.edu

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Change seminar: Jonathan Donner (MSR): Everybody’s Internet? Mobile Internet and Digital Inclusion in the Developing World
by Nicola Dell 01 Oct '13

01 Oct '13

(Please note that this is the last email that we will send to the cs and dub mailing lists. To remain updated please subscribe to the Change mailing list here: http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change) Join us on Tuesday for the first Change seminar of the fall quarter. We're excited to have Jonathan Donner from MSR speak about Mobile Internet and Digital Inclusion in the Developing World. What: Jonathan Donner (MSR): Everybody’s Internet? Mobile Internet and Digital Inclusion in the Developing World When: Tuesday, October 1st at 12 noon Where: The Allen Center, CSE 203 Wireless broadband will soon cover 85% of the world’s population. This talk, taken from a book in preparation, details the growing importance of ‘mobile-centric internet use’ in the developing world, raising questions and challenges for policy and design In the talk I describe studies illustrating the remarkable potential of the mobile phone in three domains of socioeconomic development: microenterprises and livelihoods, citizen journalism, and secondary education. Yet, in each case, I use a ‘digital repertoires’ lens to illustrate how the capacity to generate and manipulate digital information remains concentrated among those with access to digital tools beyond the mobile phone. Some of these persistent digital stratifications can be reduced with combined inputs from technologists, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. From natural user interfaces to language support to bandwidth pricing, there are concrete ways in which more empathetic design and policy can help a greater proportion of the world’s inhabitants participate in the information society, even if, for many, the primary device will remain an inexpensive mobile phone. Jonathan Donner is a researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group (TEM) at Microsoft Research. For the last decade, Jonathan has published research on the growth in mobile telephony in the developing world, focusing on its implications for socioeconomic development and its uses in everyday life. His projects at TEM include Microenterprise Development, Mobile Banking, Citizen Journalism, Mobile Health, and Youth and New Media. Prior to Joining Microsoft Research, he was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and worked with Monitor Company and the OTF Group, consultancies in Boston, MA. In addition to dozens of scholarly articles, he is the author, with Richard Ling, of Mobile Communication, and co-editor, with Patricia Mechael, of mHealth in Practice: Mobile Technology for Health Promotion in the Developing World. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University in Communication Research. Jonathan is based in South Africa and is a visiting academic at the University of Cape Town’s Centre in ICT4D. Further details on Jonathan’s research are at jonathandonner.com and via twitter as @jcdonner.

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Fwd: SESSIONS ANNOUNCED: Submit Abstracts - 2014 EPFL-UNESCO Conference on Technologies for Development
by ashish makani 27 Sep '13

27 Sep '13

FYI *The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” - Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)* ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Snigdha Kar <karsnigdha25(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 12:26 PM Subject: Fwd: SESSIONS ANNOUNCED: Submit Abstracts - 2014 EPFL-UNESCO Conference on Technologies for Development To: act4d(a)googlegroups.com Sorry for cross posting, might be of interest of someone in the group Regards, Snigdha 2014 International Conference UNESCO CHAIR IN TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT: WHAT IS ESSENTIAL? 4-6 June 2014 | EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland CALL FOR ABSTRACTS / Deadline 14 October 2013 http://cooperation.epfl.ch/2014Tech4Dev Dear Colleagues, The UNESCO Chair in Technologies for Development hosted by the Cooperation and Development Center (CODEV) is pleased to announce that the third International Conference on Technologies for Development: What is Essential? will take place at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland on 4-6 June 2014. The conference – held in English – will offer a high-level platform to take part in cutting-edge discussions in the field of technologies for development, to share information and to network. The UNESCO Chair invites authors from research, industry, policy or civil society to submit their abstracts under one of the announced conference sessions (http://cooperation.epfl.ch/2014Tech4Dev/Sessions) The abstracts can either offer good examples and pilot experiences of concrete applications or provide reflections on these issues. Abstracts need to be based on North-South or South-South collaborations. Abstracts in English of a maximum of 500 words should be submitted no later than 14 October 2013. Abstracts will be peer reviewed and a decision will be sent by 11 November 2013. The deadline for full paper submission is 13 January 2014. A selection of the best papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in an edited volume by Springer-Verlag. Some level of financial assistance may be available for authors from developing or emerging countries. Instructions for the submission of abstracts can be found on the conference website: http://cooperation.epfl.ch/2014Tech4Dev. Please feel free to circulate this call to your contacts and networks. A link on your website to this call would be appreciated. Many thanks for your support. Eileen Hazboun Cooperation & Development Center UNESCO Chair in Technologies for Development EPFL - VPAA - CODEV Station 10 - 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland) Tel. +41 (0)21 693.60.48 E-Mail: Tech4Dev(a)epfl.ch -- *Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail & any documents.* *इस ईमेल और किसी दस्तावेज़ को प्रिंट करने से पहले अपने पर्यावरणीय जिम्मेदारी पर विचार करें.*** -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Appropriate Computing Technologies for Development" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to act4d%2Bunsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

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Fwd: Twitter Alerts for Crisis Management
by ashish makani 25 Sep '13

25 Sep '13

FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Piyush Aggarwal <me.piyushaggarwal(a)gmail.com> Date: Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 9:44 AM Subject: Twitter Alerts for Crisis Management To: Appropriate Computing Technologies for Development < act4d(a)googlegroups.com> Hi, Twitter launched the "Twitter Alerts" to help in crisis management, where authoritative accounts can set their tweets as alerts and they get highlighted as alerts in user timeline and also users can subscribe for the same on their mobile. https://blog.twitter.com/2013/introducing-twitter-alerts List of participating organizations: https://about.twitter.com/alerts/participating-organizations Cheers, Piyush -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Appropriate Computing Technologies for Development" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to act4d%2Bunsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

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Fwd: [TIER] Hack the Change 2013 - Social Impact Hackathon at Penn
by Yaw Anokwa 24 Sep '13

24 Sep '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Aliza Stone <aston(a)seas.upenn.edu> Date: Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 8:01 PM Subject: [TIER] Hack the Change 2013 - Social Impact Hackathon at Penn To: tier(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu To whom it may concern: My name is Aliza Stone, I’m contacting you on behalf of Hack the Change, a social impact hackathon being held at the University of Pennsylvania from September 27th-28th, 2013. Hack the Change is structured similarly to many other social impact hackathons like ID Hack at Harvard, which I know TIER has had involvement in in the past. We've been compiling problem statements from NGOs, which will serve as project assignments for our hackathon teams. However our sign-ups have grown significantly over the last week, which means we have the capacity to address more problem statements than we’ve accumulated thus far. Joy from the Developers for Development team at Harvard gave me your contact information as someone who might be interested in contributing a last minute project as a problem statement. I apologize that this is such short notice and completely understand if it isn't feasible, but even something brief will help us to take full advantage of the resources and man-power we have for the weekend. Thank you so much. -- Aliza Stone University of Pennsylvania '15 Candidate for BAS in Computer Science _______________________________________________ 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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Fwd: CFP: Technology, accountability & democracy conference
by ashish makani 23 Sep '13

23 Sep '13

FYI Sent from mobile device ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Aaditeshwar Seth" <aaditeshwar(a)gmail.com> Date: Sep 23, 2013 11:12 PM Subject: Fwd: CFP: Technology, accountability & democracy conference To: <act4d(a)googlegroups.com> Cc: -------- Original Message -------- Subject: CFP: Technology, accountability & democracy conference Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:23:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Vivek Srinivasan <vivekdse(a)stanford.edu><vivekdse(a)stanford.edu> To: 'Aaditeshwar Seth' <aseth(a)cse.iitd.ernet.in> <aseth(a)cse.iitd.ernet.in> Dear Aadi, I request you to forward the call for papers for the ‘Technology, accountability and democracy’ to any relevant people or mailing lists. The complete CFP can also be downloaded from http://liberationtechnology.stanford.edu/news/bombay_conference. Thank you, ** ** Warm regards ** ** S Vivek ** ** Technology, accountability and democracy in South Asia and beyond**** Seasoned activism meets technical imagination *Dates*: January 17-18, 2014 *Location*: University of Mumbai Over the last few years, there has been unprecedented focus on corruption and accountability across South Asia. Accountability movements have resulted in a variety of initiatives including special monitoring bodies, transparency laws, monitoring mechanisms, judicial reforms and refining government processes. These initiatives bring different understandings of problems and approaches, with varied strengths and weaknesses. Despite these differences, they are increasingly converging on the use of technology to augment a growing set of accountability strategies. The availability of new devices, the power of the Internet, the reach of mobile phones, and citizen activism give us reason to believe that the use of technology has real promise in advancing the accountability agenda. Yet the claim of technology’s promise is not without its critics. The use of technology has created new avenues for corruption despite claiming to combat it. Technologies rolled out in the name of advancing citizenship also create avenues for greater surveillance and disenfranchisement. Many initiatives are not controversial, but their effectiveness is yet to be evaluated rigorously. Finally marginalized people, who need tools for accountability more than anyone else, have significantly lower levels of engagement with it. The promises and problems of technology’s relationship with accountability require closer examination. This conference proposes to bring together people who are engaged in these questions as activists, officials, academics and innovators to examine how technology is currently being used for accountability projects and to build meaningful platforms for the future. We specifically seek to bring together people with experience in accountability movements (with or without the use of technology), young innovators and researchers in order to promote rich multidisciplinary conversation and to build new collaborations. Seasoned activism meets technical imagination One of the most persistent criticisms of technology for democracy projects is that they focus heavily on the tools without paying attention to the complexity of their use and the fact that accountability is a political project steeped in power relations. In order to ensure that technical imagination goes hand in hand with a sophisticated understanding of the problems and strategies necessary to make technology a tool for progressive change, we propose to invite seasoned civil society activists and leaders from the government who have had a successful track record in managing positive change to meet individuals who are just beginning to consider technology as a response to the same problems. The conference will thus foster an exchange of ideas between innovators and experienced activists so that innovators can share their tools and experiences while also deepening their understanding of technology’s relevance and challenges for potential uses on the ground. In turn, experienced political, social and economic leaders will gain ideas on how elements of technology can be introduced into in their work. With this in mind, the conference format provides for opportunities to learn about technology projects, meet with platform creators, and participate in workshops to gain tools suitable for diverse campaign needs. Conference format The conference will involve a mix of paper presentations, talks, posters with speed geeking and workshops. Presentations The conference will host panel discussions on the four broad themes mentioned above. We welcome presentations of both applied projects and academic research on any of these themes. We hope to provide a balance between presentations on successful accountability initiatives and technical innovations in each of these panels. Each presenter will have about 15 minutes and each session will have space for Q&A. Some academic presentations may be solicited by invitation. Others who are interested in presenting academic papers will be asked to send a 2-page summary of their proposed papers before the submission deadline. *While we do not expect a paper from those who are engaged in practical projects, we will also ask them to submit a summary of the project they propose to discuss, and we encourage these participants to collaborate with us in creating a “crowd sourced” handbook based on the experience of individual projects*. We hope that the handbook will provide us with a rich source of information on our collective experience, and will also create the basis for vibrant interaction during the conference. Posters & speed geeking Those with a technology project that has relevance to accountability movements will also be able to apply to participate in *Poster and Speed geeking* sessions. They can submit a project as long as it is relevant for accountability campaigns, even if it has not been used previously in such campaigns. For example, this could be a new voice messaging platform that could be used for citizen engagement or a feminist toolkit for technology creators. Participants will be encouraged to produce one or more posters describing their project, which will be on display throughout the conference for viewing by all participants. Attendees who are interested in learning about how these technologies could be useful to their own projects will have an opportunity to fix 15 minute meetings with the presenters (i.e. speed geeking). Workshops The conference will host two workshops on the panel themes. The workshop would be preceded with a collective writing exercise where the participants and others working in the space can discuss their campaign strategies, how they use technology and other aspects of their work in a Google document. This exercise would begin three months before the conference starts and is intended to generate a collective understanding of accountability strategies and of each other’s work. The process would be led by the theme leader who would start the discussion by posing a set of questions about the project (e.g. what are the core accountability strategies, what proportion of users are women? What kinds of technology are already used in the work? etc.). Starting with the questions, participants would share their experiences on a Google document, where we would collate experiences on each topic. The informal handbook would serve as the basis for the workshop. Who can participate · Innovators who have been building technical tools that could be used by citizens, civil society and the media to make governments, corporations and NGOs more accountable. We also welcome projects that are based on social media, mobile technologies and data journalism, etc. for promoting accountability. ** ** · Leaders from the government who have an experience in the conference themes. These include people who have an experience in election commissions, local administration, procurement process, accountability bodies (e.g. auditors, information commissions, ombudsmen and Lok Pals) and other public bodies that suit the conference theme. The conference is particularly looking for leaders who have made a concerted effort at improving accountability in their sphere of work. ** ** · Civil society organizations that have been working on issues such as clean elections, anti-corruption, improving public services and governance of public resources. We welcome organizations that already use technology as a part of their campaign strategy or those who are interested in understanding how technology could be used in their work. ** ** · Investigative journalists who focus on different aspects corruption and accountability who are interested in using technology for analysis and reporting. ** ** · Academic researchers who have studied accountability projects of interest to the conference. We are particularly interested in studies on the intersection of technology, accountability and democracy. Organisation The conference is led by the *Center for South Asia* and the *Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law* (CDDRL) both at Stanford University. It will be organized in partnership with Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai and the Stanford Alumni Association of India. Application, financial support & deadlines There are no fees for attending the conference and breakfast and lunch will be provided in the venue. There are three different deadlines for application: Nov 1, 2013: For presenters who would like to be considered for financial assistance. Nov 20, 2013: For all those who wish to present papers or posters, and those who wish to participate in a workshop without financial assistance Dec 15, 2013: For those who would like to observe the panels and participate in the workshops. We encourage international participants who require a visa to apply by the Sept deadline so that we have adequate time to complete the visa formalities. In case you are interested in applying for the conference or if you would like to learn more, please send an email to Vivek S. (vivekdse(a)stanford.edu) or Rachel Brule (rebrule(a)gmail.com; reb11(a)nyu.edu) To register, please go to http://southasia.stanford.edu/bombay_conference ** ** -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Appropriate Computing Technologies for Development" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to act4d%2Bunsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

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Announcing CSE590F - The Computing for Development (ICTD) Seminar
by Gaetano Borriello 22 Sep '13

22 Sep '13

Please join us this fall in CSE590F, the ICTD Seminar, on Tuesdays, 1:30-2:20, in CSE 203, http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse590f/13au/ (to be filled in after first meeting). The first meeting is on TUESDAY, 10/1, 1:30-2:20, in CSE 203 where we will organize assignments for the quarter. This quarter we will be reading representative papers that track different ICTD researchers' careers so we can learn how they entered ICTD, the type of ICTD research they do, and how their research has changed over time. We will likely focus on a different individual each week. Thanks, Gaetano

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Register for the Change Seminar
by Trevor Perrier 20 Sep '13

20 Sep '13

Hello Everyone, I would like to invite you all to register for the one credit Change Seminar (CSE 590 C1, SLN: 12753) which will be meeting on Tuesdays from 12-1pm in 203 of the Paul Allen Center. 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. 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 (and if you know anyone in the community who we should invite please let me know). 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 any other relevant mailing lists, and we hope to see you on Tuesday October 1st at noon in Room 203 of the Paul Allen Center. Thanks, - Trevor

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Save the date: What is TASCHA & the US IMPACT Study - October 2
by Melody Clark 20 Sep '13

20 Sep '13

What is TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study? An introduction to our research and people Wednesday - October 2, 2013, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm Roosevelt Commons Building (4311 - 11th Ave NE), 4th floor, Suite 400 Not in Seattle? Can't make it person? Join us online via Adobe Connect via https://ischool.adobeconnect.com/tascha/ Are you interested in the effects of technology on economic and social development? Do you wonder if mobile phones will replace PCs? 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 (TASCHA)<http://tascha.uw.edu/> the U.S. IMPACT Study<http://impact.ischool.uw.edu/> on October 2, 2013! 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 the fabulous 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! 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 University of Washington U.S. IMPACT Study team is investigating the use and users of public access computing centers through a series of studies designed to gather and disseminate information on the impacts these centers have on the individuals, families and communities taking advantage of their services. -- 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: [liberationtech-jobs] Slate is looking for a technology blogger. - Slate Magazine
by Melody Clark 19 Sep '13

19 Sep '13

From: liberationtech-jobs-bounces(a)lists.stanford.edu [mailto:liberationtech-jobs-bounces@lists.stanford.edu] On Behalf Of Yosem Companys Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 11:45 AM To: Liberationtech Jobs Subject: [liberationtech-jobs] Slate is looking for a technology blogger. - Slate Magazine http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/slate_fare/2013/09/slate_is_looking_… Slate is hiring a technology blogger to contribute to "Future Tense<http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense.html>," our blog about emerging technologies and their impact on society and public policy. The blogger will be responsible for writing at least three posts a day on topics like technology policy, social media, cybersecurity, privacy, and tech culture. You'll also cover the intersection of science and technology, like geoengineering, synthetic biology, and nanotechnology. We don't review gadgets, but we do discuss how they change our lives. You'll need to be able to spot great stories before everyone else-and you should have sharp opinions about them, too. It's essential that you be able to write clearly and quickly. We strongly prefer applicants who could work from Slate's New York or Washington, D.C. offices but will consider great remote candidates as well. This is a contract position. To apply, please send a cover letter; a résumé; three clips or writing samples (Word docs preferred), and a critique of Slate's technology coverage (no more than 400 words) viathis posting<http://jobsco.re/16FbPQd>. Applications are due Tuesday, Oct. 1. Future Tense is a partnership of Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and Slate. In addition to the Future Tense channel on Slate, we host live events<http://futuretense.newamerica.net/> in Washington and beyond on the most pressing technology questions of the moment.Learn more about Future Tense here<http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/03/future_tense_…>.

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