- change - Mailing Lists

"Getting Started in mHealth.” Grant Opportunity. Applications due Dec 1.
by neal lesh 01 Oct '12

01 Oct '12

Hi everybody, Dimagi is going to support 40 organizations in India to launch CommCare, our mHealth platform, over the next two years. The following describes the first round RFA we recently released to start off the process. Please feel free to forward to any organizations you think might be interested. Thanks much! neal *Are you an organization in India looking to improve your health programs through the use of mobile phones? *Dimagi <http://www.dimagi.com/> is seeking partners in India to launch new mHealth (mobile health) programs with *CommCare*, its innovative mobile phone-based software application that transforms the way community health workers work. If selected, your organization will receive free software, mobile phones, server space, and field support to help you launch your own customized *CommCare *project. Starting an mHealth project has never been easier! *Why CommCare?* Mounting evidence suggests that equipping community health workers with phone-based tools improves access, quality, experience, and accountability of care. CommCare is an open-source mobile software platform being deployed in 25 countries and used by thousands of community health workers to track and support their clients with registration forms, checklists, SMS reminders, and multimedia. This leads to better reporting, better patient care and education, and better health. Check out our *revamped website (**www.commcarehq.org* <http://www.commcarehq.org/>*) *to view online videos, read papers on the effectiveness of CommCare, and learn about how any organization can design its own mHealth application using our online tools. *What will be awarded?* With the support of the USAID Development Innovation Ventures fund, Dimagi is expanding CommCare in India* *to 40 new programs in health and other social sectors* *over the next two years. In the current round of grants, we anticipate awarding our startup package to 10 organizations in India. Awardees will each receive *10 free phones installed with CommCare, free unlimited access to the CommCareHQ cloud-based server, and one month (cumulative) of free in-country field support* from Dimagi’s experienced Field Managers who have already launched CommCare in more than 15 community health programs in India. *How to apply? *Download the short application on our *RFA website*<http://tinyurl.com/commcare12rfa>and read about successes from previous partners in India who received similar support. Round 1 closes on *December 1, 2012*, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we expect to respond to each application within two weeks of submission. All decisions will be made by December 17, 2012. Successful applicants will be supported to launch their projects within six months of the award date.

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Fwd: Global Integrity Innovation Fund
by Nicola Dell 30 Sep '12

30 Sep '12

Dear colleagues, Can you please help spread the word about the recently launched *Global Integrity Innovation Fund* initiative as widely as you can in your networks? I see this $10,000 grant as a terrific opportunity for people around the world who have ideas to promote accountability and transparency but do not have the resources to do so, and might lead to some important new discoveries or sources of information for those working in the field. This is why I agreed to act as "connector" for the project. I'd be happy to answer any questions you or your colleagues may have. Details about the fund and how to apply are at http://innovation.globalintegrity.org. I also wrote about the fund on the slashopen.net blog at http://slashopen.net/2012/09/calling-all-data-hackers-get-up-to-10k-to-try-… Many thanks! Tobias *//\//\//\//\//\//\**//\//\//\//\//\//\**//\//\//\//\//\//\* * * *Tobias Eigen* 9670 Olympus Beach Rd NE Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 landline: +1-206-842-1467 mobile: +1-206-375-7984 skype: tobiaseigen tobias(a)saidia.org Kabissa <http://kabissa.org/user/4313> Blog <http://saidia.org/> LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaseigen> Facebook <http://facebook.com/tobiaseigen> Twitter<http://twitter.com/tobiaseigen> Google+ <http://profiles.google.com/tobiaseigen> *//\//\//\//\//\//\**//\//\//\//\//\//\**//\//\//\//\//\//\*

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Kurtis Heimerl: The Village Basestation
by Nicola Dell 29 Sep '12

29 Sep '12

This Tuesday at Change, Kurtis Heimerl from UC Berkeley will talk about his work on the Village Basestation. Cellular Telephony is one of the most impactful technologies ever, with five billion subscribers in just twenty five years. However, billions of people remain without this fundamental service. The Village Basestation (VBTS) is a GSM cellular tower designed for low-density rural areas that traditional multinational telecommunication firms are unwilling to serve for economic reasons. VBTS reduces the cost of a cellular installation, enabling locally-owned cellular systems that can operate in areas with limited power or network infrastructure, being capable of running on solar and being backhauled with wifi. VBTS also provides a set of scripts supporting infrastructure-hosted apps tailored to and supporting the local community and their goals. In this talk, we will provide an in-depth discussion of the core technology changes enabling VBTS. Specifically, how VBTS can operate at less than 65% of the total power draw of a traditional "low-power" BTS, and the user interface implications of our changes. We will also discuss our plans to deploy this technology in rural Papua, Indonesia in the Fall of 2012. Kurtis Heimerl is a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley working under Eric Brewer in EECS and Tapan Parikh in the iSchool. His work focuses primarily on cellular systems and their intersection with international development. He is also a community manager and developer at Range Networks, supporting the OpenBTS open-source cellular system. He is interested in Education, having worked on the Metamouse group learning program, and Crowdsourcing, winning Best Paper at CHI for work on Kiosk-based crowdsoucing systems. What: Kurtis Heimerl: The Village Basestation When: Tuesday, October 2nd at 12 noon Where: The Allen Center, room CSE 203

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University of Washington Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition - Application deadline 11/8/12
by Gaetano Borriello 28 Sep '12

28 Sep '12

** The GSEC application deadline is *November 8, 2012*. Any enrolled university student – in any field, at any level of study – is eligible to apply. GSEC business ideas may focus on any subject area and must address a problem of poverty in developing countries. Apply now! http://goo.gl/0fXDT**** ** ** Great news for 2013: **** **· **We will select 15-20 teams to participate in GSEC Week<http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipco…>(Feb. 25 – Mar.1, 2013) ; **** **· **For the second year, travel scholarships will be given to international teams, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;**** **· **We expect to award at least $30,000 in prizes, including a global health and an Information & Communications Technology (ICT) prize!*** * ** ** Please contact Deb Wolf (djwolf(a)uw.edu 206-543-4109) or me with any questions. Thank you in advance for your support! **** ** ** Kind regards, Kirsten**** * * *9TH ANNUAL **GLOBAL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITION*<http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipco…> * (GSEC) ANNOUNCEMENTS: * * * *Facebook – * www.facebook.com/GSECUW**** Students worldwide are invited to apply to GSEC: submit applications by Nov. 8, 2012! **** GSEC expects to award at least $30,000 in prizes, as well as travel scholarships, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. **** **Rules, application, and guidelines on the GSEC website http://goo.gl/0fXDT ** *Twitter – * @GSECUW** Students: submit social biz ideas to GSEC 2013 by 11/8/2012. 15-20 teams selected. Travel support, great exposure, mentorship, $30k in prizes! #socent**** * * *Email – * Please spread the word: Applications are open for the 9th annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition<http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipco…>(GSEC)! *Apply by November 8, 2012*** ** ** GSEC invites students around the world – across disciplines and levels of study to – to submit innovative business solutions to poverty in developing countries. **** ** ** 15-20 student teams from around the globe will be invited to Seattle for GSEC Week 2013 (Feb. 25 – Mar. 1), where they present to 400+ professionals, and compete for ~ $30,000 in monetary prizes, including global health and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) prizes! **** ** ** Intl Travel scholarships available, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.**** ** ** *Rules, guidelines, and application available at *http://goo.gl/0fXDT* . * *Questions? Contact: **gsec@uw.edu* <gsec(a)uw.edu>** * * ** **** **** ** **

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TASCHA Talk -- TOMORROW -- Sept. 27, 2012 -- What is TASCHA? An introduction to our research and people
by Karen Hirst 26 Sep '12

26 Sep '12

TASCHA TALK -- Tomorrow What is TASCHA? An introduction to our research and people Chris Coward Thursday -- September 27, 2012, from 3:45 to 4:45 pm Roosevelt Commons Building, 4th floor Multi-purpose room or via Adobe Connect<http://connect.washington.edu/ischool-tascha/> Welcome to the beginning of the year! In this session we will introduce the Technology & Social Change Group<http://tascha.uw.edu/author/chriscoward/> (or what we call TASCHA for short), and the US Impact Study, another research group focused on similar issues. While especially targeted to newcomers to the university community, we're 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 mission, research projects, and other activities. You'll meet the fabulous researchers, program staff, and students who work here. We'll show you how you can get involved. There'll be plenty of time for questions and discussion. And, as with every TASCHA Talk, we'll have drinks and snacks. About Chris<http://tascha.uw.edu/author/chriscoward/> Chris Coward is the co-founder, Principal Research Scientist, and Director of the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at Information School. Under his leadership, TASCHA has grown in size and scope over the last decade, encompassing research in 50 countries. Chris specializes in designing research programs that improve policy and practice, typically by working with organizations at the forefront of implementing technology programs for social and economic development. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree and a Master of Arts in International Studies degree, both from the University of Washington..

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TASCHA Talk -- THURSDAY Sept. 27, 2012 -- What is TASCHA? An introduction to our research and people
by Karen Hirst 24 Sep '12

24 Sep '12

TASCHA TALK -- Thursday What is TASCHA? An introduction to our research and people Chris Coward Thursday -- September 27, 2012, from 3:45 to 4:45 pm Roosevelt Commons Building, 4th floor Multi-purpose room or via Adobe Connect<http://connect.washington.edu/ischool-tascha/> Welcome to the beginning of the year! In this session we will introduce the Technology & Social Change Group<http://tascha.uw.edu/author/chriscoward/> (or what we call TASCHA for short), and the US Impact Study, another research group focused on similar issues. While especially targeted to newcomers to the university community, we're 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 mission, research projects, and other activities. You'll meet the fabulous researchers, program staff, and students who work here. We'll show you how you can get involved. There'll be plenty of time for questions and discussion. And, as with every TASCHA Talk, we'll have drinks and snacks. About Chris<http://tascha.uw.edu/author/chriscoward/> Chris Coward is the co-founder, Principal Research Scientist, and Director of the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at Information School. Under his leadership, TASCHA has grown in size and scope over the last decade, encompassing research in 50 countries. Chris specializes in designing research programs that improve policy and practice, typically by working with organizations at the forefront of implementing technology programs for social and economic development. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree and a Master of Arts in International Studies degree, both from the University of Washington..

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Richard Anderson: From Digital StudyHall to Digital PublicHealth
by Nicola Dell 21 Sep '12

21 Sep '12

The first Change seminar for the fall quarter will be on* Tuesday, September 25th at 12 noon in CSE 203*. Richard Anderson from UW Computer Science and Engineering will be speaking on "From Digital StudyHall to Digital PublicHealth". The Digital StudyHall (DSH) project began in 2005 with the goal of improving primary school education in rural India using Tutored Video Instruction where lessons recorded by experienced teachers were shown in remote schools by less experienced teachers. Part of the vision was to create “DStar”, a collection of projects that would use the principles of DSH: low cost community created video content, a shared public archive, and human mediated delivery of videos, to conduct education in a wide range of domains. Digital Green (DG) for agriculture education was the first spin off project from DSH which now has a large reach in India. In this talk, I will describe how the ideas and technologies developed by DSH and DG are being applied in a new project, Digital PublicHealth (DPH), which is using community created video content for maternal health messaging in Uttar Pradesh, India. Richard Anderson is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. He graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics from Reed College in 1981, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1985. In 1986 he joined the University of Washington after a one-year Postdoc at the Mathematical Science Research Institute in Berkeley, CA. He has held visiting positions with the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India and with the Learning Sciences and Technology group at Microsoft Research. For the last three years he has been collaborating with PATH, a Seattle based public health NGO, applying computing technology to a range of problems in global health. What: Richard Anderson: From Digital StudyHall to Digital PublicHealth When: Tuesday, September 25 at 12 noon Where: The Allen Center, room CSE 203

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CSE 590F, Computing and the Developing World Seminar
by Richard Anderson 19 Sep '12

19 Sep '12

CSE 590F, Computing and the Developing World Seminar, Tuesdays, 1:30-2:20 PM, CSE 203. In this seminar course we will look at different aspects of computing in developing countries. We will take an interdisciplinary approach looking at the limitations, possibilities and implications of this field from a variety of perspectives. From the technical side we will look at some of the more interesting problems in developing effective computing technologies and software application for users in these countries. From a social and development perspective we will look at possible technology application areas, including education and e-government, policy issues such as governments and open source software policy, and talking about development issues more broadly in the context of modern technology. The focus of the seminar this term will be on Computing and Global Health, and we will read papers from the health that assess various technologies or provide background in global health. For more information, see http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/cse590f/12au/

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9/27 Lecture: Roy Boney, Jr.: "Cherokee Language Technology: The Syllabary and the Nation's History of Tech Adoption"
by Marisa Duarte 19 Sep '12

19 Sep '12

Good morning. The Indigenous Information Research Group at the University of Washington Information School invites you to a lecture by Cherokee Nation Language Preservationist Roy Boney, Jr. on the design and development of Cherokee language applications for mobile technologies. Roy has worked with Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and the Unicode Consortium to develop applications. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is currently sponsoring a program to provide iPads loaded with Cherokee language apps to Cherokee language learners through the tribal libraries and community centers. What: Roy Boney, Jr.: "Cherokee Language Technology: The Syllabary and the Nation's History of Technological Adoption" When: Thursday, 9/27, 1:00-2:30 pm Where: Roosevelt Commons Building, 4311 11th Ave NE, (corner of 11th and 43rd), 4rth Floor, Rm. 416 For more information, please contact Marisa E Duarte at meduarte(a)uw.edu Respectfully, The Indigenous Information Research Group (IIRG)

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Fwd: HCI & Interpretivism positions at UM
by Gaetano Borriello 19 Sep '12

19 Sep '12

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Joyojeet Pal <joyojeet(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 8:57 AM Subject: HCI & Interpretivism positions at UM To: Gaetano Borriello <gaetano(a)cs.washington.edu>, Eric Brewer < brewer(a)cs.berkeley.edu>, Richard Anderson <anderson(a)cs.washington.edu>, Tapan Parikh <parikh(a)ischool.berkeley.edu>, Batya Friedman <batya(a)uw.edu>, AnnaLee Saxenian <anno(a)ischool.berkeley.edu>, Lakshminarayanan Subramanian < lakshmi(a)cs.nyu.edu>, Michael Best <mikeb(a)cc.gatech.edu>, François Bar < fbar(a)usc.edu>, "Geoffrey C. Bowker" <gbowker(a)uci.edu>, Christopher Hoadley < tophe(a)nyu.edu>, Jenna Burrell <jenna(a)ischool.berkeley.edu> Hi Folks, There are a four openings at the School of Information at Michigan this year, none of them is specifically for someone who works on technology and international development, but given the intersection of interests, this may be something your graduating students would consider. I would like to bring your attention to two of these: Here is the link to our HCI opening for the year (it's open rank). It's a standard HCI position and specifically interested in design and building of interactive systems - but given that this has a good intersection with what a lot of HCI4D folks are working on, please feel free to have them get in touch with me if they have questions particularly about Michigan's ICTD interests, or with Mark Newman, the general chair for the search in this position for broader questions on the HCI group at our school, or anything else related to the position more generally. http://si.umich.edu/aboutsi/2012-faculty-opening-human-computer-interaction We also have an Interpretivist position open this year that may be of some interest to some of the more ethnography-oriented ICTD folks: http://si.umich.edu/aboutsi/2012-faculty-opening-interpretivism For the ethnography position, the chair is Mark Ackerman, and if you have great candidates interested who have further questions, please let me know and I can get them in touch to get an idea of fit. Thanks! Joyojeet

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