- change - Mailing Lists

2010 Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges Program
by Jerome White 26 Jan '10

26 Jan '10

The application window for Yahoo's Key Scientific Challenges Program opens today; see http://www.labs.yahoo.com/ksc for more information. In brief (from my source), "This might be a great opportunity for [a] PhD Student to receive $5000 and to collaborate with Yahoo. Please forward to appropriate faculty/students." I thought the announcement appropriate for this group because of two ICT-centric sub-categories: "Green Computing" and, especially, "Internet Experiences." Feel free to forward this on. jerome

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Technology for Employability in Latin America: Research With At-Risk Youth & People With Disabilities
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

Since the early 1990s, there has been an increasing interest in technology training centers to build employability options of socially excluded groups in Latin America. Four researchers — Joyojeet Pal, Jay Freistadt, Michele Frix, and Phil Neff — from the Technology & Social Change (TASCHA) group at the University of Washington Information School examined investments into computer centers providing basic technology training for people with disabilities and at-risk youth. Using primary research in five countries — Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela — this report discusses the ways in which technology training impacts the employability concerns of two populations with diverse needs and histories of social and economic exclusion from formal labor markets. This report provides scholars and policy-makers an expansive survey of the landscape of issues around technology employability for socially excluded populations. Findings are broadly divided into three segments: Environmental factors that impact such projects including the aspirational environment and the discourse of technology Short-term impacts of these programs including the creation of pathways to employment, community-building, as well as impacts on self-esteem and stigmatization and the potential of mismatched employment expectations from access to these programs Factors that influence the success of such programs including cost, certification, and accessible technology Download a PDF of the full report at http://cis.washington.edu/files/2009/11/tascha_ict-employability-latin-amer…

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change t-shirts available
by Yaw Anokwa 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

hey all, we have 25 change shirts available for $15. these shirts are high quality american apparel shirts and will identify you as a generally awesome person. the unisex shirts are gray and look like http://is.gd/71ZS1. the women's shirts look the same, but are black. if you'd like one, put your name, email and size in the form at http://is.gd/71Z5S. sizing information is at http://americanapparel.net/sizing/default.asp. the shirts will be available for pick up after the change meetings on thursdays. with such a small batch available, this is first come, first serve and your name must be in the form above before you get one. yaw

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ICTD 2010 Call for papers / Call for sessions
by Richard Anderson 25 Jan '10

25 Jan '10

ICTD call for papers and call for sessions/workshops/panels is attached. This information is all on the conference website as well: http://www.ictd2010.org/ The paper submission deadline is April 2, 2010.

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Reminder: iWorld Panel on International Careers in Information Science
by Melody Clark 24 Jan '10

24 Jan '10

Hello! Just a quick reminder about *Tuesday evening's event at 6pm (all details below)*. See you there! iWorld *Details:* iWorld is hosting a panel of professionals working in information science in an international context on January 26, 2010 at 6pm. Join us for engaging conversation, insights into working with international populations and internationally, and yummy snacks and refreshments! *When:* Tuesday, January 26, 2010 from 6pm-7:30pm *Where: *Mary Gates Hall (MGH) 420 *Why:* You are considering a career in an international context, either working here in the States or abroad *What:* Engaging dialogue, refreshments, and fun, interesting people! *Who is on the panel: * *Darren Hoerner:* Darren Hoerner is a program officer in the Global Libraries (GL) initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this role, Darren spearheads the exploration of opportunities for partnerships in Africa and the Middle East. He also manages a current grant in Botswana to improve people’s lives through increasing access to information technology in public libraries. Darren is also working on numerous grants to support and encourage young leaders, innovation, and training of librarians in the information professions internationally. Darren joined the foundation in 1997 to provide research and analysis for a program that connected 11,000 public libraries in the United States to the Internet. He holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington. * Ricardo Gomez:* *Ricardo Gomez is Assistant Professor at University of Washington's Information School. He specializes in the social impacts of communication technologies, especially in community development settings. He is also interested in qualitative research methods, and in group facilitation and process design. He seeks creative ways to communicate complex ideas and research results in everyday language. He has worked with private, public and non-profit sectors around the world, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the University of Washington he worked with Microsoft Community Affairs, and with the International Development Research Center in Canada. He holds an MA from Université du Québec à Montréal (1992) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1997).* *Valerie Wonder: *Valerie Wonder is a librarian at The Seattle Public Library with many years of experience working with immigrants and refugees in Washington State. Valerie spent three years as Immigrant and Refugee Program Manager at the library, prior to which she worked as Community Programs Manager at the International Rescue Committee. Valerie has done capacity building and training in libraries throughout the United States and Africa, first as a trainer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, later as a volunteer for the World Library Partnership and the Peace Corps, and most recently as a consultant for U.S. Embassies in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Valerie received her masters degrees in Library and Information Science and Public Administration from the University of Washington. *Questions?:* Contact Melody Clark at melclark(a)uw.edu<melody.r.clark(a)gmail.com>or 206.303.7910 See you there! iWorld -- Melody Clark MLIS Candidate 2010 - University of Washington Gates Foundation Global Libraries Graduate Research Assistant Getty Images Search Intern ALISS Co-President 2009-2010 iWorld Co-Chair 2009-2010 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: mobile: 206.303.7910 email: melody.r.clark(a)gmail.com or melclark(a)u.washington.edu

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Richard Anderson on Building an ICT Portfolio at PATH
by Yaw Anokwa 23 Jan '10

23 Jan '10

This Thursday at Change, UW CSE professor Richard Anderson will presenting on his work building an ICT Portfolio at PATH. PATH is a Seattle based NGO with the mission to “improve the health of people around the world by: advancing technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors”. Richard is spending his sabbatical working with PATH as part of their nascent effort in Health Information Systems. In this talk, he will provide an overview of projects that are underway. These include developing a device for communication with rural health clinics, using cell phones for tracking TB cases in Tanzania, building a software application for modeling national scale vaccine refrigeration capacity, and creating a framework for deriving requirements for global health information systems. Richard will also describe what he learned about the Nicaraguan public health system in a recent visit, focusing on how the existing information flows might be made more efficient with improved communication technologies. What: Richard Anderson on Building an ICT Portfolio at PATH When: Thursday, January 21 at Noon Where: UW, Paul Allen Center, Room 203

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Carnegie Mellon Qatar and Asian University for Women are Hiring
by Yaw Anokwa 23 Jan '10

23 Jan '10

Carnegie Mellon University's Qatar Campus is hiring CS professors, and the Asian University for Women (a newly established institution in Bangladesh) is looking for Undergraduate Faculty and Visiting Faculty on Sabbatical. Both have interests in graduates with a background in ICTD. http://www.qatar.cmu.edu/cs/positions http://www.asian-university.org/careersAtAUW/teaching.htm

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CFP: Bridging Digital Divides through Mobile and Ubiquitous technology: Experiences and Perspectives
by Yaw Anokwa 19 Jan '10

19 Jan '10

***Call for Journal Papers: Special Issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Springer Bridging Digital Divides through Mobile and Ubiquitous technology: Experiences and Perspectives Editors Matt Jones, Swansea University, UK Gary Marsden, University of Cape Town, South Africa Lucia Terrenghi, Vodafone GROUP Services R&D, Germany Synopsis Ubicomp – everywhere, everybody technology and systems. But are we really fully exploring inclusive visions? Is the full potential of mobile and ubicomp technology for everyone or only the relatively affluent? The research community's work to date has been focused on the so-called 'developed' world – contexts where there are already well-established technical infrastructures and digital resources. These contexts have users who are relatively highly computer literate, typically have high degrees of textual literacy and have undergone a formal education. Examples include sophisticated 'smart' homes with digital noticeboards and even interactive fridge doors (Taylor et al, 2007); embedded technologies for amusement parks (Schnädelbach et al, 2008); and, cities and urban dwellers with time to, "marvel at mundane everyday experiences and objects that evoke mystery, doubt, and uncertainty. How many newspapers has that person sold today? When was that bus last repaired? How far have I walked today? How many people have ever sat on that bench? Does that woman own a cat? Did a child or adult spit that gum onto the sidewalk?" (Paulos & Beckmann 2006). This Special Issue is about the billions of people who do not fit these sorts of context. There are hundreds of millions of users, and billions to come in the next 5 years, in places like India, China and Africa, whose first, and perhaps only, experience of computing will be in the form of mobile and other ubicomp technologies. Many of these users will never live in the sorts of home, or work in the types of office, or daydream in the parks, or take a day-off for the sorts of amusement park envisaged by earlier research. But it is not just 'developing' countries. What about the marginalised in our 'developed' world – the urban poor, the ill-educated, the homeless, the computer non-literate; i.e. those without access to what many of us take as essential digital infrastructure? We invite contributions considering these contexts too. Topics which are relevant for this issue include, although are not limited to: -elicitation of requirements in these new, challenging contexts (methodologies, results…) -case-study descriptions of projects aiming at bridging digital divides: we want to learn about successes, failures and lessons learned -mobile and ubicomp guidelines and/or manifestos for marginalised communities (e.g., rural areas, developing countries, elderly people, disabled people) -interface and interaction issues -devices and infrastructure -examples of appropriation of a mobile or ubicomp technology in a community previously unconnected -examples/ideas about how to sensitize social responsibility in the networked society (e.g., recycling hardware, stimulating social networks…) Submission details Submissions should be between 4000 and 6000 words and authors are encouraged to use the Springer guidelines for authors, available at ftp://ftp.springer.de/pub/Word/journals. Submission in pdf electronic format should be emailed to gaz(a)acm.org Important dates 12th March: deadline for full paper submission 31st May: notification from reviewers 2nd July: Submission of final papers December: Final publication of special edition Reviewing Committee: Russell Beale, University of Birmingham Jan Blom, Nokia Research, Bangalore Stephen Brewster, Glasgow University Abigail Sellen, Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK Andy Dearden, Sheffield Hallam University, UK Ann Light, Sheffield Hallam University, UK Anxo Cereijo-Roibas, Vodafone GROUP Services, UK Derrick L. Cogburn, Syracuse University, USA Edwin Blake, University of Cape Town, South Africa Eli Blevis, University of Indiana, USA Ingrid Mulder, TU DElft. Keith Cheverst, Lancaster University, UK Mike Best, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA Nic Bidwell, James Cook University, Australia Pan Hui, Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, Germany Jussi Impio, Nokia Research Africa Tim Kindberg, Matter 2 Media Amit A Nanavati, IBM Research, New Delhi Yvonne Rogers, Open University, UK. Kentaro Toyama, Microsoft Research, India Jonathan Donner, Microsoft Research Matthew Kam, CMU Susan Dray, Dray & Associates Sriram Subramanian, University of Bristol References Paulos, E. and Beckmann, C. 2006. Sashay: designing for wonderment. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 22 - 27, 2006). R. Grinter, T. Rodden, P. Aoki, E. Cutrell, R. Jeffries, and G. Olson, Eds. CHI '06. ACM, New York, NY, 881- 884. Schnädelbach, H., Rennick Egglestone, S., Reeves, S., Benford, S., Walker, B., and Wright, M. 2008. Performing thrill: designing telemetry systems and spectator interfaces for amusement rides. In Proceeding of the Twenty-Sixth Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Florence, Italy, April 05 - 10, 2008). CHI '08. ACM, New York, NY, 1167-1176. Taylor, A. S., Harper, R., Swan, L., Izadi, S., Sellen, A., and Perry, M. 2007. Homes that make us smart. Personal Ubiquitous Comput. 11, 5 (Jun. 2007), 383-393.

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ICTD 2010 Call for Papers and Sessions
by Yaw Anokwa 19 Jan '10

19 Jan '10

Welcome to ICTD2010 – one of the most exciting ICT4D-related events of 2010. CALLS FOR PAPERS AND SESSIONS NOW AVAILABLE The conference is the latest in the series of highly successful international ICTD conferences held in Doha (2009), Bangalore (2007) and Berkeley (2006). It aims to provide a forum for researchers, practitioners and all those with interests in the use of information and communication technologies in development practice to meet to discuss the latest research advances in the field. Building on the success of its predecessors, ICTD2010 will combine two days of plenary peer-reviewed paper sessions, with two days of workshops, panel sessions, discussion forums, demos and sessions in both Spanish and French. A particular feature will be the opportunity that it will provide for participatory involvement from people from a diversity of backgrounds. ICTD2010 is being hosted by the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D and the multidisciplinary ICT4D Research Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London’s magnificent campus situated only 20 minutes from London’s Heathrow airport. Key Dates: Registration opens 15th April 2010; early registration deadline 15th September 2010; registration will close on 30th November 2010 Calls for Papers (http://www.ictd2010.org/?page_id=93) and Workshop Sessions (http://www.ictd2010.org/?page_id=118) are now open; deadline 2nd April 2010; decisions on acceptance should be available by 11th June 2010

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iWorld Panel: International Careers in Library and Information Sciences
by Yaw Anokwa 16 Jan '10

16 Jan '10

iWorld is hosting a panel of professionals working in information science in an international context on January 26, 2010 at 6pm. Join them for engaging conversation, insights into working with international populations and internationally, and yummy snacks and refreshments! When: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 from 6pm-7:30pm Where: Mary Gates Hall (MGH) 420 Why: You are considering a career in an international context, either working here in the States or abroad Who is on the panel: Darren Hoerner: Darren Hoerner is a program officer in the Global Libraries (GL) initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this role, Darren spearheads the exploration of opportunities for partnerships in Africa and the Middle East. He also manages a current grant in Botswana to improve people’s lives through increasing access to information technology in public libraries. Darren is also working on numerous grants to support and encourage young leaders, innovation, and training of librarians internationally. Darren joined the foundation in 1997 to provide research and analysis for a program that connected 11,000 public libraries in the United States to the Internet. He holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington. Ricardo Gomez: Ricardo Gomez is Assistant Professor at University of Washington's Information School. He specializes in the social impacts of communication technologies, especially in community development settings. He is also interested in qualitative research methods, and in group facilitation and process design. He seeks creative ways to communicate complex ideas and research results in everyday language. He has worked with private, public and non-profit sectors around the world, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the University of Washington he worked with Microsoft Community Affairs, and with the International Development Research Center in Canada. He holds an MA from Université du Québec à Montréal (1992) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1997). Valerie Wonder: Valerie Wonder is a librarian at The Seattle Public Library with many years of experience working with immigrants and refugees in Washington State. Valerie spent three years as Immigrant and Refugee Program Manager at the library, prior to which she worked as Community Programs Manager at the International Rescue Committee. Valerie has done capacity building and training in libraries throughout the United States and Africa, first as a trainer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, later as a volunteer for the World Library Partnership and the Peace Corps, and most recently as a consultant for U.S. Embassies in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Valerie received her masters degrees in Library and Information Science and Public Administration from the University of Washington. Questions?: Contact Melody Clark at melody.r.clark(a)gmail.com or 206.303.7910 What: Engaging dialogue, refreshments, and fun, interesting people!

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