- change - Mailing Lists

A couple of interesting pointers
by Richard Anderson 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

Rikin Gandhi has just posted an update of the digitalGREEN project: http://sites.digitalgreen.org/inside-digital-green/updates/y1q0birthing Melissa Ho (of the Berkeley TIER group) has a very informative blog about computing in Africa http://ictdchick.com/blog/

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ICT Sustainability
by Richard Anderson 04 Sep '09

04 Sep '09

I stumbled across this sustainability primer on the Inveneo site - it seems pretty sensible. Worth a look. http://www.inveneo.org/?q=sustainability_primer

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Reminder to register for NSDR 2009
by Tapan Parikh 01 Sep '09

01 Sep '09

Please register for NSDR 2009 by Thursday so that the organizers can assure adequate hotel availability. This year NSDR is co-located with SOSP in Big Sky, Montana, and will be held on October 11th. If you also plan to attend SOSP, the early registration deadline is *today*. The SOSP registration page can be found here: http://www.sigops.org/sosp/sosp09/registration.html Note that it is possible to register for NSDR without registering for the main SOSP conference. ---------------------------------- 3rd Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR) To be held with the 22nd ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP) Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, Montana Sunday, October 11th, 2009 http://www.dritte.org/nsdr09 ** Background ** Following on two successful workshops hosted with ACM SIGCOMM in 2007 and 2008, the 3rd Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR '09) will provide a venue for researchers to present ideas and results concerning the design, implementation and evaluation of new computing and communications technologies serving developing regions. The decreasing cost and increasing access to information and communication technologies (e.g., mobile phones) are rapidly enabling access to new services and markets for previously disconnected populations. However, due to a variety of factors, including cost, literacy, education, and organizational capacity, conventional approaches to technology design and implementation are often not relevant. Moreover, empirical evidence for the impact of such technologies is largely anecdotal, beyond a few well-known and well-cited examples. Addressing this requires engagement of several disciplines, including but not limited to economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science, and expertise in a variety of application areas - including government, health, finance and agriculture. NSDR focuses on addressing significant technical challenges (e.g., communication infrastructure in rural areas, novel caching techniques for challenged networks, security issues arising in such contexts), and on the deployment and evaluation of novel technologies or applications that address a specific need (e.g. providing remote financial services or health care). ** Papers ** We encourage submission of position papers or the results of preliminary work describing interesting, original, previously unpublished ideas or results pertaining to the design, implementation and/or evaluation of networks and systems for developing regions. Accepted papers will: - propose new research directions; - target a specific application; - inform design and/or deployment; - or generate lively debate at the workshop. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: - Low-cost wireless connectivity - Intermittent systems - Power-efficient systems - Low-cost computing devices - Mobile systems and applications - Adapting content and applications for local languages - User interfaces for low-literacy populations - Design and evaluation of applications for public health, microfinance, agriculture, e-governance, education, monitoring, disaster management, etc. ** Submission ** Submissions must follow formatting guidelines and be submitted according to instructions at http://www.dritte.org/nsdr09/submit.html. Submissions that deviate from these guidelines will be rejected without consideration. Reviews will be SINGLE-BLIND: authors' names and affiliations should be included in the submission. Authors of accepted papers are expected to present their papers at the workshop. Submissions must be original work not under review at any other workshop, conference or journal. ** Program Committee ** Vivek Pai, Princeton (co-chair) Tapan Parikh, UC Berkeley (co-chair) Muneeb Ali, Princeton John Bennett, Colorado Gaetano Borriello, U. Washington Eric Brewer, UC Berkeley Ravi Jain, Google S. Keshav, Waterloo KyoungSoo Park, Pittsburgh Bhaskaran Raman, IIT-Mumbai Umar Saif, LUMS Lakshmi Subramanian, NYU Bill Thies, MSR India Kentaro Toyama, MSR India

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a look back at tapan parikh’s cam toolkit
by Yaw Anokwa 28 Aug '09

28 Aug '09

it's been a while since there was a post on the change blog, but we are ramping for the start of the school year with this post: http://change.washington.edu/2009/08/a-look-back-at-tapan-parikh-cam-toolki… if you'd like to blog about something, just let me know! yaw

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IPID - Announcement: 2010 Technology for Innovation and Education in Developing Countries (TEDC) Conference to be held in Maputo, Mozambique on January 21 ~ 23, 2010.
by Yaw Anokwa 21 Aug '09

21 Aug '09

Good day! We are pleased to announce the 2010 Technology for Innovation and Education in Developing Countries (TEDC) Conference to be held in Maputo, Mozambique on January 21 ~ 23, 2010. We seek high quality submissions of original unpublished research on thoughtful and purposeful applications of technology for purposeful education in developing countries. Researchers and educators with new perspectives on how technology can play a role in facilitating or supporting social and economic development through education are strongly encouraged to submit their work. The goal of the 2010 Technology for Innovation and Education in Developing Countries is to bring together researchers, businesses, educators, governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to discuss appropriate and relevant applications of technology in educational programs in developing countries. Organizations such as the World Bank and UNESCO are encouraging developing countries to utilize technology in the creation of a knowledge economy. Unfortunately, this push results in an all-too-common problem of using technology for the sake of using technology without sufficient thought to the educational purposes and benefits. The aim of TEDC 2010 is to discuss the role educational technology can play in social and economic development in developing countries. Authors should keep in mind the conditions, constraints, and resources, and social/economic priorities in developing countries differ sharply with that of industrialized nations, creating special challenges for the technical, business, and educational research communities. Successful entries will take these realities into account in proposing any technological applications in educational settings. Listed below are potential topics for paper submissions. Whichever topic area is explored, please speak to the issue of how the technology can be used in a practical educational way to advance social/economic development. Please make the papers as locally relevant as possible. Applications and systems multimedia applications adaptive learning environments open source tools for teaching and learning databases, data warehousing and data mining for (mass) education portals, web tools asynchronous applications distributed education Novel technologies and methods alternative (low-cost, low-energy) technologies wireless and mobile learning platforms information retrieval for slow/unreliable connections hand-on and hands-in technologies modular robotics as manipulative technology for creativeness interaction design for diverse users Learning settings special education non-formal education vocational training and continuous education literacy applications ICT education distance learning Impact of technology project deployments cultural issues in educational development minority language requirements cross-language interfaces human-computer interfaces cultural usability Resource sharing collaborative learning in local environments human-computer interfaces for resource sharing teaching resource management grid computing infrastructures Evaluation and policy issues gender issues universal access technology as a tool for fighting poverty cost-benefit analyses sustainable educational technology license issues of open source courseware For further information, please visit the conference website at http://cs.joensuu.fi/tedc2010/index.html or contact me directly at: thomaslechner(a)gmail.com We look forward to hearing from you! Thomas Lechner Conference Program Chair University of Georgia

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Mozilla Service Week
by Sunil Garg 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

As forwarded by a friend, please share with anyone who might be interested: Idealist is partnering with Mozilla (the organization behind the Firefox browser) on their first annual Mozilla Service Week which will match thousands of "techie" volunteers around the world with nonprofits in need of help with IT, web design, programming, blogging, and more. Mozilla Service Week will take place September 14-21, 2009, and organizations are so eager for volunteers that a couple of thousand of them have already posted their opportunities. If you are comfortable with technology and would like to help out, or if your organization could use some help, please go to: http://mozillaservice.org And to help spread the word to nonprofits and techies around the world, please go to: http://www.idealist.org/if/mozservice09/en/Spread/default -Sunil

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Virtual Volunteer positions (Mozilla Service Week)
by Brian DeRenzi 19 Aug '09

19 Aug '09

For the Mozilla Service Week on Idealist.org, D-Tree and other oganizations have some virtual volunteer positions [help out without having to travel] available. The two I know about from D-Tree are: Web Developer: http://www.idealist.org/if/mozservice09/en/av/VolunteerOpportunity/176680-2… Java/XML Expert / XForm Developer http://www.idealist.org/if/mozservice09/en/av/VolunteerOpportunity/176568-2… Pass along to anyone who might be interested. Seems like a good fit for people who want to get involved but can't commit to major travel just yet. Brian

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ICTD Post-Doc Fellowship at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa
by Yaw Anokwa 18 Aug '09

18 Aug '09

Postdoctoral Fellowship available at NMMU, Summerstrand Campus, starting January 2010. For more information, please contact Prof. Janet Wesson at Janet.Wesson(a)nmmu.ac.za directly. Additional contact details below. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Job Title: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Computer Science Posting Number: Date Posted: Job Description: The Department of Computer Science and Information Systems (CS&IS) at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), Port Elizabeth, South Africa, wishes to recruit a post-doctoral research fellow to undertake research in the CS&IS research focus areas. CS&IS strives to serve the needs of the ICT industry by developing highly qualified Masters and Doctoral graduates through applied research, frequently in collaboration with industry partners. CS&IS has excellent expertise and research facilities in IT in education (school and university), IT in community development, mobile computing, Service Oriented Architecture, automated assessment of programs, evolutionary robotics, ICT in the workplace, IT Project Management and Usability Engineering. Candidates must have a PhD in Computer Science, advanced knowledge and skills in one or more of the CS&IS research focus areas, and a strong motivation to pursue academic research. They must have excellent written and verbal English communication skills. Candidates will be expected to take a leadership role in developing new collaborative projects, assist in writing research proposals and papers and co-supervise postgraduate students. International candidates are preferred. If a candidate is appointed, he or she must be able to start from 1 January 2010 or as soon after as possible. If you are interested, email your Curriculum Vitae together with a covering letter to Prof Janet Wesson (see Contact Information below). The letter must provide information on your Computer Science knowledge and skills, a description of how you could contribute to the current research of CS&IS, and the names, email addresses and telephone numbers of three referees. Contact: Prof Janet Wesson Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University PO Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 6031 South Africa Email: Janet.Wesson(a)nmmu.ac.za Phone: +27 (0)41 504 2323 Fax: +27 (0)41 504 2831 Website: http://www.nmmu.ac.za/csis

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Research Grants on ICT for Development
by Yaw Anokwa 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

The University of Nairobi, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada, is glad to invite your institution to participate in ICT research grants and scholarships. There are opportunities for graduate students in your institution pursuing Masters or Doctoral studies in Computer Science/Information Technology/Information Systems or ICT intensive disciplines geared towards development to obtain either Masters scholarships or doctoral research grants. The documents attached contain comprehensive information on the grants' program (Announcement) and an application form (Application Form). The documents can also be obtained from http://www.ict4dgrants.org. Kindly forward this to the relevant faculties in your institution, and any other institutions around you with similar faculties. Please note the deadline of submission of applications is 30th September, 2009. I look forward to getting some applications from your institution and to your university's participation in the project. Yours faithfully, Prof. Timothy Mwololo Waema - Project Leader School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

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Call for Presentations for the mHealth event in Washington DC
by Yaw Anokwa 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

From: ACM SIGCHI General Interest Announcements (Mailing List) Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 1:19 PM To: CHI-ANNOUNCEMENTS(a)LISTSERV.ACM.ORG Subject: Call for Presentations for the mHealth event in Washington DC Hello everyone! I wanted to make sure that you were aware that the call for presentations and registration for the mHealth Summit (cell phone as a platform for healthcare in underserved communities) is now open. The link is: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=b5cf7bfc-b867-4877-911b-ce b61c994166. The time is short. The call closes on August 28th (in order to enable us to assist with visas for international travelers), but thankfully we are only asking for an abstract-not a full paper-outlining the talk that the person proposes to give at the event. The date is firm as we have a program committee meeting following the close in order to decide on papers. Thanks for your assistance in advance!! Kristin M. Tolle, Ph.D. Senior Research Program Manager for Biomedical Computing | Microsoft External Research | Health and WellBeing Team

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