- change - Mailing Lists

Fwd: [Cs-grads] FW: Apply now: Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition 2010
by Yaw Anokwa 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lindsay Michimoto <lindsaym(a)cs.washington.edu> Date: 2009/8/12 Subject: [Cs-grads] FW: Apply now: Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition 2010 To: cs-grads - Mailing List <cs-grads(a)cs.washington.edu> ________________________________ From: GSEC [mailto:gsec@u.washington.edu] Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 2:14 PM To: Lindsay Michimoto Subject: Apply now: Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition 2010 Please share this announcement widely with interested applicants. Thank you! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) Social change is serious business Do you have an idea for an innovative, commercially-sustainable business that addresses a problem of poverty in the developing world? If so, we invite you to apply for GSEC! GSEC engages creative minds around the world to encourage bolder and less conventional business solutions to global poverty. Open to all students around the globe—and across fields of study—GSEC plans are judged on the quality of life in the developing world, financial sustainability, and implementation feasibility. Semi-finalist teams from around the world will be invited to Seattle for GSEC Week (March 1-5, 2010), where they pitch their business ideas to judges and the UW community, visit regional companies, and compete for up to $17,500 in prize money, including global health awards. Business ideas may focus on any industry area, such as global health, environment, energy, agriculture, education, or technology. Multidisciplinary teams are highly encouraged. Application deadline November 11, 2009 Apply online here. Applications consist of an executive summary of the business idea. Semi-finalist GSEC teams will be selected in December 2009 and paired with mentors to develop their business idea before GSEC Week in March 2010. Details and application: http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipco… ------------------------------------------------------------------------ About GSEC Each year, the Global Business Center brings the world to University of Washington: a select group of interdisciplinary teams are invited to Seattle to participate in GSEC Week at the UW Foster School of Business. Teams attend exclusive company visits, receive feedback on their presentation and pitch their business ideas to judges as they compete for prize money. >From affordable, nutritious meals for slum dwellers in Mumbai, to mobile wind turbines in Kazakhstan, to solar oven-powered water purification systems in Tanzania, GSEC business plans demonstrate the power of business to create sustainable, positive change to some of the world’s most challenging social problems. Since GSEC began over 300 students from more than 25 countries have participated in the program. GSEC fosters interdisciplinary collaboration—across fields of study and among academic institutions. Student team members from the UW alone have come from the schools of business, engineering, health sciences, international studies, law, and public administration. GSEC is organized by the University of Washington’s Global Business Center at the Michael G. Foster School of Business, with the support of Microsoft (GSEC Grand Prize sponsor) and the UW Department of Global Health. Become a fan of GSEC on Facebook Visit us online http://www.foster.washington.edu/centers/gbc/globalsocialentrepreneurshipco…

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Literacy Bridge is a frontrunner in online vote for donation from Paul Buchheit
by Sunil Garg 03 Aug '09

03 Aug '09

Here's a bit of press about Literacy Bridge, and an opportunity to vote at http://moderator.appspot.com/#15/e=90c6a&t=90c6b -Sunil Sent to you by Sunil Garg via Google Reader: It's Bill Clinton as David and a Seattle non-profit as Goliath via TechFlash - Seattle's Technology News on 8/3/09 Bill Clinton is a master vote getter, so it's no surprise that his non- profit Clinton Foundation is leading an online election to receive what could be a sizeable donation from the creator of Goole's Gmail. But the tiny Seattle non-profit Literacy Bridge -- which has developed a small, portable audio device called a "Talking Book" -- is at least staying in the race against the 42nd president. The competition was created by Gmail lead developer Paul Buccheit, who two months ago wrote in a blog post: "I'm going to donate a bunch of money, but I want random people on the Internet to decide where it goes." The PSBJ's Clay Holtzman has details on the race -- being conducted on Google Moderator -- noting that The Clinton Foundation had almost twice as many votes (520) as Literacy Bridge (270). It is a true David vs. Goliath battle. The Clinton Foundation had revenue of about $130 million in 2007, while Literacy Bridge (created by former Navy Officer and Microsoft employee Cliff Schmidt) had about $79,000 in revenue last year. And it turns out that Literacy Bridge was actually the front runner until recently when the Clinton Foundation ramped up efforts, reports Holtzman. (You can't count out Clinton who has been called "The Comeback Kid" before). The Talking Book is currently being tested in Ghana. The nonprofit says the low-cost device is designed to "improve literacy skills for children and adults, while also enabling knowledge to be shared with those who do not have access to text." READ MORE and COMMENT Things you can do from here: Subscribe to TechFlash - Seattle's Technology News using Google Reader Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

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telehealth in developing world book
by Yaw Anokwa 18 Jul '09

18 Jul '09

The "Telehealth in the Developing World" book aims to redress the relative lack of published information on successful telehealth solutions in the developing world. It presents real-life stories from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is rich in practical experience and will be of interest to health professionals, development workers, and e-health and telehealth proponents interested in learning about, or contributing to the implementation of, appropriate solutions for 80% of the world’s population. http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-136734-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

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Fwd: Connecting with Change
by Yaw Anokwa 16 Jul '09

16 Jul '09

hey all, sammie runs lumana credit, a micro-credit organization that focuses on serving rural and underserved populations in ghana. they are having their big launch next week. i can't make it, but if you are interested about micro-finance, go check it out. yaw ---------- Forwarded message ---------- We are hosting an event in downtown Seattle next week to introduce the launch of Lumana to the public and help gain support from the community. There will be several members of the social entrepreneurship club there in addition to representation from several of the microfinance and global development groups from around Seattle. I have attached our event release and flier. -- Sammie Rayner Executive Director Lumana Credit email. sammie.rayner(a)lumanacredit.org cell. 509.270.3113 web. www.lumanacredit.org

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attending the ICT/Disability workshop
by Joyojeet Pal 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

Hi Change folks, If you plan to attend the ICT/Disability workshop, please let me know, space is VERY tight, and unless you are really interested in the topic I may request you to pass because we need all the seats we can have and the room only seats 50 people - about 30 spots are already gone. Let me know if you definitely plan to be there and participate and I will keep your names in. Here is the announcement below: Joyojeet Technology and Disability in the Developing World Research and Practice Workshop October 2, 2009 Gates Commons, Paul Allen Center<http://www.washington.edu/home/maps/southcentral.html?CSE> (CSE 691) University of Washington, Seattle Disability is defined in physical, social, and rights-based terms. Following significant legal and social activism in several nations, much interest in both academia and industry has been invested in creating tools and frameworks of access for persons with disabilities. However, in several parts of the developing world, accessibility issues continue to face economic and social challenges. This workshop attempts to bring together scholars and practitioners working in the area of technology and disability in the developing world to discuss recent developments and chart possible areas of collaboration in this domain. The goal of the workshop is to discuss the following: 1. Review selected cases within low-cost technology development and deployment for disabled populations in terms of infrastructure, products, and service delivery 2. Review recent research on social and economic issues around the access to technological tools for the disabled 3. Create relationships and discuss actionable steps for collaborative work ahead Planned Sessions 1. Social, Legal, and Business issues around the use of technology in developing regions: In this session, we will discuss social issues around technology access for the disabled, the impacts of national legislative measures and international initiatives on access, employability and the business of developing technological tools for the disabled. Invited talks include a discussion of social issues around technology centers for the disabled in Latin America and the role of advocacy in expanding employability for the disabled. 2. Technological issues: In this session, we will discuss current implementations and future areas of development of low-cost technology for the disabled. Invited talks include a discussion of typical failure cases of software for the visually impaired, open source tools as options to proprietary software, low cost computing hardware and navigation devices for motor disabilities. 3. Break-out roundtables: In this session, we will break groups by domains of interest in an effort to discuss desirables and collaborative steps ahead either in research or in practice. Format The workshop will be a full-day event with presentation sessions followed by one break-up roundtable discussion session. The presentation sessions will be arranged around invited speakers, each discussing for 20 minutes a specific issue or case with broader relevance for the state of technical, social, legal, or business issues around technology and disability in the developing world. A detailed program will be online shortly. Sponsors Change<http://change.washington.edu/> Disability Studies<http://depts.washington.edu/disstud/> Center for Information and Society<http://cis.washington.edu/> AccessComputing<http://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/> For further details, and to participate, please contact Joyojeet Pal<http://mailhide.recaptcha.net/d?k=019-vbZyUw2LdDz28bfimzhg==&c=1eeVoBPmILx4…>. Session speakers (subject to change) 1. Becky Matter/Dennis Lang, Disability Studies, UW "Landscape of Social Issues around Technology and Disability in the Developing world" 2. Philip Neff, JSIS, UW "Socio-economic issues in expanding access to the disabled in Latin America: Evidence from Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico, and Guatemala 3. Rahul Cherian, InclusivePlanet "Internationalizing a Legal Framework for Services for the Disabled" 4. James Thurston, Microsoft, "Advocacy for accessibility in the developing world" 5. David Rojas, POETA, Organization of American States " ICTs as facilitators of social and labor inclusion for people with disabilities " 6. Chandrika Jayant, CSE, UW "Landscape of Technical issues around PCs for the Disabled " 7. Sangyun Hanh, CSE, UW "Low cost and Open Source Tools for the Blind: State of Technology and Ways Ahead" 8. Jacob Wobbrock, iSchool, UW " Ability-based Design: Concept, Principles, and Examples." 9. Michele Frix, CIS, UW "Common technical failures in low-resource envorinments - examples from field research in Latin America" 10. Victor Tsaran, Yahoo "Accessible Web services for the blind: ethnographic evidence from research in 7 countries" 11. Shaun Kane, Intel Research Seattle / UW " Supporting independent navigation using commodity mobile phones" 12. Richard Ladner, CSE, UW "Low-cost technology for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing"

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Course Announcement - PhD course in Value Sensitive Design
by Alan Borning 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

Autumn Quarter 2009, Wednesdays 4:30 to 7:30 pm INSC 543 / CSE 599P Instructors: Batya Friedman and Alan Borning Value Sensitive Design is a design methodology for information technology systems that accounts for human values in a principled and comprehensive manner throughout the design process. Value Sensitive Design is primarily concerned with values that center on human well being, human dignity, justice, welfare, and human rights. Specific values include trust, accountability, freedom from bias, access, autonomy, privacy, sustainability, and consent. This course will provide a thorough introduction to Value Sensitive Design's interactional theory, direct and indirect stakeholder analyses, and tripartite methodology of conceptual, technical, and empirical investigations. The theory and methods of Value Sensitive Design are to be used in consort with other existing technical and design methods. Ultimately, Value Sensitive Design requires that we broaden the goals and criteria for judging the quality of information systems to include those that advance human values. The most significant component of the work in the course will be a quarter-long project in which students apply Value Sensitive Design to a project of their choosing. We encourage students to bring their own projects, in particular ones that could be an aspect of their dissertation research. There are also already some students who will be in the course with some very interesting projects, and who are looking for project partners. In addition, there will be a set of readings, some short writing assignments, and some focused design activities. The course will be taught studio-style, with one 3 hour session Wednesdays 4:30 - 7:20 pm (with breaks of course!). There will be a mix of lectures, design activities, and reflection during the class. We welcome PhD and MS students from a variety of disciplines, including the Information School, Computer Science & Engineering, Human Centered Design and Engineering, DXARTS, Biomedical and Health Informatics, Geography, Psychology, and others. Information School students should register for INSC 543, and CSE students for CSE 599P. Others - take your pick (though please try to keep the enrollments even between the two course numbers.) This is a 4 credit graded course, but due to a quirk of the CSE 599 course number, CSE 599P is only 3 credits. Students can register with Alan Borning for 1 additional unit of CSE 600 to make up the difference if they want. In CSE, this course counts toward the Post-Quals Ph.D. Requirement. (We are trying to get this on the books as a single cross-listed course, but for now we've got the two course numbers.) For more information, including some project ideas, please see http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/cse599p/09au/ , or contact either Batya (batya(a)u.washington.edu) or Alan (borning(a)cs.washington.edu ). We hope you'll join us! Batya and Alan

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Talk on the Cell Phone Revolution in the Developing World (June 29th at 7pm)
by Yaw Anokwa 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

Change members Chris Coward and Yaw Anokwa will be speaking at an event organized by the Young Professional’s International Network, the World Affairs Council and co-sponsored by CIS entitled: “The Cell Phone Revolution in the Developing World”. What: There are 4.1 billion cell phones in the world (2/3 of the world’s population has one) and their use is transforming lives in the developing world. The foremost authorities in the Puget Sound region have been assembled to discuss how these devices - that are taken for granted - are having a radical effect on people’s finances, health, education, businesses and politics. When: Tuesday, June 29th, 2009. Doors open at 7, talk starts at 7:30 and goes till 9:30. Where: Google Offices in Fremont 651 N 34th St Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 234-5678 If you’re interested you must pre-register at http://www.world-affairs.org/calendar.cfm to reserve a spot. If you’re a member of the Young Professional’s International Network, the cost is $10, non-members pay $15 and students $10. The venue has a capacity of 50 people so please pre-register so as not to be disappointed night of…

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Fwd: The new Nokia Tej -service in India...
by joe michiels 22 Jun '09

22 Jun '09

pdf and description attached below of Tej, sent from the Nokia rep in the W3C MW4D group. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <Lauri.K.Hirvonen(a)nokia.com> Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 1:01 PM Subject: The new Nokia Tej -service in India... To: Lauri.K.Hirvonen(a)nokia.com, boyera(a)w3.org, public-mw4d(a)w3.org The new Nokia Tej -service in India I'll like to share with you the new project done by Nokia in India to stimulate businesses with mobile phones. This Tej -project has good results. Here is the top-level-summary on Tej: Service description Nokia Tej is a mobile order management service that makes communication-intensive business processes more efficient. The service enables you to access order and related information via mobile phone or computer. Thus, you can reduce the amount of paper work and improve the flow of communication within your business network. Hosted Service You can trust that your business data is always protected and you and your defined partners within your business network can access all relevant data safely at all times, even when you need to change your mobile phone or computer. Invite your partners The invitation functionality is what really makes Nokia Tej special. Defining the business network is easy. You start by inviting your first level partners, who then invite second level partners to the network. And once you have added your product information, your business partners can use it to place orders. The invitation functionality also effectively turns Nokia Tej into a directory service, offering access to new business partners and potentially new business. And attached is the PowerPoint 17 slides presentation of Nokia Tej. Br. Lauri

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paul farmer speaking at uw today at 6
by Yaw Anokwa 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Dr. Paul Farmer, subject of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Mountains Beyond Mountains" and co-founder of Partners In Health, will speak about the current climate of global health on Thursday, June 18 from 6--7:30 p.m. in Kane Hall Room 130. The free event, "A Conversation with Dr. Paul Farmer Moderated by Dr. Chris Elias," is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Farmer will reflect on a variety of topics, including the future of global health delivery and sustainability, the challenge of multi drug-resistant tuberculosis, and how one person has the ability to make a significant contribution to global health. Farmer regularly travels between two worlds: one marked by academic prestige and medical innovation, and the other by destitution and health inequity. Farmer is the newly named chair of Harvard Medical School's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine as well as an attending physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. His unconventional approach to care in the developing world cuts through red tape, bends rules, and has won him acclaim and controversy. Elias, the CEO of PATH, has fostered an entrepreneurial culture that encourages innovative thinking at PATH, a Seattle-based non-governmental organization, which is dedicated to improving the health of people around the world by advancing technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors. The event is being presented by the Washington Global Health Alliance in partnership with the University of Washington Department of Global Health, CityClub, and the Pacific Health Summit. The Washington Global Health Alliance is a coalition for Washington State's global health organizations, connecting, organizing, and motivating groups with the common goal of improving health conditions for people throughout the world. For those of you who cannot attend, we will be streaming the event live so you can log on at that time to watch: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wgha-discovery-series. The Seattle Channel will also be taping the event. http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=50371

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OMC Hackathon at MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, MA on July 1-2
by Yaw Anokwa 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

The Open Mobile Consortium (of which UW's CommCare and ODK are a part) will be having a hackathon at the MIT Media Lab on July 1st and 2nd. The goal of the two days is to have some fun programming together to extend one or more open source tools supported by the Open Mobile Consortium or other tools that want to integrate. Details and (free) registration can be found here: http://www.open-mobile.org/news/join-us-next-omc-technical-meeting-july-1-a…

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