- change - Mailing Lists

Fwd: CFP: ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS) --- July 3 – 5, 2019 --- Accra, Ghana
by Kurtis Heimerl 06 Jan '19

06 Jan '19

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Jay Chen <jay.chen(a)nyu.edu> Date: Sun, Jan 6, 2019 at 9:22 AM Subject: CFP: ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS) --- July 3 – 5, 2019 --- Accra, Ghana To: Undisclosed recipients <jay.chen(a)nyu.edu> ***Apologies for cross-posting*** Computing and Sustainable Societies 2019 Accra, Ghana | July 3 – 5, 2019 https://acmcompass.org/ The second annual ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS 2019) invites submissions for the conference to be hosted at Accra, Ghana, July 3 – 5, 2019. COMPASS began as ACM DEV, which was held annually between 2010 and 2016. The COMPASS conference, now in its second year, aims to advance the state-of-the-art in developing sustainable technologies for regions around the world. Researchers at the conference have broad technical expertise, spanning artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, networking, systems, speech and language processing, computer security, data mining, and computer vision. They seek to apply this expertise to diverse problems in sustainable development, spanning health, accessibility, education, agriculture, financial services, and governance. Call for Papers The second annual ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS 2019) invites submissions for the conference. The program <https://acmcompass.org/2018/program> from last year showcases the types of topics typically relevant to the conference. COMPASS broadly includes papers from four general “areas”: Systems, HCI, Data Science/AI, and Deployment Experiences. *Systems: *The Systems area focuses on computational innovations. Relevant topics may include networking; data collection toolkits; *HCI: *The HCI area focuses on socio-technical systems. Relevant topics may include gender equity; social forces influencing wireless network access; the landlord/tenant information economy; *Data Science/AI: *The Data Science/AI area focuses on analysis, collection of large scale data sets as well as models and algorithms for developing and studying AI based systems. AI applications not deployed are also considered in this area. *Deployment Experiences: *The Deployment Experiences area focuses on reporting experiences with field deployments or results from long-term studies that can provide valuable insights into how our tools perform (or fail) in real-world applications. Tracks COMPASS 2019 will have two tracks. To help facilitate global representativeness, COMPASS provides mentoring to support potential authors who need guidance in creating these papers. The* Papers* track will represent archival journal-type submissions, with a length of between 4 to 10 pages plus references. Papers submitted to this track should represent polished, significant contributions. Authors are encouraged to submit a paper of length proportional to its contribution. In addition, COMPASS 2019 will have a *Posters *track for preliminary projects or late-breaking results. Posters will not be archival and are intended to allow presenters to share their latest results or get early feedback on projects. Poster submissions will be limited to 2 pages plus references. There are two poster submission deadlines (March 15 and May 15) to allow for earlier travel planning as well as late-breaking work. Important dates Feb 1, 2019: Requests for mentorship due March 15, 2019: Submission of Papers and Posters (first round) due April 1, 2019: Notification of Posters (first round) acceptances May 1, 2019: Notification of decisions for Papers May 15, 2019: Submission of Posters (second round) due May 30, 2019: Notification of Posters (second round) acceptances June 15, 2019: Camera-ready of Papers due All submission are due 11:59 pm UTC. General Conference Chair Richard Anderson, University of Washington Program Chairs Jennifer Mankoff, University of Washington Carla Gomes, Cornell University Jay Chen, NYU Abu Dhabi Local Arrangement Chairs Ayorkor Korsah, Angela Ansah, and Nathan Amanquah, Asheshi University *CSG Steering Committee* Richard Anderson, University of Washington Nicola Dell, Cornell Tech Melissa Densmore, University of Cape Town Carla Gomes, Cornell University Jennifer Mankoff, University of Washington Aaditeshwar Seth, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Lakshmi Subramanian, New York University Miland Tambe, University of Southern California Bill Thies, Microsoft Research New England Ellen Zegura, Georgia Tech *Program Committee* TBA -- Public Key: https://flowcrypt.com/pub/kheimerl@cs.washington.edu

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UW Change Seminar Tuesday, Jan 8: Dominic Widdows, Southeast Asia, NLP, and Grab
by Philip Garrison 06 Jan '19

06 Jan '19

Please join us Tuesday at noon in *CSE 203* for the first Change talk of the quarter with Dominic Widdows of Grab. *Who:* Dominic Widdows *What:* Southeast Asia, NLP, and Grab *When:* Tuesday, Jan 8, 12-1pm *Where:* CSE 203 *Abstract* Grab has become the leading transportation company, and increasingly technology platform, throughout Southeast Asia. We have unique challenges and opportunities with language understanding and interfaces. Grab needs to support a bigger range of languages than any of the comparable ridehailing companies, and Southeast Asian languages are much less well-resourced than other world languages that have far fewer speakers. At the same time, we have large amounts of text through reviews, customer service, and chat, and some of the unsupervised learning techniques currently at the forefront of Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence are well-placed to make use of these texts to enhance our language understanding capabilities. Long-term dreams include a seamless way to interact with Grab’s products as if you’re talking to a very knowledgeable concierge. Interim steps include understanding customer service inquiries, translation, and various kinds of sentiment analysis. This talk will be a very brief introduction to the language landscape, NLP techniques, and how we can use them. *About the speaker* >From a background in differential geometry, Dominic started work in NLP in 2001, developing vector space models for language representation and reasoning back when this was still an esoteric and obscure avenue of research. He’s best known in this field for the book Geometry and Meaning, the use of quantum logic to represent search queries and word meanings, and the SemanticVectors package, which has been building word embedding models since 2007 and is freely available on GitHub for anyone to play with. He’s worked on NLP, machine learning, information extraction, and transportation logistics at Google and Microsoft, before joining Grab in 2016, hoping to contribute in some of the world’s most exciting and challenging places

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You can now remove me from mailing list
by Arlyce Coumar 04 Jan '19

04 Jan '19

Thanks Arlyce Coumar at arlyce(a)gmail.com -- Arlyce Coumar

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ICTD 2019 conference livestream
by Esther Jang 04 Jan '19

04 Jan '19

Hi all, For those of you who wanted to be at ICTD this year (the 10th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, Jan 4-7) but could not, there is a livestream available here: https://www.ictdx.org/livestreaming The first opening talks are happening now! Thanks, - Esther

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TASCHA hiring a research assistant for Winter Quarter - applications due Jan 4
by Stacey Wedlake 28 Dec '18

28 Dec '18

I hope everyone is enjoying their Winter Break. The Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) in the Information School (iSchool) and the School of Marine Sciences seek a graduate Research Assistant for Winter Quarter to conduct a literature review of frameworks, curricula, tools, and programs that provide organizations and individuals data skills for better decision making. Of particular interest is capacity building that gives diverse communities with different resources the tools to create and use knowledge in ways that can also support national and international statistics. Please see our website for more information: https://tascha.uw.edu/2018/12/tascha-hiring-winter-2019-research-assistant/ It's a tight application window. Resumes and cover letters must be received no later than Jan 4. Thanks and happy new year! Stacey A. Wedlake Research Coordinator Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA) University of Washington Information School

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Who could provide Internet connectivity for community-based groups in Puerto Rico?
by Yosem Companys 27 Dec '18

27 Dec '18

Hey All, First of all, I hope you're all doing well and having a wonderful holiday season. I wish you all a Happy New Year. We are helping a number of community-based groups in Puerto Rico (PR) apply for U.S. federal funding for post-Maria recovery and reconstruction. Part of the application for a specific grant opportunity on which I'm helping requires that the groups have Internet access prior to application. Do any of you know of any organizations that offer Internet connectivity to disadvantaged, marginalized, and/or vulnerable populations who might be interested in helping out? Please feel free to share my message widely. Thanks, Yosem P.S. Please note that Puerto Rico is part of the U.S. so all rules and regulations governing Internet connectivity stateside apply to PR as well.

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Fwd: [dub] Design project idea
by Matthew Johnson 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

If anyone is interested in working on language and translation, this could be an interesting project with large general benefit! -Matt J. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Emily M. Bender <ebender(a)uw.edu> Date: Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 18:36 Subject: [dub] Design project idea To: <dub(a)dub.washington.edu> Dear all, I have an idea I'd like to pursue which I think requires collaboration between someone with expertise in design (especially UI design) and a computational linguist (like me!). This is just a quick sketch of the idea, because I'd like to know if this appeals to anyone on this list. Basically, the problem I'd like to tackle is the way that certain NLP technology makes opaque both the source of its information and its level of uncertainty. I think this is a contributing factor to problems like this one: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/24/facebook-palestine-israe… I think one possible (partial) solution here is to find a way to make that information visible to naive users. I know that when I approach machine translation systems, for example, I bring a lot of skepticism about the results based on what I know about how the systems work and how translation works in general. What I'd like to explore is whether it's possible to expose information about the system in the right way to engender similar skepticism in non-linguist users. Does this pique anyone's interest? Emily -- Emily M. Bender Professor, Department of Linguistics University of Washington Twitter: @emilymbender _______________________________________________ dub mailing list dub(a)dub.washington.edu https://dubber.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/dub

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Our People-Centered Digital Future | Right now via webcast!
by Yosem Companys 10 Dec '18

10 Dec '18

Today is the "Our People-Centered Digital Future" sponsored by Constellation Research <https://www.constellationr.com/about>. By March 2019, 50% of the world will be connected to the Internet, an inflection point that marks an important moment for examining the “unfinished work” of the Internet and discussing the community norms, human rights and social contracts required in this exponential digital era. The event recognizes both the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights <http://www.unesco.org/new/en/brasilia/about-this-office/prizes-and-celebrat…> (UDHR), the event also recognizes the 50th anniversary of the "Mother of All Demos <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos>." The event is well underway. Internet co-inventor Vint Cerf and Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee have already delivered their introductory remarks. If you missed their talks, don't worry. You can click on the Livestream timeline below to view them. There are many more events to come today into the late evening. This is a simulcast of the YouTube feed at https://youtu.be/S87r9Bn058s> (which does buffer occasionally), but with added AI captions and speaker names. Below are the Livestream links: - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ourdigitalfuture/ - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/DigitalCooperation - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/coppaat20 - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/CITIDFS-ICO - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ConnectedNE - https://livestream.com/internetsociety2/js-nyc-nov18 - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/swissigf18 - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/iotsecurity2018-4 - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ukigf18 - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/routingsecurity/ - http://www.mnn.org/live/2-lifestyle-channel - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/diversity/ - https://livestream.com/internetsociety/VisionsIG For more, please see: - Event: https://www.constellationr.com/events/PCDF - Agenda: https://www.constellationr.com/events/PCDF/agenda/2018-12-10 - Livestream: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ - SLI.DO: http://sli.do/ourdigitalfuture - #OurDigitalFuture: http://bit.ly/ourdigitalfuture - #StandUp4HumanRights: http://bit.ly/2PgVDOQ - Permalink: https://isoc.live/10734/ *** This email is brought to you via the Program on Liberation Technology at Stanford University at https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech and Joly MacFie at joly(a)punkcast.com *****

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JOB: USAID DIV STIP Officer; Deadline: Dec 13
by Yosem Companys 10 Dec '18

10 Dec '18

Jeff Brown recently re-joined Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as Division Chief. USAID DIV supports piloting and rigorous testing of innovations in development and helps transition the most successful innovations to scale. For example, DIV supported a rigorous evaluation by James Habyarimana and Billy Jack of Georgetown University which found dramatic reductions in accident rates from placing stickers in minibuses in Kenya encouraging passengers to speak up if the driver was driving unsafely. DIV then supported a national scale up, and the innovation is now improving safety for millions of Kenyans and being rigorously tested to see if there are similar effects in other countries. Jeff and Michael are looking for someone to join DIV leadership team in the exciting and senior role of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Partnership (STIP) Officer. The details are at https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/518613200. The job posting was just made but apparently is scheduled to close in 3 days on December 13! A few items to note: - Unfortunately, the position is only open to US citizens. - The U.S. federal government's human resources policy requires filling out a questionnaire. Please make sure to answer the questions in a detailed fashion as CVs and resumes may not explicitly cover areas such as "teamwork." If the applicant isn't familiar with the process of applying for government jobs through such forms, you might want to research it or reach out to someone who is familiar with the process. - Unfortunately, Jeff and Michael aren't in a position to provide further info beyond what's on the website until the prospective applicant applies and makes it further in the process (e.g., interview panel). Please feel free to apply and/or circulate the opportunity widely.

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Fwd: [jsde] Prashant Bharadwaj -- Joint Seminar in Development Economics -- December 10
by Philip Garrison 05 Dec '18

05 Dec '18

This upcoming talk about M-Shwari may be relevant to many of us. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Rachel Heath <rmheath(a)uw.edu> Date: Wed, Dec 5, 2018 at 2:58 PM Subject: [jsde] Prashant Bharadwaj -- Joint Seminar in Development Economics -- December 10 To: <jsde(a)u.washington.edu>, <econfacall(a)uw.edu>, <econgrad(a)u.washington.edu > Please join us *Monday, December 10 *for the Joint Seminar in Development Economics with Prashant Bharadwaj from UCSD. The seminar is from *11:00am - 12:30pm in Savery 410.* Title and abstract below. We hope to see you there! Sign up here to meet Prashant, or go to lunch here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aPl8mb_rgrQxDSoU0WBTX24aJAV_WdLbwl_sveg…> --- Can Digital Loans Deliver? Take Up and Impacts of Digital Loans in Kenya (with William Jack and Tavneet Suri) Developing world lenders are taking advantage of fintech tools to create fully digital loans on mobile phones. We investigate the take up and impacts of one of the most popular digital loan products, M-Shwari in Kenya, using a regression discontinuity design. While 34% of those eligible for the loan take it, this does not substitute for other formal or informal credit. The loans improve household resilience against shocks and increase their propensity to spend on education. These digital loans could therefore be an important way to improve financial access, but they are not a panacea for greater credit market failures. -- Rachel Heath Associate Professor of Economics Milliman Distinguished Scholar University of Washington rmheath(a)uw.edu <http://faculty.washington.edu/rmheath/> http://faculty.washington.edu/rmheath/ _______________________________________________ jsde mailing list jsde(a)u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/jsde

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