- change - Mailing Lists

Re: [change] New MPPT Solar charge controllers
by Hittey 25 Jun '17

25 Jun '17

0ef7fcae7b10b6ec70c4b9e4f410cdb3

1 0

FW: Help needed: Internet access in Africa
by Abraham D. Flaxman 22 Jun '17

22 Jun '17

I’m passing on this email from the Software Carpentry mailing list, in case anyone has good leads for building IT capacity at Gabon U. --Abie From: Discuss [mailto:discuss-bounces@lists.software-carpentry.org] On Behalf Of Anelda van der Walt Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 11:57 PM To: Software Carpentry Discussion <discuss(a)lists.software-carpentry.org<mailto:discuss@lists.software-carpentry.org>> Subject: [Discuss] Help needed: Internet access in Africa Dear all, I realise we have a very diverse group of people subscribed to this list and really hope someone on the list can help with ideas or can put us in touch with someone who can help. In July 2017 colleagues from University of New Orleans will be running a 5-day bioinformatics workshop in Gabon, Central Africa. The workshop will include some modules from the Carpentry repertoire. The researchers from New Orleans have a longstanding relationship with the Gabon university and have been involved in a number of capacity building initiatives over the years. Amongst other things, participants will learn this year, to use cloud computing (thanks Jason!) for genomics data analysis... The reality is that the university does not have Internet... Although our colleagues from the US will be buying data bundles and using the local mobile network to get access to Internet for the duration of the course (with its limitations and high costs associated), we are trying to help the university to get access to Internet at a broader level. We are working with the country's Education and Research Network service provider, but costs are astronomical and as such the Science Faculty, who is keen to take a lead on this initiative, will just not be able to cover installation costs and monthly costs from an already depleted budget. So, we have a use case (bioinformatics data analysis in the cloud), we have a champion at the Gabon university (Dean of Science Faculty), we have the network provider ready with plans to install (GabonREN), we have an existing relationship between US/Gabon (so not one of those once off helicopter capacity building initiatives). What we don't have: * Skills in the IT department to install and maintain internet (The Science Dean said they will have to contract these skills in) * Funding to afford the initial installation * Funding to maintain the installation (staff/contractors) * Funding for monthly line rental Does anybody have an idea about someone we could approach for help? I look forward to seeing how our collective wisdom and networks may be able to help fellow researchers get access to the Internet. Kind regards, Anelda

1 0

ICTD 2017 Lahore, Pakistan | Call for Notes
by Agha Ali Raza 18 Jun '17

18 Jun '17

ICTD 2017, Pakistan | 16-19 November 2017 <http://ictd2017.itu.edu.pk/> Call for Notes <http://ictd2017.itu.edu.pk/> The Ninth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD 2017), to be hosted at the Information Technology University in Lahore (Pakistan) from November 16 to 19, 2017, cordially invites you to submit Notes. ICTD 2017 will provide an international forum for scholarly researchers to explore the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in social, political, and economic development. Important Dates July 14, 2017: Deadline for submission of Notes September 1, 2017: Notification of acceptances for Notes September 15, 2016: Camera-ready deadline for Notes All submissions are due at 11.59pm UTC. Over the past several decades, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become more pervasive, accessible, and relevant in the lives of people around the world. Virtually no sphere of human activity remains apart from ICTs, from markets to health care, education to governance, family life to artistic expression. Diverse groups across the world interact with, are affected by, and can shape the design of these technologies. The ICTD conference is a place to understand these interactions, and to examine, critique, and refine the persistent, pervasive hope that ICTs can be enlisted by individuals and communities in the service of human development. There are multidisciplinary challenges associated with the engineering, application, and adoption of ICTs in developing regions and/or for development, with implications for design, policy, and practice. For the purposes of this conference, the term “ICT” comprises electronic technologies for information processing and communication, as well as systems, interventions, and platforms that are built on such technologies. “Development” includes, but is not restricted to, poverty alleviation, education, agriculture, healthcare, general communication, gender equality, governance, infrastructure, environment, and sustainable livelihoods. The conference program will reflect the multidisciplinary nature of ICTD research, with anticipated contributions from fields including,but not limited to, anthropology, computer science, communication, design, economics, electrical engineering, geography, human-computer interaction, information science, information systems, political science, public health, and sociology. Notes With a 4-page limit, Notes are intended to introduce work-in-progress that may be published later in a journal, as well as to document shorter project write-ups. An ICTD Note is likely to have a more focused and succinct research contribution to the ICTD field than Full Papers. For example, Notes on novel ICTD systems may not cover the entire design of the system but may instead go into depth in specific areas (e.g., how the system was evaluated with real users or how the formative work to create the system was conducted). Notes are also not expected to include a discussion of related work that is as broad and complete as that of a submission to the Full Papers venue. Accepted Notes will be presented as poster presentations at the conference. This year we are also introducing short oral presentations (in addition to posters) for top notes based on the recommendations of reviewers. Notes will be evaluated by at least two multidisciplinary reviewers in a double-blind fashion and will be assessed according to their research contribution, methodological soundness, quality of analysis, quality of writing, and presentation. Manuscripts considering novel designs, new technologies, project assessments, policy analyses, impact studies, theoretical contributions, social issues around ICT and development, and so forth will be considered. However Notes need not necessarily be as comprehensive, novel, or generalizable as Full Papers. Submissions Only original, unpublished, research papers in English will be considered. Notes must use the ACM templates <http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates> (LaTex and Word) and must be no longer than 4 pages respectively. The main text, figures, tables, footnotes, references, etc. must fit within these page limits. Additional material may be included in an Appendix, but the text within the page limits must read as a standalone work. Submissions longer than the page limits, not in the template format, not related to the conference themes, and/or not meeting a minimum bar of academic research writing will be rejected without full review. Submitted Notes must not include names or other information that would identify the authors. All accepted Notes will be made available in the ACM Digital Library. Copyright for Notes will be retained by the authors. Here is the link to the notes submission site: https://ictd2017.cs.washington.edu/note/ General Conference Chair Umar Saif, Information Technology University Program Committee Chairs Richard Anderson, University of Washington Carleen Maitland, Pennsylvania State University Notes Chairs Neha Kumar, Georgia Institute of Technology Agha Ali Raza, Information Technology University Open Session Chairs Melissa Densmore, University of Cape Town Mustafa Naseem, University of Colorado Boulder -- Agha Ali Raza Assistant Professor - Computer Science Department Information Technology University 6th Floor, Arfa Software Technology Park, 346-B, Ferozepur Road, Lahore Home page: www.cs.cmu.edu/~araza

1 0

Global Design Challenge: help make a lifesaving device
by Trevor Perrier 06 Jun '17

06 Jun '17

From: Balderston, Beth <bbalderston(a)path.org> *Global Design Challenge: help make a lifesaving device* PATH and Autodesk Foundation seek designs for device that delivers lifesaving medicine to babies, children, and adults. http://blog.path.org/2017/06/path-kicks-off-global-design- challenge-with-autodesk-foundation/ PATH and the Autodesk Foundation <http://www.autodesk.org/who-we-are> are reaching out to people around the world to help design a lifesaving device: the RELI Delivery System (which stands for Reusable Electricity-free Low-cost Infusion pump). The challenge: to complete the design of this low-cost infusion pump, which will deliver medicines, fluids, and nutrition to newborns and adults in some of the world’s most remote settings. ----- Beth Balderston, MS Communications Officer Reproductive Health PATH 2201 Westlake Avenue, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98121 | TEL 206.285.3500 x4888 | www.path.org | www.rho.org

1 0

Tomorrow at Change: Micro-Ethnography - Learning to Observe (Ted McCarthy)
by Trevor Perrier 29 May '17

29 May '17

Hi All, Please join us tomorrow for the last Change Seminar of the quarter. Ted McCarthy will be joining us to discuses a concept he is calling "micro-ethnography" and how important it is to user design and research - particular in an ICTD context. In this seminar Ted will discuses how the ability to "just watch something" should be given the respect it deserves in academic research, undergrad and graduate coursework, industry research job postings and resumes, and beyond. *What: *Learning to Observe: Making (Micro-) Ethnography Great Again *Who: *Ted McCarthy *When: *Tuesday May 30 *Where: *12pm in CSE 203 *Short Description:* "Ethnography" is a term sparingly used in technology research these days, and for good reason: to some of us, it may sound "fluffy", and to others, intimidating. For many, the term itself evokes images of overly-bearded Indian Jones-types "going native" on remote Pacific islands, and there's a seemingly-pervasive fear that to say "I do ethnography" is to invite criticism from anyone who "really" does ethnography. And while terms like "rapid ethnography" have been bandied about to overcome some of these hurdles, that process itself is generally described as a *process; *it's usually something referred to as taking up days or weeks, not seconds or minutes interspersed throughout a day in the field. But it doesn't have to be this way! I argue for the reinstatement and rethought of the value of observation, a long-neglected tool in the qualitative researcher's toolbelt. What I'm calling "micro-ethnography" is especially valuable in international development contexts, where other research methods, like interviews and surveys, fall short under the dual constraints of language and cultural differences. The ability and desire to *just watch something* is increasingly rare in our rapidly accelerating world, but it's as important as ever, and should be given the respect it deserves in academic research, undergrad and graduate coursework, industry research job postings and resumes, and beyond. We'll look as a variety of examples from journalism, literature, documentary filmmaking, and more to tease out lessons from these diverse fields with an aim to improve our own work. *Bio:* Ted McCarthy is a user researcher who has worked on early-stage projects in "emerging markets" for the past several years, having apparently now drunk the industry kool-aid and adopted its parlance. He's spent the last ~1.5 years contracting with Google to conduct research on several hardware & software network products related to internet speed & access in developing countries, and before that was a UX consultant in healthcare and beyond. Ted spent several years in academia at the universities of Michigan and Washington, where he worked on accessibility and health projects in developing countries. He now lives in San Francisco, where he dearly misses Seattle's gorgeous mountains and delicious beers, but in no way its rain.

1 0

Tomorrow at Change: Paper: Why it's thriving and what you can do about it - Skye Gilbert
by Trevor Perrier 22 May '17

22 May '17

Hello All, Please join us at Change tomorrow. Skye Gilbert from PATH will be joining us to talk about the persistence and usefulness of paper in ICT4D projects. *What: *Paper: Why it's thriving and what you can do about it. *When: *Tuesday May 23 *Where: *12pm in CSE 203 *Short description: * There is no doubt that digital interventions have the potential to transform health systems in low-resource environments, whether by providing access to medical information, tracking patients over time or improving operations. So why do so many digital pilots struggle with adoption? This talk walks through experiences in the field, and introduces a few frameworks that can help identify and anticipate both adoption challenges and their root cause. *Bio: * Skye has worked on health and information systems from a variety of different lenses, first as an academic researcher living in Senegal and China, then as a consultant to the private sector at BCG, and finally as a Program and Strategy Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She joined PATH in 2016 and is leading the Digital Health team's data use, private sector partnerships and strategic consulting efforts.

1 0

Re: [change] Solar charge controller
by Hittey 22 May '17

22 May '17

0ef7fcae7b10b6ec70c4b9e4f410cdb3

1 0

Nafundi hiring experienced Android dev for Open Data Kit
by Yaw Anokwa 19 May '17

19 May '17

Open Data Kit (ODK, https://opendatakit.org) provides free and open source tools for social good organizations to collect data quickly, accurately, offline, and at scale. ODK has been used to collect billions of data points around the world. Example projects include gathering real-time election data in emerging democracies (https://youtu.be/O-CGzo3m4PA) forest monitoring in Indonesia (https://vimeo.com/109241884) and tracking polio vaccinations in the Middle East (https://youtu.be/zROyvrvt-zk) ODK's design enables novice users to collect data in challenging environments and its robustness in these environments has driven the platform's adoption and evolution. Additionally, building an open source community (https://github.com/opendatakit) around ODK has allowed it to benefit from code and content contributions from users, implementers, and developers. Nafundi (https://nafundi.com) is a company started by founders of ODK that offers professional services and software customization for ODK tools. We are seeking a software developer with Android experience to improve ODK Collect (https://github.com/opendatakit/collect) The ideal candidate is passionate about improving code quality and is interested in designing and building new features across the ODK platform. Responsibilities include: * Add tests to ODK Collect and improve code quality * Introduce, document and advocate for Android best practices * Work with the community to specify new features * Implement new features * Review other community members' code * Mentor contributors Minimum qualifications: * Experience creating and publishing Android applications * Experience working with, testing and improving legacy code * Demonstrated ability to self-motivate (side project, open source contributions) Preferred qualifications: * Interest in design, user interfaces, and user experience * Code contributions to open source projects, Android preferred * Experience working remotely and with globally distributed teams What we offer: * A chance to contribute to a project with broad social impact * A distributed, open, and fun community eager for software improvements * Location independence * Flexible contract-based arrangement Contract rate and length are negotiable based on experience and interests. If this sounds like a good fit, please send a brief email describing your interest, links to the Android applications you have worked on, and your resume to jobs(a)nafundi.com with subject: Experienced Android Developer for Open Data Kit.

1 0

Talk by Nimmi Rangaswamy (IIIT Hyderabad) on 5/19
by Aditya Vashistha 18 May '17

18 May '17

Hi all, Nimmi Rangawamy is visiting UW on May 19th. Nimmi has done fascinating work in examining digital practices of low-income, low-literate youth in urban India. She will give a talk (details below) at 2:30 in CSE 503. Please consider attending it. Also, please sign-up here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wk6GLf8wpTjraSt9DoGGsOzis9f9KLlx7e5…> if you would like to meet with her. *Title:* The Surplus Self at the Digital Margins: Case Studies of Digital Life from Urban India *Date:* May 19 (Friday) 2:30pm *Place:* CSE 503, Paul G Allen Center *Abstract:* In this talk, I will briefly outline my journey as a social anthropologist in the field of HCI and ICTD and working beside software Industry specialists , techies and currently among AI scientists. Through my research projects, I will trace the evolution of the anthropological lens in understanding and broadening technology adoption in the context of developing nations. Having spent the last decade doing ethnographic fieldwork on the use of new information technologies in emerging markets, I’ve encountered time and again a host of media practices that flagrantly defied stereotypical understanding and framing of ICT use in the global south displaying rich, informed and focused use of mobile and internet technologies Some of the questions I try to unpack in this talk are the following: As even the less-privileged in developing countries become ambient broadcasters to stay connected, how will these digital broadcasting behaviors seep through to impact other lived spheres of life, lifestyles and opportunities? Will the social dimension of the surplus digital self play out, how and where? Is it an artifice to draw boundaries between the digital and other dimensions of the social when we discuss impact, outcomes, empowerment and social mobility? *Short Bio:* Nimmi Rangaswamy works at the interface of Digital HCI and Anthropology. She recently joined as Professor at the the Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems, Indian Institute of Information Technology, IIIT, Hyderabad. Formerly, she was a Senior Researcher and Area Manager of Human Interactions research at the Xerox Research Centre India, Bangalore. Nimmi is also currently Adjunct Professor at the Indian institute of Technology, Hyderabad teaching several courses on HCI and the Social Sciences. Best, Aditya

1 0

Fwd: [TIER] Fwd: ICT4D-related jobs at Sheffield University (Post-Docs and Sen Lecturer) - please share
by Yaw Anokwa 16 May '17

16 May '17

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Melissa Densmore <melissa.r.densmore(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, May 16, 2017 at 5:03 AM Subject: [TIER] Fwd: ICT4D-related jobs at Sheffield University (Post-Docs and Sen Lecturer) - please share To: TIER <tier(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dorothea J Kleine <d.j.kleine(a)sheffield.ac.uk> Date: Mon, May 15, 2017 at 6:46 PM Subject: ICT4D-related jobs at Sheffield University (Post-Docs and Sen Lecturer) - please share To: Dorothea J Kleine <d.j.kleine(a)sheffield.ac.uk> Dear colleagues, please do help us share these four job opportunities - many thanks: The Sheffield Institute for International Development is looking to appoint 2 Postdoctoral Research Fellows. We are looking for dynamic, energetic researchers in international development, who have been awarded a PhD since September 2013 and whose prime motivation is to do world class impactful research. The requirements of the job are, primarily, to complete a research project of the applicant's own design, publish and apply for further funding opportunities.We will particularly welcome applicants who fit well with one or more of three of SIID’s research themes: (a) Health, (b) Governance and Advocacy and (c) Digital Technologies, Data and Innovation. More about these jobs is here: https://jobs.shef.ac.uk/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/hrrcf_a_posting_apply?PARAM=cG… Deadline: 31 May 2017 --- The Sheffield Information School is looking to appoint 2 Senior Lecturers (Associate Professor equivalent) in Data Science, Information Systems, Information Retrieval. An interest in ICT4D would be very welcome. https://jobs.shef.ac.uk/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/hrrcf_a_posting_apply?PARAM=cG… Deadline: 5 June 2017 The Head of School is Peter Bath who would be happy to discuss these roles. ---- Successful candidates for any of these roles can come and join our new interdisciplinary Digital Technologies, Data and Innovation Group at the Sheffield Institute for International Development with over 20 staff, post-docs and PhDs from across 13 disciplines: http://siid.group.shef.ac.uk/research/digital-technoand-innovation/ as well as the Sheffield Digital Society Network: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/social-sciences/digital-society-network… Sheffield is a large, culturally vibrant, friendly city in the North of England, 2 hours by train from London. It features many green public spaces, live music venues, social innovation initiatives and creative maker spaces throughout the city, and the Peak District National Park is 5 miles from the University campus. Sheffield University is a large research intensive university ranked within the top 100 universities globally with a strong commitment to making a difference with our research. It was listed as 25th in the UK Sunday Times Top 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For 2017. For informal discussions about these roles, please feel free to contact Dorothea Kleine (d.j.kleine(a)Sheffield.ac.uk) -- Prof Dorothea Kleine Research Theme Lead, Digital Technologies, Data and Innovation (DDI) at the Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID) Professorial Research Fellow, Dept of Geography, University of Sheffield ESRC-CONFAP Food Futures 2.0 digital film project in Rio and London - www.youthandfoodfutures.org _______________________________________________ TIER mailing list Website: http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu TIER(a)tier.cs.berkeley.edu https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tier

1 0