- change - Mailing Lists

This Week At Change: Security, Privacy, & Bit Coin in ICTD
by Waylon Brunette 20 Apr '15

20 Apr '15

Please join us this week in the Change Seminar. Camille Cobb, Sam Sudar, and Kiron Lebeck will be presenting research directions in Security & Privacy. What: Security, Privacy, & Bit Coin in ICTD When: Tuesday, April 21 at 12pm Where: The Allen Center, CSE 203 Sam Sudar and Camille Cobb will present work they started during the CSE 564 Class (Security & Privacy) last quarter. They are planning to continue the work, which explores security concerns and requirements of Open Data Kit users. Kiron Lebeck will discuss security projects related to use of Bit Coin. At this week's change talk, they will repeat the class project presentation, give an overview of plans for future work, and seek feedback and suggestions from the Change community.

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Fwd: Awaaz.De Seeking Chief Growth Officer: Help Me Spread The Word!
by Trevor Perrier 16 Apr '15

16 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Brian DeRenzi <bderenzi(a)cs.uct.ac.za> Date: Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 12:16 PM Subject: Fwd: Awaaz.De Seeking Chief Growth Officer: Help Me Spread The Word! To: Trevor Perrier <tperrier(a)cs.washington.edu> Trevor, can you forward Neil's message to Change? ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Neil Patel <neil(a)awaaz.de> Date: Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 5:50 PM Subject: Awaaz.De Seeking Chief Growth Officer: Help Me Spread The Word! To: <bderenzi(a)cs.uct.ac.za> Dear Brian, Awaaz.De <https://awaaz.de/sendy/l/1ygt/fq> is entering a new phase in 2015. After three years, we have achieved much. We have served over 4 million phone calls reaching over 300,000 individuals in 13 states in India and over 6 countries around the world. We are proud to work with some of the best organizations <https://awaaz.de/sendy/l/1ygt/fr> in the development sector. And after rigorous evaluation <https://awaaz.de/sendy/l/1ygt/fs>, our technology has been shown to deliver cost-effective social impact to marginalized communities. In 2015, our challenge is to achieve sustainable growth: increasing reach with our products and services worldwide while becoming financially viable. We have joined hands with angel investors to provide resources and guidance toward this goal. We now seek a Chief Growth Officer to lead our growth efforts. We are looking for a seasoned, creative leader who combines business acumen with a sensitivity for the development sector. The CGO would be co-founder level and work shoulder-to-shoulder with me to define Awaaz.De's mission and vision for present and future. The full job description is here <https://awaaz.de/sendy/l/1ygt/ft>. I would appreciate your help by sharing this note with anyone you know who is looking for a career opportunity in business addressing the needs of the underserved. Maybe it's you :) We would be thrilled to connect with talented folks who share our values <https://awaaz.de/sendy/l/1ygt/fu> and have the vision and drive to lead Awaaz.De in this exciting next chapter. To respond, please send a mail to jobs(a)awaaz.de and include "CGO" in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you! Best, Neil

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Call for Proposals - UW eScience Institute's Incubation Program: Data Science for Social Good
by Brittany Fiore-Gartland 16 Apr '15

16 Apr '15

*Call for Proposals - UW eScience Institute's Incubation Program: Data Science for Social Good * University of Washington's eScience Institute will be running the third offering of its Data Science Incubation Program this summer, the focus of which will be Data Science for Social Good <http://escience.washington.edu/node/997>. We invite short proposals (1-2 pages) for 10-week exploratory data-intensive science projects requiring collaboration in scalable data management, scalable machine learning, open source software development, cloud and cluster computing, and/or visualization. We are trying a new experiment this session: We are inviting proposals that have an applied "*social good*" dimension and converge around the theme of "*Urban Science and Analytics*." This incubator session is modeled after similar programs at the University of Chicago <http://dssg.io/projects/> and Georgia Tech <http://dssg-atl.io/projects/>. The successful projects on those websites may be useful as inspiration. The goal is to provide greater opportunity for interaction and collaboration between the participants in the program by attracting participants with overlapping interests while still allowing for interdisciplinary breadth. As always, we accept proposals in any area, but we hope to solicit proposals from researchers working broadly in sociology, education, policy, information, and politics in an urban context. We welcome proposals submitted by academic researchers, public agencies, non-profit entities, and companies with focus on policy-relevant projects. This incubator session is sponsored in part by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation and an emerging campus-wide initiative at UW called Urban@UW (details to follow). *Important dates:* - Apr 21: 1-hour information session, 10:00 am - 11:00 am, Data Science Studio - May 4: Applications due - May 18: Notification - Jun 15: Kickoff meeting Each project will involve one or more project leads who will come and join us in the Data Science Studio on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer from June 15th to August 21st. Each project lead will "own" their project (and its results) and be responsible for its successful completion, with the eScience team providing guidance on methods, technologies, and best practices in extracting knowledge from large, noisy, and/or heterogeneous datasets as well as general software engineering. In addition to working closely with eScience mentors, each project lead will work with a team of four students assigned to assist with their project. These students will be selected, paid, and supervised by the eScience Institute. The project team may also include external mentors and stakeholders. In reviewing the proposals, we will be looking for high-risk, high-reward science that this program can help push in a new direction. In addition, we hope to select a set of projects with shared requirements; we find that participants are most successful when they interact with each other as well as with our group. A link to the application can be found here: https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/billhowe/263056 -- Brittany Fiore-Gartland, Ph.D. Moore/Sloan Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow Washington Research Foundation Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow Human Centered Design & Engineering | eScience Institute University of Washington @brittafiore | www.fioregartland.org <http://www.fioresilfvast.org/>

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FW: Capacity Lab Bremen: Open ICT4D Postdoc Position
by Ed Cutrell 16 Apr '15

16 Apr '15

FYI, postdoc position available in Bremen. FORWARDED: Capacity Lab Bremen: Open ICT4D Postdoc Position In the International Lab for Local Capacity Building at the University of Bremen we have an open position for a postdoctoral Research Fellow. I would appreciate if you could help distribute the announcement and point out this opportunity to suitable candidates. Thank you very much! Christian Freksa In the International Lab for Local Capacity Building (www.capacitylab.org<http://www.capacitylab.org>) at the Bremen Spatial Cognition Center, University of Bremen, Germany, the following position is available: Research Fellow (Post Doc) Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) The University of Bremen is searching for an entrepreneurial researcher for the management of the International Lab for Local Capacity Building (Capacity Lab). Responsibilities: The main duties and responsibilities of the Research Fellow are: 1) to be involved in the design and implementation of multidisciplinary research activities in the area of ICT4D; 2) to devise and supervise student software development projects for computer science and digital media students; 3) to coordinate and build upon the lab’s activities and expand its network of development partners; 4) to maintain and further develop an internationally recognized research team; 5) to publish research results in the international peer-reviewed literature and other outlets; 6) to engage in capacity building activities; and 7) to seek external funding from relevant bodies. Required qualifications and experience: The successful candidate should have * A PhD in computer science or a related discipline * A background of research in an area of particular relevance to developing societies, such as health, education, agriculture, disaster management, or livelihood * A strong motivation to carry out research for new technologies for capacity building * Management and communication skills for collaboration with national and international partners including university labs, government agencies, and NGOs * Skills in international networking and connecting with related projects world-wide * Experience in project acquisition * A leadership personality and good team player skills We provide * A pleasant and open-minded interdisciplinary academic environment at the University of Bremen, one of eleven German ‘Excellence’ universities * A modern research infrastructure and a network of excellent partners around the globe * Support to building your own career The University of Bremen aims at increasing the number of female employees in science; therefore women are particularly encouraged to apply. In case of equal qualifications disabled persons will be given priority. The position is funded until 31 Dec 2017. Extension may be possible. Salary range approx. 40,000–48,000 € p.a. Please include with your application (preferably in a single pdf file): • CV • statement of interest • copies of transcripts and certificates • list of publications • two publications you are most proud of • references Please email your application by 15 May 2015 to: Capacity Lab Bremen, c/o Cognitive Systems – AG Freksa, cosy(a)informatik.uni-bremen.de<mailto:cosy@informatik.uni-bremen.de> (Subject: Capacity Lab). Later applications will be considered until position is filled. For further information about this position please contact Prof. Christian Freksa <freksa(a)uni-bremen.de<mailto:freksa@uni-bremen.de>> or Dr. Thomas Barkowsky <barkowsky(a)informatik.uni-bremen.de<mailto:barkowsky@informatik.uni-bremen.de>>

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This Week At Change: Two ICTD CHI Talks
by Trevor Perrier 13 Apr '15

13 Apr '15

Please join us this week in the Change Seminar. Aditya Vashistha and Trevor Perrier will be presenting work from published at CHI 2015 happening next week. *What: *Two ICTD CHI Talks: Aditya Vashistha and Trevor Perrier* * *When: *Tuesday, April 14 at 12pm *Where: *The Allen Center, CSE 203 *Paper Abstracts* /Engaging Pregnant Women in Kenya with a Hybrid Computer-Human SMS Communication System/ A growing body of HCI4D research studies the use of SMS communication to deliver health and information services to underserved populations. This paper contributes a novel dimension to this field of study by examining if a hybrid computer-human SMS system can engage pregnant women in Kenya in health-related communication. Our approach leverages the different strengths of both the computer and the human. The computer automates the bulk-sending of personalized messages to patients, allowing the human to read patients’ replies and respond to those in need of attention. Findings from a 12-month deployment with 100 women show that our approach is capable of engaging the majority of participants in health-related conversations. We show that receiving messages from the system triggers participant communication and the amount of communication increases as participants approach their expected due date. In addition, analysis of participants’ messages shows that they often contain sensitive health information conveyed through a complex mixture of languages and ‘txting’ abbreviations, all of which highlight the benefits of including a human in the workflow. Our findings are relevant for HCI researchers and practitioners interested in understanding or engaging underserved populations. /Sangeet Swara: A Community-Moderated Voice Forum in Rural India/ Interactive voice forums have emerged as a promising platform for people in developing regions to record and share audio messages using low-end mobile phones. However, one of the barriers to the scalability of voice forums is the process of screening and categorizing content, often done by a dedicated team of moderators. We present Sangeet Swara, a voice forum for songs and cultural content that relies on the community of callers to curate high-quality posts that are prioritized for playback to others. An 11-week deployment of Sangeet Swara found broad and impassioned usage, especially among visually impaired users. We also conducted a follow-up experiment, called Talent Hunt, that sought to reduce reliance on toll-free telephone lines. Together, our deployments span about 53,000 calls from 13,000 callers, who submitted 6,000 posts and 150,000 judgments of other content. Using a mixed-methods analysis of call logs, audio content, comparison with outside judges, and 204 automated phone surveys, we evaluate the user experience, the strengths and weaknesses of community moderation, financial sustainability, and the implications for future systems. *Bio:* Aditya Vashistha <http://www.adityavashistha.com/> is a second year PhD student in CSE. Prior to coming to UW he was at MSRI working with the Technologies for Emerging Markets <http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/tem/> group. His research interests are in the domain of Information and Communication Technologies for Development, Human-Computer Interaction for Development, Social Computing and Ubiquitous Computing. Trevor Perrier is a third year PhD student in CSE. He works closely with UW Global health to implement SMS projects for behaviour change. He is interested in building systems that engage individuals through ubiquitous communication technology.

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ICTD2015: last day for early-bird registration
by Kentaro Toyama 09 Apr '15

09 Apr '15

ICTD2015, last day for early-bird registration! http://ictd2015.org/registration/ Conference is May 15-18 in Singapore.

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iSchool Undergrad Capstone Guest Speaker (April 8) / Adnan Mahmud
by Amirah Majid 07 Apr '15

07 Apr '15

Tomorrow morning we have Adnan Mahmud as a guest speaker in the iSchool undergrad Capstone class. His work on global philanthropy and building data tools for change related organisations may interest you. All are welcome Wednesday April 8, MGH 389, 830am ...read on for some details about him... You are also welcome to participate in the MoPad, https://capstone490.etherpad.mozilla.org/8 pass: capstone ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nam-ho Park <namho(a)uw.edu> Date: Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 4:41 PM Subject: [Info490a_wi15] Guest Speaker (April 8) / Adnan Mahmud --- *Adnan Mahmud* Founder, CEO of LiveStories.com [image: Inline image 2] Adnan Mahmud is the founder and CEO of LiveStories <http://livestories.com/> - a Seattle-based startup building data tools for non-data people, simplifying data analysis, visualization, and presentation for everyone. LiveStories is being used by governments and large nonprofits, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, government of Nigeria, and county health departments in California, to make smarter decisions. Prior to LiveStories, he founded and grew Jolkona.org <http://jolkona.org/> a crowdsourcing platform that provide impact reports for every donation. He also worked 8 years in Microsoft where he managed the two biggest data pipeliness for the company, obtaining few patents around data analysis and visualization, and ran incubation projects in Microsoft Research, contributing technologies to major Microsoft products like Office, Windows, XBOX Kinect, and Bing. Adnan is an envoy for US State Department for social entrepreneurship and youth leadership, speaking at university campuses around the world. He has been featured on TED <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FvPJzvxhlw>, CNN, NPR, and Seattle Times and he is a regular contributor to Huffington Post <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adnan-mahmud/>. -- -- ----- --- -- ---- -- - ----- ---- --- --- -- - -- ---- ---- --- - -- --- --- -- -- Nam-ho Park Instructor, INFO 490/491 Information School | University of Washington namho(a)uw.edu ALSO: Annan Mahmud / Jolkona, LiveStories http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adnan-mahmud/ Four M's of Millennial Giving: Micro, Meaningful, Mobile and Monthly http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adnan-mahmud/four-ms-of-millennial-giv_b_3639… Geek of the Week: Adnan Mahmud, Jolkona co-founder http://www.geekwire.com/2011/geek-of-the-week-adnan-mahmud-jolkona-cofounde… Drop by drop, a current of young philanthropy grows http://www.seattletimes.com/business/drop-by-drop-a-current-of-young-philan… -- A. M. Majid أميرة ماجد‬‎ PhD student Information School, University of Washington Seattle USA https://users.resist.ca/~amirah/

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Fwd: [infogov-pwg] Fwd: USAID Latin America and Caribbean Open Data Hackathon 2015
by Matt Podolsky 07 Apr '15

07 Apr '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Brian Bingham <bbingham(a)usaid.gov> Date: Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 2:25 PM Subject: Fwd: [infogov-pwg] Fwd: USAID Latin America and Caribbean Open Data Hackathon 2015 Hi all, FYI, the Open Data people at USAID are hosting a hackathon at the end of the month. Please see the following email from them and circulate the invite to whomever you think might be interested Brian *How can we tackle crime and violence in Mexico and Central America? Can **data from project evaluations in the 1980s shed new light on projects in the region today?* These are the types of questions we are looking to answer; that’s why we at USAID are hosting a Latin America Open Data Hackathon <http://bit.ly/LACHack>. The LACHack, as we affectionately call it, will explore these challenging questions. As you may be aware, Central America is one of the most violent regions in the world; Honduras and El Salvador have the highest murder rates compared to any other country. The region’s ongoing crisis requires attention from the foreign assistance community. USAID’s LACHack is your chance to help shape these efforts! Join us in exploring and creating tools that can help USAID, regional governments, and other stakeholders refine our understanding of crime and violence in Mexico and Central America. Event: USAID LACHack Date: April 30th and May 1st 2015 Location: OpenGov Hub <https://www.google.com/maps/place/OpenGov+Hub/@38.904319,-77.033088,15z/dat…> in Washington DC + online participation Register here <https://docs.google.com/a/usaid.gov/forms/d/1QknYkcOv1vpNfIn0Zs5yvrRZaRL_4q…> This is your opportunity to influence foreign assistance programming by using open data to generate new regional insight. In addition to participating in the hackathon, we want to know in advance what challenges you want to address. For example: · *How would you use data to tell the story about USAID’s work in Mexico and Central America**?* · *How can we use public opinion data to tackle crime and violence in Mexico and Central America?* · *How can we combine data sources to get a more robust picture of crime and violence in a* *country like Honduras?* This might include public opinion data, like the Latin American Public Opinion Project <http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/about-americasbarometer.php>, but can also include sources such as government data, citizen reports, social media analytics, and other tools*.* · *What patterns, associations, and trends emerge in Mexico and Central America when we cross-reference funding data with findings from project evaluations?* We are crowdsourcing more detailed questions around these topics this month. Visit our event page <http://bit.ly/LACHack> to collaborate <https://hackpad.com/USAID-Latin-America-and-Caribbean-Open-Data-Hackathon-2…>and register <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QknYkcOv1vpNfIn0Zs5yvrRZaRL_4q240tunJIomrD…>! Can’t make the hackathon in person? We welcome online participation before, after, and during the event! <http://your.website.address.here?id=preview> <http://your.website.address.here?id=preview> *Announcing USAID's * *Latin America and Caribbean * *Open Data Hackathon 2015* *When:* April 30th & May 1st 2015 *Where:* OpenGov Hub <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001lQWeJKERx9gwHaPshDzL8-D5rchl8wU0qB5Vo0xxVQKl…> in Washington DC, and online via virtual participation *Click Here to Register <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001lQWeJKERx9gwHaPshDzL8-D5rchl8wU0qB5Vo0xxVQKl…>* *How can we tackle crime and violence in Mexico and Central America?* *Can data from project evaluations in the 1980s shed new light on projects in the region today?* These are the types of questions we are looking to answer; that's why we at USAID are hosting a Latin America Open Data Hackathon <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001lQWeJKERx9gwHaPshDzL8-D5rchl8wU0qB5Vo0xxVQKl…>. The LACHack, as we affectionately call it, will explore these challenging questions. As you may be aware, Central America is one of the most violent regions in the world; Honduras and El Salvador have the highest murder rates compared to any other country. The region's ongoing crisis requires attention from the foreign assistance community. USAID's LACHack is your chance to help shape these efforts! Join us in exploring and creating tools that can help USAID, regional governments, and other stakeholders refine our understanding of crime and violence in Mexico and Central America. This is your opportunity to influence foreign assistance programming by using open data to generate new regional insight. *Additional Questions? * Contact Alana Marsili, Open Data Specialist, amarsili(a)usaid.gov And be sure to visit our Event Page <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001lQWeJKERx9gwHaPshDzL8-D5rchl8wU0qB5Vo0xxVQKl…> for more Information Forward this email <http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=7x5ab6pab&m=1116591913724&ea=…> <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=001QVS9LXM7vS4cuDFm5CLavbFZ9…> This email was sent to globaldevlab(a)usaid.gov by amarsili(a)usaid.gov | Update Profile/Email Address <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&mse=001QVS9LXM7vS4cuDFm5CLavbFZ9…> | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=001QVS9LXM7vS4cuDFm5CLavbFZ9…>™ | Privacy Policy <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp?id=preview>. <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_News_234&id=preview> USAID | 1300 Pennsylvania Ave | Washington | DC | 20523 -- Alana Maria Marsili 202-712-4538 // 6.7.081 Management and Program Analyst/Open Data Presidential Management Fellow M/MPBP, USAID -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "InfoGov-PWG" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to infogov-pwg%2Bunsubscribe(a)usaid.gov. To post to this group, send email to infogov-pwg(a)usaid.gov. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/usaid.gov/d/msgid/infogov-pwg/CA%2B0TpsRd2BcFpV… <https://groups.google.com/a/usaid.gov/d/msgid/infogov-pwg/CA%2B0TpsRd2BcFpV…> . -- *Brian Bingham, Ph.D.* AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow U.S. Global Development Lab | Higher Education Solutions Network US Agency for International Development bbingham(a)usaid.gov

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Change Today: Neha Kumar Community-Led Video Education
by Trevor Perrier 07 Apr '15

07 Apr '15

The first Change Talk of the quarter is today. Please join us and welcome Neha back as she talks about the Projecting Health project which she will be presenting at ICTD 2015 in May. *What: *Community-Led Video Education for Maternal Health - Neha Kumar* * *When: *Tuesday, April 7 at 12pm *Where: *The Allen Center, CSE 203 *Projecting Health: Community-Led Video Education for Maternal Health* In this talk, I will present a qualitative study of Projecting Health, a public health project we deployed in rural Uttar Pradesh (India) to address persistently high maternal and infant mortality rates. This project is based on our model of Community-led Video Education (CVE), which leverages community resources for the generation, dissemination, and assimilation of visual media. We use the lens of information flows to examine how our instantiation of CVE enables the translation of globally approved health care norms to local household practices. We also demonstrate how CVE allows for integration with current community practices, existing state-supported health care infrastructure, social and patriarchal structures, and power dynamics within our target populations to drive community participation. *Bio:* Neha Kumar is a postdoctoral researcher at the Annenberg School of Communication in University of Southern California. Prior to this, she was at the University of Washington for a year, working as a postdoc with Profs. Richard Anderson and Gaetano Borriello in the Computer Science and Engineering department. She completed her PhD at the School of Information at UC Berkeley, where she was advised by Prof. Tapan Parikh.

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Change This Quarter & ENTRE 579
by Trevor Perrier 29 Mar '15

29 Mar '15

Spring quarter is starting and I wanted to pass along a few announcements for the Change Seminar. First, there will be no seminar this week as classes start up but we plan to meet weekly starting April 7th. We will be meeting at the usual time on Tuesdays at 12pm in CSE 203. Please join us and consider registering for the class (SLN 12828) Second, I have attached the syllabus for ENTRE 579 a class from the Foster School on Business Models and Opportunities in Global Health. The class will be taught by Emer Dooley's and should be relevant to members of the Change community. There are no pre-reqs and the class is open to all grad students across campus. Lastly, if you or anyone else in your research group/lab is interested in speaking at Change this quarter please contact my self or Adytia. Thanks, - Trevor Perrier

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