Next Monday evening there will be a special session of my class CSEP 590b,  Computing and the developing world.

The session is special, since it will have three great guest speakers, and because it is on Monday night instead of the usual Wednesday night.

The class meets at 6:30 pm,  Monday,  May 12 in CSE 305 at UW, and in Building 99 (room 1915) on the Microsoft Campus.

From: csep590b-admin@cs.washington.edu [mailto:csep590b-admin@cs.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Anderson
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 6:02 PM
To: csep590b - Mailing List
Subject: [Csep590b] Class will be held on Monday, May 12 (not Wednesday, May 14)

I am shifting next week’s class to Monday May 12 to accommodate my travel schedule.  Class will not be held on May 14.

We will have three guest speakers

                Yaw Anokwa will talk about Open MRS

                David Edelstein will talk about projects at the Grameen Technology Center

                Joyojeet Pal will talk about computer use in rural Indian schools.

All three talks will be great.

David Edelstein has requested that his segment not be archived.  That means that there will not be a video archive of David’s segment (nor will his segment be streamed).  You will need to watch this live,  either at UW,  MSR, or LUMS.

Overview of the Application Laboratory

The AppLab, an initiative of the Grameen Technology Center, is leveraging the existing base of Village Phone Operators (VPOs) and other types of Shared Phone Operators to bring information services to the rural poor via mobile devices.  It aims to:

• Deeply understand the needs of people in rural and peri-urban Uganda and build innovative applications delivered over mobile devices tailored to their needs
• Develop opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs to enhance their existing mobile device businesses with new value added services, serving as “information hubs” for their communities
• Design applications and associated business models which are financially sustainable, can be brought to scale and demonstrate potential to be replicated globally

Improved access to information can enable people to overcome market inefficiencies that cause significant barriers to economic development.  Job markets do not operate efficiently in many countries because of poor information flows.  Farmers in developing economies face challenges in obtaining fair market value for their crops, knowing appropriate prices for their inputs, obtaining guidance on effective farming practices, and getting up-to-date information on transportation, weather, pests, and other variables.

Lack of information adversely affects quality of life.  Often, people need to make significant effort just to locate health workers and medicines.  There is rarely a way to verify medicine authenticity.   It is often difficult for rural people to access basic health information, such as information about sexual and reproductive health. 

These are just a few examples of areas in which information can be delivered over mobile devices to improve livelihoods and quality of life.  The Application Laboratory (AppLab), building upon an expanding network of Village Phone and Shared Phone operators, strategic partnerships from the public and private sectors and the Grameen Technology Center’s deep on-the-ground experience, is uniquely positioned to deliver solutions which overcome these market problems and contribute to poverty alleviation.

David Edelstein Profile

David Edelstein is the Director of ICT Innovation at the Grameen Technology Center.  In this role he is responsible for developing and managing the strategy and implementation of Grameen Foundation’s AppLab initiative as well as several other initiatives.

He brings a rich combination of extensive experience in emerging markets and in technology for development across the business, non-profit and government sectors.  He most recently worked at Microsoft where he designed innovative business models to provide affordable technology products to people in emerging markets.  With the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, David lived and worked in Brazil, where he developed business strategies tailored to needs of consumers and businesses in emerging economies.  He also worked with the World Wildlife Fund and Brazilian organizations on conservation finance and strategy for the Amazon.  Previously, David crafted and evaluated public policy for Resources for the Future and then with the White House Counsel of Economic Advisers.  He holds a Masters degree in Economics and Public Policy from Princeton University and a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science and Economics from Colby College.

Joyojeet Pal from UC Berkeley discusses "Computers and the Promise of Development"

In this talk, we look at the recent history of technology and development, or what we have come to know as ICTD and consider some areas of promise and caution. We use extensive primary research at two major ICTD projects in India - a telecenter and e-literacy project in Kerala, and a Computer Aided Learning program in Karnataka, and illustrate how these projects have fared on some indicators of development, but also try to understand how rural users and interest groups perceive technology and how this impacts technology adoption. In Kerala, we use the results of a household survey to examine the extent of shared computer use and computer literacy service delivery through telecenter kiosks. In Karnataka, we use interviews of rural parents and stakeholders around schools with recently allocated computers, to document the aspirations related to technology and the impact of past contact with computers on these aspirations. This research is better known for findings on the ways in which children seat themselves in front of computers and control input devices, which I briefly cover. In bringing the two studies together, we raise questions on two important issues -- first, is there a case for public funding of telecenters, and second, what are the elements of rural discourse on technology that may impact such demand.

Bio:

 Joyojeet Pal is a PhD candidate in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley. His research is primarily on socio-economic impacts of rural technology projects. In addition to research at Berkeley, Joyojeet has worked extensively with the Microsoft Research India on their emerging markets research, as well as with product groups on their education products for children in the developing world. Before his current research career, Joyojeet worked at the Times of India, and at Hewlett Packard. He has a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and Economics from Sydenham College, University of Mumbai.