---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Connie Ivey-Pasche <connie@cs.washington.edu> Date: Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:59 AM Subject: [Researchers] UW CSE Colloq / 2-7-13 / Blumenstock / UW Information School / Calling for help: Using terabyte-scale network data to make sense of the "mobile phone revolution" in Sub-Saharan Africa To: researchers@cs.washington.edu, cs-grads - Mailing List <cs-grads@cs.washington.edu>, wi-instructors@cs.washington.edu, visitors - Mailing List <visitors@cs.washington.edu>, cs-staff - Mailing List <cs-staff@cs.washington.edu> What's up for tomorrow's Colloquium - live and live broadcast only! UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Computer Science and Engineering COLLOQUIUM SPEAKER: Joshua Blumenstock, UW Information School TITLE: Calling for help: Using terabyte-scale network data to make sense of the "mobile phone revolution" in Sub-Saharan Africa DATE: Thursday, February 7, 2013 TIME: 3:30pm PLACE: EEB-105 HOST: Gaetano Borriello ABSTRACT: NOTE: This talk will be live broadcast only - no taping for viewing on- demand or on UWTV. As mobile phones grow increasingly ubiquitous in developing countries, "Mobile Money" and other phone-based services are providing billions of individuals with novel opportunities for social and economic interaction. In this talk, I will discuss the results from a series of recent projects that use transaction logs from mobile phone operators to examine the role of mobile phones in the social and economic networks of developing countries. I will focus on a recent paper that uses data on billions of phone-based interactions to show that Rwandans use an early form of Mobile Money to send assistance to friends and family affected by severe shocks such as earthquakes and other natural disasters. Surprisingly, I find that the observed pattern of transfers between people better fits of a model of quid-pro-quo reciprocity, than a simple model of altruistic giving. Time permitting, I will relate this work to ongoing projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Bio: Joshua Blumenstock is an Assistant Professor at the Information School at the University of Washington. His research focuses on the economic and social impacts of information and communication technologies, and the development of new methods for the quantitative analysis of very large data. Recent projects use terabyte-scale data on network communication to understand the adoption and diffusion of mobile technologies (Pakistan and Tanzania), the welfare implications of Mobile Money (Rwanda and Uganda), and the role of technological innovation in reducing corruption and violence (Afghanistan). Joshua has a Ph.D in Information Management and a M.A. in Economics from U.C. Berkeley, and Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and Physics from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Refreshments to be served in room prior to talk. *NOTE* This lecture will be broadcast live via the Internet, but it will NOT be available for on-demand viewing or viewing on UWTV. See http://www.cs.washington.edu/news/colloq.info.html for more information. Email: talk-info@cs.washington.edu Info: http://www.cs.washington.edu/ (206) 543-1695 The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accomodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance of the event at: (206) 543-6450/V, (206) 543-6452/TTY, (206) 685-7264 (FAX), or email at dso@u.washington.edu. _______________________________________________ Researchers mailing list Researchers@cs.washington.edu https://mailman.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/researchers