# TechChange | We build the communities that move big ideas forward> TechChange convenes and connects the people working across global health, AI, and social impact. --- ## TechChange | We build the communities that move big ideas forward (/) TechChange | We build the communities that move big ideas forward Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register We build the communities that move big ideas forward. We build the communities that move big ideas forward. TechChange convenes and connects the people working across global health, AI, and social impact. We help funders and organizations turn a product, a standard, or an idea into a living community that adopts it and carries it on. Partner with us Explore GDHF 2026 Trusted by the organizations shaping global health, AI, and social impact What we do Technology is only as strong as the community around it. For fifteen years we've helped the world's leading organizations bring people together, teach them what they need to know, and keep them engaged long after a launch. We design and run the events, communities of practice, training programs, and campaigns that turn a good idea into a field that actually uses it — whether people gather in a room together, work through a course at their own pace, or join from a hundred countries online. And as AI reshapes how the world works, the human layer we build matters more, not less. Convenings Conferences and gatherings, in person and online, that set a field's agenda. Communities of practice Working groups and peer networks that keep the conversation going long after the conference ends. Training that lands Training of trainers, localization, and curriculum built into the programs and systems we run, so it's finished, not just started. Campaigns & activation Turning a new standard or platform into something hundreds of organizations actually pick up and use. Conferences The gatherings where a field shows up. Our conferences are where the people leading global health and digital development set the agenda for the year — ministries of health, funders, and the practitioners and technologists doing the work. We run them end to end, in person and online: program, sponsorship, hybrid production, and the community that carries the conversation forward after everyone goes home. GDHF · Global Digital Health Forum The world's leading digital health convening. In person and online. December 2–4, 2026, Bangkok. Last year in Nairobi 2,200+ registrants 115 countries 97 Ministry of Health officials Visit GDHF ICT4D Conference The flagship gathering for technology in global development. In partnership with Catholic Relief Services. Global development Practitioner-led In person + online Visit ICT4D Advisory & AI-Readiness Adopt what's next, and make it stick. Most organizations have digital ambitions bigger than their headcount... a platform to stand up, AI to put to work, a new way of working to roll out. We help you get there, and we build the community around it that keeps it alive after the launch. When you need specialized hands, we draw on a vetted network of digital specialists worldwide, so you get exactly the expertise you need, down to niche combinations of skill, geography, and language, through one relationship instead of a dozen contracts. And for governments, we help national planners and ministries change how they make decisions about digital health, through our Digital Health: Planning National Systems program. DataKind & the Gates Foundation Designing the coalition and community that will drive adoption of a new open standard for education data, so a learner's records can follow them across institutions and into the workforce. CARE Digital advisory across business development, knowledge management, and innovation, helping teams from headquarters to country offices adopt new tools and new ways of working. OpenAI A train-the-trainer network of trusted advisors delivering AI training and events for nonprofits, state and local government, and community organizations across the U.S., keeping a human layer around the tools. Start a conversation Are you an expert? Join our network Ecosystem One team, a family of platforms. TechChange is the home for a set of products and gatherings built for the social impact world. GDHF The world's largest gathering for digital health, held every December — this year in Bangkok. gdhf.digital ICT4D The flagship conference for technology in global development, run with Catholic Relief Services. ict4dconference.org Digital Health Training DH:PNS, a WHO-recognized global good used by planners in 93 countries. digitalhealthtraining.org Kolab .ai The platform for digital gatherings that actually feel human: spatial audio, AI co-facilitation, and 200+ interactive templates. getkolab.ai ImpactSource .ai The job board and talent network for social impact hiring, connecting mission-driven employers with 40,000+ professionals a month. impactsource.ai ImpactCoach Executive and team coaching for social impact leaders, delivered at scale. impactcoach.com Explore the full ecosystem Our work Fifteen years of convening the field. 1M+ Participants 198 Countries 500+ Organizations Recent work GDHF 2025 · Nairobi + online 2,200+ registrants from 115 countries. 97 Ministry of Health representatives, 550+ presenters, and private sector leaders from Johnson & Johnson, Google, and Microsoft joined funders like the Gates Foundation and the World Bank. GDHF returns every December — next stop, Bangkok. See the 2025 end-of-year report DataKind & Gates Foundation Think FHIR, but for education. We're building the adoption ecosystem for a new open standard so credits and credentials travel with students, designing the coalition and community that moves institutions, developers, and vendors from awareness to adoption. Digital Empowers · TCS A national initiative to expand digital opportunity across the US. We power the platform and run the local convenings bringing business, education, nonprofit, and civic leaders together on workforce readiness and AI-driven skills, feeding TCS's Digital Opportunity Playbook and Council. Read the case study Digital Health: Planning National Systems Changing how governments plan national digital health. For eight years we've helped 1,000+ government planners across 93 countries change how their countries make decisions about digital health... by building the people who lead it, not the technology. Launched with USAID's Bureau for Global Health, now carried by the Gates Foundation and the World Bank. Explore the program Courses Learn with us, at your own pace. Join us and our partner organizations for hands-on learning across AI and digital health, open for individual enrollment. Applied AI Agents Hands-on practice and expert guidance implementing today's AI solutions, with partners from foundations, nonprofits, and the private sector. AI Literacy for Community Health Workers A blended course giving community health workers a foundational understanding of AI and its role in public health and service delivery. Digital Literacy for Community Health Workers A self-guided course building core digital skills across six modules, from devices and data management to communication, safety, and troubleshooting. Browse the course catalog Questions? support@techchange.org Insights Notes from the field. Working notes on AI in global health, what makes a convening stick, and where mission-driven funding is headed next. Browse the archive Partner with Us Tell us what you're trying to move forward. Check the boxes that fit, add a little detail, and we'll come back with the right people and a way forward. No wrong answers. Prefer email? info@techchange.org Name Email Organization What are you looking to accomplish? Convene my field around what matters Make remote attendees feel as present as those in the room Build a living community around an idea, product, or standard Help a government or institution adopt a national program Add training or curriculum to a bigger effort Help my team work well with AI Get expert help adopting AI or a new capability Get coaching for our leaders or team Sponsor or exhibit at GDHF or ICT4D How can we help? Send message Protected against spam. We'll only use your details to reply. ✓ Thanks, we'll be in touch. Your message is on its way to the TechChange team. We'll follow up soon. --- ## Welcome to TechChange | Blog | TechChange (/2010/05/14/welcome-to-techchange-2/) Welcome to TechChange | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Welcome to TechChange May 14, 2010 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin It's clear that technology is beginning to play a key role in social change. Look at the role crisis mapping software has played in coordinating earthquake response in Haiti, or the effect that social media such as Twitter have had on demanding government accountability in Iran. These examples and many more leave no doubt about the ever-increasing importance of technological innovation in a conflict-ridden world. But how do we in the prepare ourselves to effectively embrace this reality? How do we critically examine new solutions and keep up with the rapid pace of technological development? We believe a new kind of education is needed to address the challenges that exist in the world today. Introducing TechChange: the Institute for Technology and Social Change. TechChange will act as that critical and much-needed space for training leaders to leverage these emerging technologies for sustainable social change. We're planning a number of innovative online courses – courses that will be practical, flexible, and affordable, taught by leaders in the field, and unlike anything you've seen online to-date, but you'll hear more about these later. To kick things off we're launching a blog to explore the issues at this intersection of technology and social change more closely. Think video games for social change, cell phones for monitoring elections, crisis mapping software for early response, low-cost water purification technologies, mobile medical diagnostics, and much more. Here's how you can get involved for now: Apply to be a TechChange Guest Blogger: Do you like to write? Are you interested in researching the latest tech trends and their social applications? We're looking for 3-4 additional guest bloggers to help contribute articles. If interested, send your CV and cover letter to info@techchange.org . Come to a TechChange Event: We're starting off with a bang. On June 24th we'll be co-hosting a half-day conference with the US Institute of Peace (USIP) and the United Nations mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) on the use of mobile phones for post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan. The event will take place at the USIP headquarters, with a number of key U.S. government policymakers, U.N. officials, and nonprofit technology innovators in attendance. U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke will deliver the opening address. More info here . Help Spread the Word about TechChange: Even if you aren't a techie, you can still help by telling a friend, sharing this with your boss, linking to our site, or even retweeting on Twitter (we're @techchange) or "liking" an occasional post on Facebook . A little tech love goes a long way. ← Back to the Blog --- ## First-Ever Course on Technology and Peace | Blog | TechChange (/2010/06/23/first-ever-course-on-technology-and-peace-2/) First-Ever Course on Technology and Peace | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog First-Ever Course on Technology and Peace June 23, 2010 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin Last week, TechChange Co-Founder and President Nick Martin taught a one-week course on Technology and Peace at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) . It was the first course of its kind taught at the university. Participants engaged in a variety of discussions, case studies, and practical exercises involving how technology can be used for building peace. The course also made use of a number of new technology-focused teaching techniques to ease the learning process. **Some highlights from the course: ** Flashdrives: All participants were given flashdrives with videos, case studies, spreadsheets, pdf reports, electronic readings, and other relevant material and at the beginning of the course. A number of TED talks, podcasts and videos were used instead of lengthy academic readings. Diigo Account: The class set up a Diigo account to collect, share and comment on relevant links that emerged during discussions. Participants agreed that this made it much easier to follow up on ideas and organizations of interest to them. Ushahidi Simulation: On the second day, the class used Ushahidi crisis mapping software to simulate monitoring election violence in Afghanistan. Stay tuned for a lesson plan on the simulation in an upcoming post! Video Games for Social Change: On day four, we played a number of “video games for social change.” These included Ayiti: Cost of Life, Darfur is Dying, Third World Farmer, Evoke, Our Courts, and Free Rice. Participants found this exercise useful and enjoyable. Twitter Discussion: On day five, participants engaged in a group discussion exploring the following topics: (1) How can emerging technologies best be used to build peace? (2) What ideas do you have for applying existing technologies in news ways to create peace? (3) How do we maintain the human or personal aspect needed to build peace in an increasingly technological world? The transcript of the discussion is available here. **So what did the students think? ** “This was a great experience and showed that UPEACE is trying to keep up with the latest developments in social change. I highly recommend this course to others.” “I think I’ve been missing the tech angle all this time in my work. “ “As an overview of technology uses in the field, this course provided an excellent foundation in knowledge and created many opportunities for future exploration.” “One of the best course facilitators I’ve had, really enjoyed the focus on course activities to illustrate topics.” “UPEACE is a remarkable place and the week long institute in Costa Rica is a refreshing taste of the educational experience delivered here. Highly Recommend.” “Very dynamic and interactive class – a lot of exchange between students coming from different countries with different backgrounds and experiences. Great teacher too!” ← Back to the Blog --- ## An Afghan Discussion; Furthering Communities via Mobile Phones | Blog | TechChange (/2010/06/24/an-afghan-discussion-furthering-communities-via-mobile-phones/) An Afghan Discussion; Furthering Communities via Mobile Phones | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog An Afghan Discussion; Furthering Communities via Mobile Phones June 24, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone Yesterday’s Can You Help Me Now? Mobile Phones and Peacebuilding In Afghanistan panel at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) showcased experts on Afghanistan from all walks of life—government officials, programmers, and even social media gurus. This event drew in a crowd of enthusiastic Twitterers using the hashtag #usipmobile , sharing questions and comments throughout the event and highlighting some of the key quotes of the day. Corresponding with the panel discussion, Twitter users tweeted about everything from improving governance (i.e. rule of law and anti-corruption) to countering extremism (i.e. media development and counter-insurgency) to delivery of essential services (i.e. education, health, agricultural development, and commerce). Just over half of all Afghan homes had mobile phones as of 2009—44 percent in rural areas—and one percent of Afghans are now using text messaging to get news at least once per week. Some 1.2 billion dollars is being poured into Afghanistan’s Telecommunications industry, which sees over 12 million mobile users—a dramatic increase from 150,000 users in 2007. With these figures in mind, proper technology training became a recurring topic of discussion, as Afghan literacy rates range between 10 and 15 percent. Incorporating the gender aspect, the panel too decided that women must be involved in digital advancements in Afghanistan. “Looking back 250 years ago, people had the need to communicate,” said James Eberhard, founder and CEO of Mobile Accord . Today, you can order McDonalds from your cell phone. From Ushahidi being used in Panama and Liberia to SMS messages in Pakistan and the Congo, everyday citizens are becoming a new, powerful force of change. Look at the crisis in Haiti, where mobile phones alone, via texting 90999 , got more than two million Americans involved in the crisis. And in Afghanistan, texting 999 is getting locals involved in traditional community policing mechanisms via the Crimestoppers program, sort of an Afghan version of 911. Nick Lockwood, Afghan Communications Adviser in the Helmand province, said this phone line gets some 1,000 calls per week. Locals are even using cell phones for mobile banking—e-currency—with the help of Roshan , who, according to representative Shainoor Khoja, is helping 60 percent of Afghans, with 480 million dollars invested in the country. Ruha Devanesan of the Internet Bar Association highlighted how 80 percent of Afghans who depend on land for their livelihoods don’t have access to the judicial system and also discussed the Internet Silk Road Initiative . Josh Nesbit, of FrontlineSMS:Medic , said, “a good strategy to win people over is to keep the population alive and healthy,” highlighting how mobile phones are being used in the heath sector. Charismatically, he admitted, “I’m not the right person to tell you what works in Afghanistan, we should speak to 50 Afghan physicians.” Equal participation of outside actors and local Afghans will bring about change. Naturally, the discussion focused closely on the Taliban as well. Lockwood said the key to winning in Afghanistan is not killing Taliban but winning the communications war. The Taliban are in opposition to new technological infrastructures simply for being what they are. The panel discussed how good guys and bad guys are using mobile tools in similar ways, but the general consensus seemed to be that good guys can indeed prevail. Though technologies are being considered powerful weapons for inducing change, “mobile applications are not a silver bullet,” said Siddharta Raja, representative of the Global ICT Department of the World Bank Group. “They will not solve world problems,” he continued, but they are contributing to bring about solutions, resolutions, and, eventually, peace in Afghanistan. Tweeting as @jacalynaa, I sat outside my cabin, high atop a mountain in Costa Rica with a bright morning view of lush greenery, streaming in on the conference via the Web. Though my Internet connection was a shaky at points, occasionally pausing during important commentary—hence the time-lapse between some of my Tweets—yesterday’s conference proved that technology is enabling people all over the world to learn and participate in important events like this, from distances far and wide. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## What Do One Billion Cell Phone Users Around the World Lack? | Blog | TechChange (/2010/06/29/what-do-one-billion-cell-phone-users-around-the-world-lack/) What Do One Billion Cell Phone Users Around the World Lack? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog What Do One Billion Cell Phone Users Around the World Lack? June 29, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner Any banking services . While those in the developed world take it for granted, easy access to a bank is a luxury unknown to most. Throw in a devastating earthquake that knocks out a third of the banks and ATMs in the country and you can see why Bill Gates is banking on mobile phones to help expand financial access in Haiti. His foundation recently set up a $10 million fund to provide grants to the first firm to implement a qualifying mobile banking system as well as the first to process five million transactions.​ Mobile banking‒using SIM cards to transfer or store cash electronically‒is rapidly becoming the killer app of technology for development. Since 2007 when Vodafone first launched the M-pesa system in Kenya more than 11 million customers have signed up for the service. The latest Mobile Money for the Unbanked report by the GSM Association detailed nearly 150 mobile banking systems covering almost three billion customers around the world. These services help workers send remittances to their families and offer everyone a safer method of saving in countries where many keep their nest egg buried or under the mattress. Shainoor Khoja of Afghan telco Roshan described mobile banking as ecosystem disrupting at the US Institute of Peace event on mobile phones and peacebuilding in Afghanistan. She gave the example of police officers who after switching to a SIM payment system were reporting that they were being over paid when in fact previously 30% of their wages were being skimmed off by corrupt officials. Ms. Khoja also mentioned that supermarkets in Afghanistan are offering a discount to those who use e-cash because of the lower costs associated with accepting it. Things are not all rosy for m-banking, the GSMA report also highlighted some continuing challenges. One of the most significant is an outdated and at times hostile regulatory environment. Traditional financial regulation is necessary because banks make profits from investing deposits. Regulations set an acceptable risk level (or at least that’s the theory) to prevent reckless bankers from losing their clients’ money and requiring a bail-out (again just a theory). Mobile banking services don’t take deposits to invest but instead make a profit on a per user basis. This system requires a less stringent regulatory category which is generally opposed by traditional banks and often unavailable. However, as regulators and providers continue to learn from the many projects underway, M-banking seems to have a nearly limitless potential to bring banking to the masses. Image courtesy of M-PESA ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## TechChange Photo Project | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/06/techchange-photo-project/) TechChange Photo Project | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog TechChange Photo Project July 6, 2010 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin Anyone can submit work for this project. All you need is a camera and access to an email account. Refer to the following guidelines for submissions: Submission Guidelines Images must be taken in public spaces with consent where possible. Images of children and those of illegal or compromising behavior will not be accepted. Submissions need to include the following: Name of the photographer Location of the image(s) Time/Date of the image(s) Brief description Submit through: Facebook: www.facebook.com/techchange Email: Images may be sent to keith@techchange.org Submission deadline: August 15, 2010. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Promise and Setback in African Fiber Optics | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/07/promise-and-setback-in-african-fiber-optics-2/) Promise and Setback in African Fiber Optics | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Promise and Setback in African Fiber Optics July 7, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner On July 2nd, the Main One Cable company finished construction on a 4000 mile fiber optic cable linking Nigeria to Western Europe. The new pipe promises 20 times the capacity of sub-Saharan Africa's entire satellite network. The Main One is one of 10 new cables being laid to Africa which promise to drive down costs and expand access. Three days later as if to highlight the challenges that still remain the Seacom fiber optic cable connecting east Africa to India and Europe failed. The disruption brought connection speeds in Tanzania and Kenya to a crawl while Uganda and Rwanda switched back to more expensive satellite connections. Submarine cables are difficult to repair and vulnerable to accident or malfeasance. In 2008 large parts of the Middle East and Asia were left without connections after an anchor severed the FLAG cable in the Mediterranean. The challenges don't end once a cable is laid; extending the connection to rural locations is difficult and costly. Copper wire used for low bandwidth lines is frequently stolen withSouth Africa alone estimated to lose $1 billion dollars because of replacement costs. These examples highlight both the potential and vulnerability of an increasingly sophisticated communications infrastructure. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Promise and Setback in African Fiber Optics | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/09/promise-and-setback-in-african-fiber-optics/) Promise and Setback in African Fiber Optics | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Promise and Setback in African Fiber Optics July 9, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner Three days later as if to highlight the challenges that still remain the Seacom fiber optic cable connecting east Africa to India and Europe failed . The disruption brought connection speeds in Tanzania and Kenya to a crawl while Uganda and Rwanda switched back to more expensive satellite connections. Submarine cables are difficult to repair and vulnerable to accident or malfeasance. In 2008 large parts of the Middle East and Asia were left without connections after an anchor severed the FLAG cable in the Mediterranean. The challenges don’t end once a cable is laid; extending the connection to rural locations is difficult and costly. Copper wire used for low bandwidth lines is frequently stolen with South Africa alone estimated to lose $1 billion dollars because of replacement costs. These examples highlight both the potential and vulnerability of an increasingly sophisticated communications infrastructure. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Conflict Minerals: The Industry’s Dirty Little Secret | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/17/conflict-minerals-the-industrys-dirty-little-secret/) Conflict Minerals: The Industry’s Dirty Little Secret | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Conflict Minerals: The Industry’s Dirty Little Secret July 17, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner With the help of Leonardo DiCaprio, we know what blood diamonds are. And now, thanks to the Enough Project , we are starting to know more about conflict minerals. Conflict minerals are generally defined as: “minerals mined in conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses, notably in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by the Congolese National Army and various armed rebel groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda”​​. The popularity of the video titled: “I’m a Mac…and I’ve Got a Dirty Secret”, paired with articles written in the New York Times , Yahoo and numerous blogs , have brought this issue to the main stage. Your phone, your laptop and your PSP are not just capable of creating change; they are also capable of fueling conflict. New York Times reporter Nicolas Kristof said it best: “Warlords finance their predations in part through the sale of mineral ore containing tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold. For example, tantalum from Congo is used to make electrical capacitors that go into phones, computers and gaming devices.” The speed, in which technology changes leave us little time to stop and think: Where did this come from? Who put this together? And as a result, we’ve been, for the most part, completely unaware of the destruction caused by our need for the next best gadget. This issue is not all dooms day and abandonment of technology. Initial steps at change have been made. The United States Congress has just passed the Wall Street reform bill that contains the inclusion of a key provision on conflict minerals. Congress is asking all tech companies and manufactures to be accountable for their products and the minerals that are used to make them. Small steps, simple questions and accountability will make way for the big changes we hope to see. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Rich vs Reach in Mobile Health Applications | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/21/rich-vs-reach-in-mobile-health-applications/) Rich vs Reach in Mobile Health Applications | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Rich vs Reach in Mobile Health Applications July 21, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner An issue that comes up time and again in the technology for development space is whether to focus on an applications' reach or the richness of services provided. In the next couple of posts I'm going to be looking at how this debate is playing out in mHealth. The X-prize Foundation , which helped sparked a commercial space race, is going to be offering a $10 million incentive to the first team who can replicate the diagnostic ability of live physicians on a phone with an artificial Intelligence diagnostics tool . The technique would likely be based around having a patient answer questions while the phone analyses photos taken of any symptoms. One potential technique was recently developed by Applied Nanodetectors. Their mobile based breath analyzer contains sensors that can detect the composition of gasses in the users breath. It then goes one step further by comparing those results with the known characteristics of diseases. The company says that it currently can identify asthma, diabetes and lung cancer, as well as less chronic conditions like halitosis (bad breath). While the smartphone physician or breath analysis may be most useful in situations where a health worker has access to the phone, these “richer” applications will also exploit the “glued to the hip” nature of modern mobile users. HeartToGo is one example of this. This application tackles cardiovascular disease, the world's leading cause of death, by constantly monitoring a users cardiac health with an ECG. Not only does the phone collect the information but it analyses the data for abnormalities. It will even automatically alert emergency services in the event of a heart attack. I'm excited to explore more examples in the weeks and months to come. Stay tuned and feel free to share any mHealth case studies that you come across. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Spy Tools to Spread Dissident Information | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/23/spy-tools-to-spread-dissident-information/) Spy Tools to Spread Dissident Information | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Spy Tools to Spread Dissident Information July 23, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner A technique recently used by Russian spies to communicate with their handlers could be used by dissidents to spread information from within totalitarian regimes. Unlike cryptography which encodes a message with a cypher, steganography hides content in plain sight.​ One of the first known examples involved carving a message into the wooden backing of a wax tablet which was revealed by removing the wax writing surface. Large media files offer the perfect location for modern steganography. One strategy would change every 100th pixel in an image file to correspond to a letter, which would produce a change too subtle to be noticed but could conceal short messages. Georgia Tech School of Computer Science researchers have proposed a tool—Collage—that would simplify the process of using to steganography to hide controversial discussions in plain view on popular social networking sites. Collage simplifies the process of concealing a message, uploading it and revealing it to a recipient. Like one time pads in cryptography, Collage would use a shared database of tasks to allow both parties to know what file will contain the hidden data. For example, one task might be uploading a photo to Flikr with a particular user ID, a recipient using Collage with the right task database could then download the photo and reveal the hidden message. Collage has a number of benefits over current methods of circumventing censorship. Unlike using a proxy service, there is no need for outside infrastructure. Additionally, the reluctance of regimes to throttle legitimate content combined with the shear number of possible sites improves the likelihood of success. If the new cold war is over the freedom to communicate then Collage is a tremendous benefit to those with subversive ideas and powerful enemies. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## FAILFaireDC a Social Space for less than Smashing Successes | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/26/failfairedc-a-social-space-for-less-than-smashing-successes/) FAILFaireDC a Social Space for less than Smashing Successes | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog FAILFaireDC a Social Space for less than Smashing Successes July 26, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner Several of us at TechChange had the privilege of attending a great event MobileActive and the World Bank put on last night that focused on those failures that I’m sure most involved try to forget. FAILFaireDC brought together some real pioneers in the ICT4D space to discuss issues they had dealt with and well-intentioned projects that went wrong. While the fails ranged from election monitoring and e-governance to ICT for education and health, some key concepts kept popping up. Most importantly? Hubris kills.​​ The theme for the night: learning from “worst practices” is in many cases more useful than learning from “best practices”; development organizations can learn a lot by exploring why projects fail – its just harder to talk about failure when there is so much pressure from so many places to succeed. Generally, the challenges that derailed most projects involved not being aware of the local context or not planning for sustainability. Bjorn Soren Gigler, an ICT for development specialist at the Bank, highlighted the social and political issues that can get overlooked by those confident in technology’s ability to overcome challenges. He provided a great example of a women’s cooperative in Guyana that created income generation opportunities for women by marketing hammocks internationally. The only problem? The husbands, and local leaders got jealous and took control of the program, undermining its financial and social success. As Michael Trucano , of the Bank’s EduTech project, put it: you can’t “assume away equity issues”. Technology is easy, but people are hard. Focusing on sustainability requires ensuring that both the physical infrastructure as well as technical expertise are maintained after international donors leave. Mahad Ibrahim, while evaluating government funded IT clubs in Egypt, found them staggeringly underutilized because the people in charge hadn’t been taught how to succeed from either a technological or business perspective. And as successful as the open source movement has been in expanding the tools available to developers, as Robert Kirkpatrick, Director of UN Global Pulse , explained, “you still need [local] people who can write Python .” Without real capability development that empowers local communities to take ownership of an ICT4D project, it will only last as long as the international assistance. The thing I appreciated most about the night was the camaraderie and desire among presenters to help others avoid the pitfalls they experienced. At the end, Mobile Active also encouraged organizations to have their own internal Failfaires, the idea being that there is power in creating an organizational culture where talking about failure is supported. We’re definitely planning on doing this at TechChange in the months and years to come. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Ushahidi Simulation | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/28/ushahidi-simulation/) Ushahidi Simulation | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Ushahidi Simulation July 28, 2010 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin Last month I taught the first ever course on “Technology and Peace” at the UN-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica. The course drew 16 participants from 11 countries, representing a number of distinguished organizations including Ashoka, the Council on Foreign Relations and George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR). Participants engaged in discussions, case studies, and practical exercises involving how technology can be used for building peace. The course made use of new technology-focused teaching techniques to ease the learning process. (Read more about the course in a previous AshokaPeace blog post and on the TechChange blog ). One of the highlights of the course was a two-hour simulation of the Ushahidi crisis mapping software. The goal of the exercise was to have participants understand the possibilities and limitations of crisis mapping through a practical application. To make the simulation realistic we built it around the upcoming Wolesi Jirga elections in Afghanistan, set for September 18th 2010. This election has been postponed several times due to corruption and many experts are concerned that it might lead to new violence by the Taliban to intimidate voters. The process: **Software:** Ushahidi’s open-source software was installed onto a Web-based server. Because of the location and limited participants with cell phones that worked in Costa Rica, I decided not to install FrontlineSMS. The campus did have wireless Internet, so participants used laptops and smartphones to send messages from the field. **Designated Polling Stations:**Four polling stations were scattered around campus. Each polling station had a piece of paper with detailed conditions about the level of violence and whether or not the station was open. Once underway, I circulated around campus to change the papers and post new conditions. **3.** Four Groups: The class was organized into four groups of four people each: **Group 1: UN Officials:**UN officials were based in the classroom or UN headquarters in Kabul. Their goal was to use Ushahidi on their computers to (1) ensure as many citizens as possible made it to the right polling stations and (2) ensure that international media had an accurate account of what was happening on the ground. * Group 2: Election Monitors: This group played the role of *election monitors stationed in Kandahar. They were tasked to work with the UN headquarters staff in Kabul to ensure as many people as possible made it to the right polling stations to cast their vote. **Group 3: Citizens:**This group played the role of Afghan citizens eager get out and participate in the democratic process but concerned about their safety. They had to figure out as a group how to use Ushahidi’s alert system to receive updates about polling center violence. Citizens were asked to vote one by one at 10-minute intervals, regardless if any alerts had been sent out. **Group 4: Taliban:**This group was tasked with the goal of disrupting the election process and the Ushahidi platform in any “cyber” way possible. The Action, Resulting Learnings, and Aspects for Further Reflection 1. Communications Strategy: The UN team and volunteer election monitor group came up with a strategy to ensure only messages coming from election monitors were validated by UN staff. Because the Taliban could read the same reports off of the Ushahidi platform, the election monitoring team assumed that hashtag or number systems might not work so they devised a code based on the placement of word “violence” in the sentence. The Taliban group never cracked the code but the reports from Citizens at polling stations were also not validated. This points to a very real challenge NGOs and governments face when using Ushahidi—do they accept crowdsourced information from the public or limit their scope to NGO staff? There are tradeoffs with each strategy. 2. Trade-Off Between Time and Accuracy: After ten minutes, the first citizen voted but the UN staff group and election monitors had not figured out the Ushahidi system in time to validate and disseminate reports. After approximately 15 minutes they learned the system. 40 minutes into the simulation, the Taliban group decided instead of trying to subvert the process with accurate-sounding bad data, they would try and overwhelm the system by sending as many reports as they could. Even though the UN knew the reports were erroneous it took them precious time to consider and dismiss them. I am eager to see how SwiftRiver and other filter systems might be able to combat this strategy. 3. Email Alerts Didn’t Seem to Work: The citizen group signed up to receive email notifications but never received alerts during the exercise. I’m not sure if this was a human error on our end or some kind of built-in software delay. Instead the citizens monitored the map on the website and read the live feed of validated reports coming through the system to make decisions about where to vote. **4. Password Security:**During group orientation I wrote the login, password and URL for everyone to see. The defaults were “admin” and “admin.” Halfway through the simulation I reminded the Taliban group that the passwords might still be the default. Indeed, the UN staff had not changed the password and the Taliban group was able to log in and start validating their own erroneous reports. Once the UN staff realized their system had been compromised, they tried to change the password but it was too late. Some critics maintain election monitoring may not the best use of Ushahidi, and that it is really best for logistical coordination and mapping, as we saw in Haiti. Perhaps, but election monitoring provides a great context to run a simulation examining Ushahidi’s potential and limitations. After two hours, all 16 participants came away with a great command of how to use this important technology. I’m eager to work with others to design similar simulations. Please leave feedback, questions and suggestions in the comments, or e-mail nick@techchange.org (Cross-posted from the Ushahidi Blog ) ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Enterprise 2.0 | Blog | TechChange (/2010/07/30/enterprise-2-0/) Enterprise 2.0 | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Enterprise 2.0 July 30, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner By Caitlin Turner Sitting in the 140conference in Washington, something got my attention. Or should I say someone. His name is Blake Hall, co-founder of TroopSwap , a recent Harvard Graduate and Army Captain. Initially, he just made me feel inadequate, and then he started his presentation by saying: “ I was asked here to speak about Enterprise 2.0 and the military”. As any good conference attendee would, I instantly Googled the term Enterprise 2.0. Half expecting to see a page full of Star Trek references, I was instantly surprised about how big of a deal this concept is.​ So what is it? MIT Professor Andrew McFee says it’s “the use of emergent social software platforms by organizations in pursuit of their goals”. I would say, it’s a fancy term for taking the hassle out of email and using cool applications to speed up the spread of information to a lot of people. Point-to-point communication can be slow, cumbersome and at times inaccurate. Blake Hall showed this using an example from his time in Dora, Central Baghdad also referred to as Al-Qaida’s Alamo. The sum of the story is that important information was slow to be relayed and as a result, an American Solider was injured. Blake’s answer to this issue: Enterprise 2.0 techniques would have allowed the perfect storm of RSS alerts, Google PageRank software, secure blogging and Twitter accounts to come together and make real time information available to those in charge of the decisions and ultimately prevent the incident from happening. Enterprise 2.0 fills the holes in point-to-point communication with a secure way to make important, real time information, available to everyone who needs it. Enterprise 2.0 has the potential to liberate us from the constraints we face in everyday communication like email and sets the stage for what I would call a collective intelligence. Beyond the military, Enterprise 2.0 shows great promise for all groups and organizations, both local and international, to streamline important information and encourage collaboration within the group. Government, NGO’s, non-profits, education, and the like, would in many ways be better equipped to manage and disperse information amongst all members. The statement, two heads are better than one, comes to mind when I think of the many ways Enterprise 2.0 can open up the avenues and efficiency of communication. If you’re interested in learning more about Enterprise 2.0 for the military you can read Blake Hall’s speech , or check out Peter Corbett’s Apps for the Army . ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Tech@State: Mobile Money for the Unbanked | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/02/techstate-mobile-money-for-the-unbanked/) Tech@State: Mobile Money for the Unbanked | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Tech@State: Mobile Money for the Unbanked August 2, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner Today’s Tech@State event produced some great insights into current uses and future applications for mobile money. The presenters did a wonderful job detailing the different models currently being used to engage the billions who are unbanked but have access to a mobile device. Some key take-aways from the day were (1) the need to focus on user inputs, (2) the importance of building a network of physical agents, (3) and possibilities for other services that are enabled once a successful mobile money system is established.​ While the issue of illiteracy is frequently raised in developing an interface for mobile systems, what’s less often addressed is what Jan Chipchase of Frog Design calls a “literacy of users”. Knowing what services consumers want and working from those inputs can save developers tremendous energy and time. Chipchase noted that far too many organizations create highly efficient but ultimately undesired technological solutions. Monica Brand , who directs the Frontier Investment Group at ACCION international, cited the difficulty of changing user behavior as the reason she avoids investments in technologies that are “looking for a problem” rather than addressing actual user needs. A primary benefit of mobile money is that it utilizes a platform already widely used among low-income consumers: the phone itself. Obopay ’s Carol Realini indicated that the unbanked are more likely to take advantage of a mobile money service because they already have experience in going to an agent to top-up their pre-paid phone. Therefore, the leap from adding minutes and sending texts to making mobile money transfer payments is not tremendous and consequently much more feasible than the introduction of an entirely new technology or service. One of the main issues that kept emerging across the different m-money examples was the challenge of building a physical infrastructure for cash in/out locations staffed with trained agents who provide support and services for users. Shainoor Khoja of Roshan gave a stunning statistic: it takes her company 8 months and costs around $5,000 to train one agent. Beyond training, Kabir Kumar of CGAP pointed out that we still have not established best practices for pricing and revenue sharing with agents. His research showed that while agents in Kenya were making more revenue from providing m-money services, Brazilian agents were more profitable overall because of increased foot traffic that drove sales of unrelated products. The critical challenge for those interested in moving into the m-money space is developing the business models and practices that suit their needs and those of their agent network. While overall there was a tremendous optimism about the m-money, I couldn’t help but get excited about what else becomes possible once the infrastructure for mobile money is in place. Given that some 70% of the bottom of the pyramid relies on agriculture production for their livelihoods, imagine the potential benefits from reducing the transaction costs associated with obtaining credit and selling products in distant markets. TechChange is working with the US Institute of Peace (USIP) to publish a follow up report to the June 24th event “Can you help me now? Mobile Phones for Peacebuilding in Afghanistan.” We plan to look closely at this practice of mobile money – its many benefits and its pitfalls – and also consider how mobile devices are being used for agricultural m-commerce. So stay tuned. Thanks to all the folks from Tech@State for putting on a great event – hope you all do more in the near future.​​​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Blackberrys Banned in UAE because of Data Encryption | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/05/blackberrys-banned-in-uae-because-of-data-encryption/) Blackberrys Banned in UAE because of Data Encryption | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Blackberrys Banned in UAE because of Data Encryption August 5, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone The BlackBerry smartphone, launched in 1999 by Research In Motion (RIM), is the quintessential, on-the-go tool for communicating. In 2004 BlackBerry had over two million subscribers worldwide, one of the key selling points has been the unique ability to use the free Blackberry Messenger service (BBM) to communicate with fellow Blackberry users. Now however that usage has been banned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because it bypasses their ability to monitor communications. ​ That’s right—the Internet censors are at it again—blocking the digital flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RWB) sees this BlackBerry ban as the “ continuation of the government’s attempts to control information and new technology .” Analyst Brian Modoff, of Deutsche Bank, says the ban is about “having access to, and being able to, intercept information lawfully .” According to the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), beginning 11 October 2010 , all BlackBerry users in the UAE—from travelers to the 500,000 local subscribers—will have to do without email, messaging and Web services via their BlackBerrys. Messages sent through a BlackBerry are encrypted and then routed through RIM’s servers in Canada, which bypasses the local governments ability to independently monitor the communications. The UAE claims that it needs access to the data for security purposes , but RIM is refusing to “ give governments access to encrypted messages ,” thus countries are boycotting its Web services. But Al Jazeera questions if their precautionary concerns are justified ? Or if “this just another move to restrict personal freedoms?” A step ahead of the Emiratis, Saudi Arabian authorities plan to block access to BBM for its 400,000 users , as early as this Saturday . India , Kuwait , and Indonesia may also push through with the digital ban, which targets ‘out-to-do-no-gooders’–-suspicious under national security—and average everyday BlackBerry users, all the same. Advertised via The Beatles tune ‘All You Need Is Love,’ BlackBerry connects its users to “ everything you love in life .” And what else do we love more than the people in our lives? And how better to efficiently communicate with our loved ones, than via ‘BBMing’? Director-general Mohammed al-Ghanem, of the TRA, finalized the suspension of BlackBerry services, but says the company is open to discussion about alternative solutions. In respecting the need for national security, while promoting peaceful methods of using technology, here’s to hoping that indifference surrounding this UAE’s BlackBerry question will soon be settled, safely setting electronic messages amid the digital shores of The Gulf afloat. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Consulting | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/05/consulting/) Consulting | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Consulting August 5, 2010 · by Guest Author USIP event on mobile phones, peacebuilding and Afghanistan organized by TechChange TechChange equips organizations with a suite of customized, strategic technology solutions that keep them at the forefront of emerging tech trends and their social applications. Ok, we admit it – we’re big tech nerds. But we’re also educators and trainers with a passion for using emerging tech tools to make our world a little better. We recognize that few companies can bridge both worlds- being able to provide clients with technological know-how and content experience ranging from conflict management to emergency relief, and from peacebuilding to development. Our services fall within the four broad categories: social media implementation, distance learning (e-learning), multimedia development for education and training. For a more detailed listing of each category, please see the attached documents. **Social media implementation **The “new media” revolution of social networking websites (Facebook and Twitter) and participatory media (YouTube and blogs) are the new face of global media. Not sure what Web 2.0 is or how to navigate the multitude of options? Don’t worry- we can help. We’ll help you assess the what tools you should incorporate into your strategy and get you started on using these powerful tools to build your constituents, extend your message, and energize your constituents, effectively communicate through new tools. Distance learning (e-Learning) Distance learning continues to experience 12-14% annual growth in the U.S. each year. Experts predict this trend to only continue. Effective eLearning enables a highly cost effective means to extend your education and training goals to reach an unlimited audience worldwide. But the choices can be daunting. Should you use a synchronistic or asynchronistic delivery method? Which content management system is best for your needs: Blackboard, Moodle or GoingOn for example? How do you migrate face-to-face curriculum into a virtual learning Desire2Learn Self-paced or hybrid? What are the best practices for instructional design and trends in online pedagogical delivery? TechChange can help you navigate the choices by creating a strategic plan to help you meet your programmatic goals. **Multimedia development **Effective education and training today demands the integration of multiple formats for delivery. As video conferencing, podcasting and video tools become not only accepted into education and training, but are also expected by today’s learners. TechChange not only has the technical skills, but as professional educators also understands how to utilize these powerful media tools to enhance the effectiveness of your teaching and training and to increase the learning experience of your participants. Sample Projects: US Institute of Peace: ← Back to the Blog --- ## Emerging Dangers in Mobile Communications | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/08/emerging-dangers-in-mobile-communications/) Emerging Dangers in Mobile Communications | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Emerging Dangers in Mobile Communications August 8, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner The importance of both mobile network and software security continues to grow as more personal and significant information is communicated wirelessly. Two new attacks threaten the security of the GSM standard, an unwanted headache for mApp developers, while two others threaten the Android and Apple families of moblie operating systems. Blackberry’s messenger service, BBM, encrypts messages and then routes the data through the company’s servers in Canada. This means the censors can’t read your mail, which irked the Emirate enough to make them take action, signs point to Saudi Arabia following suit. This is a big setback to causes, like the Green movement in Iran, which spread their message and build momentum online. When governments can route all the country’s data through servers they control, sending anonymous communications becomes very difficult. The question for ICT4D practitioners is how can countries leapfrog to 4G networks and will it be done in a manner that respects privacy and limits government snooping. As if hiding from the government wasn’t bad enough, GSM security took a double blow from a technology that spoofs a legitimate tower to intercept communications and software that speeds the decryption of the A5/1 algorithm used by many networks both presented at the Black Hat Hackers conference. The “Kraken” decryption software is approaching the point at which live eavesdropping becomes practical. The spoofing device demoed by Chris Paget takes a different approach to exploiting GSM security. He hacked together an antennae that drowns out legitimate network signals fooling nearby mobiles into establishing connections and thereby allowing him to listen to conversations. He says, “If you have the ability to deliver a reasonably strong signal, then those around are owned.” While his device can’t currently read data, more sophisticated devices used by the intelligence community are able to, and the principle applies to even next generation networks. The Android App, used to change a phone’s wall paper, had been downloaded between 1 and 4 million times but was shown by mobile security firm Lookout to be secretly sending data to a website registered in China. The data included the SIM card number and voicemail password if programmed into the phone. The importance of network security becomes even more crucial as the range of services that we use mobiles for expands. Criminal elements could employ a spoofing device to steal banking data or to prevent communications in a conflict zone. ← Back to the Blog --- ## New Innovations in Mobiles for Health | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/10/new-innovations-in-mobiles-for-health/) New Innovations in Mobiles for Health | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog New Innovations in Mobiles for Health August 10, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner We’re going to continue to look at emerging mobile health applications this week. While last time the focus was on promising technologies on the horizon, these projects share an approach that maximizes the impact of what’s already available—in most places that means sending an SMS. The low cost and high penetration of mobiles make them an incredibly powerful platform for promoting health. In these examples, mobiles are used to expand public health education and improve patient monitoring.​ The development organization BRAC —in partnership with technology firm Dimagi—is testing short, mobile-delivered, educational courses on health topics ranging from hygiene to HIV/AIDS prevention. The courses include multiple-choice quizzes that users answer with their keypads using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. As an incentive, users’ accounts are credited with additional minutes when they successfully complete a quiz. By using mobiles and IVR, these quizzes enable individuals, even if illiterate, to easily obtain health information. Public health campaigns can also take advantage of improvements in data compression. South African insurer Metropolitan Life is publishing a comprehensive e-booklet on HIV that can be read on a users’ mobile. The “B the Future” guide compresses prevention, treatment and educational information into a 300kb file that can be downloaded more quickly than a ringtone. Once on a mobile, the guide can be opened in areas that lack cell coverage further expanding access. These methods of empowering communities to take ownership of their health could apply elsewhere as SMS enables a huge amount of health knowledge to be widely disseminated at low costs to both consumer and educator. Even more significant than expanding public health knowledge is helping the public health sector to efficiently manage patient health histories. Collecting and maintaining a database of observations and treatment regimes is critical to improving patient care as well as managing the spread of antibiotic resistant infections. The foundation for better medical history management has been the development of OpenMRS by Partners in Health and the Regenstrief Institute . The software ( full demo here ) is an open-sourced medical records manager that allows for a sophisticated observations database and patient search. The system stores data in a “ concept dictionary ” that defines the relationship between entries. Demographics, medication used, symptoms observed—any relevant medical data is easily indexed and viewable by health workers. The real revolution, however, is being pioneered by social entrepreneurs who are integratrating mobile observations into the existing infrastructure. By enabling health workers in the field to digitally record and upload information, health providers can dramatically improve patient outcomes. Check back on Thursday for more on how SanaMobile and FrontlineSMS: Medic are integrating mobile technologies on top of the OpenMRS framework to incredible results. Photo courtesy B the Future press release ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Marking the m-Health Moment | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/12/marking-the-m-health-moment/) Marking the m-Health Moment | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Marking the m-Health Moment August 12, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner It’s hard not to get excited about the work being done bringing health care into the digital age. Mobiles have the potential to increase efficiency at nearly every step of health care provision. These efficiencies aren’t hypothesized—waiting to develop given improvements in technology or infrastructure—they’re being realized right now in clinics and health systems around the world. ​Imagine two clinics in rural areas, Community Health Workers (CHW) in one are overburdened searching through paper records to identify previous drug treatment regimens, unable to confirm children with diarrhea are receiving oral re-hydration salts, travelling hours carrying blood samples and results back and forth from the nearest hospital where tests can be preformed. The other clinic, also without Internet access, at one point acquired FrontlineSMS:Medic’s Patient View software. Now, patient medical records can be quickly updated and searched. Previous treatment histories are available and the CHW can know how to prevent further drug resistance from developing. Test results would be reported instantaneously, saving hours of travel and thousands of dollars of fuel costs. Mothers of sick children, or the nearest CHW, could be reminded by SMS to use ORS. FrontlineSMS founder Ken Banks at the Thinking Digital conference described the case of a nurse travelling all day to give a vaccine to a patient who had died days earlier. After the first six months of implementation, Medic had saved the clinic $3,500 in fuel costs alone. With these benefits available at an incredibly low cost using nearly universal technology, Patient View is the ideal of an appropriately designed m-health solution. The Sana Mobile strategy relies on the more sophisticated Google Android smartphone operating system, while still using the open medical record formats associated with OpenMRS . Like Patient View, Sana allows a CHW to input patient responses into the mobile, however using a smartphone gives Sana the additional functionality of adding audio recordings (for example heartbeats recorded through a stethoscope) or photos of symptoms. A remote doctor can then examine the information and report back to the CHW what treatment should be pursued. The important thing is that both Sana and Medic are built on an open framework so health systems have the ability to choose a solution that most accurately fits their operational capacity. Medic is also working to realize an innovative diagnostics tool called CelloPhone that when attached to a cameraphone could perform a blood count or even identify malaria and tuberculosis infections. Developed by Professor Aydogan Ozcan’s Group at UCLA , the CelloPhone keeps costs down by eliminating the need for lenses and instead images “micro-scale shadows (or transmission holograms) [which] contain an extremely rich source of quantified information regarding the spatial features of the micro-object of interest. “ A CHW with a CelloPhone would be able to upload the image for analysis and receive the diagnosis all within a matter of minutes. Incorporating medical information into mobile platforms is clearly a game changer in health care provision. Even in modern hospitals misfiled information results in accidents, these mobile solutions now being implemented are one more example of the technological leap frog being played out by development entrepreneurs across the developing world. Photo Courtesy Sana Mobile ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Tech-Savvy Education | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/16/tech-savvy-education/) Tech-Savvy Education | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Tech-Savvy Education August 16, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone By Jaclyn Nardone Peace through technology in the Middle East; this is what Elizabeth Buckner has set out to do. If you grew-up in the early tech-world of portable Gameboys and bulky PCs in the classroom, you’ll appreciate Buckner’s electronic teachermate , an educational device teaching children in Palestine and Israel about ‘life on the other side.’​ Buckner is breaking borders with digital teaching, through her PhD Studies at Stanford University’s School of Education , collecting tell-tale accounts from 8-17 year olds, turning them into audio slideshows and uploading then onto the devices which also incorporate lessons in math, shapes, matching and strategizing. Created by Innovations For Learning (IFL), these teachermate devices – which serve as a school themselves – have been used in Mexico, Korea, Rwanda, The Philippines . A great success in Chicago – compared to the late-blooming One Laptop Per Child innovation – teachermates are being called the “ world’s most affordable solution for providing one computer to every student in a classroom.” Seth Weinberger, Executive Director at IFL, says teachermates are being used by 40,000 students in 15 states . Thus, though criticized for being called a handheld computer –when it’s not – teachermate is still nonetheless serving its purpose, successfully. Even still, there are unanswered questions when it comes to teachermates in Palestine and Israel. Buckner focuses in on Qalqila, Palestine as a region where this device is working, but what about regions in Israel? Buckner anticipates these devices to be implemented in the Palestinian national curriculum, but what about in Israel? The devices are translated in Arabic, but will they too be translates in Hebrew? Since it “takes-two-to-tango”, here’s to hoping that the teachermates will be implemented on both sides of the border. Buckner has seen this device be successful in some regions – students love it and are teaching themselves to use it without teacher assistance – specifically she notes in ‘ poorer regions .’ Buckner says reason being that “literacy rates and test scores were much higher in well-funded schools in Ramallah and Nablus, where classrooms are outfitted with plenty of books and supplies…” But will wealthy regions too find this device relevant? If understanding is to take place, all sectors of society need to be engaged, no? Social medias connect, but they also further isolate. In the political case of Israel and Palestine, these teachermate tools are building electronic connections, but do they further physical barriers? If children are learning about the ‘other side’ via devices – even though stories are told with human voices – rather than in person, does this lead to the dehumanization of a very human situation? Let’s absolutely hope not, because much is to be gained from Buckner’s project. These devices are a great beginning toward creating dialogue between children of these long separated groups. Buckner’s tech-savvy story exemplifies how modern media technologies are attempting to breakdown border barriers and bring people together. Peace through technology in the Middle East; hats off to Buckner for pioneering this exciting project.​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## 21st Century Statecraft: What does it really mean? | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/23/21st-century-statecraft-what-does-it-really-mean/) 21st Century Statecraft: What does it really mean? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog 21st Century Statecraft: What does it really mean? August 23, 2010 · by Guest Author “In the twenty-first century, the United States’ exceptional capacity for connection, rather than splendid isolation or hegemonic domination, will renew its power and restore its global purpose.” This excerpt is from the Foreign Affair article America’s Edge , which has been called the “intellectual foundation” for the State Department’s 21st Century Statecraft. The piece, held by many at the State Department as its guiding philosophy, is even given to all new United States Ambassadors. However, it is important to understand how the rhetoric of 21st Century Statecraft is actually being implemented and achieved through the use of social media, “TechDels” and mobile phones. The State Department has equipped itself with social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to achieve this end. Two such Twitter celebrities are Alec Ross , Senior Advisor for Innovation at the State Department, with 294,646 Twitter followers, and Jared Cohen , a member of Secretary Clinton’s Policy Planning staff, with 305,440 followers. Ross and Cohen are closely associated with the Department’s modern-day diplomacy and tweet about everything from the Senate’s passing of sanctions on Iran to a Frappucino on a government trip to Syria. In all, one can find about 30 State Department staff on Twitter; these accounts have worked to bridge the gap between the public and top officials, providing access to intimate personal and political insights. More unexpected world leaders are also beginning to harness the political power of Twitter. By organizing a two hundred person unit, Chavez has worked to respond to reports, complaints, and suggestions of his almost 730,000 followers. Additionally, North Korea’s government is said to behind the Twitter account Uriminzok , which has tried to dismiss accusations that North Korea was behind an attack on a South Korea warship. Everyday more and more world leaders are signing up for Twitter, with more than 35 Twitter verified world leaders ranging from Barack Obama to Queen Rania of Jordan. However, social media is not the only technology tool being utilized by the State Department to achieve its 21st Century Statecraft. Another innovative initiative has turned to cell phone applications. Through partnerships with local African organizations, the State Department is currently conducting an Apps 4 africa competition. The contest, which ends on August 31, will reward local developers in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania who best use “digital tools to address community challenges in areas ranging from healthcare to education and government transparency to election monitoring.” Another central pillar of 21st Century Statecraft is promoting connectedness across borders and “reaching beyond typical government-to-government interactions.” To achieve this end, the State Department has led “TechDels” to Columbia, Mexico and Syria, among other places to bring together technology entrepreneurs and experts from the U.S. with key civil society leaders abroad. These trips have included meetings with Carlos Slim, currently the wealthiest person in the world, and students at Tecnoacademia, an organization sponsored by both governments where Colombian youth can come to learn about technology and science. In addition, the State Department has also worked to bring the best and the brightest to the US. The Iraq Information Technology (IT) Intern Program brought a group of information technology professionals to study and work in the United States partnering with organizations, companies and universities like Google, Stanford, and AT&T. Just as technology can be used for good, as the State Department has proven, through tackling issues like the earthquake in Haiti and the potential of mobile banking for the world’s unbanked, it can also be used and subjected to the opposite (internet censorship, cyberterrorism, etc.). For the moment though, this fear has been overshadowed by the State Department’s 21st Century Statecraft initiatives to “renew”, “restore” and “[re]connect” the United States. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Are You There Social Media? It’s Me, Conflict | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/23/are-you-there-social-media-its-me-conflict/) Are You There Social Media? It’s Me, Conflict | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Are You There Social Media? It’s Me, Conflict August 23, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner The SXSW Interactive conference, held in Austin Texas, is five days of undeniably awesome presentations from the brightest minds about up-and-coming technology. There are also numerous networking events hosted by industry leaders, and special programming to showcase innovative ideas that the international community has to offer.​ Members of the TechChange team have an opportunity to participate in this great event. As panelists, Nick and Caitlin will collaborate with a developer and a journalist to discuss the potential impacts of social media use in conflict situations. Are You There Social Media? It’s Me Conflict , will look at social media’s effect on a world in conflict, and will explore what it means to pair embargoes and blogs, corruption and SIM cards, and the importance of knowing how conflict-related trending topics are replaced by Michael Jackson and Lindsay Lohan. With over 2000 submissions for 500 spots, the competition is intense. Social media is a popular topic of discussion at SXSWi, however rarely do conversations deviate from business application to social change. This is a gap that we are excited to fill. With your vote we will be able to add a unique voice to the conference while also being able to learn about the future from industry leaders. To vote for the panel and to read more about Are You There Social Media? It’s Me Conflict, click here .​​​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Online Location: From Facebook’s ‘Places’ to Pakistan’s Floods | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/24/online-location-from-facebook-e2-80-99s--e2-80-98places-e2-80-99-to-pakistan-e2-80-99s-floods/) Online Location: From Facebook’s ‘Places’ to Pakistan’s Floods | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Online Location: From Facebook’s ‘Places’ to Pakistan’s Floods August 24, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone Before getting too carried away with Facbeook’s Places app , look into how smartphones are locating and coordinate relief efforts in Pakistan’s natural disaster , via crowdsourcing. On August 18th 2010, Facebook enabled the Places app, introducing a 3D human element to the traditional status update, allowing you to “ immediately tell people about that favorite spot .” Places is similar to FourSquare , a smartphone app that lists thousands of places for you to check in at, based on your GPS location. According to Michael Sharon , product manager for Places: “the next time you head off on vacation or go to a show, check in with Places to find out which friends are there,” either via your iPhone or touch.facebook.com . According to Walt Mossberg, the man behind the* Wall Street Journal*’s weekly Personal Technology column, “companies began to build location-based social networks shortly after smartphones began to include social-networking apps and the ability to pinpoint your location.” Let’s take a look into how such networking apps are being used in Pakistan today. ​ Before getting too carried away with Facbeook’s Places app , look into how smartphones are locating and coordinate relief efforts in Pakistan’s natural disaster , via crowdsourcing. On August 18th 2010, Facebook enabled the Places app, introducing a 3D human element to the traditional status update, allowing you to “ immediately tell people about that favorite spot .” Places is similar to FourSquare , a smartphone app that lists thousands of places for you to check in at, based on your GPS location. According to Michael Sharon , product manager for Places : “the next time you head off on vacation or go to a show, check in with Places to find out which friends are there,” either via your iPhone or touch.facebook.com . According to Walt Mossberg, the man behind the* Wall Street Journal*’s weekly Personal Technology column, “companies began to build location-based social networks shortly after smartphones began to include social-networking apps and the ability to pinpoint your location.” Let’s take a look into how such networking apps are being used in Pakistan today: Monsoon rains in Pakistan have resulted in the country seeing it’s worst flooding in 80 years ; some are calling it the flood of the century. Some 20 million Pakistanis have been effected by the rains; 2 million people displaced and almost 1,500 dead . As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton: “This flooding has already effected more people than the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Haiti earthquake and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake combined.” So, how can social media help? “Relying on patchy information to allocate limited resources creates distortions both in emergency relief and in long-term policy planning.” Thus, via Ushahidi ’s crowdsourcing platform, technological entrepreneur and TED Fellow Faisal Chohan , built Pakistan Flood Incident Reporting . According to Chohan, because Pakistan has more than 90 million mobile phone users , “it has the potential to become the largest deployment of Ushahidi anywhere in the world.” This PakRelief CrowdMap locates everything from food to volunteers, security to food health. According to Amnesty International , citizens and NGOs are “ using virtual mapping to allow anyone who is helping to report incidents to see where help is needed.” “PakReport can ensure the efficient distribution of limited resources through incident reporting.” You can help by filling in the map’s blank areas with information, by sending an SMS message to 3441, making sure to add FL to the beginning of the message. In addition—currently working in Karachi—filmmaker and TED Fellow Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy “stays connected with other journalists in the field via Twitter and texts, and connects them with her international network to provide medical support and other aid.” From “me” to “we” Opposed to PakReport, Facebook’s Places is a “Me” crowdsourcing network. Anti-Facebook-er Carmen Joy King—referencing Jean Twenge’s studies of entitlement and self-absorption—calls Facebook a narcissistic obsession of “ Generation Me .” According to the two, children of the 1980s and ‘90s self-reference themselves with “me” instead of “we.” But PakReport is all about “we” and “us” and “together as a team.” For up-to-date information on PakReport, follow @PakReport on Twitter and visit pakreport.org/blog . Join the discussion, via #Pakistan , #PKflood , #PKrelief and #helppakistan . Use Google’s Resource Finder Map or “Like” Google Maps Pakistan on Facebook. Also on Facbeook, check out Pakistan Flood Relief Effort 2010 . A simple solution for “Me”-addicted Facebook crowdsourcers ** ** So, still can’t tear yourself away from Facebook’s fun and socially up-to-date “Me” crowdsourcing, and unsure how you can locate yourself more purposefully? There is indeed a way to put yourself in the shoes of suffering Pakistanis. Check out BBC Dimensions , where just by typing in your home postcode, you can see how the measured area of land affected in Pakistan stands in comparison to your hometown. ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Lessons from a Decade of Online Social Networking, How to Build a High Impact Site | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/25/lessons-from-a-decade-of-online-social-networking-how-to-build-a-high-impact-site/) Lessons from a Decade of Online Social Networking, How to Build a High Impact Site | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Lessons from a Decade of Online Social Networking, How to Build a High Impact Site August 25, 2010 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin Earlier this month I sat down with Dr. Craig Zelizer, Associate Director of the Conflict Resolution MA Program at Georgetown University and TechChange Advisor, to talk about the online professional network that he created in 2008 called the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (PCDN). PCDN has grown to over 16,000 members, 250,000 hits a month and is one of the most well respected and utilized sites in the field of peace and conflict studies. The aim of the site is “to foster dialogue and sharing of resources in international development, conflict resolution, gender mainstreaming, human rights, social entrepreneurship and related fields.” I was eager to learn about the network’s origins, successes, challenges and future plans. Highlights from our conversation are featured below. Nick: What inspired you to start Peace and Collaborative Network? Craig: I’ve always been a networker and been interested in finding innovative ways to connect people and democratize access to information. When I was an undergrad I started an informal newsletter to inform people about social change activities on campus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After the Cold War ended, I had the opportunity to study and work in Eastern Europe. While there, I found that information was generally kept in close circles and not shared widely. So I started an informal listserve through Yahoo Groups to distribute information about professional opportunities and events related to the field of peace and conflict. This list grew over time, to about 15,000 people. I was also part of an effort to start a fee-for-service job site with the Alliance for Conflict Transformation . We made enough money to support the project but encountered a number of frustrations with the design and web development process. So with PCDN, I wasn’t starting from scratch, I had been engaged in similar efforts for ten years or so and had a base of several thousand users. It did however take many years to find the right technology. PCDN runs using the Ning Platform. What Ning does is what I had always been seeking in a web-based social networking platform. There are some problems with platform but the company is committed to innovation, democratizing information, and is very responsive to feedback from users. And I don’t need to be a programmer to manage and maintain it. What are the aspects of the site that have been the most successful? There are hundreds of social networking sites that have a lot of value—my vision was to try to fill a gap in the field and create horizontal networking and information sharing. When I first set out, I knew that to attract people to the site, there had to be a base of information so I invested significant time in creating core content. This helped to build a following. The social networking component is essential but people often come to the site for the other features like scholarship, fellowship and grant information, resource guides, conference and training announcements, and many other opportunities. I think one of the most successful aspects of the site is its horizontalness—there is no hierarchy. It’s moderated to some degree but anyone can post. From graduate students to experts with 30 years experience, people of all different skill levels participate. What are the greatest challenges, both those you have overcome or those that you still face in administering PCDN? One basic question I struggle with is should the site be open or not? It used to be open but there were a number of spammers who joined and posted inappropriate content. As a consequence, the site is still public (meaning everyone can see the postings) but users can only post if they are registered. If someone doesn’t provide adequate information in their profile when registering they are not accepted in the network. Deciding what content to moderate and how to moderate it is also a challenge given that my time is limited. For instance, early on I decided that fundraising requests are not permitted as the site would be deluged. Additionally, there have been arguments in some the network subgroups that have been a challenge. I don’t have time to moderate these forums and have encountered situations where users have held me responsible as the site administrator for other users’ comments. I do have a few people helping me with the site, but it’s at the point where I need to develop a core group of people who are committed to administration and promotion of the network so that it doesn’t take too much time for me since I do this as a volunteer. Another significant challenge is trying to measure the impact of the network. There is a space on the site where over 300 members have posted clear feedback about the direct benefits they have received from their membership. But it is challenging to be able to develop indicators, and even more so the time to find an accurate measure. I do have a strong interest in exploring this question on a larger level, regarding how can the field more effectively measure the positive impact (and challenges) of sites that promote social networking and dialogue. I think a final challenge is achieving the right balance for disseminating information. Some users have said that the email alerts are too frequent while others have said that they would like more. What are some of your future goals with the site? I’d like PCDN to be one the premier social networking sites for sharing information in the field of peace and conflict studies. I’d like to grow the network to 50,000 to 100,000 members. The membership has been doubling every year. Businesswise, it’s a social venture and right now it makes very little money (from the ads), not nearly enough to support my time in administration. If it ever got the point where the site was generating more revenue than it took to run, then half would go towards supporting the administration and half would be used to fund projects in the field of peace and conflict studies. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Fasten Your Seatbelts: Facebook is Following You in India | Blog | TechChange (/2010/08/30/fasten-your-seatbelts-facebook-is-following-you-in-india/) Fasten Your Seatbelts: Facebook is Following You in India | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Fasten Your Seatbelts: Facebook is Following You in India August 30, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone By Jaclyn Nardone In a city “famous for its snarled traffic and infamous for its unruly drivers ,” Facebook is aiding the authorities in New Delhi —“ 5,000 traffic officers in this city of 12 million people”—in keeping a digital eye on reckless road users . Citizen monitoring and the new Facebook page Delhi Traffic Police is holding drivers and cyclists accountable for their committed traffic violations. This digital venture partners Satyendra Garg—Joint Commissioner of Delhi Traffic Police—and his team with “ Facebook to open a two-way channel for instant communication with road-users.” The Delhi Traffic Police Facebook page was inspired by the need to more closely monitor traffic, in the onset of the Commonwealth Games of 2010 , being held in Delhi from October 3rd – 14th. On Twitter , @dtptraffic recognized first and foremost that “management of Traffic in Delhi, during Commonwealth Games, will be a big challenge as well as a great opportunity.” ​ Within three days of its creation, Delhi Traffic Police had 1,000 fans . On August 1st, the page had 17,000 fans , which grew by an additional 1,000 by August 17th. And today—growing by the minute—the page has 25,200+ fans and 5,700+ tagged photos. It works like this: when a driver sees someone breaking the traffic laws (running a red light, blocking a crosswalk, using a cell phone while driving, motorcycle riding without a helmet, etc), they take a photo of the violation in progress and upload it to the Delhi Traffic Police’s Facebook page. Then police review the photo and act accordingly by tracking down violators and writing tickets. From cycle-rickshaws and tailgating motorcycles, to traffic jams and obstructions. Sifting through the thousands of uploaded photos on the Delhi Traffic Police page, one can find passengers without helmets or seatbelts, broken taillights, handwritten number plates, unruly items transported on motorbikes, a car parked beside a ‘No Parking, No Waiting’ sign, motorcyclists blocking pedestrian ‘zebra crossings,’ a bus stuck in a flooded street, tinted windows, and more. Photos come with detailed information indicating when and where the violations took place, with ‘Likes’ and comments to follow. It’s not just Delhi’s everyday drivers who are being caught by Facebook—it’s the officers too—including the “occupants of 29 police vehicles and an additional 19 private vehicles driven by policemen. ” The photos prove that Delhi’s traffic monitoring ‘netizens’—drivers, cyclists and passers-by— are indeed doing their job well. According to Delhi’s Special Traffic Police Commissioner Ajay Chadha, “the netizens have been helpful in coming up with new ideas to man the traffic system efficiently.” Get involved—via Facebook and Twitter—and get a sneak-peek into Delhi’s traffic culture and how social media is aiding in responsible community interaction. Well wishes ahead for this new initiative which—in addition to encouraging “ public involvement in traffic management “—proves how social media is being used as a tool for implementing peaceful traffic order on the congested streets of Delhi, by virtue of making civil society an active online society. But for those participating in the digital traffic monitoring—be careful—because as Garg says, “using a cellphone camera while driving “ in itself is a violation .'” ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Lighting Up Uganda | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/01/249/) Lighting Up Uganda | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Lighting Up Uganda September 1, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner To the billion individuals who lack access to electricity, the promise of new technologies for development pales in comparison to the more immediate challenge of keeping their home lit and phone charged. I recently spoke with Roey Rosenblith, Director of Village Energy Uganda, about his work expanding access to safe solar energy in a locally sustainable manner. The impetus for Village Energy was the high cost associated with using kerosene lamps for lighting. Not only does up to 30% of household income go to purchasing fuel but accidents can cause fires or burns. The Village Energy system uses solar panels to power three lamps and a small radio. Roey explained that he imports solar panels, battery packs and LEDs from China and assembles the components in Uganda using recycled plastic bottles decorated by local artisans as lampshades. Assembling the system locally has a number of benefits for the company and community. While the finished system is bulky, the constituent electrical components take up substantially less room decreasing import costs. The process also increases local employment while eliminating the need for additional imported plastic waste. Village Energy is also expanding into the area solar energy consulting. In the process, it supports secondary entrepreneurial enterprises which would be impossible without access to reliable power. One project currently underway is the development of a solar powered village telephony service built on a wireless mesh network, similar in principal to Village Telco . The phones would provide cheap or free calling though VoIP and could operate far from the electrical grid. Roey is also working with a local telecommunication firm to develop solar pay phones and a separate business interested in solar battery switching stations for electric vehicles. One of the most important challenges being addressed is how to expand access to a system that while saving users money over its lifetime is an overwhelming capital investment. Current payment options are either having a microfinance institution pay the provider and take payments from the end user with interest or having the user pay installments without interest and receive the system after it has been fully paid off. A new technique being developed by Simpa Networks allows users to purchase the system with a minimal down payment and then gradually pay in full through mobile transfers based on their actual energy usage. If they fall delinquent, the system is shut down until they resume payments. This strategy lets households use the system immediately while reducing risk to the provider. Roey is confident that Africa will “be the first continent where the majority of people get their energy from renewable sources.” He’s at the forefront of a global movement pairing innovative financing options with technical know how and is doing a great job building local technology expertise. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Knowledge Sharing for Effective Development | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/02/knowldge-sharing-for-effective-development/) Knowledge Sharing for Effective Development | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Knowledge Sharing for Effective Development September 2, 2010 · by Guest Author By Guest Author In international development, as with so many other fields, information is everything. OK, that’s kind of a broad statement, and a bit of a “no duh” to boot. But our ultimate goal is capacity building writ large, and so a failure of information exchange is in some ways a failure of the development industry as a whole. The reality is far too many projects reinvent the wheel with each iteration: Programs don’t scale. people don’t build on one another’s successes. It is to respond to this issue that Tony Barclay, ex-CEO of DAI, started the Development Practitioners Forum, after retiring from DAI as CEO for many years. But this post is less about our organization (the curious can read more at our website), and more about a different way of looking at audiences and the mechanics of knowledge sharing. Most individual organizations, whether it’s an NGO, contractor, agency or donor, have internal knowledge management (KM) integrated into their daily workflow. But between organizations? Between similar projects, different donor, different country? Sure, there are a number of communities of practice out there: wikis, forums, knowledge portals, reference maps, blogs and the like. But by and large, they are created by Western professionals and not generally intended for a broader global audience. Without detracting from the usefulness of these tools, I think they have a few flaws that prevent them from being a complete solution: Not inclusive – designed for advanced professionals of Western education Too much overhead – have you ever edited a wiki? Uploaded to SharePoint? Assumes familiarity with the principles of KM – the best KM doesn’t look like KM Busy busy busy – many knowledge portal websites have 3 or 4 frames, tickers, dropdowns, mashups, charts, etc They are top down – Knowledge goes up the chain to the main repository, and then trickles down as needed So what if you’re no part of this chain? And you have a small local NGO in Kenya? And don’t know what [[Link]] means? And your internet connection is too slow to read a complex mashup site? We wanted to serve this demographic. And so InfoSpring was born. Our number one goal was to break the “vertical” orientation of knowledge sharing. That is, to use the often touted peer to peer model to make sharing of knowledge happen between individuals, rather than between organizations, or up and down the chain of command within organizations. To do that, we adopted the most natural way humans have to share their knowledge: Q&A. Sites like Ask.com, Amazon’s AskVille, and Answers.com have been doing this for ages, but we wanted a community – a group of people working in the same general field who could engage on a level playing field. So we built two communities, one online and one offline. InfoSpring is our online community, where development practitioners are able to browse questions, pose their own or offer up answers. To complement it, we also ran a pilot country chapter program in Liberia to bring a similar service to the folks doing some of the most important work out in rural villages miles from anything resembling a network connection. The idea was that one person (a Fellow) would tap into their network, bringing together informal meetings of practitioners, where they would do just what InfoSpring does – source and share solutions. The Fellow can then act as a conduit for this information, bringing unresolved issues to the web platform and global community, and then disseminating outcomes to their local peers. So did it work? It may be too early to judge, but so far, yes! InfoSpring shot past 1000 members recently and continues to grow. We have community members from over 70 countries, with large, active contingents in Kenya, the Philippines and Cameroon among others. For the Liberia chapter, our Fellows have written posts about their experiences on a month to month basis here, so you can judge for yourself. It’s unfortunately become impossible for us to financially maintain multiple chapters, but our Kenya users are beginning to bring the concept to its logical conclusion in a more sustainable way, by building their own independent community . More than anything, the concept of an open community of practice has really resonated in some underserved communities, which could serve as a lesson for future knowledge-based initiatives: your audience is larger than you think! Include them! An ICT for development enthusiast and all around geek, Leland Smith lives in Washington, DC, where he splits his time between DAI, a USAID contractor, and the Development Practitioners Forum. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Innovative Open Source Wireless Network Undergoes Trial-by-Fire at Burning Man | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/07/innovative-open-source-wireless-network-undergoes-trial-by-fire-at-burning-man/) Innovative Open Source Wireless Network Undergoes Trial-by-Fire at Burning Man | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Innovative Open Source Wireless Network Undergoes Trial-by-Fire at Burning Man September 7, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner Expanding wireless coverages to the more remote areas of the world is the obvious first step in enabling individuals to benefit from the myriad mobile tools under development by social entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, for a traditional network provider building a base station requires too much capital investment to be cost effective in sparsely populated areas. As is often the case when commercial interests aren’t aligned with what is socially desirable the open source community has stepped up to design a system capable of bringing low-cost connectivity. The foundation has been the development of the OpenBTS system by Harvind Samra and David Burgess.​ OpenBTS software enables off the shelf equipment to be used to connect existing GSM phones via VoIP at a fraction of the cost and energy needed for a traditional base station. For the third year in a row the system is getting field tested at the art and culture festival, Burning Man, held in the remote Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada. The installation features a 90’ antennae capable of providing voice and SMS coverage across 20km range to the thousands of attendees. The whole set-up also only consumes about 50 watts of power making solar energy a viable option. OpenBTS isn’t the only project looking to expand coverage in underserved areas, VillageTelco has recently begun production of their Mobile Potato nodes. These rugged devices combine the wireless antennae with the firmware needed to create wireless access points. Once installed throughout an area they can provide voice or data coverage at minimal cost. The great part about the design is that they are simple enough for a local entrepreneur to build their own network. One of the biggest hurdles for those interested in providing coverage is conflict with traditional network providers over spectrum rights. Even if an operator were to run a system in an area with no coverage they would still in many cases have to obtain permission from the national regulator. The hope of course is that regulators will realize the value of allowing areas to provide their own coverage without having to wait for outside assistance. ← Back to the Blog --- ## From the 1990s to 2010: Back To School in Technological Fashion | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/08/from-the-1990s-to-2010-back-to-school-in-technological-fashion/) From the 1990s to 2010: Back To School in Technological Fashion | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog From the 1990s to 2010: Back To School in Technological Fashion September 8, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone By Jaclyn Nardone Back to the books, assignments and test — back to what students do best. In my neck of the Canadian woods, students went back to school yesterday. Watching the yellow buses drive by, I couldn’t help but wonder how many Eggo Waffles were toasted and brown bag lunches — equip with Dunkaroos — were packed and shipped off. All the recent ‘Back To School’ advertisements have been making me nostalgic of my grade school days in the 1990’s. From flexible binders and duo tangs by the piles, to cartoon branded pencil cases, Crayola’s classic colors and mini staplers — I’ve been envying the ‘Back To School’ shoppers all week. In terms of 90’s technology — or lack there of — this nostalgia brings me back to the days of disposable cameras, ICQ, Nintendo, Gameboy, Tamagotchi, portable Walkman and the beginning of the cell phone phenomenon. What was electronically modern in the 90’s seems amateur in 2010. Today kids have digital cameras, social issue games (UNICEF’s Ayiti: The Cost of Life and MTV’s Darfur is Dying ), Facebook and iPhones — Facebook on their iPhones. Today, kids today have become frantically digital, and rightfully so. ​ What object is king of the classroom? Not the ruler anymore, today it’s the computer! As of 2009 — unimaginable in the 90’s — New York became house to Quest to Learn (Q2L), a school that teaches grade six and seven students via educational games and digital media. Students use Google Earth — a 90’s no-no — “ as a tool to explore the regions of ancient Mesopotamia.” In today’s technological classrooms, teachers are fusing the fun of gaming with inquisitive learning in a way we 90’s students had not thought imaginable. Some teachers are even incorporating Blogs into their curriculums! How much cooler can teachers get, seriously! Why did the teacher wear sunglasses? Because his/her students were so bright! And why were the students so bright? Because they had great technology to help them learn! Approaching my high school days of the early 2000’s, I’d never have dreamt of an iPad, never mind the cool educational apps such a device could offer. For tomorrow’s astrologers there’s Star Walk , for aspiring scientists there’s Elements and for the globetrotting geographers there’s National Geographic’s World Atlas HD . When is a blue school book not a blue school book? When it’s read! But can a blue school book still a blue school book when it’s read in an E-format? Approaching my early University days of the mid 2000’s, another technical gadget I’d not imagined — but would have adored — are the wirelesses reading devices of today, such as Amazon’s Kindle , Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Chapters/Indigo’s Kobo . Though the sophistication of these digital books surpass grade-schooler’s, I’ve got another comparable 90’s flashback to share… One of my favorite grade school memories was stumbling upon the table of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps book series at the annual book fair, and running my fingers across the bumpy 3D book titles. Now there’s something that can’t be enjoyed via an E-book. But those fearfully nostalgic parts of us can rest assured, as Facebook has digitally documented our favorite 90’s fads, making sure they don’t dust over in light of new technology. Yes, you guessed it — Pogs , Crayola Crayons , ICQ , Tamagotchi , Gameboy , Goosebumps and Dunkaroos — all have their own Facebook Pages. Now there’s a solution that bridges the old with the new! Happy digital school year to all! And parents, happy digital monitoring ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Paving the Way for a Cashless Society: Somaliland and Mobile Banking | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/09/paving-the-way-for-a-cashless-society-somaliland-and-mobile-banking/) Paving the Way for a Cashless Society: Somaliland and Mobile Banking | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Paving the Way for a Cashless Society: Somaliland and Mobile Banking September 9, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner There are no ATMs, the countries currency is unrecognized without an official exchange rate, and every American dollar translates into 17, 000 Somaliland Shillings. With all of this, Somaliland is on track to become a cashless society. Some may argue this is out of necessity and others argue it's because of ingenuity; most likely it's both. Somaliland, in the Horn of Africa, is an unrecognized state. After the collapse of the Somali Republic, the government decided to withdraw from the Union with Somalia and reinstated Somaliland's sovereignty. With the lack of a strong banking infrastructure, many people in Somaliland rely on money-changers who have established self-built stacks of money, often transferred back and forth in wheelbarrows. Paper currency simply doesn't work in the area. What does work in the area however, is electronic banking. For some time now, remittances payments have been flowing electronically back and forth between Diasporas and the locals of Somaliland. The hawalad, also known as money transfer systems, allow people to electronically send dollars back and forth without the need for money-changers and banks. Emerging out of this phenomenon is a strong and growing mobile banking system with the potential to dissolve the cash economy all together. The largest hawalad is Dahanbshiil . Somolilanders are able to withdraw American dollars within minutes of funds being deposited from any one of the companies 24, 000 worldwide agent locations – similar to Western Union in North America. Dahanbshiil also sends out an SMS notification to the recipient when the funds are clear and available. Expanding on its years of successes, Dahabshiil released SomTel International , which became one of Somaliland's leading mobile phone companies and internet operators. Shortly after it's release SomTel rolled out electronic banking services. Capitalizing on its success and customer base, SomTel looks to bring affordable mobile phones and mobile banking to the country. Diaspora will continue to be able to send money via Dahabshiil, resulting in its mobile service recipients being able to by-pass banks and money-changers all together. As the technology grows into the retail sector as well as the private sector and bill payment system, Somaliland, an unrecognized country with an unrecognized currency is on the fast track to becoming a leader in mobile banking as well as becoming a cashless society. ← Back to the Blog --- ## World Bank Open Data and Applications for Development Challenge | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/10/world-bank-open-data-and-applications-for-development-challenge/) World Bank Open Data and Applications for Development Challenge | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog World Bank Open Data and Applications for Development Challenge September 10, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner Yesterday, the World Bank brought together leading technologists, data gurus and development practitioners for a whirlwind group brainstorming activity about their soon to be open Apps for Development contest . The contest aims to find the best application of the data sets released by the bank as part of their Open Data initiative. Along with group sessions to identify potential uses across a number of sectors, participants had the opportunity to hear from technology “Obi-Wan” Tim O’Reilly, Health and Human Services CTO Todd Park, and World Bank Africa Region Chief Economist Shantayanan Devarajan.​ />The competition is part of a broader movement at the bank to share the research they collect with policy makers in and out of government as well as social entrepreneurs. Tim O’Reilly took aim at the trend of using data for visualization, calling it “useful for data wonks” but saying the need was to “build for a real person who is trying to solve a problem.” Visualization works for aggregate level analysis but for the individual user the important issue is accessing “the smallest unit of data” that can help improve their life. Before the group section, Maps for Results an application being developed by Andrew Turner at FortiusOne was demoed. The project displays development indicators along with World Bank activities at the project level. Obtained by laboriously geotagging projects from World Bank reports, Maps for Results provides an important level of granularity not found in the mostly national level data sets. This concept was built upon in the group design sessions, with a number of suggestions involving making the data actionable for citizens near World Bank projects. Groups asked to discuss environmental and governance issues independently identified as useful an application that would allow citizens to obtain SMS updates regarding World Bank projects and most importantly send back their feedback. This service would create a new data set of real-time project efficiency and if used correctly could help provide useful information for citizens interested in encouraging good governance. As Shantayanan Devarajan said at the beginning of the day the fundamental constraint “for development is government failure.” Opening data empowers individuals to take action against corruption by letting them know what ought to be happening. This event was a great opportunity for us at TechChange to identify the types of training we need to provide technology for development entrepreneurs for them to be effective in the field. Stay tuned for future posts where we explore some of our innovative skills development techniques. The official launch of the competition is in early October, so until then get busy thinking up those apps.​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Peace and Social Entrepreneurship Through Mobile Phones in Afghanistan | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/14/peace-and-social-entrepreneurship-through-mobile-phones-in-afghanistan/) Peace and Social Entrepreneurship Through Mobile Phones in Afghanistan | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Peace and Social Entrepreneurship Through Mobile Phones in Afghanistan September 14, 2010 · by Nick Martin On June 24th, TechChange co-hosted an event with the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) entitled: Can You Help Me Now? Mobile Phones and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan . The event featured panelists who were country experts on Afghanistan, the director for corporate affairs at the Afghan telecommunications company Roshan, policy makers from the U.S. Department of State, Department of Defense and USAID, as well as innovators from the technology for development field. According to Shainoor Khoja of Roshan just over half of all Afghan homes had mobile phones as of 2009—44 percent in rural areas—and one percent of Afghans are now using text messaging to get news at least once per week. Some 1.2 billion dollars is being poured into Afghanistan's telecommunications industry, which covers over 12 million mobile users—a dramatic increase from 150,000 users in 2007. This was the first time so many key players had assembled to explore this issue and it was fascinating to see the interplay and perspectives of individuals from these varied sectors. For more analysis see this post put up by my colleague Jaclyn Nardone at TechChange. TechChange will be working with USIP to produce a detailed follow up special report on the many themes and action items that emerged. But there were two working examples that I thought were particularly relevant to the intersection of peace and social entrepreneurship. Community-level social entrepreneurship for cell tower security: Shainoor Khoja shared a story about how the company originally thought that the best way to protect cell towers from conflict was to increase the number of armed security guards. This model proved to be expensive and ineffective so they shifted to a focus on community engagement. Roshan let community members take control of security, in exchange Roshan shared the excess power generated by their solar-powered towers with surrounding homes and businesses and developed a revenue sharing model so that if their towers were operational the community saw a percentage of the profit. This shift proved hugely successful for both the company and the community. I think this area of corporate-community financial and security interdependence is an exciting one with lots of potential to help bring peace through social entrepreneurship. The key though is that companies must have the confidence to support these strategies. Afghanistan mobile banking pilot projects: Mobile banking is a critical innovation that could make a huge difference in restoring stability to Afghanistan. This technology allows users to withdraw money, pay bills or buy groceries with e-currency all through their mobile. Pilot projects have not only eliminated significant corruption but also reduced the costs of transferring money and handling payroll while improving the security situation. After listening to her speak I couldn't help but think of the many ways providing financial inclusion to the very poor has huge potential to spur citizen driven social entrepreneurship. My next few posts will highlight different emerging and ongoing technical efforts that grow from social entrepreneurship beginnings to effectively build peace. So stay tuned! (cross-posted from Ashoka peace ) ← Back to the Blog --- ## A Picture Says A Thousand Words: Facebook Case of Eden Abergil | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/16/a-picture-says-a-thousand-words-facebook-case-of-eden-abergil/) A Picture Says A Thousand Words: Facebook Case of Eden Abergil | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog A Picture Says A Thousand Words: Facebook Case of Eden Abergil September 16, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone Look familiar? Another Abu Ghraib photo frenzy? Needless to say, not the first of its kind. Photos taken by former IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldier Eden Abergil of her 2008 Gaza Strip experiences — paraded in her Facebook photo display titled “ The Army.. the most beautiful time of my life 🙂 ” — has caused online outcry. The photo album, which was once public, has now been personally censored by Abergil and blocked from others to see. Abergil says she meant no harm by posting the photos — which show her posing with blindfolded and hand-tied Palestinians prisoners — as they were “ taken to commit to memory her experience in the army .” Abergil says: “ I did it out of excitement, to remember the experience .” ​ Abergil admits her decision to post the photos was thoughtless and innocent, but says: “ I don’t understand what was not OK . ” In light of the humiliating photos, Abergil ignores the idea that Palestinians “must be afforded fundamental respect as fellow human beings .” And that just begins the debate on why her photos were in fact not OK. The Israeli Army condemned Abergil’s actions as “ shamefu l” and a “ a serious violation of our morals and our ethical code .” According to Ishai Menuchin, of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel: “*it looks like * the soldier who put up the photographs on Facebook enjoyed the humiliation of the Palestinians and ignored their right to privacy… ” Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian Authority spokesman who condemned the photos, says Abergil seems: “ proud of humiliating Palestinians .” So, what’s your opinion of the photos? Go Vote; What do you think of ** Eden Abergil’s Facebook photos? ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Bigger is Not Always Better: Technological Challenges in an Exploding Megacity | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/17/bigger-is-not-always-better-technological-challenges-in-an-exploding-megacity/) Bigger is Not Always Better: Technological Challenges in an Exploding Megacity | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Bigger is Not Always Better: Technological Challenges in an Exploding Megacity September 17, 2010 · by Mayesha Alam Bangladesh. Most people have rarely heard of this tiny country the size of the state of New York nestled in India’s “armpit” and even fewer will be able to tell you its capital. But sooner or later, we are all going to have to start paying attention. This is because Dhaka, the current capital of Bangladesh and formerly one of the most important hotspots of the British empire during the industrial revolution, is the world’s fastest growing megacity. According to an article on Global Post about megacities from September 8, 2010, Dhaka doubled in population between 1990 and 2005, currently boasts 15 million residents and is projected to surpass 20 million people by 2025. As a native of Dhaka city, I was left with a myriad of questions about what all this means not just for Bangladesh but also for the sub-continent and the world. One symptom of Bangladesh’s technological problems is something most of us in the U.S. take for granted. I remember with great frustration blistering hot summers in Dhaka city combined with the lack of power for as many as 12 hours a day due to “load shedding” – the government’s systematic rationing of electricity. You can imagine that beyond just a point of comfort or convenience, the wide gap between demand and supply for electricity in Dhaka poses major obstacles to professional productivity. Banks, universities, corporations, government offices and average households are fettered to the city’s underfunded and overstretched electric company. As Salma A. Shafi, an architect and local expert on urban development explains, garments factories hired by American brands such as Gap bring in hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from rural areas each year and yet the electricity shortage results in declined production and lost man-hours, essentially hampering economic growth. Furthermore, the mass migration from rural villages into Dhaka city has also produced a sharp decline in individual houses which have instead made room for countless new high-rise apartment buildings. Dhaka, a once green city with sprawling parks, has now become a concrete jungle. Essentially the demand for technology not met by the government has meant that citizens are left to fend for themselves with alternative mechanisms to power their lives. Rahim Afroze, for example, is one of many private companies selling generators that can be installed into buildings with various electrical capacities to give temporary power during daily blackouts and while this solution is far from ideal, it has become common practice for those who can afford the luxury. A more long term and green solution to both the electricity shortage and mass migration has come from Grameen Shakti, a sister company of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank. Shakti, which means “strength” or “power” in Bengali, has focused its efforts in rural areas – keeping with Grameen tradition – and introduced Solar Home Systems to more than three hundred thousands households across Bangladesh. Not only does Shakti provide alternative, renewable energy to millions of people who previously relied on candlelight but also conducts training and workshops to educate villagers about solar power while creating jobs and working to slow down the influx of people into Dhaka. Maybe Dhaka could join the solar power revolution and learn from the villages for a change? Stay tuned – there are more entries coming on different themes related to technology challenges faced by Dhaka as a growing megacity. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Online Press Freedom in Jordan: New 2010 Cyber Crime Law | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/20/online-press-freedom-in-jordan-new-2010-cyber-crime-law/) Online Press Freedom in Jordan: New 2010 Cyber Crime Law | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Online Press Freedom in Jordan: New 2010 Cyber Crime Law September 20, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone In a country where the Queen has her own YouTube Channel , you would think Internet is a free and open space for all, but not exactly.​ Because Jordanian authorities believe that “ browsing the Internet is a waste of work time and a huge drain on public money ,” 48 local news websites were recently blocked in all workplaces. Of the news websites blocked, both government endorsed Petra News Agency and Al Rai newspaper were on the list. The blogger behind The Black Iris of Jordan notes that of the 70 million websites explored during working hours , only 13,000 of those are relevant to the employees jobs. In light of these new online restrictions, the government even ordered “ Internet café owners to install surveillance cameras .” “ Press and Publications law should not be applied on the Internet, and that’s why Information System / Cyber Crime Law is subject to be published soon… ” After outcry from media and human rights activist, on August 3rd it was announced that provisions would be made to Jordan’s Cyber Crime Law (Information Systems Crimes Law). Though the law seeks to tackle serious Internet issues, such as “ hacking and illegally obtaining information ,” web-based Jordanian new outlets called the law “ a major blow to new media ,” as they feel the most targeted by this new legislation. Those whose “ posts upset the authorities ,” which may include defamatory commentary that — among other things — jeopardizes national security, may suffer consequences ranging from fines to forced labor. According to Ali Ayed, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, the Jordanian government: “ respects media and it’s role in monitoring government performance , as long as the criticism of government performance and policies is aimed at advancing the public and national interest .” The Electronic Media Tracking Committee says: “the policies adopted by Prime Minister Samir Rifai’s government to restrict public freedoms and constrain free press is aimed at ‘pacifying’ Jordanian media.” Jordan has built a beautiful reputation for itself, in terms of Internet freedom, in comparison to it’s surrounding countries. In a letter to the His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says: “the law, if you endorse it through a royal decree, would undermine Jordan’s image as a free and open society .” According to Jordanian blogger Batir Wardam: “ any full-fledged democracy does not need a press law . ” It was reported that some publishers of local news websites believe the Jordanian regime is acting like an “ enemy of the press .” In similar thought, according to the editor of news outlet Khaberni *, *Mohammad Hawamdeh: “ The law was written in an elastic way so the government can interpret and implement it the way it wants and according to its interests. ” The main issue at stake here is the government’s ability to regulate speech. But not all feel this way. According to Al Arab Al Yawm columnist Fahed Kheitan: “ the online media’s embrace of the new amendments reflects their satisfaction and ends a state of confrontation between the digital press and the government . ” Rani Dababneh was among the slew of bloggers invited to discuss Jordan’s first Cyber Crimes Draw Law , with Marwan Juma, Minister of Information and Communication Technology. Happily surprised by the open and engaged discussion, Dababneh believes Jordan seems to be on the right track, in terms of media advancing beyond in the face of censorship. This was in fact a commendable gesture by Jordanian authorities; to consider the opinions of those to likely be affect most by the law, before making any permanent decisions. Since freedom of speech and expression comes responsibility, His Excellency Mr. Jumba states: “ Criticisms are surly allowed, but no cursing nor offending. i.e. you can publish (in the Cyber World): * I disagree with this guy but not I “curse” this guy!* * If you do then this guy issue a court case, so its just like Real World! ” So, His Excellency says that the use of violent banter is not necessary for getting a message across — but vulgarity aside — doesn’t this restrict freedom of speech and expression? Responsible, yes; Realistic, not sure. Regardless of vulgarity, according to editor of Jordanian online news site Ammon , Basil Okur says: “ monitoring the law seems like mission impossible … as the Internet is full of millions of posts and comments. ” * The law, which “originally allowed authorities to raid offices of websites without obtaining permission from public prosecutors,” has seen suitable amendments, as of August 29th. Many provision have taken face, such as the initial power of authorities to “ search of premises and computers without a warrant .” A couple weeks ago, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) saw issues with Articles 8, 9, 12 and so on. Among the many changes made to the final draft of the Cyber Crime Law , Article 12 has been amended, Article 8 has been deleted — in means to keep new sites satisfied and avoid speech regulation —and so on. Media Freedom Network has a poll posted online that asks: “ Do you feel that freedom of expression in Jordan has improved this year? ”* *While 23% firmly believe “Yes”, only 9% say “Somewhat.” While 52% affirmatively vote “No”, 15% say “Had not improved”— the difference between the two — not sure? Have your say , visit the sight and weigh-in. Only Jordanian time will tell how this will all electronically pan out. To end on a lighter note, hackers and cyber crimes aside, Jordan’s Queen Ranya — via YouTube — explains how a lot of positive can come from online social medias : ‘Today we have a toolbox of new technologies and social media innovations altering the media landscape… Phones and Facbeook, Blogs and Widgets, Twitter and texting… We can reach every corner of the world; from African villages to the US Congress and we can rally the masses around causes we care about… Social networks can help solve social problems…” ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Open Data Mapping and Storytelling | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/23/open-data-mapping-and-storytelling/) Open Data Mapping and Storytelling | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Open Data Mapping and Storytelling September 23, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner We live in the age of data. Open source software, content aggregation software, GPS and mobile technology have changed the way in which we collect, interpret and analyze the magnitude of data. While many government agencies, and private corporations use data to make predications and analyze situations – bloggers, activists and NGO's can use this same information to tell stories. Applications such as Managing News , Map Box and the Ushahidi Platform , help turn data sets into maps and pictorial representations that allow citizens to tell a story. InterAction , the largest alliance of US based international nongovernmental organizations has been using mapping to tell the story of its community's response to the earthquake in Haiti . InterAction also plans to build a map that will represent all its members work worldwide. Visualizations like this will contribute greatly to people's understanding of not only crisis situations, but it also allows the agencies a visual representation of what is going on and what may need to be improved. Turning a spreadsheet of information into a visual representation makes it much easier for groups and individuals to express their message in simple to understand and interpret ways. Ushahidi has also been leading the way in the mapping of conflict and crisis situations. The Ushahidi Platform allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or the web and visualize it on a map or timeline. For Ushahidi, the goal is to create the simplest means of aggregating information from the public at large for use in crisis mapping. For people looking to create their own visual representations and stories there are some very useful tools out there. Leading the way is Map Box and Managing News . Map Box, a product from Development Seed , provides the user with a suite of open source tools and services for creating custom maps. Built into Map Box is the TileMill tool kit , which will render map tiles on Amazon EC2. And if ever there is a time with no Internet, you can take advantage of Maps on a Stick , which is a self-contained mapping tool that can be distributed via any portable media devise. If mapping the media is your interest, there is also the news and data aggregator called ManagingNews . Being both a product and a platform, ManagingNews allows the user to customize their experience and visualization. What this all comes down to, is the ability of the general population to tell stories through mapping and visualizations. With the ample amount of open data, there are as many stories to be told from it, then there are people to tell them. Mapping opens up the visual sphere allowing NGO's, bloggers, non-profits etcetera, to tell their story in manageable, meaningful ways. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Digital Communication and Afghanistan’s 2010 Wolesi Jirga Elections | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/24/digital-communication-and-afghanistan-e2-80-99s-2010-wolesi-jirga-elections/) Digital Communication and Afghanistan’s 2010 Wolesi Jirga Elections | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Digital Communication and Afghanistan’s 2010 Wolesi Jirga Elections September 24, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone For nearly two thousand years, Silk Road land and sea routs — which created an “ intercontinental think tank of human ingenuity ” in terms of trade and communication — connected the Mediterranean to Persia, Indian to Japan, and many more places within Eurasia. Media technologies, such as the printing press, even found their way across these merchant paths some years ago. Today, now online, “ The Silk Road Project takes inspiration from this age-old tradition of cross-cultural exchange.” A localized trade-rout of information exchange, becoming more and more digitally advanced, is connecting Afghans to Afghans in ways never before imagined. The culture of media esteem in Afghanistan has found a new presence, post-Taliban regime. In light of media advancements — radio, television, cinema, theater, Internet — the mobile phone has been coined as one of the most successful, connecting millions of Afghans in both rural and urban areas. Mobile phones have become the new medium of communication for a traditional Jirga s: informal way of implementing Justice and Rule of Law, wherein tribal elders and men of the community gather to discuss such issues of concern. Though more convenient and a great step toward enhancing security — and thus heightened participation — this cell phone alternative means no more communal gatherings under trees or in mosques. From the traditional trade route to mobile meetings, Afghanistan is now incorporating a mix of the two: international and national routs of communication via new online crowdsourcing social media outlets. Beyond the digital M- Jirga , Internet communications are bringing new light to the cross-border digital roads, especially in electoral climates. In past years, social medias have been utilized to track events unfolding on election days worldwide, from Ushahidi in Kenya 2008 to Twitter in Iran 2009. Now, in 2010, let’s take a look at Afghanistan. On Saturday 18 September 2010, Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga (Lower House Parliamentary) postponed elections finally took place. The elections saw almost 5,900 polling stations open countrywide, with 25,000 plus candidates — women included — in the running to contest the county’s 249 parliamentary seats. In light of these elections, Al Jazeera went interactive, monitoring voter’s access to polling stations . With help from the international community ( UNAMA and UNDP/ELECT ), the elections were organized by the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC), a professional election management body, which seeks conduct free and fair elections where transparency and accountability reign high. Also playing a role was Afghanistan’s independent Electoral Complains Commission (ECC), established under the country’s Electoral Law , which considers eligibility challenges faced by both candidates and voters. Until the Wolesi Jirga election results are revealed, hopefully by the end of November, Afghanistan’s digital roads paint a picture as to how Election Day panned out. Ushahidi’s Alive in Afghanistan , the online crowdsourcing project introduced during the country’s 2009 incumbent-winning Presidential election, was used during the 2010 Wolesi Jirga election. The website provides “context to the coverage of Afghanistan’s presidential election” by sourcing information from Afghanistan’s leading news agency Pajhwok and by Tweeters — using mobile phones and computers — tweeting information to #afghan10 . Since 1983, the nonprofit and nonpartisan National Democratic Institute (NDI) has worked toward supporting and strengthening democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation and openness and accountability in government. NDI establishes and strengthens political and civic organizations, safeguards elections and promotes citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. NDI has been in Afghanistan since 2002, working with the country’s 34 provincial councils and staffing over 100 employees. NDI created Afghanistanelectiondata.or g (AED), a crowdsourcing website that has monitored and observed the country’s electoral processes for the past six years. This website has worked to incorporate published data, visualization tools and documentation of presidential and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, for the past six years. Stay connected to the website for upcoming information on this year’s Wolesi Jirga elections. From the beautiful traditions beheld by the Silk Road, to new mobile meetings, to crowdsourced electoral festivities panning out online; methods of communication are ever-changing in Afghanistan, and rightfully — digitally — so. So, what’s next? Using the M- Jirga s platform to cast votes? Rather than having a donkey transport ballot boxes, could mobile phones eventually do the job? ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## MOSES Giving Voice to Victims & Survivors in Liberian Truth & Reconciliation Commission | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/28/moses-giving-voice-to-victims-survivors-in-liberian-truth-reconciliation-commission/) MOSES Giving Voice to Victims & Survivors in Liberian Truth & Reconciliation Commission | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog MOSES Giving Voice to Victims & Survivors in Liberian Truth & Reconciliation Commission September 28, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia was established in 2005 as part of the country’s transition of bloody civil war into an emerging democracy. Considering the mass destruction of basic services and infrastructure, however, lack of physical access to the capital of Monrovia for many Liberians has posed a serious obstacle to the objective of the Commission. A solution has come from an unlikely source in Atlanta, Georgia, thanks to some creative technological innovations. Liberia was founded by freed American slaves who returned to Africa and named the country after their goal to reclaim their freedom. Yet, tragically, for some fourteen years a bloody civil war has left Liberia impoverished, tired and haunted by violent tumult. The country currently ranks second poorest in the world and the United Nations estimates that more than 85% of the population survive on less that $1.25 per day. To its credit, however, Liberia has slowly begun the transition from conflict to reconstruction and rebuilding perhaps best exemplified by the appointment of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf after the first free and democratic presidential elections since the war. Political recovery has begun to create the space for economic and social recovery and central to this latter mission is The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC) that was established in 2005 to supplement an investigation of gross human rights violations perpetrated by Charles Taylor and his associates. The TRC, like many others set up in South Africa, Rwanda and Former Yugoslav Republic, is meant to provide a forum for citizens to share their experiences, have their suffering acknowledged, start the process of reconciliation and seek reparations. Considering the mass destruction of basic services and infrastructure, however, lack of physical access to the capital of Monrovia for many Liberians has posed a serious obstacle to the objective of the Commission. A solution has come from an unlikely source in Atlanta, Georgia, thanks to some creative technological innovations. A team led by Dr. Michael Best at the Georgia Institute of Technology combined forces with the TRC of Liberia to develop an interactive computer video system called MOSES: The Mobile Story Exchange System . Designed for use by many illiterate, undereducated or computer-novices – MOSES provides a means for people to have their voices heard. Simple recording of video about the TRC and the new dawn in Liberia now allows participation of people who have previously been marginalized or excluded from the state-building process. At the same time, it allows those who cannot bear witness to the TRC process in person to stay up to date on the proceedings. Indeed, a simple tool such as MOSES has the potential to transform peace-building in Liberia. What’s more, other post-conflict zones can potentially benefit from this model. MOSES operates on the intersection of dialogue, technology and education and shows that even in this day and age of high-tech, simple systems can be very powerful and very useful. As the creators succinctly explained, through MOSES, “people will be exposed to the perspectives of their fellow Liberians through the videos. They will also be able to respond with their own recordings, thus creating a constructive dialogue. Groups that may otherwise never interact such as people from different counties will be able to exchange their views. It is our hope that this interaction will spark new conversations, combat ignorance and promote peace.” ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Has the Anonymity of Haystack been Revealed? | Blog | TechChange (/2010/09/30/has-the-anonymity-of-haystack-been-revealed/) Has the Anonymity of Haystack been Revealed? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Has the Anonymity of Haystack been Revealed? September 30, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone By Jaclyn Nardone The core project of the San Francisco based non-profit Censorship Research Center (CRC) — Haystack : Good Luck Finding That Needle — has recently been under much uncensored scrutiny.​ In 2009, CRC — run by Austin Heap (Executive Director) and Daniel Colascione — created the flagship proxy software that allowed Iranians to get online in a post-election climate of censored Internet. In its initial days, Heap and Haystack got much praise — and rightfully so — as it was created with positive intentions to help voiceless Iranians find their voices online. The role social media played during the election aftermath — which saw the much disputed victory of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Green opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi — shaped the online Green Movement. Digital cameras and smartphones soared high in the air, capturing everything from protester chants to the tragic death of Neda Agha Soltan , and it was all uploaded to the Internet for the world to see. The media had a field day with Haystacks and Heap, who was granted the 2010 Media Guardian Innovator of the Year Award . How could we media folk not have been provoked by a 20-something year old guy and his business partner making and spreading software that directly promoted online freedom of speech, in the face of a strictly censored regime, and in today’s prominent digital era? It’s exciting stuff! It’s important stuff! On 14 April 2010, in light of “the Obama administration recognizing the importance of Internet access to democratic movements around the world,” the software — though unavailable for public download — was granted a U.S. license for export to Iran. But how long lasting would this exciting and important development be? First, the Twitter Revolution — coined by protesters organizing themselves on the streets via Tweets — was criticized and renamed the Twitter Devolution . Now, Haystack’s needle has been found. By mid-September 2010, Heap told the BBC : “ all functional copies of the software had now been withdrawn. ” Today the official Haystack website says: “ We have halted ongoing testing of Haystack in Iran pending a security review. If you have a copy of the test program, please refrain from using it .” After examining a copy of Haystack, skeptic and tech blogger Evgeny Morozov and Tor ’s chief advocate Jacob Appelbaum , have not been shy in debunking the software as unsafe. Posted via Twitter on 13 September 2010, according to security professional Appelbaum: “ Haystack is the worst piece of software I have ever had the displeasure of ripping apart . ” As a rebuttal to criticisms given by Morozoy, Heap voiced opinion in his blog post “ Brain Dead Journalism .” In his resignation email, Haystack developer Colascione admitted to both the immaturity of the software and his mistakes: “ … there was plenty of error on my part too, of course. I should never have allowed that damned “test” program to be distributed at all …” * On his blog, Heap — saying he would step down from his CRC leadership position — also owned up to his wrongdoings: “… and there was a constant, draining race to meet expectations — expectations that, in retrospect, I created, sometimes without meaning to …*” But, Heap is keeping strong, refusing to give up his fight for the 30% of the world that suffers under strict censorship. Heap told interviewer Brooke Gladstone, in an interview with On The Media in May 2010: “ It’s always going to be a cat-and-mouse game …” Thus, in challenging the game, here’s some questions Appelbaum suggest the media should have asked before Haystack became a celebrity : “ Do you have an open design that has been peer reviewed? Do you have a diverse set of users? Do you have a decentralized architecture or a centralized one that allows you to monitor everyone and everything that uses your tool? Does it make promises, like magically encrypting the Internet or making everything perfectly secure? Is it easy to update? Do you do security through obscurity? Do you say, oh, we can’t give you a copy of this because, well, that would be telling?” Viva Iranians. Viva Free Speech. Viva Open-Networks. But first and foremost, in the name of technology and peaceful social change, Viva Online Safety For All!!! ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## International Conference on Crisis Mapping 2010 | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/04/international-conference-on-crisis-mapping-2010/) International Conference on Crisis Mapping 2010 | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog International Conference on Crisis Mapping 2010 October 4, 2010 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin I just got back from the International Conference on Crisis Mapping (ICCM 2010) held at Tufts and Harvard Universities. The conference brought together key members of the NGO community, United Nations Agencies, private sector players like Google and Microsoft, and academics from various institutions. A number of TechChange friends were also in attendance: USIP , FrontlineSMS : Medic , Development Seed , Ushahidi , ICT4Peace Foundation , and UN Global Pulse . Also met some new friends including the folks at Digital Democracy , the Konpa Group and more.​ The conference centered around a reflection of the crisis mapping activities in aftermath of the Haiti earthquake and also looked at other efforts underway in conflict and post-conflict environments such as Liberia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan and Pakistan. Discussion focused on a need to more directly engage both the higher levels of UN and International NGO leadership to mainstream crisis mapping practice as well as a reiterated concern to be more responsive to local actors and needs to ensure that projects are sustainable and relevant. Some of the key takeaways for me included: PlaySourcing: the idea that video game players could be contributing volunteer time and energy to crisis response through actions within video games. Kila Ventures is working on this concept. Stay tuned – we may have a post about it soon. SwiftRiver : The much-anticipated tool to filter veracity of incoming crisis mapping reports. I got to download an instance of it and we’re excited to build some simulations and training activities for this new technology. U4Ushahidi: We also heard about the Universities for Ushahdi effort to provide community of training and education for Ushididi partners and practitioners and bring students from universities in conflict zones to the US for training on the Ushahidi Platform. Excited to see if we can find ways to work with this effort. Crisis Mapping APIs. Finally Jon Crowley from StarTides mentioned the need to create more “Crisis Mapping APIs” for the open source community. We really want to echo this sentiment at TechChange. I came away energized to work on developing more innovative simulations like the one I ran at UPEACE for classroom practice and for field trainings. I’m also excited to partner with game designers to start building some engaging and effective video games and online simulations that train end users in crisis mapping practice and strategy. Thanks again to Patick Meier and Jen Zemke and the Fletcher team for organizing and we’re thrilled to be part of this movement as it evolves.​​​​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Micheal Wesch on How New Media Mediate Our World | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/06/micheal-wesch-on-how-new-media-mediate-our-world/) Micheal Wesch on How New Media Mediate Our World | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Micheal Wesch on How New Media Mediate Our World October 6, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead. Margaret Mead spoken such simple words with such profound impact, and just recently, to an audience at George Mason University, Micheal Wesch made those same words come alive. Wesch, who has been dubbed “the explainer” by Wired Magazine, is a cultural anthropologist who studies the impact of new media on society and culture. Wesch’s videos on technology, education and information have been viewed by millions, translated into multiple languages and celebrated at film festivals over the world. A multiple award winner – including the 2008 CASE/Carnegie U.S Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities – his ideas were captivating and thought provoking. Wesch, the creator of the viral video Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/ing Us, has been a lead researcher about how; this medium is changing our fundamental daily existence. He even goes so far as to suggest the ways it’s changing the classroom, the way we learn and the way we engage with our everyday environment. The idea Wesch presented to the crowd at George Mason was simple – new media mediates our world. Wesch advances the idea that we know ourselves through our relationships with others; new media creates ways of relating to others and therefore new media creates new ways of knowing ourselves. New media helps us relate to others because it’s where we go to find out what is being said, how it’s being said, who is hearing it and it has become how we store and access knowledge. Wesch’s believes the web is built on user generated content, user generated filtering, user generated organization and user generated distribution. The key in all of this, is that the power to effect change, create community, share knowledge and determine what is of the most importance to ourselves is in our very hands – everyone can be the user with the power to create, filter, organize and distribute. And by becoming the user we are able to connect, collaborate and organize without constraint. Our relationships with each other are forged in our ability to be the user, the user with the power to affect one another. We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us – Marshall McLuhan ← Back to the Blog --- ## Community Radios and Mobile Phones: A Perfect Match | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/08/community-radios-and-mobile-phones-a-perfect-match/) Community Radios and Mobile Phones: A Perfect Match | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Community Radios and Mobile Phones: A Perfect Match October 8, 2010 · by Guest Author Despite dramatic increases in global internet penetration, many people still depend on radio as their primary connection to the outside world. However, as inexpensive mobile phones are becoming widely available, a number of organizations are seeking to combine the popularity of radio programming with the interactivity of mobile phones to engage listeners, provide personalized content, and create a more active dialogue between civil society and decision makers. Freedom Fone , a Zimbabwean program, allows for content to be sent and received via IVR (Interactive Voice Response). This is the same technology used by utility companies and others to route customers’ calls through various voice menus to the (hopefully) appropriate representative. While IVR is considered annoying by many in the developed world, Freedom Fone’s use of this tool by has opened up a variety of interesting possibilities in the developing world, especially in conjunction with mobile phones. As part of the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (a large-scale program designed to support African farmers with informational radio broadcasts), stations used Freedom Fone to provide personalized content and allow listeners to voice their opinion. In Ghana, listeners were able to call a phone number broadcast over the radio and, through the use of IVR menus, were able to receive specific information about various aspects of poultry farming. By designing appropriate menus, this service even allowed for speakers of different languages to receive information in their native tongue. At Radio Maria in Tanzania, callers were invited to call in and record their comments about the show and its content. The station received 2,499 calls and broadcast many of these over the air. While described as a “glorified voicemail service”, this application of Freedom Fone facilitated active participation in the program and proved quite popular. In Guatemala, which has experienced a 65 percent annual growth in mobile phones, radio interactivity is being achieved through the use of SMS messages. Listeners are invited to register their mobile phone number with the station and are then notified of breaking news via SMS message. In addition to receiving news, listeners are also encouraged to provide updated news and opinions with an SMS back to the station. This has proved useful for situations ranging from traffic reports to utility outages. In Nepal, popular youth radio program Saathi Sanga Man Ka Kura (Chatting with my Best Friend) has teamed up with UNICEF to incorporate an SMS message campaign. The goal is to provide adolescents with a platform to express their opinions about regularly aired radio debates, and the response has been dramatic. Over 4,000 SMS messages were sent to the station on the program’s first day. This eagerness on the part of young Nepalis to voice their opinion and use new tools is especially exciting in a mountainous country where communication with remote areas was previously difficult. Photo credit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/images/ibc_3_SAG_2188-1.jpg ​ ← Back to the Blog --- ## SMS:Legal and Mobile Service Provision | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/14/smslegal-and-mobile-service-provision/) SMS:Legal and Mobile Service Provision | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog SMS:Legal and Mobile Service Provision October 14, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner It's hard for ICT4D evangelists to avoid the perception that they have an irrational belief that technology will immediately fix all the world's problems. Malcolm Gladwell's recent critique of technology for social change provides us with a great opportunity to consider what we are realistic to expect. I think most would agree with him that social media, when it works, functions by weak associations of public support—getting the Gap logo back—rather than high cost actions like facing off the Basij.​ My disagreement is that he's missing the point. Communications technologies are revolutionary not because we can follow friends on Facebook or Twitter but because they are platforms for delivering millions of bits over the air. Those bits can improve the delivery of any number of services; whenever information needs to get somewhere, mobiles make it happen faster. From health to education, agricultural prices to job boards…to shamelessly rip off Apple, there's an app for that. And now from the Frontline family we can add accessing judicial services with SMS:Legal to that list. The mission of SMS:Legal is to simplify the process of accessing legal aid for the more than 4 billion people currently deprived. For example, the service could connect citizens with questions to available representation or create digital records to improve case management. More importantly, SMS:Legal is looking at what's currently being done to see where new efficiencies can be generated. India, for example, is working to bring mobile courtrooms to more isolated areas. While it's too early for these to be mobile phone courts, SMS could be used to make citizens aware of when the peripatetic court would be close or register for a hearing. SMS:Legal provides a valuable bridge between the informal legal arbiters and regular judicial system. When a traditional dispute resolution process is unable to reach a conclusion, the mobile could be the easiest way to connect with the formal court system. The benefit is not in trying to eliminate the need for face-to-face judicial interactions. It's in improving the efficacy of overburdened government and non-governmental legal aid providers. Digital communication simplifies the paper work generated by legal proceedings improving coordination between lawyers, court officials, social workers and anyone else who needs to be kept informed. It could even be used directly by lawyers to inform clients of filling deadlines or hearing dates. SMS:Legal represents a growing awareness that governments can drastically improve service delivery by taking advantage of new technologies. Gladwell ends his piece dismissing social media for “helping Wall Streeters get phones back from teen-age girls. Viva la revolución.” Well, right now you can take the very “weak” step of supporting SMS:Legal in the NetSquared Competition and in the process help their strong case of using mobiles to bridge the last mile in legal representation. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Regulating the Saudi Arabian Blogosphere via Licensing? | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/15/regulating-the-saudi-arabian-blogosphere-via-licensing/) Regulating the Saudi Arabian Blogosphere via Licensing? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Regulating the Saudi Arabian Blogosphere via Licensing? October 15, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone In September 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report titled “ Looser Rein, Uncertain Gain ,” A Human Rights Assessment of Five Years of King Abdullah’s Reforms in Saudi Arabia. In this report — in the “Greater Margin for Freedom of Expression” section — HRW discusses the paradox between King Abdullah creating a greater space for free expression, but still an ongoing repression of freedom to express critical opinions. HRW notes how the Saudi government censors free speech, with the help of legislation such as the 2007 Law to Combat Information Crimes, and how a new cyber law is brewing that would restrict expression via electronic media. Blogs — along with online forums and e-web publishers — in the Saudi Kingdom will allegedly soon need a license and need to be officially registered with the government. The purpose of this issuance is to “ cut down on libel and defamation and is not intended to limit freedom of speech.” According Abdul Rahman Al- Hazzaa, Saudi's domestic media supervisory from the Ministry of Culture and Information , the “ law will require on-line news sites to be licensed, but would only encourage bloggers and others to register . It seems those most fiercely targetted are the bloggers who earn respectable titles for themselves, such as Saudi Arabia's 'Dean' of bloggers Fouad Al-Farhan . Al-Farhan was arrested in Jeddah on 10 December 2007 for content he wrote on his blog . Though Al-Farhan and Saudi Jeans blogger Ahmed Al-Omran blog about similar content, with similar tone, according to Al-Omran: “ I guess what did it is a blog he wrote about political prisoners, and the fact he visited them in jail .” According to Al-Omran: “ All the man did was exercise in his right to free speech. He didn't threaten any one. He didn't call for violence or hate. He just called for what he thinks is his right and freedom of expression and justice .” Al-Faran was released on 26 April 2008, but while in prison he was kept alive and well in the cyber world via supporters of the “ Free Fouad ” campaign. On the blog Saudi To The Core , blogger Sam Sall says: “ The act of writing and expressing one self is an every day act by everyone, don't tell me that people will need licence to write letters or send cards to their loved one …” This will not likely be the case, so why should the blogosphere have restrictions? We live in a digital age where freedom to use and access the Internet needs be enforced as a right. Al-Hazzaa says his plans are not to impose licenses on bloggers, but rather to implement new regulations that “ give his department supervisory authority over electronic media , as it has over traditional print and broadcast media and publishing in Saudi Arabia.” But what's the difference? Media censorship is media censorship, and license or no license, bloggers are still being monitored, censored and regulated. The blogger behind the Ftat al-Amal (The Girl of Hope) blog says: “When this outlet became monitored, we put our hands on our hearts.” In light of this new license, I wonder how many opinionated Saudi bloggers are holding their hands on their hearts now. Rest assured you are being thought of by many amid the world's blogosphere. In keeping Saudi blogging spirits high, check out Al-Farhan's 25 reasons on Why Do We Blog? After Al-Farhan's release from prison in April 2008, he blogged: “ I had previously written 25 reasons why we blog and those reasons, in my opinion, are still strong and valid. After two years of not blogging, I have decided to return to this lovely space , which I have never stopped following, for the third time .” ← Back to the Blog --- ## TechChange Advisory Board Meeting: Reconnecting with Partners and Planning for the Future | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/19/techchange-advisory-board-meeting-reconnecting-with-partners-and-planning-for-the-future/) TechChange Advisory Board Meeting: Reconnecting with Partners and Planning for the Future | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog TechChange Advisory Board Meeting: Reconnecting with Partners and Planning for the Future October 19, 2010 · by Mayesha Alam By Mayesha Alam On October 15th, 2010, TechChange staff, advisory board members, friends and colleagues came together at our office in Washington, D.C. to reconnect about our progress and brainstorm ideas for our future. To learn more about who was there, what was discussed and what was achieved – keep reading On a windy and rainy Friday afternoon, a group of social change leaders and technology enthusiasts gathered over delicious refreshments to recap recent activities, generate new plans and evaluate the accomplishments of TechChange in the past four months. In true TechChange fashion, the interactive meeting featured four stations that guests could visit to learn more about our work. First off was the social learning and pedagogy station where our friends from International Youth Foundation , International Center for Non-Violent Conflict , Ashoka , Development Alternatives Inc and George Washington University had the opportunity to learn about some of the online coursework we are developing as well as receive a debrief about the recent courses taught by the TechChange team such as a class on peacebuilding and new media at Georgetown University. Blackboards were available with post-it notes for everybody to share thoughts, suggestions and feedback which was then compiled by TechChange staff and will be incorporated into our future endeavors. Another station was set up to share simulation ideas we are hoping to execute as well as some very cool models we hope to build on such as the Aves Engine. The third station was a sit-down interview opportunity for us to learn more about some of the work of our partners and how TechChange may be able to collaborate with organizations such as IYF on current projects. For example, Daryn Cambridge , who is the Director of Knowledge and Digital Strategies at ICNC, shared thoughts on having just completed a webinar on non-violent conflict and some lessons learned relevant to the e-learning projects we are developing here. Stay tuned for blog posts in the near future about the interviews conducted! Finally, there was also a “future station” where we asked for expert advice on how to reach a wider audience, design coursework that is exciting for students and point us towards new partners. All in all, a productive Friday afternoon has reenergized our spirits at TechChange. We are confident about our ability to become a leader in promoting social change through technology but also humbled by all the enormous tasks ahead. Thank you to all our followers for your support and as always, please feel free to share ideas and feedback! ← Back to the Blog --- ## Social Media Encouraging Non-Violent Resistance in Kashmir? | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/27/social-media-encouraging-non-violent-resistance-in-kashmir/) Social Media Encouraging Non-Violent Resistance in Kashmir? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Social Media Encouraging Non-Violent Resistance in Kashmir? October 27, 2010 · by Mayesha Alam There has been much buzz recently in the social media community about a recent article published in The New Yorker magazine titled “Small Media” by Malcolm Gladwell . Gladwell questions whether, despite creating greater awareness and arguably greater access, social media has ultimately hijacked more traditional forms of public activism such as protests and gatherings? Gladwell’s point should not easily be dismissed, even if one is inclined to disagree with him, but rather considered critically. This question about the value of social media is one I have been struggling with myself. However, after attending a panel discussion this month featuring Rebecca Byerly , the only foreign journalist based in Indian controlled Kashmir, about extreme violence this past summer – I gained some clarity and maybe those who sympathize with Gladwell can as well. Consider Jammu-Kashmir: a disputed territory on the cusp of India and Pakistan that has, for the past sixty years, been marred by violent revolt, calls for independence and political power plays between hostile neighbors. At the heart of the conflict, however, is human suffering that has gone on too long and the bloodshed escalated to new heights this past summer sparked by the death of a young man killed by a stray bullet fired by Indian army officers in a football stadium. Over one hundred people have been killed in clashes between the army deployment and civilian population since June, 2010 but unlike before, when deaths and other injustices went largely undocumented or unheard of, social media is now bringing the Kashmir question much deserved national and global attention. A new generation of tech savvy revolutionaries are reshaping the conflict and demanding a political solution, some semblance of normalcy and accountability using amateur videos recorded on cell phones, blogs, tweets, Facebook groups and online gatherings. At the same time, this spread of information allows those entrenched in the every-day struggle for peace to dispel many of the myths about Kashmir. For example, it is often assumed that the revolt is driven by unemployment, poverty and government negligence. On the contrary, Kashmir is one of the wealthier states in India but infected by mismanagement. Still, people are not as poor as in other parts of the country – especially those who are taking to the streets in protest. Frustration also rises out of paralysis bred by indefinite school shutdowns, restricted movement, political alienation of civil society and prolonged curfews. What is more, it is clear from the vociferous protests of the youth that their grievances are primarily against the Indian government and armed forces but they also don’t trust Pakistan. The federal government can no longer sweep the Kashmir issue under the rug or point the finger of blame at external actors. Social media is forcing the state to consider its role in propagating cycles of violence and violating the rights of its people. Perhaps most importantly, however, is the role of social media in encouraging non-violent protest over violent revolt. As Byerly pointed out in her presentation, she has been surprised to learn that many of youth are choosing to embrace non-violence thanks to new technology. People are learning quickly that a video camera or cell phone can be just as powerful, if not more, for resolving conflict as any conventional weapon. There is a generational shift that should not be ignored between the adolescents of this age and their parents who were more willing to take up arms. The trend towards non-violence is encouraging but should be viewed with cautious optimism. Not all those who embrace non-violence remain non-violent. In fact, as Byerly pointed out, there are some who feel so frustrated by lack of change that not only do they return to violent means but instead of hurling sticks and stones, they now hurl grenades and rockets. Another danger in the social media revolution is that because practically anyone has access to these charged videos and images, how will they be received and what will people do with them? Just as the internet can be used to rally people together in the cause of peace, images of young men and women abused by the government mean to protect them can be distorted by some to produce greater violence. Just imagine an impressionable young man being given an image of someone his age with a bullet through his head and being told, “Look at your Muslim brother across the border and what has been done to him. What will you do about it?” The possibilities for positive repercussions are endless but so are the possibilities for negative. Gladwell correctly writes that thanks to social media, “the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns.” But while face to face contact may lessen as a result of social media, the redefinition of activism does not necessarily have to translate as lessened value or impact. In the hype and excitement over new and emerging networking technologies, I feel that sometimes we forget technology is never the goal, nor the end, of human action. Social media is merely a tool for activism, an instrument to facilitate dialogue, raise awareness and push boundaries for human progress and social change. It is therefore imperative to always keep in perspective not only how these tools can be used but why they help people do good. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Keeping Face in Censored Cyber World via Circumvention Tools | Blog | TechChange (/2010/10/29/keeping-face-in-censored-cyber-world-via-circumvention-tools/) Keeping Face in Censored Cyber World via Circumvention Tools | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Keeping Face in Censored Cyber World via Circumvention Tools October 29, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month too all you tech-savvy, Internet loving folk out there! Let’s Celebrate — by examining The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University ’s October “ 2010 Circumvention Tool Usage Report ” (CTU Report) — that examines the usage of web tools for circumventing Internet filtering. In the age of censored Internet, web users dodge online repression via various filtering tools. As the CTU Report says: “ Circumvention tools allow users to bypass Internet filtering to access content otherwise blocked by governments, workplaces, schools, or even the blocked sites themselves. ” According to the CTU Report: “ Every type of circumvention tool provides the same basic functionality – proxying user connections to provide access to otherwise blocked sites.” However, although circumvention tools similarly all use proxy connections through third party sites, they all differ in performance and detail. The four main circumvention tools the CTU Report explains are: Blocking-Resistant Tools, Simple Web Proxies, VPN Services and HTTP/SOCKS Proxies. Blocking-Resistant Tools “ require the installation of a download ” from the user but use the native web browser for online access. Working as conductors, these tools use Front-End Proxies to “ proxy traffic back to the core proxy .” Server-Web Proxies, also known as Server-Side Applications, are accessed via web page form URLs. The proxy webpage returns the requested website to the online user via a proxy web server. It’s as easy as one, two, three — “ To use the tool the user needs only visit the web page hosting the proxying web application .” Simple Web Proxies, “ initially targeted at students in the U.S. and other countries to bypass school filtering systems ,” use similar tactics as Blocking-Resistant Tools and some operate in countries where the Internet is filtered by governments. Even though Simple Web Proxies are “ commonly defenseless in the face of IP-based proxy blocking ,” in terms of common censorship knowledge, the CTU report tells that if 1simpleproxy.com isn’t working — don’t fret! — try 2simpleproxy.com Virtually Private Networks (VPN) use software to “ encrypt and tunnel all Internet traffic through a proxy machine .” Once corporate in nature, VPNs have recently become commonplace, used by common everyday Internet users. In order to function, the VPN must be used outside the filtering country. VPNs sometimes require the installation of client-side software, but are also supported via Windows and/or MAC OSX. Not just for surfing the web — VPNs open-up access to email and chat services. HTTP/SOCK proxies are “ application level proxies that funnel network traffic through protocols designed to allow web traffic to pass through firewalls .” While HTTPs allow web browsers and servers to communicate through a proxy, SOCKS proxies TCP/IP traffic, which — unlike VPN service — require that “ each application be configured individually to use the proxy .” Generally open to the public and free from client-side application, these HTTP/SOCKS proxies most commonly come in the form of IP addresses and port numbers. Though they are the most anonymous of the CTU Report’s four described circumvention tools, this also means they are untrustworthy. For further details into how this particular research was conducted — methods used for measuring the use of three of these four circumvention tools — and its results, read the full CTU Report . Especially interesting to note, this study found that only 3% of all Internet users are using circumvention tools. For further information on online censorship, check out the OpenNet Initiative — which identifies and documents Internet filtering and surveillance, in means to educate the public and promote dialogue. Again, Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month to all! And may awareness surrounding online safety and the dangers of censorship remain steadfast all year-round! (Reference Notes: All italicized quotes and information regarding the four circumvention tools were taken from the CTU Report ) ← Back to the Blog --- ## Refugee Health: The Potential of Mobile Health Technology | Blog | TechChange (/2010/11/01/refugee-health-the-potential-of-mobile-health-technology/) Refugee Health: The Potential of Mobile Health Technology | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Refugee Health: The Potential of Mobile Health Technology November 1, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner Mobile health technologies are one of the fastest growing, arguably most innovative new platforms that utilize the power of mobile phones. As mentioned before by Jordan Hosmer-Henner on the TechChange blog : “Mobiles have the potential to increase efficiency at nearly every step of health care provision.” The use of mobile health technologies has the potential to fundamentally change the way groups such as the UNHCR , and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) conduct health care for refugees. T he post-emergency/stable setting phase of a refugee crisis is the phase marked by a decrease in mortality rates and the fulfillment of basic needs for refugee populations. At this stage the focus of groups such as UNHCR and MSF shifts towards the containment and treatment of infectious and communicable diseases. One of the major challenges in this phase is the need for infrastructure and equipment to conduct medical testing and blood counts. These tests often require a large amount of costly equipment that may not be available due to budgets, transportation and security issues as well as time constraints. With the advancement of mobile health technology, there are now other technologies that can help bridge the gap and streamline the care process. Some highly infectious diseases such as malaria require health care providers to analyze bodily fluids such as whole blood samples as quickly and cost effectively as possible. CelloPhone is a mobile health program that provides a revolutionary optical imaging platform that can be used to specifically analyze bodily fluids within a regular cell phone. Led by Professor Aydogen Ozcan at the UCLA Ozcan Research Group , a group of students and researchers have discovered how to create a lens free ultra-wide field cell monitoring array program based on ideas of shadow imaging – called LUCAS for short. LUCAS enables the user to perform basic diagnostic testing such as blood counts, malaria and TB testing, as well as measure the number of CD4 lymphocytes in the blood of HIV infected persons, all from the back of a camera phone. What is so promising about this technology is that immediately after the sample has been captured on camera, an algorithm analyzes the cell morphology, then automatically produces a diagnostic result, and sends that information back to health care workers on the ground. The speed and accuracy of the program will better enable health care workers in refugee camps and settlements to administer necessary care to people suffering with communicable and infectious diseases. Replacing the need for costly equipment, the use of programs such as CelloPhone, in conjunction with programs such as OpenMRS has the potential to allow for greater coordination between the UNHCR and organizations such as MSF. In many situations involving refugees, health care providers rely on each other to give the best overall health care possible. Being able to coordinate and respond with the speed provided by mobile health technology will create a much-needed space for timely and accurate epidemiological surveillance. One of the most promising applications of mobile health technology, come from its innate flexibility. The use of programs such as CelloPhone also holds the potential to assist the UNHCR, MSF and refugees during the potential resettlement phase. Resettlement can be a very complex process for refugees and aid agencies. More often than not, potential resettlement countries require that each resettling refugee submit medical testing for infectious or communicable diseases as well as other health documentation that is not always readily available. This process is not only time consuming, but costly to aid agencies and new host countries. OpenMRS technologies in tandem with CelloPhone can be utilized to provide a digital record of testing for infectious diseases as well a complete record of health care that a refugee has received. If implemented in this situation, a digital record could be provided by a health agency such as the UNHCR to the potential resettlement country. Collaboration with UNHCR means that countries that are receiving resettled refugees will have access to the very information and data they require. The potential uses of mobile health technology in situations involving refugee populations does not stop at CelloPhone or OpenMRS technology. There are potential uses at all stages in a refugee crisis and there are many different mobile health applications that can better serve both the aid agencies and the refugees. The key moving into the future is to look closely at these new technologies and find innovative ways to bring their benefits to disadvantaged or at risk populations all over the world. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Technology and Do-It-Yourself Development | Blog | TechChange (/2010/11/05/technology-and-diy-development/) Technology and Do-It-Yourself Development | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Technology and Do-It-Yourself Development November 5, 2010 A couple weeks ago, Nick Kristof published a New York Times article titled DIY Foreign-Aid Revolution and Dave Algoso wrote an excellent critique just a few days later in Foreign Policy. Because this is the internet and two weeks makes it venerable news, I thought about letting it slide by, but it’s been bugging me increasingly since then. This is partly because I have worked both at a small 3 person NGO with a great idea and not much else, as well as a large USAID contractor with hundreds of staff members and millions of dollars in projects, and I still cannot decide which is “better.” But it’s also because I think ICT for development has a unique spot between these worlds, and I think it’s going to change the conversation in years to come. For wont of space, I won’t summarize either article, but highly encourage reading both of them. They’re both well written, as you’d expect from either institution/ author. Each of Kristof’s cases of social change by an enterprising individual is honestly heartwarming and makes for great reading – inspirational and effective. But is it the future of aid? Maybe not, but in ICT, it already kind of is. Kristof admits that there is an obvious problem of scalability, but Algoso goes further in his criticism. The DIY model makes development look simple , and anyone who works in the field knows this isn’t so. People operating unilaterally bring up issues of sustainability and don’t always have the cultural context necessary to effect real change (the 1,000,000 shirts debacle being a good example). And by and large, I’ll just say that I agree with Algoso to a large degree, glossing over the tremendous esteem I hold for social entrepreneurs and the organizations like Ashoka that support them. But I think there is a case to be made for DIY aid, especially in ICT sectors. Why is ICT different? Scale is the first thing that comes to mind. The fact that software is just a chunk of bits means that you can produce a tool in one part of the world, and put it into action 6000 miles away a couple hours later. It’s the epitome of globalization, in a good way. Silicon Valley, the source of the majority of mainstream technical innovation, is largely a story of individuals who made waves around the world with a handful of really excellent ideas put into action. Likewise in ICT4D, you have many individuals whose tools have made a huge diffence – Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS are the first to come to mind, but they are two of many dozens. The point is this: “traditional” development areas like education or agricultural export markets require a tremendous multi-party effort and are hard, slow battles for change; a single piece of open source software can be replicated around the world in a matter of weeks or months, to great effect and a lot of good. Ok fine, it’s still not that easy – anyone who has rolled out a software or hardware solution to an issue will tell you that ICT is just a tool and is only 1% of the work. The other 99% is customizing, training, troubleshooting, coordinating, and otherwise getting into the weeds. So yes, someone has a lot more work to do. But choosing who this is solves another one of the major issues of development – localization and community input. Once a tool has been built, local folks have the ability to tweak things, make sure it is the right tool and roll things out themselves. At the risk of relying on the same examples, FrontlineSMS has been adapted to dozens of situations in as many places globally, from government outreach programs to mobile health reporting. Ushahidi has been set up to track oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, track elections around the world, rescue earthquake survivors in Haiti and a plethora of other things. By and large, this is done by local folks who see a framework that can help them solve a problem. I am, by and large, a supporter of development “professionals” who have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others around the world and invested in the education and experience to get that done (full disclosure: my day job depends on me supporting this). But I think there is a lot to be said for the DIYers out there who throw themselves wholly at one problem in one place and find a solution. And for those with a technological bent, sometimes that solution goes global. Bonus: I just saw that Ken Banks wrote up a short, somewhat related post on the traditional model of social entrepreneurship and ICT. Worth reading! ← Back to the Blog --- ## Elections, Human Rights, Censorship, Twitter: A Special Time for Burma | Blog | TechChange (/2010/11/07/elections-human-rights-censorship-twitter-a-special-time-for-burma/) Elections, Human Rights, Censorship, Twitter: A Special Time for Burma | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Elections, Human Rights, Censorship, Twitter: A Special Time for Burma November 7, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone The people of Burma will vote on Sunday — for the first time in 20 years — but domestic reporters are “ prohibited from going within 50 metres of polling stations .” Free from international journalists and electoral observers — a decision favored by Chairman of the Election Commission Thein Soe — it’s believed these elections will mimic a democratic façade and be used as an attempt by the regime to legitimize its role. Burma has been under military rule since 1962, as a result of the General Ne Win led coup that overthrew U Nu, the Burmese nationalist who became the country’s first Prime Minister. Since 1992, Burma — under umbrella control of the State Peace and Development Council — has been governed by Senor General Junta leader Than Shwe. Though a laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 , political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi ’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party is not running in the election — according to her lawyer Nyan Win — Suu Kyi won’t vote. Though Suu Kyi was detained under house arrest before the electoral results surfaced, the NLD won the 1990s election by a landslide, but the military Junta nullified the results. S ince the NLD is not running in 2010, the next best bet is the National Democratic Force (NDF) party — led by Tin Shwe — which is made up of Suu Kyi supporters. However, the anticipated party of victory is the Union Solidarity Defense Party (USDP), the youth wing of the army. The Burmese regime, no stranger to electoral fraud, is also no stranger to media censorship. Overwhelmed with repressive media laws, Burma scored 171/175 on Reporters Without Borders (RWB) Press Freedom Index of 2009 . According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), “with a military government that severely restricts Internet access and imprisons people for years for posting critical material, Burma is the worst place in the world to be a blogger .” Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said these elections are “… being conducted in a climate of fear, intimidation, and resignation .” In continuing, according to HRW: “The ruling State Peace and Development Council tightened restrictions on foreign media, rejected all offers of international observers, and maintained tight controls on the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.” Both The Irrawaddy magazine and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) — a non-profit Burmese media organization committed to responsible journalism — have been “ the target of intense attacks which it is believed originated from the Burmese government .” According to Aye Chan Naing, Executive Director of the DVB: “ We will defend our right to tell the truth no matter what methods they use to silence us. They will never succeed .” In continuing with censorship and cyber attacks in Burma, vendors in Rangoon “have reportedly been told to block sales of unregistered SIM cards as the continued slowdown of Burma’s Internet compounds communication problems.” Is this a premeditated way to block journalists from spreading Sunday’s electoral news across borders? Very likely. The order targets unregistered mobile phones, and as a result of reduced Internet speeds, YouTube videos take hours to download. Via 140 characters, @BurElection2010 and @burmaelection10 are keeping Twitterers updated with election information. The power of this social media outlet even has the attention of Suu Kyi, who wants to “ start using Twitter when she is released from house arrest to communicate with people around the world .” Without a phone line or Internet access, Suu Kyi has been under house since years before the microblogging website was launched. Tweeting would “ be a welcome change for the 65-year-old ” — an amazing one indeed — and possibly introduce a social media revolution to Burma. In the meantime, follow the Aung San Suu Kyi page on Facebook. To conclude with some social media flair, visit Burma 2010 Elections to virtually experience the elections via crowd sourced information, and expand upon where this screenshot photo came from. ← Back to the Blog --- ## The Humanitarian Crowd Source Debate Heats Up | Blog | TechChange (/2010/11/24/the-humanitarian-crowd-source-debate-heats-up/) The Humanitarian Crowd Source Debate Heats Up | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog The Humanitarian Crowd Source Debate Heats Up November 24, 2010 In his recent article on MobileActive.org, Paul Currion posed the question, “If all You Have is a Hammer, How Useful is Humanitarian Crowdsourcing”. Currion argued that those working in disaster response “…don’t need more information, they need better information.” He argued that Ushahidi’s Haiti deployment was an example of the failure of crowdsourcing to add value to disaster response efforts and ongoing humanitarian work. This pointed critique of Ushahidi and the use of social media in a humanitarian context resulted in an enthusiastic, and sometimes heated, debate in the article’s comments section. Supporters of Currion’s view argued that efforts such as Ushahidi resulted in data that was biased and unreliable. Concerns were expressed that the system unfairly raised expectations among affected communities that each message would result in a corresponding response. Defenders of crowdsourcing argued that tools such as Ushahidi have proved particularly valuable in situations such as Search and Rescue. They referred to rescues facilitated by messages sent to the Ushahidi platform in the immediate aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. In addition, some defenders argued that tools like SwiftRiver are now allowing for crowdsourced reports to be filtered, verified and made more actionable. Robert Kirkpatrick, Director of the United Nations Global Pulse program, wrote “Like it or not, this kind of information will be generated increasingly by disaster-affected communities, and it will be available to the global community — including the organizations and individuals with an official mandate to coordinate response. These organizations may choose not to view the reports. Or they may choose to view them and then dismiss them as not actionable. Or they may choose to act upon them. Regardless, they will be held accountable for these decisions. The game has changed. We need to develop policies, processes and tools to deal with this information, because it isn’t going away.” I tend to agree with this point. A new tool has been created — it is not necessarily appropriate in every context but can be made to add value in some, especially in conjunction with more conventional data. I have already learned of numerous Ushahidi deployments that were not likely considered when it was created in the aftermath of the 2008 Kenyan elections, such as tracking sexual abuse and wildfires. As crowdsourcing applications such as Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS are further refined and data is better organized and made more meaningful (e.g. with tools such as SwiftRiver), they will likely be deployed in a variety of new contexts. Clearly, there is no mandate for agencies to utilize the data produced by them, but based on the attention paid by The UN Secretary General’s Office, UN OCHA, UNDP, UNHCR, The World Bank and others (as witnessed at ICCM 2010), the potential is clearly recognized. Education and training will likely play an important role in the future of this technology. As practitioners become more familiar with the tools available to them, they will be better able to judge when it may truly add value to an effort and when it is simply inappropriate. Similarly, there may be significant value added by training members of the “crowd”. While this is unrealistic in the immediate aftermath of a crisis, a minimum level of training to a select number of community members in the days and weeks following could likely have a significant impact. Efforts such as UNICEF’s use of RapidSMS , while not purely crowdsourcing, have shown the utility of teaching select representatives to send messages coded in such a way as to easily feed into an organized database. Similarly, the development of well-trained teams to deal with crowdsourced data such as The International Task Force of Crisis Mappers and efforts like Universities for Ushahidi could speed up the evolution of these tools. I recognize that Ushahidi and other humanitarian crowdsourcing applications should not replace tried and true methods of humanitarian data collection. Challenges exist in how to deal with the new type of information provided by them. However, to continue an analogy used by one of the article’s commenters — Why throw out the baby with the bathwater? Instead, I would argue more questions should be asked regarding how best to build on these young but powerful new tools. Some of my own include: • How can the “crowd” be best engaged (and perhaps trained) to provide more actionable information? • Could other forms of media (e.g. radio) be better employed to engage community members, perhaps even those without access to more advanced technology? • Can (and should) crowdsourcing applications such as Ushahidi be used to “push” information back out to the crowd? Could this be a means of increasing the quality of future data? • Could Integrated Voice Recognition (IVR) technology be incorporated to respond to participants needs, perhaps by providing prerecorded messages corresponding to their stated needs? ← Back to the Blog --- ## YouTube Censored in Turkey: On Again, Off Again | Blog | TechChange (/2010/11/30/turkey-e2-80-99s-censored-videos-youtube-is-on-again-off-again/) YouTube Censored in Turkey: On Again, Off Again | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog YouTube Censored in Turkey: On Again, Off Again November 30, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone Chad Hurley, co-founder of the video-sharing website YouTube , has recently stepped down from his position as CEO. And the Turkish court has stepped down from the Web 2.0 video-sharing website — all together. Formerly the audience, Web 2.0 users are now the participants. Formerly the consumers, Web 2.0 users are now the producers. In 2006, TIME magazine coined ‘You’ as person of the year . And one of the most prominent emergences of Web 2.0 is YouTube, the Google-owned video-sharing service that has “ quickly grown into the world’s leading video community on the Internet .” With one billion subscribers , YouTube’s enormous archive of uploaded videos cover everything from politics to entertainment — from revolutionary Tehranis protesting in the streets to the famous “ Charlie bit my finger – Again! ” home video. Some tech-savvy world leaders use YouTube to communicate with their citizens — The Vatican leader Pope Benedict XVI , Jordanian Queen Rania of Jordan, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper , American President Barack Obama , Russian President Dmitry Medvedev , French President Nicolas Sarkozy and more — while others veer away from it all together. A comment posted below The Globe and Mail article “ Lights, camera, LOLcats: YouTube turns five ,” published on April 25, 2010, reads: “ YouTube is dying . The censors, lawyers and commercial concerns are taking over and destroying it. Five years from now, The Globe will run a “Remember YouTube?” article.” And vanishing it is — again — in Turkey. A country that has thousands of websites blocked, Turkey scores 122/175 on the Reporters Without Borders (RWB) Press Freedom Index of 2010 . “In May 2007, Turkey’s president signed Bill 5651 into law ,” which would enable the “ court to block any website where there was “sufficient suspicion” that a crime had occurred .” In addition to vulgar crimes of child pornography, gambling, prostitution, insulting ‘Turksihness’ and Atatürk is also illegal under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code . Between 2007 and 2008 , YouTube was banned in Turkey, due to videos that insulted Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — ‘ Father of the Turks ’— founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. According to RWB, “ from March 2007 to June 2008, several courts had issued seventeen orders to block the website .” The CyberLaw Blog article “ At Least 6000 Websites Censored From Turkey ,” published in 2009, gives further insights. By November 2010, the Atatürk videos were again uploaded to YouTube, “but access to them was restricted in Turkey by YouTube itself due to an official request submitted by Turkey. Turkish officials demanded the videos be deleted, but YouTube refused .” The Techdirt blog further explains: “they lifted the ban because “ they thought (incorrectly) that YouTube was willing to censor content on their behalf. But, that’s not the case, and the video was only taken down due to a bogus copyright claim.” But soon after the ban was lifted , a separate court in Ankara reinstated a 30-month ban on YouTube , “deepening a dispute over online free expression in the European Union candidate country.” This ban — separate from the Atatürk motivated ban — came as a result of a video of former opposition chairman of the Republican People’s Party Deniz Baykal in a bedroom with a woman. The video frenzy led Baykal to quit . From 2008 to 2010, Pakistan has also gone through spurts of social media blocking and unblocking, due to “ growing sacrilegious content .” Because of the controversial Islamic Prophet Muhammad Danish cartoons, Pakistan banned YouTube in February 2008 — and then banned on Facebook in 2010 — in light of the controversial “ Everybody Draw Prophet Mohammad Day .” Turkey and Pakistan aside, controversy over YouTube surfaces in every corner of the globe, even on my Canadian turf. Constable Adam Josephs — “Officer Bubbles” — responded to a young female protester who blew bubbles toward he and a colleague at Toronto’s G20 Summit demonstrations with: “ If a bubble touches me, you’re going to get arrested for assault .” In a defamation lawsuit, Josephs is now suing YouTube for $1.25 million over a series of cartoons that surfaced on YouTube — via anonymous Internet users — that “ depict a policeman resembling the officer engaging in various acts of police abuse of power .” Pictures may say a thousand words, but videos — especially home videos of live footage — say a thousand more. From Turkey to Pakistan to Canada — and everywhere else in between — YouTube brings an undeniable human element to the content it communicates. This makes the social media website so desirable for its everyday users, so daunting for its political enemies and so interesting for the topic of online media censorship. Post Script: After this article was written, it was brought to attention by personal sources that YouTube is available to some Internet users in Turkey. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Jumo: Day 1. Our First Impressions of the Social Network for Social Causes | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/01/jumo-day-1-our-first-impressions/) Jumo: Day 1. Our First Impressions of the Social Network for Social Causes | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Jumo: Day 1. Our First Impressions of the Social Network for Social Causes December 1, 2010 · by Nick Martin Yesterday, Jumo released its beta platform to the world, but the launch was far from seamless. Founded by Facebook Co-founder Chris Hughes, Jumo bills itself as a “social network for the social sector.” At TechChange, we spent a few hours on the new site and here are some of our first impressions. Technical glitches galore: For starters, it took us over an hour of refreshing and revisiting Jumo to create a profile and an organization page for TechChange . The team at Jumo was clearly not prepared for the traffic . Hughes on his Twitter account , about five hours ago. “@jumoconnect users. If you’re seeing something wonkey, just hold tight. Good problem to have.” Jumo staff will hopefully get these issues worked out in the next few days, but if it continues this could be a serious problem. Internet users tend to have little patience for sites that crash easily. As we heard Mark Zuckerberg’s character say in the movie the Social Network “let me tell you the difference between Facebook and everybody else; we don’t crash, ever! If the servers are down for even a day our entire reputation is irreversibly destroyed.” Once we got the site working here’s what we saw: Facebook integration: Jumo requires users to have a Facebook account before registering so that it can integrate with Facebook. This saves users time and builds friend lists automatically, but it also might upset some concerned about privacy. You can configure settings to stop your Facebook page from reporting your Jumo activity in the settings tab. Social Issues: As individuals we were asked to identify issues to follow (education reform, governance and peace, health, etc). The drop down lists for these areas of concern were fairly narrow and prescriptive. For instance, when we clicked on education, we had to choose between afterschool programs, at-risk youth, educational reform and education for girls. Then each of those options has more specific sub-categories. Hopefully more categories will be added with time because we had many issue interests that went beyond the listed categories. Individual profile page: We really liked the concept of having an entire profile dedicated to what social issues, organizations someone is passionate about and having a platform dedicated to pulling the most relevant issue and organization-related content together in one place. It still needs some work but the potential is there. Newsfeeds: Once we identified our issues, news stories appeared in a news feed that related to these issues. We could also vote them up or down. We liked this feature of being able to read about issue related news stories although we’re still not sure how these stories were selected or where they’re coming from. News from the organizations we followed also appeared in the feed along with news about one’s social issues. Organizational profile page. Once we registered as an individual we decided to try and create a Jumo page for TechChange. We we’re able to create a “new project” and then were able to link it directly to the TechChange Facebook page with a Facebook ID which pulled our Facebook feed into Jumo. We were also asked to identify the issues we are working on which then appear in the newsfeed. There were a few other features like setting links to our blog, Twitter, Youtube, Vimeo accounts, etc. Other than that it’s a little thin at the moment, but the concept of having individuals follow organizations and having a central social network for social issues, individuals, and NGOs has tremendous potential. TechChange Jumo Profile Recommendations: Help Box: Some kind of help feature would be nice. The navigation of this site is not intuitive and there are lots of confusing aspects to it. Friends: Some way to control friend feed? What if I don’t want to be associated with someone in Jumo but I’d like to keep them as a facebook friend? Twitter Integration: The only way you can pull a feed from your Twitter account is if your Facebook and Twitter accounts are synced through facebook. Other than that, all you can do is link out to your Twitter account. Seems to us that Twitter has become a far more valuable tool for organizations than Facebook in recent years and without a stronger integration this may spell trouble for Jumo. There were some neat features but the jury is still out as to how this site will add value to other social networking platforms. There’s no question that the nonprofit industry could use some energy and innovation with platforms like Facebook Causes having certainly slowed down recently. And the concept of creating more meaningful relationships between people, causes, and organizations is a powerful one. But it’s still a little early to tell if this will indeed be the “game changer” that some news agencies are calling for. We suggest giving it a try, but temper your expectations for the moment. Anyone else try it out yesterday? ← Back to the Blog --- ## TechChange Photographer Goes to Haiti | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/02/techchange-goes-to-haiti/) TechChange Photographer Goes to Haiti | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog TechChange Photographer Goes to Haiti December 2, 2010 · by Mayesha Alam In August of this year, Keith Lane, professional photographer and a member of the TechChange team, went to Haiti to document, through photography, whether and how the country is recovering since the devastating earthquake in January. I had a chance to sit down with Keith and ask him about his trip, what he observed and what he imagines the future holds for Haitian people. *Please note that this interview was conducted in early September, shortly after Keith returned from Haiti. The duration of the trip was divided between the Haitian capital of Port au Prince and Jacmel, which is about two hours south of the capital, by way of a very mountainous high way. Keith traveled with his girlfriend Jenna, who is the TechChange graphic designer, and a couple of other Americans who had been working to provide humanitarian support in different sectors. Keith explained to me how mobility around the city remained somewhat limited, even seven months post-disaster, because of debris, rubble and infrastructural damage that has yet to be removed. As Keith put it simply, “the city is still destroyed.” Considering our constant interest in how communication technologies can facilitate social progress, Keith investigated how mobile phones were being used by ordinary Haitians to rebuild their lives or just stay connected with each other. Keith observed many people in the street or public places with mobile phones and he was told that these everyday wireless, handheld devices were being used to track down and map the the earthquake as well as transmit information to coordinate relief. For those people who did not own a mobile phone of their own, Digicell, which is the largest cellular company in Haiti, had agents on the ground carrying devices which they basically rented out to individuals for a charge of a couple of gourde (approximately forty gourde is equivalent to $1). Keith also had the opportunity to connect with an organization called Architects for Humanity. A volunteer shared with Keith “how it’s been seven months since the earth quake and yet he’s only had the chance to work on one school, which is pretty staggering when you think that you can move much faster in a lot of other developing countries. It has a lot to do with red tape. Similarly when I talked to Paula who runs the Sinai Institute, she basically explained how every moves slower in Haiti due to red tape and bureaucratic hurdles.” It’s estimated that more than a million people were displaced from their homes because of the earthquake. No one really knows how many people are still living in tents. The U.N. distributed so many tents but the question is, who got those tents? Where are they being used? You’ll see tents in people’s homes, business, on the sides of roads. Keith explained to me the urgency for stable homes for people. “Haiti is an extremely expensive country. Resources are not cheap and they have to import everything.” People have been left with no jobs, no infrastructure and almost no government support. Keith also noted the potential for mobile banking in Haiti which did not exist while he was there in August. Keith tells me he would love to return to Haiti and take a look for himself how things have changed next year. We, too, hope that Keith will be able to return and provide us with updates. Here, I have compiled a few of the most striking images Keith took while on his trip. Enjoy! ← Back to the Blog --- ## Is e-Learning Inferior to Face-to-Face Instruction? (e-Learning Series) | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/06/is-e-learning-inferior-to-face-to-face-instruction/) Is e-Learning Inferior to Face-to-Face Instruction? (e-Learning Series) | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Is e-Learning Inferior to Face-to-Face Instruction? (e-Learning Series) December 6, 2010 TechChange is excited to launch a new blog series dedicated to e-Learning for educators and trainers. The series will highlight emerging technologies, best practices in instructional design and pedagogy, and important industry trends. The very nature of the way we learn and the way we teach are continually transformed by the implementation of online technologies in education and training. According to a recent report, Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009 online enrollments in higher education are increasing at a rate of 17%, far exceeding the meager 1.2% overall growth in higher education. More than one in four higher education students now take at least one course online. Increases in distance learning enrollments at community colleges are even higher at 22%, according to the Instructional Technology Council’s Distance Education Survey Results . Academic institutions are not the only ones embracing the demand for e-learning. Governmental agencies, for-profit companies, and non-profit organizations alike increasingly utilize online technologies as a cost-effective method for extending the reach of their education and training programs. E-learning increases learning opportunities for those geographically separated, and its flexible format is especially suited for busy individuals juggling work and family demands. Effectiveness of E-Learning An updated research report by the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) recently found that on average, students in online learning conditions performed modestly better than those learning the same material through conventional face-to-face (F2F) instruction. The DoE’s report, “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies” (Sept. 2010), also found “instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.” This combination of delivery methods is often referred to as ‘hybrid’ or ‘blended’ instruction. The report cautions that it is important to keep in mind that the “observed advantage for blended learning conditions is not necessarily rooted in the media used per se and may reflect differences in content, pedagogy and learning time.” The Department of Education backs its claim through a meticulous methodology that examined more than 1,000 empirical studies of online learning between 1996 and 2008. A small sample of independent studies were selected from the pool for meta-analysis. Other key findings from the report include: Effect sizes were larger for studies in which the online instruction was collaborative or instructor-directed than in those studies where online learners worked independently. The mean effect sizes for collaborative instruction and for instructor-directed instruction were significantly positive whereas the mean effect size for independent learning was not. The effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different content and learner types. Online learning appeared to be an effective option for both undergraduates and for graduate students and professionals in a wide range of academic and professional studies. Effect sizes were larger for studies in which the online and face-to-face conditions varied in terms of curriculum materials and aspects of instructional approach in addition to the medium of instruction. Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes. The research does not support the use of some frequently recommended online learning practices. Inclusion of more media in an online application does not appear to enhance learning. The practice of providing online quizzes does not seem to be more effective than other tactics such as assigning homework. Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection. Studies indicate that manipulations that trigger learner activity or learner reflection and self-monitoring of understanding are effective when students pursue online learning as individuals. Providing guidance for learning for groups of students appears less successful than does using such mechanisms with individual learners. When groups of students are learning together online, support mechanisms such as guiding questions generally influence the way students interact, but not the amount they learn. The DoE report also cited previous studies that found that learning outcomes improve when online tools are used to prompt student reflection. Prompting students to engage in self-expression and self-monitoring strategies positively impacts learning and outcomes. Moreover, formative online self-assessment tools lead to better student performance than using traditional tests. The report’s key findings are both interesting and relevant to educators and trainers, but it is important to consider one of the caveats of the report: “Despite what appears to be strong support for blended learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium, In many of the studies showing an advantage for blended learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages. At the same time, one should note that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face instruction.” The important message here is that the medium itself is not necessarily what increases the effectiveness of learning- it is the effective use of online tools. Online tools enable increased opportunities for collaborative learning, particularly for learners separated geographically. E-learning tools also offer students new opportunities for self-directed learning outside of a physical classroom. From my own experience I can attest that a mixed format can be an effective learning environment for students. I co-teach a class at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding which uses a hybrid or blended method of instruction. Often we run out of time during a rich discussion in our F2F class. But through our Moodle online learning management system we are able to simply continue the discussion online after class. Those who didn’t have a chance to ask a question are given an opportunity to do so, and some participants who feel more comfortable communicating in writing share their thoughts online. Through Moodle we can also post an array of podcasts, videos, and recommeded articles for students who want to explore a specific topic more deeply. Leveraging online teaching tools increases opportunities for learning, but they don’t necessarily guarantee a good learning experience. Sound instructional design and effective pedagogy are needed for both F2F and online instruction. No online tools, no matter how flashy or expensive, can rescue a poorly designed or delivered class- either F2F or online. Summary I don’t know about you, but I was surprised by the a results of this report. e-Learning often carries negative stereotypes as being boring, static, and unengaging. How many of us have paid good money for a mediocre online learning experience? e-Learning is relatively new, only a couple decades old. So, it’s encouraging to know that this teaching and training tool has quickly proven to be as effective as F2F instruction. I am encouraged by one of the report’s key findings: “Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.” I am a believer in the potential of games and simulations to enhance the learning process. For adult learners, I believe there is great training potential for single-player, scenario based simulations which present a problem or task that a learner is asked to work through. (An upcoming blog post will be dedicated solely to this topic.) I also believe platforms such as USIP’s Open Source Simulation have great potential for multi-party learners to “play” with or against each other to practice solving real life challenges. As someone who makes a living producing multimedia training tools, I naturally have a hard time accepting one of the report’s key findings: “Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes.” However, upon careful inspection, the report is addressing the amount student’s learn through video- not the educational value or impact . I believe it is important that educators and trainers present a diversity of curricula tailored for different types of learners. Some people, like myself, are visual learners. Others prefer written or oral delivery. Neglecting visuals (such as video) does learners a disservice. With the ever increasing popularity of streaming video in the web, people are increasingly demanding visuals as part of their online experiences. While hardware and software were once confined only to professionals, most individuals now have the capabilities to produce their own multimedia content. Learning is no longer seen as a one-way process of an expert pontificating to a classroom of students. Rather, learning in the 21st Century is collaborative by nature, respecting learners’ pre-existing knowledge and life experiences as contributions to the group learning process. In addition to the key finding about video, I am perplexed that the report stated “online quizzes do not influence the amount students learn…” The purpose of online quizzes is for assessment, not for teaching new material. F2F instruction is as old as our earliest ancestors and there will always be a place to sit face to face with an expect. But in its relatively short lifespan, e-Learning’s impact has already been tremendous, driving the evolution of teaching and training with the accelerated emersion of online tools and technologies. The landscape by which we conduct our education and training programs is evolving. Eventually, we will be forced to adapt, otherwise our programs run the risk becoming outdated, or worse case scenario- obsolete . Dominic Volonnino is co-founder of TechChange and is a faculty member in the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding . Contact Dominic at dominic [at] techchange.org Related article by D.Volonnino: Integrating Multimedia into Adult Education: Is it Worth all the Trouble? Image © ted_major. Flickr.com ← Back to the Blog --- ## Zero Force: Using Social Media to End the Use of Child Soldiers | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/09/zero-force-using-social-media-to-end-the-use-of-child-soldiers/) Zero Force: Using Social Media to End the Use of Child Soldiers | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Zero Force: Using Social Media to End the Use of Child Soldiers December 9, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner Romeo Dallaire may be best known for his book titled Shaking Hands with the Devil . Since retiring from his illustrious military career, he has taken on a new task – to end the use of child soldiers in war. He is the first to admit that this is no small task, and Dallaire has gone on record to say “I have been leading this fight for over five years, without a force behind me. I’ve come to realize that this is not something anyone can accomplish alone.” And with that realization, Dallaire has turned to social media for help. Zero Force is a global effort to recruit an army of motivated individuals to work towards the eradication of the use of child soldiers. While the target audience is primarily under the age of 25, Dallaire makes no distinction and turns no one away from the grassroots advocacy army. Since 2001, the participation of child soldiers has been reported in 21 on-going or recent armed conflicts, in almost every region of the world. The United Nations has estimated that there are approximately 250, 000 child soldiers worldwide. Children may be abducted, forcibly recruited or coerced by being given very limited alternatives, essentially forcing them to volunteer for service. Poverty, separation from family, displacement and living in areas exposed to armed conflict, make children even more vulnerable to recruitment/abduction. Many of who were abducted from their homes and their families and forced to commit atrocious acts of violence as a means to desensitize them from the realities of war. Romeo Dallaire is clear in his intentions where Zero Force is concerned: “For this global tragedy to see an end, it is going to take a global movement. A global force led by youth that is strong, organized and committed to sustained change.” Taking to Facebook and Twitter , Romeo Dallaire hopes to mobilize 2.5 million young activists to eradicate the use of child soldiers. Recognizing the strength of social media, Dallaire wants to do more than just spread a twitter message; he wants to tap into the power of young activists with a will to create change. Dallaire believes that a group of motivated and connected young people can and will change the world, and for Dallaire, that needs to start with changing the world for the youth who are forced into war. Photo Courtesy of hdptcar ← Back to the Blog --- ## The ‘Donkey Bloggers’ Satire: Azeri Journalists Free from Detention | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/10/the-donkey-bloggers-satire-azeri-journalists-free-from-detention/) The ‘Donkey Bloggers’ Satire: Azeri Journalists Free from Detention | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog The ‘Donkey Bloggers’ Satire: Azeri Journalists Free from Detention December 10, 2010 · by Caitlin Turner On July 4th 2009, Emin Milli — blogger and one of the Alumni Network founders —spoke at “a Heinrich Böll Foundation roundtable dedicated to a democratization process in Azerbaijan, where he criticized the Azerbaijani government strongly.” Four days later, on July 8th 2009, he and Adnan Hajizada — blogger and co-founder of the OL! Azerbaijan Youth Movement — were attacked at a Baku Café by unknown ‘sportsmen.’ The bloggers were arrested and the following days they spent in detention — which turned into months — became a blow-to-free-speech headline in cyber history. Hajizada and Milli, known as “donkey bloggers,” filmed a satirical video — critical of the Azeri government — on press freedom and posted it on YouTube. The video — motivated by the government of Azerbaijan’s decision to spend significant dollar amounts importing donkeys from Germany — is of a mock press conference held by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev dressed in a donkey suit. On his blog In Mutatione Fortitudo , blogger Ali S. Novruzov reports that the donkeys cost $18,500 USD. In the spoof video , the multilingual, violin-playing donkey was honored with a standing ovation from his crowd after announcing his desire to create an NGO that protects the rights of donkeys in the country. The men, both youth activists from Azerbaijan, were charged with ‘hooliganism,’ under Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code . According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), ‘hooliganism’ is “a criminal charge that carries up to five years in jail.” According to Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW), “Milli was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment and Adnan to 24 months.” After being sentenced on November 11th 2009, Milli’s first message read: “Our Vision prevails their fear… Our Passion prevails their power… Our Love prevails their hate… Celebrate our Vision for Freedom! Passion for Justice! Love for Humanity!“ Governments around the world — United States, Britain, Germany — spoke out against the bloggers imprisonment. Protests took shape in front of Azerbaijani Embassies across the world — from Washington to London to The Hague (Netherlands). Fatalin’s Blog calls the AdnanEmin campaign “probably the biggest of its kind in Azerbaijan.” Over 1,200 supports have gathered on Facebook via the Support Adnan Hadji-Zadeh and Emin Milli page and 5,500 supporters via the 100 000 people for the freedom of Emin Milli and Adnan Hadjizade!!! page. The case also surfaced on social media sites such as Twitter, via @FreeAdnanEmin and #EminAdnan, Support Adnan and Emin blog, AdnanEmin.com , videopetition.blogspot and etcetera. In September 2010, the member organizations of the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan produced the “Free Expression Under Stack: Azerbaijan’s Deteriorating Media Environment” report, which calls for “the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev and imprisoned bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli.” Freedom House called the bloggers sentences a disturbing indication of Azerbaijan’s non-transparent legal process and that “the decision to silence the bloggers strikes a blow against the nascent success of new media in Azerbaijan.” Human Rights Watch (HRW) quotes Giorgi Gogia, South Caucasus researcher, saying: “The imprisonment of Milli and Adnan sends a chilling message to bloggers and any sharp government critic in Azerbaijan. It reflects growing government hostility towards the freedom of expression.” Amnesty International (AI) reported that during a court hearing on September 16th 2009, “six of the bloggers’ supporters were reportedly briefly detained because they were wearing T-shirts that said “I am also a hooligan”, and held for up to 12 hours before being released…” Furthermore, in speaking out against the detention, on September 17th 2009, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said: “The trial of the two bloggers is happily violating all the norms of European law to which Azerbaijan is subject….” Though Miklos Haraszti, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSC) Representative on Freedom of the Media, called the severity of the sentencing “self-revealingly political,” Milli’s wife Leyla Karimli told Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that her husband is apolitical: “He’s not a member of any political party and he doesn’t plan to be a member of a political party.” The International Freedom of Expression eXhange (IFEX) reported that first Hajizade was released on November 18th 2010, and one day after, Milli was released. Hajizade told Reuters: “I regret that I didn’t do more, I didn’t write more and I didn’t film more… I’ll continue doing it.” Milli, who will also continue blogging, told RFE/RL: “I don’t know why exactly our case gained so much attention, international attention, I don’t know, but I am very thankful and I think I will be thankful until the end of my life.” Though relieved the “donkey bloggers” are free, IFEX reminds that “more activists and journalists are still in prison and they should be released immediately too.” On the RWB Press Freedom Index, Azerbaijan ranked 150/173 in 2008, 146/175 in 2009 and 152/178 in 2010. Evidently, much is left to be done to ensure freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, but freeing the “donkey bloggers” is a great step toward progress. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Cross ‘Worry’ Off your Holiday List with Cloud Storage | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/14/cross-worry-off-your-holiday-list-with-cloud-storage/) Cross ‘Worry’ Off your Holiday List with Cloud Storage | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Cross ‘Worry’ Off your Holiday List with Cloud Storage December 14, 2010 · by Jaclyn Nardone Deck the halls, wrap some presents and pour yourself a tall glass of eggnog: Cloud storage gives you one less thing to worry about this holiday season. Unfamiliar with cloud storage? Cloud storage is a place that ensures your personal computer files are safe in the event of a computer crash, theft or accident. We’ve all heard the horror stories of someone’s computer crashing and the subsequent loss of irreplaceable family photos and important documents. Just recently I was in the Apple store and overheard a grieving woman recount how her toddler spilled milk on her laptop. She lost all her files. I personally have a lot of memories stored on my computer, which I’d be quite devastated to lose. So how can you have peace of mind when computer hardware is so fickle? With a cloud backup service you can upload your data remotely, use it to host your files and ensure everything is backed up and safe. Here are some of the perks of floating your data on a cloud. Protection In case of a computer crash, theft, fire or any conceivable manmade or natural disaster, your files are secure. To restore them, simply download your files back onto your fixed or new machine. It’s like they were never gone. More reliable than external hard drives Do you use an external hard drive to store and backup data? This is a bare essential for most people; if you’re not using one already you are a data dare devil. Unfortunately, external hard drives crash, too. (I’ve had three die on me in just the past two years.) I back up most of my files on a hard drive, but for my most important files—the stuff that I could never replace—I also use a cloud. Automatic backups You can choose how many of your files to store in a cloud and how often you want to back them up. For example, my fiancée is writing her thesis, and every seven hours any new work is automatically updated into your cloud storage. No extra thought is required. My computer automatically updates once a day – that’s sufficient for my needs. Synchronize data across multiple computers Are you the type who works on multiple computers and mobile devices? Find yourself emailing documents to yourself or using a memory stick to transfer files? A cloud can sync all your files, so whether you’re on the other side of town or on the other side of the world your files are accessible and synced when any changes are made. (No more calling colleagues from the airport asking them to email you a presentation you forgot!) Sharing with others Not comfortable uploading pictures to Facebook, Flickr, or Snapfish? Or too lazy perhaps to come up with captions? Cloud storage enables you to quickly and easily share your favorite holiday photo albums with family and friends. Simply save your files to the cloud and send mom or Uncle Larry a link to where they are stored in your cloud. Rest assured – most services give you security controls over who can access your files. Be sure to verify this option before signing up with a provider. User-friendly options There’s no shortage of cloud providers. Some of the big ones out there are Apple MobileMe , Rackspace Cloud Files , and Amazon S3 . I recommend DropBox and JungleDisk as two very user-friendly and affordable cloud storage providers. (JungleDisk is owned by Rackspace and is a front end to Amazon’s S3 and Rackspace Cloud Files services). Cost Each vendor prices their services differently but you typically pay a monthly fee depending upon how much storage you use. It might not make sense to upload your entire music and video collection since you will be charged a monthly fee and multimedia files are quite large in file size. Personally, I store most of my videos and music on an external hard drive and only upload files which I would be devastated to lose. Otherwise, my monthly cloud storage fee would be astronomical. With DropBox options such as file sync, sharing, and mobile device access come standard. Choose one of their packages depending on how much data you would like to store in the cloud. Basic plan: Up to 2 gigabytes (Free) Pro50 plan: Up to 50 gigabytes ($9.99/month) Pro100 plan: Up to 100 gigabytes ($19.99/month) If you only want a package without the bow just to back up your files try JungleDisk’s ‘Simply Backup’ plan. Or upgrade to their Desktop plan for only an extra $1/ month. Simply Backup: $2/month plus 15 cents per gigabyte (first 5 gigabytes free) Desktop plan: $3/month plus 15 cents per gigabyte (also offers file sync, sharing, and mobile device access) This season add a cloud to your wish list or gift it to a friend. The holidays will be merrier knowing your pictures from Italy or your dissertation drafts are safe. We at TechChange use cloud storage for many of the benefits mentioned. But we’d love to hear from our readers. Are you or your institution using cloud storage? How so? Post a comment below to share your experiences. Flickr image attributions: Patrick Q and dsevilla ← Back to the Blog --- ## Bridging the Digital Divide: Why Mobiles, Markets and Moore’s Law Matter | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/21/bridging-the-digital-divide-why-mobiles-markets-and-moores-law-matter/) Bridging the Digital Divide: Why Mobiles, Markets and Moore’s Law Matter | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Bridging the Digital Divide: Why Mobiles, Markets and Moore’s Law Matter December 21, 2010 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner Remember to toast the birth of the World Wide Web this Saturday—just don’t buy it a drink. It was only twenty years ago that Tim Berners-Lee loaded the first webpage. Now it’s such an indispensable aid to modern life that researchers are evaluating not if, but how it’s rewiring our brains . That is of course if you are one of the lucky third of the population that has access. The pace of adoption, however, must make one feel optimistic that soon children won’t remember a world where it hasn’t been possible to ‘ask the internet’ from a mobile. While the long term impact of web access is exciting, the much more important development has been the exponential growth in data rates and the adoption of SMS. The brilliance of SMS was realizing that sufficiently short texts could be encoded into the control messages that the network already had to send to keep voice data flowing smoothly. It’s taken 18 years, but we’re starting to see tools being built that use SMS to do everything from record medical information to browse job listings . The important thing to remember is that these tools need to be adopted to be useful and that’s not going to happen if they aren’t applicable. Local ownership and innovation is critical in developing effective solutions which is why the trend toward open sourced software is so encouraging. SMS and mobile communications have penetrated society faster than any prior information technology. Billions of individuals own mobile phones and it’s predicted that next year 85% of new handsets will be able to access the Internet. One of the primary reasons is the dramatic cost savings between installing land lines and wireless towers. Wireless standards are rapidly improving which means developing countries can leapfrog expensive and outdated copper networks. What’s more users see the cost savings in getting a twenty dollar phone that can save hours of travel or become an essential business tool. It’s hard not to be astounded by the impact the Internet has had in the developed world. From commerce to dating, there is hardly an aspect of society that hasn’t been altered. Expressed more broadly advances in information sharing simplify and facilitate transactions (whether in love or business). I’m willing to transfer money to a stranger because I’ve seen the testimony of others who’ve done the same and were satisfied with their mint condition Beanie Baby. The same principle is being applied to help farmers sell products in distant markets. Not to be hyperbolic, but the impact of having billions of people with phones faster than early supercomputers constantly connected to a global communications network at rates capable of transmitting streaming video is going to be fairly substantial. image source International Telecommunications Union ← Back to the Blog --- ## Top Five Most Absurd Tech Gifts of 2010 | Blog | TechChange (/2010/12/22/top-5-most-absurd-tech-gifts-of-2010/) Top Five Most Absurd Tech Gifts of 2010 | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Top Five Most Absurd Tech Gifts of 2010 December 22, 2010 · by Nick Martin This holiday season we’re taking a break at TechChange from bringing you the latest developments in technology, education and social change to focus on something a little more fun. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to travel a fair amount by plane and in that time I’ve developed a strong love for the SkyMall catalog. Lets be honest, who doesn’t enjoy reading about the latest innovations in dog castles, personal massage devices, and Big Foot statues? On a recent flight I came across a number of new technologies designed to make our lives easier. I figured why not write a blog post to document these revolutionary breakthroughs and provide some gift ideas for this holiday season? In the interest of technology, social change, and sarcasm, here goes: 5. FaceMate: Are you the kind of person that leaves a lot of folders and files on your desktop? Great. Now for only 34.99 you can also literally clutter the area around your screen with photographs, post-it notes, and other useless trinkets. This is the perfect gift for family members and friends with Attention Deficit Disorder. 4. Solar Powered Tulips: There are few things I love more than coming home from a long day of work and enjoying my solar-powered flora neatly speckled across the lawn. The days of ordinary photosynthesis are over. Now you can enjoy your incandescent “energy-saving” garden any time of day, any season of year. ($49.95 for a set of three tulips.) 3. Sit-n-Stroll Deluxe: First there was the treadmill, then there was the seated bike, and now thanks to modern technology, you can go for a walk without having to leave your chair. According to the product description, Sit-n-stroll deluxe “provides the benefits of walking while you’re sitting in your favorite spot, talking on the phone, watching television or working on your computer.” Unless of course the “benefit” of walking is to get somewhere else . We’re still not sure what qualifies this product as “deluxe”, but we have teams of researchers working around the clock on this one. ($39.99) 2. Marshmallow Mazooka: I for one was pretty disappointed with the pump-action gauge on my original marshmallow shooter gun when I bought it last year and don’t even get me started on the very average functioning of the LED sight. Well, the folks at Hammacher Schlemmer (Sp?) have clearly been listening to the concerns of marshmallow shooter gun enthusiasts like me from around the world and they’ve responded by introducing next generation in marshmallow shooting technology: the Mazooka. According to the product description (and I’m not making this up): “The integrated microprocessor automatically regulates air pressure, allowing you to launch up to five marshmallows in 60 seconds without manual pumping… It should go without saying that this will “forever change the rules of engagement for marshmallow gun confrontations everywhere.” ($49.95) 1. Underwater Cell Phone: I don’t know about you, but if there’s one thing that’s been missing from my life, it’s the ability to make a phone call while underwater. Fear not fellow swimmers and scuba divers, thanks to the folks at ALPHA UWCP, we can now break up with girlfriend’s and boyfriends, make that epic prank call, get the latest updates on sports scores, and so much more, all while traversing the seafloor or pool bottom. Perhaps the best part about this game-changing device is its pricetag. For only $1790 you too can be part of the underwater cell phone revolution. That’s all for now but we’d love to hear from you – are there other ridiculous tech gifts you’ve come across this holiday season? Share them below. (Follow me on twitter @ncmart ) ← Back to the Blog --- ## Recap of ICT4D Tweet Chat (Hashtag: #ict4ddl) | Blog | TechChange (/2011/01/17/recap-of-ict4d-tweet-chat-ict4ddl/) Recap of ICT4D Tweet Chat (Hashtag: #ict4ddl) | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Recap of ICT4D Tweet Chat (Hashtag: #ict4ddl) January 17, 2011 On January 11, 2011 from 11-12am, TechChange co-hosted a tweet chat with Linda Raftree ( @meowtree ) from Plan International to gauge interest in ICT for Development (ICT4D) distance learning and get a better sense of what would appeal most to potential students. In total, the chat included an impressive 401 tweets, with 59 people participating. Our hashtag, #ict4ddl, was even a top trending topic in Washington DC at around 11:30. Throughout the hour, we covered a lot of ground, ranging from course content to length to delivery. Here’s the archive . Themes and Highlights : Course Topics : Some of the most popular ideas for courses included: social media for social change, sustainability, mobiles for development, and a course on ways to create and sustain collaboration through an online community. It was pointed out that users needs would be different based on access to and familiarity with technology. @fiona_bradley mentioned the need for strategic thinking and project planning for veteran change agents, because “tools change fast”. Delivery : There was a desire expressed for blended learning models (face-to-face and online) and a sentiment that ICT4D face-to-face training was important. ( list of existing ICT4D programs ). There was also a feeling that experienced practitioners should be part of the course experience and that more needs to be done to engage them ( @ICT_Works ). Others stressed the fact that distance learning is the only option for those working in remote areas. Credit vs. Certification : People generally preferred courses for credit, but some acknowledged that they had neither the time nor the funding for a full university degree course. Shorter-term certificate courses on specific topics appealed to many in the group. The feedback we received throughout the tweet chat was quite useful, and as expected there was a wide variety of opinions expressed. As TechChange moves forward, we look forward to tailoring our courses to the needs of these and other users. We’re in the process of developing a 10-week online flagship course on Technology for Social Change. Everyone will be able access Unit 1 for free. From there we will develop more specialized courses and certification programs on subjects such as Technology for crisis response, Social media for social change, mHealth, and the Future of mobile devices for development. We are also working with individual organizations such as FrontlineSMS to create learning tools tailored specifically for their applications. Thanks again to Linda Raftree ( @meowtree ) for helping to organize the tweet chat and to all of the participants for your time and energy. We look forward to keeping you posted on our progress. Also, feel free to be in touch with us –- we’d love your input. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Tunisia at a Crossroads: Social Media, Protests & Potential for Change | Blog | TechChange (/2011/01/21/tunisia-at-a-crossroads-social-media-protests-potential-for-change/) Tunisia at a Crossroads: Social Media, Protests & Potential for Change | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Tunisia at a Crossroads: Social Media, Protests & Potential for Change January 21, 2011 · by Mayesha Alam In recent days, the North African country of Tunisia has flooded the front pages of most international media outlets because of demonstrations against authoritarian rule and the subsequent overthrow of Zine El Abedin Ben Ali. Mohammed Ghannouci, who seized control of the government, has replaced Ben Ali, who ascended to power in 1987 coup. The new head of state, however, is not necessarily a man of the masses. And so, the protests continue: vociferous calls for democratization from thousands of young and old gathered in the cause of civil liberties, political participation, human rights and freedom of expression. Like many recent cases of non-violent uprising, much of the mobilization in Tunisia has been facilitated through social media. Photography , amateur video footage, online discussions, public event notifications and other technological endeavors have played an important part on behalf of the demonstrators. Not only that but most of the free world has also joined in. While most people in America and elsewhere do not have access to the White House Press Room like the Obama administration – which has issued multiple statements of solidarity with protestors – Facebook, Twitter and blogging have proven to be equally, if not more, potent forums for a captivated global population. Tunisia is ablaze with demands for democratic change – unfortunately, in some cases, quite literally. The fiery deaths of some protesters who lit themselves on fire – including Mohamed Bouazizi , a street vendor ousted from his land and deprived the dignity of work, are reminiscent of similar political statements made in opposition to the Vietnam war a few decades ago. What’s more, copy-cats have surfaced in Algeria and other neighboring countries . It seems desperation does not completely change face, despite all the current technological innovations serving as instruments for activism and public mobilization. For some people, the intolerable nature of oppressive regimes motivates violence, even if only against one’s own self. Observers are also asking the all-important question: what is the larger significance of the on-going tumult in Tunisia? Could the deposition of Ben Ali produce ripple effects of a similar nature throughout North Africa and the Arab world? Many in the region and beyond are hopeful for such an outcome but the likelihood for transformation is low, as a recent Foreign Policy magazine article pointed out. Nevertheless, the world should remain tuned in to Tunisia. At the end of the day, the question is not, “what can Twitter do for Tunisians?” but rather “what can Tunisians do with Twitter?” While the potential for social media as a tool for revolution is by now undeniable, it is important to remember that outlets such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr are only modes of communication assisting a people’s movement. The agents of change have always been and will continue to remain the people, driven by a thirst for freedom. The envisioned success is beheld in the eyes of ordinary men and women in pursuit of an extraordinary vision and not in a camera’s lens or a website. Photo source: boston.com/bigpicture, newsfeed.time.com ← Back to the Blog --- ## Cement Embedded USBs: Connect At Your Own Risk | Blog | TechChange (/2011/01/24/cement-embedded-usbs-connect-at-your-own-risk/) Cement Embedded USBs: Connect At Your Own Risk | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Cement Embedded USBs: Connect At Your Own Risk January 24, 2011 · by Jaclyn Nardone A technological search and find; a social media scavenger hunt. An advanced way to stay connected while being offline or a plot with technological vandalism written all over it? An anonymous treasure or a mission of digital dangers and uncertainties? To participate or to self-censor? Aram Bartholl is founder of the “ Dead Drops ” project — an anonymous, offline, peer-to-peer file-sharing network in public space. Infiltrating the city with digital information, this Berlin-based artist is interested in bridging net space data with everyday life — connecting the digital world and physical world. Contrary to a “Live Drop,” a “ Dead Drop ” defines a location where information is exchanged between people — which in the case of Bartholl’s innovation — is any place the USBs are located. Bartholl began this tech-savvy — and tech-adventurous — project during his EYEBEAM residency in New York City. By October 2010, five “Dead Drops” had been cemented in NYC: 87 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (Makerbot), Empire Fulton Ferry Park, Brooklyn, NY (Dumbo), 235 Bowery, NY (New Museum), Union Square, NY (Subway Station 14th St) and 540 West 21st Street, NY (Eyebeam). The thrill of discovering what content might be on the “ Dead Drops ” seems exhilarating, but also eerie and unsettling. Who knows what’s on the USBs — from photos to files, music and more. The mysterious content shared via “Dead Drops” is reminiscent of the Nine Inch Nails’ 2007 digital project, wherein USB drives — equip with uploaded songs — were found in concert hall bathrooms in Portugal, Spain and England. Curiosity — and maybe a new original Indy song or two— aside, is it worth risking the run of a potential computer virus to see what’s saved on a “Dead Drop”? Bartholl’s response: “ Some people are concerned about viruses, but the point is that the dead drops are public and you can’t control them . That’s the whole idea. It says a lot about how we perceive public space on the internet and public space in the city .” So, what would you do — should you come across a “Dead Drop” — connect or not connect? And if you already have plugged into this digitally portably file-sharing project – tell us about your experience! Follow “ Dead Drops ” on Twitter to see how this project is spreading across the world . Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/bartholl/5126813334/in/set-72157625142951009/ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Comments on a Live Blogged Revolution | Blog | TechChange (/2011/01/28/comments-on-a-live-blogged-revolution/) Comments on a Live Blogged Revolution | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Comments on a Live Blogged Revolution January 28, 2011 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner Update 13:30 EST 1/31 As the protests continue unabated, the internet remains largely blocked with the exception of Noor ISP which serves roughly 8% of Egyptian traffic. Internet activists have galvanized into a group called WeRebuild which is working to bypass restrictions. Their most interesting strategy so far has been to coordinate with international ISPs to provide international numbers which Egyptians can call with dial-up modems. Also fascinating is the steps ordinary Egyptians are taking to protect themselves, the TOR anonymizing service has seen a quadrupling of users from those lucky enough to be connected through Noor. The most promising possibility is in further development of wireless mesh networking. The Serval Project and the implementation of Wi-Fi direct mean we could only be a few years from a time when activists can set up ad-hoc networking that would be invisible to government detection. Update 20:24 EST 1/28 I think today’s events have demonstrated that Maria Popov was right to call Malcolm Gladwell #wrong for decrying the use of social media for social change . More information does make a difference. We’ve seen important germination of these revolutions being conducted online before the governments were able to close down information networks. Wired has a fascinating account of the IT department of Tunisia and how Ben Ali was only barely cognizant of the danger of social media in facilitating coverage and organization. While Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak at least turned off the network, he only did it after there was enough online social networking to spark more real life gatherings. Another difference is the rise of Al-Jazeera and other satellite networks which are able to show coverage from different areas of the country. However, I think the biggest driver of these revolutions is demography, the youth bulge from high birth rates and declining mortality is causing bloated corrupt societies to start to show signs of age. —- This post was originally going to be about Wikileaks, specifically the Swiss banker recently convicted for leaking the information of hundreds of ludicrously wealthy tax fraudsters. However the live-blogged revolution in Egypt makes for much more pressing discussion. Network Intelligence Firm Renesys captured the moment Egypt unplugged from the Internet First as to whether this is a Facebook Revolution, since apparently Tunisia was a Twitter one, which leaves me wondering if a revolution in Yemen wouldn’t be driven by Gowalla. The truth is the revolutions aren’t a result of social media anymore than the wave of revolutions twenty years ago were Samizdat Revolutions or 1776 was a pamphlet and newspaper revolution. While the government of Egypt may think blocking all Internet traffic is going to prevent people from communicating, they like the pundits who claim none of these things could happen without social media are overstating the importance of any one channel of information. These revolutions are happening because citizens are tired of levels of corruption, repression and economic incompetence that would make autocrats of any century proud. This isn’t to downplay the significance of emerging technologies in supporting mass political movements. The number of cameras means that it is vastly more likely for the repressive actions of a regime to be documented. However the more important question of whether people will turn out in the streets is independent of how they become aware of the protests. The underlying issue of course is that technology is having an ever more significant role in helping to strengthen communications and information sharing. What remains to be seen is whether this will eventually prove more beneficial to the dictators or the revolutionaries. But for once it’s possible to eavesdrop live on a revolution, which is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed, it’s not every day that tyrants are overthrown. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Google Africa has a new Manager of Policy – Ory Okolloh | Blog | TechChange (/2011/01/31/google-africa-has-a-new-manager-of-policy-ory-okolloh/) Google Africa has a new Manager of Policy – Ory Okolloh | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Google Africa has a new Manager of Policy – Ory Okolloh January 31, 2011 · by Caitlin Turner Google Africa has a new Manager of Policy – Ory Okolloh. Okolloh , co-founder of the very successful crowdsourcing platform, known as Ushahidi, recently announced that she will be stepping down as Executive Director, and stepping into the new position with Google. While news about Google decisions usually focus on domestic policy or business acumen, this announcement signals a new era for the California-based company. The appointment of Okolloh to Manager of Policy in Africa has the potential to be a very beneficial move for not only Google, but for the people of Africa as well. Okolloh, a Harvard trained lawyer originally working from South Africa, started Ushahidi following the 2007 elections in Kenya, as a means for people to report incidents of violence. Since it’s inception over three years ago, Ushahidi has evolved from a simple crowdsourcing application to what the New York Times has called a “new paradigm in humanitarian work.” Google will only benefit from her experience and work with Ushahidi. The appointment of a Manager of Policy is not the first step Google has taken towards work in Africa. Over the past few years, the Google Africa team has been “striving to make the Internet part of everyday life in Sub-Saharan Africa”. Most recently the company’s operation in Africa has begun engaging in a host of activities in the region, including, but not limited to: gmail and Chrome in Amharic and Swahili, Y ouTube South Africa , University Access Programs, Google SMS and Google Trader. With Okolloh’s experience and passion for the people of Africa, her addition to the team will prove to be invaluable. Okolloh will work directly with different parties such as, government officials, policy makers, and industry leaders to develop policy and strategies in areas relevant to the Internet in Africa. And while many have wondered why Okolloh has chosen to leave her position with Ushahidi, a promising position in a company with an immense amount of potential; she addresses these concerns by saying: “it is a huge opportunity to bring Google’s resources to bear as far as the growth and development of the internet in Africa (and hopefully a reminder of why I went to law school in the first place!).” It is this passion and excitement that will propel Google into an important player in the growth of the Internet in Africa. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/knightfoundation/ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Technology for Social Change Tidbits This Week | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/04/technology-for-social-change-tidbits-this-week/) Technology for Social Change Tidbits This Week | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Technology for Social Change Tidbits This Week February 4, 2011 · by Mayesha Alam By Mayesha Alam In case you missed any of it, there have been a few very interesting developments recently on how technology is being used, developed and shared for social change purposes. Below are three cases that may tickle your fancy and are definitely worth spreading the word about. ————————- Sameer Hajee and Off-the-Grid Electricity: In the race to make renewable energy available to developing communities, Sameer Hajee has established himself as key player. This young Kenyan-Canadian was awarded the prestigious UNEP Sasakawa Prize, of $200,000, in Bali, Indonesia for his efforts to provide sustainable off-the-grid energy. Hajee’s company, Nuru , is built on a platform of social change and economic empowerment for the young and disenfranchised in underdeveloped regions and currently has projects planned or running in Africa and India. According to Hajee, he was inspired by the plight of rural poor who have traditionally used kerosene for energy: “Two billion lack access to energy sources across the developing world. In India I visited them and found they spent a quarter of their monthly salaries on kerosene…You see kerosene is also carcinogenic and that hits so many women and children who breathe these kerosene fumes in their closed, tiny huts.” The money from the prize will be used to build the machines that energize the light bulbs out of bicycle parts in Kenya, Rwanda and India. Turns out, the pedal-powered lights are also inadvertently great for exercise! Hajee was selected by Nobel Laureate and pioneer of the Green Belt Movement Wangari Maathai, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, Former Sasakawa winner Mario Molina and Wawako Hironaka of the Nipon Foundation. Nuru’s design was particularly attractive to the award judges because it has an in-built job creation mechanism, is easily replicable and all around cost-effective in terms of production, price of purchase for villagers and cost of maintenance. The inventors developed a payment scheme via micro finance to encourage participation and garner the confidence of the target population. Photo credit: http://onislam.net/english/health-and-science/science/450659-muslim-inventor-provides-off-the-grid-electricity.html ————————- What do you get when you cross the competitive streak of tech nerds with a charitable cause? The 14th annual Build Your Own PC Race in Las Vegas. Contenders for the title include journalists, computer mechanics, tech-curious students and even “celebrity geeks” but this year’s winner was Stephen Fung, a journalist, who managed the feat in under five minutes! The charity component of the race is sponsored by CA and Systemax who donate complete PCs to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children . Check out a video of this year’s winner: ————————- According to the BBC’s Newsnight, the EastWest Institute has drafted a proposal for cyber war “Rules of Engagement” to be introduced at the Munich Security Conference this weekend. The document makes parallels to the Geneva and Hague conventions, calling for greater attention and preparation for cyber space security threats. The fact of the matter is that governments currently have very minimal capacity, organized infrastructure and standard protocol for responding to attacks on systems or protecting not only military cyber apparatuses but also civilian and emergency services structures. What’s more, just like in non-state actors are playing an increased role in international security issues, the cyber wars can be waged and fought by companies, individuals or other entities. The recognized need for cooperation and coordination on cyber security is agreed upon by both Russia and the U.S. and representatives from these two states will be spearheading the discussions in Munich so stay tuned in the next few days! Photo credit: www.pikeresearch.com ← Back to the Blog --- ## Election Aftermath and Demands for Democracy in Belarus | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/07/election-aftermath-and-demands-for-democracy-in-belarus/) Election Aftermath and Demands for Democracy in Belarus | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Election Aftermath and Demands for Democracy in Belarus February 7, 2011 · by Guest Author While the world’s eyes are on Egypt, it is imperative not to forget the struggle in Belarus, which has entered a new phase following the December 2010 election. The aftermath of the recent elections in Belarus sent shockwaves around Europe; it also provides a crucial test for the Obama Administration’s attitudes towards human rights. In Belarus, the 19 December 2010 election, marked by widespread fraud, was followed with wide demonstrations by the opposition. In the month afterwards, the Belarusian regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka has engaged in a broad crackdown, arresting over 600 activists and 7 of the presidential candidates. In addition to those of the opposition, social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and even Google Talk and Gmail were blocked in Minsk . Human rights groups, independent media and other NGOs have been pressured to close or suffered online attacks against their websites in addition to threats and tirades from Minsk. In recent days, the government has even threatened a return to Stalin era tactics of abducting the children of imprisoned dissidents and sending them to state orphanages. Despite these efforts, social media remained at the forefront of getting news about the crackdown. Videos captured from cellphones and other cameras and posted to Youtube showed savage beatings and abuses by authorities. Indeed, recent uprisings reveal that a mobile phone “can be a tremendous benefit for an activist in a protest (a camera, organizing tool, and portal to foreign media in one).” However, those same cellular phones proved vulnerable to reactionary repression, as in Belarus hundreds of people were summoned by the KGB after phone records revealed they were at the site of the antigovernment protests on December 19. It is an unfortunate sign of the 21st Century that Human Rights Watch recently reported that “Belarus and Hungary have adopted restrictive laws designed to impose on new media the same restrictions they have placed on traditional media.” While new ways to fight for freedom are flourishing, old repressions continue to try and silence the people’s voice. These measures have been met with broad, bipartisan disapproval from the United States, as Secretary of State Clinton issued a joint statement with EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton condemning the arrests. Sens. John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and John McCain together expressed their disapproval and concern. In addition, former President George W. Bush, Secretary Rice, and incoming Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) participated in Radio Free Europe’s “Voices of Solidarity” project, reading the names of those imprisoned. The election aftermath and the outrage that has followed look to upset the cautious steps towards normalization and liberalization with the West that preceded the election. Just 19 days before the election, the US and Belarus agreed that the latter would eliminate all its Highly Enriched Uranium. The two foreign ministers issued a joint statement that both the US and Belarus “acknowledged that enhanced respect for democracy and human rights in Belarus remains central to improving bilateral relations.” In the run-up to the 2010 election, Belarus liberalized its election laws closer to western norms, allowing opposition candidates to run, hold campaign events, and criticize the government on state television, although the counting and tabulations processes remained firmly in state hands and subject to fraud. The question now is how firm US and European pressure will remain on Belarus, and whether their efforts can persuade Lukashenka to back down from the post-election return to deeper repression. The US and EU have moved to restore sanctions that had been eased in the face of earlier liberalization. To persuade Lukashenka and his regime to change will require consistent international pressure as well as encouragement. Photo credits: www.bbc.co.uk , www.nytimes.com David Crockett is a freelance political research analyst with a background in human rights and foreign policy. He has previously worked in South Africa and Eastern Europe. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Video Blogger Gives Voice to The Voiceless in Bangladesh | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/10/video-blogger-gives-voice-to-the-voiceless-in-bangladesh/) Video Blogger Gives Voice to The Voiceless in Bangladesh | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Video Blogger Gives Voice to The Voiceless in Bangladesh February 10, 2011 · by Jaclyn Nardone By Jaclyn Nardone In the digital 21st century, Jürgen Habermas’ public sphere and Marshall McLuhan’s global village have gone electronic, hence citizen journalism and the blogosphere. In 2006, TIME magazine named ‘YOU’ person of the year , calling the Web “a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter.” The ‘YOU’ person of 2011 – at least for this year’s World Economic Forum event – is Canadian video blogger and citizen journalist Shawn Ahmed. This 27 year-old’s YouTube application video, which was chosen as winner of the Davos Debates out of some 100 applications. Ahmed “calls himself a free-agent, a bridge-maker who with a laptop and an internet connection has managed to link hundreds of thousands of people to help, in a concrete way, solve problems such as poverty, clean water and education in Asia and Africa.” All you need to know about Ahmed and his project can be found via his blog “ The Uncultured Project ,” YouTube Channel UnculturedProject and verified Twitter page @uncultured . Ahmed’s project gives voice to the voiceless in Bangladesh, exemplifying how one can change the world with a powerful cause and a video camera, all thanks to the medium of Internet. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Canadian Television-Radio User-Based Billing Controversy | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/14/canadian-television-radio-user-based-billing-controversy/) Canadian Television-Radio User-Based Billing Controversy | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Canadian Television-Radio User-Based Billing Controversy February 14, 2011 · by Caitlin Turner The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, more commonly referred to as the CRTC, has recently ignited a firestorm among Internet users in Canada. In January, the CRTC announced the approval of a user-based billing (UBB) system. The CRTC is an independent public organization that regulates and supervises Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications systems. Reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the CRTC is mandated to serve the needs and interests of citizens, industry, interest groups and government. According to the CRTC, the purpose of UBB is to manage Internet traffic by the implementation of a flat-rate component with a pre-set amount of monthly usage and a UBB component whereby usage above the threshold are subject to further charges. In the most basic terms, this decision meant that Canada’s big four (Bell, Telus, Rogers, Shaw) Internet providers could force usage-based billing onto their independent competitors and onto Canadians at large. The reasoning offered by the CRTC for the approval of this new user-based billing system is simple: more bandwidth is being eaten up by customers who are accessing information, downloading or streaming music and video content, or playing games on line. While many Canadians agree that not all Internet users use the same amounts, many are skeptical that this is the sole reason for UBB. The most popular package offered by the big four providers have rates around $30-$35 a month with a 25 gigabit monthly cap. Many users believe that these packages are designed for overages and for the accumulation of profit. With potential overages costing $2 a gigabyte, many people may see their bill not only increase, but double. The potential impacts of the UBB approval, effects not just people who want to stream video from Netflix or download video games on line. The impacts of a UBB system go much further than gamers and movie watcher, and starts with the smaller ISPs in Canada. Smaller ISPs in Canada have been offering unlimited plans to residential customers as a way of differentiating themselves from Bell, Telus, Rogers and Shaw. The implementation of user-based billing means that the likes of Bell and Telus can charge increased rates on smaller ISPs who use their infrastructure. Konrad von Finkenstein, Chairman of the CRTC, recently recognized the relationship between smaller ISPs and the big four: “Despite offering innovation services and real competition, the Small ISPs mostly rely on the Larger Distributors’ networks to reach their residential customers.” As a result of the CRTC decision, many of these smaller ISPs have complained that in effect, their rates are going to be identical to the big carriers – essentially putting them in danger of being pushed out of the Internet business altogether. While the CRTC is reviewing the policy, many wonder what a decision like this will mean for competition and availability among Internet providers in Canada. User-based billing also has the potential to directly impact entrepreneurs and ICT for development in Canada. UBB will make collaboration, cloud computing, open source data collection and innovation a potentially expensive venture for many. Tools such as Drop Box, Base Camp, Google Docs and Evernote are built for online collaboration and the open sharing of large files. UBB will make these tools very expensive to work with and potentially turn collaboration into a cost-benefit analysis. Every download will eat into the 25 allotted gigabytes, essentially using them up faster than they replenish. A regular high-speed Internet connection runs at 7 megabytes per second, making it possible to reach the 25 gigabyte cap in 7 hours. The tools we rely on for collaboration and innovation could potentially cost more to use then ever before. Many new ICTD companies are reliant on the talent and input of employees who are not necessarily working from one office. Young start-ups may find themselves stuck between a rock and their Internet bill. What this means for ICTD in Canada? No one can really know for sure, but we can brace ourselves for the increased cost of trying to start something new. Open source data collection tools may also begin to feel the pinch of the UBB system. Data collection of this type is reliant on the contributions of Internet users, users who may now think twice about how much of their cap they are willing to give to contributing to these activities. This post is not meant to say that the CRTC is going to stifle Canadian innovation. Its intent is to ask the reader to think about, to what extent is the world becoming reliant on the affordability, the availability and the freedom that we assume comes with the Internet? The CRTC, after much pressure was applied from the citizens of Canada, ha s chosen to review the ruling. A final decision won’t be made until May of 2011. And in the mean time, Shaw has announced that it will hold off on introducing UBB pricing until the summer, if it all. These may be signs that the big four providers are willing to compromise. Even increasing the usage cap to an amount such as 250 gigabytes per month would be enough to meet the needs of the citizens while still being able to provide quality Internet to Canada. Photo credit: StayRaw http://www.flickr.com/photos/hqas/ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Inveneo in Haiti: An Interview with Mark Summer and Rohan Mahy | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/16/inveneo-in-haiti-an-interview-with-mark-summer-and-rohan-mahy/) Inveneo in Haiti: An Interview with Mark Summer and Rohan Mahy | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Inveneo in Haiti: An Interview with Mark Summer and Rohan Mahy February 16, 2011 · by Guest Author By Guest Author The current picture of Haiti is complex: millions of people are still displaced, billions of dollars in promised aid have yet to arrive, and there is still an extreme lack of infrastructure. However, there are thousands of NGOs working around the country, and some of the most promising work is being done in communications and connectivity. While in Haiti for the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, Keith Lane and I had a chance to meet up with Inveneo , one of the organizations working tirelessly to reestablish and support better connectivity Haiti. As Mark Summer, the Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of Inveneo, says, “One of the biggest things, certainly, is that Haiti, pre-earthquake, had already so many challenges, that with anything you do, it seemed like, ‘Why aren’t you doing fifty-five other things?’ But you of course need to focus on the one thing you are good at, and see if it makes sense in the local context.” We sat down with Inveneo to talk about the work that they are good at: information communications technology (ICT). Inveneo has been working around the world since 2006, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Cognizant of Haiti’s need for connectivity through contacts in Africa, they were set to fly out on January 13, 2010, and were delayed by a massive earthquake. Luckily, another partner, Net Hope , identified a need for improving the communications situation. “Right after the earthquake Net Hope really wanted to get improved access to the internet to get logistical information in and out,” says Summer, “Get the message out as well, and be better in communication with their team. So we came about five days after the earthquake, here to Port-au-Prince, and helped reestablish communications for those NGOs responding directly in the aftermath of the earthquake.” Summer explained the different levels of the work that Inveneo is doing in Haiti: “What we’re doing in Haiti is really the same thing we’re doing in other countries, which is partnering with other organizations to use low-power computing technologies in rural areas because typically you don’t have a stable power grid, or no power grid at all in some rural areas. Instead of using generators and relying on fuel, being able to reduce power consumption effectively and efficiently use solar power is one of the things that’s [powering] computer labs in schools, computers in medical facilities, small businesses, local government, the whole gamut.” He explained that the other aspect was connectivity, something that varies widely across the country. In Port-au-Prince, there is a large selection of service providers and coverage, but as one gets farther out into rural areas, most people rely on satellite connectivity alone. Inveneo is trying to change that by employing long-distance wi-fi technologies and by training a core of IT entrepreneurs who would then serve to support those technologies and be equipped to help organizations use and maintain them effectively. Rohan Mahy, the Program Director based in Haiti, points out that the technology services Inveneo is providing are critical to organizations like hospitals, governments, and schools. “There’s a lot of interest in decentralizing government in Haiti, and in order to do that you need to have access to the same records in all of your locations. That means you need to computerize, and in order to do that you need good connectivity in all of those locations. In hospitals, there’s a lot of interest in taking the hospitals which are at a higher level of skill and connecting them with hospitals in the United States to provide mentorship and training and consultation. And likewise, for the other hospitals in Haiti, we think it would be tremendously valuable to have to hospitals connect to the more technically-savvy hospitals and be able to share those kinds of skills. On the education front, we have specialized computer labs, and the goal of these labs is two-fold: it’s to teach, to familiarize and teach [students] how to use computers, but also how to do research on the internet and how to find out other questions. It’s good to see that there are specific uses for those tools which are imminent, that people are already doing or that people are already interested right now.” In addition to providing the appropriate technology, a key part of Inveneo’s mission in Haiti is to provide training for local staff to support those systems, and make them sustainable locally. This includes training for young IT professionals, complete with an internship program, and training in programming, online learning design, and desktop IT work. Mahy describes that while it’s easy to find qualified people who were affected by the earthquake interested in the training, it gets difficult to find people from more rural areas, and in particular to find young women and girls who can commit for the duration of the program. He notes that through working with partners, they are able to provide alternatives to encourage women to participate in technology sectors, like offering girls-only classes and matching girls with female leaders in their communities in a mentorship program. “Mentorship is probably the biggest way [girls are encouraged],” says Mahy, “There are several women businesswomen in the Port-au-Prince area, and they provide excellent role models, excellent proof that it’s possible.” Inveneo has an ambitious plan to stay in Haiti for the next year, developing ITC systems and training the local communities to maintain them. “We’re really trying to hand over this network to Haitian entrepreneurs,” says Summer, “They can take over from us, and we can leave without everything that we’ve worked on just collapsing when we go.” Jenna Crowder is a freelance graphic designer and the creative director at TechChange. She is currently researching post-conflict public art for peacebuilding with a particular focus on Haiti. Photo credits: Portrait of Mark Summer and Rohan Mahy courtesy of Keith Lane; graphic at http://www.volny.cz/horvitz/os-info/haiti.html . ← Back to the Blog --- ## Is Forcing Open the Internet a Next Frontier for Humanitarian Intervention? | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/18/is-forcing-open-the-internet-the-next-frontier-for-humanitarian-intervention/) Is Forcing Open the Internet a Next Frontier for Humanitarian Intervention? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Is Forcing Open the Internet a Next Frontier for Humanitarian Intervention? February 18, 2011 · by Guest Author By Guest Author The recent demonstrations in Belarus, Tunisia, Bahrain, and especially Egypt have all recently demonstrated the importance of the Internet and social media as an organizing tool for popular protest. Twitter and Facebook have been crucial tools for organization and mobilization. Governments have noticed this as well, and begun to target the internet. Interior of an EC-130J Command Solo, one of the tools the Pentagon could use to forcibly reopen internet China, for example, has long built an elaborate national filtering system known as the Golden Shield Project , and in 2009 it shut down cellphone and Internet service amid unrest in the Muslim region of Xinjiang. In Belarus, social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and even Google Talk and Gmail were blocked in Minsk during and after December protests over election fraud. Internet traffic in Bahrain has been greatly slowed as protests have escalated in recent days. Activists in Iran have noted severe Internet slowdowns in recent days as well. Most notably, for five days in January and early February, the Mubarak regime essentially severed Egypt, a country with 20 million people online, entirely from the World Wide Web. Egypt’s ability to completely shut down the country’s Internet is instructive. In many authoritarian countries, the telecommunications infrastructure is in the hand off a single, state controlled carrier that dominates the bulk of international traffic through pipelines out of the country. Jordan, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Oman all have a dominant, state-controlled carrier that control Internet access and provide vulnerable choke points to shut off the country from the outside world. The importance of the Internet to a free and Democratic process represents an important crossroads for the United States. On February 15, Secretary Clinton delivered a speech calling for “global commitment to Internet freedom, to protect human rights online as we do offline,” noting that human rights “are universal, whether they are exercised in a public square or on an individual blog.” More crucially, a recent article in Wired revealed that the United States “ has secret tools to force Internet on dictators .” The Telecom Egypt building in Cairo where Egypt's regime "pulled the plug" According to the article, “the US military has no shortage of devices—many of them classified—that could restore connectivity to a restive populace cut off from the outside by its rulers.” However, such tools present clear policy dilemmas for American decision makers. While it could give teeth to the Obama Administration’s belief in Internet freedom, and is subtler than the Bush Administration’s democracy promotion exercise in Iraq, this direct an infringement on sovereignty would still carry substantial risk. Many proposals require communications infrastructure flown over the country—a clear violation of their airspace and likely an act of war. As Wired notes, “The trouble is, if a government follows Egypt’s lead and turns off the Internet, it’s not going to be keen to see a meddling foreign power turn it back on. That act might not be as provocative as sending in ground troops or dropping bombs. But it’s still an act of what you might call forced online entry — by definition, a hostile one.” In the 21st century, whether to intervene electronically in a country may well be as fraught with peril as intervening military. David Crockett is a freelance political research analyst with a background in human rights and foreign policy. He has previously worked in South Africa and Eastern Europe. Photo credits: Wired magazine and The New York Times ← Back to the Blog --- ## Multilingual Tweets: U.S. State Department To Middle East Revolutionaries | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/18/multilingual-tweets-u-s-state-department-to-middle-east-revolutionaries/) Multilingual Tweets: U.S. State Department To Middle East Revolutionaries | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Multilingual Tweets: U.S. State Department To Middle East Revolutionaries February 18, 2011 · by Jaclyn Nardone U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton – speaking on behalf of the Obama administration – expressed views on the power of media via a statement on 21st Century Statecraft : “… We have seen the possibilities of what can happen when ordinary citizens are empowered by Twitter and Facebook to organize political movements, or simply exchange ideas and information… we have the potential to engage in these new and innovative forms of diplomacy and to also use them to help individuals be empowered for their own development…” And engaging is indeed what the administration is doing. From English to Arabic – the bilingual U.S. State Department is “tweaking its tweets -taking on two new Twitter accounts- in two new languages.” On 09 February, @USAbilAraby (“USA in Arabic”) was formed, and by 10 February, the account grew from 159 followers to 600 followers . By 18 February, the handle had 1,386 followers and growing. @USAbilAraby was made in support of the Egyptians who have been using social media as a revolutionary tool, to oust their former unfavorable leader, President Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak. Some prominent tweeters on Egypt include @monaeltahawy and @Ghonim . @USAbilAraby has been tweeting via Modern Standard Arabic — “the most common form of expression for media outlets and public and religious officials” — which younger Arab social media users tend to veer away from. But regardless of linguistic formalities, the U.S. State Department is are getting their voice out there and joining the people, which is what matters most. Google and Facebook went Farsi in June 2009, and now in 2011, the U.S. State Department has taken similar measures. In response to the 14 February — “ 25 Bahman” on the Persian calendar — demonstrations, the State added another lingo to their tweets and started the Twitter handle @USAdarFarsi (“USA in Farsi”). The account had 60 followers within two hours of being launched, and by 18 February, it had 4,291 followers and growing. Some prominent tweeters on Iran are @oxfordgirl and @GEsfandiari . Both @USAbilAraby and @USAdarFarsi have been conversing via similar hashtags: #25Jan, #Iran, #25Bahman, #sidibouzid, #Egypt, #netfreedom, #SecClinton, #Obama, #Libya, #Bahrain. @USAdarFarsi ’s first tweet reads: “The US State Department recognizes the historic role of social media among Iranians in the world now. We want to join in your conversations.” Have you joined the conversation yet? ← Back to the Blog --- ## Corralling the Data, Instead of the Data Corralling Us | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/22/corralling-the-data-instead-of-the-data-corralling-us/) Corralling the Data, Instead of the Data Corralling Us | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Corralling the Data, Instead of the Data Corralling Us February 22, 2011 · by Charles Martin-Shields For those working in the field of conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, reliable real-time data plays a critical role in staging a successful intervention. As a recent discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace with Dr. Steven Livingston made clear, the humanitarian policy world is dealing with an environment where data gathering technology is advancing at an exceptional rate. The conversation then addressed the challenge created by all this technology; the sheer volume of incoming data can overwhelm policy makers and field-based practitioners.Where does the conversation go from here? We know that the unfiltered mass of data can confounding to a policy maker, and useless to an under-resourced soldier or aid worker. But if data coming from mobile phones, remote sensors, and Droid devices can be filtered effectively, it could provide fine-grained, highly reliable information for humanitarian aid workers and peacekeepers. To start the discussion of a working methodology for data management, let’s think in terms of filters. The first filter can be called “time frame”. How quickly does an agency or person need to respond in order to accomplish their task humanitarian crisis setting? We will call our second filter “lag”. How much time has passed since an event was reported and the data was received by an aid agency? These two filters create a framework for filtering the mass of data, which lets us do two things: In an operational setting, we need to determine our operating “time frame”; is my job measured in hours, days, or weeks? Once we’ve got the “time frame” filter in place, we can then look at the “lag” filter. If my work is measured in hours, then data older than a few hours might not be helpful. If I work with timeframes measured in weeks or months, then I would be interested in data that could be weeks or even months old. To put this into perspective, I’ll put the above methodology to use for two hypothetical actors in an emergency situation. The first actor is a trauma surgeon who has been deployed to a disaster area; they have a reliable vehicle and their medical instruments. If they have some sort of a mobile data device, they can be receiving geo-synchronized pings for help from people with cellular phones. That’s all they really need; they are operating in a response mode and are not concerned with forecasting where the next event will occur, so the need for precision is relatively low. The second actor is a military logistics officer deployed to the same disaster area. While initial responders like the doctor are able to do their jobs in the meantime, the logistics officer must determine where to move limited resources so that those resources are in the best possible location to be deployed as efficiently as possible. Because of the volume of stuff being moved, and the time this kind of movement takes, the logistics officer wants data that can give her some notion of where to place stores to be in the most accessible area relative to upcoming events. To accomplish this, a dataset of event locations must be fairly precise. A data collector will want coordinates of previous events, and will probably go through a process of cleaning the data to produce a statistical analysis of the most efficient place to store incoming goods and resources. Unlike the doctor, who is highly mobile, precision matters to the logistics officer because moving large amounts of stuff is time consuming, and in an emergency time is of the essence. Bridging the gap between the pace of technological innovation and managing the volume of data is a core challenge to realizing the value of emerging technologies in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. I plan to lay out a couple of concepts for data analysis in later posts, focusing on methods that can take advantage of both the “real time” nature of the data and the fact that much of it reflects geographic location too. For now, I hope this post can get some conversation going on filtering methodology and improving the process for collecting of new data. Charles Martin-Shields is currently a training and research consultant with the U.S. Institute of Peace. His work focuses on conflict analysis, international development and analytic methodology. He is currently completing a long term study of educational development in conflict-affected contexts to be published in March 2011 through the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com . ← Back to the Blog --- ## How demography, climate change and communication are breeding revolution | Blog | TechChange (/2011/02/28/how-demography-climate-change-and-communication-are-breeding-revolution/) How demography, climate change and communication are breeding revolution | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog How demography, climate change and communication are breeding revolution February 28, 2011 · by Jordan Hosmer-Henner By Jordan Hosmer-Henner Mohamed Bouazizi was three years old when Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took power in Tunisia. His self-immolation in protest of harassment by corrupt government officials 23 years later toppled the regime and triggered repressed populations across the region into action.Many factors of the Jasmine Revolution are unique to a particular country, but three overarching conditions have set the stage. First, changing demographics mean that regimes led by septuagenarians have huge youth populations. Sixty percent of Libyans are under the age of 30, a ratio common across the region. Second, corruption, economic inefficiency and climate change are threatening individuals’ livelihoods. Finally, innovative communication platforms and an increasingly technologically savvy population are helping opposition movements organize and disseminate revolutionary information. The high rate of youths entering the workforce is straining already anemic economies. These populations are more educated than in the past but unable to find opportunities commensurate with their abilities. Additionally, incredibly high inequality, often on tribal or sectarian lines, compounds feelings of discontent. Like a nuclear detonation, revolution requires a critical density of anger before it is capable of being triggered. Climate change has impacted crop production in a number of key agricultural nations like Russia and Australia sending the price of key staples to new heights. The United Nations reported that the January’s Food Price Index reached “the highest level since the agency started measuring food prices in 1990.” This impact is just recently being felt in the United States and Europe because we consume heavily processed food as result of large food subsidies for domestic production of corn and tariffs on sugar. However, in most of the world increases in food prices are placing tremendous strain on already economically stressed populations. Finally, the extent to which new information technologies have contributed to unrest depends on factors specific to particular context. These include the reaction from the regime and citizen familiarity with particular communication channels. Egyptians swarmed to social media sites forcing the government to shut down the Internet and after Mubarak left a family named their child Facebook. On the other hand, Libyans were much more circumspect creating false profiles on a popular dating site to send coded messages and avoid government censors. The important factor is not the platform being used but the democratization of communication through the use of mobile phones and the Internet. Of particular interest is the way new technologies are being integrated into the “sneakernet.” The Los Angeles Times has a great piece on the “information smugglers” who carry mobile videos across the border so they can upload it onto social media sites . However, the fact that protests have occurred in ICT black hole North Korea shows even if technology is helping in some places it is not the proximate cause. These technologically empowered youth populations are seizing their chance to replace the septuagenarians ruling them. And no amount of rapping by leaders like Museveni is going to change the structural factors responsible. Slideshow image is used courtesy of Amir AbdelShafy, Cairo. All rights reserved. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Exploring New Models for Education 2.0. “Applications of Technology for Peacebuilding” at American University | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/02/exploring-new-models-for-education-2-0-applications-of-technology-for-peacebuilding-at-american-university-course-recap/) Exploring New Models for Education 2.0. “Applications of Technology for Peacebuilding” at American University | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Exploring New Models for Education 2.0. “Applications of Technology for Peacebuilding” at American University March 2, 2011 · by Nick Martin By Nick Martin This past weekend Dr. Michael Gibbons and I taught a 20-hour graduate skills institute at American University’s School of International Service entitled Applications of Technology for Peacebuilding . Students came from a variety of AU programs, including the International Peace and Conflict Program (IPCR) in the School of International Service, the AU Business School, and the AU Law School. We at TechChange were especially excited about this course, as it allowed us an opportunity to incorporate a variety of new tech-based tools in the curriculum, both those created by TechChange and others. The inclusion of these tools was designed to foster collaboration, allow for course materials to be accessed in innovative, non-linear ways, and to give students an opportunity to participate in hands-on simulations using some of the same tools (e.g. Ushahidi) currently being used by practitioners in the field. Hybrid Learning Model: Prior to the course, we created an online community with a number of dynamic features. These included an interactive self-guided pre-course assessment that provided a general overview and personalized reading recommendations , an interactive case study library, visual maps for readings and other multimedia, an interactive class corkboard for posting course announcements and expectations, bookmarking tools for capturing links that emerged during classroom discussion, and more. See a sample unit of a TechChange course with a number of these features here . We felt this was an effective way (much more so than Blackboard) to not only display and organize the content of the course, but also to capture key learnings as they evolved. We’re excited to continue to experiment with this and other blended learning and hybrid learning models. Ushahidi Crisis Mapping Simulation: On Saturday morning, students took part in a two-hour crisis mapping simulation, using the Ushahidi platform to map and monitor hypothetical election violence in Afghanistan. This was a more in-depth version of a simulation we ran at UPEACE last summer, as described on the Ushahidi Blog . This time, we set up 5 teams (the UN Staff, Election Monitors, Polling Stations, Citizens, and the Taliban) and organized the simulation into 6 ten-minute round. In each round, every citizen had to choose a polling station to vote at based on the information flow that trickled down to them from the election monitors visiting polling stations and texting back to UN staff who plotted information on the Ushahidi map. The Taliban team was charged with the task of sending falsified crowdsourced data to obscure the process. We also introduced a number of variations for each round: staggering voting of citizens and allowing them to communicate with each other, reducing the number of the election monitors, etc. Prezi and Case Study Exercise: In order to introduce the students to some of the organizations and tools working to address different elements of the peacebuilding/ development spectrum, we created a case study library in an online tool called Prezi. We then divided the class into 6 groups (Health, Education, Banking/Livelihoods/Finance, Advocacy & Citizen Journalism, Governance, and Crisis Response) and had each group explore the profiles of three tools listed under each category, reflect on their utilities for peacebuilding, and attempt to discover other relevant tools not listed in the library. Check out the TechChange Case Study Library here. Prezi was a great way to organize and curate this activity and we will feature more about this tool and other insights into zooming presentations in a subsequent blog post. Video Games for Social Change Activity: On Sunday morning we facilitated a 90-minute unit on video games for social change. We started with Jane Mcgongical’s TED Talk “Can Gaming Make a Better World” and then divided into groups to look at the following games: Ayiti: the Cost of Life, Experience the Haiti Earthquake, Breakaway, Participatory Chinatown, Third World Farmer, Stop Disasters, Raise the Village, and Darfur is Dying. Some themes and questions that we explored incude: The responsibility of empathy – can we as gamers responsibly and respectfully inhabit another person’s experience? If so, how can this be done without potentially trivializing others’ hardship? How can NGOs and designers better incorporate local contextual input into game design? How do NGOs and designers balance their social objective with the typical expectations related to gameplay? Are games more effective than documentaries for precipitating behavior change? Visit the TechChange Unit on Games for Change in our online course and try playing the games. Final Projects: For a final project we divided the class into teams and presented the following assignment: In October 2011 (7 months from now), Liberia will hold its second democratic election. This signifies a critical juncture in post-war recovery efforts for Liberia, as the United Nations peacekeeping force is hoping to hand over security responsibilities to the relevant government authorities. You are part of team that has been recently hired by CARE International. You have been tasked to make recommendations about which technologies and software should be used help improve communications, monitor violence levels, and provide public service delivery during the time leading up to the elections and on the day itself. Consider the tools we have discussed in class, and take some time to research other relevant tools in the Case Study Library… It was impressive to see such a range of creative strategies and considerations taken into account by each group. To download the full assignment click here. Parting Thoughts: All in all, it was a great experience and we’re excited about teaching future graduate courses at American University, George Washington University, George Mason ICAR, and any others that are interested. We’ll also be doing a three-day short course this summer (July 4-6) on New Technologies for Educational Practice at the United Nations mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica. Come join us. As with any class, we recognize that there is always room to improve upon our approach and activities. We’re really interested in hearing from you and from others who are working to develop new models for hybrid learning, education 2.0, next generation eLearning tools, and more. Feel free to reach out to us with ideas and feedback at TechChange or write to me at nick [at] TechChange.org ← Back to the Blog --- ## Integrating Multimedia into Adult Education: Is it Worth all the Trouble? | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/04/integrating-multimedia-into-adult-education-is-it-worth-all-the-trouble/) Integrating Multimedia into Adult Education: Is it Worth all the Trouble? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Integrating Multimedia into Adult Education: Is it Worth all the Trouble? March 4, 2011 Dominic Volonnino is co-founder of TechChange . He is also a Faculty member at the U.S. Institute of Peace's Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding . Multimedia can be a powerful tool for adult education. When used effectively it can captivate an audience, tug emotions, maintain attention, and contextualize scenario-based learning. But creating and producing quality content also has a number of drawbacks in terms of cost, learning curves, and copyright laws. Integrating multimedia into curricula can have a tremendous impact on the learning process, but are the drawbacks worth the trouble? I've compiled this short of list of 6 benefits and 6 drawbacks of multimedia integration from my own experience developing curriculum at the U.S. Institute of Peace's Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding . What is your experience? I welcome you to share your experiences and opinions at the bottom of the page. 6 Benefits of Integrating Multimedia Ward off Boredom Consider that the average adult attention span is between 15 and 20 minutes. Afterwards, an individual's focus must be rejuvenated either through rest or by changing activities. Multimedia can be a valuable source of instructional variation because it helps to capture the attention and imagination of learners to bring content to life. This is especially important for e-Learning which is often poorly designed and delivered, leaving students with lackluster, un-engaging learning experience. Engage the Senses People learn in different ways. Visual learners are stimulated by images, auditory learners by sound, and kinesthetic (or tactile) learners through touching, feeling and experiencing. Too often learning is solely aimed at an individual's intellectual or analytical capabilities while neglecting opportunities to provoke learners with a sensory or emotional experience. When implemented effectively, multimedia can stimulate the senses to create a learning environment where new information impacts an audience and is more effectively retained. Activate the Imagination through Storytelling Storytelling is a powerful communication tool that can activate our imagination and maintain our attention. When we hear a story we naturally visualize the context and characters and mentally rehearse actions as they unfold. Part instruction, part entertainment, stories can enable participants to mentally prepare for unfamiliar or unexpected situations that they may encounter in a job. Stories are especially relevant to equip individuals for high stress tasks. When teaching, consider expanding your use of case studies and scenarios to contextualize and illustrate your learning objectives. Provide an Alternative to Statistics and Data A number of research studies have shown that overloading individuals with facts, figures, and statistics can actually be counter-productive when trying to convince people to embrace new ideas. This is certainly counter-intuitive. It seems people are naturally defensive and skeptical when new ideas are presented in the form of numbers and data, as compared to more 'human' ways, such as making personal connections, telling stories, and engaging emotions. Strike the right balance before overloading participants with abstract statistics, or intangible data and numbers to emphasize a point. Multimedia can break of the tedium of content to help bring include those personal elements. If you're interested to learn more check out the book, ' Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die .' Utilize Virtual Guest Lecturers Bring guest lecturers into your class–virtually. Why not let others who have expertise in the subject matter help you? At the U.S. Institute of Peace we've interviewed more than 150 experts using video and audio to enhance our training courses. The "video experts" share their experiences, stories, and analysis on specific themes that would not have made it to the students. These additional perspectives and world views can enrich your content. Multimedia is especially powerful to stimulate reflection and group discussion. Encourage Self-Directed Learning Enhance a class with supplemental multimedia materials your students can access for further learning. These can easily live within an e-Learning platform (such as Blackboard or Moodle). If a student is intrigued by a specific topic they will know where to go to learn more. In one of our classes, 23 supplemental videos were posted into our e-Learning platform. They were not assigned as homework but were recommended in case the students desired to explore further on their own. Interestingly, data reports revealed that more than half of the participants would watch each clip, even though not required. Multimedia encouraged this form of self-directed learning. 6 Drawbacks of Integrating Multimedia Cost Up until 15 years ago multimedia was primarily produced by professionals with high tech equipment in multi-million dollar studios. Times have changed, and now the barriers of entry have dropped dramatically. Now anybody with a laptop, webcam, or microphone can produce their own media content. Even though the tools of production are now accessible, the cost to produce media well can be expensive. A simple webcam may get you on YouTube, but you'll need some equipment to enhance the quality of your productions to look good and sound professional when you are ready to make your big debut. Software is also needed for editing, not to mention costs for hosting and file storage. The costs can add up quickly. The Learning Curve In addition to the costs, basic production skills are needed to move beyond the choppy, grainy, and often poor quality videos that propagate YouTube. There is a significant learning curve that must be overcome to produce media well which involves specialized skills in filming, video production (post-production), audio recording, and audio engineering (post-production). Depending upon the output of the media, skills in graphic design and web development are typically needed, too. Producing decent multimedia will require a significant degree of training to overcome the learning curve. Copyrights The Internet is an amazing reservoir of valuable multimedia that can enhance your teaching and training. Unfortunately, using it without proper authorization and rights is illegal. You cannot simply download and reuse anything you want online. Before downloading pictures for your next PowerPoint lecture at work or to post on your website, ask yourself if you are making your institution vulnerable to copyright violations. Copyright laws apply to everything from DVDs to podcasts to pictures and restrict the use of potentially valuable teaching materials. Thankfully, Creative Commons exists which facilitates "digital creativity, sharing, and innovation" by providing "simple, standardized alternatives to the 'all rights reserved' paradigm of traditional copyright." In today's fast-paced internet era there are lots of gray areas. I recommend reading the latest Fair Use copyright laws that pertain to education. Potential to Distract and Derail Learning Multimedia has potential to distract learners if it is not delivered well in a class. You need to know exactly what you want your students to take away from the media experience. For example: What are the specific learning objectives of using the clip? What is the added value for using it? Is it meant to describe, illustrate, explain or analyze? How will you contextualize the media and prepare students for what they are about to experience? Will you leave the learning experience 'open ended' for students to draw their own conclusions and meaning? If you do allow for a more open approach, be mindful of your learning objectives as group discussion can veer onto peripheral issues. Finally, don't forget your audience's attention span. Long-winded "talking heads", static lectures or webinars can just as easily bore an audience as a monotone lecture. Research is Time Consuming Finding good, relevant content that is copyright-free or which has Creative Commons usage rights is time consuming. I've spent countless hours combing through databases looking for just the right picture, video clip, or audio to use in a class. Unless you have a dedicated research assistant be prepared to spend a lot of time digging online. Abuse by Lazy Teachers Media clips should not substitute teaching. How many of us have had a lazy professor who opted out of teaching by simply playing a DVD for the entire duration of a class? Don't fall into that trap. It's a disservice to students who pay hard-earned money to learn. This shortlist of benefits and drawbacks and is a result of my own experience of integrating multimedia into adult education. What is your experience? Is multimedia worth all the trouble? Dominic Volonnino is co-founder of TechChange . He is also a Faculty member at the U.S. Institute of Peace's Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding . Related article by D.Volonnino: Is e-Learning Inferior to Face-to-Face Instruction? (e-Learning Series) ← Back to the Blog --- ## Vittana: A Seed for Social Change | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/07/vittana-a-seed-for-social-change/) Vittana: A Seed for Social Change | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Vittana: A Seed for Social Change March 7, 2011 Tara Tran is a freelance writer and a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog . She contributed this post in a new collaboration with TechChange. The content of this post solely reflects the views and opinions of the author. Vittana : No, it's not a posture in yoga. Although, the social change it's growing may surely prove something on which to meditate. A Seed Vittana is an Indian word for "seed." It also happens to be the name of a Seattle-based nonprofit microfinance organization. Since it started in 2008, this little company made big news: It's been featured in The New York Times , Fast Company , and The Economist, just to name a few, when (similar to the like-minded Kiva ) it succeded in joining social networking and philanthropy together in blissful harmony. The product of the union: Students in developing countries gain access to education. You see, loans for higher education are nearly nonexistent in developing countries. Upon its initial launch by two ex-Amazon software engineers, Vittana had a site to facilitate online student profiles. With the added use of Skype, PBwiki, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, the company created a virtual community of borrowers and lenders. The model allows for anyone, from the American college student to the retired European business professional, to fund a loan for say, a student in Peru looking to get a certificate in engineering. Lenders are repaid by the student and the student gets a chance for a higher salary (often a 200-300% increase!), more opportunities, and most importantly, a sense of empowerment. How It Works Let's go through one student's story to show how it works : The Student: 22-year old Patricia Caceres Jara lived in Paraguay and wanted to pursue nursing at the Universidad Catolica. She needed funds for her education. The Microfinance Institution (MFI): Patricia applied for a loan with one of Vittana's MFI partners, Fundacion Paraguaya . Once Fundacion Paraguaya evaluated Patricia's academic standing, enrollment, and employment prospects, they disbursed a loan of $649. Vittana: Fundacion Paraguaya then uploaded information for Patricia's Vittana profile . The profile displayed her school, MFI, educational program, location, age, photo, background, and loan details. Potential lenders could view Patricia's profile on Vittana's site and read her story. The Lender: On March 31, 2010, a total of 12 individual lenders fully funded Patricia's loan and Vittana transferred the payment to the MFI. By January 2011, Patricia repaid all of her loan and Vittana distributed the payment to each of the 12 lenders. At the end of this process, lenders have the choice of withdrawing their funds or reinvesting into other student loans. What is left standing is a sustainable philanthropic community. As of 2010, 708 students have been funded with a total of $500,000. How to Get Involved Vittana currently has active partnerships in Mongolia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Vietnam. So what's the next step? Well, in 2011, they hope to make progress on an initiative in Africa, expand from 9 to 30 MFI partners worldwide, and serve up to 10,000 students. "There are more than 600 million students worldwide who are graduating from high school, but who don't have access to the funding needed to attend college or technical school," reported Vittana Marketing Director Katie Gruver. "They're stuck. Our job is to change that, as quickly and as smartly as possible. So in 2011, we're working on bringing scale to our model and proving that student lending will work in many more corners of the globe." There's a way for everyone to get involved . And of course, we can't forget, you can follow Vittana on Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube . Tara Tran is a freelance writer and a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog . She contributed this post in a new collaboration with TechChange. The content of this post solely reflects the views and opinions of the author. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Women in Tech: Why the Future Looks Bright | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/08/women-in-tech-why-the-future-looks-bright/) Women in Tech: Why the Future Looks Bright | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Women in Tech: Why the Future Looks Bright March 8, 2011 Today marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, whose priority theme centers around "access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology," according to this year's Commission on the Status of Women . Despite the fact that women still earn less than men (about 80 cents per dollar) and are still less likely to hold senior-level positions, the future in technology and social media is looking bright for women. The White House has just released its first comprehensive report on women since 1963, entitled Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being , outlining conditions of women in the United States. Not surprisingly, women surpass men in percentage graduating from college, and in percentage earning bachelor's degrees, masters degrees, and now, for the first time ever, doctoral degrees. However, the data shows that girls score lower on math assessments than boys, and college-aged women are underrepresented in technology fields. The National Center for Women and Information Technology 2010 Scorecard notes that although women earned 52% of math and science degrees, 59% of biology degrees, and 42% of mathematics degrees, they only earned 18% of all computer and information sciences degrees. But the NCWIT is also looking up: since IT professions are projected to be the fastest-growing sector through 2018, there will be more positions for women to fill. But why choose women for those positions? They cite a recent study which "determined that racial and gender diversity were associated with increased sales revenue, more customers, and greater profits." The survey scorecard also suggested that as more women enter fields of computing and technology, the pay gap will close as "comparable levels of experience, education, and job title are controlled for." In a recent blog post for Forbes magazine, Steve Denning argues that solving issues of women's equality in the workplace contribute directly to the overall productivity in the workplace, particularly in areas of social media and startups, because not only does the overall intelligence of a group directly correlate with the percentage of women in that group, but also because women are naturally better in arenas of social media. Naomi Wolf also sees social media as being a powerful tool in reconciling the differences in pay and position for women. Last week , Wolf recalled the role that women played during the recent revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. She calls out the media at "under-analyzing" the role that women played, which was as leaders – not mere participants – in dramatic cultural shift. It is the democracy of social media that naturally allows women to shine as leaders particularly because they have a role in shaping what leadership looks like. "Facebook mimics the way that many women choose to experience social reality," Wolf says, "with connections between people just as important as individual dominance or control, if not more so." There's sound logic in creating a work environment that not only includes, but is led by more women. Since more and more women are using technology and related services, it makes sense for women to be the ones designing and developing more of the products and services available. It makes sense that women should be more equally represented on advisory boards and senior-level staff, as often women make up a significant, if not majority, demographic as consumers. In the workplace, where only 3% of Fortune 500 companies have a female CEO, companies would be wise to pay attention to how they attract and treat women: firms with at least some senior-level managers outperform those who don't. And, on average, women have done more with less funding, and have fewer failures in starting their own companies. As more women are included and leading firms and companies in technology and science (and everywhere else), we will gradually see a positive shift in the institutional structure. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently stated that "on any issue, when women are a part of the vision the world sees better results." This vision is also reflected in the creation of UN Women . Women are a powerful resource, and as we make our way into more positions of leadership, the world will be all the better off for it. ← Back to the Blog --- ## The end of 'datagoraphobia' – organizing event data spatially to support humanitarian relief and peacekeeping operations | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/11/the-end-of--e2-80-98datagoraphobia-e2-80-99-organizing-event-data-spatially-to-support-humanitarian-relief-and-peacekeeping-operations/) The end of 'datagoraphobia' – organizing event data spatially to support humanitarian relief and peacekeeping operations | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog The end of 'datagoraphobia' – organizing event data spatially to support humanitarian relief and peacekeeping operations March 11, 2011 · by Charles Martin-Shields Charles Martin-Shields has served as a consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, and the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy. He is currently completing a long-term study of educational development evaluation in conflict-affected settings to be published in March 2011 by the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com . Much of the event data that new technology is making available to practitioners contains geographic information, and to take advantage of this we need a way of thinking about geographic information in a predictive way. Combining today's post with last week's "Corralling the Data instead of the Data Corralling Us" post, we get a data filtering methodology that gives us data that is timely and geographically relevant in the field. This will set us up for next week's post, which will explore how to use time and space filters to maximize the value of software like Swiftriver which significantly speeds the process of data collection and management for project leaders and analysts. Imagine we're in a public health setting and are looking at data on the outbreak of a disease in a locality. Since an event like a disease outbreak happens in a particular location, the first term we'll look at is the… Point estimate: In geographic terms, our point estimate is the exact place (for example a village) that we hypothesize an event will occur. We derive our point estimate from our data; for example if a disease consistently breaks out in a particular village, we could hypothesize that the next outbreak of a disease is likely to occur in that village, as opposed to another village in the same district. We'll make the latitude and longitude of the village is the point estimate . So, here we find ourselves trying to prepare for a disease outbreak in the future. We have a point estimate , the longitude and latitude of the village in which we think the disease will break out, but we can't be positive that the disease will break out in this village (it could break out in another). The more data we have, the more reliable our point estimate can become. This leads us to our next term, the… Confidence interval : In data analysis and statistics there is no such thing as "right or wrong". Instead, we focus on the likelihood of an event occurring at a particular place (our point estimate ). The confidence interval frames the reliability of our data. When we have lots of good geographic data on an event (e.g. longitude and latitude of 700 disease outbreaks in a country for the last 15 years), we can more precisely predict the next outbreak's longitude and latitude; if we don't have a lot of data (e.g. longitude and latitude of only 20 outbreak events for one year) we can still estimate where the next outbreak will be, but not as precisely. Now we have a means for deciding how broad the territory we should be looking at is, and how much data we need to collect. We can combine this with the method for filtering data based on our temporal needs to accomplish to important things when using technology and data to enhance our work in the field: We have defined our needs, goals and limitations temporally and spatially. By doing this, we have recognized our own limits, are planning around what we believe we can accomplish and have defined what success looks like. Even if we never engage with technology, software or data, we have defined the goal of our work, and what we believe we need to know in order to achieve success. Along with the broader value in defining our task and vision of success, we also have a means for collecting data that is relevant both temporally and spatially. We now have a means for telling filtering software like Swiftriver what it should be looking for, what it should be filtering out, and how it should be organizing the data. As we can see, even if we never use technology in our fieldwork, a sound system of collecting and analyzing the data around us can make our project planning more effective. Since many of us are using computers in our operational contexts though, our next post will take the temporal and spatial approaches to data management and analysis and apply them to using filtering software like Swiftriver more effectively. By applying well founded data collection logic, next week's post will begin to look at how technology can aid our efforts to affect positive change in the world around us. Charles Martin-Shields has served as a consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, and the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy. He is currently completing a long-term study of educational development evaluation in conflict-affected settings to be published in March 2011 by the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com . ← Back to the Blog --- ## Al Jazeera and Others Visualizing Twitter and Unrest | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/14/al-jazeera-and-others-visualizing-twitter-and-unrest/) Al Jazeera and Others Visualizing Twitter and Unrest | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Al Jazeera and Others Visualizing Twitter and Unrest March 14, 2011 · by Caitlin Turner Qatar-based Al Jazeera may be completely responsible for the lack of productivity amongst university students, in many different disciplines, all over the world. Walking through the halls of a local university you may hear, at any one point, one student saying to another "Al Jazeera ate my homework." The reason for this is what the LA Times has coined Al Jazeera's 'CNN moment' (referring to the network's coverage of the Gulf War, which catapulted it into popularity). Al Jazeera's around the clock news and live updated coverage of the protests and revolutions throughout the Middle East and Africa, has in many ways changed the rules of the media game. Al Jazeera has led news media outlets down a path that forces all others to be very conscientious of not only what they report but also in keeping up with real-time events. With the speed, quantity, accuracy and availability of data coming out of Al Jazeera it's no wonder many students and followers of the network are becoming overwhelmed. It's not just the articles, or the videos, or the pictures, it's also the millions of tweets that keep us glued to the events. Seeing that there is an overwhelming amount of up to the minute information available, Al Jazeera has launched its very own Twitter Dashboard. Using the heading 'Region in Turmoil' Al Jazeera has built the dashboard so that users can see a more compressed but still comprehensive illustration of what is being tweeted. The dashboard is built around four sections. One section on the dashboard provides real-time updates on the total number of tweets produced concerning developments in Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain. These numbers are recorded and include a tally of total tweets for the day as well as an average of tweets per minute. Complementary to these numbers is a line graph that provides a visual representation of the tallies. Another section of the dashboard displays the hashtag distribution for each country garnishing the most attention in the Twittersphere. In this area, users are able to expand and contract the distribution graphic to suit their particular region of interest. The fourth section on the dashboard contains a real-time Twitter stream of all tweets related to the four countries that are highlighted by the dashboard. With the speed in which events in Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain change, this Twitter Dashboard is just one more tool through which observers, activists, concerned groups and the like, can organize their thoughts, make sense of the twitter trends as they happen, and gather a more holistic understanding of the tweets coming at them. In sum, it provides an at-a-glance visual representation of how, when, and where people are using twitter to discuss events. It's important to note that Al Jazeera is not the only, nor is it the first, to create instantaneous tweet visualizations. Others such as iaman25 , HyperCities Egypt and the Guardian have also combined tweets and infographics to present a picture to others of events as they are unfolding on Twitter. While they share some similarities, they are also unique in their own way. HyperCities Egypt, created by three tech enthusiasts from the UCLA Digital Humanities collaborative , combines GIS technology with Twitter feeds to provide an immediate map of tweets, and locations. And the Guardian's project presents an interactive map, combined with a tweet deck that includes tweets from Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Bahrain and Yemen. There is no doubt that Twitter is changing the way in which users participate in, and consume news and information. The work of Al Jazeera and others on customized Twitter Dashboards only goes to show that there is a need, a demand, and a value in the real-time information provided by Twitter and its users. The world is clearly watching Twitter. ← Back to the Blog --- ## A look at World Bank's Urgent Evoke: Reflections for Season 2 | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/18/a-look-at-urgent-evoke-reflections-for-season-2/) A look at World Bank's Urgent Evoke: Reflections for Season 2 | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog A look at World Bank's Urgent Evoke: Reflections for Season 2 March 18, 2011 On March 3, 2010, the World Bank launched Urgent Evoke —an online video game designed to help individuals across the world develop innovative, creative solutions to the globe's most pressing social problems while developing ten much-needed skills : collaboration, courage, creativity, entrepreneurship, local insight, knowledge sharing, resourcefulness, spark / example setting, sustainability, and vision. Over the course of the game's ten-week inaugural round, participants from around the world logged onto the game's site (via Internet, where available, but also over mobile telephones for those in developing countries lacking Internet access) every Wednesday at midnight to access a new " urgent evoke ," or a description of a problem that players would work to solve. The problems, presented in a comic book format to make the experience both fun and interactive, were real-life issues such as hunger, poverty, education, and human rights. With each new "urgent evoke," players had the opportunity to research and learn about the issue, consider the challenge posed by the game's designers that accompanied each "urgent evoke," and accept the mission . Unlike most typical online video games, accepting the mission on Urgent Evoke did not bring players to a new, simulated world within which to complete that mission; rather, players were expected to act on the mission within their own communities and document their efforts with video, photos, or a blog post. In a third and final step, participants were asked to consider the issue of the week in the future, and to describe how the issue affected them then. Players earned points for completing each mission, and could be awarded more points by other players for such things as creativity and collaboration. At the end of the inaugural ten weeks, players were asked to submit their own "Evokation," that is, a plan to tackle a problem. Players who completed all ten weeks of the game and submitted an "Evokation" received a certificate for social innovation; those players whose "Evokations" were particularly noteworthy were considered for funding to enact their idea, scholarships, and a chance to attend a social innovation conference in Washington, D.C. The game's original target audience was African youth—a demographic desperately in need of not only innovation, but also creative and collaborative leaders capable and eager to lead the way in reforming their societies. Fearful that many African youth would be unable to access the game via Internet due to poor connectivity on the continent, the game was configured for access by mobile phones that ran on an Opera Mini operating system, which was prevalent on the continent. Despite these extra steps, however, only 400 of an estimated 8,000 participants were playing the game from Africa. In addition to players, Urgent Evoke invited mentors—activists in communities across the globe who wanted to interact with a new generation of potential change-makers—to join the Evoke game and offer their support, wisdom, ideas, and experience with players. Due to technical and personnel problems, this cadre of mentors, which the Urgent Evoke producers identified as an "amazing resource," were not fully integrated into the game, and thus their effect on participants, the quality of missions and Evokations, and the game itself is still unknown and untested. One of the game's biggest strengths is its focus on combining online games with real-world action. Online, participants were able to collaborate with other players, make connections, share ideas, research, and learn. But in order to advance forward to the next level, players were required to step outside the virtual world and to put their new skills to action in real-life projects. The game offered many suggestions for ways players could complete their missions, but also encouraged innovative and alternative projects that might spur others in a similar direction. By drawing on the appeal and networking abilities of the Internet to create a community of change-makers, and then encouraging these individuals to take their knowledge back into the streets of their communities, the game's designers and promoters created a learn-and-do environment capable of energizing activists and, hopefully, tapping into a dynamic and exploding youth sector across the planet. Glancing through Urgent Evoke's project blog , it is uncertain whether the game produced the kind of real-life activism envisioned by its designers and producers. Many of the testimonies from participants were somewhat vague, leading an observer to question whether or not they had actually completed the challenges; this could be explained by a lack of experience in social and community change projects by those who participated. Further, there was a disconnect between each level's mission and the final Evokation submission, meaning that the bulk of the action by participants over the course of the ten weeks did not contribute substantially to the completion of a final project. Without some kind of oversight, a more targeted group of participants—such as those who are already involved with NGOs or activist organizations—and a better conception of how to integrate each piece / level of the game with the next, it is unclear whether the game will ever have the type of impact it strives to incubate. However, on the same project blog , many teachers and academics from classrooms of all ages and sizes across the globe have offered their enthusiasm for Urgent Evoke and inquired as to whether the game could be adopted for classroom use. The idea of moving Urgent Evoke into schools is inspiring. Within a classroom setting, teachers could use Urgent Evoke to stimulate innovation and creativity amongst students, and students could work in teams or individually to move through the ten-week game and complete missions. Under the eye of a teacher, students would have less room to "cheat" on activities and missions, thus ensuring that the students were really fulfilling the objectives of the game. Playing the game on computers or other portable electronic devices would help kids to develop technological skills at an early age, and the game's various components—such as learning and researching, writing blogs or posting video or images—would introduce students to the fundamentals of Internet research, typing and writing, and new media tools. Further, the teacher could assist the students in providing context for the game and its different scenarios, and supplement the game and its relevant activities with real-life encounters with activists, businesspeople, and creative thinkers who are working to address these same problems in their own lives. Overall, the game is a brilliant idea that builds off everything loved about the Internet—it's use as a networking platform, its endless access to knowledge, its 'fun' appeal—and everything we know about social activism to create a hybrid model designed to keep the internet and real-life closely related and intertwined. The game's shortcomings —namely, that a genuine sense of community did not develop amongst participants, that mentors with valuable skills and insight weren't fully integrated into the game or the missions, that there is no way to ensure that the 'real-life' part of the game is carried out, and that the game itself may lack a contextual placement within real problems faced by one's real community—are not inherent in the game itself but rather reflect the learning process of launching something entirely new and innovative from the ground up. As the game's designers, producers, and participants themselves discuss , the experience of launching the first season of the game provided valuable insights into its strengths and limits. Participants and would-be gamers have called for a second season of Urgent Evoke, which so far has yet to be realized (an offshoot of Urgent Evoke, the Evoke Challenge , took place in August 2010: participants solicited donations for Evoke projects through the Global Giving webpage ). As the game's producers and designers heed this call for another round, they should target the game to classrooms and teachers across the globe, encouraging these educators to incorporate the game into their curriculum. In doing so, local community mentors could be paired to individual classrooms, solving the first season's problem of non-integrated mentors. Student participants would benefit from the oversight of a teacher and a mentor, as well as the opportunity to collaborate more effectively with their peers. Furthermore, directing the game to school students and encouraging them to address the problems and issues of their communities creates a dynamic social context in which neighborhoods and its citizens are more directly engaged, and perhaps even lays the groundwork for creating lasting social change. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Social Media and Non-Violence: The Debate Heats Up at Georgetown | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/21/social-media-and-non-violence-the-debate-heats-up-at-georgetown/) Social Media and Non-Violence: The Debate Heats Up at Georgetown | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Social Media and Non-Violence: The Debate Heats Up at Georgetown March 21, 2011 · by Mayesha Alam This past week, I had the valuable opportunity to step out of my usual role as a graduate student at Georgetown and instead, for one day, serve as a teacher/facilitator for a graduate seminar on non-violent conflict resolution. I had been invited to come speak on behalf of TechChange, make a presentation and lead the discussion on a week devoted to the intersection of new technologies and non-violent civil resistance. The timing of such a course could not be more appropriate considering the recent and ongoing uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Algeria and other parts of the Middle East/North African region. I was encouraged and reassured by the depth of knowledge of the students in this seminar and their nuanced understanding of the highly complex nature of the use of social media for civil resistance. I left feeling intellectually stimulated but also hopeful that more young people will join this conversation, become informed and contribute to the debate! The most important take away points that the discussion produced, and which I believe are true for most – if not all – cases of civil resistance today, include: Social media or any other form of technology is never the substitute for direct political action. It is merely a tool to aid already engaged protestors, it can encourage wider participation and it can help disseminate information regarding a conflict, although measuring accuracy of such information is tricky. Those who embrace non-violence may do so out of principled consciousness or strategic consciousness but it is nearly impossible to determine a causal relationship between the availability/accessibility of technological/media tools and the choice of non-violence over violence. Measuring effectiveness of social media is difficult because the concept of success or envisioned goal is dynamic; there are a plethora of various forces at play and we are still at very early stages of experiencing this phenomenon. We don't know everything and we also do not know what and how much we don't know. Not all those who embrace non-violence use technology and not all those who embrace non-violence remain non-violent. Definitions of non-violence are fluid and may not always actually represent non-violent protest. After all, if an individual is hurling sticks and stones instead of firing bullets, are they still not causing violence? The rapidness with which social media and technology are expected to expedite any process and serve as a catalyst but democratization, by its very nature, is slow, it require continued support and nourishment, it is a constant work in progress and context-sensitive. The question therefore arises, does the presence of new and innovative technologies instill unrealistic expectations in people for the implementation of change? After all, the fall of a regime is only the beginning of political and social transformation. The discussion continues so keep tuned into the TechChange blog for the latest and most interesting news and join the conversation today! ← Back to the Blog --- ## A Personal Encounter with Paraguay's Tech Progress | Blog | TechChange (/2011/03/30/a-personal-encounter-with-paraguay-e2-80-99s-tech-progress/) A Personal Encounter with Paraguay's Tech Progress | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog A Personal Encounter with Paraguay's Tech Progress March 30, 2011 · by TJ Thomander TJ Thomander is a senior at Brigham Young University studying International Relations with an emphasis on political and economic development. He was a consultant for Fundacion Paraguaya at the San Francisco Agricultural High School in 2009 and a Knowledge Fellow for the Peery Foundation in 2010. He currently directs the Ashoka U Innovation Award-winning program, Students for Social Entrepreneurship , that places 120 students a year into on-campus internships for SE organizations. Deep in the "Chaco" of Paraguay where farmers live under two dollars a day, resides a budding entrepreneur named Alfonso Parada. "I took out a loan to start my farming business and with the profits I'll send myself to IT school," he told me. "I want to become a computer programmer and give a good life to my family." Then he showed me his most recent investment: a cell phone that housed two SIM cards from different service providers. "I need to make sure I always have coverage and get the cheapest rates wherever I am." Alfonso's access to a mobile phone in one of the least physically accessible areas of South America is a symbol of communication equity. The most recent ITU Facts and Figures Report highlighted that mobile phone use is so rampant that its growth is leveling at record highs. The report includes the following statistics: Access to mobile networks is now available to 90% of the world population and 80% of the population living in rural areas. People are moving rapidly from 2G to 3G platforms, in both developed and developing countries. In 2010, 143 countries were offering 3G services commercially, compared to 95 in 2007. Mobile cellular growth is slowing worldwide. In developed countries, the mobile market is reaching saturation levels with on average 116 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2010 and a marginal growth of 1.6% from 2009-2010. Assuming an average cost of US$0.07 per SMS, in 2010 SMS traffic is generating an estimated US$812,000 every minute (or around US$14,000 every second). Source: "The World in 2010," ITU. These staggering figures are reflected well in Paraguay, which will soon welcome Viettel into its telecommunications industry. The company will soon invest US$100 million into projects that include bringing free Internet access to all schools in the country. This would catalyze Paraguay's e-education program and offer more opportunities to students that face high transportation costs when trying to further their studies. The One Laptop per Child initiative launched its first large-scale implementation of XO computers (the "$100 computer") in Paraguay for 4,000 students and teachers through the non-profit, Paraguay Educa . If these two programs could combine in the next decade, potentially every child in the country could have easy access to the internet, which would be quite a feat for a nation that claims less than 3% of its households with internet access. Additionally, less than 5% of Paraguay's educational institutions have internet access, but luckily Alfonso attended one of them. His alma mater is a renowned self-sufficient school called the San Francisco Agricultural High School , which is financed by its 17 student-run businesses, including an organic farm, hotel, and store. The school is able to "pay for itself" with the revenue from these businesses, and the students graduate with excellent entrepreneurial skills. It was originally established by Catholic priests in 1962 but forty years later it was facing bankruptcy as government funding was cut off. They handed the school over to Fundacion Paraguaya , a prominent micro-finance institution and non-profit started by an ex-mayor of Asuncion. Within five years of ownership, the foundation was able to start the student-run businesses and make the school completely self-sufficient by 2007. Their 200-plus alumni not only have graduated with basic entrepreneurship skills, but a new mindset that they can become self-sufficient themselves. In 2008, USAID declared it the first working model of a financially self-sufficient school for young people in the world and they have received significant funding from the Clinton Global Initiative to start more schools. My discussion with Alfonso was similar to discussions I had with dozens of other San Francisco alumni that were able to enjoy a curriculum infused with internet connection to help learn entrepreneurship. Despite living in the second poorest country in South America, they feel that Internet and mobile phone access puts them on an equal playing field with the rest of the world. TJ Thomander is a senior at Brigham Young University studying International Relations with an emphasis on political and economic development. He was a consultant for Fundacion Paraguaya at the San Francisco Agricultural High School in 2009 and a Knowledge Fellow for the Peery Foundation in 2010. He currently directs the Ashoka U Innovation Award-winning program, Students for Social Entrepreneurship , that places 120 students a year into on-campus internships for SE organizations. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Facebook Pulls "Third Palestinian Intifada Page": Violent Incitement Overrules Free Speech | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/04/facebook-pulls-third-intifada-page-violent-incitement-overrules-free-speech/) Facebook Pulls "Third Palestinian Intifada Page": Violent Incitement Overrules Free Speech | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Facebook Pulls "Third Palestinian Intifada Page": Violent Incitement Overrules Free Speech April 4, 2011 · by Jaclyn Nardone The first Palestinian Intifada (meaning "Uprising" in Arabic: الانتفاضة) began in 1987 and the second in 2000. With the recent flock of revolution in the Middle East, a third was called for – via social media – to take shape in 2011. The Facebook Page "Third Palestinian Intifada," which drew in more than 340,000 members and originally called for Palestinians to peacefully protest after Friday prayers on May 15th, was removed on March 29th because of its hateful statements and violent commentary against Israel's Jewish population. In response to Facebook's decision to remove the Page, one Haaretz commenter got 75 'Thumbs Up' (and one 'Dislike') for saying: " Free speech doesn't equal hate speech ," while another for 78 'Thumbs Up' for saying: " So much for free speech ." Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's Discussions Page hosts banter between pro-Israelis and pro-Palestinians via the topic views " Third Palestinian Intifada????? " and " http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=68310606562&topic=23732 ." The Facebook Page " Join the effort to delete the group "Third Palestinian Intifada" " posted a link to the warning message that informed of the Page's cancelation. Though the link is now inaccessible – when it was previously accessible – it read: "…Pages that are hateful, threatening, or obscene are not allowed . We also take down Pages that attack an individual, or group, or that are set up by an unauthorized individual…" Middle East online says: " the social networking site said that in general it was loath to take down pages that expressed criticism, believing in free speech ." However, a Facebook representative told The Jerusalem Post: "… after the publicity of the page, more comments deteriorated to direct calls for violence . Eventually, the page's creators also participated in these calls. After administrators of the page received repeated warnings about posts that violated our policies, we removed the page." Jerome Barron, a law professor and First Amendment expert at George Washington University, told the Associated Press: " Facebook does not fall under the guidelines of US freedom of expression legislation and is free to decide on its own policies ." Thus, in Facebook's Terms of Use: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which is derived from Section 3/7 of Facebook's Principals , says: " You will not post content that: is hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence ." Debbie Frost, Facebook spokeswoman, told Bloomberg in an email: " We continue to believe that people on Facebook should be able to express their opinions, and we don't typically take down content that speaks out against countries, religions, political entities or ideas. However, we monitor pages that are reported to us and when they degrade to direct calls for violence or expressions of hate — as occurred in this case — we have and will continue to take them down. " Andrew Noyes, a spokesman for Facebook, told FoxNews.com the social network would continue to take down Page announcing " direct calls for violence or expressions of hate ." Abraham H. Foxman, Director of the Anti-Defamation League, which called out against the Page's anti-Semitic messages and thus applauded the Page's removal, said the social networking website "…has now recognized an important standard to be applied when evaluating issues of non-compliance with its terms of service involving distinctions between incitement to violence and legitimate calls for collective expressions of opinion and action ." Yuli Edelstein, Israel's Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, said that the Page's removal indicated: " Facebook management understood that the page is a blunt abuse of freedom of speech to incite to violent actions ." Edelstein signed a letter he sent to the social networking site's founder Zuckerberg not only as an Israeli political figure, but as " someone who believes in the values of free speech, and knows that there is a difference between freedom of expression and incitement ." In a recent development of events, Larry Klayman , former Justice Department prosecutor and founder of Judicial Watch and FreedomWatch, has sued both Facebook and its founder Zuckerberg over $1 billion after the social networking's failure to swiftly remove the Page. According to FreedomWatch: "The complaint alleges assault and negligence, including willful and wanton conduct, gross negligence and recklessness on the part of the Defendants , as it has put Mr. Klayman's life at risk, as well as other similarly situated Jews who are prominent public figures and otherwise." TechCrunch obtained a copy of the seven page complaint . ← Back to the Blog --- ## SwiftRiver: Where Software Meets Social Change | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/05/swiftriver-where-software-meets-social-change/) SwiftRiver: Where Software Meets Social Change | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog SwiftRiver: Where Software Meets Social Change April 5, 2011 · by Charles Martin-Shields Charles Martin-Shields Charles is in charge of TechChange's New York City and Private Sector development. His work focuses on developing applications and training programs that can help private sector entities invest in developing counties in a way that is both profitable and socially responsible. Prior to TechChange, Charles worked for the U.S. Institute of Peace in the Education and Training program and later the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. He can be reached at charles [at] techchange.org . You land in a country that is recovering from a long war. The infrastructure is limited, but there is a nascent democratic government. To make up for the lack of infrastructure, citizens use text messages sent to a central receiver or Twitter feeds to let government officials know what they need. I'm describing E-Democracy, and using a platform like Swiftriver, these text messages and Tweets can be organized by time and geographic location. It provides information to elected leaders, while starting a public record of citizen-government interaction. Since the Swift platform can handle data streams ranging from RSS feeds to the inflow of discrete numeric data, it's an excellent platform for governance and peacekeeping professionals to use in their field work. First we need to understand what the Swiftriver platform is. It had always been explained to me by my colleagues in a way that led me to think of it as a normal piece of software that you load onto your computer, like Excel or iTunes. Fortunately Swiftriver's lead developer, Matthew Griffiths, was able to elaborate on what the platform is and how it works. "Swiftriver is a custom built framework and server application that is responsible for collecting and collating content from multiple sources (such as SMS, Twitter etc.). We have a suite of Web Services; each one specifically designed to add value to content (an example of this would be our NLP Service). Then finally we have our Web Applications (such as Sweeper) that allow the content processed by Swiftriver and the Web Services to be visualised and used by various end users. In short, when you download one of our software packages (such as our recent Sweeper V0.3 release) you are getting: A web application called Sweeper, that sits over a server framework called Swiftriver that communicates with cloud hosted Web Services." It's important for a user to understand that the platform is multi-faceted; a remote server can tag and store data while software tools designed to seamlessly feed information into the server and extract that information for insertion directly into a dataset on a computer. So what do I need to be able to tell my IT support colleague? What are the keywords she or he needs when setting up a filtering system using the Swiftriver platform? To start with, how does the Swiftriver platform determine where and which data to pull in? Matthew explained how this is done: "Our core platform has several points of easy extension and one of these is the plug-in system we call Parsers. Each parser knows how to communicate with one type of source and how to process data coming from that source. Examples of existing parsers are; the 'Twitter Search Parser', the 'Frontline SMS Parser' and the 'Google News Parser'. The Parser plug-in architecture is very simple to programme for, meaning that new Parsers for any new source are simple to produce and then leverage. It would therefore, be a relatively simple task for a developer to create a Parser that 'understood' how to use discreet data such as geo-coordinates (or in fact any other type of data) and knew how you receive that data from a source such as an SMS Gateway. Once written, the Parser can literally be dropped into the correct folder of the software install and this new Channel (combination of source and data type) would instantly become available for use." Parsers does what its name describes: it parses data based on the end user's parameters. If we only want data that is west of 29 degrees east and east of 25 degree east longitudes, and south of 7 degrees south and north of 10 degree south latitudes, it will only allow data from that block of territory to enter the Swiftriver platform. If we also only want that geographic data to be more than one hour old, but less that 48 hours old from a set time, it will parse out data that is too new or too old so that only temporally relevant data goes to the platform. But what about getting data into a system like Excel or SPSS so that it can be analyzed? Like my colleagues, much of what I've seen of Swiftriver is focused on managing Twitter or RSS content. Again, Matthew gives an explanation of the mechanism that takes your data from the Swiftriver platform and plugs it into a dataset. "Our Core platform has several points of easy extension and one of these is the plug-in system we call Reactor Turbines. These Reactor Turbines react to system events and have the ability change, control or redirect the flow of content within Swiftriver. For example, we already have a 'Ushahidi Reactor Turbine' that is responsible for sending content items that have been collected and processed by Swiftriver (and by processed I mean that they have been passed to our Web Services for Auto NLP Tagging, Auto GEOLocation etc.) directly to the Ushahidi mapping platform. It is very possible to link Swiftriver with any other data driven platform or in fact any other application of any kind." The Reactor Turbine is pulling data off the Swiftriver platform after it's been tagged and put into a working format for analysis. It could be putting it into Excel, SPSS or another data program. While this is going on, Parsers is collecting data from your preferred information streams. Much of this work is being done on an online 'cloud' platform, which makes it particularly useful to peacekeeping and governance professionals who are highly mobile and working in low-infrastructure environments. Because of the volume of data that can be pulled in and organized quickly, professionals working in peacekeeping and governance development can begin to see how events are shaping up around them, and their impact on those events. As technology expands to play a larger role in these fields, web based data gathering technology will be a powerful tool for achieving operational success and developing a better understanding of our impact in fragile social settings. Charles Martin-Shields Charles is in charge of TechChange's New York City and Private Sector development. His work focuses on developing applications and training programs that can help private sector entities invest in developing counties in a way that is both profitable and socially responsible. Prior to TechChange, Charles worked for the U.S. Institute of Peace in the Education and Training program and later the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. He can be reached at charles [at] techchange.org . For those interested in learning more about SwiftRiver and other software tools for social change, consider taking a three-week TechChange skills-building online course this fall: Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management . (Sept 5-23) Global Innovations for Digital Organizing: New Media Tactics for Democratic Change. (Sept 26-Oct 14) Mobiles for International Development: New Platforms for Public Health Finance and Education. (Oct 17-Nov 4) Read more about TechChange Online Courses , University Courses or experience a Sample Course . ← Back to the Blog --- ## From the Trading Floor to the Polling Booth: Twitter's Value-Added | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/07/from-the-trading-floor-to-the-polling-booth-twitters-value-added/) From the Trading Floor to the Polling Booth: Twitter's Value-Added | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog From the Trading Floor to the Polling Booth: Twitter's Value-Added April 7, 2011 · by Charles Martin-Shields Charles Martin-Shields has served as a consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, and the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy. He is currently completing a long-term study of educational development evaluation in conflict-affected settings to be published in March 2011 by the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com . The BBC reported today ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12976254 ) on the value that Twitter has provided to stock traders. This is an example of how social media, when well filtered, can have a verifiable positive effect . For our purposes, it also shows that humanitarian organizations and NGOs can leverage Twitter as a less expensive means of deriving on-the-ground information that is actionable and reliable. Research performed at the Technical University of Munich showed that traders following stock market-related tweets were seeing returns increase by close to 15% on their trades. By following tweets that were re-tweeted, market analysts could determine which twitter posts contained stock information that was analytically valuable. While the author of the study, Timm Sprenger, does not think this trend will change the world of stock analysis, it does add qualitative value to the process of trading. According to BBC Sprenger also studied the tweets of likely voters in the previous German election and was able to predict the outcome to within 2% of how many votes each party received. What was striking about this was that his results were as accurate as larger research institutions, but his process cost hundreds of thousands of dollars less. These findings could mean a lot to NGOs doing election monitoring or keeping track of violence at political rallies. While the risk of twitter creating false leads will always be a problem, this research shows that Twitter can be a quantitatively viable source of on the ground information even without the help of filtering software like Swiftriver. Best of all, it's free. Charles Martin-Shields has served as a consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, and the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy. He is currently completing a long-term study of educational development evaluation in conflict-affected settings to be published in March 2011 by the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com . ← Back to the Blog --- ## Is GroupMe the Next Big Thing for SMS and How Might It Support Social Change? | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/08/is-groupme-the-next-big-thing-for-sms-and-how-might-it-support-social-change/) Is GroupMe the Next Big Thing for SMS and How Might It Support Social Change? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Is GroupMe the Next Big Thing for SMS and How Might It Support Social Change? April 8, 2011 · by Caitlin Turner Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of this years famed South By Southwest Conference (SXSWi) was the GroupMe app. And since there's basically an app for everything, we need to wonder what is so special about this one. What has captured the attention of tech nerds, and social network junkies all over the US? The first question to ask is – what is GroupMe? GroupMe is being touted as "your real life network"- an app that brings networking straight to your phone, putting it all in your pocket. Taking pieces from the networking tools we're already using, GroupMe is based on four main features: group messaging, conference calling, location and photo sharing. Group messaging, the corner stone of the app, is a feature that allows the user to create private chat rooms that work on any phone. Users are able to create groups from the contacts in their phone and begin sending and receiving messages to and from all members of the group. As soon as a message is sent, everyone receives it and can respond to it. Through this app the user is able to maintain relationships in clusters as well as through one-to-one communication. GroupMe also provides a conference-calling feature. Each group is given a unique phone number that members are able to either text or call. And even though conference calling is not a new phenomenon; GroupMe has streamlined the possibility into the groups that already exist through the app. Location based apps and games have been popular for a while. Foursquare, Gowalla, Own This World and others have turned hide-and-go-seek games into fulltime jobs. With the location feature on GroupMe, group members are able to share their location with the group as well as map their movements for the group to see. A networking app would not be complete without photo sharing, and this has not been lost on the creators of GroupMe. The app allows the user to capture their group or personal photos and share them instantly within the conversation. In many ways, the appeal of GroupMe comes from the fact that it simplifies the chaos of multiple apps. Combining the most common and most sought after features of other networking tools, GroupMe has captured the attention of users who want to be able to access all of these things straight from their phone – straight from their back pocket. With any new app or networking tool, the questions naturally becomes – so what? What can I do with this? And, what is this going to change? There is no doubt that GroupMe has the potential to impact any and all group communication situations. For students and faculty GroupMe can be set up as a quick and efficient feedback loop. And students within the same class can engage in dialogue about the material without needing to know each other's email address or friend one another on Facebook. For those of us that have email inboxes that are constantly overloaded, GroupMe presents an opportunity for direct response and communication with those who are closest to you or the project that is being worked on. GroupMe can simplify the multiple thread email chain allowing for users to get straight communications and tap into the collective knowledge of the group. From the technology and social change aspect, the potential of GroupMe is still young and still being debated. GroupMe has immense potential to impact communications between practitioners on the ground and in the office. GroupMe allows users to communicate and make real time, collaborative decisions by bring all the major actors together instantly. Data collection, dissemination and assessment speeds up when participants are able to connect in real time and participate in intimate collaboration and communication. GroupMe also provides for a level of privacy of communication not easily delivered by Twitter Feeds and Facebook. Possibly, the most promising feature of the app rests in its data connection detection. The app runs on any phone that is able to send and receive SMS, and the data detection system notifies users when they have a bad connection and presents the option of dropping down to SMS. This feature allows users to continue to communicate regardless of connection capacities and without the need for expensive hardware upgrades. Smartphone users and low-tech generic mobile phone users can operate on equal footing. The potential of the app rests, as always, in the hands of the users. And as GroupMe continues to expand their international capacities and improve on their available features the potential of the app will continue to be realized. For those interested in learning more about GroupMe and other software tools for social change, consider taking a three-week TechChange skills-building online course this fall: Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management . (Sept 5-23) Global Innovations for Digital Organizing: New Media Tactics for Democratic Change. (Sept 26-Oct 14) Mobiles for International Development: New Platforms for Public Health Finance and Education. (Oct 17-Nov 4) Read more about TechChange Online Courses , University Courses or experience a Sample Course . ← Back to the Blog --- ## Time for a Cell Phone Detox? Have We Become Too Dependant on our Devices? | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/18/time-for-a-cell-phone-detox/) Time for a Cell Phone Detox? Have We Become Too Dependant on our Devices? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Time for a Cell Phone Detox? Have We Become Too Dependant on our Devices? April 18, 2011 Guest contributor: Heather Faison, Digital Journalist, www.heatherfaison.com Call it a social experiment or just plain crazy, but I refuse to buy a cell phone. This mobile-addict is detoxing. Not long ago, I was a slave to my Blackberry. I even started putting it next to my pillow to check emails before bed only to reach for it hours later to cut off Then I went to Cameroon. I sold my Blackberry and bought a Tecno phone for $12; no camera, noapps, no frills. Africa may be the world's fastest growing mobile phone market, but in rural areas like where I lived, cell phones are not as widespread or savvy, and the culture as a whole places more value on face to face communication than we do in the digital-dependent West. I learned how to listen with all senses and enjoy people's company without glancing at the flickering screen alerting me of a missing call or text. Still, when my volunteer stint ended, I fully expected to wrap my fingers around the latest phone. Reverse culture shock hit. Suddenly, I missed the solitude of life in the village. I thought of all the books I plowed through because I wasn't consumed with returning messages to my parents, friends, colleagues and so on. Abandoning my cell phone was initially my way of easing back into the matrix, but I found some good reasons to remain unplugged: You have my undivided attention – Mobile phones have erased all etiquette to the point where it's normal to interrupt someone in mid-conversation to take a call, text during a business meeting or pay more attention to the blinking red light on the table than to the person sitting right across from you. MG Siegler of Tech Crunch calls it "Dinner 2.0" in his essay, "I Will Check My Phone at Dinner and You Will Deal With." But, there's something liberating (and, um, polite) about turning off the phone and having dinner without BBM on the side. I'm on time for appointments – Dana Albarella James has never owned a cell phone. In her piece, "A Life Without A Cell Phone: An Amazing Tale of Survival" she writes: "I'll almost always be on time, because I can't call you at the restaurant, after lingering needlessly somewhere, to tell you I'm running late." On a recent trip to DC, I tested this theory. I planned my outings down to the minute before leaving the house knowing the default "Be there in 15" text was not an option. It worked. I was early for an interview and shocked my friend from college when she walked into the restaurant and our table was already reserved. No more GPS – I'm terrible with directions. I used the GPS on my phone to drive to the grocery store. I didn't realize that it had become a crutch. Many times I would call a person to ask for directions when I was one turn away from the destination. And that Roger Troutman-like voice that gave me turn-by-turn directions usually led me down a dark alley. Without the GPS, I actually take the time to map out directions on Google, and I'm more explicit when I ask where I'm going. If there is a fork in the road that might throw me off, tell me now, because I can't call right away if I get lost. Trust me, I know the uncertainties of a road warrior like me not having a cell phone. Maybe getting stranded on I-95 will make me relapse, but for now I'm relishing the quiet and productivity of not having a cell phone. It isn't that hard, really. Now, cutting back from Twitter is another story. Guest contributor: Heather Faison, Digital Journalist, www.heatherfaison.com ← Back to the Blog --- ## Power to the People: The Risk and Rewards of Mobile Technology in Governance Development | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/21/power-to-the-people-the-risk-and-rewards-of-mobile-technology-in-governance-development/) Power to the People: The Risk and Rewards of Mobile Technology in Governance Development | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Power to the People: The Risk and Rewards of Mobile Technology in Governance Development April 21, 2011 · by Charles Martin-Shields Charles Martin-Shields has served as a consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, and the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy. He is currently completing a long-term study of educational development evaluation in conflict-affected settings to be published in March 2011 by the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com. For the frustrated governance advisor, exasperated force commander, and perpetually under funded election observer the notion that technology can solve our problems is a tempting one. But as Dr. Raul Zambrano of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Dr. Matthew Levinger from the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) point out, the challenges faced by development and peace making professionals can only be solved by human ingenuity, social awareness and ethics. Mobile technology is only a means to more efficiently achieving this end. Dr. Zambrano was kind enough to meet me at the UN's New York headquarters for lunch to discuss the arc of E-Governance as a field and the role he see it playing in governance development programs. In 1992 E-Governance started with the goal of bringing email networks to the developing world. At the time faxes were the standard way to convey information between government officials, so the prospect of email as we now know it was enticing. Unfortunately, the push for universal email didn't work out as planned. Computing requires extensive up front resources and maintenance. The infrastructure in the developing world wasn't there to make large computer networks sustainable. It also required people to travel to the computer centers, leaving traditional social networks behind to use the internet. Dr. Zambrano, whose background is economics, pointed out the challenges associated with the infrastructure demanded for computing systems. "You need space, and the space needs to be air conditioned. This adds to electricity costs, and infrastructure. You need to maintain the computers and update them." If the computers aren't maintained, they go to waste as do the resources that were put into acquiring them. "This is what makes mobile technology so important. It doesn't require the extensive infrastructure, people can use the technology from within their traditional social networks, and they are able to have a broader voice through SMS, social media or email." Mobile technology is the area that Dr. Zambrano believes is going to be critical in governance development going forward. "If I'm an parliamentarian, I can receive information from my constituents on their needs. If meet these needs, I can run for reelection on this platform. I no longer just leave my village, go the capital and disappear." This is E-governance at work, where technology puts constituents in touch with their elected representatives. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa, I saw what Dr. Zambrano describe in action. In 2006 the first digital GSM mobile phone system came online. Prior to that mobile phones were rare, and only worked in the capital city. When the GSM system came online, mobile telephony became accessible countrywide, and suddenly texts, photos and emails were being sent from the farthest corners of the island. In four weeks people went from almost no mobile phones to essentially doing computing tasks like email and social networking, all on a platform that was accessible and didn't require heavy infrastructure investment. Village leaders could text message neighboring villages, and information sharing became easier. Suddenly communication between the eastern most and western most points of the country, previously only done by landline, was easy. So we know the value, but what are the risks? Dr. Matthew Levinger, an expert on the use of technology applications in conflict management and monitoring, points out that indeed there are considerations that development professionals should bear in mind. Dr. Levinger gave me an example that came up during a training program with State Department personnel. "In Liberia there were rumors that an ethnic group that lives in the north was practicing ritual cannibalism, stealing the power of their dead enemies by eating them. What's dangerous about a social media platform in a country where there is still a great deal of tension is that a rumor like this can go viral and can take on a life of its own regardless of veracity." Dr. Levinger also discussed information control. "There were cases where people thought that sending a text to Ushahidi was like calling 911. They expected that if their text showed up on a map, then help would come," said Dr. Levinger. It's incumbent on outsiders to make it clear what their technology's purpose is and what its limits are. This is important in the best of circumstances, but in an emergency it can be the difference between life and death. The second point of this anecdote is introspective; when do we have to turn off the technology? We got live data from the event, but is worth someone potentially dying, cell phone in hand, thinking they made a call for help? Despite the risks, the potential for emerging mobile and mapping technology to support positive change is unarguable. Whether it is deployed to make getting a birth certificate easier, documenting attacks on civilians in Darfur through a mapping platform, or facilitating communication between governments and the citizenry, mobile technology and media can reinforce existing social networks by giving voices to those who previously would have been unheard. "Technology is not some kind of answer to all our problems," says Dr. Zambrano. "Remember, democracy took over 100 years to fully develop in the U.S. and Europe, and we can't go thinking that technology will make it happen in two or five years in places like Egypt or Iran. Maybe it shortens the process of democracy building, but what's more important [in the domain of governance] is that emerging technology can give people a voice who may never have had one before." The author would like to thank Dr. Raul Zambrano, Dr. Matthew Levinger and Dr. Anthony Wanis-St. John for their insights and time while putting this article together. Charles Martin-Shields has served as a consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, and the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy. He is currently completing a long-term study of educational development evaluation in conflict-affected settings to be published in March 2011 by the University of Toronto, and consults on project development and risk analysis in post-conflict settings. He can be reached at charles.martinshields@gmail.com . For those interested in learning more about the possibilities and pitfalls of working with mobile technology, consider taking a three-week TechChange skills-building online course this fall: Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management . (Sept 5-23) Global Innovations for Digital Organizing: New Media Tactics for Democratic Change. (Sept 26-Oct 14) Mobiles for International Development: New Platforms for Public Health Finance and Education. (Oct 17-Nov 4) ← Back to the Blog --- ## Does Chinese Internet censorship have an effect on its ICT industry? | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/25/does-chinese-internet-censorship-have-an-effect-on-its-ict-industry/) Does Chinese Internet censorship have an effect on its ICT industry? | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Does Chinese Internet censorship have an effect on its ICT industry? April 25, 2011 · by TJ Thomander The issue of Internet censorship has cycled throughout headlines, whether it's Congress interrogating Microsoft and Yahoo! as to why they are selling products that assist Chinese filtration or Google deciding that they are no longer censoring Google.cn. The largest cause for concern has been the violation of human rights, which has lead to new Internet freedom scales from organizations like Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders . However, research of Internet censorship from an economic perspective has been pretty limited. I performed a mini case study of China and India, two countries that have had similar ICT growth but one is censored and the other is not. Unfortunately, there is not much evidence that shows that censorship is causing much of a negative effect on China's ICT industry, but its continual growth could still influence policy change as the entire nation gets online. Two years ago China passed the United States as the nation with the most Internet users, which now has reached 420 million. India is ranked fourth in the world with more than 80 million. Their growth has been quite similar at about 1,800% and 1,500%, respectively. It appears that its 50,000 Internet police, as reported by the New York Times five years ago, isn't a hindrance to growth. There are many factors that influence the average citizen's ability to access the net, but broadband fees aren't one of them. The ITU reported that the affordability of a monthly subscription to broadband Internet is actually cheaper in India than it is in China. In fact, India falls under one of the top ten countries that offer the least expensive broadband subscriptions in the world, at an average of $16.40 a month (adjusted for PPP), or 7.7% of the average monthly income. China's subscription rate is 9.4% of the average monthly income. Even though the Internet is more expensive, they are still subscribing at monumental rates. The ITU also created the Information Development Index, which scales countries based on their ICT access, ICT use, and ICT skills. It measures things like proportion of households with a computer and Internet access, broadband users per 100 inhabitants, and Internet literacy. In 2002 and 2007, China was ranked 90 th and 73 rd , respectively, which was one of the ten largest jumps in the world. India was ranked 118 th and 117 th . This means that even though these countries have similar user growth, China is far ahead in providing Internet access to individual users within their own homes. Again, it does not appear that China's ICT industry is suffering at all. So what are we to make of all this growth? In 2008 Lingfei Wu and Dehuan Liu, two Chinese scholars, set out to discover if there is a correlation between Internet use and support of Chinese web censorship. When asked the question, "should the Internet be controlled by the government?" respondents could say anything between strongly agree and strongly disagree. Surprisingly, 55% of those that strongly agreed were frequent Internet users, which gives reason as to why they seem to be able to grow its web user base so quickly and still maintain strong filtering. However, 71% of those that responded strongly disagree were Internet users, which also reveals that there is a large dissident movement, even if it is only based on opinion and not action, for now that is. Right now, one-third of China are Internet users, but this figure will be quite different in just a few years. Even though it appears that many citizens don't have a large problem with censorship, there are also many, which must be several million that do. Even if there does not seem to be a large effect on the nation's ICT growth, it will only be a matter of time before the whole nation is online and the average Internet skillset improves so that changes occur. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Internet Security in an Age of International Protest | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/28/net-security-in-an-age-of-protest/) Internet Security in an Age of International Protest | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Internet Security in an Age of International Protest April 28, 2011 Last month, the government of Sudan declared a " cyber-jihad " against youth groups and other anti-government organizations organizing protests in that country. Responding harshly to earlier protests with beatings and arrests, the government of Sudan has now turned its attention to cyberspace with teams managing what the Government calls "online defense operations." Internet agents infiltrated organizers' websites in an attempt to determine the identities of leading activists. The result: their Facebook accounts and phone networks compromised, activists spent upwards of 12 days in jail and were subject to the brutality of security forces. Though many have been released, they are now wary of utilizing almost any organizational strategy involving telecommunications. A recent Op-Ed in the Jakarta Post by an assistant lecturer at the University of Indonesia, Bambang Hartadi Nugroho, explains that countries with weak political legitimacy would be most apt to view internet organizing as an imminent security threat and to take action against it to preserve their grip on power. The world has seen this theory in action with the on-again off-again disappearances of activists as famous as Egypt's Google star Wael Ghonim in January and with other activists from countries currently experiencing unrest, such as Sudan or Bahrain. For further examples of human-centered threat removal activities, see the use of phishing, hacking, and face recognition technology in Morocco, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, or Burma. Governments may also enforce internet blackouts or site censorship in an attempt to remove a threat to regime survival. Most recently, the Government of Uganda attempted to block social media sites during "Walk to Work" protests against rising fuel and food prices. So, what does this mean for you? Those working for organizations operating in unstable environments are often aware that their sensitive communications data would be prize information for local governments to confiscate, whatever their ultimate intentions. Most of those involved in this work take numerous precautions to protect themselves and their associates. Yet threats to their (and your) information are constantly evolving. You are working for social change in a country with weak political legitimacy. Some of your efforts may be seen as a threat to the government in power. You need to take security precautions to protect yourself, your associates, and your movement. Basic Precautions HTTPS and Internet Browsing : The most basic and oft-touted security strategy that Internet users should follow, https means that messages sent from such a site are encrypted before they are transmitted, and are decrypted upon arrival at the end location. Therefore, information sent over https:// sites are less subject to interference or eavesdropping by third parties. According to a privacy guide by digital freedom organization Access , Firefox (HTTPS Everywhere and Force TLS) and Google Chrome (KB SSL Enforcer Extension) have add-ons that force sites to use https:// mode whenever available. Gmail has a strong reputation for privacy protection because it utilizes HTTPS as its default. Another way to preserve your privacy and anonymity online is by using Tor . Tor is open-source software that reroutes your internet traffic through different internet users and locations. For example, without Tor, a person or organization monitoring your activity would be able to track the beginning and ending locations of the data you send and receive in addition to the websites you frequent. Tor would protect your (and your organization's) information by disbursing some of your traffic through different locations and users, making you much more difficult to track. Tor is also a useful tool if you are in a country with restricted access to some sites. If the government of China has blocked a certain website, you may be able to view it by disguising your location so that it appears you are not inside the country. Anti-Virus : Most people are aware of the importance of anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Just make sure that you keep up to date on recent developments in new technologies, and choose programs that come highly recommended by professionals (many recommend Avast ). Firewall installation may provide some protection from hackers, and Comodo Firewall comes highly recommended. Perform scans and update your software regularly. Don't open attachments from untrusted sources, and be careful when opening attachments from trusted sources. Finally, be careful about using USB sticks or thumb drives: spy programs and viruses love to hitch rides from one machine to another using these "trusty" little devices. Passwords : Does your place of employment force you to use letters, symbols, and numbers? Do you have to change your password every three months or else face an embarrassing trip to the IT Department? The reason for this isn't just that the IT Department enjoys seeing your shining face every 90 days, it's because passwords that are longer and more complex are more difficult to break. Unfortunately, passwords that are longer and more complex and even updated constantly are that much harder to remember. And written passwords can fall into the wrong hands all too easily. Instead, many techies recommend using KeePass , free open-source software designed to store your passwords in a safe place, protected with the most up-to-date security programming available, and locked using a master password. While you're at it, you can encrypt files stored on your computer using software such as TrueCrypt . Phones : As illustrated so eloquently by a map of German politician Malte Spitz's six months of saved phone location data , your cell phone is a tool that can be quite useful in someone else's hands. While switched on (and sometimes while it's off), your phone is constantly communicating location information to your service provider. Special numbers are assigned to the hardware of your phone in addition to your SIM card, and your phone is constantly readjusting signal information with your service provider. Thus the exact location of your phone, and you, can be determined at just about any time. That information is recorded and saved. Governments know this, and will try their best to access it. Remember Saudi Arabia's attempt or the government of India's successful push to gain access to secure BlackBerry information? Be careful about using your phone if you have serious reason to believe that your safety might be in danger. One other point about cell phones. Your contacts and call history can and will lead anyone searching through your phone to everyone in your network. So, just like your other girlfriend's number and text messages (Honey, I swear that's Mikey from the team!), you should be careful about what you do with the contact information of other in-country staff and your associates. Emergency Deletion : We hope it won't come to this. But, in some cases, your phone and computer may be confiscated. With the device goes your information. Hopefully your phone is password-protected and your computer files are encrypted, and your contacts are all listed as John Doe. Some phone services offer emergency deletion kits such as the SMS Kill Pill for Treo. PC Mag offers a rundown of smartphone remote deletion applications . For computers, you can try using DiskAgent . These methods are unfortunately flawed, as they require prior installation and they would also require you to be able to "trigger" a wipe before an interested party accesses your data or reprograms your device, by which point it is already too late. If you have a little bit of time, you can try wiping the information from your computer early (like when you first start receiving threats) using something like Eraser or Darik's Boot and Nuke , which will overwrite your old information several times and make your deletions more permanent and secure. You can complement that with CCleaner , a software tool that erases temporary files from your computer. Common Sense : As some people learn the hard way, you should also implement good common-sense communications rules when operating in unsafe environments. Don't discuss sensitive information in your taxi, or in a restaurant where anyone can overhear you. Really you shouldn't be discussing sensitive information anywhere except somewhere that you know for a fact is secure. If you are running your mouth in public and then you check into the area's fanciest hotel, no amount of tech-savvy security tips are going to be able to hide you or what you've been up to. Advanced Resources : Some excellent security and censorship navigation guides have been published within the past few weeks that have far more in-depth knowledge than I, and to them I owe a great debt of gratitute for much of the information provided above: "A Practical Guide to Protecting Your Identity and Security When Online and When Using Mobile Phones" by Access was published in March 2011. Security in a Box , a set of how-to booklets and hands-on guides for security and privacy online, was developed by Frontline Defenders and the Tactical Technology Collective. "Leaping Over the Firewall: A Review of Censorship Circumvention Tools" was published by Freedom House on April 12th, 2011. ← Back to the Blog --- ## Canadians Protest Election Results Ban Using Social Media Ahead of Monday Polls | Blog | TechChange (/2011/04/29/canadians-protest-election-results-ban-using-social-media-ahead-of-monday-polls/) Canadians Protest Election Results Ban Using Social Media Ahead of Monday Polls | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Canadians Protest Election Results Ban Using Social Media Ahead of Monday Polls April 29, 2011 · by Caitlin Turner On Monday May 2, 2011 Canadians will be voting in the 41st Canadian Federal Election. The election comes as the result of non-confidence vote held on March 25th, 2011 that saw the defeat of the Conservative party's cabinet in the House of Commons on a motion declaring the Government to be in Contempt of Parliament – a first in the history of the Commonwealth of Nations. Canadian vote mob organized using social media And well the attention of many is on the Candidates, their platforms and the future of Canada, there's a groundswell of people wondering: "But what am I going to do with my Twitter account?" Because on May 2nd there is essentially going to be a media black out, and that includes Twitter and Facebook. Some background is in order here. In 1938, when radio was the dominant form of media, Canada's election law was amended to include a ban on the ‘premature transmission' of electoral results across time zones. The thought behind this law was that reporting elections results from the East, before the polls close in the West, might have an affect on voter's choices across time zones. For the most part this amendment went uncontested as newspapers, radio programs and television stations would abide by the law. Fast forward to this election and we can see how this law is going to effect not just media outlets, but also average citizens. Many social media applications are considered to be public forums that are covered under Section 329 of the Canadian Elections Act. As a result, the act of tweeting or sharing results on Facebook (without prior permission from the government) could come with a hefty fine or even jail time. A maximum sentence for ‘premature transmission' of election results is a fine of $25, 000 or up to 5 years in jail. Initial reactions to this law's effect on social media users were mixed, many people shrugged it off and figured that this must just be an outdated law that they didn't have to worry about. At least that was the case until media outlets reminded people of the elections in 2000. In 2000, Elections Canada brought charges against a Vancouver blogger after he published election results from Atlantic Canada – he was fined $1, 000 for his blog post. Despite fighting this ruling all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada, the conviction was held in a 5-4 vote. With the speed and intensity of social media use during this election, many broadcasting corporations wondered what they could possibly do with their real time website updates, live broadcasting and of course their social media strategies. In an attempt to change the restrictions on reporting, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) and the Canadian Television Network (CTV) went to court to seek a declaration that Section 329 was unconstitutional. In the end, the courts declined to hear the case before the May 2nd election. So as it stands now, anyone who shares elections results before the closing of polls in Western Canada will risk being in violation of the law and face charges and possible jail time. When Elections Canada was asked what they would do about this all they could respond was: "The agency has no choice but to uphold and administer the legislation. People can send texts and private emails to each other but as soon as it hits public forums such as Facebook or Twitter it will be considered a violation." Going to the polls on Monday the most watched and talked about event may not be the results themselves, but the people on Twitter who are choosing to continue to use social media despite the ban. For a few weeks now people have been calling others on Twitter to participate in Tweet-in's and the hashtags #tweettheresults and #elxn41 have already started to gain momentum. Others have also suggested having ex-pats tweet and blog on their behalf, since the law does not extend beyond the boarders of Canada. Monday's election could possibly be a game changing exercise in not only National politics but in the role technology will play in the future of Canadian politics. With its prevalent use during campaigning and immense popularity as a tool to fight voter apathy, will the government be able to force people to turn it off for the day? What will the government learn from this election and will they make changes to the current legislation? Will citizens abide by Section 329? I will predict that the big picture question of "what role does social media play in Canadian elections?" will last longer than the election itself. Update: May 2nd 9:13pm EST. With less than an hour until polls close in Canada's 41 General Election, attention is still be given to the ban on social media. And if anyone wasn't sure whether the ban would be enforced, they only need to ask www.tweettheresults.ca which has been taken down and replaced with white noise. And while many Canadians have defied the law and taken to their twitter accounts, the surprising push has come from Americans who have offered to help Canadian's by-pass the law and tweet on their behalf. The real impact of this law is one that will remain center stage long after the election announcements, as Canadians will start to look to their government to see what will become of the law in the future. If you're interested in learning more about using social media for political change, consider signing up for our class, Global Innovations for Digital Organizing: New Media Tactics for Democratic Change. Photo Credit Adam Scotti http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamscotti/ ← Back to the Blog --- ## Exchange 2.0- Weighing the Benefits of Increased Intercultural Awareness | Blog | TechChange (/2011/05/02/exchange-2-0-weighing-the-benefits-of-increased-intercultural-awareness/) Exchange 2.0- Weighing the Benefits of Increased Intercultural Awareness | Blog | TechChange Global Digital Health Forum 2026 GDHF 2026 · Bangkok · December 2–4 · Sponsor Register Blog Exchange 2.0- Weighing the Benefits of Increased Intercultural Awareness May 2, 2011 · by TJ Thomander This is part one of a two part series on Exchange 2.0. Even though I never had the chance to do a study abroad, for ten years of my life I had over 150 international students live in my house, which practically made up for it. They all came to learn English, but after sharing a dinner table, a bathroom, and a TV with them I learned quite a lot about their culture too. My family noticed after a few years that the amount of students that would come from each country would fluctuate depending on their nation's economic health. Now with highly accessible online interaction, a new type of youth exchange program has formed that isn't dependent upon travel and accepts exponential amounts of students— it's called Exchange 2.0. Judith McHale coined the United States Institute of Peace Exchange 2.0 event in these words, "Exchange 2.0 is not a replacement for the tried and true methods of exchange, it's a complement rather than a competitor." Sixty percent of the world's population is under thirty-years old. They are not only the primary activists of the communication movement, but they will be "the drivers of change in the coming decade." The event explored structured methods that organizations, businesses, and governments are combining social media technology with education, because without a structured interaction, as Ambassador Adam Ereli warned, contention can still grow in conversations without moderators. The conference highlighted some very innovative organizations and the way that they are leading the Exchange 2.0 pack. First, iEARN , which celebrated its twentieth anniversary not long ago, collaborates over 30,000 schools in over 130 countries to help students work on projects with each other. Forums and conference calls are set up between classes from different countries to build relationships, understanding of cultures, and increase tolerance. For example, one school in Redwood City, California and another in Karachi, Pakistan discussed in a Skype conference call how they can be producers of news and media rather than just consumers. Second, Global Nomads Group links school curricula with video conferencing with individuals that have been affected by important world events and where students are facilitated in discussions about international issues. We watched a video of a classroom of students talking with Rwandan genocide survivors to be able to develop a personal understanding of the tragedy that occurred. Another classroom of students of Katrina survivors video conferenced with a classroom of Haiti earthquake survivors and they got to share how they each overcame challenges. Third, Soliya has partnered with the United Nations to connect and train university students on conflict resolution and leadership skills that are used in the video conferencing Connect Program . Their aim is to increase peace and tolerance between the West and Arab regions by engaging the youth in these chat-room type discussions that supplement their university education. We watched a video of about ten students, each appearing to be from a different country, all discussing the role of religion in their countries. By the end of the video conversation, many students were commenting to the effect of, "Ohhh, that's what Christianity means in your country. I wish I talked to you about this a long time ago!" Source: www.soliya.net These three programs show how online discussions, when done right, establish empathy across international borders in a way that has never been done before. Now practically all students of all ages and economic backgrounds can develop relationships with one another, which adds up to a lot more peace in the future. The social capital that Exchange 2.0 can generate is astounding. Now you can be trained to be a leader right from an Internet café screen. Within the next two to three months, noted Ambassador Ereli, a new country will be born in the Sudanese region. It won't have roads, but it will have cell phone towers. People will be able to organize more effectively than ever and with growing cultural understanding, they will be able to do so more peacefully than ever. I remain with two concerns about Exchange 2.0. As I quoted in the beginning, digital intercultural conversation is meant to be a complement not a replacement to face-to-face interaction. But for most of the world that doesn't have the means to travel, this will be the only option that they have. It won't be a complement nor a replacement, it will just be the only way that they develop relationships with others across borders. Even though it is incredibly cost effective in terms of audience reach, how can we ensure that these relationships go deep enough that they actually change behavior? One way that was discussed in the event was to start off students at a young age and assimilate them into an intercultural world. Also, we will need much more investment and innovation from the public and private sectors so Exchange 2.0 can not only be truly universal, but somehow foster meaningful relationships. And secondly, if the exchange of information is going to be increasingly easy, what messages do we want to be sending to other nations? Collective actions studies have shown that the Internet can get entire groups of people to act in a certain way, even if many of the individuals within the group disagree with the behavior. While I don't think Exchange 2.0 will lead to a homogenization of culture, I do believe that we want to be sure we are promoting the right messages, because as Judith McHale said, "we are all citizen ambassadors." Did you attend Exchange 2.0? What impressions did you come away with? How do you think Exchange 2.0 will play a role in foreign relations building in the future? If you're interested in learning more about Exchange 2.0, take a look at UPEACE's class, New Technologies for Educational Practice that starts July 4th in Costa Rica. ← Back to the Blog