Strictly speaking, shelter is outside the remit of this blog. However the article The Exigent City in the New York Times was an excellent piece of reporting, and I urge everybody to read it. (HT: Simmy Ross) The article closes with the following lines:
When I first contacted Cameron Sinclair, who started Architecture for Humanity with [...]...
Katrin Verclas at MobileActive and Sheila Kinkade (of ShareIdeas.org) have finished Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs [pdf]. The report covers a wide range of uses, including public health, advocacy and disaster response, with some interesting case studies (including the recent post-election riots in Kenya). You can read more about...
Well, not yet, but they will [pdf]. Janet Ginsburg explains the development of the idea of the Humanitarian Technology Review, while Bruno Giussani covers the recent TED breakfast, where Eric Rasmussen gave an update on InSTEDD.
Initially the idea of a Humanitarian Technology Review sounds like a good idea - if it’s done right. The first two questions - remember the first two questions, everybody! - are: who is the target audience, and what do you want them to do with the information you’re providing? The briefing paper I linked to above says
The Review’s readers, like the Review itself, span many niches: medical researchers, software developers, policy-makers, funders, doctors, veterinarians, communities trying to prepare for or reeling from disasters - even other media....
In
Media,
blogs,
United Nations,
Software,
Private Sector,
GIS,
Logistics,
ngo,
Humanitarian,
Emergency Telecommunications,
Capacity Building,
Web
The Economist article Of internet cafés and power cuts was passably interesting on the subject of technology in developing countries, although it takes the usual optimistic approach that the Economist favours. The Economist picked up on this issue was the publication of this year’s Global Economic Prospects by the World Bank, with a focus on technology adoption and a barrel full of blindingly obvious conclusions.
More interesting is the research that both of those draw on quite heavily, building a Historical Cross-Country Technology Adoption Database. You can download the database itself from that page, but the overview article Cross-Country Technology Adoption: Making the Theories Face the Facts by Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn is much more manageable. I haven’t dug into the...
An email from CEO Eric Rasmussen tells me that INSTEDD is finally flying in radar (and apparently I’m mixing metaphors, unsure of whether INSTEDD is a whale or a plane). In his words,
InSTEDD has been invisible, a rumor and a ghost, for the few past months, but we surfaced today in a media call with Google.org in the launch of their first-ever Initiatives.
I’ve known Eric virtually for a couple of years, although we’ve never managed to actually meet in person. He’s a very solid choice for CEO - his thinking on civil-military affairs was always more lateral than I expected for somebody in his position, and I think that it reflected his willingness to listen and learn from others. That open attitude will be the single most important tool in INSTEDD’s box, at...
I’ve corresponded with Mikel Maron for a while now, interested particularly by the work that he’s been involved with introducing Wikis into the UN. However his first love is geospatial and his favourite project is OpenStreetMap, which is a free editable map of the whole world that can be viewed, edited and used in a collaborative way from by anybody, anywhere.
Mikel has been thinking about how this type of approach might be used in disaster response, and he recently gave a presentation at the State of the Map event in Manchester in which he outlined his thoughts so far - you can hear a podcast of his talk, view the slides that accompanied it and read the notes from it. Mikel acknowledges that he’s not an expert, and while there’s a lot of things that I agree...
As the first in a series of two complementing e-Notes, this e-Note summarizes the major findings and conclusions of a recent study on ICT human resource development in the Asia Pacific region, undertaken at UNESCAP. The conclusions of this study indicate the emergence of an increasing gap between the demand and supply of ICT skills in the region....
This APDIP e-Note is the second in the series on information and communications technology (ICT) skill development in the Asia-Pacific region. While the first part examined the gaps between demand and supply of ICT skills, this APDIP e-Note focuses on what could be done to bridge the identified gaps at national and regional levels....
APDIP e-Note 13: As the first in a series of two complementing e-Notes, this e-Note summarizes the major findings and conclusions of a recent study on ICT human resource development in the Asia Pacific region, undertaken at UNESCAP. The conclusions of this study indicate the emergence of an increasing gap between the demand and supply of ICT skills in the region....
Interesting news from Gregg Swanson of Humaninet, who recently attended a simulation exercise held by ADRA in Indonesia. (Incidentally, the ADRA Indonesia home page is funny as hell for all the wrong reasons, mainly due to the font.) Gregg has written a series of blog posts about the experience on the Humaninet blog, as well as an accompanying article at their ICT Features page. It sounds as if the exercise went really well, so congratulations to all involved!
On another page Gregg has written 12 reasons why relief organisations should conduct simulations. There’s some useful ICT-related findings on that page, but I was more interested in those 12 reasons, because we’re discussing a similar project for the ECB agencies - to do an inter-agency simulation either at HQ or...
Interesting news from the big beast that is Microsoft, particularly interesting in light of the ECB / NetHope plans to develop a global ICT training delivery mechanism for staff working in the field. This project was recently approved and we’re moving forward now with ECB funding for NetHope management.
One of the critical problems that we identified in the ECB4 Assessment was the general lack of good IT skills in the field. This was true across the board, from senior IT staff (who lacked specialised skills in areas such as VSAT installation) to junior project staff (who are often recruited in an emergency with few computer skills). The question is, how to introduce that training to them.
There are three possibilities:
Remote learning. Increased connectivity in the field mean...
In a recent article published in First Monday, Alan R. Peslak calls for a universal approach to conquering the digital divide. He proposes that governments and nongovernmental organizations focus on implementing initiatives that encourage equality in information and communication technology.Initiatives pledging to improve ICTs, expand internet access to every family, or better use technology in governments and schools are not new. Peslak cites that the U.S. government supported information technology way back in the 1930s. And in 1993, the United States started the National Information Infrastructure initiative with the goal to coordinate government support to improve technology and infrastructure. Peslak credits this, along with the United States’ history of supporting technology, with...
The Development Gateway is requesting nominations for its annual award honoring projects that use information and communication technology to improve the lives of people living in developing countries. This year the $100,000 prize, sponsored in part by Intel, will be given to projects that work with young people to improve their health, education, and employment and provide them with increased economic and social development opportunities. Last year eChoupal in India won the Development Gateway Award for its work supporting internet kiosks to help farmers improve their productivity and efficiency, and the previous year Grameen Bank in Bangladesh won for its Village Phone initiative. To be considered, applicants must demonstrate that their project is successful and sustainable and be...
This comprehensive manual is a valuable resource for trainers and development workers. It can also be used as a self-help manual by local NGOs in developing...
Life International Foundation for Ecology-LIFE :: has set the goal to contribute to a sustainable development through education, training, project cooperation and stimulation of business to business relations. The Mission of LIFE is to provide training and networking for people from developing countries, in order to contribute to a Sustainable Development - all over the world.
Website:...
I found the following information for your kind reference. This
programme also include Bangladesh and the felloship could be obtained
from local Netherland Embassy after pre-approval from RNTC.
Please read the following information as well as visit official web
site of the...
This three-week certificate program will be of most interest to candidates who are currently working in an information resource centre, or planning to establish and work in...
The Development Gateway is requesting nominations for its annual award honoring projects that use information and communication technology to improve the lives of people living in developing countries. This year the $100,000 prize, sponsored in part by Intel, will be given to projects that work with young people to improve their health, education, and employment and provide them with increased economic and social development opportunities. Last year eChoupal in India won the Development Gateway Award for its work supporting internet kiosks to help farmers improve their productivity and efficiency, and the previous year Grameen Bank in Bangladesh won for its Village Phone initiative. To be considered, applicants must demonstrate that their project is successful and sustainable and be...
I would like to be so bold as to suggests a tenet on nonprofit technology. An axiom maybe. A rule of thumb?
Invisibility.
I remember this Little House on the Prairie episode when Half Pint got her first slate and chalk. Laura Engals was as enamored with her new technology as I was with my first computer. Her slate is a technology that is directly analogous to the the word processor. The tools that I remember are the Tandy TRS 80, the Commodore, the Intel 8086, Apple IIe, Word Perfect, AbiWord, MacWrite, Word. And, now the term “word processor” feels sort of funny in my mouth. Maybe that is because Word IS the word processor and their is no longer a need for a generic term. And, yes there are competitors, I am writing this on the now open source AbiWord on a Mac....
In a recent article published in First Monday, Alan R. Peslak calls for a universal approach to conquering the digital divide. He proposes that governments and nongovernmental organizations focus on implementing initiatives that encourage equality in information and communication technology.Initiatives pledging to improve ICTs, expand internet access to every family, or better use technology in governments and schools are not new. Peslak cites that the U.S. government supported information technology way back in the 1930s. And in 1993, the United States started the National Information Infrastructure initiative with the goal to coordinate government support to improve technology and infrastructure. Peslak credits this, along with the United States’ history of supporting technology, with...
Start: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 5:00 pm
End: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 6:30 pm
Timezone: US/Pacific
Location:
Seattle, Washington, USA
Event Details:
Please join us for a reception for funders at the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) to discuss the recent announcement of AOL and Goodmail of an email certification program and the effect this might have on nonprofits and NGOs to communicate with their constituents via email.
Representatives from AOL, Goodmail, Yahoo, several large nonprofit organzations, EFF, and GetActive will be there to discuss the implications of this plan, how nonprofits will fare under an email whitelisting program, and will answer the many questions you have about how this will affect the communications ability of your grantees....
After a seemingly endless battle with Verizon over citywide municipal WiFi provision, city officials have finally signed a contract that will offer low-cost internet service to Philadelphians. The 10 year deal with EarthLink will allow citizens to access high speed internet for a price of around $20 per month. Construction is set to begin immediately on the initial network of 15 square miles in the Northeast part of the city. If successful, EarthLink will bear the costs of expanding it over 135 square miles.......
Grameen Bank Founder Muhammad Yunus thinks so. And he explains why changing the world is a lot more fun than just making money.
Business Week, issue for the week of December 26, 2005.
The full story can be read here....
Two recent reports highlight the continuing disparity in who has access to, and can benefit from, currently available information and technologies.
The first, from the University of California, Santa Cruz is entitled “Are We Really a Nation Online? Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Access to Technology and Their Consequences” and is a direct rebuttal to a 2004 report by the Bush administration which makes no real mention of ethnic and racial differences among internet users. Interestingly, both reports are generated from the same Census Bureau data set. A link to both reports can be found here.
The second study, put forth last month by the Pew Internet and American Life Project is entitled Digital Divisions. This report also elucidates the continuing disparities of online...
This comprehensive manual is a valuable resource for trainers and development workers. It can also be used as a self-help manual by local NGOs in developing...
Life International Foundation for Ecology-LIFE :: has set the goal to contribute to a sustainable development through education, training, project cooperation and stimulation of business to business relations. The Mission of LIFE is to provide training and networking for people from developing countries, in order to contribute to a Sustainable Development - all over the world.
Website:...
I found the following information for your kind reference. This
programme also include Bangladesh and the felloship could be obtained
from local Netherland Embassy after pre-approval from RNTC.
Please read the following information as well as visit official web
site of the...
This three-week certificate program will be of most interest to candidates who are currently working in an information resource centre, or planning to establish and work in...