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Of course! But, in the quest to include women and girls, don’t forget about the boys and men. Did you miss it? Last month, Tech Salon hosted a special session in celebration of the Copenhagen-based Women Deliver Conference. Taking place once every three years, Women Deliver is the world’s largest conference dedicated to the rights,…
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Bitcoins represent an opportunity that can democratize value, but can never be truly democratic in and of itself
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The Posner Center for International Development convened a Denver Tech Salon earlier in April to host a conversation on Sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT). The lead discussants were: Gordon Lau, an Information Systems Architect working for International Development Enterprises (iDE). Karam Saab, an attorney with Kilpatrick Townsend offering legal counsel to the tech…
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What does it mean to be “connected” in Asia, the world’s most populous region? From hyper-connected Hong Kong and Singapore to disconnected North Korea, several billion people have several billion difference Internet experiences. Hence the San Francisco Technology Salon question: Is the Asia-Pacific Region Leading in Internet Connectivity? The conversation mainly focused on regions that…
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Many would regard the Asia-Pacific as one of the fasting growing regions for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). With Bangladeshi telecenters, Chinese manufacturing hubs, and the popularity of social media in Indonesia, it seems like Asian tech progress is a foregone conclusion. Especially since 717 million young people aged 15 to 24, 60% of the…
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Our March 18th Technology Salon NYC covered the Internet of Things and Global Development with three experienced discussants: John Garrity, Global Technology Policy Advisor at CISCO and co-author of Harnessing the Internet of Things for Global Development; Sylvia Cadena, Community Partnerships Specialist, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) and the Asia Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF); and Andy McWilliams,…
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The Bay Area community is deeply engaged and interested in the Internet of Things, and the lively conversation from the March Technology Salon San Francisco on “How Can Sensors and the Internt of Things Improve International Development Outcomes?” proved it. I am Jana Melpolder and I joined forty participants gathered to cover the exciting future…
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The special focus of women’s use of technology has been a part of ICT projects for decades. Whether it’s focus groups, particular reports, or special training programs, the fact is that women are often a central point within ICT4D projects. But looking even further, what has all that work achieved for women’s empowerment? The San…
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Currently it is estimated that there are 4.6 million Syrian refugees; 6.6 million displaced persons inside Syria. Of these, half are children. In March, Technology Salon Amman brought together people working in education and technology to discuss how technology can support education throughout a Syrian child’s journey. As was noted throughout the discussion, war and…
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An essential component for successfully engaging smallholder farmers using technology comes from providing a voice, a dialogue, with the farmers themselves. This coupling of human engagement to information and communication technologies was a core idea debated at the Technology Salon on How Can We Better Engage with Smallholder Farmers? Over 30 thought leaders exchanged perspectives…
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Since early in this decade, we’ve seen speculation that applications and other tech development and programming could create and jump start private sectors and local economies, a world of hype, enthusiasm and investments (from venture capital to public and donor money) appears to be funneling towards app development and mobile hubs around the world. Apps4D…
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What does digital storytelling mean to you? Where do you find data? What form does your data take? Who’s your audience? How do you know what data you need? These questions were the focus of the February Technology Salon Denver held at the Posner Center for International Development. The event on Digital Storytelling brought together…
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On the same day as the Super Bowl and Chinese New Year, twenty professionals gathered in Bangkok for a Technology Salon seeking to answer the question ‘Are Consumer Insights the Answer to More Effective ICT4D Interventions?’ Kristen Roggemann of DAI, kicked off the conversation by sharing how her team has been gathering consumer insights to…
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Our December 2015 Technology Salon discussion in NYC focused on approaches to girls’ digital privacy, safety and security. By extension, the discussion included ways to reduce risk for other vulnerable populations. Our lead discussants were Ximena Benavente, Girl Effect Mobile (GEM) and Jonathan McKay, Praekelt Foundation. I also shared a draft Girls’ Digital Privacy, Safety and Security Policy and Toolkit…
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December’s San Francisco Technology Salon focused on “How to connect stakeholders HERE with innovators and emerging leaders THERE?” We had an energizing conversation that covered questions like: What role should Silicon Valley be playing in international development? What can Silicon Valley learn from those on the ground? What works and when doesn’t it work? The…
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At our November 18thTechnology Salon, we discussed how different organizations are developing their ICT for development (ICT4D) strategies. We shared learning on strategy development and buy-in, talked about whether organizations should create special teams or labs for ICT- and innovation-related work or mainstream the ICT4D function, and thought about how organizations can define and find…
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Traditional development evaluation has been characterized as ‘backward looking’ rather than forward looking and too focused on proving over improving. Some believe applying an ‘agile’ approach in development would be more useful — the assumption being that if you design a program properly and iterate rapidly and constantly based on user feedback and data analytics, you are more likely…
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Mobile phones have transformed development, and a recent London Technology Salon focused on whether digital government could have a similar impact. As more and more countries are looking into digital government, could the public sector’s leveraging of data, digital and technology be a catalyst for development? The session’s lead discussants were Calum Handforth – a…
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The potential for science, technology, innovation, and partnerships (STIP) to tackle, or even attempt to solve, the myriad of global development challenges we face is largely dependent on the adequate and appropriate catalysation of their respective eco-systems. These eco-systems, made up of the actors, mechanisms and institutions through which STIP solutions emerge, often need to…
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The recent Technology Salon Bangkok asking Can Technology Improve Education in Asia? brought together more than 25 professionals in education and technology to separate the hype from the promise in ICT4Edu. We had two lead discussants to guide our discussion: Scott Andersen, Director, IREX for AMDI (Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative) Steven Ehrenberg, Associate Director,…