Technology Salon

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a discussion at the intersection of technology and development

Our Past Meetings

  • How 3 Technology Initiatives Are Improving Education in Rwanda

    Washington DC | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on How 3 Technology Initiatives Are Improving Education in Rwanda

    The Technology Salon on “How is ICT Impacting Education in Rwanda?” in Washington, DC featured lead discussants David Rurangirwa, ICT/Education Specialist for USAID/Rwanda, who described the Rwanda Education Commons and Jacques Murinda, Executive Director, OLE Rwanda, who explained initiatives that OLE is implementing using TeacherMates and OLPC XO-1 laptops.

  • 7 Considerations for Mobile Money Cash Grants to Change Development

    Washington DC | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on 7 Considerations for Mobile Money Cash Grants to Change Development

    Let us start with the classic (borderline cliché) development proverb: if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but if he is taught how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. It was this analogy that got conversation started at the latest Technology Salon, “Are Mobile Money Cash Transfers the…

  • 8 Tips to Publish Open Data in Preparation for IATI

    Washington DC | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on 8 Tips to Publish Open Data in Preparation for IATI

    Siobhan Green, the founder of Sonjara attended the Technology Salon exploring “How Can USAID Development Partners Implement IATI?” and was inspired to define 8 steps to publish Open Data to prepare for the day when we all will need to be compliant with the International Aid Transparency Initiative standards. Here is her list:

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  • 12 Design Influences for ICT Solutions to Better Support Children

    London | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on 12 Design Influences for ICT Solutions to Better Support Children

    In both the developing and developed world there has been increasing debate about the role of teachers in the 21st century, particularly in the context of widening access to internet enabled smartphones, laptops, tablets and the wealth of online learning materials and approaches that these new devices support.

  • Teachers Are Integral to ICT Success in Education

    Washington DC | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on Teachers Are Integral to ICT Success in Education

    I am Russell Southwood of Smart Monkey TV and in July, I was at the “How is ICT Impacting Education in Rwanda?” Tech Salon DC on the experience of using technology in education in Rwanda. Several of those who spoke emphasized the importance and centrality of the teacher in the education system.

  • How We Can Leverage Online Games for Social Impact

    Washington DC | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on How We Can Leverage Online Games for Social Impact

    Games have been a point of contention in the education technology field for well over a decade, but thanks to the raw determination of Henry Jenkins, James Gee, Katie Salen and other game enthusiasts, the deconstruction of the games paradox has made space for games with social impact.

  • Serious Online Games Are Creating Serious Social Impact

    Washington DC | By on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off on Serious Online Games Are Creating Serious Social Impact

    Imagine playing Grand Theft Auto V, (and maybe if you’re lucky, today you really are). You’ve just stolen a car, and as you’re racing down the street, you decide to take a phone call. A cop pulls you over for using a mobile phone while driving. In the next level, your character must decide if…

  • Scaling the Use of Mobile Technologies for Development

    New York | By on December 2, 2013 | Comments Off on Scaling the Use of Mobile Technologies for Development

    According to the latest GSMA statistics, nearly 50% of people own a mobile phone in the developing world and almost 70% have access to mobile phones. With mobile access increasing daily, opportunities to use mobiles in development initiatives continue to grow and expand. The area of Mobiles for Development (M4D) has attracted investment from all…

  • The 3 Secrets to Kenya’s Technology Success

    Nairobi | By on November 30, 2013 | Comments Off on The 3 Secrets to Kenya’s Technology Success

    Over the past 5 years Nairobi, or the ‘Silicon Savanah,’ has blossomed into a global hub and a regional role model for cultivating innovation. mPesa, Safaricom’s mobile money platform, has led the globe in electronic payments serving emerging markets and base of the pyramid. Nairobi is home to the first tech incubator in Africa, the…

  • How New Technologies Can Make Every Voice Count in Government

    London | By on July 15, 2013 | Comments Off on How New Technologies Can Make Every Voice Count in Government

    Ten years ago, leveraging information and communication technology for development was all about getting people an email address. Today, there is an explosion in access to ICT thanks to mobile technologies – the CEO of Ericsson recently predicted, 92% of the world’s inhabitants will live in an area with mobile reception coverage by 2018 (see…

  • How to Create Digital Job Opportunites for African Youth

    New York | By on July 10, 2013 | Comments Off on How to Create Digital Job Opportunites for African Youth

    At the Technology Salon on “How Can We Create Digital Jobs for African Youth?” our discussion was led by Lauren Dawes, who leads the GSMA’s Mobiles for Employment team, and Lillian Chege from the Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa program. The GSMA will release a study on Mobiles for Youth Employment in July, and Rockefeller…

  • African Entrepreneurship in Mobile Hardware Technology

    New York | By on July 8, 2013 | Comments Off on African Entrepreneurship in Mobile Hardware Technology

    At the recent Technology Salon on African-Led Mobile Innovation in Congo Brazzaville, we welcomed Verone Mankou, the head of VMK, a company in Congo Brazzaville that designs and produces the Way-C Tablet and the Elikia smart phone. The event was graciously hosted by ThoughtWorks, and Verone’s US trip was organized by Senam Beheton of EtriLabs.

  • You Need a Social Media Strategy in International Development

    Washington DC | By on June 18, 2013 | Comments Off on You Need a Social Media Strategy in International Development

    In the next few years, another 2 billion people will be coming online; transforming the Internet from what once was an elite network of the world’s privileged to a democratizer of information and power. This wave of new users will mainly enter the Internet via mobile phones on social networks.

  • Technology Made in Congo-Brazzaville: One Man’s Start Up Story

    Washington DC | By on May 25, 2013 | Comments Off on Technology Made in Congo-Brazzaville: One Man’s Start Up Story

    I am Anna Shaw and I recently attended a Tech Salon that really got me thinking. We spent a morning discussing, What Are the Technology Challenges in Congo Brazzaville? The conversation started out with a relatively typical examination of the challenges the ICT4D community knows all too well. The cost of mobile phones is too…

  • Mobile Phones Are Gender Neutral

    London | By on May 6, 2013 | Comments Off on Mobile Phones Are Gender Neutral

    At the first Technology Salon in London, we had a very thoughtful discussion on the implications of gender in using mobile technologies to stimulate social and economic development.

  • Why Gender Matters in Mobile Technologies for Development

    London | By on April 23, 2013 | Comments Off on Why Gender Matters in Mobile Technologies for Development

    The very first Tech Salon to take place in London on Wednesday 20 March occurred just three days after the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced that connecting women to ICTs would become a focal point of the post-2015 development agenda.

  • Using Open Standards Can Change Everything

    San Francisco | By on April 9, 2013 | Comments Off on Using Open Standards Can Change Everything

    February’s San Francisco Technology Salon centered around current technology challenges in the developing world. What are our current needs? What’s holding technology back? What should we be looking for in a “perfect” solution?

  • 12 Mobile Technology and Workforce Development Programs With Girls and Young Women

    New York | By on April 4, 2013 | Comments Off on 12 Mobile Technology and Workforce Development Programs With Girls and Young Women

    The March NYC Technology Salon offered an opportunity to discuss how mobile technology can transform workforce development and to hear how mobile is improving the reach and impact of existing initiatives working with girls and young women.

  • Why Information Security Matters in ICT4D

    Washington DC | By on April 2, 2013 | Comments Off on Why Information Security Matters in ICT4D

    The Technology Salon on Why Does Information Security Matter in International Development? was a predictably raucous debate on finding a sane balance between using 30-character passwords with symbols, numbers, and mixed-case letters that must be changed every month for your time sheet systems… and taking basic security measures to protect super-private data.

  • Recently Priya Jaisinghani, Teressa Trusty, and I brought together a few folks to have an informal Technology Salon around the pertinent question of how can the development community get technology to scale?