Technology Salon

Practitioners, entrepreneurs, tech employees, and foundation representatives gathered at the Asia Foundation in San Francisco for a Tech Salon to explore the question of: How Can Silicon Valley Help Improve Online Learning in Emerging Economies? The Salon featured discussion leads Amy Ahearn of +Acumen, Jason Bigman of Philanthropy University, and Elizabeth Kountze of Tostan, and…

Digital technology is transforming economies and the world of work in profound ways. Traditional jobs are being transformed while new forms of work are being created. Siven Maslamoney, Manager, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, and Sean Blagsvedt, Former CEO of Babajob.com in India, led the group of digital professionals, M&E officials and youth facing programme implementers…

The General Data Protection Regulation is coming on May 25th and you should be worried. If you operate in the EU or focus on EU-based clients, then the sweeping new data protection law will apply to you, with multi-million dollar fines per violation. It mandates that we will need to be clear and concise about…

According to World Bank estimates, about 1.1 billion people lack formal identification. Digital identity and access systems can unlock a range of services for individuals, including financial inclusion, healthcare and education. Equally, they hold significant promise for helping refugees and displaced populations access services. On the other side, digital identity can become a way to discriminate…

Penny Mordaunt, the UK International Development Secretary, is warning that 2018 will be the worst for humanitarian crises since the Second World War. Simmering conflict is destroying communities in Syria, Congo, Yemen, South Sudan, Myanmar… and the list goes on. Then there will be the inevitable natural disasters that will create new crisis-affected communities. We…

Quickly messaging people via computing technology is not a new activity. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) started in 1988, and we’ve gone through messaging service peaks with AOL, Yahoo, Blackberry, and SMS. Now there is a new wave of messaging apps and it’s Facebook Messenger, Viber, Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp’s turn. As one participant said at…

While the hype builds to a crescendo, blockchain use is still very much in its infancy, especially within the international development field. When we talk about blockchain, “we’re in the 1996-2000 dot.com stage,” said one participant of the Bangkok Technology Salon on How to Use Blockchain in International Development? In a discussion led by mobile…

The inaugural South African Technology Salon How Can Big Data Solve South Africa’s Biggest Challenges?, we discussed the potential of Big Data in contributing to the achievement of development objectives in South Africa and the region. Participating in the discussion was a range of public sector M&E officials, private and not-for-profit organisations, donors and programme…

Recently, 35 professionals sought to understand what’s been called the greatest and most complicated crisis of our generation. They focused on exploring how refugees around the world are using tech to create more agency and better futures in the December SF Bay Area Technology Salon on How Can 22 Million Refugees Use Technology to Create…

One thread in this year’s excellent MERL Tech conference was the critical questions on data use: How do we balance project needs with policy requirements? How does that affect data collection, structure, and cleaning? Can we still incentivize both at an organizational level? Ultimately: are we able to generate results data that is usable and…

  In October 2017, the President of Ghana launched the National Digital Property Addressing System (NDPAS) also known as the Ghana Post GPS  with the aim of providing every location in Ghana with a unique digital address. It is hoped that the Ghana Post GPS will achieve a nationwide use for spatial database information for…

At the Technology Salon San Francisco on Data-Infused Impact Storytelling, a vibrant group of technologists and development experts gathered at the Vodafone Americas Foundation in Redwood City to explore how to be better storytellers in our efforts to change the world. The discussion featured a curated group of participants, and discussion leads including: Chantal Buard…

Blockchain is at the peak of inflated expectations. Since last year’s Tech Salon on Bitcoin, the hype cycle has eclipsed cryptocurrencies to focus the underlying distributed ledger technology. Just look at who is putting blockchain front and center: World Bank launched a Blockchain Lab and a blockchain RFP. The Rockefeller Foundation invested in New America’s…

For our Technology Salon on How Can Partnerships Improve the Digital Health Ecosystem?, we discussed partnerships and interoperability in global health systems. The room housed a wide range of perspectives, from small to large non-governmental organizations to donors and funders to software developers to designers to healthcare professionals to students. Our lead discussants were: Josh…

Last Thursday, we had the honor of getting together with many of our peers and partners in New York City to discuss How Can Partnerships Improve the Digital Health Ecosystem? The discussion was moderated by Linda Raftree of Tech Salon, sponsored by Medic Mobile and Praekelt, and hosted by Thoughtworks. The main discussants were: Josh…

The title of this post is the most memorable quote from our May 2017 Technology Salon, asking the question “Are We Really Closing the Gender Gap in ICT4D?“, a discussion led by: Catherine Highet, Technical Advisor, mStar at FHI360 Revi Sterling, USAID-GBI Chief of Party Melissa Persaud, VOTO Mobile We’ve talked about gender and ICT4D…

Artificial intelligence used as chatbots made headlines in 2016 with 34,000 bots added to Facebook Messenger alone. Facebook’s F8 conference put artificial intelligence in center stage, as chatbots are now smart enough to fool students at a Georgia Tech CompSci course who didn’t realize their TA “Jill Watson” was only virtual until finals. But Facebook…