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Generative AI (GenAI) models like DALL-E and ChatGPT showcase the creativity and utility of AI. Yet these tools – which can generate realistic image, audio and video simulations at scale and then personalize this content – have serious implications for how much people trust the information they see and hear. Civil society organizations are highly…
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The release of ChatGPT and similar chatbots like Google’s Bard and Anthropic’s Claude has re-ignited the discussion around artificial intelligence (AI) in social, work, financial, health, education, law, and most other spheres. A common challenge with these and other AI and machine learning (ML) systems is their lack of transparency and accountability. Algorithms decide what we…
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The recent Technology Salon on How to Counter Malign Influences in Digital Development was a fascinating discussion that should start with the idea that we are mainly talking about the Chinese and Russian country governments. These governments may not reflect the will of its citizens, or even a majority of them, and the governments themselves…
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Our first in-person Technology Salon DC in three years convened on January 25, 2023, to pose the question: Can Generative Artificial Intelligence Technology Improve Aid Outcomes? Thought leaders and decision makers across the international development space shared their optimism, skepticism, and uncertainty regarding generative AI and its consequences as we move closer to the uncanny…
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As COVID-19 spreads across the globe, we are faced with travel bans, project funding restrictions, and the increasing need to operate remotely. A multi-faceted COVID-19 Digital Response, including behaviour change communication on personal and respiratory hygiene, proper handwashing, social distancing, and so on remains a critical need. Trying to get these vital messages out to…
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Demand for digital-skills based volunteering has surged as skilled workers search for ways to contribute to the response efforts to COVID-19. As a result, nonprofits are faced with an unprecedented opportunity to bring volunteers into their work and use new talent to advance their missions. However, many nonprofits don’t have a standing volunteer program. And…
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Data is top of mind during the COVID-19 response. Quality data can help to direct the response and to make decisions, but it’s not the silver bullet that everyone is hoping for. We need to remain aware of the power dynamics represented in how data is collected, treated, protected and interpreted. There needs to be…
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To date, over 3 million people globally have coronavirus and the world is bracing for it to overwhelm low income countries. As the death toll rises, and health systems in developed countries struggle, health responders and activists around the world are racing to understand how best to prepare and protect refugee settlements. Where water, a…
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Since its emergence in late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has reached almost every corner of the globe. By April 20, 2020, the number of recorded cases worldwide had reached 2.4 million with over 161,000 resulting deaths. As the virus spreads, so do the technological responses. Never before has a global crisis been so digital….
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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…
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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…
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On December 7, 2016, Ghana passed yet another democratic test when it conducted what has been described as the best organized general elections in the country’s history. The elections was to choose a new President and 275 members of parliament. From the tech-based systems deployed by some media houses that enabled their collation and projections…
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones produce a visceral reaction, perceived in different ways through the eyes of the beholder. Is it a military weapon, hi-tech recreation, or a research tool? International development professionals have formed additional uses for this technology. UAVs conduct remote surveys, deliver test results or supplies, and provide surveillance. Yet, there…
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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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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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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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Our April 16th Technology Salon Brooklyn, co-hosted with the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF) and AfroLatin@ Project explored the issue of tenant rights within the wider context of structural discrimination. We aimed to think about how new technology and social media might be a tool for helping community organizations to support Brooklyn residents to know their…
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Our Technology Salon in New York City on Oct 7 focused on the potential of games and gamification in international development work. Joining us as lead discussants were Asi Burak (Games for Change), Nick Martin (TechChange), and Craig Savel and Stan Mierzwa (Population Council). TechChange is a social enterprise that uses principles of gamification on…
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I had a chance to spend a morning last week at a roundtable discussion on technology and structural discrimination, as part of the Technology Salon events. The conversation brought together activists, organizers, technologists, and few international development types like myself, though many in the room blurred those boundaries. Technology provided a filter for the discussion,…
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Our January 21st, 2015, Technology Salon examined the role of technology in addressing structural discrimination in the US. We were hosted by the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF), whose Director of Community Leadership, Tynesha McHarris, served as a lead discussant. Courtney D. Cogburn Assistant Professor of Social Work at Columbia University and Senior Advisor to the…