The Information Strategies for Societies in Transition program was developed to address the challenges Myanmar faces as it seeks to “catch-up” in the world’s most economically competitive region. The larger project has four major components: (1) building organizational capacity in civil society, political parties, the media, government ministries, and think tanks to design and implement effective and transparent information solutions; (2) developing and implementing mobile information literacy curricula; (3) growing the capacity of libraries to serve as trustworthy information hubs; and (4) piloting new platforms that tackle digital and information challenges in Myanmar. The program is supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Microsoft, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Tableau Foundation. The program is housed in the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and is run in collaboration with the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) in the University of Washington’s Information School, and two partner organizations in Myanmar: the Myanmar Book Aid Preservation Foundation (MBAPF) and Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF).
