April 23, 2009
TASCHA had a strong presence and was well received at the 2009 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) in Doha, Qatar, that took place from April 17–19. The following is a list of TASCHA highlights and affiliated papers, posters, workshops, panels and meetings.
April 21, 2009
On April 18, 2009, TASCHA participated in a panel at ICTD2009 — ICTD Evaluation 20/20: Voices from Around the World — that highlighted evaluation issues and sparked debate among experts representing practice, technology, academia, and funders.
April 8, 2009
Penn State, Michigan State, Rutgers, the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and the New America Foundation are putting out a call for proposals for papers for a three day by-invitation experts workshop on approaches to developing data-based information policy. Expected deliverables are policy recommendations, a book, and a new research agenda.
March 31, 2009
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to Baltimore for our first case study site, Enoch Pratt Libraries. I learned so many things about research, library systems, public access computing, and — most importantly — I was reminded how lucky I am, and most who read this, are. When I wake up in the morning, I do one of two things that, while it has become a chore, I do compulsively: Check my iPhone or power up my MacBook.
March 22, 2009
I’m on my way to Veracruz, Mexico to spend a week with Gates Foundation global library grantees for what they call the Peer Learning Meeting. Ever since we started studying libraries about 18 months ago I’ve been wondering, why is it that these institutions of information access haven’t registered on my ICTD radar in the […]
March 13, 2009
The Compendium on Impact Assessment of ICT-for-Development Projects, by Richard Heeks and Alemayehu Molla, is a valuable guide for researchers. The compendium reviews impact assessment methods and approaches, and includes detailed descriptions of eleven different frameworks.
March 11, 2009
I’ve been re-thinking “ICT4D” and “ICTD” recently, and increasingly coming to the conclusion that I should avoid these terms in reference to the work CIS does in favor of something like “underserved communities and low resource environments” or other descriptor that avoids these acronyms. One of the problems with “ICT4D” is that it connotes different […]
January 29, 2009
Recent research on peoples’ imagination of computers in the Indian rural hinterland showed a strong role of information through popular media, especially cinema, in shaping ideas about technology. We look at the portrayal of computers and computer-users in various cinematic traditions within India since the 1990s and juxtapose these against western portayals of technology. The distinctions both between the Indian and western cinematic portrayals as well as those between films designed for different consumer audiences within India help comment on the atmosphere of aspiration around technology in present day India.
October 3, 2008
Conference title: ICTs for Social Inclusion: What is the Reality? Date: October 27-30, 2008 Conference description (below): taken from the conference website Presenter: Ricardo Gomez, CIS Paper: Information needs and watering holes: public access to information and ICT in 25 countries CIS researcher and iSchool faculty member Ricardo Gomez presented a paper at this year’s…
August 21, 2008
The Global Impact Study was presented — for the first time! — at the IFLA 2008 World Library & Information Congress, held from August 10–14 in Quebec City, Canada. This year’s topic: Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding.
