News

January 28, 2013

This iSchool Research Conversation and TASCHA Talk, presented by Araba Sey, discusses insights from the Global Impact Study. It outlines some dimensions of public access as a strategy for socio-economic development, addressing questions such as: who uses public access ICTs and why, what value do users perceive, what types of outcomes have users experienced and in what areas? Based on these findings we suggest how vested interests might realistically characterize the nature of public access impacts and make decisions about the role public access could play in their development agendas.

January 17, 2013

What makes a Tweet influential, particularly during a social movement? Do influential Tweets share common messaging with other Twitter users and social media outlets? TASCHA Research Faculty member Maria Garrido, along with Alexander Halavais of Arizona State University, will present on the role of Twitter and the characteristics of influential Tweets and Twitter users during the G-20 meeting protests in 2009 at next week’s meeting of University of Washington’s Change group. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 from 12-1pm in the University of Washington’s Allen Center, room CSE 203.

January 11, 2013

Interested in developing countries, technology, and culture? Are you a student at the University of Washington? If so, TASCHA Research Faculty Araba Sey and Researcher Chris Rothschild are leading a program this summer in Ghana that could be perfect for you and your education. This Exploration Seminar focuses on research, development, communication, and technology. The seminar is four-weeks long and students can receive graduate or undergraduate credits.

December 21, 2012

Thanks goes to ICTworks for featuring the Global Impact Study’s Mobile Internet study, Public Access, Private Mobile, led by Marion Walton and Jonathan Donner. The post on ICTworks highlights the five central claims of the study.

December 10, 2012

Commissioned by the EU Joint Research Centre IPTS, Telecentre-Europe and the Technology & Social Change Group are conducting an online survey that aims to provide a ‘map’ of telecentres, libraries, and other eInclusion actors that operate in the European Union. The survey will be available in 13 languages and is part of the larger research project MIREIA: Measuring the Impact of eInclusion Actors on Digital Literacy, Skills, and Inclusion goals of the Digital Agenda for Europe. The online survey will be launched on January 2, 2013.

November 19, 2012

The Global Impact Study is pleased to announce the release of the Mobile Internet in-depth studyresearch report, Public access, private mobile: The interplay of shared access and the mobile Internet for Teenagers in Cape Town. Led by Marion Walton of the University of Cape Town and Jonathan Donner of Microsoft Research India, this study assesses and describes the interplay between public PC-based Internet access and private mobile-based access for urban teenaged public access venue users in Cape Town.

November 9, 2012

Along with fellow TASCHA student Luis Fernando Baron, I had the opportunity to attend the 13th Association of Internet Research conference (AoIR 13). At the beginning of the conference, we were welcomed to the University of Salford by the Internet Research President Alex Halavais. He made a special point of welcoming first-time attendees, and as one, I felt personally greeted. Then the first session started with the “ignite” talks, where each speakers gets 5 minutes—but must have 20 slides and each slide must automatically progress forward in 15 seconds.

TASCHA students Norah Abokhodair and Luis Fernando Baron participated in the 13th conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) at University of Salford in Manchester between 18 and 21 of October 2012. The conference focused on the theme of technologies, considering the impact of the Internet in a context where life is entangled with technologies of all kinds.

October 30, 2012

In May 2012 Nairobi’s *iHub released a report detailing the impact of the Hub on Kenyan entrepreneurs. You can read the launch post and  download the report from the iHub website. Here’s the abstract. This research aimed to understand the impact of the ICT Hubs to entrepreneurs. An ICT hub is a space where technologists […]

October 2, 2012

A brief based on some of the emerging findings of the Global Impact Study, Public access and development: The impact of public access venues and the benefits of libraries, has just been released. This two-page brief describes findings about the impact of public access venues on development, including the unique benefits successful public libraries offer. This brief is based on data from the surveys of over 5,000 public access venue users in five developing countries.