Research Report: Technology Access & Education for Refugee Women in Seattle & King County

Smiling people working in a small group

September 30, 2020

Washington state consistently ranks among the top 10 U.S. states for refugee resettlement. The state welcomed more than 14,000 refugees in the past five years, and 1,930 refugees in 2019. Most of these refugees come from Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Somalia, and Ukraine. While the number of refugees resettled each year fluctuates…

How Public Libraries Can Help With Data Literacy and Build More Inclusive Data

A group of colorful hexagons. In the center of each hexagon are outlines of human heads with lightbulbs above them.

September 21, 2020

Earlier this summer, TASCHA Principal Research Scientist, Maria Garrido, and Senior Research Scientist, Chris Rothschild were invited by Infopeople to conduct a four-week online course intended to provide California librarians with the opportunity to learn about assessing marginalized voices in data and its importance from a public library perspective. The course was designed to explore…

Research on African Libraries in Development: Perceptions and Possibilities

September 15, 2020

Source: Afusat Ogunjimi, graduate of AfLIA Leadership Academy Cohort 1, Librarian, Oyo State Library Board, Nigeria.   By: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Chris Jowaisas, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, and Joel Sam A Problem of Perception Over the past few years, TASCHA and African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) have been collaborating on the Advancing Library…

Passion for Libraries and Immigrant Communities Guides Katya Yefimova’s Work at TASCHA

A black and white picture of Katya Yefimova smiling at the camera.

August 4, 2020

Katya Yefimova used to drive to a library branch across town just to browse Russian-language books on the shelves. Seattle traffic couldn’t deter the University of Washington Information School (iSchool) PhD candidate from her mission: Connecting her young daughter to her family’s language and heritage.  Yefimova knows first-hand that public libraries play an important role…

TASCHA Launches Development and Access to Information Dashboards

A teal and orange graph illustrating the percentage of the population covered by at least a 3G network from 2006-2018 in South Africa

July 8, 2020

“The rights and capacity to use, create, and share information in ways that are meaningful to each individual, community, or organization.”  July 8th 2020 – The Technology & Social Change Group at the University of Washington Information School has released the Development and Access to Information (DA2i) Dashboards, a data visualization platform that tracks the…

D4D Project Launch Under New Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center at UW

A photo of a school of light blue fish swimming in dark blue water

July 1, 2020

By: Chris Rothschild Senior Research Scientist at TASCHA and a Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Fellow and Dr. Araba Sey, Senior Research Scientist We live in a data driven world – a world that is over 70% ocean. Thanks to recent technological developments, massive amounts of environmental data can now be captured and fed into the…

Teaching the Importance of Data for Decision-Making Skills to High School Seniors

June 4, 2020

  It’s never too early to talk about the importance of bringing more diverse voices into data to drive policy design and impact the wellbeing of our communities. In late April, during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions, we were invited to connect virtually with a group of outstanding students from the Heritage Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota….

Technology Access and Education for Refugee Women in the Context of Covid-19

Two women wearing hijabs looking at a computer and a notebook

May 22, 2020

Local Context: Seattle & Refugee Women In Seattle, home of major technology giants like Amazon and Microsoft, twenty-five percent of people living in poverty do not have internet access at home and twenty-one percent do not have a mobile or smartphone. Many people also lack the skills to use technology effectively and are more likely to…

Strategies and Resources for Tech Assistance During a Pandemic

Digital tablet being pulled from a row of books

April 30, 2020

By: Stacey Wedlake, TASCHA Research Coordinator & Analyst As I wrote in my previous blog post, the ability to access basic needs during a pandemic relies on digital skills. As we’re seeing more and more, the pandemic exacerbates our societies’ inequalities, and communities in vulnerable situations need additional support and resources in order to “stay…

From Jordan to Seattle, you’ll find Allison Anderson promoting gender and technology equality

Allison is standing in front of a black and grey striped background. She has her arms crossed and is smiling.

April 16, 2020

  Allison Anderson became a Research Assistant at TASCHA in fall of 2019. Her interest in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) is what initially attracted her to TASCHA at the beginning of her studies at the University of Washington. Now in the final year of her PhD program, Allison took the opportunity to…