News

July 31, 2014

Early on in the digital divide conversation, myriad donors and governments invested in telecentres — public spaces where people could access computers and learn about the internet. Fast forward to today, where billions have personal internet in their pocket and use Facebook daily, and there is a real question — do we still need public access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the age of the mobile phone?
A recent IREXtech Deep Dive discussion sponsored by IREX’s Center for Collaborative Technology and co-sponsored by the University of Washington’s Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA), brought together a group of leading public access technology experts and development practitioners to debate this question and envision various public access futures. Highlights of the discussion follow.

July 30, 2014

The extensive discourse regarding ‘making’ and the maker movement is primarily centered on the opportunities that ‘making’ creates for society, particularly for manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Through this blog post series, “Making and the maker movement: A democratizing force or an example of cultural reproduction?” (this is the first blog post out of a series of 5), I aim to critically examine this discourse, not in an attempt to discredit the movement and its supporters, but rather to draw attention to the issues and challenges of the maker movement and how these may be addressed. These point-of-view pieces will draw on literature, media, and conversations with people who are actively engaged in the movement.

July 23, 2014

TASCHA’s research is supporting the active engagement of its partners, Association of Progressive Communications (APC) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), in the post-2015 agenda development process. Together with APC and IFLA, we have prepared a briefing paper, “Public access: Supporting digital inclusion for all – Maximising the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for inclusive social and economic development.” Two different versions of the paper were presented in Geneva at The Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), Seventeenth Session, May 12-16, 2014 and the WSIS+10 High-Level Event, June 9-13, 2014

June 13, 2014

One of TASCHA’s recent research projects is focusing on innovation spaces (including makerspaces), and what the implications and opportunities are for libraries. We are working on crystallizing some aspects of this research and where we see it heading. We’re lucky to have maker movement maven Lauren Britton here with us in Seattle for a week to help us flesh out our ideas and contribute her expertise in the area. Lauren was one of (if not THE only) groundbreaking leaders of the makerspace movement within libraries. To maximize Lauren’s time with us, we invited our colleagues and students from the University of Washington to join us for an informal discussion on libraries and makerspaces. Lauren kicked off our discussion by providing a background on makerspaces, definining a makerspace for us, and shared her experience setting up a makerspace in the Fayetteville Public Library in central New York. We went on to discuss how libraries and makerspaces fit together compared to other places makerspaces exist, some of what she has learned over the past few years, and where things might be heading for makerspaces in libraries. Here’s a recap of our lively and informative discussion.

June 9, 2014

In this informal get together, 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shaker Lauren Britton will lead a discussion on the concepts, theory, and ideology behind the maker movement, and examine if the public library creates a unique platform for community and civic engagement, through making. Lauren is a visiting researcher working with TASCHA this summer (in Seattle just this one week) to advance research on innovation spaces. Students interested in this topic and the possibility of contributing to this next academic year are especially encouraged to attend.

May 21, 2014

TASCHA is excited to release a new infographic based on findings from the Global Impact Study of Public Access ICTs! Many thanks go to the team at JumpStart Georgia for helping us design what we think is a pretty cool visualization of why public access is so important and why it matters to development. Please feel free to share, promote, and use widely.

May 9, 2014

We are familiar with the typical library computer space— rows of computers, each one occupied by a single person. The underlying notion driving this configuration is that people need access to information, and that this access is optimized when each person is provided with individualized use of a computer and internet (with assistance from a librarian when the need arises). There is another model that is experiencing tremendous growth and attention: innovation spaces—physical places that foster community, collaboration, and creation. The notion behind these spaces is that creativity and innovation are stimulated when people and ideas come into contact with one another, not when they are isolated. There are many types of innovation spaces — hackerspaces, makerspaces, tech hubs, coworking spaces — and a common feature is the intense interaction among people with computers.

May 6, 2014

TASCHA is excited to announce that we’ll be participating in an upcoming event on public access ICTs, hosted by the Center for Collaborative Technologies at IREX in partnership with Kurante. Below is a description of the event (originally posted on ICTworks by Wayan Vota); space is limited, so if you’d like to join us in DC for this event, please RSVP now.

April 30, 2014

It’s finally spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, and we decided to celebrate by highlighting some of our new research at TASCHA. From crunching big data on mobile money and developing new resources based on research findings to travelling around the world and working with new partners in the field, we’ve accomplished quite a bit in 2014 so far! Here’s a snapshot of a few new TASCHA research projects.

TASCHA’s Global Impact Study of Public Access ICTs wrapped up last year with the publication of the final research report, Connecting people for development: Why public access ICTs matter. In addition to the final report, we have also released research reports and summaries of the Global Impact Study’s in-depth studies, which were designed to answer more specific questions about the public access phenomenon, such as whether we even need public access ICTs anymore since everyone has a mobile phone (spoiler alert: yes, we do!).