Taking it Local: 10 ways to make ‘open’ relevant in low resource or marginalized contexts
Description
This session will discuss some of the realities and challenges that development practitioners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs) face in accessing and using open data. It will call out assumptions often made within the concept of ‘open’ and push participants to think about ways that open data can be made more accessible to those who face barriers such as language, gender discrimination, lack of income and lack of connectivity.
We will look at who the local ‘audiences’ are for open data and the conditions necessary to ensure inclusivity in open development. We will discuss different kinds of intermediaries who can help make open data more accessible. We will identify ways that high-tech and low-tech can be combined to account for varying levels of education, skill, literacy and technology access.
By the end of the session we will have produced a series of recommendations and ideas around how to help make open truly accessible and inclusive.
Session Host
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Linda Raftree, Plan International USA, US
Linda Raftree has worked at the intersection of community development and participatory media and ICTs since 1998. She currently works with Plan International USA and has additionally worked on ICT-related initiatives with UNICEF and the mEducation Alliance in the past 2 years. Linda coordinates Technology Salons in New York City and writes ‘Wait… What?’ a blog about technology and community development. She is an informal advisor to Project Restart and TechChange, serves on the board of the kiwanja Foundation, and tweets at @meowtree.
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Moderator
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Name: Soren Gigler
Organization: World Bank
Country: US
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Soren Gigler is leading the Innovation for Governance Program at the World Bank Institute. He is a political economist and since the end of the 1990s has worked on issues related to innovative uses of information and communications technology (ICT) for development and empowerment. He coordinates the Mapping for Results Initiative which aims is to visualize the location of donor-funded projects to better monitor project impact, improve aid effectiveness, and enhance transparency and social accountability. Soren previously held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor for Political Economy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He has taught and carried out research on multi-dimensional aspects of poverty, human development, and ICT for development at the London School of Economics, Georgetown Univeristy, the Universidad Católica Boliviana, Bolivia and the Universidad los Andes, Colombia. He holds a Ph.D in Development Studies from the London School of Economics, a M.S. in Economics from the Munich Graduate School of Economics, and a M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University. His main research field is the impact of ICTs on enhancing the well-being of poor communities and their potential for enhancing the governance and transparency of governments and international donors.
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Panelists
. Name: Michael Gurstein .Organization: Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training
Country: Canada
Twitter Handle: @michaelgurstein
Website Address: http://www.communityinformatics.net
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Dr. Michael Gurstein is currently Executive Director of the Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training (CCIRDT) in Vancouver, Canada. He is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Community Informatics http://ci-journal.net and Foundation Chair of the Community Informatics Research Network. He has Research Professorships at universities in Canada and the US and is an Adjunct Professor at the Information School at the University of British Columbia. He has been on the Board of the Global Telecentre Alliance, Telecommunities Canada, the Pacific Community Networking Association and the Vancouver Community Net and is a member of the High Level Panel of Advisors of the (UN) Global Alliance for ICT for Development. His most recent book is “What is Community Informatics (and Why Does it Matter)?” Politechnica, Milan.
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Name: Huy Eng Heng
Organization: Open Development Cambodia
Country: Cambodia
Twitter Handle: huyeng/Opendevcam
Website Address: http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net Or http://www.opendevcam.net
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Huy has worked as web designer for House Thirty-Two Web Design Company for over 4 Years. She participates in the Open Development Cambodia (ODC) project and has been responsible for developing the ODC web site since 2011. The ODC project aggregates a wide range of economic, environment, and census data, and shares those data to the public freely available to everyone for using as their wish. She has connected and cooperated with other organizations and communities to collect and share the available data to make information and data about Cambodia up to date.
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Name: Philip Thigo
Organization: SODNET/INFONET
Country: Republic of Kenya
Twitter Handle: @pthigo
Website Address: www.infonet.or.ke, www.sodnet.org
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Philip Thigo is a Program Associate at the Social Development Network in Kenya. He co-Founded INFONET, an innovation initiative that is credited with developing tools for citizens, state and civil society collaboration in budget transparency, electoral efficiency and improvement of service delivery. He has previously worked for an international Foundation whose president was Dr. Nelson Mandela, traversing Asia, the Arab World and Latin America aimed at addressing the root causes of poverty and dispossession. He is a member of the Kenya Open Data Task Force, a communications advisor to Social Watch International Network and public service innovations advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister-Department of Performance Contracting.
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Name: Barbara Birungi
Organization: Hive Colab and Women In Technology Uganda
Country: Uganda
Twitter Handle: @barbs311, @hivecolab @ wituganda
Website Address: http://www.hivecolab.org | www.witug.org
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Barbara is the general manager of Hive Colab in Uganda an innovation hub, business accelerator and incubator for East African technology Startups whose mission is to build local tech capacity in East Africa for technologists and media arts. She is also the founder of WITU (Women in Technology Uganda), an organization that seeks to encourage, inspire and train more women in the tech field through networking, training, mentoring and partnering so as to increase the number of women in tech, the number of tech women entrepreneurs and more girls to take science courses at university in order to reduce the gender gap and compete favorably with male counterparts for jobs and improve the livelihoods of women in Uganda. Prior to this, Barb worked with Makerere University on a project to increase the sales of rural craft making women using the web so as to improve the livelihoods of these women.Barbara Graduated with a Postgrad degree in Project Planning and Management and a Bachelors degree in Business Computing from Makerere University and is currently enrolled for a Masters of Business Administrtion. She is passionate about Web design and an enthusiast of ICT4D, Women and the Girl Child In Uganda. She has been the organizer of the Apps4Africa Uganda competitions sponsored by the US State Dept since its inception 2010. Talk to her about http://witug.org and www.hivecolab.org
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Name: Max Rodriguez
Organization: Plan El Salvador
Country: El Salvador
Twitter Handle: @maxrodriguez74
Website Address: www.misderechosantedesastes.org.sv
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Max has worked with Plan El Salvador since 2003, developing initiatives that promote the rights of children through information technology and communication. Max’s work promotes the creation of opportunities for participation of children at all levels that, in addition to technical training, strengthen community leadership, self-esteem and the rights-based approach in the participants. Max supports Plan El Salvador’s strategies to strengthen citizenship and governance, such as social networks, cultural promotion and development, entrepreneurship, social mobilization, and political and public advocacy, which encourage development for youth.
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Name: David Rodriguez
Organization: Plan El Salvador
Country: El Salvador
Twitter Handle: @2drodriguez
Website Address: www.misderechosantedesastes.org.sv
Blog:
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David started as a participant in Plan El Salvador’s programs some 6 years ago, specifically in the VOICES media project. He grew up in an environment of communication and community development and child rights, among other topics. David currently works as a technician on Plan El Salvador’s media projects, promoting the rights of children. He leads a project that helps children transmit information about environmental risks in their communities through videos, photos and audio using the Ushahidi platform for community mapping to document environmental and climate risks in communities.
Details
Location: MEET 8th Floor Auditorium (Entrance with OK Fest Pass only)
Date & Time: Wed, 18-19.30h
Target Group: development practitioners, open data folks, designers, developers, activists, NGOs, Tech Hub folks
Topic Stream: Open Development
Session Etherpad page: link