Technology and Global Development
15-502
Instructors:
M. Bernardine Dias and Yonina Cooper
TA: Aysha Siddique
Spring 2009
Lecture 7
ICTD/TFDC
Outline
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Logistics
ICTD/TFDC
TechBridgeWorld
Some ICTD examples
Your assignments for
next class
Logistics
• Questions about the media
and campaign assignments?
• Any other
questions/comments?
Problem Solving
• Identify the problem
• Understand the problem
– Start with the big picture
– Drill down for details
– Different perspectives?
• Potentially decompose the problem
into smaller parts
– Always keep in mind how the component
problems relate to the larger one
• Identify the requirements and
constraints of the problem
• Define your role in solving the problem
• Design a solution
– Research related work
– Don’t reinvent the wheel
• Test and validate the solution
• Deploy the solution
TFDC/ICTD
Reading 1:
Kentaro Toyama & M. Bernadine Dias
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What is the ‘development’ in ICTD?
Why should “access to information” be
considered a fundamental human right?
What constitutes ICT?
How can ICT have a positive impact on the
less fortunate that survive on less than a
dollar a day?
How would you describe the ICTD field?
Reading 2: Richard Heeks
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What lessons were learned from the
ICT4D 1.0 projects?
In what areas will hardware innovations be required
for ICT4D 2.0?
What are the 4 main development roles ICT4D is
slowing moving toward?
What are the pro-poor, para-poor, and per-poor innovation
efforts? Examples?
What are the three areas or disciplines involved in
creating ICT4D success? What is the role of each?
Why is each needed?
What is the most prominent difference between
ICT4D 1.0 and ICT4D 2.0?
Reading 3:
M. Bernardine Dias & Eric Brewer
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What are some of the questions being addressed in
the ICTD field? How is information communication
technology being applied to problems traditionally
addressed in development?
What is the role of computer science in ICTD?
Who (what fields) are involved in ICTD? What is
their role?
What are some of the challenges of ICTD?
What are some of the issues involved in trying to
make ICTD projects sustainable?
Video:
TechBridgeWorld
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What makes TechBridgeWorld projects
different from traditional help to
developing communities?
TechBridgeWorld
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TechBridgeWorld
We are a research organization at Carnegie
Mellon University, spanning education, research,
development, deployment, and outreach. We are
dedicated to defining the role of technology in
sustainable global development.
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Mission Statement
TechBridgeWorld innovates and implements
technology solutions to meet sustainable
development needs around the world.
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
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Our Vision
Our vision is to create and foster an
environment where Carnegie Mellon
faculty, students, and staff, together with
partners from around the world, share
expertise to cooperatively realize a
community’s vision of development.
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Guiding Principles
• Respect
– Invitations and partnerships
– Indigenous vision of progress
– Sharing of expertise
• Expertise
– Locally relevant solutions
– Enabling both creators and
consumers
– Sustainability
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Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Our Bridges
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We are building technology bridges all over the world!
The dots represent locations where we had or currently have projects and programs
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Programs
Project Kané
V-Unit
iSTEP
Braille Writing Tutor
Education E-Village
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
V-Unit
Learning to build a Vision
www.cs.cmu.edu/~vunit
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Learning to Build a Vision
• Opportunity for graduate students
• Gives students the chance to investigate
how computer science and technology
can positively impact society in
nontraditional and underfunded areas
• Provides the foundation for students to
become a more informed technology
leader in society
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Past Locations and Projects
Colombia/Honduras
India
• Soil Mapping
• Bar-code-based computer use
Ghana
• Braille Writing Tutor
• Automated English Reading
Tutor
Peru
• Technical Creativity Robotics
Course
Haiti
• Hospital Scheduling
• Language Translation
USA
• Building navigation for the blind
• American Sign Language
Computer Game
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Project Kané
Impact of an Automated English Reading Tutor in Ghana
www.techbridgeworld.org/kane
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Motivation
• “Literacy is crucial to the acquisition, by
every child, youth and adult, of essential life
skills that enable them to address the
challenges they can face in life…”
- UN Resolution on Literacy Decade
• Low functional literacy rate among
children from under-resourced public
schools
• Limited opportunities for guided
reading practice
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Automated Reading Tutor
• Using Project LISTEN’s reading
tutor
– Developed at Carnegie Mellon
University
– http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen
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“Listens” to children reading aloud
Gives spoken and graphical feedback
Allows children to choose stories
Automatically chooses stories at the
child’s reading level
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Braille Writing Tutor
www.techbridgeworld.org/brailletutor
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Motivation
• Illiteracy is a significant challenge
in the lives of over 160 million
visually-impaired people worldwide
– Large majority live in developing
communities
• Many technologies for visuallyimpaired individuals are
prohibitively expensive
• Learning braille using a traditional
slate and stylus is difficult for
young students
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Braille Tutor Design
• Hardware design:
– Low cost, low power
– Durable, locally maintainable
– Transferable
• Audio feedback:
– Text-to-speech engine
– Digitalized teacher’s voice
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
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Braille Tutor Curriculum
• 3 modes for learning and testing dots
– 1 mode to learn dot patterns of letters
– 1 mode to test dot patterns of letters
– 1 mode for free spelling
• 2 modes for educational games
– 1 mode to play Hangman (vocabulary)
– 1 mode to play Animal game (spelling)
• 1 mode to learn Nemeth Code
– Braille math notation
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Education E-Village
www.techbridgeworld.org/programs/evillage
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Motivation
• Sustainable development around the world is
enhanced by the active participation of
developing communities in the process of
technological innovation
• Challenges to successful technology education
in developing countries include limited access
to infrastructure, equipment, and relevant
expertise
• Challenges can be mitigated by creative course
designs and international partnerships
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Education E-Village
• TechBridgeWorld courseware, such as
syllabi, reading lists, and presentation
materials will soon be available to other
academic institutions to assist them in
developing their own courses related to
technology and development.
• The Introduction to Robotics and
Artificial Intelligence course at Ashesi
University in Ghana will be among the first
to be included in the new online course
repository, along with curriculum materials
from other TechBridgeWorld courses taught
at Carnegie Mellon.
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Beyond Education E-Village
• Two former students who
participated in last summer’s pilot
course at Ashesi University, in
collaboration with other colleagues
from their graduating class, have
launched their own software startup in Accra, Ghana.
• The students are putting their
problem solving and creative
thinking abilities to work, and we
wish them well in this endeavor!
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
iSTEP
www.techbridgeworld.org/istep
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Introduction
• “innovative Student Technology
ExPerience”
• New student opportunity from
TechBridgeWorld
• Research-oriented paid internship,
travel covered
• Team of 6 students will conduct 3
projects related to Tanzania
• Preparation will begin in Spring with
full-time work in late-May through
early-August
• New location added each year
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Projects and Partner
• Partner: The University Computing Centre Ltd. (UCC) is based in Dar
es Salaam, Tanzania. www.ucc.co.tz
– UCC is a private entity which was originally established to conduct
lectures in all computer related courses, to conduct research in
informatics, and to provide computing services and consultancy in
information and communication technologies to both the university and
the rest of the country of Tanzania.
• Project 1: Development of a cell phone application for use by social
workers to track information on services provided to orphans and
vulnerable children.
• Project 2: Creating and evaluating culturally-relevant educational
technology and games for child literacy.
• Project 3: Enhancing and evaluating a low-cost Braille writing tutor
for visually-impaired students.
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Get Involved!
• Become a TechBridgeWorld Sponsor
• Become a TechBridgeWorld Partner
• Become a TechBridgeWorld Faculty Advisor
• Become a TechBridgeWorld Student
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
www.TechBridgeWorld.org
info@techbridgeworld.org
Who We Are | Mission | Vision | Guiding Principles | Bridges | Programs | Get Involved!
Other ICTD Examples
aAQUA – Agricultural Portal
K. Ramamritham, A. Bahuman, S. Duttagupta, C. Bahuman, and S. Balasundaram,
Innovative ICT Tools for Information Provision in Agricultural Extension, ICTD 2006
Multiple Mice
Udai Singh Pawar, Joyojeet Pal and Kentaro Toyama, Multiple Mice for
Computers in Education in Developing Countries, ICTD 2006
Text-Free User Interfaces
Indrani Medhi, Aman Sagar, and Kentaro Toyama, Text-Free User
Interfaces for Illiterate and Semi-Literate Users, ICTD 2006
Speech Recognition
Madelaine Plauché, Udhyakumar Nallasamy, Joyojeet Pal, Chuck Wooters,
and Divya Ramachandran, Speech Recognition for Illiterate Access to
Information and Technology, ICTD 2006
Other References
• 15502 lecture slides from 2006 and 2007 –
jointly prepared by Rahul Tongia, Joe
Mertz, Jay Aronson, and Bernardine Dias
• Most images are from TechBridgeWorld
(www.techbridgeworld.org)
What Next?
• TFDC/ICTD Examples
• Reading/viewing assignments:
– Due Thursday
• Skim
http://www.viktoria.se/altchi/submissions/submission_indranimedhi_0.pdf
• Skim
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/department/publications/reports/docs/CU-CS-1006-06.pdf
• View
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpRRivQgpjc&feature=related
• View http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/iqbal_quadir_says_mobiles_fight_poverty.html
• Come prepared to discuss your strategy for the Campaign Assignment
– Preparation questions on all reading and viewing assignments
are available on the course website in the
“assignments” section.
• Special note: first do the reading/viewing and then look at the questions
and come prepared to discuss them in class.