ICT4D – Importance of Mapping

One of the major themes of this academic semester for me has consistently been technology, even outside of ICT4D. There are so many new applications and functionalities of technical devices that I hadn’t even considered before. More importantly, as someone who doesn’t necessarily consider herself a “techy” or particularly tech savvy, I’ve realized that there is still a good amount of work that I can do to promote the effective implementation and use of ICTs for development purposes. One specific example is mapping. Maps are such a basic concept that I was shocked to learn about their importance and the number of crowdsourced mapping tools and techniques that have been so vital in recent emergencies. For this reason, I’d like to focus this week’s blog post on my perspective of mapping.

 

In addition to ICT4D I’ve been involved with a new organization called Women in Technology (WIT) as well as learning technical skills for my own personal development. At the more local level of development, I am interested in furthering my knowledge of mapping by taking a GIS course next with Julie Hernandez. Mapping is not only important to development internationally but plays a large role locally as well. As Greg’s presentation showed us, food security in New Orleans is one such issue that has benefitted from mapping projects. ICT4D has additionally highlighted the importance of mapping before, during and after emergency situations. As social media is on the rise, tools such as Google’s ‘People Finder’ are becoming more widely accepted and made use of.

 

Overall, I can see mapping playing a large role in my future career whether I decide to go into international development, public health or some combination of the two. Not only is this important in organizing people or determining the need of development projects but mapping is also a useful way to research and organize data from a community. It presents a visual image that can sometimes be more helpful depending on the situation. I’m very glad that this was a part of the ICT4D curriculum as it is a very significant factor in technological as a development tool.

ICT4D: looking back

When I initially took this course, I really had no idea how technology would fit in the field of development. I remember the first class when Professor Ports asked if any of us knew about Information and Communication Technologies and I did not have a clue what she was talking about. I have never considered myself to be a very tech savvy person and my initial thoughts were that concepts from this class wouldn’t prove to be particularly vital.  Indeed, I proven wrong. We live in an extremely fast paced world that is driven by continuous technological advancements. The scope of technology and its’ applications extends across all sectors and ultimately, without a grasp on technology, one is unlikely to succeed.

Being exposed to the many real-world applications of ICT4D throughout the course is what really sparked my enthusiasm.  I was excited to see course lessons extend beyond the classroom walls and realized that the knowledge and skills gained  through this course will be applicable to any career path. It was also this class that solidified my career passions in the humanitarian sector.  Specifically, I was inspired by the ICT4D applications in disaster relief and humanitarian aid. I was amazed by the whole idea of crowd sourcing/HOSTOM and its’ ability to function efficiently in a situation when every second counts.  In addition, the experience we had working with  Geographic Information Systems gave me invaluable skills that will be extremely useful to a career in disaster management. After focusing on the humanitarian sector for my group project, I became really interested in other ICT4D applications that could bring even greater benefit! Any area of ICT4D that I feel deserves more attention is what our class recently covered in regards of cyber security. Its nearly impossible for the appropriate policies and regulations to keep up with technologies fast-pace nature. This leaves a huge gap in cyber security,  such as potential for cyber threats, and I think it is crucial that this aspect of ICT4D is  addressed as we move forward. We’ve seen endless examples of ICT4D applications bringing great benefit to the people and overall development , from advocating for human rights, ending corruption, to  e-medicine, and I’m excited for what the future of ICT4D holds.

ICT4D Reflection: Design is Everything

In learning of the application of ICTs in development initiatives, I now understand that the design of the ICT is essential to the  success of the innitiatives.  The design of the ICT must reflect an array of factors from the physical design of the power source to the interface design to ensure usability. An ICT design that does not consider factors such as language, literacy, gender, infrastructure and culture ultimately will fail. That is why the design process must include the people it intends to benefit.

I have learned that the design process cannot happen in isolation.  I am an aspiring User Experience designer and before taking this class, I had always pictured my future self working in a lab with designers and coders, developing different ICTs with the occasional focus group or usability test. Since learning about human-centered design in the course, I know that my future vision must expand from just working with designers and programmers, to working with end users, policy makers, and the like throughout the design process.

The Best Technology Is Invisible

In preparing for our class presentations on ICT4D applications in the health sector, one challenge that came up time and time again is interface design of the ICT. Some challenges in interface design such as having an illiterate and multi-language language target group represent a problem removed from the technology itself. Meaning, the fact that an individual isn’t able to read the words on the ICT is not the consequence of the ICT design, rather the consequence of an insufficient education system, government, ect. However, some challenges in applying ICTs are far less daunting and interwoven.  The unnecessary complexity and large learning curves required of some of the ICTs implemented in the health sector is a challenge that can be simply solved by smart design.

 

In a blog post  by Ajay Kumar on User Experience (UX) design in ICT4Ds, he urged future ICT4D projects to design solutions based on a lower barrier to entry with a decreased learning curve, that require minimal to no training to use it. Ajay focuses on efficiency and usability- designing solutions that decrease the time and effort needed to train individuals to use them. To do this, he suggests that the design should

 

“…include existing skills that have already been trained to them (by their own self or otherwise). If they know how to make a phone call using their mobile phone – let’s try to think if we can do something using their mobile phones which just involves making or receiving a phone call. If they know how to write an SMS, maybe we setup an SMS system and interact or communicate with them using that. What if the staff only knows how to use Excel and to check their email? Then maybe, I’d design a web form simple enough to do their task.”

 

Jazz musician Charles Mingus said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” This quote is often used in online discussions of the great visual theorist, such as Edward Tufte, and in forums focused on topics ranging from infographics, graphic design to interface design. Creativity in design is not exhibited by making the interface itself a conspicuous visual statement, with loud decorations and heavy styling. Rather, creativity in design is the ability to create an interface that makes the complicated simple without distracting users from the content.

 

Cyborg anthropologist and UX designer Amber Case studies the interaction between humans and technology. As a usability theorist, she believes that, “the best technology is invisible”. Below is a video of her keynote address Cybrog Anthropology and the Evaporation of the Interface

 

 

For ICT4D, when designing solutions for problems in developing areas, the interface design must be creative–creatively simple, requiring minimal time and effort to learn and implement into daily life.

Hackathons to End Corruption

Transparency International and
Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) have
collaborated to organize Hackathons that are aimed to challenge
anti-corruption and technology experts to work together and create
innovative solutions to corruption challenges. Corruption is an
impatient to the development process, therefore initiatives are needed
to make governments more accountable and less corrupt. This is there
ICT4D comes in. Both Transparency International and Random Hacks of
Kindness believe that technology can serves as a tool in the worldwide
fight against corruption. The hackathon relies on ‘problem statements’
from Transparency International chapters, and members of the public,
while Random Hacks of Kindness mobilizes their base of technological
do-gooders.

These are the questions that they try to tackle together:

• How can mobile technologies help us in monitoring elections across the world?
• How can we visualise and structure our research data to engage more people?
• How can we analyse public data through smart engines, or link
• databases to shed light on the misuse of public funds?
• How can we make e-solutions to prove the competitiveness of ethical
• business behaviour?

Participants include hackers, coders, programmers, designers,
do-gooders, politicians, NGOs, political theorists and everyone else
ready to make a practical contribution to stopping corruption. The
Hackathon is live-streamed over the internet to over 8 countries who
have participants working together to find innovative ways to use
technology to fight corruption.

On example of such a Hackaton was headed by Transparencia Colombia who
with RHoK in Bogota, Telefonica, Movistar, Wayra Colombia, Microsoft
and Public,  developed a web and mobile citizen tool to report
electoral advertising for 2014 elections called Participa. They also
were able to developed an online platform for tracking citizen
corruption allegations on their way through Guatemalan public offices,
illustrating that the power technology has in the efforts to fight
corruption.

ICT4D; Most Important Lessons Learned

When first learning about International Development I had no idea what aid truly meant. Originally I believed that throwing governmental money towards development projects in some of the poorest countries would further help them tackle the main problems associated with poverty. However, this is false, money isn’t the solution to all of the problems. Prior to taking the ICT4D course I had never truly thought about technology as an enabler to development. The world we live in, especially in developed countries, has continuously evolved with an increasing amount of new innovative technologies and software being introduced daily. I had never realized that as technology develops in the western world it could further help develop the developing countries. There are a variety of lessons I learned that would remain relevant to a development professional and mind track but there are a few that powerfully stood out to me.

First off learning what ICTs were in the first place was a new topic. Information and Communication Technologies involve a large amount of tools from your basic radios and computers to Open Street Mapping and GIS technologies.  Looking at the target population’s basic needs and desires should be the start of all development projects. Similarly to all development initiatives the target population being addressed is the most important factor of a project. In this class we looked at the Human Centered Design, which discusses the purpose of focusing on the needs of the people.  If a development team is attempting to start an ICT based project in a small rural village in Eastern Kenya, it is important to evaluate all risks and factors such as access to technology, access to infrastructure such as electrical outlets, as well as access to Internet and other broad-bands. This notion of understanding what is already present and available to a project is what I grasped as being the most important. Not having Internet and electricity are just a few of the challenges and obstacles that development professionals face when trying to involve ICTs with development projects.

Secondly learning about development by different sectors was definitely a new approach I had yet to study. I had never split up education and health and business and economy versus government but looking at different ways and usages of ICTs individually in different sectors and talking about the “front- office usage” and “back- office usage” was definitely very intriguing. I think if I were to pursue a development profession I myself would focus on two sectors, Economy and Education because as my own personal belief I do believe that education is where approaches to development should begin. Thirdly, the project we were assigned on HOTOSM, JOSM, and Open Street Map in collaboration with the Red Cross might have been one of the most valuable skills I have learnt all year. Not only did I get to practice first hand ICT usage but I also got to witness and experience how emergency and disaster relief professionals work with the community to help prevent and improve disaster aid and relief. This project not only gave me hands- on marketable experience but also allowed me to learn how to trace and use such software.

Other interesting topics discussed were the various case studies we learned about. However one in particular that related to my sector; education, was One Laptop Per Child. One part I found interesting was how they adopted this strategy and it’s success and challenges. As well, when Wayan Vota came to as a guess speaker and he discussed it he said it wasn’t a very successful project in the end. Seeing such cases where technology was introduced but the success wasn’t as visualized really demonstrates the challenges that await development professionals especially those in the field of ICTs. It was also very interesting to see how big of an effect ICTs have on disaster aid. I definitely think that this is an area that is very influential to overall development challenges.

For my own personal advantage I definitely think learning how to use JOSM, tweeting, and creating weekly blog posts has allowed me to become more ICT efficient. It has also changed my point of view on social media as I now follow more resourceful and influential people on twitter, and I now have created my own blog as well as created a LinkedIn profile as advised by the guest speaker. I believe I now have a more Human centered approach and that ICTs have made a permanent mark on my ideas and perspectives about development.  Nonetheless, although I learned a great amount of new information I wish we had discussed more unsuccessful projects that may help us as future professionals. Learning about the failed attempts to introduce ICTs in the developing world could be very beneficial to individuals like me who seek to create a project in the future. However, overall bringing the right ICT tool to the right population is the principal point I gathered from the lessons.

Government Employees Need to get Schooled on Cybersecurity

This week, both our classmate Annie Mellon and our guest speaker Professor Ralph Russo, briefly discussed the pressing issue of cyber security and cited examples from different security breaches including worms that invade control systems in nuclear plants to mobile applications that hijack airplanes. Russo mentioned that he fears the government does not know how to cope with many of these serious threats. After researching the matter, it turns out they don’t.

According to an article by CBS (http://goo.gl/KZd3L), no organized, across-the-board computer safety training is offered for employees even though electronic data theft from governments among other issues are unquestionably on the rise. One would think at least Wikileaks or Anonymous would be a wake-up call.

Information technology experts view training as an integral component of cybersecurity and D.C. officials admit their own employees should be more educated on computer use (yet seem to have a hard time acting on it), especially as governments face sophisticated cyber-threats such as those referenced above and as human errors have contributed (and will continue to contribute) to widespread data breaches.

While government officials have legitimate points when they argue that developing internet security through new products and tools come first, others argue that it should be the other way around. What do you all think? Should training be put on the so-called back-burner for now?

One might have to consider what Eric Chapman, deputy director of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center at the University of Maryland, has to say:

If you have one user who’s fundamentally unaware of what a spear-phishing email looks like, the entire enterprise is vulnerable

If US employees are incompetent at dealing with these rapidly emerging issues, government employees in the developing word certainly are not equipped to dealing with them. Will basic training even suffice to combat many of the issues? Hacking into the cyber space has become more sophisticatedly performed with every day. These are ill-intentioned uber-geniuses we are dealing with.

Spear Phishing Attacks South Korea

In March of this year, a  cyber attack wiped out many banks and broadcasters in South Korea. Specifically concerning about this attack was the fact that many members of the Shinhan banking network were targeted using what is known as spear phishing. Spear phishing requires prior knowledge about a specific person or group of people to be targeted and hackers send phishing e-mails to these specific people. The look-alike pages used in phishing and spear phishing can be especially worrisome due to the fact that people put their trust in a company and may blindly follow commands upon asked to change their password or something of the like.

This cyber attack was well-planned according to researchers in that hackers gained access to the organization’s computers eight months prior, monitoring the activities inside the server. Finally, malware was distributed to computers, wiping out much of the data.

These attacks are of an extremely serious nature. They allow for high return for the hacker with little traceability or chance for getting caught. The introduction of AttackKits allows for less knowledgeable hackers to conduct attacks on larger scales than otherwise possible.

Spear phishing to large organizations, or even vulnerable populations, can on any scale have detrimental effects. The freedom of the internet and the anonymity behind it has spiraled into a world of its own, allowing large amounts of data to be stolen or wiped out without even having to leave the house. This begs the question on how to protect against cyber attacks. Nation-wide implementation of cyber security should be a main priority, as cyber attacks could potentially wipe out essential information and infrastructure, leaving it at a standstill and having to start from ground zero. Policies must begin to be more stringent in this manner.

Read the article about South Korea here and here.

 

The Bitcoin (BTC)

A great resource for ICT news particularly relating to the Caribbean is the blog ICTPulse, “ICT issues from a Caribbean Perspective.” In an article posted on the website earlier this month discusses one method of deterring hackers and payment fraud through use of the “Bitcoin.” As blog writer mmarius describes in this post “Can Bitcoins solve the e-payment challenges in the Caribbean?” there are many challenges and risks associated with online payments. However, in an ever-globalizing economy, a solution to making this process more secure is becoming more and more necessary. Here’s a breakdown of what the Bitcoin is exactly. This short video especially does a great job of describing and illustrating the how and why the Bitcoin is an effective ICT for secure online payments.

“Launched in 2009, Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency that has no central management authority, and uses instead peer-to-peer technology to issue Bitcoins and manage transactions. Although some vendors have created and issued Bitcoin notes and coins, its true value exists electronically, where:

• No Centralized Bank/Controlling Agent
• Currency Value is based on supply & demand
• Individuals directly control holdings and transactions
• All Bitcoin accounts and transactions are private”

Bitcoin Introductory Video

The Bitcoin is a generally a recent development and since it is based on supply and demand, will take some time before “developing a critical mass.” As more customers and vendors put faith in using and accepting Bitcoins, their value will stabilize and become more widely accepted. However, just like any other online payment method, this article also discusses how the Bitcoin is still susceptible to some forms of cyber threats. Although the Bitcoin online database itself is said to be secure, network breaches and compromised accounts are still a possibility. A final issue lies in Bitcoin’s individualistic approach. In the event of a theft or account breach, there is no protection for users. This method may save cost and keep account information private however this in itself causes the system to be vulnerable.

Personally, I feel that the use of Bitcoins could cause illegal transactions to easily fly under the radar. With no protections and little oversight, this could cause the black market to flourish. In fact, a more recent article from Forbes.com “Bitcoin Combines Ph.D-Level Computer Science With Sub-Kindergarten-Level Monetary Understanding” referred to this alternative form of currency as “garbage.” What it did highlight however was its creativity approach to innovating the field of computer science. Although its purpose is a good one, I’m not sure if this ICT4D tool would be the most effective.

Professional Profile: Jon Camfield

I found Jon Camfield via a blog post from ICTworks.org by Wayan Vota, in which the subject was, “What are the best practices in ICT4D?” The post was sparked by this tweet from Jon Camfield:

Clearly, that sparked my interest given the subject of our lecture Thursday with our guest, Wayan Vota himself.

Upon checking out Camfield’s LinkedIn, I was able to get a lot of info on the guy, and it’s fair to say he has a pretty impressive background. So I will just give a brief overview of his work history/education and what he describes as his interests and how that relates to the paths that I believe many of us will soon be finding ourselves on in the next couple of years.

Education:

• finished undergrad 1999 from University of Texas at Austin with Plan II Honors, degree in Technology/Literacy/Culture, Philosophy and Spanish
• grad school: George Washington University – completed in 2005 in International Science and Technology Policy

Work Experience: 

• IT Manager at CrisisLink from 2005-2007
• ICT and Social Media Director at Youth Service America from 2007-2009
• Technology Strategist at Ashoka Changemakers from 2009-2012
• Technologist, Internet Initiatives Program at Internews from November 2012-present

In addition to his education and formal work experience, Camfield was a Peace Corps “ICT” volunteer in Jamaica, has been working since 2008 on the Changmakers.com platform, has published a number of articles such as “It’s Time to Start Judging Nonprofits Like For-Profits” and the presentation, “Scaling Social Enterprise.”

In his summary on LinkedIn, Jon says: “I believe in the power of social networks — both off- and on-line — to empower communities. Technology is an enabling force that can strengthen these networks as well as connect them globally to peers, partners, knowledge resources, as well as social innovations and development opportunities. I am interested in ICT projects that further international empowerment / development projects.”

thoughts . . .

One of the questions the class asked Wayan Vota was what kinds of things we needed to do to really get into the field of International Development or ICT4D. He pointed out a few key things like getting a LinkedIn, for starters, as well as a Twitter, and really working on establishing our networks. I now realize that in our world of such fast-paced technology and change, the only real way to keep up and stay involved is by moving with the direction of the current trends. Reading Jon Camfield’s profile on LinkedIn was not just eye-opening for the amount of experience he has that is surely ahead of all of us, but was also indicative of how important social networking is for all aspects of peoples lives today–as exemplified by his 500+ connections on LinkedIn.