Past list view

The ICT4D community has grown quite a lot in the past year. By last count, there are 375 of us, all practitioners interested in the art and science of using technology for social good. As the largest ICT4D community in this region, this is a great time to take stock of where we would like to go from here.

For our next meetup, wear your thinking hats and come ready to brainstorm ideas on what topics you would like to see covered, who we should be inviting as speakers, and what other potential formats we should consider.

This will also be the perfect time for those who are interested in helping out with the community to meet the group, participate in future planning, and get more involved in our activities.

We will be meeting at Reiter's Books this month. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Wikipedia defines Geographical Information System (GIS) as "an information system for capturing, storing, analyzing, managing and presenting data which are spatially referenced (linked to location)." From participatory mapping for community development to monitoring illegal logging, from determining spatial distribution of landmines to targeted outbreak response to control avian influenza, GIS has found variety of fascinating uses in the development field.

Listen to four GIS experts -- Silvia Petrova Winrock International, Andrew Ross Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), Carmen Tedesco AED, and Carrie Stokes USAID -- share their knowledge, projects, and experiences from the field at this month's ICT4D meetup. The panel will be moderated by Carmen Tedesco.

This month’s panel discussion is co-hosted by Academy for Educational Development and Appropriate IT.

Thursday Aug 28, 2008, 4:30 pm

AED’s North Building @ 1875 Connecticut Ave, NW (behind the main building). Since this is an access controlled building, we will meet at the lobby before heading out to the conference room.

Agenda
4:30 – 5:00 pm: Networking
5:00 – 5:40 pm: Panel Presentations
5:40 – 7:00 pm: Q & A

Carmen Tedesco, Program Officer and Geospatial Coordinator at AED, will present Community YouthMapping, an evolving community-based participatory strategy that involves youth and adults in the collection, organization, spatial analysis and dissemination of information. Carmen has over 8 years experience and training as a geographer. As the geospatial/GIS coordinator, she develops Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capacity at AED by bridging the gap between social scientists and technicians to better implement spatial thinking on AED projects. As part of this role, she implements a place-based approach to capacity building, and youth development and engagement.

Silvia Petrova, GIS Analyst at Winrock International, will discuss GIS applications in the field of international development and sustainable natural resources management. She has over seven years of experience in applying GIS to variety of projects related to ecosystem monitoring, environmental modeling and urban planning as well as processing and analyzing remotely sensed data. Her expertise includes developing and managing spatial information, performing spatial analysis, land use/ land cover classification from satellite images and estimation of deforestation impact on the forest carbon stock.

Andrew Ross, Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), is a geographic information system (GIS) professional with ten years of GIS experience in developing countries. As a Senior Development Specialist in DAI's GIS unit, he has worked on technology applications that enable users to link, view, and then manipulate their data through universally available geospatial platforms. He is also involved in DAI's efforts to develop a GIS application built on open source technologies, an approach that promises to revolutionize the economics and hence the possibilities of GIS-enabled knowledge management in the international development field.

Carrie Stokes, Geospatial Information Technology Advisor at USAID, has worked for 20 years in natural resource management and geography. She currently manages the Geographic Information for Sustainable Development (GISD) program for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), promoting the use of geospatial information technologies as an information management tool for USAID missions, and as a spatial analysis tool for application in developing countries. She has expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), global climate change, and development of indicator reporting programs.

ICT for International Development meetup (ICT4ID) is a learning network of and for practitioners to share knowledge, information, experiences, and projects in this field.

Event co-hosted by Academy for Educational Development and Appropriate IT.

Information and communication technology (ICT) capacity building is a lot more than imparting technical knowledge through trainings. At its core, ICT capacity building is an exercise in empowerment. Come listen to three experts share their experiences from the field in a panel discussion on best practices for successful ICT capacity building projects.

This month's panel discussion is co-hosted by ICT for International Development Meetup and World Bank's e-Development Thematic Group.

5:30-6:00 pm: Meet and Greet.
6:00-7:00 pm: Panel Discussion.

Kate Hughes, Manager for IT Adoption and Outreach at Conservation International (CI) has been involved in technology capacity building projects for more than seven years. She will discuss best practices for an organization's internal capacity building initiatives based on CI's experiences in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Oleg Petrov, coordinator of eTG hosted by the Global ICT Department of the World Bank, has contributed to several integrated e-development and e-government projects funded by the Bank, including e-Sri Lanka and has been involved in a number of ICT capacity building programs since 1998. He also worked with the European Union's Public Sector Institutional Reform project in Russia as senior international expert on e-government, contributing to client capacity building, single window program and new e-government strategy development. He will present on the Bank's experience with ICT capacity building of government CIOs and Bank staff.

Usha Venkatachallam, CEO of Appropriate IT, will address civil society capacity building initiatives based on her experiences from the field in Afghanistan, Jordan, & Lebanon. Usha has more than a decade of experience helping organizations creatively apply internet technologies to advance their mission. Her expertise is in international ICT technologies and in finding locally-appropriate and culture-specific solutions. She is currently co-authoring an ICT Training of Trainers manual for Women?s Learning Partnership (WLP).

ICT for International Development meetup (ICT4ID - http://intlrel.meetup.com/76/) is a learning network of and for practitioners to share knowledge, information, experiences, and projects in this field.

e-Development Thematic Group (eTG - http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment) is a global community of practice composed of development professionals interested in ICT4D. It is hosted at the World Bank Group?s Global ICT Department.