I was scanning the Huffington Post this morning and came across the headline Global Arms Trade From 1992-2010 Visualized By Google. Tech, arms trading, and maps; sounded interesting since small arms control is something I'm deeply interested in. Using the NISAT database, PRIO, Google and the Igarape Institute got together and created an interactive map of the global … Continue reading ArmsGlobe: Google, PRIO and the Igarape Institute map the arms trade
Research
Unpacking PopTip: Real time polling is cool, but should I be convinced it’s “right”?
Rarely does a day pass when the team at the TechChange office misses an opportunity to say something like "hey data nerd, look at this and tell us what you think." Often these requests are made unceremoniously on Twitter, forcing me to respond or risk what little confidence the public has vested in my intellectual … Continue reading Unpacking PopTip: Real time polling is cool, but should I be convinced it’s “right”?
Wrapping up in Geneva
Greetings all! So I wanted to post something quickly before I head to London tomorrow, and then finally home on Tuesday. I'll have more to write, and some reviews of the papers from the Tech4Dev conference later this week when I can sit with the conference proceedings and give the papers a good review. I … Continue reading Wrapping up in Geneva
Some initial thoughts from Tech4Dev
Whew, halfway through the week at the Tech4Dev conference at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. It's really interesting to compare this conference to ICTD 2012 at Georgia Tech in March, and seems to underline a distinct difference in the approach to ICTs and development in the United States and Europe. First, what a fantastic mix of … Continue reading Some initial thoughts from Tech4Dev
Thinking about my academic tribe…what’s yours?
During the semester I good fortune to take Dr. Mara Schoeny’s course on qualitative research for the social sciences at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. We kept logs about the experience and we dealt with questions pertaining to ethics and interpersonal aspects of conflict analysis and resolution. While these were important, what … Continue reading Thinking about my academic tribe…what’s yours?
Presenting at Tech4Dev in May!
Hey everybody, I'm pretty excited to have had a paper accepted to the Tech4Dev conference hosted by the UNESCO Chair at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. I'll be focusing on the impact that distance learning technology can have on knowledge co-creation across geographic boundaries, with a particular focus on technology applications for development and … Continue reading Presenting at Tech4Dev in May!
Another video about a TechChange course
Eli Sinkus (@elisinkus) does it again. For those who might be interested in how technology can make your research better/easier/more robust, TC-110: Social Media and Technology Tools for Research might be useful to you. TC-110 from TechChange on Vimeo.
ICTD 2012
Just got back from ICTD 2012 down at Georgia Tech, and am excited about the state of the field. This conference is a gathering for academics and practitioners working in the international development and technology spaces. We got to see talks about everything from mapping to public health, mobile phone applications and new open source … Continue reading ICTD 2012
Big day of ethics and research in conflict settings at S-CAR!
Hey everyone! I'm participating in a conference on research and ethics in conflict zones today at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and it might be interesting to pop in on remotely since it's being streamed live since it's now archived here!
Pitfalls to Research, Technology and Crowdsourcing
I'll be giving a presentation at George Mason's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution on February 9 on research methods and crowdsourcing in conflict affected settings. As I've been preparing, I've been lucky enough to have the input of the TechChange team and in particular the inimitable Rob Baker as I developed the portion of the … Continue reading Pitfalls to Research, Technology and Crowdsourcing
Charles P. Martin-Shields 