Big shout out to the TechChange team, especially to Gerard McCarthy our Director of Asia/Pacific Programs to getting this video rendered, edited, and up for viewing. Just some thoughts on tech, human rights and small island states - the talk was given in July in Sydney, Australia.
Technology
Friday Wrap-up
What's happened in political economy, conflict and tech this week? Every Friday I'm going to take on the personal challenge of writing a wrap-up with a bit of analysis, along with the usual longer posts and book reviews. So without further ado... Mining strikes continue in South Africa after the Lonmin miners' strike in August. … Continue reading Friday Wrap-up
An Unscientific Look at Stock Market Performance and Mobile Money, Pt.2
Yesterday we wrapped the post by saying that perhaps there's some way that market indicators such as currency performance and basis rates could indicate the ripeness for a mobile money program in a country. This begs the question though about whether mobile banking actually leads to better economic outcomes for people, or just tells us … Continue reading An Unscientific Look at Stock Market Performance and Mobile Money, Pt.2
An Unscientific Look at Stock Market Performance and Mobile Money, Pt.1
I'm still on this "political economy of technology for development/peace" kick. This article came to mind since I've seen a lot of research on mobile money from the mobile telephone access side, but not much on the macroeconomic side (please share if you have good stuff on this!). I do like this piece from William Jack … Continue reading An Unscientific Look at Stock Market Performance and Mobile Money, Pt.1
Post on the Lowy Interpreter!
For those who have been wondering what I've been doing with my writing, and why I haven't been as active on Espresso Politics the last few days, here's the excuse. My colleague Gerard McCarthy and I had a blog post on tech for diplomacy in the Asia/Pacific region published on the Lowy Institute's blog The … Continue reading Post on the Lowy Interpreter!
A Musing on Tech for Peacebuilding: Continued
So I started writing to shake off the rust before the grist mill of academia starts back up later this month, and writing becomes a demand instead of a pastime. Earlier I wrote a piece where I delved into my excitement and skepticism about how technology will lead to peace and stability. This not to that … Continue reading A Musing on Tech for Peacebuilding: Continued
A Musing on Tech for Peacebuilding
It's been ages since I posted, so instead of a targeted piece on some particular topic I thought I'd post something general. Consider it a shakedown post to get the rust off. A bunch of things happened this summer which have shifted my view on technology and peacebuilding. In some ways my belief that these … Continue reading A Musing on Tech for Peacebuilding
Crowdsourcing Done Well: A follow up from yesterday’s post
Yesterday's post may have been a bit of a downer given the critical position on crowdsourcing that I took. While I think a critical eye is necessary to grow the space, I wouldn't want to leave out what's being done well. With that in mind I wanted to point folks to Patrick Meier's recent post … Continue reading Crowdsourcing Done Well: A follow up from yesterday’s post
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
Charles P. Martin-Shields 