Time published an article earlier this week on efforts in Uganda to Tracking Disease One Text at a Time. UNICEF's Innovation Team and the World Health Organization teamed up in Uganda to track the details of drug supplies and disease outbreak recorded by Ugandan health ministry workers using mobile phones. The Ureport group, which develops SMS-based communities of knowledge, also jumped on the project to help track health incidences, supplies, and access across the country. AidData previously worked with UNICEF Uganda and Ureport to run a randomized-control trial (RCT) in Uganda around what incentives citizens (Ureporters) to submit information on polling questions. The full paper on the results of the RCT is available on Zunia.
The Guardian's Tim Weber did a review its Activate Summit held over the summer. One of the major themes of the conference was that "technology is no panacea". Weber writes, however, that despite this realization, technology "offers huge opportunities: it can be a source of wealth and knowledge". One such example comes from Alex Torpey, the Mayor of South Orange in New Jersey, USA. wrote a piece in the Huffington Post on ways in which "open government" can move beyond just an idea or empty words into practical implementation. Alex points to open budget data, public document accessibility, and better communications as key to putting "open government" in place. He is cautious, however, to say that technology is the main driver of "open government", and that first and foremost it's about getting people involved.
Open development
sets
out a new vision of what development means, how it comes about and what role the various partners play. This means new spaces for new actors, and new roles and responsibilities for actors who've been entrenched in the ways in which development was done for so long. The UN-APCICT launched its online communities of practice. The virtual space is meant to bring together and connect those wishing to learn about ICT4D with experts in the field. The rise of these new online knowledge sharing platforms is helping create dynamic communities around themes. For example, in Zimbabwe, the Development Reality Institute (begun by ICT4D specialist Verengai Mabika) with support from UN Volunteers and SIDA, has created a virtual school on climate change challenges and adaptation practices.
Featured Dataset: On the AidData Research Datasets page, visitors can find the new Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program database on climate aid. This is the first ever look at where international assistance targeted at addressing the impacts of climate change are flowing within a country. In addition to downloading the data, users can go to the CCAPS Aid Dashboard and see if climate aid is going to areas of highest climate vulnerability within Malawi. CCAPS and AidData, partners in the climate coding and geocoding efforts, will be rolling out the methodology to track additional countries and donor agencies.
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