ICT4D Lecture Notes

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IREX Lecture Series

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Technology for Social Change with Tactical Technology Collective (7/19/07)

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Summary

I think their NGO in a Box tools (discussed more below) could serve as a wonderful capacity-building toolkit for many of the organizations we work with. The presentation discussed the power of leveraging technology, especially web 2.0 technologies like flickr and youtube to promote social change (YouTube can display a video of factory workers' conditions taken by an illicit cellphone camera as well as it can display cute cat videos, to paraphrase a slide from Ethan Zuckerman, partner in http://www.globalvoicesonline.org (which has an excellent map application)

NGO in a Box is a set of software and training manuals for NGO/NPOs working in development, human rights, health and related fields. All the software is free and mostly open source (volunteer-created), and Tactical selects specific tools best suited to NGO needs. They have various editions of their CD box set, a base toolset with desktop software as well as tools to set up an office server and website, and then addons for security, publishing, and and audio/video tooklit (http://www.ngoinabox.org/)

  • Source Events - retreat style environment, hands on learning events
  • Demystifying tech for civil soc
    • How to build capacity in NGOs and local level
    • bring technologists and NGOs together (speaking diff. languages)
    • accessible tools (OSS lacking slickness)
    • useful tech for advocacy
  • Two programatic areas of TT
    • Hands on skills building
    • NGO in a Box - thematic peer reviewed materials and guides (many with localized content, focused with interest and partners)
      • global technologists debate on which tools are the best in various circumstances
      • purposefully selective, not comprehensive, goal-driven (if you want a blog, you should use X)
      • Toolkits: Base box, open publishing, a/v, citizen journalism, security/privacy (focused on HRts workers), mobile advocacy (cell phones for advocacy)
    • Strategic: Movement building
      • ICT Skills should be acquired by the advocates; need to help in informed decision making
  • Tech and Advocacy
    • Biz sector as example; same benefits on data mgmt can benefit advocacy
    • unmediated voices and dynamic
    • increase/leverage limd resources esp. if working against a govt or corp
  • How build capacity
    • bring together members of group, share "pockets" of expertise, lightt touch, low outside drop-in, can't always rely on local corp capacity depending on situation
  • eAdvocacy / info-activism (less focus on campaign/outreach, more on internal needs)
    • web 2.0: Ethan Zuckerman's slide from GlobalVoicesOnline youtube/flickr/googleMaps/twitter/blogger : moving from cute videos/photos of cats to promoting situiations (protects, subversive news/photos/etc.)
      • twitter: egyptian blogger alaa uses it to update friends on his imprisonment status, blogs from jail via paper/sneakernet
      • Google MyMaps: Tunisian Prison Map on Google Maps with YT photos/animations/etc.; Bahrain maps revealing land usage set aside for palaces/royalty
      • Blogs/CMS: Mzalendo.com - kenyan parliament CMS site, inspired by TheyworkForYou (UK parl. site)
    • Participation (mobile phone usage)
      • Fahamou - SMS.cellphones in Africa survey of 50 diff implementations
      • Use mobile phones to survey usage ov HIV meds,
      • probl with illiteracy when surveying, but some can use SMS "language"
  • Security/ownership issues
    • Ownership with web 2.0 : Yahoo owning Flickr, Google and Blogger,YT - probs with China and these countries
    • blocking and censorship
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Questions

  • Mobile Phone toolkits - country support? Kn is out there (Ja / JaLUG / TechJa),
    • Goals? communication, health reporting, gov't/info access
    • Problems: unreliable and unpredictable : messages may not be delivered, or timely; security probs
  • Blocking: TOR? (included in NGO in a Box)
  • Ownership: Microsoft? Vista's new reporting and anti-piracy measures?
  • OLPC?
  • Localization - use local partners, "holy grail" hard to minimize costs
    • Amazon's Mechanical Turk?
  • govts and NGOiaB and censorship
    • OpenNetInitiative
      • govts sharing blocking technology
      • has a list of blocked sites, scared to release it
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Onwards

  • (YSA) - ICT toolkit? (using NGO in a Box, Flickr and YouTube and TIG and servenet as tools) Digital Security fold-up strategies
  • NGOinaBox: LiveCD/USBstick version with SSH tunnel to TT central site for sync and live website interaction???
  • Tactical Tech "camp" - expression under repression 08 in Asia/India?
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Telehaz Cybercenter successes in Hungary with Mátyás Gáspár 06/05/07


Notes coming when I can find them again...

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