TechandCommunity

Blaze Mobile Wallet

The Blaze Mobile Wallet uses a system of stickers that are embedded with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag that is linked to a credit or bank account.  This allows people to wave their card, keychain or phone over a merchant terminal at any place that accepts the RFID system.  The idea of mobile wallets are already quite popular in Japan, although the system there depends on chips, not stickers.

http://www.blazewallet.com/

Article from today's NY Times:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/attacking-the-mobile-wallet-gap/

Academic Earth is the HULU for education

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032400958.html

http://academicearth.org/

Academic Earth serves as a clearinghouse for video lectures, transcripts, and notes from universities across the world. While the above information was out there, they were "grossly underutilized, as they were scattered across different sites and offered in varying file formats, making them difficult to find and browse." Although this is not a new technology, sometimes just making the information more accessible through a central location can allow the information to be utilized in a way that creates ownership by the community as the information becomes personalized to their needs.

Building Community with Twitter

Had this twittered so I thought I pass it on. http://blog.shoutem.com/2009/03/25/build-your-blog-community-with-twitter/

It lists ten ways to engage people on twitter. I like #1, though I guess my followers don't like answering my questions...

Tech

Thought you might be interested - Cisco buys Flip Video for $590million
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/19/its-official-cisco-buys-pure-figital-flip-video-for-590-million/

Egyptian Women and the use of Technology for VOICE

"Young Egyptian women are using blogs and online radio stations to beat the censors and to fight for equality."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7950729.stm

Mobile Voices

... Now the mobile blogging component of Mobile Voices is just one aspect of a project that could potentially include a mobile interface job board which links day laborers with contractors seeking workers with specific skills or time availability, and an alert system (probably based on Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS) which warns undocumented workers of immigration raids that affect them.

Currently there are five day laborers - Adolfo, Marcos, Manuel, "Crijm", and "ZamoraN" - participating in the pilot mobile blogging project. They document their daily lives by sending Gizmo-based voicemails, MMS, and text messages to a customized Drupal content management system. It is even possible to subscribe to the blog posts via SMS. ...

More in-depth description of the project

http://www.mobilevoices.net/

World Internet Project

The World Internet Project (WIP) is a major, international, collaborative project looking at the social, political and economic impact of the Internet and other new technologies. Conceived as the study of the Internet that should have been conducted of television in its early days, the WIP believes that the Internet's influence will ultimately be far greater than television. Whereas television has mostly been about entertainment, the Internet has the potential to transform how the world plays, works and learns.  www.worldinternetproject.net

Beatrice White and Jane Farmer

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11.954 Applying Tech to TdM Leaders, Akala

References:

Web 2.0 (W)

HDTV (H)

Games (G)

Radio (R)

Mobile (M)

TDM Leaders

1. Which of these technologies (in their current state) are most applicable for engaging the profile person in as many of the elements of community building as possible?

                    Voice – R,M
                    Information – R,M,W,G
                    Knowledge – R,W
                    Relationships – R,M,G
                    Access – R,W
                    Ownership – R,M

So Radio is very applicable across the board, as well as Mobile and Web 2.0 to a lesser degree. Note that Mobile in this case does not include mobile internet access which is beyond the current Access level of technology in the region. The real limiting issue for applicability is Access due to the various social exclusion factors, and that is why Web 2.0 and Mobile with internet or DTV are not immediately applicable to the community.

The leaders, however, are assumed to have a bit more access to the nearby towns with internet cafes, therefore Web 2.0 is a viable option

2. Which of the technologies that are not appropriate would be more appropriate if, one aspect of the technology were changed?

HDTV is not immediately appropriate due to access restrictions. TV itself is appropriate for the community, so if you just remove the HD part, we can begin to acknowledge TV’s ability to increase Access to Information and Knowledge. Relationships may or may not be considered more appropriate, but I would argue it would likely help more than hinder the relationships.

Web would be more appropriate if the supporting infrastructure was set up to allow for Access to internet. This effort will take considerable time, especially considering the current focus on simply rebuilding their lives after the earthquake. Another way to increase the web access is to have an NGO or the municipality set up a satellite computer facility equipped with web at the local school, or in a community center, or even simply having meetings with leaders and providing them with access to web.

Gaming might really work if the community (and therefore individual) culture accepted this as a useful activity for building relationships and gaining knowledge and info.

3. What technologies are emerging that you believe offer the best possibility for engaging the profile person in community building?

Since radio is so popular, any variations of radio that improves upon what currently exists would be good. For instance, a radio program for Afro-Peruvian music is something that may be useful, as well as some sort of radio community program for people to use. The problem with this is the radio broadcasting stations are in Chincha Alta, about an hour away and that drive is expensive.

Web 2.0 technology I see as very useful for setting up something within the community to help them access the rest of the world and also implement an online community mapping system would be interesting. This, again, requires time to set up a working computer system with sustained internet access

Mobile also has some potential in a similar way as Web 2.0 but also in the more abstract sense, portability of tech has huge potential especially during this interim rebuilding stage.

Recommended Technologies:

inSTEDD RapidSMS

Community Mapping

GIS Mapping

Akala – Aboriginal Teenager

1. Which of these technologies (in their current state) are most applicable for engaging the profile person in as many of the elements of community building as possible?

Voice – R,M,W
Information – R,M,W,G
Knowledge – R,M,W
Relationships – R,M,W,G
Access – R,M,W
Ownership – M,W,G

So Web 2.0, Mobile, and Radio seem to be applicable across the board. Gaming also has some good potential, and DTV not so much.

2. Which of the technologies that are not appropriate would be more appropriate if, one aspect of the technology were changed?

HDTV is not immediately appropriate due to access restrictions. TV itself is appropriate for the community, so if you just remove the HD part, we can begin to acknowledge TV’s ability to increase Access to Information and Knowledge. Relationships may or may not be considered more appropriate, but I would argue it would likely help more than hinder the relationships.

Web would be more appropriate if the supporting infrastructure was set up to allow for continued Personal Access to internet. This effort will take considerable time, especially given the economic and isolated situation these remote Aboriginal communities find themselves in. Another way to increase the web access is to have an NGO or the municipality set up a satellite computer facility equipped with web at the local school, or in a community center, or even simply having meetings with leaders and providing them with access to web.

Gaming might really work if the community (and therefore individual) culture accepted this as a useful activity for building relationships and gaining knowledge and info.

3. What technologies are emerging that you believe offer the best possibility for engaging the profile person in community building?

Since radio is so popular, opportunities provided through radio for the community to use on their own (including youth) might be useful for Ownership and Voice – but the radio can also be used as it is now – for distance education which helps with Knowledge and Information.

Web 2.0 technology I see as very useful for setting up something within the community to help them access the rest of the world and also implement an online community mapping system would be interesting. This, again, requires time to set up a working computer system with sustained internet access

Mobile has a lot of potential for sustained personal Access to online communities. Grasping a glimpse of what is going on around the world can give the youth motivation to succeed and break out of the oppressive cycle they find themselves in.

Recommended Technologies:

Podcasting programming as a way of connecting with rural communities.

Web 2.0 as an education tool

Akla & Children of Tambo De Mora

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