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SIPA Workshop with UNICEF on Mobile Data Collection
By Till Pappenfuss
During the Spring Semester 2010 five SIPA students under the academic leadership of Prof. Elisabeth Lindenmayer, Director of the UN Studies Program, are working together with UNICEF on possible applications of mobile technologies in developing countries. UNICEF and SIPA have established a mutually beneficial working relationship over the past years which has led to an award for the outcome of a project in Malawi using RapidSMS for collecting data on malnutrition, employment for a member of the student team, new ideas for UNICEF, and, importantly, an innovative new tool for health workers in Malawi. Building on the previous success, this year’s project marks the continuation of this exciting partnership and exposes the current student team to two ongoing projects – one in Iraq, and one in Uganda.
Essentially providing an external analytic perspective, the students have been asked to partner with the two ongoing UNICEF pilot projects that introduce mobile technologies for data collection in Iraq and Uganda. To this end, the group was divided into two teams, one for each country, and will use the spring break to go to the field for a first-hand assessment. Using these two case studies, the aim of this project is to distill lessons on the use of this technology, to assess what some of the difficulties might be that arise from its application, and find out how this technology can be advocated in the real world of high level policy debates. This last part is of crucial relevance, as getting the necessary government buy-in is no trivial affair. Perceptions of a North-South divide as well as concerns over the viability of mobile data need to be addressed and framed in a way so that political support can be generated.
In December 2009, two students had the privilege of travelling to Amman to participate in a large workshop hosted by the UNICEF innovations unit as well as the UNICEF Iraq Country Office. The conference brought together a uniquely heterogeneous group including members of the Iraqi government, UNICEF field experts, cutting-edge scientists and activists working on applications of technology for development purposes, both from the region as well as from places like NYU and MIT, and, us two SIPA students!
The conference showcased the intricacies of securing the necessary government support, but was also encouraging, because basic consensus was ultimately achieved between the government of Iraq and UNICEF, and because of the extremely exciting and fruitful conference sessions. During the sessions and during various innovative collaborative group work exercises, we were able to experience and see some of the latest ideas on how cheap technologies can improve and to a certain extent revolutionize the way we think about development. These ideas include a balloon mapping method that with hardware costs of under $30 allows for the building of maps with a multitude of Google Earth’s resolution; reporting applications used by Al Jazeera that enable reporters to submit geo-located articles and video messages using nothing but their cell phone; abd a cell-phone based polling service from Palestine that even includes an SMS-based job fair that allows for submission of a basic resume as well as many other tools and applications.
Stay tuned for an update on the progress of the project and more trip reports from Jordan and Uganda!