SIRCA Evaluator – Ann Mizumoto
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I am excited to join SIRCA as the new Evaluator to assess its program to develop a strong and robust research capacity in Asia in the discipline of ICT4D. The role of communications technology for development in this era of rapid globalization, particularly for lower and middle-income countries, is indispensable for their social and economic development. Information and communications technology is amorphous, borderless, invisible – mobile phone signals reaching monks in Bhutan, wireless internet access connecting villagers in rural India, radio waves blasting out public health campaigns in the Amazon. But there is also a true physicality to the phenomenon of communications technology – migrant workers, for example, toil in construction sites and households in Dubai, Hong Kong, or Singapore to clothe children back home, provide meals on the table, buy plots of farm land, and build cement homes.
Prior to joining SIRCA, I worked for a not-for-profit organization here in Singapore that provided financial and computer skills to migrant domestic workers. The domestic workers surf the internet to search for property prices for a future business, reduce their phone bills by using Skype to call home, and unquestionably drive economic development with their billions of dollars of remittances home. It is exciting to witness development through ICT and my role in SIRCA will hopefully go beyond documenting the program’s impact, and contribute to improving the lives of people through information and communications technology.
Ann possesses a Master of Public Health and Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and has worked for UNICEF (India and New York), UNAIDS (New York), and Asia-Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (Bangkok). In her work, Ann was involved in the data collection, analysis and publishing of relevant reports related to various development projects. She has also worked in the interface of technology and healthcare as an analyst in the decision support departments of two hospitals in New York City.