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.

In November 2009, scholars, industry professionals, and civil society organisations convened in Havana, Cuba, to examine issues related to health research. Dr. Arul Chib, Assistant Director of the Singapore Internet Research Centre, contributed to a robust Global Cafe discussion on Innovation for Remote Populations. The lively debate centred on the topics of mHealth and mobile health delivery innovations to reach remote populations and empower remote populations to engage with the broader world. The aim of the session was to develop recommendations to improve information sharing among practitioners and policy makers to scale up the best ideas.

Give Hope this Christmas

As the season of Christmas and the New Year fast approaches, it’s an opportune time for us to take a moment to reflect on the events of the year 2009.

Just a few months ago, South East Asia (particularly the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos) was hit by an unprecedented series of typhoons which destroyed lives, and ravaged homes. Amidst this calamity, the survivors have demonstrated resilience and faith in picking up the pieces and moving on.

We pray that the relief efforts continue to reach those who are still in need, and that they will have the strength to rise above life’s adversities.

For those in Singapore who wish to help:

• Drop-off point for donations is Afreight Cargo, #03-09 Lucky Plaza, Orchard Rd. Contact Maureen Schepers 6235-1011. Get more information here: http://www.pinoysg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=664644#664644

Donate Online:

• ABS-CBN Foundation
• Ateneo Alumni Northeast, Inc
• Australian Red Cross
• Ayala Foundation (select AFI-Typhoon Relief Fund in drop down menu)
• eBay
• Gawad Kalinga
• Global Giving
• HOPE Worldwide
• Operation Blessing International
• PhilippineAid.com
• Philippine National Red Cross
• PayPal: PayPal is also accepting donations now. Please send to give@redcross.org.ph.
• Thomson Reuters Foundation (total sum donated by October 16 will be matched by the company)
• TXTPower (Paypal)
• UNICEF USA (anonymous donor will match your donation up to $100,000 before Oct. 6!)
• Xoom
• World Food Programme

It was a bright sunny day but the office of Brainstorm Bangladesh seemed brighter due to the presence of seven young local researchers. A seminar titled ‘Qualitative Research: Introduction & Approaches’ was arranged for the research assistants, who were going to collect data for the SIRCA research project. These local researchers came from the villages of Manikganj where Grameen Phone Community Information Center (GPCIC) is in operation. They came from remote villages with educational background not over graduate level.

After the commencement of the project in February 2009, one of the main research dimensions was to involve the local researchers, employ their contextual understanding, and develop their research capacity. The research focuses on assessment of development impact of ICT intervention in rural areas at micro (community) level in Bangladesh; a developing setting. One of the major difficulties regarding these research projects is trying to determine the contextual factors and little focus is given to societal factors that result in less emphasis on the root level users’ actual demand. Moreover, the project employs an interpretive approach. Interpretive researchers interact constantly with the study subject and surrounding context; so they may encounter the following challenges while gaining understanding of the subject (the human process):

• Social-cultural problems
• Accommodation problems
• Difficulty in understanding the local dialects
• Communication gaps
• Participants’ feeling of not being aligned
• Feeling of being alienated

Therefore, the involvement of local researchers is the best way to overcome these challenges and understand the real development perceptions from the intervention’s end user perspective. In the ICT4D impact research, development issues have to be contextual in order to find out the actual impact from the end users’ perspective. In addition, academicians and researchers think results should not be isolated from the social context. Participants’ view of development can be better understood by using local researchers.

In September 28, 2009, the SIRCA Research Mentor, Dr. Roger Harris visited GPCIC in Manikganj and suggested creating and building the capacity of local researchers. To explore the maximum outcome, we invited the researchers to a qualitative research orientation conducted by Project Investigator, Dr. Md. Mahfuz Ashraf and also to share research experiences. The topics discussed in the seminar were:

• Introduction to SIRCA research
• Presentation on research methodology
• Qualitative research tools (interview, observation and focus group discussion)
• How to write village profile

After the seminar, the local researchers went to their village and conducted a pilot study on GPCIC study site. They conducted some interviews, wrote transcripts and village profiles. The access to resources like computer and internet connectivity is very limited in their villages but still these researchers utilize the minimal resources in the most efficient way. For instance, one of the researchers Md. Rokon sketched the village map, scanned the image and e-mailed it to us. He also interviewed his uncle and sent the participant’s photographs.

Local researchers interviewed participants. Researchers are also from the same place as the participants.

It is argued that access to field-level data is always difficult in ICT for Development (ICT4D) research especially for those who are researching in western countries. So, these local researchers can be a source of obtaining end users’ data and transcripts (local language to English) to offshore researchers, which will ultimately lower the research cost and time.

In April 2009, Dr Arul Chib presented his paper, “Extending the Technology-Community-Management Model to Disaster Recovery: Assessing Vulnerability in Rural Asia”, at the 3rd International IEEE/ACM Conference on Information and Communications Technologies and Development (ICTD2009) held in Doha, Qatar. This multi-disciplinary conference on ICTs and human development brought together a diverse group of individuals striving towards social progress and betterment. In addition to a series of scholarly presentations, the conference also lined up interactive workshops which opened discussions on the budding sphere of ICT research and implementation. Beyond serving as a platform to network, and learn, such conferences encourage emerging scholars to critically assess their contributions to the field, and overall human development.

In June 12-14, 2009, PAN Asia Networking (PAN) will hold the “All Partners’ Conference” to bring together its research partners in the Asian region. The conference is a key evaluation activity at the mid-point of PAN’s current programming life-cycle. The conference will be held at the Wawasan Open University in Penang, Malaysia. More than 150 participants, including project and sub-project leads, representatives from PAN research networks, targeted global researchers in ICTD, key regional practitioners and researchers, evaluators, donors and relevant IDRC staff will attend the conference.

The conference is intended for people who are related to PAN projects and therefore participation is by invitation only.

Joanna will be presenting at a joint clinic session with Hammad Durrani from PANACeA. She will present the processes in place with SIRCA and will also present analysis from a recent survey done of the researchers working with the mentors and the mentors themselves.

In recognition of the growing trend toward supporting needs-based and responsive mentorship activities within the structure of projects, this clinic is designed to share experiences of the Strengthening ICTD Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA) grants program and PANACeA, which is a multi-country research network on eHealth. The clinic will discuss the role of mentorship in these projects, the strategic design and processes of the two different projects, as well as the pressing opportunities and challenges that are faced when designing such a function. The session will include hands-on exercises for the audince members.

Ms. Grace Kwan, SIRCA Progamme Officer, attended the IDRC Workshop on research communication at Hyderabad. It was a great exposure to various communication frameworks presented by representatives from Overseas Development Institute (RAPID – Research and Policy in Development); Tactical Technologies Collective (Visualizing Data); PANOS (RELAY); and TVE Asia Pacific (Television and New Media). She had the opportunity to interact with representatives of other IDRC-funded projects and share experiences through hands-on activities during the workshop.