Democratic Participation

Jobs! Check Out Current Tech- and Mobile-in-Social-Change Positions!

Looking for a job in the field of mobile tech for social change and development? The MobileActive Discuss list and the MobileActive newsletter are great resources not only for talking about the latest issues and topics in the ICT4D world, but also for jobs. Here's a sampling of some of the recent openings posted:

Inveneo is seeking an ICTD Network Operations Engineer. The position is based in San Francisco with some travel. Available immediately.

There is an open Programme Coordinator ICT for Development (ICT4D) with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Human Rights Watch is seeking a Researcher on the Internet and Human Rights. The position is based in Washington, DC (or flexible). Deadline is May 18, 2012.

The Chiapas Institute of Health (ISECH) is looking to fill some technical positions for the Mesoamerican Health Initiative project in Mexico.

Tobacco Free Kids, based in Washington, DC, is looking for an experienced applicant for an Associate Director of International Communications (Social Media) position. The position will be open until filled.

The newly founded Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) in Berlin is seeking applications from researchers and phd candidates for several positions:
- Research Position at the Policy & Governance Section. Backgrounds in STS, Political Science, Sociology, Cultural Studies or Media and Communication Studies are especially welcome.
- Doctoral Positions at the Institute.

05.11.12 EKStallings Advocacy Democratic Participation Education Health

uReport: Citizen Feedback via SMS in Uganda

For aid organizations, knowing what local communities and beneficiaries want and need is the key to running successful, sustainable programs. In Uganda, UNICEF is using mobile phones and broadcast media to get direct feedback from Ugandans on everything from medication access to water sanitation. The project, called uReport, allows users to sign up via a toll-free shortcode for regular SMS-based polls and messages. Citizen responses are used both in weekly radio talk shows to create discussion on community issues, and shared among UNICEF and other aid organizations to provide a better picture of how services work across Uganda.

Sean Blaschke, a Technology for Development specialist at UNICEF Uganda, explains that uReport gathers information from participants and informs citizens of their rights and available services. Recent polls have included questions about school dropouts, water point availability, mosquito net usage, and youth employment, all collected via SMS polls.

The use of SMS makes the program available to all literate mobile users regardless of handset; says Blaschke,

08.28.11 AnneryanHeatwole Advocacy Citizen Media Democratic Participation

Secure Chat on Android: Gibberbot, a User Guide

Gibberbot is an instant messaging app for Android phones, developed by The Guardian Project. Gibberbot implements off-the-record messaging (OTR). Off-the-record messaging is a way to conduct an instant messaging conversation with the following attributes

Encryption. An eavesdropper cannot read your messages
Authentication. You can verify the identity of the person you’re chatting to - or at least of the account they are using.
Deniability. It is not possible for a third party to prove that a particular user sent or received a particular message.
Perfect forward secrecy. It is not possible for an attacker to decrypt a previous conversation, even if he/she obtains the encryption keys used to encrypt it.

Gibberbot can also use Orbot to route your chats over the Tor network. This prevents an observer from following the source and destination of your messages (effectively, from knowing you are chatting) and provides a way to circumvent web censorship that may involve chat servers being blocked.

Off-the-record messaging only works when both parties in the conversation are using it. This means both parties need to use Gibberbot, another mobile app, or chat software that supports it. Currently Gibberbot is the only option we know of for mobile phones. Off-the-record plugins are available for several PC chat programs, including Pidgin (Windows and Linux), Adium (Mac), Trillian (Windows) and Miranda (Windows).