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Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 10/2013

Health, Education, Social Protection News & Notes 10/2013

A bi-weekly newsletter supported by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). The newsletter is between 25 and 35 pages in Adobe PDF format - usually not larger than 650 kB and deals with summaries of books, online publications, electronic resources, web pages, training opportunities, conferences and computer and internet tips & tricks. You can download and search back issues (2005 - 2012) of this newsletter at: http://german-practice-collection.org/en/links/ more...

Added by

Dieter Neuvians on May 12, 2013

Market for feature phone apps is low-tech goldmine

Market for feature phone apps is low-tech goldmine

In the West, you might deploy a bus tracking app on your smartphone to inform you when an errant bus will arrive. But in India the mobile infrastructure is less developed. Even if it were available, many people don't have smartphones to take advantage of such apps. Feature phones, which perhaps boast basic forms of GPS, camera, MP3 player and some kind of internet access, as well as the ability to run simple apps, have become increasingly popular in the developing world. They occupy the middle more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

The Umpteenth Blog on using SMS Feedback in Projects…Now with Support!

The Umpteenth Blog on using SMS Feedback in Projects…Now with Support!

blogs.worldbank.org –

With shiny apps hogging the mobile spotlight these days, one could be forgiven for forgetting about SMS (“Short Message Service” or text messaging). When equipping a project to receive and respond to complaints, it’s important to remember that all modes of communication contain tradeoffs that exclude different types of people depending on the type of message they have. Face to face prevents true anonymity. Mail is slow. Phone calls can become expensive. And just to more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

Big Data from Cheap Phones

Big Data from Cheap Phones

technologyreview.com –

Caroline Buckee, a Harvard epidemiologist, is using detailed data on population movements - gleaned from mobile phones - to build precise new tools for fighting the spread of malaria. Buckee’s most recent study, published last year in Science and based on records from 15 million Kenyan phones, is a result of a collaboration with her husband, Nathan Eagle, who has been working to make sense of cell-phone data for more than a decade. That demonstration suggests how such data might be harnessed more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

Who Stole My Cow? Open Data and Praedial Larceny

Who Stole My Cow? Open Data and Praedial Larceny

blog.usaid.gov –

Praedial larceny - the theft of agricultural produce and livestock - is widely acknowledged as a major threat to agricultural production and food security in developing countries. It robs legitimate producers, stifles incentives for farming entrepreneurs and adversely affects the poor. In Jamaica, this scourge deprives farmers of more than JA$5 billion (US$52 million) each year. At its core, praedial larceny thrives on information asymmetries that limit coordination between stakeholders, such more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

Challenges for Community Radio in India's Rural Development

Challenges for Community Radio in India's Rural Development

blogs.worldbank.org –

India’s 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) talks of challenges emanating from the economy’s transition to a higher growth path, the structural changes that come with it and the expectations it generates. These parameters are more critical for an estimated 833 million people in India who continue to live in rural areas and a very large proportion of whom, both men and women, are either wholly or significantly still dependent for their livelihood on farm as well as non-farm activities. A grant of more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

In South Africa, Organizers Combine Old and New Media to Take on Corruption

In South Africa, Organizers Combine Old and New Media to Take on Corruption

techpresident.com –

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2012, South Africa received a score of 4.4 out of 10, with 10 being the least corrupt and 0 the most. The Corruption Watch team, many of whom are former journalists, has been keen to leverage their contacts in traditional media outlets as well. With limited budgets, this outreach is more challenging for the NGO, yet necessary in order to reach the South African public. The team has worked with local television, radio, and more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

Tout brotherhood controls slots, rules passport empire

Tout brotherhood controls slots, rules passport empire

articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com –

In all the mess over online passport appointments in India, the tout seems to be the only beneficiary. Although appointments don't cost a paisa under the system, touts charge anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000 for booking a slot. There are many big fish that have strong connections with passport officials. They are either full-time into this, or do other jobs and take this as a side business. And though the new system promises a transparent, middleman-free interface, reality seems to be far more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

The Problem with Our Data Obsession

The Problem with Our Data Obsession

technologyreview.com –

In his trenchant new book, To Save Everything Click Here, Evgeny Morozov, a writer for Slate andThe New Republic, uses the Eightmaps episode to support his claim that “Internet-centrism” is warping our view of what’s truly important. Transparency is ascending at the expense of other values, Morozov suggests, mainly because it is so cheap and easy to use the Internet to distribute data that might someday prove useful. And because we’re so often told that the Internet has liberated us from the more...

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D C to Open Development Technology Alliance on May 12, 2013

MENA regional SME Finance conference attracts large crowd, lively discussion

israacapital.com –

On 7-8 May I attended the MENA regional SME finance meeting co-sponsored by IFC and the Arab Monetary Fund, the theme of which was "Building a high performing SME business". It gathered some 250 bankers and SME finance experts from the region and beyond. Discussion themes included: perspectives on strategic opportunities from bank CEOs and international experts, innovations in risk management, maximizing revenues through strategic customer risk management, banking on women, more...

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matthew gamser to SME Finance Forum on May 12, 2013

Subjective Probabilities, Ratings, Handicappers, and Open Access Online Scientific Literature

Subjective Probabilities, Ratings, Handicappers, and Open Access Online Scientific Literature

stconsultant.blogspot.com –

In a previous post I proposed an iterative process that can be used sequentially add information to the rating of research proposals, providing quantitative results. This post extends that method to show how information on the source of the proposal and the source of the review can be used to improve the results. It also provides a measure of the information provided by the review at each stage. The method is extended to rating open access online scientific publications and non-peer more...

Added by

John Daly on May 11, 2013

Improving The Data

Improving The Data

aiddatachina.org –

While the initial database was built by AidData staff and researchers, AidData encourage you to help us improve the data by identifying errors and omissions and suggesting alternative sources of information. This public resource was created in full anticipation of this fact and in the hope that others who are knowledgeable about specific Chinese development finance activities will help improve the accuracy, scope and depth of the database over time.

Added by

D C on May 10, 2013

The AidData database debate heats up

The AidData database debate heats up

storify.com –

The newly released AidData database on China’s development finance to Africa has created quite a storm amongst China-Africa watchers. The Guardian.co.uk put up an impressive interactive piece entitled “Soft power, hard cash: how Beijing spent billions on aid and development in Africa.” The piece claimed that research has revealed the true value of aid and it lauded the newly launched AidData database as "one of the most ambitious attempts to chip away at Chinese secrecy". AidData was more...

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D C on May 10, 2013

Can Crowd Sourcing Improve Data on Chinese Aid to Africa?

Can Crowd Sourcing Improve Data on Chinese Aid to Africa?

themonkeycage.org –

AidData has a full response to Deborah Brautigam’s criticism of their data that I discussed yesterday. The debate contains a lot of nuts and bolts but it also raises some issues that should interest anyone involved in using or collecting large amounts of data based onlocal media reports. I am sympathetic to both claims. I fear that Brautigam is correct that people will start using the data simply because it is there without much regard for data quality. Yet, there is much to be more...

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D C on May 10, 2013

AidData: Why it is not Wikipedia

AidData: Why it is not Wikipedia

chinaafricarealstory.com –

The debate about AidData's "crowd-sourcing" methodology is heating up. A recent note on Development Gateway in support of AidData compared AidData's methodology to Wikipedia, saying that this kind of crowd-sourcing of information can be productive. AidData has responded to my critique in part by pointing out that they realize that many deals are not confirmed. That's not how it looks to me. The table we are discussing has a column on status. Of the nearly 1700 projects, 687 have a status of " more...

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D C on May 10, 2013

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