Unpacking Development

First day of Medicine 2.0 today.  In general, the conference hasn’t focused on my global health and tech interests but is looking at practical solutions for Western health issues.  It was probably naive of me, but I didn’t expect such an academic focus: the presenters keep reminding us that they’re not tech people, but rather [...]

The Undercurrent Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Development Studies publishes open source academic papers by Canada’s International Development undergrads, covering topics from indigenous land rights to microcredit to media representation of the developing world. Undercurrent aims to: To raise the profile of undergraduate IDS To establish a venue in which young scholars may undergo constructive review [...]

Lately I’ve been getting really into how people are using Web 2.0 for global change.  I’ve been learning more about sites and projects from socially-conscious social networks (like TakingITGlobal, Change.org, and Razoo) to mashups for humanitarian crisis reporting (like Ushahidi and Sokwanele) to global blogging hubs (like Global Voices). Today, while trying to find examples [...]

I’ve been spending too much time reading other people’s blogs this week than posting, and have also been slightly distracted by something called finishing my degree! Anyway, I wanted to share these great blogs I’ve been reading lately. A lot of them focus on web 2.0 and Africa, but some have a more general focus: [...]

World according to the Human Development Index Sometimes it feels like we only engage with Africa through demoralizing statistics. This many millions suffering from Disease X, this many billions in debt, this many millions living below the poverty line. I’m sick of statistics, and know they’re hard to engage with, but also know that they [...]

Last year, around this time, I got excited about Facebook Causes application, and the potential for social networking as a tool for fundraising and awareness on development issues.Just up, YouTube and Google have ramped up their social engagement, allowing you more ways to give and increase your knowledge about development issues.YouTube has launched their Nonprofit Program. [...]