Technology for Developing Regions

Related Faculty

Morgan G. Ames

Morgan Ames

Associate Professor of Practice
Alumni (MIMS 2006)
Science and technology studies; computer-supported cooperative work and social computing; education; anthropology; youth technocultures; ideology and inequity; critical data science
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Jenna Burrell

Adjunct Professor
how systematically excluded communities adopt technology and adapt it to their needs, human control over algorithms, ethnography
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John Chuang

Professor
Climate informatics; biosensory computing; incentive-centered design

Recent Publications

Welfare Effects of Digital Credit: A Randomized Evaluation in Nigeria
Expanding Perspectives on Data Privacy: Insights from Rural Togo
Privacy guarantees for personal mobility data in humanitarian response
Targeting Social Protection Programs with Machine Learning and Digital Data
Assessing the burden of COVID-19 in developing countries: systematic review, meta-analysis and public policy implications
Machine learning and phone data can improve targeting of humanitarian aid

Here we show that data from mobile phone networks can improve the targeting of humanitarian assistance.

Micro-Estimates of Wealth and Poverty for all Low- and Middle-Income Countries
The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child, by Morgan G. Ames
The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child

In The Charisma Machine, Morgan Ames chronicles the life and legacy of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why — despite its failures — the same utopian visions that inspired OLPC still motivate other projects trying to use technology to “disrupt” education and development.

Don't forget people in the use of big data for development
Why Do Defaults Affect Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan

Technology for Developing Regions news

African women celebrate
A Bold Calculation: What Would It Cost To End Extreme Poverty Worldwide?

The answer, according to a new working paper: $318 billion per year, or 0.3% of global gross domestic product, would be enough to bring hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty. For an American earning the median annual income of $45,000, the cost of ending extreme poverty this way works out to about $135 per year.

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Incoming Ph.D. Student is First Weber Futures Fellow

Susana Constenla-Villoslada is the first recipient of the Steven Weber Futures Fellowship Fund for Digital Security and Trust.

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Mobile Phone Data and Machine Learning Helped Togo Government Provide Assistance

Ph.D. student Emily Aiken and Professor Joshua Blumenstock used mobile phone data and machine learning to quickly and accurately direct the Togolese government’s COVID-19 cash assistance to its poorest residents in a first-of-its-kind study published March 16 in Nature.

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Nature Podcast: How AI Helped the Government of Togo Distribute Financial Aid.

On the Nature Podcast, Professor Blumenstock discusses his research using machine learning to help deliver aid to Togo’s poorest citizens. 

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Joshua Blumenstock’s Research on Micro-Estimates of Wealth Data Covered by SciDev
Josh Blumenstock
Charity Worked with Josh Blumenstock to Identify Aid Recipients in Togo Using Mobile Phone Data
Josh Blumenstock
Blumenstock’s Research Brings Cash Aid to to Togo’s Poorest
The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child, by Morgan G. Ames
Campus Gift Guide Recommends New Books by Two I School Faculty
The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop Per Child
Morgan Ames’ The Charisma Machine: A Deep Dive into One Laptop per Child

Morgan G. Ames explores the rise and fall of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project in her new book, The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop Per Child. 

Morgan G. Ames
Interview with Morgan Ames on “The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop Per Child”