Technology for Developing Regions

Related Faculty

Morgan G. Ames

Morgan Ames

Assistant 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

Professor
how systematically excluded communities adapt technology, algorithmic fairness and transparency, human control over algorithms, ethnography
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John Chuang

Professor
Biosensory computing; climate informatics; information economics and policy

Recent Publications

Machine learning and phone data can improve targeting of humanitarian aid
Mar 16, 2022

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
Jan 3, 2022
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
Nov 12, 2019

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
Dec 30, 2018
Why Do Defaults Affect Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan
Dec 10, 2018
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Mapping poverty using mobile phone and satellite data
Feb 1, 2017
Airtime Transfers and Mobile Communications: Evidence in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters
Dec 10, 2016
Material Ecosystems: Theorizing (Digital) Technologies in Socio-Economic Development
Mar 1, 2016
Predicting Poverty and Wealth from Mobile Phone Metadata
Dec 10, 2015
The Myth of Market Price Information: Mobile Phones and the Application of Economic Knowledge in ICTD
Apr 22, 2015

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Technology for Developing Regions news

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Nature Podcast: How AI Helped the Government of Togo Distribute Financial Aid.
Mar 16, 2022

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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Mobile Phone Data and Machine Learning Helped Togo Government Provide Assistance
Mar 16, 2022

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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Joshua Blumenstock’s Research on Micro-Estimates of Wealth Data Covered by SciDev
Jan 25, 2022
Josh Blumenstock
Blumenstock’s Research Brings Cash Aid to to Togo’s Poorest
Dec 11, 2020
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Charity Worked with Josh Blumenstock to Identify Aid Recipients in Togo Using Mobile Phone Data
Dec 11, 2020
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
Dec 3, 2019
Morgan G. Ames
Interview with Morgan Ames on “The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop Per Child”
Oct 7, 2019
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
Oct 15, 2019

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. 

Santamaria Ots locating cities in need of relief supplies.
“Data for Good” Fellowship Awardee Aims to Empower Puerto Rican Citizens
Sep 18, 2019

In the summer of 2019, Daniel Santamaria Ots received the Jack Larson Data for Good Fellowship for his research in Puerto Rico.

Josh Blumenstock
Josh Blumenstock Uses Phone Data to Reveal Socioeconomic Status
Feb 23, 2019

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Research