Tobias Eigen's blog

I received this invitation by email today and wanted to pass it on for the benefit of Kabissa members who are, like me, concerned about what is next for one of my favorite countries. I am told the event will be recorded for viewing online after the event. When I get the link I will update this post on Kabissa. 

The National Endowment for Democracy and the World Movement for Democracy cordially invite you to attend a discussion on “Implications of the Kenyan Elections” on Tuesday, April 23 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the National Endowment for Democracy (1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20004). The discussion will feature Maina Kiai, Executive Director of InformAction and the UN Special Rapporteur on Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association. Joel Barkan, Senior Associate of the CSIS Africa Program, will moderate.

RSVP Here: http://kenyanelections.eventbrite.com/

Update! The live-stream and video has been posted directly on the event’s page on the NED website: http://www.ned.org/events/implications-of-the-kenyan-elections

Tariq, who must have one of the coolest job titles at the World Bank (he's their official Open Data Evangelist), posted the following remarkable update to Facebook today. I am impressed, and recommend all four links to Kabissa members seeking to understand and use World Bank Open Data relevant to Africa and the whole world. If you contact their helpdesk and get interesting answers, let us know about them here!  

On the plane back to DC from SFO and feeling very proud of my World Bank Data colleagues who are launching a number of superb products today, if you'll indulge me, my top 4:

1) The 2013 World Development Indicators (WDI):http://wdi.worldbank.org/ now in an "online first' form with a streamlined print edition to wet your appetite / slam down on a desk with the conviction that comes from being informed by most trusted facts on global development. 

2) The WDI Data Finder Mobile Apps: http://bit.ly/WDI-DataFinder - a suite of cross-platform, multi-lingual products that get better with every iteration making it easy to access data wherever you are and if you're brave, still slam down on a desk with conviction.

3) The New World Bank Open Data Catalog: http://datacatalog.worldbank.org/ - this is really the backbone of the Bank's Open Data Initiative - over a hundred databases from across the institution that cover dozens of topics and geographies, now searchable and all available free for anyone to use and re-use.

4) The New Work Bank Data Helpdesk: https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/ - our team answers over 500 queries a month from users wanting to know more about our data or get help using it. This new knowledge base and discussion space make it easier for people to find answers and share their ideas. 

And if that weren't enough, our friends from the World Bank Group Finances Open Data team just announced they've opened a bunch of data from the International Finance Corporation (IFC): https://finances.worldbank.org/

Hope you enjoy them. I'm going to spend the rest of this flight editing some videos... but more on that next week.

For details of countries involved (many in Africa) and to apply to join the research team, see http://globalintegrity.org/blog/web-index-hiring

Global Integrity is embarking on a partnership with the World Wide Web Foundation to prepare the 2013 Web Index.  The Web Index is the first multi-dimensional measure of the Web’s use, utility and impact. In 2012, the Web Index covered 61 developed and developing countries, incorporating indicators that assess the political, economic and social impact of the Web; in 2013 coverage will be increased to roughly 80 countries.  The Web Index is a tool that helps advocates and policy analysts draw upon actionable measures to identify impediments and track improvements in Web access and affordability.  The Web Index also helps inform decision-makers and regulators as to what changes can be made to Web governance in country to help achieve greater and more sustainable development outcomes.

This effort will require a global team of reporters and reviewers around the world to conduct original research and data gathering that will feed into the final 2013 Web Index. 

The date is set for an exploratory meeting to establish a new Friends of Kabissa committee!

RSVP if you would like to join the meeting or even if you can't and you want to help out by writing directly to me. Thanks! 

Please share this invitation widely with others who you think might be interested. 

When: Wednesday, 10 April, 2013 from 1:30pm to 3:00pm 

Where: OfficeXpats (403 Madison Ave N, Ste 240, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. 206.780.2177)

Who: Ideal candidates to join the Friends of Kabissa commitee share the Kabissa vision, are looking to make a deeper contribution to Africa, and have resources, skills and time to give in order to move the Kabissa agenda forward. There are many opportunities available to contribute to Kabissa fundraising, governance and strategy as well as Kabissa programs.  Coming to the exploratory meeting does not entail commitment! :) 

What: Kabissa is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1999 with the mission to help African civil society organizations put information and communication technology to work for the benefit of their communities. Our vision is to contribute to sustainable, locally owned initiatives in Africa by supporting and elevating grassroots organizations working locally in their own communities.

Currently, our team of volunteers delivers on the Kabissa mission by running an online networking platform for over 1600 member organizations working throughout Africa. We are keen on continually improving the platform to provide the best possible support to our members and securing our own sustainability into the future as a lean, volunteer-driven organization. 

At the exploratory meeting, we would bring together and identify people who are interested in joining the Friends of Kabissa committee and brainstorm on assigning roles and next steps for working together. Participants are not obligated to join the committee but we welcome your advice and input. 

RSVP and Share!

Again, you can RSVP by emailing Tobias Eigen directly. Please share widely on your community calendars and announcement lists!

Evidence is an activist's most powerful asset. Used well, it can
transform even the most difficult advocacy effort into an initiative
that influences perceptions and actions around an important issue.

Tactical Tech is organising the 2013 Info Activism Camp
(camp2013.tacticaltech.org) to explore the ways in which digital
technologies, data and visuals can be used to artfully present evidence
that influences debates, controversies and issues.

Applications are now open! We're seeking curious and creative
individuals – working in advocacy, data, technology, design and
journalism – to join us for a week of discussion, debate and skill-share.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and build connections
with people working across the world, in different practices, and build
their knowledge and skills in evidence-based advocacy.

The camp will run from 23-30 June at Centro d'Ompio, a beautiful retreat
centre in Northern Italy (read more:
https://camp2013.tacticaltech.org/location).

Places are limited. We only have 80 spots and plenty of interest! So
please do share this with suitable candidates. The application deadline
for those who require visas to come to Italy is 2nd April (24:00 CET)
and 15th April (24:00 CET) for those who don't.

More application information and forms:
https://camp2013.tacticaltech.org/content/important-information

In case you are wondering, we have paused the Kabissa Africa Roundtable program while our volunteer recruitment team works to bring on board a new cohort of volunteers including Events Coordinator, Blogger In Chief and Membership Manager. We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to bringing the roundtables back as soon as we are able.

If you are interested in volunteering for Kabissa, please get in touch! More information about how volunteering works, job descriptions, and new volunteer application form is up at http://kabissa.org/about/volunteering 

This looks like a really good opportunity for Kabissa members working in West Africa. Check it out, and let us know if you apply. 

Dimagi is releasing a Request for Applications to help organizations get started using phone-based tools for frontline workers in Francophone West Africa. We are seeking organizations implementing scalable initiatives in community health and other social sectors that could benefit from mobile phone-based case management and data collection.

This RFA will support the use of the open-source mobile software platform CommCare. CommCare is being deployed in 30 countries and used by thousands of community health workers to track and support their clients with registration forms, checklists, SMS reminders, and multimedia. Mounting evidence indicates that this leads to improved frontline worker performance, better reporting, and better patient care and education. Check out our website (http://www.commcarehq.org/) to view online videos, read papers on the effectiveness of CommCare, and learn about how any organization can design its own mHealth application using our online application-building tools. 

Awardees will each receive 10 free phones installed with a CommCare application designed for their frontline workers, free access to the CommCareHQ cloud-based server for one year, and one month of free support from Dimagi’s experienced French-speaking Field Managers including a 2 week field visit to help launch CommCare with their frontline workers.

For further information and to download the full RFA, please refer to our website (http://www.commcarehq.org/poc/wfa/). Applications are due by March 29, 2013.

Sincerely,

The Dimagi Team

Source: TIER mailing list: https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tier

Via the data-driven journalism mailing list, I came across this opportunity that I wanted to share with Kabissa members. Learning to work with data to tell stories and make a case is becoming increasingly important, for journalists and civil society practitioners alike. If you decide to take advantage of the course please let us know how it goes! 

Data visualization basic training; from spreadsheet to data mapping. kdmcBerkeley is offering four free online training courses in data journalism. You'll learn basic data visualization skills, from spreadsheets to data mapping.

Each of the four one-hour long courses builds upon the other; register for all four sessions or choose the session that best meets your needs. Each course is offered twice, once at 11am PST and then again at 1pm PST. Registration is limited to the first 200 participants per session and registration for all four courses opens on February 18, 2013.

Details and registration at http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/workshops/online_data_visualiz...

Jonathan Peizer of Internaut consulting emailed me today requesting that I share this resource with Kabissa members. Let me know if you use it and what results you get - it certainly looks very interesting. Thanks! 

25 Tips for Evaluating (And Writing) Successful Technology Grant Proposals - http://tinyurl.com/8hb3rc7

This manual is written for grant evaluators in various issue areas trying to make sense of technology grant proposals they receive as well as non-profit grant writers trying to solicit support for their proposals. The ICT challenges and tips presented cut across issue areas and are valid for both the traditional ICT circumstance as well as the Web 2.0 world of social networking and mobile access. Having spent over a decade evaluating and supporting technical proposals as a Program Director and CIO at a large funder, I wrote this manual to share some tips and tricks I learned evaluating technology proposals and implementing ICT projects globally. The twenty-nine page guide is written in very practical terms. Each page describes a distinct ICT issue related to proposals, a brief description of the issue, and most importantly a recommendation, often with links to support it. The tips loosely move from design, implementation, budgeting and sustainability to specific topics of software development, social networking, mobile applications, content creation, licensing and project evaluation.

I just learned of a terrific opportunity for Kabissa members to build their strategic capabilities through hands-on mentoring by technology experts. If you decide to apply, please let us know how it goes! The PDF version for offline reading is below. 

Crossposted from: http://tech.transparency-initiative.org/the-tabridge-mentorships/

BACKGROUND

The Transparency & Accountability Initiative (T/AI) is launching a pilot mentorship program in response to needs identified by organisations at the TABridge Sessions for increased strategic technology hands‐on skill building. This year, six to nine organisations will be selected to participate in a five‐month customised program.

Selected organisations will be partnered with a Mentor to support them in developing uses of technology to help achieve their mission and goals, and in the process, develop sustainable skills for strategic thinking and implementation for technology projects.

The TABridge Mentorships are open to all groups in the transparency and accountability fields.  Applicants will need to demonstrate an understanding of the need to think strategically about new tech use.

Participants will be selected based on their stated learning goals and the level of preliminary thinking about technology demonstrated in their applications. The program seeks to develop strategic capacity, so organisations with varying degrees of prior experience will be considered, but applications must demonstrate existing thinking about the proposed technology project, or informed questions about the same.

The aim of the TABridge Mentorships is to increase T/A organisations’ understanding and application of technology in T/A interventions so that these deliver stronger impact at scale and positive social change.  Participants will receive high-touch strategic guidance from strategy, communications and technology experts.  Mentors will tailor their inputs to the organisational capacity of each organisation to ensure that post mentorship.