Title: Crisis Mapping and Cybersecurity – Part II: Risk Assessment
Author: Anahi Ayala Iacucci
Source: Diary of a Crisis Mapper blog
Date (published): 14/12/2011
Date (accessed): 15/12/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"I have a background in human rights and humanitarian affairs, and in those fields you do something that I realized was not that common in the ICT world – or maybe it is just under reported – that is called risk assessment. How does a risk assessment look like?

There are several components to the matrix: there is the risk, the source (sometimes), the likelihood, the mitigation tool/measure and (sometimes) the independent variables. I truly believe that this matrix can help in understanding what are the things that we should focus our attention on and what are the things that we cannot change or we should just ignore. The very key factor in the use of this matrix though does not lie in the matrix, but in whom is filling it.
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See also:Crisis Mapping and Cybersecurity – Part I: Key points"

Title: Intelligence, trusted networks and double standards
Author: Anahi Ayala Iacucci
Source: Diary of a Crisis Mapper blog
Date (published): 05/12/2011
Date (accessed): 14/12/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"One of thing that I found very useful when working on information systems in emergency situations, is to create privileged communication channels with the different actors by relying on trusted networks already present in the country or in between the humanitarian community.

For example in the case of Libya, we created 2 platforms that had 2 different types of information and therefore two different goals and targets. The private platform was to mainly inform the humanitarians about the situation on the ground, and had details and sources to make sure they could verify and do an evaluation of the reliability of the source (ultimately this evaluation was left to them, even if we did a preliminary verification of the information collected). The second platform, the public one, was for the general public to know what was going on in the country, and had no sources and no detailed information in it.

This is, I think, a very good example of the creation of different communication channels and different targets. The idea here is to understand the difference and to make decision based on the risks assessment and the possible outcomes."

Title: The digital revolution in sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Laila Ali
Source: Al Jazeera English
Date (published): 12/10/2011
Date (accessed): 17/10/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Much has been written about the role technology played in bringing social and political change across much of the Middle East and North Africa, but less is known about the technological revolution that is taking place and transforming people's lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is estimated that by 2015 sub-Saharan Africa will have more people with mobile phone network access than electricity access at home. People with internet and no home electricity will reach 138 million, according to the Cisco Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2010-2015.

This deep and rapid mobile penetration is catapulting developing countries into the 21st century and bringing new and previously unimagined opportunities. While schools in the developed world enforce strict policies to keep mobile phones out of the classroom, African schools and universities are now exploring the use of mobile technology to assist teaching.
...
Mobile education
Under the BridgeIt initiative, known locally as Elimu kwa Teknologia or Education through Technology, teachers download video content using Nokia N95 mobile phones, which are connected to TVs in their classrooms, allowing rural schools and communities access to a digital catalogue of locally-developed or adapted educational content.
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E-learning
In South Africa the concept of using mobile technology to support distant learners is also gaining ground. Pretoria University considers it an extension of e-learning - where distance learners use the internet to access materials to support their studies.
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An app for that
The use of mobile technology in Africa is not limited to the field of education. In Kenya, high mobile penetration spurred the development of ground-breaking applications that are positioning the country as a regional leader in technology."

Title: Sudan's First SMS-Powered Voting Monitor Tracks "Violence," "Intimidation"
Author:Jenara Neremberg
Source:Fast Company
Date (published):10/12/2010
Date (accessed):11/12/2010
Type of information:article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
„While Sudanese vote about the fate of South Sudan's independence, one Sudan-born Texan supports the voting process from afar with a historic mobile-powered monitoring tool.
...
SVM is Sudan's first SMS-based voting monitor. The model is simple: People text a coded short message to SVM translating into either "violence," "intimidation," or any number of categories--and that information is then verified by SVM's team, published to their site and made public for the world to see in both English and Arabic. Based in the U.S., the group works with local civil society partners on the ground in Sudan who have certified observers able to verify whether the reports are true or not.”