COURSE MODULES

This module provides to participants a grounding in the relationship between technology, development, and social innovation. The module provides a practical historical perspective on Technology for Development (T4D), its successful and unsuccessful applications, and its interplay with the broader development practice.  The module explores in detail the Digital Principles that have arisen to guide practitioners in the use of T4D, and finally provides a practical introduction to a range of social innovation tools, methods, and techniques that facilitate the design, development, and deployment of T4D interventions.
This module includes: three lectures and one assignment.
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 08 November 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 14 November 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 21 November 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Josh Harvey

The open data movement has contributed wonders in terms of access to information and digital product development. However, all too often has contributions been too product-driven at the expense of opportunities to generate new datasets in a manner that feeds into an open data ecosystem rather than just consuming from it. Sometimes, the data you need is out of reach or, worse yet, it just does not exist. Through case studies, this module will explore how already existing free and open accessible technologies as well as engagement of “the crowd” can be leveraged for rapid and effective data collection.
This module includes: four lectures and one assignment.
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 24 November 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 28 November 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 01 December 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 4: 05 December 2016 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Georges L. J. Labrèche

Making sense of the world around us has always been a challenge for mankind. As situation on the ground unfolds every minute, this challenge significantly increases during emergency. Locational information becomes crucially important for both victims and the response agencies. Such information can be created and made available both before and during the emergency situation using open mapping platform such as www.openstreeetmap.org. This course introduces theoretical underpinnings as well as practical considerations in the creation and use of open map data during emergency situation.
This module includes: four lectures and one assignment.
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 12 December 2016 (16:00-17:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 13 December 2016 (16:00-17:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 15 December 2016 (16:00-17:30 CET)
– Lecture 4: 19 December 2016 (16:00-17:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Nama Budhathoki

One of the key problems of education is access to quality education and its additional benefits of providing a protective environment for children. Another related but significant challenge is the inadequate facilities available for education; around the world, there is tremendous stress exerted on the public school systems in the formal education sector and there are even bigger gaps in non-traditional, non-formal education settings such as learning through the Internet, mentorship and others etc. Despite reform efforts, regular education review by governments around the world, ongoing calls for change and the rampant education innovation drives/efforts, progress in addressing most the significant challenges is slow and long term solutions continue to elude us. This module will lead the learner through a theoretical and practical process of using innovative means to propose solutions to some of the key challenges facing global education today. By encouraging critical thinking towards the above global education challenges; participants will design, develop and adopt / re-appropriate technological and other solutions to meet and solve the challenges of education.
This module includes: three lectures and one assignment.
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 05 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 09 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 12 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Alfred Assey Mukasa

The module will introduce the basic concepts of the use of mobile phones in the health sector and particularly in developing contexts. Mobile Technology that is now widespread also in remote contexts can become a valuable tool to sensitize communities on preventive health-care or help health staff to diagnose pathologies and identify appropriate treatments, as well as conducting healthcare campaigns.
This module includes: three lectures and one assignment
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 16 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 19 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 23 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Paola Fava

This module will look at the role of ICT to advance, promote and defend human rights, as well as capture testimonials of human rights violation. Moreover, it will provide the opportunity to participants to learn more how ICTs can be adopted for democratic processes and activism. The module will specifically look at how new technologies are influencing the human rights agenda and how they are being used by local population and by NGOs to monitor, expose and address human right violations, while also highlighting the challenges and risks associated with ICTs. During the sessions the role of new technology for activism will be explored giving particular attention to the dichotomy of digital security and cyber activism, as it relates to the use of ICTs by repressive regimes and violent actors.
This module includes: four lectures and one assignment
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 26 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 30 January 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 03 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 4: 06 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Satu Valtere, Dr.Dan McQuillan, Ron salaj

More than 2 billion people in the world have no access to formal financial services. Yet, having access to credit, being able to transfer money in a safe and cheap manner and, in general, having the opportunity to use a wide range of financial services are largely assumed by development practitioners to be preliminary conditions to sustain and improve livelihoods, smooth consumption and cope with volatility.  In recent years, the diffusion of ICTs, particularly mobile telephony, across developing countries, has instigated a convergence of institutional actors, development agencies, private foundations and businesses on strategies to fill this gap. This module will examine these strategies, the principles upon which they are based and their highlights and pitfalls.
This module includes: three lectures and one assignment
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 09 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 13 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 16 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Gianluca Iazzolino

Agriculture is a game changer for sustainable development, as it allows tackling multiple issues: poverty, water management, climate change, and gender. According to FAO, smallholder and family farmers produce 56% of our food, and they represent the majority of the food-insecure populations in developing countries. The module on ICT for agriculture and environment will help participants identifying the most important trends in the field. Particularly, participants will have the opportunity to explore the main issues faced by smallholder farmers, as well as the ICT-enabled solutions currently being used by international NGOs, governments, grassroots organizations, local communities and the private sector to strengthen food security and food safety. The module will be divided in three main areas.
First, participants will receive an introduction to the main issues faced inside the agriculture sector across the different stages of the production cycle (from planting to harvesting) and beyond (i.e. post-harvesting). The second area will focus on data and information flows in agriculture: which are the main data and information sources, how stakeholders access to and share information, which are the main barriers preventing adoption of ICTs and what are the different approaches to develop an ICT for agriculture service for agricultural stakeholders – with a focus on smallholder farmers. Finally, applications and case studies will be shared with participants to provide them with an overview of the main mobile applications, Decision Support Systems, sensors & IoT, outreach/advocacy applications.
This module includes: four lectures and one assignment.
Dates of the lectures:
– Lecture 1: 20 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 2: 23 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 3: 27 February 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
– Lecture 4: 02 March 2017 (18:00-19:30 CET)
Module lecturer: Simone Sala