Photo courtesy of paulworthington
Congratulations to LUCI grad student Lynn Dombrowski on passing her advancement to candidacy exam!
The Role of e-Government Intermediaries in Access and Use of Government Nutrition Assistance Programs
“E-Government technologies are assumed to transform the relationship between citizens and their governments through creating new forms of interactions provided by the Internet, but there are few empirical examinations on how this transformation might take place for low-resource populations. In this work, I detail the social, informational, and technical practices of nonprofit workers, who I call “e-Government intermediaries”, in their work of assisting their clients with gaining access to and use of government nutrition assistance programs. I explore the four mediation activities these workers engage in to make the online application and government program a viable option for their communities: outreach, technological assistance, providing knowledge, and ongoing engagement. I then examine two major challenges that occur in their work of mediating government programs: access and trust. These two challenges directly relate to the mediation activities. The challenge of access relates the mediation activity of technical assistance. I detail the practical accomplishment of access, which enables outreach workers to perform technical assistance. The other challenge of the mediation activities is trust, which pervades all of the mediation activities, as it must be continually negotiated, but is most strongly associated with the mediation activity of outreach. Lastly, I articulate design implications to support these e-Government intermediaries’ and their practices that facilitate digital and social inclusion.”
Committee:
Gillian Hayes (Co-Chair), Melissa Mazmanian (Co-Chair), Paul Dourish, Geoffrey Bowker, Bill Tomlinson, Michael Montoya
Programming Job – AIDS – Africa - May 4th, 2007
Photo courtesy of Flickr:phitar
The following is a job announcement forwarded by a colleague of Don’s:
Do you want to put your computer skills to use helping to improve AIDS treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health is soliciting applications for a Programmer/Trainer. Responsibilities of the position include programming, computer training, and research study documentation in support of HIV/AIDs and TB clinical trials being conducted in collaboration with the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
This position is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where we have a large, dynamic team working closely with our team in Boston.
Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Knowledge of programming languages and database design. Experience with Basic programming, preferably Visual Basic is a plus. Willingness to learn SAS, a statistical programming language. Ability to teach Microsoft Office products and other computer skills.
Additional Qualifications: Excellent technical, computer, analytical, organizational and problem-solving skills, strong interpersonal, service and communication skills, and the ability to work independently, under supervision and as part of a team.
Please send resume, list of references, and cover letter describing your interest in working in Tanzania and any experiences you have had that prepare you for living and working in another culture.
Contact information:
Jenny Hochstadt
Data Manager
Harvard School of Public Health
Department of Nutrition
jhochsta@hsph.harvard.edu
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