We are actively engaged in the dialogue and debates of our space: on issues of social justice, global development, and democratic innovation, and on the ethics and methodological evolution of design, mediation, and co-creation practice. More of our writing can be found at Medium.
Today, Jen joins SVA’s “Impact! Design for Social Change” summer guest lecturer series. She will speak about what it takes to design in context, presenting an overview of the brand identity she created for our My Voice platform, which was launched last month in central Nigeria.
Zack will speak at Africa Open Data Jam about our experience helping launch the world’s first sub-national open data portal in Nigeria. Hosted by IBM and the U.S. Government on the sidelines of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the event aims to share global experiences in open data.
Panthea and Nicole participated in an ICT4D Principles working group in Washington, DC focused on “Principle 1: Design with the User“. These principles seek to serve as a set of living guidelines that are meant to inform, but not dictate, the design of technology-enabled development programs.
Zack and Ethan will attend the US Africa Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. August 4–6. The theme is “Investing in the Next Generation”, and Reboot will participate in the “Civil Society Forum”. The summit aims to advance the administration’s focus on trade and investment in Africa and highlight the U.S.’s commitment to Africa’s security, democratic development, and its people.
FrontlineSMS cross-posted Dave’s recent blog post, Understanding Mobile Access From an Ecosystem Perspective, to their site. “Increased access to mobiles,” Dave writes in the piece “has been linked to positive social outcomes in dozens of countries.”
Following the launch of the “MyVoice” platform last week, Nonso will present the backstory to building this unique SMS-based citizen feedback tool at Tech4Africa. His talk, “Designing Systems for Social Accountability in Nigeria” promises to be a good one!
We are thrilled to have Nicole and Tommy join our team! A specialist in open governance, Nicole joins Reboot as Program Manager with cross-sector experience from the World Bank, Global Integrity, and the One World Foundation. Tommy Liu, a service designer who has worked on four continents, is our summer Programs Intern. We are excited to welcome them both!
How can we ensure open government initiatives live up to their promise? This is the question Panthea will be tackling at this year’s Open Knowledge Festival during her workshop titled “Opening Society in Challenging Contexts“. If you’re in Berlin, come say hi!
Panthea explains the behind-the-scenes Libya story for Global Post: “Beyond the very real security concerns in the country, the operational challenges of managing a complex, national-scale technology project on site with unreliable electricity and unreliable Internet connectivity was certainly challenging.”
“In just six months, a small staff of 20 people using open source tools, built a complex, first-of-its-kind mobile registration system in Libya, a transitioning country beset with violence,” Rebecca Chao writes in this TechPresident piece exploring our mobile voter registration system in Libya.
“In light of the U.S.’s recent Healthcare.gov fiasco, Libya’s use of private and public resources to create a seamless product could prove an example for other governments,” Marguerite Ward writes in the World Policy Journal about our mobile voter registration system in Libya.
Panthea gives Al Jazeera’s show The Stream a behind-the-scenes take on building the world’s first mobile voter registration system in Libya. The system has registered 1.5 million voters to date and is being used for today’s parliamentary election.
We’re excited to welcome Jaime Archundia to the team as our latest Rebooter! With nearly a decade of experience in the Mexican federal government, including the Office of the President, Jaime will be serving as Reboot’s Latin America lead, responsible for managing research, evaluation, and client relationships for projects in the region.
Zack will be at the United Nations on Wednesday, May 28 as part of the Social Innovation Summit: a global convening of tech, investment, philanthropy, international development, and business leaders. Zack will judge a start-up pitch competition for social innovators to connect with investors for partnership development.
UNICEF Innovation has selected Panthea as one of 9 global leaders in innovation to watch. UNICEF will feature Panthea and Reboot between now and the end of the year, highlighting Reboot’s work and developments that will lead to global change.
A new brief from the World Bank, co-authored by Merrick Schaefer and Panthea Lee, features Reboot’s MyVoice SMS reporting tool. Titled “Making Mobile Feedback Programs Work“, the brief highlights initial outcomes from a pre-pilot exercise conducted in 2013.
Dave will be speaking at NYU Wagner’s International Public Service Association (IPSA) 11th Annual Conference on May 2. He will join a diverse lineup of development practitioners in a series of panels under the theme: Navigating the International Development Landscape. Dave will talk about how organizations can learn from monitoring and evaluation to improve their operations and change the way they do business.
We are thrilled to welcome Robin to the Reboot family as Communications Intern. Robin is currently pursuing an MFA in Design for Social Innovation at the School for Visual Arts. Her past experiences include conducting focus groups on health issues in India and leading youth to engage in community-driven projects in Guatemala. Robin is also a skilled events coordinator after her time with environmental non-profit Not Far From The Tree. Equipped with a multidisciplinary, international background, Robin will be boosting our outreach efforts.
Ethan will deliver a keynote speech at the UBC Sauder School of Business Propelling Social Ventures 2014: From Ideas to Impact conference on April 15 in Vancouver. He will speak to ways the public sector and social innovators can work more closely for greater impact, followed by a panel discussion with directors from the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation and Social Innovation Generations (SiG) West.
We are delighted to welcome Kerry to our team as Program Manager! Kerry brings a wealth of experience to Reboot from her work in Mexico, the Philippines, India, and the U.S. Pre-Reboot, Kerry managed a variety of projects, including exploration of the economic dynamics of slums with the Rockefeller Foundation’s Strategic Research unit and implementation of impact evaluations with Innovations for Poverty Action. Kerry will oversee research, design, and documentation processes across Reboot projects.