Political feuds and ethnic violence in South Sudan have displaced more than 1.5 million people. Among them is a software engineer determined to push past hate to promote peace through games. “Hate is one of the things that is inciting violence in South Sudan right now,” Lual Mayen, a game developer from Juba, South Sudan, […]
Junub Games Reaches for Peace as South Sudan Wages War
Posted May 19th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
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‘Smart Cities’ Are Not Just About Technology
Posted May 12th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
‘Smart cities’ or high-tech communities are popping up in parts of the developing world to connect citizens, spur economic development, and provide better services. But some experts caution that these smart hubs are more about sustainability and quality of life than the technology that supports them. ‘Smart cities’ is hardly a term everyone agrees on […]
Immersive Education Has Promise, but a Long Way to Go
Posted May 5th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
Virtual reality (VR) technologies are slowly, albeit selectively, showing up in U.S. schools as educational tools. And there are efforts to bring them to schools in developing countries as well. But given the challenges, some experts say it is too early to even consider their impact on education. Spearheading the effort to bring virtual reality technologies […]
Hype Aside, Blockchain Could Empower Developing World
Posted April 28th, 2017 at 11:35 am (UTC-5)
If you believe all the hype, blockchain is the next revolution that will change the world as mobile technology did in early 2000. It might. But a few hurdles need to be cleared before this digital platform can potentially empower some of the world’s poorest citizens. Simply put, blockchain is a data application or ledger […]
Blockchain? What’s Blockchain?
Posted April 20th, 2017 at 1:47 am (UTC-5)
“I don’t even know what blockchain is,” someone recently told Techtonics. So to demystify the latest buzzword in technology, blockchain is a secure, distributed digital ledger shared among all participants. For example, parties to a transaction agree to make blockchain the official source of record, say for a land deed. So they encode the deed […]
‘Let Girls Learn’ Brings Education Tech to Rural Ghana
Posted April 14th, 2017 at 11:35 am (UTC-5)
More than 62 million girls around the world are not attending school. But through the U.S. government’s ‘Let Girls Learn’ initiative, a multilateral effort is putting education technology and a future at their fingertips. In parts of the developing world, girls are expected to do house chores, care for siblings, and fetch water. But they […]
Kids Lose Sleep With Touchscreen Use; an Argument for Editing Tweets
Posted April 13th, 2017 at 12:03 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Study: Kids Who Use Touchscreen Devices Sleep Less at Night Earlier research has linked television and video games to sleep problems, but for the first time, a new study appearing in the Scientific Advances journal, looked at the use of mobile touchscreen devices among children. The study found that infants and toddlers […]
Few Women in IT, Cloud Computing, but It’s Complicated
Posted April 7th, 2017 at 11:35 am (UTC-5)
Women comprise only about 11 percent of the information security workforce and are equally underrepresented in cloud technologies in some regions, according to two new studies. But as some experts point out, this is only one part of a much bigger picture. Despite growing demand for IT talent, the percentage has remained unchanged since 2013. […]
Congress Repeals Obama-era Data Collection Rules
Posted March 31st, 2017 at 2:37 pm (UTC-5)
You may have read the news about how the House and Senate just sent a bill to the White House that repeals an Obama-era regulation that would have required internet service providers (ISP’s) to get your permission before collecting and sharing your data. The rules never went into effect, even though the Federal Communications Commission […]