Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239285
D. Zimmerle, S. Kuppa
Across the globe nearly 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity, of which many live in rural or remote areas of the developing countries. The extension of central grid for rural electrification is not economically viable due to the geographical placement and low initial power demand. However, for rural villages, systems that are less reliable than grid standards may be acceptable, and allow for smaller systems implemented at lower cost. This study considers the optimal sizing of PV generation and energy storage for a rural off-grid PV-battery system in Rwanda.
{"title":"Statistical failure estimation method to size off-grid electrical systems for villages in developing countries","authors":"D. Zimmerle, S. Kuppa","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239285","url":null,"abstract":"Across the globe nearly 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity, of which many live in rural or remote areas of the developing countries. The extension of central grid for rural electrification is not economically viable due to the geographical placement and low initial power demand. However, for rural villages, systems that are less reliable than grid standards may be acceptable, and allow for smaller systems implemented at lower cost. This study considers the optimal sizing of PV generation and energy storage for a rural off-grid PV-battery system in Rwanda.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127234442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239335
Shiny Abraham, Joshua Beard, Renjith Manijacob
Environmental monitoring encompasses systematic methods that observe and study conditions of natural resources such as air, land, and water. Challenges associated with traditional environmental monitoring methods include accessibility constraints imposed by harsh terrains and vast geographical areas, lack of real-time data collection and processing, and the inability to facilitate continuous monitoring. This calls for a need to develop remote environmental monitoring techniques that are based on intelligent data acquisition, communication and processing. This paper focuses on using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to build and deploy smart, connected sensors that provide continuous monitoring of air and soil quality. Acquired data will be displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides real-time information, which may be used to define current conditions of the area being monitored, and also to establish trends or detect any abnormalities. Parameter thresholds will be established in order to trigger email/text alerts to users, stakeholders, or monitoring personnel, when there is a deviation from normal.
{"title":"Remote environmental monitoring using Internet of Things (IoT)","authors":"Shiny Abraham, Joshua Beard, Renjith Manijacob","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239335","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239335","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental monitoring encompasses systematic methods that observe and study conditions of natural resources such as air, land, and water. Challenges associated with traditional environmental monitoring methods include accessibility constraints imposed by harsh terrains and vast geographical areas, lack of real-time data collection and processing, and the inability to facilitate continuous monitoring. This calls for a need to develop remote environmental monitoring techniques that are based on intelligent data acquisition, communication and processing. This paper focuses on using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to build and deploy smart, connected sensors that provide continuous monitoring of air and soil quality. Acquired data will be displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides real-time information, which may be used to define current conditions of the area being monitored, and also to establish trends or detect any abnormalities. Parameter thresholds will be established in order to trigger email/text alerts to users, stakeholders, or monitoring personnel, when there is a deviation from normal.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126054963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239316
Amit Gandhi, D. Frey, P. Sundar, Julia Heyman, M. Mccambridge
Adoption rates and performance metrics of wheelchairs in low-resource settings are thought to vary significantly based on the type of wheelchair distributed and after-sales services provided. Several organizations have been innovating on low-cost wheelchairs, developing ruggedized designs to better withstand off-road usage. The benefits provided by these wheelchairs, however, have been difficult to measure using traditional approaches and there is a lack of data on the actual conditions these wheelchairs are subjected to in use. In this paper, we present the design of a frame-based and a wheel-based cellular-enabled data-logging system and the associated sensor sampling algorithms to characterize the usage and performance of wheelchairs. The system measures forces and loading on the wheelchair, differentiates between rider self-propulsion or attendant-propulsion, and characterizes wheelchair usage bouts by length, speed, and incline. Using this system, we can collect data on prolonged usage from users in remote regions over a period of 2–4 weeks to understand and differentiate the impact from various improved wheelchair models.
{"title":"Design of a cellular-enabled data-logging system for wheelchair use characterization","authors":"Amit Gandhi, D. Frey, P. Sundar, Julia Heyman, M. Mccambridge","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239316","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239316","url":null,"abstract":"Adoption rates and performance metrics of wheelchairs in low-resource settings are thought to vary significantly based on the type of wheelchair distributed and after-sales services provided. Several organizations have been innovating on low-cost wheelchairs, developing ruggedized designs to better withstand off-road usage. The benefits provided by these wheelchairs, however, have been difficult to measure using traditional approaches and there is a lack of data on the actual conditions these wheelchairs are subjected to in use. In this paper, we present the design of a frame-based and a wheel-based cellular-enabled data-logging system and the associated sensor sampling algorithms to characterize the usage and performance of wheelchairs. The system measures forces and loading on the wheelchair, differentiates between rider self-propulsion or attendant-propulsion, and characterizes wheelchair usage bouts by length, speed, and incline. Using this system, we can collect data on prolonged usage from users in remote regions over a period of 2–4 weeks to understand and differentiate the impact from various improved wheelchair models.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"69 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126228772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239234
P. Gardner-Stephen, Romana Challans, J. Lakeman, Andrew Bettison, Patrick Lieser, R. Steinmetz, Flor Álvarez, Matthew Lloyd
The Servai Mesh Extender is a low-cost open-source infrastructure-independent telecommunications relay device developed to support telecommunications during and following disasters, as well as in remote and isolated locations. The Mesh Extender has been under development for five years, and is just now transitioning from a primarily University research system, into a mass-producible and deployable humanitarian telecommunications product. This has forced the research team to consider numerous challenges and trade-offs that are substantially common to this type of activity, including industrial design, supply-chain formation, inventory management, electronics design and manufacture, tooling for injection-molding and planning around the variability of research funding. In this paper, we describe these challenges, together with insights and mistakes made and lessons learned during the process, in a format intended to benefit other researchers seeking to productize their research for the common-good of humanity, without relying on traditional profit-oriented commercialization pathways. That is, we provide practical advice for those seeking to make the fruit of their research as widely available as possible, and as affordably as possible, for when charging what the market can bear is not appropriate or conscience.
{"title":"Productizing humanitarian telecommunications research: A case study of the Serval Mesh Extender","authors":"P. Gardner-Stephen, Romana Challans, J. Lakeman, Andrew Bettison, Patrick Lieser, R. Steinmetz, Flor Álvarez, Matthew Lloyd","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239234","url":null,"abstract":"The Servai Mesh Extender is a low-cost open-source infrastructure-independent telecommunications relay device developed to support telecommunications during and following disasters, as well as in remote and isolated locations. The Mesh Extender has been under development for five years, and is just now transitioning from a primarily University research system, into a mass-producible and deployable humanitarian telecommunications product. This has forced the research team to consider numerous challenges and trade-offs that are substantially common to this type of activity, including industrial design, supply-chain formation, inventory management, electronics design and manufacture, tooling for injection-molding and planning around the variability of research funding. In this paper, we describe these challenges, together with insights and mistakes made and lessons learned during the process, in a format intended to benefit other researchers seeking to productize their research for the common-good of humanity, without relying on traditional profit-oriented commercialization pathways. That is, we provide practical advice for those seeking to make the fruit of their research as widely available as possible, and as affordably as possible, for when charging what the market can bear is not appropriate or conscience.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"154 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114525387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239235
Rose Shuman, Jooyoung Kim, P. Gardner-Stephen
The Question Box is a ruggedized cellular phone-booth designed to allow low-income communities the ability to access expert advice on a variety of topics, free of charge. This simple concept enables such consultation irrespective of income or literacy level, and has proven its value in deployments in rural India and in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis. The system consists primarily of the Question Box hardware. The complexity of the existing Question Box design, however, means that the principle barrier to wider deployment is cost (several hundred dollars per unit), and the infeasibility of being manufactured locally. In this paper we present a redesign of the Question Box, reducing the internal components to a low-cost Android smart phone and headphones, four switches, three resistors and a weather-proof box, combined with a simple custom Android application. This design is validated through the construction of a prototype Question Box in approximately two hours, and using approximately $90, including smart-phone. We thus establish that it is possible to build a Question Box for under $100, requiring only components likely to be available in-country, and create the opportunity for wider deployment, and thus improved impact of the Question Box.
{"title":"Optimising the question box for cost and local-manufacturability","authors":"Rose Shuman, Jooyoung Kim, P. Gardner-Stephen","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239235","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239235","url":null,"abstract":"The Question Box is a ruggedized cellular phone-booth designed to allow low-income communities the ability to access expert advice on a variety of topics, free of charge. This simple concept enables such consultation irrespective of income or literacy level, and has proven its value in deployments in rural India and in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis. The system consists primarily of the Question Box hardware. The complexity of the existing Question Box design, however, means that the principle barrier to wider deployment is cost (several hundred dollars per unit), and the infeasibility of being manufactured locally. In this paper we present a redesign of the Question Box, reducing the internal components to a low-cost Android smart phone and headphones, four switches, three resistors and a weather-proof box, combined with a simple custom Android application. This design is validated through the construction of a prototype Question Box in approximately two hours, and using approximately $90, including smart-phone. We thus establish that it is possible to build a Question Box for under $100, requiring only components likely to be available in-country, and create the opportunity for wider deployment, and thus improved impact of the Question Box.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"225 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114878827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239314
Connor Higgins, Hartini Margot, Sara Warnquist, Eric Obeysekare, Khanjan Mehta
Food and financial insecurity are becoming prominent issues facing much of the developing world. As population densities in these already resource constrained regions continue to increase, it is inherent that a source of sustainable income and a reliable food source be provided, especially to rural populations. Mushroom cultivation is an environmentally benign, sustainable source of nourishment that is rapidly growing to become a profitable sector of agriculture. In high-resource settings, technological advancements have enabled farmers to maximize mushroom yields and quality while minimizing cost and input resources. However, these same benefits have not yet been realized in low- and middle-income settings and challenges characteristic to those contexts have hindered the development of mushroom cultivation. In order to better understand current efforts and their challenges, this article reviews cultivation technologies in both high- and low-resource settings. The outcomes of this review are then synthesized into a comparison of different cultivation technologies on the basis of cost, required resources, and overall success. Challenges and opportunities associated with mushroom cultivation in the developing world are also identified. For example, two prominent challenges in the developing world are spore production and post-harvest transportation and storage. Future practitioners, researchers, and entrepreneurs will be able to use this comparison to identify innovative ways in which the technological advancements of mushroom cultivation in high-resource settings can be applied to resource constrained environments.
{"title":"Mushroom cultivation in the developing world: A comparison of cultivation technologies","authors":"Connor Higgins, Hartini Margot, Sara Warnquist, Eric Obeysekare, Khanjan Mehta","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239314","url":null,"abstract":"Food and financial insecurity are becoming prominent issues facing much of the developing world. As population densities in these already resource constrained regions continue to increase, it is inherent that a source of sustainable income and a reliable food source be provided, especially to rural populations. Mushroom cultivation is an environmentally benign, sustainable source of nourishment that is rapidly growing to become a profitable sector of agriculture. In high-resource settings, technological advancements have enabled farmers to maximize mushroom yields and quality while minimizing cost and input resources. However, these same benefits have not yet been realized in low- and middle-income settings and challenges characteristic to those contexts have hindered the development of mushroom cultivation. In order to better understand current efforts and their challenges, this article reviews cultivation technologies in both high- and low-resource settings. The outcomes of this review are then synthesized into a comparison of different cultivation technologies on the basis of cost, required resources, and overall success. Challenges and opportunities associated with mushroom cultivation in the developing world are also identified. For example, two prominent challenges in the developing world are spore production and post-harvest transportation and storage. Future practitioners, researchers, and entrepreneurs will be able to use this comparison to identify innovative ways in which the technological advancements of mushroom cultivation in high-resource settings can be applied to resource constrained environments.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130196957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239228
D. Myers, Steven P. Diesburg, P. Lennon, S. McCarney
Solar direct-drive (SDD) appliances including refrigerators and freezers are widely used for storing vaccines and other medical products in locations without reliable mains electricity. The capacity of the solar array powering an SDD appliance must be large enough to provide sufficient compressor runtime during periods of reduced solar irradiance. SDD appliance solar arrays therefore create useful quantities of excess electricity that are currently not utilized. An energy harvest control (EHC) that prioritizes the power requirements of the appliance and diverts excess electricity to other purposes has the potential to power a wide range of electrical devices, including health facility lights, appliance data loggers, medical devices, and mobile phone chargers. This paper discusses results of laboratory testing of two EHC prototypes employing different control logics using simulated and actual solar power, as well as results from field testing. In laboratory testing, the prototype EHCs demonstrated diversion of useful amounts of electricity to secondary loads without adversely affecting refrigerator performance in most cases. Some problematic interactions between the refrigerator compressor controller and EHCs were observed. Field tests of the EHC prototypes in Colombia demonstrated the usefulness and acceptance of EHCs in providing power to community- and district-level health facilities. Development of more low-powered medical devices that can take advantage of the limited power provided by EHCs would be of great benefit to health facilities in areas without reliable mains electricity. Prioritized control of loads on solar arrays may have applications beyond medical refrigeration appliances.
{"title":"Energy harvesting controls for solar direct-drive medical cold chain equipment","authors":"D. Myers, Steven P. Diesburg, P. Lennon, S. McCarney","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239228","url":null,"abstract":"Solar direct-drive (SDD) appliances including refrigerators and freezers are widely used for storing vaccines and other medical products in locations without reliable mains electricity. The capacity of the solar array powering an SDD appliance must be large enough to provide sufficient compressor runtime during periods of reduced solar irradiance. SDD appliance solar arrays therefore create useful quantities of excess electricity that are currently not utilized. An energy harvest control (EHC) that prioritizes the power requirements of the appliance and diverts excess electricity to other purposes has the potential to power a wide range of electrical devices, including health facility lights, appliance data loggers, medical devices, and mobile phone chargers. This paper discusses results of laboratory testing of two EHC prototypes employing different control logics using simulated and actual solar power, as well as results from field testing. In laboratory testing, the prototype EHCs demonstrated diversion of useful amounts of electricity to secondary loads without adversely affecting refrigerator performance in most cases. Some problematic interactions between the refrigerator compressor controller and EHCs were observed. Field tests of the EHC prototypes in Colombia demonstrated the usefulness and acceptance of EHCs in providing power to community- and district-level health facilities. Development of more low-powered medical devices that can take advantage of the limited power provided by EHCs would be of great benefit to health facilities in areas without reliable mains electricity. Prioritized control of loads on solar arrays may have applications beyond medical refrigeration appliances.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130224075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239261
Victoria Carlson-Oehlers, Patrick J. Jung, Bernard A. Cohen
Many universities have an interest in providing global humanitarian experiences to students but often do not have the finances or time available to accommodate such experiences. By collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities can provide undergraduate students majoring in technical and medical fields these experiences. These opportunities can offer a significant understanding of how students can apply their technical and medical educations to a variety of humanitarian challenges. Students also learn how real-life engineering solutions are not always limited to the latest technological advances. Global Brigades is an NGO that organizes university students for service projects in Central America. In academic engineering programs, it is often difficult to create the type of experience that inspires and motivates students. The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE University) includes all engineering specialties, as well as nursing and business schools. MSOE University has found that an academic course of study in cultural anthropology and public health taught in conjunction with international service learning enhances the students' Global Brigades experiences in Central America. Students learn early on in their education the importance of giving back to humanity. This paper will document how MSOE University has partnered with Global Brigades to provide our engineering, high-tech nursing, and business students with the opportunity to have a life-changing experience in their academic fields. We discuss specific examples of each of the Global Brigades experiences and how the students integrate their engineering, nursing, and business educations into these experiences.
{"title":"Implementation of a global humanitarian outreach experience by partnering engineering, business, and high-tech nursing education with a non-governmental organization","authors":"Victoria Carlson-Oehlers, Patrick J. Jung, Bernard A. Cohen","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239261","url":null,"abstract":"Many universities have an interest in providing global humanitarian experiences to students but often do not have the finances or time available to accommodate such experiences. By collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities can provide undergraduate students majoring in technical and medical fields these experiences. These opportunities can offer a significant understanding of how students can apply their technical and medical educations to a variety of humanitarian challenges. Students also learn how real-life engineering solutions are not always limited to the latest technological advances. Global Brigades is an NGO that organizes university students for service projects in Central America. In academic engineering programs, it is often difficult to create the type of experience that inspires and motivates students. The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE University) includes all engineering specialties, as well as nursing and business schools. MSOE University has found that an academic course of study in cultural anthropology and public health taught in conjunction with international service learning enhances the students' Global Brigades experiences in Central America. Students learn early on in their education the importance of giving back to humanity. This paper will document how MSOE University has partnered with Global Brigades to provide our engineering, high-tech nursing, and business students with the opportunity to have a life-changing experience in their academic fields. We discuss specific examples of each of the Global Brigades experiences and how the students integrate their engineering, nursing, and business educations into these experiences.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128208096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239322
M. Sterling
Big Data and Big Data Analytics are a set of emerging technologies that allow researchers, organizations, and businesses to draw actionable insights from large data sets. A primary source of such large data sets are those created in a healthcare or medical context. This can include data from, but not limited to, electronic health records, mobile applications (mHealth), diagnostic equipment, genomics, and social media. Consequently, Big Data technologies promise to have a transformative impact in healthcare, public health, and medical research, among other application areas. For example, researchers are already developing new standards, protocols, and study designs that are more suited mHealth interventions as opposed to the traditional randomized clinical trial. Also, the easy availability of data now allows population level studies at scales that were previously unimaginable. Although Big Data and Analytics have the potential to deliver significant benefits in healthcare applications, the full consequences of this technological shift are, as yet, unknown. The application of Big Data in healthcare is often viewed as an inevitability or technological imperative. This perspective discounts the role of human agency in a dangerous way. As a theoretical foundation, we review relevant ideas from the organizational communications literature and discuss theories of technology acquisition such as adaptive structuration. The notion of situatedness is explored with examples drawn from visualization, augmented reality, and cultural heritage. Due to significant interest, systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses on the topic of Big Data in healthcare are already available. These reviews help to delineate both the potential benefits and challenges in this area. In particular, we emphasize challenges with high human costs such as the privacy of patient data and the thoughtful design of technological interventions for at-risk populations. Lastly, we show how a situated perspective is a necessary tool in building next generation healthcare information systems.
{"title":"Situated big data and big data analytics for healthcare","authors":"M. Sterling","doi":"10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239322","url":null,"abstract":"Big Data and Big Data Analytics are a set of emerging technologies that allow researchers, organizations, and businesses to draw actionable insights from large data sets. A primary source of such large data sets are those created in a healthcare or medical context. This can include data from, but not limited to, electronic health records, mobile applications (mHealth), diagnostic equipment, genomics, and social media. Consequently, Big Data technologies promise to have a transformative impact in healthcare, public health, and medical research, among other application areas. For example, researchers are already developing new standards, protocols, and study designs that are more suited mHealth interventions as opposed to the traditional randomized clinical trial. Also, the easy availability of data now allows population level studies at scales that were previously unimaginable. Although Big Data and Analytics have the potential to deliver significant benefits in healthcare applications, the full consequences of this technological shift are, as yet, unknown. The application of Big Data in healthcare is often viewed as an inevitability or technological imperative. This perspective discounts the role of human agency in a dangerous way. As a theoretical foundation, we review relevant ideas from the organizational communications literature and discuss theories of technology acquisition such as adaptive structuration. The notion of situatedness is explored with examples drawn from visualization, augmented reality, and cultural heritage. Due to significant interest, systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses on the topic of Big Data in healthcare are already available. These reviews help to delineate both the potential benefits and challenges in this area. In particular, we emphasize challenges with high human costs such as the privacy of patient data and the thoughtful design of technological interventions for at-risk populations. Lastly, we show how a situated perspective is a necessary tool in building next generation healthcare information systems.","PeriodicalId":248924,"journal":{"name":"2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)","volume":"101 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130881237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-10-01DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239300
Malini L. M. Frey, Manoj Pokkiyarath, R. Mohan, N. Shibu, Vidal Conejo Gracia, V. Mohan, Siddhan
Augmenting educational opportunities for rural village girls in India has been highlighted as a significant Millennium Development Goal (MDG) necessary to help eradicate poverty in developing countries. The role of proper electrification in rural villages, another MDG, plays a significant role in providing necessary energy for educational needs. In a small village in the state of Jharkhand, India there are serious problems with current limited educational opportunities, particularly for girls, as well as electrification problems. These obstacles were assessed, and it was determined that with a proper and reliable electrification system in place, a Distance Learning (DL) educational program to support village education could support continued and constant education for girls through primary and secondary school. Interviews with villagers resulted in very positive support for such a system within the village. In this paper we address the current obstacles to education in the village. Also presented are the practical challenges in attaining the technical framework for the proposed DL innovation including software, suitable learning facilities, network connectivity, personnel support, and so on, all dependent upon a larger framework of reliable sustainable power system. In terms of electric availability, it is widely assumed that Indian villages now have electricity through efforts of government initiatives. However, the reality is that in many villages the actual electrical access has not been adequate to meet even simple village needs. A sustainable electrification model to support current grid is also currently underway for the village. The overall goal of the program is to enhance academic educational achievements of village girls, adolescents, and adults, thus helping to uplift the standard of living in the village, and diminishing current problems related to current low educational status of most there.
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