ICT Committee
Information and Communication Technology
Introduction | Responsibilities | Institutional Memory | Youtube Channel
"Our mission is to empower volunteers and communities to leverage communication channels and appropriate technology in order to improve lives by developing resources and acting as an information exchange network across all sectors and countries of Peace Corps."
Introduction
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Committee is a volunteer-driven committee started in 2009 to educate Burkinabé in subjects concerning information technology. The original idea was to replace the internal SharePoint that wasn’t meeting the needs of volunteers and with the long-term goal of being a committee that strives to educate and promote sustainable information technology and communication projects among volunteers, counterparts and communities.
Burkina is one of the poorest countries in the world, and access to appropriate technologies and communication channels can be limited. The ICT committee works to increase volunteer capacity to aide Burkinabé in projects ranging from internet or web training, computer lab assistance, mobile phones alphabetizations, radio or television programming, mechanical tools, promotional materials, etc...
We also manage the website and work to keep it functional, easy to use and full of informational resources for fellow volunteers, prospective volunteers and friends and family. See how the committee and site have evolved!
Responsibilities
The ICT committee has a variety of responsibilities:
- Maintain and organize this website: The majority of content on this website does not come from the ICT committee; it comes from volunteers and employees of Peace Corps in Burkina. We have worked hard to make it easy for the authorized people to contribute content to this site, however not everybody has the same technological ability. Therefore we are here to assist people to publish content in the best way possible. Also some of the resources that have been uploaded, might not be well organized, therefore it is the duty of the ICT committee to review periodically all the content uploaded, in order to give the site the best structure possible. If you have uploaded content to the website, but would like to improve its presentation or organization, please contact us.
- Assist volunteers to better leverage technology: Technology is quickly becoming an essential tool for the Burkinabé and people everywhere. The ICT committee is here to assist volunteers, committees, and others at maintaining appropriate technology acquired by host country nationals. ICT does not limit itself to High-Tech activities, such as If you run a computer lab or an internet cafe (cyber), we are here to help with all appropriate technology such as printing of books, utilization of mobile phones, mechanical tools, etc.
- Creating media and leveraging communication channels: Media can be a powerful tool to educate people in almost every topic. I.e. malaria, healthy reproduction practices, math, security, nutrition, how to be a peace corps volunteer, etc... The ICT committee assists volunteers and committees at making resources that can make a stronger impact in human development.
- Administering Water & Sanitation Small Project Assistance (SPA) grants: The ICT Committee strives to provide volunteers with resources and guidance to help these projects succeed. The ICT Committee approves all grants for Water & Sanitation Small Project Assistance. To sumbit a grant, please send it to: ictpcbf@gmail.com.
- Confronting the challenge of institutional memory in PCBF: Via the Project Database and community resource catalog, the ICT Committee works to increase resources and areas where volunteers can go to search for information concerning previously completed projects. This includes appropriate PC bureau form access to aid in the completion of such projects.
- Promoting computer literacy and the Internet: A computer and the internet has the ability to create experts in many topics. Computer classes have been started by volunteers that enable the Burkinabé to acquire more knowledge, by creating a basic structure that can grow over time. In addition, the ICT Committee reinforces capacity through the training of PCBF staff.
- Managing communication between committees and volunteers: The ICT Committee keeps in contact with communication representatives from all other committees to offer guidance in updating the website. The ICT Committee also manages the online CyberMarché.
- Representation of volunteer needs to the Peace Corps office in Ouagadougou and Washington: Like all the other committees, we are here to represent the needs of the volunteers who appointed us.
To contact us, please e-mail us at ictpcbf@gmail.com.
The ICT committee also has some ambitions and ideas that is working towards:
- With the technology revolution sweeping the globe, we foresee a time when IT projects, and the ICT committee, will be an integral part of every volunteer’s service. We are seeking to expand our resources and our experience in financial management in preparation for that day. We firmly believe that the direction of the ICT Committee will blaze a path for the future of PCBF.
Members
Meet our members as of September 2012:
- Elijah LaChance: Chair of the ICT Committee
- David Gonzalez: Co-Chair of the ICT Committee and Creative Director of the Media Subcommittee
- Evan Carmean: Webmaster and Assistant Treasurer
- Alaina Deans: Treasurer, Appropriate Technology Liaison – Responsible for finding and requesting documents on current and completed appropriate technology projects from PCVs.
- Gerard Gomez: Media Subcommittee member
- Emily Bruton: Finance and Institutional Memory Subcommittee member
- Tyler Lloyd: Finance Subcommittee member
- Matthew Sakow: Institutional Memory and Website Subcommittee member
- Andrew Cummings: Institutional Memory Subcommittee member
- Hugo Ortiz: Bureau Liason and Media Subcommittee member
