ICT Committee

 

Information and Communication Technology

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Introduction | Responsibilities | Institutional Memory | Youtube Channel

Members | ICT Articles

 "Our mission is to empower volunteers and everybody else 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 peace.corps.bit [at] gmail [dot] com

 

The ICT committee also has some ambition and ideas that is working towards:

  • Provide funding for various projects that can be improved with the use of technology: Many times, good ideas are developed but because of lack of funding or materials, these ideas become hard to execute, For example if a volunteer is doing a training on better sexual reproductive practices, and he or she would like to show a movie to capture the audience, it could be a lot easier if a projector and computer was utilized. We strive to someday be able to provide volunteers with tools that were not previously accessible.

Members

Meet our members as of October 2011:

  • Hugo Ortiz: Chair of the ICT Committee, Webmaster, Bureau Liaison
  • Christie Gross: Co-Chair of ICT Committee, Finance and Technology and Lending Manager, Assistant Webmaster – Any requests for technology borrowing, such as for flip cameras, projectors, and any requests for financing for ICT related projects will go through Christie.
  • Hillary Figgs: Creative Director, Co-Chair of media and communications division.
  • John Garvey: Communication Manager, Sound Engineer, Co-Chair of media and communications division.
  • Emily Hooker: Public Relations and Branding Manager – Responsible for informing PVCs of what ICT does.
  • Katie Baczewski: Media Manager – Manages work with TV and radio, works to create “awareness campaigns” using media created by Peace Corps Burkina Faso volunteers. Works with other committees to compile and create new media, and manages media projects.
  • Evan Carmean: Assistant Webmaster
  • Alaina Deans: Appropriate Technology Liaison – Responsible for finding and requesting documents on current and completed appropriate technology projects from PCVs.
  • Chris Wells: Organizing, gathering and creating resources that are technology/IT related.
  • Valerie Fry: Organizing, gathering and creating resources that are technology/IT related.

ICT Articles