The organizers of the second annual symposium on Computing for Development (DEV 2012) — to be colocated with the Fifth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD 2012) in Atlanta, GA, March 10-11, 2012 — have issued a call for papers:
DEV 2012 provides an international forum for research in the design and implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for social and economic development. In particular, we focus on emerging contexts where conventional computing solutions are often inappropriate due to various contextual factors – including, but not limited to, cost, language, literacy, and the availability of power and bandwidth. Focusing on innovative technical solutions to these unique application, infrastructure and user challenges, DEV fosters exchange between computer scientists, engineers, and other scholars and practitioners interested in the use of ICTs for development.
DEV provides a high-quality, single-track forum for presenting results and discussing new ideas. We expect paper contributions from different existing sub-areas of Computer Science and Engineering with a direct relevance to development.
Papers should describe original and previously unpublished research. Three metrics will be applied to judge papers: (a) Relevance of the problem for development; (b) Novelty of the technical solution; (c) Evaluation of the solution, making a case for development-focused impact. All DEV paper submissions should either provide or directly motivate a novel technical solution that has direct implications for development. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Networks/Systems/Security/Architecture
- Low-cost wireless connectivity
- Intermittent networks and systems
- Power-efficient systems
- Low-cost computing devices
- Mobile systems and applications
- Mixed networks, e.g., telephony and IP
- Special-purpose sensor systems
- Security challenges in developing regions
HCI/Applications
- User interfaces for low-literacy populations
- Multi-lingual computing
- User-interfaces for low-cost devices
- Participatory methods and user-centered design
- Accessibility to disabled populations in developing regions
- Design and evaluation of applications for health, microfinance, education, agriculture, entertainment
AI/NLP/Data Mining/Speech/Vision
- Machine learning techniques for large-scale data analysis in development contexts
- Adapting content and applications to local languages and education levels
- Understanding social relationships and information flows in disadvantaged societies
- Speech interfaces and speech recognition for low-resource languages
- Development of new AI-centric tools/solutions for development
- Computer vision challenges in development
We also welcome papers outside of these topics that address the DEV focus on computing innovations supporting social and economic development.
Submissions should be in ACM format and not more than 10 pages.
Submissions are due Oct. 21, 2011, and camera-ready papers will be due Jan. 30, 2012.
For more details, check out the DEV 2012 website.
And to learn more about computing for development, review the output of a previous CCC visioning activity — in which approximately 50 researchers came together to identify future steps in this area.
(Contributed by Erwin Gianchandani, CCC Director)
