About: Organizations in the developing world have long been burdened by managing large-scale data collection efforts using paper-based forms. Today, we are witnessing a technology revolution in which new tools for mobile data collection and automatic digitization have the potential to radically transform the management of data in resource-constrained settings.

This workshop will connect leading organizations, having field operations in India, with an international cadre of researchers who are developing the latest tools for collecting and managing data. Our goals are to identify new research directions, to disseminate the latest technologies from the lab to the field, and to forge new long-term collaborations that are beneficial to both researchers and practitioners.

Workshop Registration

All participants are required to register for the workshop in advance.

Please visit this page to register. Note that there is a reduced fee for those who are only attending the workshop. Also, there is a discount available for students and NGOs.

Workshop Format

The workshop will be highly interactive, in order to promote a lively exchange between researchers and practitioners. Rather than inviting peer-reviewed papers, we invited short presentations and demonstrations that highlight participants' tools, experiences, or requirements in collecting and managing data in the developing world.

The workshop will contain the following elements:

  • Short Presentations: researchers and practitioners briefly describe their tools, experiences, or requirements for data collection (10 minutes each).

  • Demo/Poster Session: researchers demonstrate or describe the use of their tools for collecting or digitizing data.

  • Working Sessions: small groups of researchers and practitioners discuss specific areas of interest, and report back to the group with their findings.

We plan to synthesize the findings into the workshop into a short report, to be included with the MDM conference proceedings.

Speakers

We are delighted to announce that over 30 speakers have registered for the workshop. While the workshop speakers have been fixed, we invite additional participation by audience members, including open participation in the working sessions.

To facilitate a productive conversation, we have divided the speakers into two rough categories:

While we recognize that several speakers represent both practitioners and providers, we think this categorization is useful to facilitate conversations during the workshop. If any speaker would like to switch categories, please get in touch with the organizers at dataworkshop2012@gmail.com.

Instructions for Speakers

We request speakers to prepare for the workshop as follows:

  • Practitioners should prepare a 10-minute talk which outlines their requirements or experiences with mobile data collection.

  • Providers should prepare:
    1. A demo or poster that showcases their technologies.
    2. A 1-minute "lightning talk" that advertises their demo/poster.
    3. A 10-minute talk that describes their solution in more detail.

Note: due to the large number of speakers, the 10-minute limit on presentations will be strictly enforced. Speakers will be able to take questions separately, at the end of each session.

Workshop Schedule

The following schedule gives the timing of the sessions. The speakers within each session will be announced as soon as their registration is confirmed.

Day 1 (July 23):  Practitioner Talks, Provider Demos, Working Groups
Venue: Chancery Pavilion

    9:00am - 9:30am   Welcome and introductions
    9:30am - 10:20am   Practitioner panel (10 minute talks + 10 minutes of questions)
    10:20am - 10:50am   Break
    10:50am - 11:40am   Practitioner panel (10 minute talks + 10 minutes of questions)
    11:40am - 12:00am   Lighting talks by providers (1 minute each)
    12:00pm - 1:00pm   Demo/poster session by providers (part 1)
    1:00pm - 2:00pm   Lunch
    2:00pm - 2:30pm   Demo/poster session by providers (part 2)
    2:30pm - 3:20pm   Practitioner panel (10 minute talks + 10 minutes of questions)
    3:20pm - 3:40pm   Break
    3:40pm - 5:00pm   Breakout / working sessions
    5:00pm - 5:30pm   Reports from working sessions

Day 2 (July 24):  Provider Talks
Venue: Microsoft Research India (walking distance from the Chancery Pavilion)

    8:45am - 9:00am   Welcome
    9:00am - 10:00am   Provider panel (10 minute talks + 10 minutes of questions)
    10:00am - 10:20am   Break
    10:20am - 11:20am   Provider panel (10 minute talks + 10 minutes of questions)
    11:20am - 11:40am   Break
    11:40am - 12:40pm   Provider panel (10 minute talks + 10 minutes of questions)
    12:40pm - 2:00pm   (Optional) Group lunch outing

Travel/Hotel

The workshop will be held in the Chancery Pavillion, which is centrally located in Bangalore, India.

Additional details on travel and local information is available on the MDM conference website.

Organizers

Sharad Jaiswal, Bell Labs, India

Bill Thies, Microsoft Research India

Gautam John, Akshara Foundation

Mayank Kedia, ICTPH

Contact

The organizers can be reached at dataworkshop2012@gmail.com.

Confirmed participants: