UNESCO Tech4Dev OpenQRS in the Openness Paradigm Panel (1 of 2)
OpenQRS was at UNESCO's Technology for Development conference organized by the UNESCO Chair for Sustainable Technology and CODEV from EPFL in Lausanne. The conference theme focused on "What is Essential?" in technology for development. Tech4Dev (#t4d2014 on Twitter) provided an opportunity to present two parts of OpenQRS. On Day 1, we presented our findings from >40 stakeholder interviews and how this research informs our vision for OpenQRS. We had a lively discussion and received great feedback on OpenQRS. Our OpenQRS proposal was a timely response to a common theme across many panels that the current regulatory environment for deploying new technologies in the Global South is paralyzingly problematic.
Very special thanks to Denisa Kera, National University of Singapore and Sachiko Hirosue, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, who co-chaired this session on The Openness Paradigm.
Denisa and Sachiko hosted a panel that featured open projects:
open source hardware assn (OSHWA) president Gabriella Levine kicked off the panel introducing Sneel, a OSHW robotic snake
Professor Irfan Prijambada (DIY microscope)
Nur Akbar Arofatullah (Lifepatch citizen science project)
open data research by Nanjira Sambuli from iHub in Kenya
open research advocate Scott Edmunds from @GigaScience
Sachiko, Denisa, Gabriella and Marc Dusseiller of Hackteria co-hosted a water hackathon as a panel- bringing Makers into the UNESCO event.
As well, Dara Dotz presented her experience working with 3D printing medical devices in post-disaster environments, specifically Haiti and hosted a workshop to demonstrate how to 3D print Medical Devices. We've consulted with Dara to apply the OpenQRS/Integrity by Design Framework and we were thrilled to see the enthusiastic response to her project!
Jenny Molloy, from the Open Science working group of the Open Knowledge Foundation, wrote a brilliant post about all the open science projects presented at Tech4Dev.
A snapshot of some of the extraordinary people who made this an exceptional and inspiring conference. Thanks to all for an informative and inspiring event!