Workshop on Robust Socio-technical Architectures in Support of Displaced Persons

武装冲突和自然灾害越来越多地迫使人们离开家园。这种流离失所——从物质财产、熟悉的环境和社区中被撕裂——产生了对连通性、沟通和联系的迫切需求。流离失所者必须满足他们的连通性和信息需求，同时经历两种类型的流动。首先，他们在离开家园和社区寻找安全和住所时面临宏观流动性。其次，他们必须应对停滞不前的微流动性。当他们努力在新的地方建立和维持联系时，无论是难民营还是临时避难所。这些移动性以及流离失所者的物理环境为无线网络、应用程序和设备的成功实施带来了挑战。此外，流离失所还造成了极度的资源稀缺、依赖、地理变化以及个人和组织之间的冲突，进一步挑战了信息技术的实施和使用。这种情况需要强大且可快速部署的网络技术，以及在受害者需要时为其提供支持的应用程序。它还需要新的社会科学理论，随着信息技术的发展，对流离失所者的信息需求提供更深入的理解。该奖项支持一个讲习班，以产生相关的新技术和理论，并根据各种科学学科，即计算机、信息、组织和地理信息科学以及通信和难民研究的见解确定研究议程。讲习班还将包括从业人员，特别是那些从事难民和流离失所人口工作的从业人员。研讨会的成果将包括一个研究议程，对无线网络架构、信息服务设计、地理空间可视化、社区自组织和国际组织治理的学术研究具有重要意义。另外一个成果将包括公开提供的多媒体用例研究，其目的是在研讨会期间集中讨论，但也用于随后的教育用途。为了聚集这一多样化的群体，研讨会将在2013年12月在南非开普敦大学举行的ACM发展和ICTD2013会议之前举行。这个地点使组织者能够利用这两个会议上的各种科学专业知识。它还使他们能够利用南非发展起来的当地专业知识，并继续收容逃离非洲大陆许多地区冲突的难民。组织者将特别邀请联合国难民事务高级专员办事处（难民专员办事处）外地办事处和开普敦难民中心的官员。智力优势：讲习班将为技术和社会科学理论制定一个研究议程，以支持流离失所者所经历的各种形式的流动及其影响。总之，技术和理论必须克服各种挑战，包括有限的电力和网络基础设施，密集的定居点，快速变化的地理，以及个人之间和个人与组织之间新的和不断变化的社会关系。研究议程将优先考虑技术发展及其相关的社会科学影响，以满足最紧迫的信息需求，为组织和个人创造创新。更广泛的影响：这些努力产生的技术和理论将有可能改善数千万流离失所者的生活。除了使他们的生活更容易之外，技术和社会理论的应用还可以增强他们的复原力，从而使恢复更快、更全面，限制武装冲突和灾害的总体负面影响。由此产生的项目小组的跨学科性质将促进计算机和信息科学与社会科学之间的相互促进。此外，研讨会及其后续小组的国际性将使美国科学家能够利用国际同行的资源和专业知识。最后，多媒体用例研究可以在各种教育环境中使用，增强STEM教育的国际维度。

Armed conflict and natural disasters are increasingly driving people from their homes. This displacement--being torn from physical possessions, familiar surroundings and community--generates acute demands for connectivity, communication and connectedness. The displaced must navigate their connectivity and information needs while experiencing two types of mobility. First, they face macro-mobility as they leave their homes and communities in search of safety and shelter. Next, they must contend with resituated micro-mobility. As they work to establish and maintain ties within their new location, whether a refugee camp or temporary shelter.These mobilities, as well as the physical environment of the displaced, create challenges for successful implementation of wireless networks, applications and devices. Moreover, displacement also creates extreme resource scarcity, dependency, geographic change and conflicts between individuals and organizations, further challenging information technology implementation and use. This situation demand robust and rapidly deployable network technologies, together with the applications to support victims in their time of need. It also calls for novel social science theories, providing a deeper understanding of the information requirements of the displaced along with informing technical development.This award supports a workshop to generate relevant novel technologies and theories, and to define a research agenda derived from insights from a variety of scientific disciplines, namely computer, information, organization and geographic information sciences, as well as communication and refugee studies. The workshop will also include practitioners, particularly those working with refugees and displaced populations. Outcomes of the workshop will include a research agenda, with implications for academic research in wireless network architectures, information service design, geospatial visualization, community self-organization and international organization governance. An additional outcome will include publicly available multimedia use-case studies, designed to focus discussions during the workshop but also for subsequent educational use.To assemble this diverse group, the workshop will be held in advance of the ACM DEV and ICTD2013 conferences at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in December 2013. This location allows the organizers to draw upon the diverse scientific expertise present at these two conferences. It also enables them to tap into local expertise developed as South Africa has and continues to host refugees fleeing conflicts in many parts of the continent. In particular, the organizers will invite officials from the field office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Cape Town Refugee Center.Intellectual Merit:The workshop will generate a research agenda for technologies and social science theories to support the diverse forms of mobility and their effects as experienced by displaced persons. Together, the technologies and theories must overcome challenges including limited access to power and network infrastructure, dense settlements, rapidly changing geography, and new and changing social relations among individuals and between individuals and organizations. The research agenda will prioritize technical developments and their associated social scientific implications to meet the most pressing information needs, generating innovations for both organizations and individuals.Broader Impacts:The technologies and theories resulting from these efforts will potentially enhance the lives of tens of millions of displaced persons. In addition to making their lives easier, the application of technologies and social theories may also enhance their resiliency, thereby making recovery faster and more complete, limiting the overall negative impacts of armed conflict and disasters. The interdisciplinary nature of the resulting project teams will foster cross-fertilization between computer and information sciences and social sciences. Also, the international nature of the workshop and subsequent teams will enable U.S. scientists to draw upon the resources and expertise of international counterparts. Finally, the multimedia use-case studies can be used in a variety of educational contexts, enhancing the international dimension of STEM education.