It’s true: Today, Friday, is the last day to cast your vote for up to 5 favorite USAID project submissions.  Get out the vote, now!

The Word on the Street…

Project teams and others are telling their friends, families, colleagues and communities about the vote, hoping to make it to the next round where 15 projects will be presented to the USAID judges.  If you want to learn more about projects than what is provided in the Project Gallery, check out the Community Blog where projects are discussing their ideas and asking for your support.

Oliver Subasinghe recently told the devex community about the USAID Challenge and check out this testimonial from quazi on the community blog:

Learning about various projects through the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge

I am glad that I voted for 5 projets posted here on NetSquared. What I liked most is that I now will have access to ideas as I prepare to use social web technologies to advance our cause for leadership development in Bangladesh, especially for the youth.

Get out the Vote!

This is the last day to help select the 15 projects moving on in the Challenge. Cast your vote now!

The voting process is simple, interactive and fun. It’s our goal to be as inclusive as possible because it’s your job to pick the projects that best deserve the time, attention, and funding that this Challenge can offer.

How to vote:

• You must Register and Login to the NetSquared site to participate in the Vote (please check your junk mail folder if you do not see a registration email confirmation)
• Each registered user has one (1) ballot
• You must vote for at least three (3) Projects and no more than five (5)
• All votes are weighted equally (in other words, your first choice and fifth choice have equal value)
• You can only vote for each Project once, yes that includes your own
• You must review and cast your ballot for your vote to count (details below)

Share your feedback, ideas, or favorites on the Community Blog after you’ve voted!

For more information about the Challenge, visit: http://netsquared.org/usaid

Why vote?

The voting process is simple, interactive and fun.  Plus, your voices together are better than ours alone and voting in the USAID Challenge Community Vote will help select the very best 15 projects to move on to the panel of judges.

Voting begins on Monday, December 8 and closes on Friday, December 12.  That’s just one week of voting, so we hope you’ll get the word out to friends and colleagues to help support the projects you care about. You don’t have to be part of a project team or even be a mobile tech expert to participate. 

Go Vote!

How to vote:

• You must Register and Login to the NetSquared site to participate in the Vote (please check your junk mail folder if you do not see a registration email confirmation)
• Each registered user has one (1) ballot
• You must vote for at least three (3) Projects and no more than five (5)
• All votes are weighted equally (in other words, your first choice and fifth choice have equal value)
• You can only vote for each Project once, yes that includes your own

Contact us if you have any problems or questions – we want to make sure your vote counts!

For more information about voting, visit USAID Vote!

The top 15 selected projects will be announced Monday, December 15th and will be presented to USAID, where a panel of judges will select the final 3.  For more information about the Challenge, check out the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge page.

This is your last week to submit ideas to the 2008 USAID Development 2.0 Challenge. Proposals are stacking up in the USAID Project Gallery already!  You can read proposals, star your favorites, leave comments and collaborate with project teams, or submit your own!  Check out the newest projects!

Submissions are due December 5th! Submit your idea today!

From the Project Gallery:

• ROBO Calls for Health – a developing country proposal
  A Problem in many developing countries is that many people who require medical care for chronic illnesses (high pretension and diabetes) and child health (Pre and post natal) often forget their appointment or to maintain their home treatment plan.   Such situations result in HIV AIDS, loss of ability to work (resulting in economic stress and poverty) premature death including high infant mortality rates. Most of these individuals already have mobile phones through which they can be reached by health care system (village, district, national level).  Through phone calls and/or text messaging patients would be reminded of their appointments and/or home treatments.
• BizWiz – The Business Helper
  BizWiz – the Business Helper- is a cell phone application that helps small and micro entrepreneurs keep track of their business expenses and sales more easily, streamline financial information, and analyze it on a more regular basis. BizWiz allows the creation of an immediate record of the transaction as it happens, ensuring that expenses and revenues are properly managed.
• Cell by Cell Community Twitter
  I’ve been involved with community development in urban slums and small rural towns in Brazil for the past fifty years.  There is an assumption by “outsiders” that because of the density of the slums and the circumscribed boundaries of the small rural towns, communication circulates freely and rapidly.  I believe the opposite is true.  Residents of these communities tend to stay close to their residences, sources of food, access to transportation and community services such as schools and health clinics.  They tend to venture out to social gatherings such as church attendance in groups.  They would never think of just walking their dog outside the immediate confins of the street in front of their house or shanty.
• Global PocketSchool Network (PSGN)
  PSGN is a global open network distributing mlearning-based edutainment solutions to places where there are no schools. This project is to help extremely underserved children develop literacy, numeracy, and life-skills to participate in global information, knowledge, and creative content economy. The philosophy for this is “everyone can learn and contribute to world peace and prosperity.”

Participate in 4 easy steps:

• Register and/or Login
• Click on Username
• Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
• Select “USAID” from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

Visit the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge Project Gallery to check out proposals, star your favorites, and comment and collaborate with the project teams or learn more about the Challenge.

The Challenge submission deadline is extended to December 5th!

To participate in the USAID Development Challenge please Register and Login and submit your idea. To view, comment on or star a project, visit the USAID Project Gallery.

About the Challenge

Mobile technology, including everything from inventive applications for smart phones to simple text messaging, is increasingly ubiquitous in the developing world. USAID challenges you to explore its potential through an innovation for maximum development impact in areas such as health, banking, education, agricultural trade, or other pressing development issues.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Government agency that delivers economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide on behalf of the American people, is sponsoring a challenge to find the best in mobile innovations for good. Through a NetSquared community vote, fifteen finalists will be chosen. A panel of judges, selected by USAID, will then select the winners. The first place winner will receive a grant of $10,000, the two runner-ups will receive grants of $5,000 each. All three winners will have the opportunity to present their ideas to senior USAID officials, experts, and the public in Washington D.C.

How It Works

Individuals and organizations working with mobile technologies to create change are invited to share their projects with the community through the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge submission form. Once you’ve hit submit for your challenge, it’s public. This provides you with an opportunity to get feedback from your community, the USAID community, the NetSquared community and other friendly collaborators.

Once the project submission process has closed, we will hold a community vote to select the top fifteen projects. Those projects will then go in front of a panel of USAID-selected judges who will determine the three winners.

Four Easy Steps to Participate:

• Register and/or Login
• Click on Username
• Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
• Select “USAID” from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

Learn more about the Challenge and enter your idea here.

The 2008 USAID Development 2.0 Challenge is underway and proposals are stacking up in the USAID Project Gallery.  You can read proposals, star your favorites, leave comments and collaborate with project teams, or submit your own!  Here are some of the most recently submitted projects – check them out!

From the Project Gallery:

• Mobile tools linking Teachers, Students and Parents to boost EducationEducation institutions often need to evaluate the academic performance of their students and teachers. Students also need to monitor their own progress. Parents/Guardians also need to monitor their student’s progress.

  Teachers frequently give tests or exams to their students during the term and this data is rarely used for analysis, apart from that given at the end of term/semester. The reason is that they do not have time to aggregate this data to a format suitable for easy analysis. These days, most academic institutions have atleast a computer which can be used for this kind of work. But there are cases where the number of computers is not enough for all teachers to enter student marks as often as analysis would be required. Also some teachers are part time employees and hence may not be at the school when their marks are needed.

• Ushahidi v2 – Mobile.Crisis.ReportingWhy Mobile
  Mobile phones are the one ubiquitous technology found all over the globe -if the goal of Ushahidi is to let ordinary people submit reports during a crisis and know of incidents happening around them, then we must ensure that any phone can be used for this purpose.

  What
  The following features will be incorporated into Ushahidi’s mobile development:
  •    ability to send and receive SMS alerts;
  •    ability to set up a local or international alert number at short notice;
  •    ability work on different smartphones;
  •    ability to send MMS messages (images and video);
  •    ability to send GPS coordinates.

Participate in 4 easy steps:

• Register and/or Login
• Click on Username
• Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
• Select “USAID” from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

Visit the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge Project Gallery to check out proposals, vote on your favorites, and comment and collaborate with the project teams or learn more about the Challenge.