Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

History, victims, and the survivors need to know how many people have been killed and disappeared in Casanare,” said Tamy Guberek, the study's lead author and the Benetech Human Rights Program Latin America Coordinator. Just this week, we released a new study on the Colombian state of Casanare.

Colombia 100

Colombia America History Studies 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 10, 2012

The discussion, and this (to us) risky recommendation from a publication with a long history of covering these issues, led Benetech chief scientist, Dr. Patrick Ball, to respond. The relevant Wired.com editor responded with an endorsement for use by Middle Eastern dissidents of Hushmail, an online web mail site with a similar design.

Online 171

Online Government Tech Design 171

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2015

Whether you are a nonprofit leader with a track record of using technology to improve outcomes, or a for-profit tech leader with a history of commitment to social justice organizations, we want to see a commitment to both sides. To be successful, our leaders have to be bilingual in speaking tech and social good.

Technology 100

Technology Literacy Social Uganda 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Ten days later the book was added to the collection and they’d agreed to tackle Tolkien’s 12 volume history of Middle Earth together. On May 20, 2006, he emailed her off list asking her to hurry because he wanted to read it.

Story 123

Story Ohio Ireland Pennsylvania 123

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 25, 2012

According to the organizers of the University of Texas conference, the repository will provide “researchers, human rights activists, and prosecutors around the world an archive that has already begun to help rewrite the history of state repression in Guatemala.”

National 206

National Guatemala Texas Online 206

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 17, 2010

As the worldwide debate continues about the release of government information by Wikileaks, history has shown that the uncovering of government data can be an important factor in human rights investigations.

Chad 124

Chad Guatemala Data Liberia 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 10, 2011

We’re honored to support the process towards justice and accountability at this critical time in Guatemala’s history. The year 2011 has shown in many ways that the arc of history is bending toward justice. But the road toward justice is long and nothing is inevitable.

International 150

International Guatemala Colombia Analysis 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2008

Dan Janzen has continued to explore the power of DNA-barcoding, plus regular taxonomy, coupled with some extraordinary field-sampling (ecological forensic science) in Guanacaste National Park in Costa Rica, to probe the hidden diversity lurking beneath the surface of morphospecies - "Extreme diversity of tropical parasitoid wasps exposed by iterative (..)

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Taxonomy Sample New York 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 3, 2008

I visited the One World Shop and learned about the history of the fair trade movement. One of the fun aspects of social enterprise conferences is to visit the social enterprises. Before the conference was formally opened, there were three different study tours available to attendees.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Social Government Conference 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

I stuck around for the main closing meeting, where the history and future of AI was presented. It makes me think about one of the giants of our field. Earlier this year, I spoke at the 50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting of Amnesty International (AI).

International 133

International Asia Global University 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 4, 2007

Working for an organization with a long, illustrious history, I am always curious about how other organizations got their start. I found Bookshare's interesting history on its Web site's About Us section: "Benetech, a new kind of nonprofit enterprise, is sponsoring the Bookshare initiative.

Award 100

Award San Diego New York New York City 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 23, 2004

Announced in the middle of last week, these two new books are two outstanding accounts of remarkably different histories. In the fictional "The News from Paraguay," author Lily Tuck weaves romance and imperial ambitions into an intricate and imaginative portrait of life in 19th century Paraguay.

Paraguay 100

Paraguay Detroit Ohio History 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 1, 2012

history, but the work ensuring equality of opportunity is far from over. We applaud Senator Harkin for his ardent support of these people, and are proud to join him in the efforts to break down barriers to equality and to expand the educational and vocational prospects for all Americans.

Hosting 140

Hosting San Francisco Law Education 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 28, 2007

Coleman, co-founder of BEA Systems, the fastest growing technology company in history, and Fruchterman, recipient of the 2006 MacArthur Genius Award, will talk about their passion for social improvement. What are the triumphs, risks, and challenges in social benefit entrepreneurship?

Change 100

Change Work University California 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2008

There, we talked to Rufino Mauricio, a senior official in the FSM and the co-author of an important book on Micronesian history. We visited the national capital in Palikir, which is about 8 miles away from Kolonia, the main town on Pohnpei. He was very helpful and supportive of our goal of building a library.

Micronesia 100

Micronesia Library Student Education 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 10, 2008

As a history buff, I didn't know the new names for some of these places. Continental flies this route three times a week, going from Honolulu to Majuro Atoll, to Kwajelein Atoll, to Kosrae, to Pohnpei, to Chuuk and finally to Guam. Our first destination on this trip was Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

Micronesia 100

Micronesia Guam Honolulu Hawaii 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 18, 2006

To date, the history of state violence in Guatemala has been understood primarily through accounts by victims, witnesses, and the press, because these were the main sources of available data. A volunteer group from the American Statistical Association has provided invaluable guidance on the statistical sampling issues.

Guatemala 100

Guatemala Statistics National Sample 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 6, 2006

Truth is a difficult subject in large scale human rights abuses, but we have brought state of the art science and technology to bear on finding the best statistical estimates of the truth of East Timor's very difficult recent history.

Timor 100

Timor Statistics Press History 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 14, 2012

This is a truly unique moment in Martus’ history. Our mandate, broadly speaking, was to engage in “blue-sky dreaming” and learn from our shared experiences to make Martus a more robust tool. And, support from the Open Society Foundation made this event possible!

Global 157

Global Group Thailand Burma 157

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 2, 2007

Guatemala has a sad history of large scale human rights abuse. My new favorite is how the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office of Guatemala (PDH is the Spanish acronym) uses our Martus human rights software. Few of these violations have ever been prosecuted.

Literacy 100

Literacy San Jose Guatemala Bangladesh 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 6, 2009

Benetech Analyzes Human Rights Data for the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission A Guest Beneblog post by Kristen Cibelli Our team at the Benetech Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) has recently concluded a three-year project with Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help clarify Liberia's violent history.

Liberia 100

Liberia Statistics Analysis United States 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 6, 2006

The meeting was held at what used to be the Viceroy of India's lodge in New Delhi, and steeped with history. Sena is a retired English Literature professor who has been visually impaired all of his life and continues to work avidly for people with visual impairments.

University 100

University India Spain Student 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 8, 2008

It's great to go to completely different places, spending time learning about history, politics, issues and culture from new perspectives. Micronesia left quite an impression on me. I think it's one of the great perks of my job, working in the nonprofit sector.

Micronesia 100

Micronesia Reflection Guam Marshall Islands 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 9, 2018

Amazingly enough, it wasn’t the publishers who fought against the treaty; the publishing industry has a long history of supporting access for the blind, as long as their interests are respected. Just three years ago, negotiators from around the world converged on Marrakesh, Morocco, to hash out a final deal. It was highly controversial.

Accessibility 135

Accessibility eBook People Copyright 135

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 30, 2009

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Knitting the Season 46. Knitter's Book Of Yarn 47. The Knitter's Book Of Wool 48. Culinary Harmony 49. Pleasures of your Processor 50. Herbal Healing For Women 51.

Gift 100

Gift Accessibility Giving Volunteer 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 22, 2006

Working together with the Guatemalan Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman and several Guatemalan NGOs, the largest human right archive project in history was launched. When I visited the archive again last month, I walked into an efficient and orderly data gathering operation equipped with copiers, cameras and flatbed digital scanners.

Guatemala 124

Guatemala National Switzerland Camera 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 10, 2009

I think the publishing industry has a long and proud history of being willing to help people with disabilities, and authors are equally willing to support this as well. We just announced that a major publishing group (Hachette) has voluntarily decided to help Bookshare deliver high-quality versions of their books to people with disabilities.

Amazon 100

Amazon Accessibility eBook Problem 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 22, 2012

How wonderful this is to be able to share my own (patiently self-acquired) knowledge of world history, art history, science, and language, and to keep on learning, as I work.

Volunteer 129

Volunteer San Francisco Team San Jose 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 22, 2013

Collin Sullivan, staff member of Benetech''s Human Rights Field Team, on a field visit in Thailand with a staff member of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) As the largest single grant in our Human Rights Program’s history, "On the Frontier of Secure Technology for Human Rights Monitoring” will allow Benetech to deliver a set (..)

Tools 158

Tools Program Fund News 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 5, 2017

Paul also helped us when we were fighting the biggest advocacy battle of our history, to get the Marrakesh Treaty. Paul championed the Intel Reader, a reading machine for people with dyslexia, and we worked closely with Ben Foss, the dynamic "out" dyslexic who drove that project forward.

United States 131

United States Course California Product 131

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

She holds a master’s degree in Political Sciences, Public Law and Contemporary History from University of Konstanz, Germany. Before coming to HRDAG, Jule was co-founder and deputy president of the German student organization Studies Without Borders.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles South Africa United States Statistics 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 21, 2011

At a crucial turning point in Benetech’s history, I ran into Sheldon and outlined my dreams of doing more. Sheldon was someone who I stayed in touch with even after leaving Calera to start a nonprofit social enterprise to make the Arkenstone reading machines for the blind (Arkenstone was the original name of Benetech).

Mentoring 174

Mentoring Indiana Press Profit 174

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 15, 2009

s Adams Morgan neighborhood to the National Mall to watch Barack Obama become the 44th president of the United States, but she was determined to witness history. We knew it would be a long day of walking and rolling to get Steph from her apartment in D.C.’s

United States 100

United States Washington National Library 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 13, 2011

Last summer I talked about our great summer interns and fellows and early this year, I sent a copy of our 20th Anniversary Report that talked about our entire history. Benetech President's Update Winter 2011 I’m pleased to provide you you a detailed update on Benetech for the first time in two years.

Conservancy 140

Conservancy Norway Congo Sweden 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 22, 2010

But we just do not know much about the quality of estimates from further back in history. The HSR authors’ conclusion that the number of deaths in today’s wars is declining may be right, or it might be wrong. Therefore, the only responsible conclusion is that we simply don’t know what the trend in war-related deaths looks like.

Congo 118

Congo Sample Statistics Authoring 118

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 19, 2009

The location was chosen by the conference organizers so that the participants could observe and learn from Cambodia’s own history of recovering from the Khmer Rouge period.

Cambodia 104

Cambodia Training Train Sri Lanka 104