This is based on a talk I gave in Sri Lanka last year at the University of Peradeniya, but with a heavier technology component given the engineering audience. Technology and Human Rights Talk. My talk this week at Stanford was videoed and placed on the EE380 class website. I covered our Human Rights program, including the Martus Project and the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (which joined Benetech last year). MORE

She did a joint Masters in Public Health and Economic Development at Columbia University. Before and during her studies, she conducted field research for governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as foundations, on maternal and child health in Sri Lanka, Ghana, Haiti, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya and India. MORE

We've also had major efforts in Burma, Sri Lanka and Guatemala, to name a few; efforts we expect to continue this year. We're hoping to revive it with new funding, and have already committed to developing more content with our partner, the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As many folks know, I try to send out quarterly updates on what's new at Benetech. Well, I just got my first one out in 2008! MORE

I’m Thushan Ganegedara, a 3 rd year undergraduate from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Many thanks to Thushan Ganegedara for this guest post about his summer open source project. My interests are Mobile Development and Computational Intelligence. My first-ever experience with Google Summer of Code has been with Benetech. I have realized that Benetech is indeed “technology serving humanity.” MORE

We already have universal access provisions for things like telephones. Like Sri Lanka where pictures weren’t getting out. Tonight, I attended a live panel discussion on the question of whether Technology is Really Good for Human Rights, or not. Below are live notes – apologies for spelling and grammar – that follow the main points and audience q/a. Enjoy! MORE

Switzerland’s largest commercial TV broadcaster, TeleZuri, as well as a host of smaller projects such as Eritrea’s ERI-TV and Sri Lanka’s SLBC. He is an adjunct professor of communication at New York University, where he teaches “Television and the Information Revolution”, a course of his own design, and at The Bauhaus in Germany. This is a guest post from Michael Rosenblum , author of iPhone Millionaire. MORE

There is actually a great piece by a professor at George Washington University, Ronald Weitzer. I also lived in Sri Lanka right about the time that sex tourism became a big deal, and saw it firsthand. "I think a lot of people perhaps have gotten a one-sided understanding of this issue of trafficking. They see it as coercive prostitution, or just see prostitution as synonymous with trafficking, which is really not the case. MORE

Our staff are actively working in the region in Sri Lanka and East Timor, but on December 26th were not in harm's way. Our partner groups and friends in Sri Lanka have also fared well, to our relief. I was especially happy to hear from my friend Professor Weerakkody of the University of Peradeniya that he and his family were safe. MORE