Technology for Developing Regions

The "Technology for Developing Regions" track in WWW 2008 seeks papers that describe significant research contributions in using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to address pressing problems in developing regions. ICT encompasses a broad range of computer science topics including networking, systems, communications, databases, HCI, user interfaces and architecture. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Wired and wireless networking
• Low-cost computers
• Affordable access devices
• Delay tolerant or intermittent-connectivity networking
• Power systems
• Sensor networks
• HCI challenges (such as semi-literate users and overcoming language barriers)
• User interfaces
• Language translation
• Task-specific devices (such as low-cost ATMs, field-worker PDAs, etc.)
• Shared data systems
• Local content generation and distribution

In this context, we invite submissions that describe:

• ICT research challenges in developing regions
• Appropriate ICT solutions
• ICT deployment experiences
• ICT-based applications (eg. education, healthcare, microfinance, e-government etc.)
• Vision papers

Submissions should describe original, previously unpublished, high-quality work, making significant contributions to the available technologies for developing regions (including less-developed regions within industrialized nations). Papers will be deemed out of scope if they do not explicitly state their relevance to developing regions.

Paper formatting requirements will be provided on the submissions page.

• Track Chair:
  Srinivasan Keshav (University of Waterloo, Canada)
• Deputy Chair:
  Lakshminarayanan Subramanian (New York University, USA)
• Program Committee:
  Bhaskaran Raman (IIT Bombay)
  Gaetano Borriello (University of Washington)
  Jacques Steyn (Monash University)
  Kentaro Toyama (Microsoft Research, India)
  Krithivasan Ramamritham (IIT Bombay)
  Ramon Caceres (AT&T Labs)
  Tapan Parikh (University of California, Berkeley)
  Umar Saif (Lahore University of Management Sciences)
  Wagner Meira Jr. (UFMG)