The techbridgeworld initiative: Broadening perspectives in computing technology education and research

The growing demand for technological innovation to empower developing communities and enable sustainable development requires new and creative educational initiatives. Thus, well designed higher educational initiatives geared towards appropriate technology for developing communities can have a significant global impact. This paper presents the challenges and benefits of a higher education initiative, TechBridgeWorld, at Carnegie Mellon University that focuses on innovating and implementing relevant technology for developing communities. The authors examine the potential intersections of computing technologies with education and sustainable development. Several programs launched through the TechBridgeWorld initiative are described, and results of a pilot study carried out in Ghana for one of the TechBridgeWorld programs, Project Kané, are presented. The paper concludes with an analysis of lessons learned by the authors through launching the TechBridgeWorld initiative, and other related experiences