Information and Communications Technology for Development in the Field – Collaborative International Master’s Course


Keywords:
Pilot domain:
Digital Society & Global Citizenship
ECTS credits:
6
Mode of delivery:
Hybrid
University:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Contact:
Anna Bon
Language:
English
Study cycle:
Master
Faculty:

SDG:
Course credit:
Free course:

Permanently open:
Start date:
2023-06-06
End date:
2023-06-30
Application start:
2023-04-06
Application deadline:
2023-04-20

In June 2023 the international 6 ECTS master course ICT for Development in The Field takes place. ICT4D as a new sub-discipline addresses problems of and solutions for the “unconnected people in the world”. This is still a large part of the world’s population, the
majority of whom live in poor, remote, often rural, regions of the world, often in so-called developing low/middle-income countries.

Students work in teams focused on different geographies (countries/regions) in the South seeking to answer key research questions:
(a) What is the state-of-play regarding applications of AI for Social Good relevant to people in the Global South? Reference point are the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as ensuring food & nutrition security, reducing inequalities, health and wellbeing, etc.
(b) What are foreseeable adverse consequences, risks and social impacts related to innovation through AIs, and how may they be mitigated?
(c) In consequence, what are the implications for the application of AI specifically in the context of the respective Global South countries or regions, in terms of policies, regulation, investment, social entrepreneurship, education, civil/civic debate?

Course entry requirements
This interdisciplinary course is open for selected Master’s students, having Bachelor’s level knowledge or experience in a relevant digital field (IS, CS, AI, digital humanities, computational social sciences).

Registration
For this course, there are 5 spots available for students from universities within the Aurora network. You can apply via sending an email to shortmobility@vu.nl. Writing a short motivation could be a part of the application. The deadline to apply is 20 April 2023.