News

[June 2022] Excited to be presenting our research at the ICTD2022 conference.

[April 2022] The third phase of my Fulbright is underway, returning to Universidad Tecnologica de Panama. I’m giving a talk to software engineering students as part of their 40th-anniversary celebrations for the Facultad de Ingeniería de Sistemas Computacionales (FISC).

[February 2022] Excited to learn I’m being awarded Penn State’s Faculty Scholar Medal for Entrepreneurship, Technology Transfer, and Economic Development for scholarly excellence. I’m grateful to my colleagues in the College of IST for their nomination and support!

[January 2022] The second phase of my Fulbright is underway, taking me to Uganda’s Makerere University to collaborate with Rehema Baguma, in their College of Computing and Information Sciences. Interesting preliminary results on inter-regional comparative analysis of digital platform use in humanitarian operations.

[October 2021] Wrapping our research on Relief and Development Coherence (RDC), with a webinar hosted by NetHope, with panelists from the German think tank GPPi and U.S. NGO HIAS. This was preceded by a presentation of our results to the USAID/State Department working group on RDC. More information is on our research page https://coherence4rd.com

[May 2021] Starting my Fulbright in Panama, working with Elba Valderrama from UTP, while wrapping up research with Matt McGee and Dorothy Njoroge on Covid-19 anxiety experienced by refugees in Kenya is related to their sources of information. See my publications page for the paper being presented at the IFIP WG 9.4 annual conference.

See our ICTs & Refugees and Rwanda IoT pages for the latest research updates.

Overview

The fast pace of innovation in information and communication technologies (ICTs) continually creates new opportunities and challenges for economic and social development. These opportunities include improved service provision by humanitarian organizations as well as opportunities for individuals to improve their lives, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Here at Penn State my research, teaching and service shed light on the ways international policy and organizational contexts influence access to, and use of, information and communication technologies. My work has been conducted in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Also, I’ve had the honor of working with organizations such as the United Nations, international non-governmental organizations (e.g. Save the Children, CARE and IRD), and U.S. federal agencies (e.g. Department of State, National Science Foundation).

Contact me at cmaitland@ist.psu.edu or visit at 390E Westgate Bldg. University Park, PA 16802