Joel Putnam


SIPA Gets $1 Million grant for work on Cyber-Security, Internet Governance, and Innovation

The title says it: Columbia School of International and Public Affairs has been awarded $1 million to fun work in three areas related to technology: cyber security, internet governance, and innovation policy. The grant is one of five Carnegie is giving out to schools across the country investigating similar issues. The primary goals of the grant are to fund research by doctoral students and junior faculty involved in this work, as well as to host conferences in April of 2015 and 2016 to bring together […]


USAID on Integrating Mobiles into Development Projects

First pointed out to us on the excellent ICTworks blog, we’ve learned that USAID has compiled a manual for using mobile phones into international development projects. Put together for the agency by FHI360 and OpenRevolution, this 149-page handbook should serve as an excellent resource for anyone who wants to better understand how to use cell phones work to fight poverty and the problems that come with it. From the forward: This handbook is intended as a practical and actionable guide to help USAID staff consider […]


“Put the Coffee in the Pot, We’re Gonna Let it Percolate!” This Thursday At SIPA: The 2013 #PitchTech4Dev Competition

  We’ve all experienced those moments of inventive epiphany. Unexpectedly, innovation and inspiration will collide with need and a brilliant new app is born. They’re moments usually followed by the realization that the invention already exists, or that OMG a cat in a shark costume on a Roomba chasing a duck I must share this video with the world! In one of very few watchable scenes in The Internship, 42 year-old Google intern Vince Vaughn brings this moment to life with his on-the-fly pitch for […]


Introducing the Judges of the 2013 #PitchTech4Dev Competition

The New Media Task Force is pleased to announce the panel of expert judges who will decide the winners of the 2013 #PitchTech4Dev competition. Make sure to register your team before the October 30 deadline. Justin Kosslyn is a Product Manager at Google Ideas, exploring how technology can enable people to confront threats in the face of conflict, instability or repression. He led the strategy, development and launch of the Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network and has designed, prioritized, and previously launched new features and products […]


Subversive Game Takes Home Top Prize in 2012 NMTF Pitch Competition

Maria Hwang, a Columbia Teachers College student, entered her idea for an interactive game to teach children better eating habits at last year’s pitch competition.  Monster Appetite had been prototyped as a board game, but her idea for turning the board game into an app took first place. Click here to learn about #PitchTech4Dev and enter your own team for the 2013 competition: http://pitchtech4dev.wordpress.com/application-2/. Monster Appetite: A Subversive Approach to Teaching Good Eating Habits By Maria Hwang (LinkedIn) Around this time last year I heard about a competition that peaked my […]