Software and Technologies Designed for People with Autism: What do users want?
Software developers, designers and researchers have been looking to technology for solutions to help and educate people with autism for over two decades. There are many examples of seemingly successful technology-based products and prototypes, yet very little is known about how well these solutions are currently integrated into lives of children and adults with autism and their families. This paper reports on results from an anonymous on-line survey intended as a first step to elucidate information about software and technology use. Additionally, data was analyzed to aid creation of future technology-based products for people with autism that are not just effective, but that also meet important user goals and align to their interests and strengths. Major findings included: (1) very few respondents (25%) had any experience with software or technology designed for people with cognitive disabilities; (2) when asked an open-ended question about what they desire in technology design, respondents reported three major goals (social skills, academic skills, and organization skills), and many suggestions for improvements to software and hardware design; and (3) technology was reported as both a major strength and interest for people with autism.

Communication as Information-Seeking: The Case for Mobile Social Software for Developing Regions
In this paper, we describe several findings from a multi-year, multi-method study of how information and communication technologies have been adopted and adapted in Central Asia. We have found that mobile phone usage is outpacing the rate of Internet adoption, that access to the Internet is primarily through public access sites carrying with it issues regarding privacy and surveillance, that people rely on their social networks as information sources, that public institutions tend to be fairly weak as citizen resources, and that information seeking and communication are conflated in people’s usage patterns with different technologies. In addition, in the developed world social networking software has grown rapidly and shown itself to have significant potential for mobilizing a population. Based on the collection of findings from Central Asia and observing patterns of technology usage in other parts of the world, our research leads to the conclusion that exploring mobile social software holds significant potential as an ICT that meshes well with preexisting patterns of communication and information seeking and also leverages the most predominant pattern of technology adoption. Many of the findings from this research echo results from studies in other geographic areas, and so we anticipate that much of this research will be relevant to developing regions generally.

Communication as Information-Seeking: The Case for Mobile Social Software for Developing Regions<
In this paper, we describe several findings from a multi-year, multi-method study of how information and communication technologies have been adopted and adapted in Central Asia. We have found that mobile phone usage is outpacing the rate of Internet adoption, that access to the Internet is primarily through public access sites carrying with it issues regarding privacy and surveillance, that people rely on their social networks as information sources, that public institutions tend to be fairly weak as citizen resources, and that information seeking and communication are conflated in people’s usage patterns with different technologies. In addition, in the developed world social networking software has grown rapidly and shown itself to have significant potential for mobilizing a population. Based on the collection of findings from Central Asia and observing patterns of technology usage in other parts of the world, our research leads to the conclusion that exploring mobile social software holds significant potential as an ICT that meshes well with preexisting patterns of communication and information seeking and also leverages the most predominant pattern of technology adoption. Many of the findings from this research echo results from studies in other geographic areas, and so we anticipate that much of this research will be relevant to developing regions generally.

Mobile Social Software for the Developing World
This paper discusses how the importance of social networks for performing everyday tasks in the developing world leads to new considerations of the utility of social networking software (SNS). The paper presents some results from a multi-year, multi-method study in Central Asia that tracks patterns of technology adoption and adaptation, as well as shifts in media consumption and information seeking. Our results suggest SNS is a particularly compelling approach in resource-constrained environments (broadly defined) as a way to leverage and systematize the ad hoc processes people develop to navigate their everyday lives and information ecology.

Studying mobile phone use in context: Cultural, political, and economic dimensions of mobile phone use
This paper discusses the need for studying mobile phone use within the context of a society, with consideration of the cultural, political, and economic factors that influence phone use. Such contextual study is especially valuable in a culture that sharply differs from the industrial, predominantly Western perspective in which mobile phones and applications are developed. This paper presents a case study of mobile phone use in Uzbekistan, a Central Asian republic with a unique socio-political environment that is experiencing growing mobile phone use. A review of literature related to mobile phone use in developing, non-Western countries is presented. Some results of interviews about perceptions and use of the mobile phones in Tashkent are discussed.

Foreign Aid and ICT Policy in Central Asia
Our discussion proceeds in three parts. In section one we review the literature on ICT in developing countries. This literature is comparatively new and, while scholars have studied the links between economics and ICT development, less understood are the political factors that shape ICT development and the potentially regime-destabilizing consequences that emerge as a result of variations in ICT development. In section two, we turn our attention to the political causes behind varying outcomes in Kyrgyzstan’s, Kazakhstan’s, and Uzbekistan’s ICT policy. Here we demonstrate how international partnerships in ICT development, in contrast to what is often the case with other forms of international aid, does produce more liberal regulatory regimes. In conclusion, we explore the potential consequences of these variations. Ultimately, we find that although the current influence of Internet media is less than more traditional print, radio, and television outlets, Internet accessibility and usage is rapidly increasing, particularly among younger generations. As a result, seemingly inconsequential policy variations today may have profound effects on authoritarian stability in the near future.

Information-Seeking Behavior and Internet Use in Uzbekistan
The Internet is increasingly considered a crucial information resource. However, how the Internet is adopted as an information source within a given society depends on factors such as the technical infrastructure of a given area and the local culture. This paper reports on an ongoing study of the information behavior of people in Uzbekistan, a culture that has traditionally relied on social networks for gathering information. This paper discusses some results of a survey (administered to 317 participants) that assessed information-seeking behavior, computer use, and technology infrastructure in the home. Results suggest that the Internet is not widely used nor even universally known of; however, many respondents feel it can be an important information resource. The results of the survey suggest that both technical and cultural readiness are necessary to successfully implement Internet information resources, and that design strategies can accommodate cultural issues.

Studying Internet Adoption in Non-Western Societies: A Case Study of Uzbekistan - Workshop
The research consisted of a four-step study that assessed the influence of culture and policy on Internet adoption in Uzbekistan. The first three steps included two surveys and interviews administered to a variety of players from managers of IT access points, to policy makers, to the general population. The fourth step consisted of a survey of users and nonusers of the Internet.