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CyberVolunteers of the world: Unite!

ICV's volunteers welcome participations coming to the LIFT conference (photo © V. Krebs).
ICV's volunteers welcome participations coming to the LIFT conference (photo © V. Krebs).
Yoshiko Kurisaki, traduction française Aude Elser, traducción española Beatrice Ascencio
23 March 2009

You want to learn what the latest trend there is for tec development? LIFT's international annual international conference is the place to be. More than just a meeting of techies, this event explores the social implications of new technology. In 2009, it was held from 25 to 27 February at the International Conference Center in Geneva, Switzerland.

Since its launch by a team of dynamic young people in Geneva in 2006, LIFT has been attracting a growing number of participants from various areas of activity -- from entrepreneurs and designers, to journalists, technology pioneers, academics, NGOs and more. The diversity of its participants is a major source of LIFT's success as a forum for meeting like-minded people and inspiring each other. 

On 25 February 2009, it successfully organized a workshop titled "CyberVolunteers of the world: Unite!" on the first day of LIFT09. Six speakers presented projects that involve cybervolunteers, the activity of which ranges from promoting linguistic diversity over the web and music of the world, to BOINC, and MalariaContol.net, an initative linking scientific research and volunteer computing. Yoshiko Kurisaki, the organizer of the workshop, pointed out that it "allowed us to illustrated that, via the Internet, cybervolunteering offers new ways of voluntary participation in promoting a good cause and brining to it the necessary technical skills to make it go".

The CyberVolunteers Workshop attracted an interested audience. The presentations were followed by a thought-provoking discussion. Topics included mobile devices as a means to collect music from the most remote parts of the globe, video tags and volunteer thinking, to name just a few.

An interesting observation from MalariaContol.net was that cybervolunteers enjoyed collecting credits through an in-built system in return for their contribution. This suggests that cybervolunteers appreciate a "Fun to play" element in volunteering over the Internet.

Last but not least, the ICVolunteers in Geneva team provided five volunteers for the designers' stand and the welcome desk. They all truly enjoyed the fresh and dynamic air of LIFT09.


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