By Jessica Clayton
DIL Graduate Student Researcher
The complex challenges of international development can only be addressed with solutions that are equally multifaceted.
Going from innovative idea to project implementation demands a diverse set of skills. On University campuses, these skills
have traditionally been delineated by academic department, but true innovation lies beyond the classes listed on a transcript.
The Development Impact Lab (DIL) recognizes and builds on this insight, capitalizing on the unique interests and backgrounds
throughout the campus community to promote development initiatives.
More than inter-disciplinary, the approach is also extra-disciplinary. Whether
undergraduate, graduate student, or campus staff, DIL promotes the inclusion
of passion, practice, and experience to build new constellations of campus
collaborations within its technology for development (or, tech4dev) initiatives.
Bringing diagnostic equipment to health clinics in Vietnam
Drawn into development work while working for community development
organizations in Philadelphia and D.C., Political Science major Anh-Thi Le joined
the UC Berkeley Blum Center’s Global Poverty and Practice minor to further her
understanding of social justice. Two years into the program she found herself
explaining the nuances of CellScope, a medical device that turns a smartphone into Anh-Thi worked from the campus, learning the ins and outs of Cellscope’s operations to help trouble-shoot during deployment of TB testing
a diagnostic microscope, to health care practitioners in Hanoi Province, Vietnam.in 15 clinicas in Vietnam.
A child of Vietnamese parents, Anh-Thi is fluent in Vietnamese, but her
previous professional experiences lay in social innovation and community
outreach, rather than technology, health, or engineering. In essence, Anh-Thi
was exactly what CellScope needed to complement their core engineering team
and to expand their services in Vietnam. Initially she wasn’t convinced. “That
was the first lab I had ever walked into. Initially I was nervous because I had
never dealt with hardware and software.” But, she adds, “I was passionate
about their operation.” Anh-Thi spent hours with the CellScope team, learning
the ins and outs of the device, and then used her understanding to troubleshoot its implementation over the phone with health care service providers in
Vietnam. With time, she grew more confident, and recognized her role within
DIL’s CellScope initiative. “At the time they didn’t need another specialist in
global health or engineering. I was a good fit because I have a lot of experience working with diverse groups of people.”
By using her passions and personal experiences, Anh-Thi enabled CellScope’s rollout in Vietnam while learning about the
development innovation process. “It was a new experience for me, and there were a lot of obstacles
that I learned about that I can apply to my future career. The experience has made me more confident.”
Re-inventing cellphone coverage in Indonesia
Agung Nugroho designed a
business plan for VBTS, a lowcost telecommunications system.
On the north side of campus, Haas MBA student Agung Nugroho opened his FaceBook account
to discover that VBTS Technology (The Village Base Station) was seeking someone with business
experience to assist with their project in Indonesia. VBTS produces cellular t