CCLP and The California Endowment Host Conference on Mobile Technology for Community Engagement

In partnership with The California Endowment, the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy hosted the Get Mobile Forum on April 2nd, a conference that brought together local community organizations to explore how mobile technology can empower communities and increase civic engagement. Watch videos of each presentation and see more event photos at the Get Mobile Forum website. Jerlene Tatum from EYCEJ shakes hands with Mari Lopez from Vision y Compromiso, Inc. Over thirty invitees attended the forum on Wednesday, April 2 at The California Endowment for a day packed with presentations, Q&A sessions, mobile app demos and networking……

End Trafficking Symposium highlights CCLP’s Technology & Human Trafficking initiative.

On May 1-2, 2013, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Advisory Council on Child Trafficking (ACCT) and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women will host a symposium to address the needs of victims of child sex trafficking. Research director Mark Latonero will highlight USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policies spearheading research initiative on Technology & Trafficking starting at 2:25 pm Eastern Time/11:15 am Pacific Time. Watch the live webcast on the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health website by clicking here…….

Multi-sector approach to combat human trafficking advocated by Dr. Latonero

On Friday, April 5, 2013, CCLP Research Director Mark Latonero discussed the future of human trafficking detection and prevention – a "multi-sector approach" that employs new technologies to combat the modernized trafficking tactics that have permeated mobile networks, online classified and networking sites, and even video games. Dr. Latonero participated on a panel of human trafficking experts at the 7th annual L.A. Policy Symposium at the RAND Corporation, which welcomed students, researchers, and practitioners for a discussion on trafficking. The conversation focused on support for victims and survivors, public education, and innovative approaches to combat trafficking. The panel discussion was……

Alhurra marks ninth anniversary with plunge into mobile apps

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government's international TV broadcaster in the Middle East, Alhurra, celebrates its ninth anniversary on the air on Thursday with new initiatives to reach mobile devices. First up, will be a new Alhurra app for Android-powered cell phones, according to Brian T. Conniff, President of Middle East Broadcasting, Alhurra's parent company…….

Digital, social media are major boost US image, message abroad

WASHINGTON – The Internet and social media are providing a major boost for America's image and messages abroad, according to Dawn McCall (pictured right), Coordinator of International Information Programs (IIP) for the State Department, speaking here at a CCLP forum. "The reality for public diplomacy has dramatically changed and so has the environment in which IIP operates today," McCall said. "I am sure no one in this room could have predicted five years ago how differently we would engage with each other today."……

Australia debates whether cell phones reduce need for a fiber data network

SYDNEY – Critics here are sniping at the Australian government's plan to build optical fiber links to almost all homes here, at an estimated cost of $43 billion. The criticism is that the plan is going forward according to a plan devised years ago – a plan which assumes personal computers would be the way Australians connect to the Internet. At the time, that was correct. But now, with the unexpected surge of mobile devices as a primary medium and with the rise of smart phones as the way people reach the Internet, critics are saying the project could……

Millions of Africans use cell phones for health news and information

WASHINGTON – Millions of Africans now receive critical health information on their cell phones, according to speakers at a CCLP forum here yesterday, with the Voice of America alone reaching tens of millions of Africans a week. "VOA's African Health Network is a multimedia initiative in thirteen languages that reaches 50 million people a week," said Nancy Coviello, the AHN's Project Manager. "Literally no one else is doing this – not the BBC, Deutsche Welle, not anyone that we can find."……

California Attorney General highlights CCLP research on role of mobile technology in human trafficking

California Attorney General Kamala Harris (pictured, above center with Clothilde Hewlett, and Geoffrey Cowan) urged law enforcement officials, NGOs, and researchers in the fight against human trafficking to "dedicate [themselves] to the adoption of technology" at her Human Trafficking Leadership Symposium on November 16, 2012 at the University of Southern California. The symposium coincided with the release of her new report, "The State of Human Trafficking in California 2012." The report highlights CCLP's work in the area, including its research on online classified sites' facilitation of trafficking. It notes CCLP's finding that "the efficiency and anonymity of social networking sites……