On the first day of the International Conference on Cybernetics, Cognition and Machine Learning Applications (ICCCMLA) 2019, Prof. Dr. Shaikh Fattah, HAC Education Chair conducted a humanitarian technology project design workshop focusing on sustainable development and Social Return on Investment (SROI). Approximately 40 participants, both professionals and students, attended the workshop and were very much engaged in interactive group activities. Click here for a brief overview of the session.
The participants were divided into groups in round tables and asked to explore a humanitarian technology project focusing on serving a local community. The following six ideas were proposed:
- Green (signal) Pass for Emergency Vehicles
- Depleting Water Resources in Major Cities by Replenishing Ground Water
- Solving Local Flood Problem to Protect Land
- Sustainable Waste Management System for a Local Community
- Water Management for Converting Salt Water to drinking Water in a Village
- Smart Harvesting: Optimizing Type of Crop, Land Features and Timing
All the groups were very enthusiastic to demonstrate the sustainability of their proposed humanitarian technology project ideas according to the design guidelines provided. Dr. Fattah introduced the fundamentals of Social Return on Investment (SROI), an impact assessment methodology and explained the importance of incorporating assessment into every project.
Apart from active participation in round tables, several other conference participants joined the whole workshop and share their views during Q/A session. Among them there were Conference Speakers Manfred J. Schindler, CTO, Anlotek Limited, USA, IEEE MTT-S Ex-President and 2015-2018 IEEE Conferences Committee Chair, Prof. Dr. R. Balasubramanian, Department of CSE, IIT, Roorkee, Prof Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Department of EEE, BUET and Conference Honorary Chair, Dr. Amit Kumar, CEO and CSO, BioAxis DNA Research Centre (P) Ltd.