Does your work require IRB approvals? If Yes, articulate your detailed IRB strategy. If No, explain why you don’t need IRB approval and identify situations when you might need IRB approval.

We do not believe that we will need IRB approval because we do not have the intent to use human subjects in our research. Our goal is to create a smart innovation for the city of Almaty that will enhance citizen’s lives, that could potentially be used in other cities after that. Our work therefore qualifies as research according to the IRB because we will be collecting data, and hopefully adding to generalizable knowledge by publishing our work and making presentations. However, we do not intend to manipulate people in any way or use people to gather specific data in a type of experiment. Because our plan, as of now, is to focus on something along the lines of the environment, infrastructure, heating, or transportation, the data we will be looking at is mostly on how machines or products or the system works. Not so much on people. 

We will, however, be talking to people in Kazakhstan, and citizens of Almaty. If we changed our project idea, and needed to start collecting private information from the citizens of Almaty, then we would need an IRB approval. In addition, if we decided we needed to see how people in Almaty acted differently with our innovation, and needed to collect data on their new behaviors, then we might need IRB approval because we would be using human subjects.

Develop an outline for your mid-semester presentations. What supporting evidence will you provide for each point? How will you boost your credibility every step of the way?

For our mid-semester presentations, we will start by explaining that Kazakhstan is a very resource rich country and is very developed. Their cities have been growing significantly over the years. In order to make the cities the most efficient they can be, smart city innovations should be developed to help fix infrastructural, environmental, or overcrowding issues. Coming up with a smart innovation that will effectively work in Almaty, will help make the city more efficient and hopefully be able to expand to other cities in Kazakhstan, or even around the world. Our goal is to develop a device that improves life in Almaty but can generally be applied to other cities around the world that are experiencing this surge of growth. The smart innovation will also be able to improve each citizen’s lives too. The magnitude of which will not be able to be determined until we decide on the exact innovation that will work. 

We will then explain all the research we have done on smart, digital, urban, and in use innovations on parking, pollution, short term travelers, and quality of life. We will describe, with specifics, how certain innovations have been successful in other countries, and how we see that something similar might work in Almaty. If we have been able to get our article published on Engineering for Change by this time, then we will make sure to mention that in our presentation at this point. The importance of the Engineering for Change article is to establish a brand for our project. We want to educate people about the significant roles that small but impactful smart innovations can have on developing cities and countries. 

We will continue by explaining that our project is new, so our goal as of now is to work with our partners in KazNU and AlmaU (name drop), the two major universities in Kazakhstan to figure out potential issues in Almaty that can be improved. We will work with them via Skype calls, and email/texts, to build our relationship and understanding of the city. The use of partners currently in Almaty brings credibility that our project is focussing on social and cultural integration as well as acceptance. At the end of the day our product could be great but it needs to be accepted by Almaty residents to ensure success. 

Once we understand the issues, we will begin to brainstorm solutions and potential innovations that could work. Then over the summer, when we travel to Almaty, we will use that time to prototype our products and continue to search for effective solutions. In the end our presentation will show the process in which we took to determine the reason why we want to introduce a product, what potential benefits would this product have, how will this product improve life in Almaty, and how can we use this same approach to apply our success to another developing city not only in Kazakhstan but around the world.

 

1. List ten things that make you feel human.

There are many things that make me feel human in life. Some of them include:

1. When I witness someone struggling and I feel compassion towards them
2. When I do something that helps another person (improves their day or betters their life)
3. I feel human when I am with my family and friends
4. When I am struggling with something (personal or work) and I need to ask someone else for help
5. I feel human when I make mistakes 
6. I feel human when I am running
7. I feel human when I travel to different parts of the country, or an entirely different country and see how life can be so different
8. When I am sick or injured
9. When I am working really hard on a project or assignment
10. When I am listening to music and it brings people together (unites them)

 

2. Articulate your philosophy of engagement as it pertains to your work with the GSIF / LVSIF.

I believe it is everyone’s duty to do what they can to better the lives of others around them. There will always be someone worse off than you, and there is always something you can do to help them. For our Smart Cities project in Kazakhstan, we have the technology and materials to create a useful smart innovation that can improve the lives of the citizens in Almaty. I believe that I should engage because I know I have the creativity in me to help my team, along with working with the students at KazNU, come up with an effective innovation that can better the city. I believe I should engage just like that; I should add my ideas and thoughts to the ideas and thoughts of my other team members. More importantly, we must work with the students in KazNU and the citizens of Almaty to make sure we are designing something that they see as effective and helpful as well. It is imperative to first hear from them, what their opinion is, and what they see as an issue that needs to be fixed. The innovation we end up creating will only be effective if it solves an issue that they think needs to be addressed. 

Because of this, it is important to take culture into account when creating our product. An innovation that we have researched that has worked in another country or in a different region, might not work properly in Almaty, because of climate, population, etc. It will be important for us to observe the city and the lifestyle in Almaty when we travel over the summer. We must make it our priority to fully understand what life is like in Almaty before we can begin to brainstorm how to “fix” it.

We must be patient with our project. Being a new team and entirely new project, we are starting from scratch. It will take a while to build up our relationship with the students in KazNU and the people of Almaty. It may take us longer than we expect to begin to develop and prototype innovations. We must remind ourselves that change takes time, but being patient and doing it the right way will create a sustainable change.

I hope that someday my epitaph might read “Left the world better than she found it.” I know that is a HUGE statement, but if I could just make the community around me a little better, or affect the people’s lives I am in touch with and make their lives a little bit better, that would be a major accomplishment for me.

 

1. Based on your life experience, skills and interests, what would a design process that is both uniquely yours and effective look like?

We want our unique design process to integrate with the people living in Almaty.  It has to be a process that is sustainable, and that will promote entrepreneurial growth in Kazakhstan.The process has to be driven by the people’s needs, and our opinion will be complementary.

2. Identify your three most important stakeholders and list five UNIQUE attributes for each one of them.

The students at KazNu that we are partnering with are definitely one of our most important stakeholders. Their unique attributes include their lifestyle. Since they are students in the city of Almaty, they see what is happening there everyday. Their personality is also an important attribute because they are a younger generation so they will see issues differently from some other adults living there. Their opinions are very important because they are the ones living there, so we are trying to improve their lives with our innovation. Where they reside is clearly important because they are in the city of Almaty, but they are also living in dorms which is unique. Their social class is also unique because some of them could be coming from different backgrounds with various family wealth, but now they are all studying to attain their own job and social class.

 

The citizens of Almaty are other important stakeholders to us. They live in one of the fastest growing cities (urban) in the southern part of the country. They use a lot of energy throughout the year (interests) especially during hot and cold months. Their motives, to move into Almaty, we can assume was to attain a well paying job (possibly in manufacturing). Their social class is also important, because there are sectors of the city that are much more wealthy than others. They also live in an area where they are exposed to a decent amount of air pollution (the climate).

 

Another stakeholder will be the manufacturer. Depending on if our manufacturer will be in Kazakhstan, or in another country will affect the attributes of this stakeholder. For now let’s say it is a manufacturer in Kazakhstan. Their interests are a unique attribute because they will mostly be interested in making the most money they can. Their motives are also therefore unique because they might not see the same end game we see; they will only see the product or innovation leave their factory. Their personality traits are also important because they may be set on doing things a certain way, and we may have to convince them otherwise (or visa versa). The benefits sought are also important because again they may have a different goal than us. The market density is important because we will be entering an already busy market.

3. Identify three ways in which you will validate your project concept, technology, usability, and business model.

Once we have a concept/technology for our project, we will validate it by getting a paper published about it. Through academic publishments, we can establish our concepts in a professional manner and we make sure that we benefit the scientific community through what we will accomplish. To measure our impact, we will collect a lot of data from our product in use in Almaty to have numbers to support its success (or failure). Depending on the product, we can also try to validate it by intelligently translating it to other parts of Kazakhstan (if applicable). To measure that, we can collect data on the effects of that issue before our innovation, and hopefully the improvements on that issue after. When it comes to the final phase (when our product is approved by the public), we will implement a suite of systems and innovations around the product to ensure its long term establishment. 

4. Give three examples of something very interesting you learned from a friend that was a completely alien concept to you.

I was in about 7th grade when I was first introduced to the concept of Fair Trade. I had never known the power I had as a consumer purchasing products at stores. I had never thought about the people who grew the crops, or stitched the cloth. Now that I am more aware, I try to make smarter purchasing decisions and think before I buy the cheapest option. 

When I went to Guatemala with a group from my church to visit our partner parish there, I was told that giving handouts was not an effective way of lessening poverty. This was the first time I really thought about that and began to understand. Giving someone food will not help them not be hungry the next day. It is more important to empower people and create a sustainable solution.

The first time that a friend recommended that I should run (as a sport), instead of playing soccer and softball (which I have grown up with), was a completely absurd idea to me. However, I tried it and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. 

 

 

1. Top 20 questions team needs to answer to advance the venture forward. Categorize.

Sustainability:

1. What are the best ways of approaching sustainability goals?
2. Can this project be implemented in other countries?
3. Is this a long term solution to the problems we are currently facing?
4. Will this project inspire similar initiatives/be recreated by other people?
5. Is developing smart technology environmentally detrimental?
6. How do we make the project sustainable?
7. Will this project lead to lasting change?

Impact:

1. How big is the impact?
2. Is change even possible without government help?
3. Are the problems we are addressing a priority?
4. What issues do they see that need to be solved?
5. Will our solutions impact their market?
6. Are we doing just as much harm as good?
7. Do we have the depth to really make a difference?
8. Are we inhibiting domestic social entrepreneurship?

People/Culture:

1. What kinds of partners are we looking for?
2. Will culture halt our progress?
3. What social barriers will inhibit our project?
4. How can we affect different kinds of people?
5. Is there a technology education and access gap?

 

2. Develop and Visualize the Theory of Change (Logic Model) for your venture.

Outputs:

• 2-3 Publications 
  • Smart City Innovations
    • Engineering for Change
  • How smart innovations are integrated in cities
    • Discuss the impact of smart technology on cities 
      • The benefits, possible cons, social acceptance, cultural impacts, etc
      • Longevity of the device (how long does it stay relevant and impactful
  • How smart cities grow and adapt
    • Discuss the interaction between people and technology
      • How it affects daily life, city efficiency, etc
• 3 practical products/solutions that we plan to test and potentially deploy to impact people in Almaty.

Outcomes:

• Publications allow for expanded outreach
  • More people on board with implementing smart technology in cities brings more awareness to the power and potential these solutions hold
    • Inspires others cities to implement them based on existing statistics that are included in the publications
• A viable device that will improve human life in Almaty but can be applied generally to other growing cities

Summer

Outputs:

• Develop an (2-3) MVPs (minimum viable product) or solutions to address real issues in Almaty.
• Identify focus groups to test products on.
  • Record how the product was perceived by the people
• Gather data to predict the projected impact our products would have.
• Propose future publication titles
  • How our products were designed and perceived
  • Potential ways to avoid future mistakes and further the cause of the project.
• Establishing what not to do for future teams.

Outcomes:

• Grow relations with partners in Kazakhstan.
• Spur entrepreneurial spirit in the market.
• Establish solutions to address problems. 
• Improve (established goal)