Sterling honored for social impact in technology

Sterling

S. Revi Sterling, director of ICTD Graduate Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, was one of the winners of the Anita Borg Women of Vision Awards, which honors accomplishments and contributions of women in technology in three categories: innovation, leadership and social impact.

Candidates for the awards are considered based on their records of (1) consistent, significant contributions to technology invention and application; (2) effecting positive changes in the ways in which technology impacts society; and (3) demonstrated leadership in the technology industry that extends beyond their place of work.

Sterling won the award in the social impact category. She was recognized for conceiving, implementing and leading programs that have had a direct, positive and lasting impact on the lives of women. She pioneered the development of a new participatory community radio technology that enables women to create content for broadcasting, even if they are far from the station. Variants of this have been deployed worldwide. Today, she is creating a new generation of "academic practitioners" who can create innovative technologies while solving difficult community development problems that continue to stymie the international development field. Revi realized the need for these practitioners based on her own research and fieldwork in Africa, India and South and Central America, where she has created and deployed appropriate and sustainable education, health and livelihood programs based upon a variety of innovative networking technologies.

Revi and the other award winners will be honored at the Anita Borg Institute's seventh annual Women of Vision Awards Banquet at Santa Clara, Calif., on May 10.