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Day 7: Jan 25, 2008

A bit about i-ACT Tech

Please allow me to say a bit about the area I am more familiar with, which is i-ACT tech. There are three main parts to the tech involved in bringing each day of i-ACT from Chad to you. One is getting the content (video, text, pictures) from there to here. The second is post-processing that content, and getting it onto the website in a way that is engaging, accessible and organized. The third is getting your messages to the field team, and their replies back to you. My team mate Carolyn has been instrumental in designing, implementing, maintaining and improving all aspects of those three parts since the very first i-ACT. She has evolved the process from being quite tedious and lengthy in the beginning, to being very well streamlined and automated today. Whereas the daily workflow used to take all night, it now takes about an hour. Building on the first i-ACT website by JC, Michael and Rachel, Carolyn has brought the website through two complete redesigns in four i-ACTs, all in the name of usability. She really puts her heart into the work, and I think it shows. All in all, it has taken literally hundreds of hours of work, but hopefully it pays off in making it easier for you to have that connection with the people on the ground.

Carolyn’s edit: Nothing could have been accomplished without the remarkable support of the rest of the team. Yuen-Lin has also been a driving force, pushing the technical envelope further (and figuring out the ahrd stuff). In the end, it’s all about the amazing content Gabriel and his various travel partners bring us from Chad — the website is just a container through which we present it to you. That said, the current website is the product of Jie Siang‘s design and we’d both love to hear feedback and ideas on how the website can be improved.

One reply on “A bit about i-ACT Tech”

YL and C (and team)
My up most respect goes out for you both and the rest of the team. Many of our team has traveled here to Chad, and many more will. i-ACT is only one small part of our communities call to action – and action we do take. There would be no i-ACT and no website without the two of you. You both consistently challenge what we have and try to make it better. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
Much respect and love! KTJ

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