Yaw Anokwa is a Ph.D. student in computer science at the University of Washington. His research interests are building, deploying, and evaluating technologies for the developing world.

Originally from Ghana, Yaw first grasped the impact technology could have on the world's poor when he spent six months in a Rwandan village deploying a medical record system.

That experience was the driving force behind his current work on Open Data Kit -- a modular set of tools which helps organizations use mobile phones to collect and deliver data on everything from deforestation to human rights violations.