IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)
Technology for the Benefit of Humanity // Colorado Schools of Mines, USA / October 22-25, 2025

GHTC 2021 ONLINE Student Poster Competition

DEADLINE 8-OCTOBER-21

GHTC 2021 invites undergraduate students to submit abstracts for the Online Student Poster Competition. The Competition will be held Online during GHTC 2021 (October 19-22) on Tuesday October 19, 4-6 PM PT. Both a “written” (poster) and “oral” (recorded MP4 presentation) are required.  Download flyer (PDF)

Students are invited to send in ideas or designs for developing projects/products supporting the Key focus areas of GHTC 2021:

  • Affordable & Clean Energy
  • Agriculture & Food Security
  • Clean Water & Sanitation
  • Connectivity & Communication in Support of Development
  • Good Health and Well Being
  • Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery
  • Quality Education
  • Technology Impacts on Societal Evolution:
  • Other Related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

For full details, topics and submission rules check  out the Student Poster Competition page.

The selected posters will be presented during the GHTC 2021 ONLINE Student Poster Competition, on Tuesday, October 19, from 4-6 PM PT.

The deadline to submit poster abstracts is midnight US Pacific Time, October 8, 2021.
Notification of acceptance will be sent out a week after the original deadline and next day after extended deadline.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

  • Poster authors must be undergraduate students at the time of submission and may be members of a team comprising of up to four students.
  • At least one student author must be an IEEE student member at the time of the submission of the poster to the Contest.
  • The poster should be fully the work of the student(s) and completed before they have received their respective engineering or scientific degree.

HOW TO SUBMIT?

To participate in the Competition students should write a 400-500-word description (abstract) of the poster, along with authors names, respective university and contact details; and submit in PDF using the form here.

The abstracts will be reviewed and authors notified about the acceptance of their poster by October 12th. If you have any questions or problems submitting your abstract, please contact: Prof. Mostafa Mortezaie, at mortezaie@ieee.org

After the abstract is accepted, contestants will need to register for the contest and prepare a poster of no larger than 48 x 36 inches in PDF and an up-to-10-minute recorded presentation in MP4.

Cash prizes will be awarded as follows:

1st Place Award-$750
2nd Place Award-$500
3rd Place Award-$250

Note: contest registration is separate from GHTC registration and does not cover attendance at the GHTC.

 

GHTC 2021 Preliminary Workshops

GHTC 2021 is pleased to announce the preliminary set of workshops.

See the Workshops page for details.

Frugal Innovation and the Design Thinking Process
By: Frugal Innovation Hub (SoE of Santa Clara University)  and Latin America Frugal Innovation Network
October 19th, 2021 – 9AM to 12 PM (PST)

Application of IoT During Pre- and Post-COVID 19 Pandemic (A Humanitarian Services Workshop)
With: Shivakumar (Shiva) Mathapathi
October 19th, 2021 – 9AM to 12 PM (PST)

GHTC 2021 Preliminary Keynote Speakers

GHTC 2021 is please to announce the Preliminary list of Keynote Speakers.

See the Keynote Speakers page for details on each speaker.

Elizabeth M. Belding is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  Prof. Belding’s research focuses on mobile and wireless networking, including network performance analysis, and information and communication technologies for development (ICTD).

Octav Chipara is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Iowa. His research is interdisciplinary, focusing on using systems and machine learning techniques to mobile health problems.  Over the last decade, he has used ecological momentary assessments delivered using mobile apps to better the interactions between hearing amplification techniques and the real-world environments in which they are used.

Deborah Estrin is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Tech where she holds The Robert V. Tishman Founder’s Chair, serves as the Associate Dean for Impact, and is an Affiliate Faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine. Estrin’s research activities include technologies for caregiving, immersive health, small data, participatory sensing, and Public Interest Technology.

Farid Farahmand is currently the Chair of the Engineering Science Department (Electrical Engineering) at Sonoma State University in California, U.S.A. He is also the director of Advanced Internet Technology in the Interests of Society Laboratory.

Anna Förster leads the Sustainable Communication Networks group at the University of Bremen. She obtained her MSc degree in computer science and aerospace engineering from the Free University of Berlin, Germany, in 2004 and her PhD degree in self-organising sensor networks from the University of Lugano, Switzerland, in 2009.

Aline McNaull works on energy, space, defense and research policy on behalf of IEEE-USA members and is the staff lead for IEEE-USA’s research and development policy committee, the committee on aerospace and transportation, as well as the energy policy committee.

Grayson Randall is an IEEE senior member and the IEEE MOVE Operations lead. Grayson is responsible for the IEEE MOVE truck and associated equipment that is deployed to disasters to support emergency communications.

Janapa Reddi is an Associate Professor in John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. He is a founding member of MLCommons, a non-profit organization focused on accelerating AI innovation, and serves on the MLCommons Board of Directors.

 

 

Call for Late Papers

We would like to thank the authors who submitted papers by the initial deadline. These papers are under review.

To accommodate authors who require more time to write up their results, GHTC 2021 will have a late papers call deadline of July 2nd, with feedback provided in late July. Oral, Short and Full papers can be submitted, using the Late Papers tracks.

View the Late Papers CFP here.

Key Late Dates:
Deadline for submissions: July 12th (Firm), 2021
Notification after review: Late July

 

 

GHTC 2021 Call for Papers


Download CFP (PDF)

Call for Late Papers 18-July

GHTC 2021 will be held as a Virtual Conference due to the impact of COVID-19.

The 2021 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (IEEE GHTC 2021) is a flagship international conference sharing practical technology-enabled solutions supporting achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by addressing the needs of underserved communities in resource constrained environments around the world.

Stakeholders from the public, private, education and research, societal, funding and donor sectors are invited to submit Oral Presentation proposals or Short Papers (early-stage results) as well as Full Papers (mature results), sharing Sustainable Development, ICT4D and Humanitarian Technology related insights, experiences, good practices and lessons learnt from a research, policy, practitioner and/or community perspective.  Papers should present analysis of initial or final research results or a case study. General project descriptions are not appropriate. Submissions will be assessed for quality, relevance, consideration of ethical issues, methodological vigor and potential or actual impact.

Submissions by community representatives, practitioners (governmental, for-profit and nonprofit), academics, private sector organizations and policy makers describing intervention design and implementation, field experiences and best practices, case studies, project monitoring and evaluation results, and original research are of particular interest. Paper submissions should include results that have not previously been published and should not have been submitted to another conference or journal.

Please note that all submissions will undergo a Plagiarism Check before being assigned for blind peer review by members of the IEEE GHTC 2021 International Technical Programme Committee (TPC), who are all experienced subject matter experts.

IEEE GHTC 2021 Thematic areas include (but are not limited to):

  • Good Health and Well Being (SDG3)
  • Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG7)
  • Communication/Connectivity in Support of Development
  • Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery
  • Quality Education (SDG4)
  • Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG6)
  • Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG8)
  • Agriculture and Food Security (SDG2)
  • Other Related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. SDGs 9, 11, 12, 14)
  • Technology Impacts on Societal Evolution

For complete details on topics and submission see the Call for Papers page.

As well as describing ethical and sustainability challenges and technological aspects, submissions are encouraged to consider socio-cultural, socio-economic, environmental and policy perspectives, and explain how Sustainable Development related good practices such as skills capacity building, community ownership, Co-design, Collaborative Open Innovation, and Theory of Change are applied.

Three types of submissions are invited for presentation at GHTC:

Full Papers: mature results or completed projects and should not exceed eight pages.

Short Papers: interim results, experiences and perspectives, and should be three to four pages in length including a short reference section.

Oral-Only: work-in-progress; projects at an early stage of implementation; option for community representatives, practitioners or policy makers who prefer not to write a paper. Oral-Only submissions should be described in one or two pages.

NOTE: we are accepting proposals for multi-stakeholder Special Sessions (up to 8 pages)

Accepted Full Papers, Short Papers and Oral-Only Presentations will be grouped thematically to facilitate focused discussion, community building and networking based on common interests.

Selected accepted Full Papers will be invited to submit a revised, extended version to an IEEE journal.

 

KEY DATES

Full Paper, Short Paper and Oral-only submission for review deadlineMay 15, 2021 / 4-Jun-21 (extended)
Special Sessions (e.g. demo, panel, discussion) deadlineJune 15, 2021
Notification of acceptance / revision requirementsJuly 12, 2021 (revised)
Late Full Paper, Short Paper and Oral-only submission for review deadlineJuly 2, 2021 July 18, 2021 (firm)
Late Submission Notification of acceptance / revision requirementsLate July 2021
Submission of Final Full Paper/Short Paper and Oral-only PresentationAugust 14, 2021 (revised)
Author Copyright forms deadlinesame as Final deadline
Author early registration deadlineAugust 23, 2021September 10, 2021 (revised)
Early registration deadlineSeptember 20, 2021
Recorded presentations due September 30, 2021

 

IEEE GHTC 2021 is Sponsored by IEEE Region 6, IEEE Seattle Section and IEEE SSIT, with Technical Co-Sponsorship by IEEE-USA, IEEE PELS, and (expected) IEEE CTS, IEEE EMBS, IEEE MTT, IEEE PES, and IEEE Smart Village Initiative.

 

GHTC 2020 Report

The 10th IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2020) was held online on October 29- November 1 via Zoom. GHTC is an international flagship conference sharing practical technology enabled solutions addressing the needs of underserved populations and resource constrained environments around the world and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Specifically:

  • Agriculture & Food Security (UN SDG2)
  • Good Health and Well Being (SDG3)
  • Quality Education (SDG4)
  • Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG6)
  • Affordable & Clean Energy (SDG7)
  • Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG8)
  • Connectivity & Communication in Support of Development
  • Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery
  • Other UN SDGs e.g. (9, 11, 12, 14)

Attendees:

There were 149 registered attendees from 22 countries. Additionally, there were participants during the conference from the Committee, workshop presenters, panelists, speakers, press and session chairs. The map below shows the worldwide distribution of attendees.

Registration breakdown:

  • Total Registrations: 149
  • Presenters: 117
  • 1st GHTC: 68.6%
  • IEEE Member: 61.9%
  • Students: 3%

The Plenary Program sessions only were offered free and open to all with 109 unique registrations received.

Program Highlights

The Conference program featured workshops, keynote sessions, panels and special events. We also held a Student Poster Competition on Thursday evening.

The technical program consisted of 24 paper sessions with 120 papers including 3 posters.

  • 3 sessions on Agriculture & Food Security (UN SDG2)
  • 5 sessions on Good Health and Well Being (SDG3)
  • 1 session on Quality Education (SDG4)
  • 2 sessions on Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG6)
  • 3 sessions on Affordable & Clean Energy (SDG7)
  • 4 sessions on Connectivity & Communication in Support of Development
  • 3 sessions on Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery
  • 3 sessions on Other UN SDGs

Thursday Oct. 29

  • Afternoon: Three parallel paper sessions
  • Opening session after paper sessions with remarks by IEEE President Toshio Fukuda and President-elect Susan (Kathy) Land
  • Evening (5-7pm) Student Poster Competition with attendee option to select the People’s Choice Award.
    • Judges Award ($750) AND People’s Choice Award ($250) went to the poster “Decreasing Water Usage and Increasing Income for Vietnam Small Farmers: Modeling Plant Stress with Handheld Infrared Thermometers” by Katie Pascavis of Arizona State University.
    • Technical Award ($500) went to the poster “A Review on Image-Based Wildfire Detection Systems” by Jordan Johnston of Sonoma State University.

Friday Oct. 30

  • Energy Panel session: “Technology-enabled climb up the demand-driven energy ladder: Interoperability, Growth, All-access”, organized by IEEE PELS and with “Empower a Billion Lives”
  • Three parallel tracks with paper presentations in morning and afternoon.
  • Special Interest Session: “EPICS in IEEE – empowering students solve local community problems”
  • Networking time: Kept the last presentation sessions Zoom open for 30 minutes or more to allow attendees an opportunity for discussion and networking

Saturday Oct. 31

Sunday Nov. 1

  • Three parallel tracks with paper presentations
  • Closing Session featuring a keynote with Melissa Sassi, IEEE Digital Intelligence Working Group on “DQ, a measure for determining one’s digital intelligence”

 

GHTC 2020 Student Poster Winners

 

Congratulations to the winners of the GHTC 2020 virtual Student Poster Competition held on Thursday, Oct. 29. Awards were presented on Nov.1 in the GHTC 2020 Closing Session.

Judges Award ($750) AND People’s Choice Award ($250) went to the poster “Decreasing Water Usage and Increasing Income for Vietnam Small Farmers: Modeling Plant Stress with Handheld Infrared Thermometers” by Katie Pascavis of Arizona State University.

Technical Award ($500) went to the poster “A Review on Image-Based Wildfire Detection Systems” by Jordan Johnston of Sonoma State University.

 

Decreasing Water Usage and Increasing Income for Vietnam Small Farmers: Modeling Plant Stress with Handheld Infrared Thermometers

A Review on Image-Based Wildfire Detection Systems

 

Special Sessions at GHTC 2020

 

GHTC 2020 features several sessions of special interest over the next few days:

 

  • Special Interest Session: “EPICS in IEEE – empowering students solve local community problems” (Friday Oct. 30 2:50-3:10 p.m. PT)

How to execute a community service project with IEEE’s support (through EPICS in IEEE).

How HAC/SIGHT responded to the COVID pandemic – vision and process improvements with examples of some funded projects and building collaboration opportunities.

GHTC 2020 celebrates the 10th anniversary for IEEE GHTC. The anniversary program will consist of some remarks and two panel discussions, one on the evolution of GHTC and the other on IEEE’s role in Humanitarian Technology.

  • Special Interest Session: Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering (Saturday Oct. 31 3:30-4:30 p.m.)

Interactive discussion led by Tom Coughlin, past President IEEE-USA
This talk discusses the IEEE response to institutional racism and the issues with diversity and inclusion in the engineering professions. It also gives several examples of what IEEE members have done to help improve diversity and inclusions and ends with a discussion with the attendees on what they can do to improve diversity and inclusion in the technical professions.

  • Closing Session and Keynote (Sunday Nov. 1 Noon-1 p.m. PST)

Closing remarks and presentation on Digital Literary with Melissa Sassi, “DQ, a measure for determining one’s digital intelligence”

 

Access to GHTC 2020 Plenary Sessions

 

The GHTC 2020 Organizing Committee is  pleased to announce

FREE ACCESS to GHTC 2020 PLENARY SESSIONS (Registration required)

The Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) is the flagship IEEE forum for presenting and discussing humanitarian technology innovation and deployment. The technical focus of the Conference is complemented by an integrated understanding of broader contexts—economics, policy, culture, environment—that impact successful humanitarian technology implementation.

The 10th IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (IEEE GHTC 2020) will share practical technology-enabled solutions addressing needs of underserved communities in resource constrained environments around the world in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

GHTC 2020 takes place from Thursday October 29 through mid-afternoon Sunday November 1. See the preliminary program schedule here. Note: Time Zone is PT (e.g. +3 ET, +8 GMT+1). Note time change from PDT to PST on November 1.

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