On 20th May 2016 UNU-CS hosted an event on Migrant Technologies: (re)producing (un)freedoms in Macau. The one-day event brought together scholars, practitioners and activists to share learning and exchange ideas on the range of migrant technologies research being conducted across Asia and explore future collaborative approaches. The key theme addressed at the event was how the use of mobile technologies adds layers of freedoms and unfreedoms to migration. Speakers of the day include: Introduction and Welcome: Michael Best, Director of UNU-CS Opening Remarks: Tony Roberts, UNU-CS Morning Panel: Emerging themes in Migrant Technology research - Chair: Tony Roberts, UNU-CS - Jack Qiu, Chinese University of Hong Kong - Freedom, Slavery, and Working-Class ICTs: Learning from Chinese Migrant Workers in Foxconn - Nikos Dacanay, Chiang Mai University - ICT usage and how ethnic migrant women in northern Thailand indigenize/mediate human rights’ discourse of gender equality - Odalia Wong, Baptist University of Hong Kong - Transnational Mothers and Mobile Phone Usage: The Case of the Filipino Female Domestic Workers in Hong Kong - Discussant: Rhodora A. Abano, Centre for Migrant Advocacy in Philippines Afternoon Panel: New Migrant Technologies - Chair: Tony Roberts, UNU-CS - Kayoko Ueno, University of Tokushima - Facebook Activism and Networking among Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore - Jude Yew, National University of Singapore - Pemca: A proposed mobile platform for crowdsourcing the reporting and visualization of migrant worker injuries/deaths - Kakit Cheong, National University of Singapore - Kwento: Designing a family storytelling mobile application for domestic helpers - Discussant: Fish Ip, International Domestic Workers Federation

1. JUDE YEW
National University of Singapore
Migrant Technologies:
(re)producing (un)freedoms
Friday, 20th May, 2016
10:00am – 4:30pm
Nations University Institute on Computing and Society
for a free, one-day event where we bring together scholars, practitioners and
o panel discussions to share our understandings and research on information
and communication technology (ICT) use by migrants from Asia.
r now on Eventbrite by 15th May 2016 to secure your place for the event
ww.eventbrite.com/e/migrant-technologies-reproducing-unfreedoms-
922537982.
: Casa Silva Mendes, Estrada do
o Trigo No 4, Macau SAR, China
to the main entrance of Hotel Guia)
y:
MIGRANT TECHNOLOGIES:
(RE)PRODUCING (UN)FREEDOMS
New Migrant Technologies
Afternoon panel
Pemca:
A proposed mobile platform for
crowdsourcing the reporting and visualization
of migrant worker injuries/deaths

2. Pemca
A proposed mobile platform for crowdsourcing the reporting and
visualization of migrant worker injuries/deaths
Jude Yew & Mohan Dutta

3. • Injured from fall at workplace
• Medical attention not sought and given immediately
• Prevented from going to the hospital
• Offered one month’s salary and repar

4. Legislation surrounding migrant workers in many
countries sets up the following set of conflicts
Worker
• Medical treatment
• Compensation for
incapacity
• Stay on in Singapore
Employer
• Save money
• Avoid compensation
liability
• Wants worker out as
soon as possible

5. • an estimate of 1,200 to
date
• a projection of 4,000
worker deaths by the
time the World Cup is
held in 2022 (Ingraham,
2015)
• Qatari govt. estimates
934 deaths to date
"In the absence of more transparent statistics, it is difficult to take
a view on the extent to which these recorded death tolls (and
injury reports) involving migrant workers are attributable to the
working conditions and / or breaches of health and safety
standards (in particular in the construction sector) in Qatar."
(DLA Piper, 2014)

6. In Singapore
The Straits Times, 2016,March 11th
28 workplace fatalities as of May 16th, 2016
(a 30% increase from the same period last year).
The Straits Times, 2016, May 12th

7. Harrigan & Koh (2015)
Based on a sample of 605 South Asian Migrant Workers in Singapore

8. Problem
• There exists no publicly available data that provides
details such as the victims' nationalities and the
companies that employed them
• That the problem of migrant worker safety and
worksite deaths is not confined to any one country,
and is likely to be a much larger problem than what
institutions or governments are acknowledging
• A large part of the problem lies in the lack of
transparency in the reporting, and vulnerable
positions that these workers find themselves in.

9. Pemca
A platform to crowdsource & visualize reports of worker
injuries/deaths
Ushahidi
CrowdTrails

10. Features of Pemca
• Migrant workers will be able submit pictorial evidence, location and
descriptions/circumstance surrounding a worksite accident/death
from commonly used mobile devices.
• The privacy and anonymity of the contributor will be ensured by
obscuring any identifiable information that would implicate the
migrant worker.
• Instances of worker deaths and injury will be verified through a
social/collective information gathering process facilitated by the
system.
• Aggregate reports and summary visualizations of the reports of
workers deaths can be generated on a website that is publicly
accessible.

11. Research questions with Pemca
• What are some of the constraints and needs of low-income migrant
workers when it comes to reporting worksite deaths and injuries?
• How can we support the information/communication needs of migrant
workers on the issue of worksite deaths and injuries through an online
reporting platform?
• How can we utilize innovations in crowdsourcing to ascertain the
veracity of the reports provided on the platform?
• What are some of the design, technical and social innovations that we
can utilize to encourage workers to use this system?
• How can the aggregation of data about instances of migrant worker
deaths help with the formation of policy and advocacy for migrant
worker rights?

12. Goals of the project
• Technical infrastructure that is sensitive to the needs of
marginalized population of users
• Participatory co-design (informed by the culture
centered approach) = voice of the worker has
traditionally been missing in the discussion of migrant
worker rights
• To develop a tool for advocacy and policy formation by
providing a more accurate picture of the issue of
migrant worker deaths globally.

13. Approach towards development
Our participatory co-design method fits in the nascent
but growing recognition that increasingly
technologies/tools need to be designed specifically for
the needs and uses of marginalized communities
(LeDantec & Edwards, 2008) and to take into account the
inherent values and needs of their users (Flanagan,
Howe & Nissenbaum, 2008)

14. Development process
Phase I • Understanding the constraints and needs of
migrant worker communities in Singapore
Phase II • Design, prototyping and
development
Phase III • Implementation, evaluation, advocacy
work and international outreach

15. Future steps
• Internationalization to countries with high
numbers of migrant labourers e.g. Hong Kong,
Thailand, Indonesia ...
• Include the reporting of foreign domestic
labour abuse