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[Nettime-bold] BytesForAll June 2000 issue |
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ B y t e s F o r A l l --- http://www.bytesforall.org _/ Making Computing Relevant to The Common (Wo)man JUNE2000 _/ Editors: Frederick Noronha (India) Partha Sarkar (Bangladesh) _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ In this issue * Web site for Pakistani drought * Computers for the blind in Bangalore, India * Malaria surveilance software * Life-saving blood online * Knowledge sharing and tech-coop in the Third World * Word Processor costing over a year's income... * Vagaries of Internet democracy * Nepal seeks ICT info for mountain development PAKISTAN IS IN THE PROCESS OF launching a website on the drought situation in the country. It will provide and link information resources about the drought incidences in different areas. Its aim will be to keep maximum track of information published in national and international newspapers and journals, track initiatives (government, civil society and business) for alleviating the drought situation, host field reports from local populations or journalists on site. It will also attempt to link information and knowledge websites on sustainable development practices (water management, food security and drought alleviation) the world over, facilitate and exchange of information through e-mail, and create electronic linkages amongst those fighting drought. Send in all useful information to zubair@isb.sdnpk.org http://www.drought.sdnpk.org +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Zubair Faisal Abbasi, SDNP Islamabad zfabbasi@yahoo.com IT'S ALMOST NOON AND the computer class is already in progress. When you enter the room you see the students bunched around monitors, their hands flying over their keyboards. On closer inspection, you will realise that the students are actually listening to the computers, not looking at them. For they are blind. With the support of Intel, US-based Asha Foundation and NIIT, Karnataka's National Association for the Blind has opened new career options for the blind by starting these computer training classes for them. JAWS is a speech software by Henter- Joyce, Inc, and was created by individuals who themselves were blind. It costs Rs 45,000 and comes with a security disk, to prevent piracy. The three-month long course is conducted on the NAB campus at Jeevan Bima Nagar in Bangalore. http://www.rediff.com/computer/2000/apr/25rehmat.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Rehmat Merchant in Bangalore, Rediff.com and S-Asia-IT MALARIA SURVEILLANCE SOFTWARE: Researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro's (UFRJ) biomedical engineering department have developed a computer software program called SIG-MALARIA, designed for malaria surveillance. It uses a microcomputer-based image information system to evaluate malaria in municipalities. http://www.idrc.ca/books/reports/v211/software.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source IDRC FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, FARMERS IN India's central tribal belt were locked in a battle against three seemingly invincible foes -- drought, poverty and corrupt middlemen. Now, thanks to a new computer system, they are on their way to bypassing the third evil and are better equipped to combat the other two. Earlier this year the government of central Madhya Pradesh state launched an experimental computer network in the remote farming district. The intranet system gives villagers access to everything from copies of land titles -- a must for securing yearly bank loans -- to rural water supply schemes. No bribes, no queues, just 10 rupees (about HK$1.70). The pilot project covers 600 villages in Dhar district, one of dozens of dirt-poor tribal areas in Madhya Pradesh. It is part of a push by the state's reformist chief minister, Digvijay Singh, to find low-cost ways of overcoming the state's lack of infrastructure and improving conditions in rural areas. http://www.scmp.com/News/Comment/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID- 20000524052040288.asp +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Marion Lloyd <marionlloyd@usa.net> South China Morning Post & Irfan Khan <KhanIA@super.net.pk> South-Asia-IT list LIFE-SAVING BLOOD ONLINE: A few months after Pankaj Som Chaturvedi lost his grandmother because blood was not available, he pledged to ensure the same fate doesn't befall others. Chaturvedi has launched http://www.thebloodbank.org. The Web site brings together people looking for blood and willing donors. "There was a sort of helplessness that I was carrying around which, I hope, no one will need to experience now," said Chaturvedi. The site he has launched is not commercial and that is how it plans to stay. The Web site offers information about blood types, some of the diseases that require blood transfusion as treatment and about voluntary donors. It has already attracted 4,000 donors from 11 countries. If a person from a country that has not appeared on the site wishes to donate blood or is looking for blood, he or she can register online instantly. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Anisha Sodhi, India Abroad News Service WIDEFORUM-L IS PART OF WIDE Initiative internet-based services and efforts set up by the UNDP's Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC). TCDC was established within UNDP by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974. The WIDE Initiative is designed to give more visibility to developing country expertise, foster communications and promote more effective technical cooperation among developing countries. Details can be found at: http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide or directly at http://www.bellanet.org/wide WIDE Initiative services include WIDE Online, a public access database for collecting and locating experts' bio-data (expertise, location, contacts, publications, etc.) and information on institutions, products, services and best practices. The WIDE Online database currently has over 40,000 entries. It is run in partnership with CESAR in Recife, Brazil, and can be reached via http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide or directly at http://www.wide.org.br TO JOIN WIDEFORUM-L, a discussion area, and forum for policy dialogue for strengthening knowledge sharing and technical cooperation among developing countries please visit http://www.bellanet.org/wide Or send an email to: wideforum-L-request@lyris.bellanet.org with a single line in the body of the email saying: subscribe WIDEFORUM-L "Your Name here" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OXFAM'S 'INFORMATION AS A GLOBAL PUBLIC GOOD' CAMPAIGN says: Knowledge is now the critical component to production, and access to it represents a key divide between rich and poor. Increasingly, information and tools for manipulating and communicating information are controlled ("owned") by individuals or corporations rather than being public goods available to everyone. The Oxfams should work to change policies of governments, multilaterals and companies which are driving this appropriation, in order to avoid the creation and exacerbation of inequalities in access to information. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source/contact: Ronni Martin <ronnim@caa.org.au> acting advocacy coordinator, Community Aid Abroad Oxfam Australia; or Danny Yee <danny@www.caa.org.au> or George Grisancich <georgeg@caa.org.au> OXFAM ON FREE AND PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE: NGOs and Southern people's organizations are often forced to utilize illegally copied proprietary software, leaving them vulnerable to intimidation and manipulation through corporate and government threats to 'enforce software licenses'. Such software also creates long-term dependencies for support, maintainance and upgrades. With free software, in contrast, users have the freedom to make modifications to suit their own needs, to build new tools using existing ones, and to share with others. The free software movement has demonstrated, through the creation of systems such as GNU/Linux and others, that there are alternatives to proprietary software systems that force users into relations of dependency. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Oxfam THE VAGARIES OF INTERNET DEMOCRACY: According to the German weekly _Der Spiegel_ [1], almost 17.000 individuals have registered for the election of the ICANN Board. About half are Americans (6915), the other half are Europeans. This reminds one a bit of municipal votes where the turnout is so low that the results reflect more the ability of special interest groups to mobilize their member on single issues, than the opinion of the public. [1] http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,77799,00.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source: http://danny.oz.au/free-software/advocacy/oicampaign.html and Nettime-L mailing list LINUX IN INDIA: Prakash Advani says he has been on a personal crusade to bring Linux to the Indian masses. One of the problems is that English is not native to most Indians. More than 90 percent of the population cannot read or write English. "I had been thinking about it for long, when I met Venkatech Hariharan. He has been involved with Indian languages for a long time as he helped develop the www.bharatbhasha.org project where they developed free Indian language fonts for Linux. I discovered that he had similar goals. Since he understood the language issues and I had an understanding of Linux, we started the Indian Linux project. Our goal is to make Linux available in all Indian languages. Since then, we have received thousands of responses from people interested in helping us with this project. We don't have anything ready as yet but we are working towards it with our volunteers. The Indian Linux project is at http://www.freeos.com/indianlinux E-mail: il@freeos.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Prakash Advani prakash@freeos.com. KNOWNET WEAVER: A Tool Kit developed by SDNP India based on its experience to catalyse Knowledge Networking KnowNet Weaver enables you to create your own interactive website, give it a domain name and host it on the World Wide Web (WWW) absolutely free-of-cost using freeware or shareware available on the internet. You do not have to look elsewhere for any other support to become a part of the information superhighway and reap the advantages of knowledge networking. http://www.sdnp.undp.org/perl/news/articles.pl?id=894&do=gpage +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source SDNP NITs News, 27 April 2000 and s-asia-it@apnic.net CYBER-ACTIVISM: The Rise of Civil Accountability and Its Consequences for Governance. By Allen Hammond and Jonathan Lash. "Never in history have so many people been able to communicate, exchange information, and interact with each other -- via e-mail and cellular phones and Internet chat rooms -- so readily on a global scale. . .Could this process temper the excesses of economic globalization, creating a kind of civil accountability that imposes novel checks and balances on the power of global corporations, providing new ways of articulating and enforcing social values -- in effect, give rise to new forms of governance?" http://www.cisp.org/imp/may_2000/05_00hammond.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source: iMP: The Magazine on Information Impacts ITNTI, NEPAL: Operating in Nepal and the United States, ITNTI, a multidisciplinary communications group, was founded in 1996 to integrate business with technology for development. The GKP representative is ITNTI's President, Shashank Kansal. For more information, visit the website at http://www.itnti.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source: GKP (Global Knowledge Partnership) Partners & S-Asia-IT THE PROPOOR INFOTECH CENTRE, India. Founded in 1998, this not- for-profit centre's mission is to promote the use of the Internet and information technology in development in South Asia. Its website, www.ProPoor.org is a portal of information on South Asian non-governmental organizations. ProPoor's president is Jayesh Parekh. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source: GKP (Global Knowledge Partnership) Partners & S-Asia-IT EDURITE.COM IS A new portal for the exam-taking student population. Its founders are targeting students in standards 10 and 12 as well as in engineering colleges. "We hope to cover 140 subjects developed by hand-picked faculty; educational material will be validated by experts. Portal content, including video lectures, will also be available on affordable CDs," said D. Jawahar, managing director of Edurite Technologies and professor at the People's Empowerment School. The language of instruction will be in English; Indian languages may follow later. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Dr Madanmohan Rao madanr@microland.net FROM NEPAL WRITES, MAHESH KUMAR MALLA who is Project Coordinator/Research Assistant in Information Communication and Outreach Division of the International Centre For Integrated Mounatin Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu. He is involved in a team that is preparing for E-conference on the Asia Pacific Mountain Network and also trying to identify relevent information on ICTs with a special focus on mountain development and help develop a focussed section on the ICIMOD Homepage. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Please contact Mahesh Kumar Malla at mahesh@icimod.org.np BYTES FOR ALL's fifty issue is now online at http://www.bytesforall.org This is a special edition on 'education'. Also gaining mention are * BytesForAll becomes a Greenstar Premium Partner * Genevalink.org names BytesForAll as the project of the week. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Partha Sarkar partha@bytesforall.org ERICA: THE ERICSSON INTERNET Community Awards is offering five prizes of $100,000 USD in web development services to any registered non-profit organization anywhere in the world with an innovative idea for a web-based application. The ERICA program is designed to help non-profits use the Internet to realize their missions and share visionary ideas for community building in today's technology-driven world. Full details at http://www.ericsson.com/erica. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Helen Simpson, Social Marketing helen.simpson@ericsson.ca LINKS TO BANGLADESH government organisations... http://www.BangladeshGov.org/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Partha Sarkar partha@bytesforall.org PORTAL SITE, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in collaboration with Ministry of Environment and Forests (India) has launched the portal site of Sustainable Development Networking Programme, India (SDNP- India) at http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in mirrored at http://members.tripod.com/sdnp_india. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Vikas Nath, SDNP-India sdnp@envfor.delhi.nic.in INDEV E-MAIL DIGESTS and old issues of the same... The complete issue of e-mail digest can be found at http://www.indev.nic.in or http://www.indev.org. The Web version includes hot links to the complete text of cited articles, a fully searchable archive and easy access to recent issues. Please access recent issues at http://www.indev.nic.in/news/archives.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source INDEV, New Delhi THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES GROUP'S latest publication, "Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries" is a practical tool that will help to spur dialogue and cooperative action in addressing Digital Divide issues in the developing world. It is online at http://www.readinessguide.org To make the Guide more accessible in the developing world, its publishers are intent on localizing both the printed version and the website into many more languages in the near future. Please contact them if you are interested in participating in or supporting this important process. Questions or feedback to eDevelop@ksg.harvard.edu +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Tariq_Mohammed/FS/KSG@ksg.harvard.edu ITG-Center for International Development at Harvard University Cambridge, MA Web: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/ciditg BRITAIN MOVES TO NARROW DIGITAL DIVIDE: UK's Social Exclusion Unit has published a consultation framework for a National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. Proposals include improving IT in deprived neighbourhoods by ensuring at least one publicly- accessible, community-based facility in each deprived neighbourhood by 2002; and encouraging people to use them by employing local champions and offering user-friendly courses. See: http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/seu/index/national_strategy.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Colin J. Williams cjw@connection.com & mediamentor@egroups.com COMMENTS MUHAMMAD MUKHTAR ALAM of Terre des Hommes(G) in New Delhi: "BFor us, Internet connection has miraculously enhanced the speed of message transmission.... ICTs offer faster communication of actions and experiences along with the sharing of the skills. For our work with the people in slums and villages it does not appear to have much meaning as yet, because there is an urgent need for better housing, food security and health. But those things may change for the better if all people are given access to ICT. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Muhammad Mukhtar Alam <tdhgipd@del6.vsnl.net.in> Recent discussion on a mailing-list OXFAM RECENTLY PUT OUT its international campaign proposal recently. It said: "You will note that this document is written in plain ascii,rather than being a Word document as requested. If there is to be genuine grass-roots participation in Oxfam International campaigns, all the communications and information required for such participation must be available to everyone -- not dependent on access to word-processing software which costs more than the annual income of a quarter of the planet's population." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Oxfam MADHYA PRADESH, a province in central India, has so far launched two projects using IT. The first is a network in the tribal district of Dhar which could serve as a forerunner to e- governance. Through a network of computers that connects villages, people can access vital information regarding land records, file complaints with officials and also get routine information. The other project is a website, http://www.fundaschool.org, to mobilise resources for schools under the Education Guarantee Scheme in far-flung areas. One can adopt a school by contributing as little as Rs 16,000, or $400. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source: http://www.economictimes.com/today/27tech02.htm MORE INFOKIOSKS PLANNED IN INDIA: Encouraged by the success of its information kiosk project in Gujarat, Bangalore-based Shonkh Technologies is now thinking of setting up these infokiosks in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (all locations in India). Ravi Krishnamurthy, director of business development at Shonkh Technologies, said the Gujarat infokiosk project provides information on schemes, policies and regulation of the state government. The kiosks will be linked to the districts and the central secretariat, facilitating a one-point interaction between the citizens and the government. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Hari Menon, India Correspondent, asia.internet.com http://asia.internet.com/2000/4/2708-india.html ATTEMPTS ARE UNDERWAY to prepare a telemedicine project in rural areas of Nepal for dial-up system. Organisers would appreciate if somebody could tell of their experience in developing a system at low cost as a dial-up system. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Contact Mohan Raj Pradhan HealthNet Nepal mpradhan@healthnet.org.np ips NEWS-SERVICE WARNS US FROM RIO DE JANEIRO: There is much talk about the Internet's great potential for democratising society. But so far traffic over the information superhighway has been monopolised by the United States. More than 90 percent of the world's information flows pass through the United States, whose hegemony over Internet is so strong that it even exceeds its influence over the global film-making industry, for example -- a matter of concern to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The language issue is also crucial, given that 85 percent of the information posted on the Internet is in English. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Debra Guzman <debra@OLN.comlink.apc.org> THE MAY/JUNE 2000 ISSUE OF TechKnowLogia (theme: Technology and Basic Education for All) has been posted on the http://www.techKnowLogia.org. Contents include * Technology for Basic Education: A Luxury or a Necessity? * A Vision for Basic Education in the New Century Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF * Basic Education for All: Global Report Card * Literacy, Technological Literacy and the Digital Divide Daniel A. Wagner, Director and Professor, International Literacy Institute, University of Pennsylvania & UNESCO * Multi-grade Schools and Technology, by Laurence Wolff and Norma Garcia, Inter-American Development Bank * TechKnowNews etc, etc, etc +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source Wadi D. Haddad <TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org> WARM WELCOME TO THE NEW MEMBERS of the BytesForAll volunteers team: Archana Nagvenkar <archana@goa.goa.nic.in> and Shiv Kumar <shivkumar@satyam.net.in> We look forward to support and participation of all those sharing the goals of this important task. Let us know how you can volunteer! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Contact the Editors fred@bytesforall.org partha@bytesforall.org BYTESFORALL CELEBRATES ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY IN JULY 2000! To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to fred saying UNSUB BfA +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold