Hi Andy and all on the list. I joined the group around a year back and was gradually picking up things then suddenly I got this touching mail from Andy. I still doubt ... will DDN be the same without him. But one thing is sure, he has taken DDN to hieght from where its a smooth sail in a rough wheather. We sincerely hope that he remains as the guiding force for young ones like me.
Regards Akif Ahamd New Delhi (India) On 11/8/05, Andy Carvin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > We've recently learned that the primary funding for the activities of > the Center for Media & Community will not be continued, including > support for the Digital Divide Network. The Center is therefore in the > process of closing its doors, and Andrea Taylor and I are preparing to > leave EDC at the end of November, following our involvement in the World > Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis. > > Fortunately, this transition will not mean the end of DDN. Over the last > several weeks we've worked out arrangements for DDN to move its > operations to TakingITGlobal.org (TIG). As many of you know, TIG is an > online community of nearly 100,000 young activists in more than 200 > countries. They've played a major role in getting young people engaged > in bridging the digital divide and other aspects of global development. > Additionally, TIG has extraordinary skills at designing and maintaining > large online communities; in fact, they worked with CMC to redesign the > DDN website about a year ago, so they know the site even better than I. > > Thanks to TakingITGlobal's partnership with IDRC and Microsoft's new > Telecentre.org <http://Telecentre.org> initiative, a team member from TIG > will work part-time as > DDN's online manager, taking over Cedar's former duties. I have every > intention of continuing as moderator of the DIGITALDIVIDE discussion > list, as long as it's not a conflict of interest with whoever my next > employer will be. Otherwise I may eventually seek some volunteers to > take over list management duties, if that need arises. > > Since DDN will no longer have a full-time staff person managing the > website, it's necessary to ask DDN members to get more involved in the > future of the network. We're hoping to recruit a small number of current > DDN members, perhaps four to six people, who would be willing to > volunteer as associated editors of the website. These volunteers would > work with staff at TIG to ensure that the content on the website is > fresh, relevant and accurate. I'm hoping that these volunteers would > commit to spending just a few hours a week helping out with the site > over the next six months as DDN relocates to TakingITGlobal. After that, > there will probably be a rotating schedule of opportunities for people > to volunteer for a six-month stretch. We're talking with potential > funders to pull together a small pot of money that would allow us to pay > stipends to these volunteers, but that may or may not happen. But I'm > really hoping that some of you will express interest in volunteering > nonetheless; the future of DDN is at stake. Please email if that's the > case. > > DDN's move to TIG opens up many exciting possibilities. TIG is one of > the few online communities of its kind to achieve scale, and I'm > confident that the lessons they've learned running TakingITGlobal.org > will benefit the future growth of DDN as well. Additionally, since DDN > will no longer be managed by a US-based nonprofit (TIG is in Canada), it > will be easier for DDN members based in the U.S. to advocate for digital > divide-related policy positions online, something that has been > restricted by U.S. law until now. Also TIG's involvement with the new > Telecentre.org <http://Telecentre.org> network will help forge a larger > network of digital > divide activists from around the world. > > While I realize it's impossible for an online community of nearly 9,000 > people to keep this a secret, I'd like to have a dialogue just on the > list in the next few days to talk about the best ways to make DDN work > as a more volunteer-driven entity. Meanwhile, Andrea and I will meet up > with TakingITGlobal's leadership in Tunis next week at WSIS; we plan to > make a broader public announcement about DDN's transition to TIG next > Thursday, November 17. > > It's been an amazing six years with DDN - four years at Benton, two at > EDC. So this is quite a bittersweet moment for me. At least I know, > though, that DDN has reached the size and maturity to succeed well after > I'm gone; and with TakingITGlobal taking it over, I know it'll be in the > best of hands. Thanks to everyone who's made my involvement with DDN a > pleasure all these years - it's been an honor working with you. > > -- > ----------------------------------- > Andy Carvin > Program Director > EDC Center for Media & Community > acarvin @ edc . org > http://www.digitaldivide.net > http://katrina05.blogspot.com > Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com > ----------------------------------- > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] the word UNSUBSCRIBE in > the body of the message. > -- This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure. 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