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*APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
- December 2005 No. 60
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
-- NEWS FROM APC --
-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
-- STRATEGIC USES & CAPACITY BUILDING --
-- WOMEN & ICTs --
-- ICTs & THE ENVIRONMENT --
-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES --
-- IMPORTANT DATES --
-- SITES OF INTEREST --
-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC NEXT MONTH --
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
RITS, Brazil: In Brazil, a threat to the telecentres turns into an
opportunity...for improvement
When an initiative in Brazil to promote community telecentres was
endangered, the threat was turned into an opportunity. Free software
tools were re-engineered in a way that they became more powerful and
useful. Telecentres that are part of a telecentre-network can use the
new system to allow roaming accounts between telecentres. A user can
create an account on a telecentre in one city and hop to another city
and log into his original account, without having to make generate a new
profile at the new telecentre. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2998912
RITS, Brazil: Launch of Brazilian information and communication research
centre and a book on internet governance
On December 13, the Brazil-based Third Sector Information Network (Rede
de InformaÁes para o Terceiro Setor - Rits) launched its Centre for
Research, Study and Education (Ncleo de Pesquisa, Estudos e FormaÁo -
Nupef). The objective of the initiative is to organise and promote
research, disseminate knowledge, and train and qualify people in various
fields and on various subjects related to civil society's position in
terms of the challenges created by the dynamics of the information and
communication society. - RITS
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=3029728 Translation by APC
ITeM, Uruguay: WSIS wraps up with mixed emotions
The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
took place in Tunis from November 16 to 18 2005. While heated debates on
the future of the internet were taking place inside of the
police-surrounded conference venue, citizens' demonstrations reclaiming
the host country's compliance with international human rights agreements
were being severely repressed in downtown Tunis. Analysis from Pablo
Accuosto of the Third World Institute (IteM). - Choike.org
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/3730.html
UNGANA-AFRIKA, South Africa: Strategic technology planning toolkit
Ungana-Afrika has been providing strategic technology planning services
to the development community in southern Africa for nearly three years.
The processes have been refined through experience and are presented
here in their current form to assist other technology support providers
to implement technology planning in their own context. - Ungana-Afrika
http://www.ungana-afrika.org/resources/techplanning/tech_planning_guide.pdf
BYTES FOR ALL, South Asia: Taking to FOSS, Indian-style
APC member BytesForAll joined India's (and probably Asia's) largest free
and open source software event, FOSS.in (http://foss.in). There were big
names taking part, such as Welsh kernel hacker Alan Cox, as well as a
real mixed bag of participants. This included women geeks from Brazil,
Indian techies keen to enlarge their tech skills or see how IT can
become relevant to the lives of their country's one billion inhabitants,
including a large percentage in the poverty sector, those keen to plug
in its benefits to the world of education, mega-corporations and
governments throwing in sponsorship dollars and rupees...
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2996571
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-- NEWS FROM APC --
ANNUAL REPORT 2004: APC's latest annual report made public - Technology
policy globally continued to dominate
When APC first got involved in the UN World Summit on the Information
Society process in 2001, our key goal was to get civil society voices
heard in an arena dominated by technicians, telecom policy experts and
business interests. As work started towards the second phase of the
summit, which would culminate in late 2005, our intention was to step
back from global policy processes and instead focus on working on policy
nationally and regionally, the spaces where policy change has most
impact on people's lives. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2974187
CAMPAIGN: Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan
In Tunis, at the World Summit on the Information Society, both inside
and outside the official Summit, civil society organisations and
observers have witnessed serious attacks on human rights and the right
to freedom of expression. - Civil society signatories
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2657224
ARTICLE: Global civil society refuses to embrace WSIS outcome wholeheartedly
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) concluded with claims
of success by the United Nations, governments and the private sector,
but many in civil society have refused to embrace its outcome
wholeheartedly. 'Success or failure is too strong to characterise the
summit,' declared Anriette Esterhuysen, executive director of the
Association for Progressive Communications. - CIVICUS
http://www.civicus.org/new/content/WSISoutcome.htm
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-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
NEW WEBSITE: Observatoire d'APC de politiques des TIC en Afrique
APC launched its new-look Africa ICT Policy Monitor website in French on
the final day of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.
This revamped and sophisticated new platform will document internet and
telecommunication policy issues in Africa, with a deliberate emphasis on
western Africa. This new initiative is part of APC's recent move to make
its expertise on ICTs accessible to francophone and Portuguese-speaking
audiences. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2506632
Assault on internet freedom in Egypt
State Security Intelligence walked out of private cars at 1:30 in the
morning of Monday December 5, 2005, and surrounded the house of online
journalist Ahmad Abdollah before breaking in. Abdollah, who runs the
Center for Islamic enlightenment (video) -which aims at comparing
different religions, and bringing them closer together- maintains the
website Balady Net. He is also a staff writer in the al Methaq al Araby
online newspaper. - APCNews
http://www.manalaa.net/another_assault_on_internet_freedom_in_egypt
Forgotten agenda: Nobody's talking about a democratised media
Civil society must lead the democratisation of the media, an issue that
was barely touched on at the recent World Summit on the Information
Society, participants said at an international meet in Santiago, Chile.
Participants included the Italian-Argentine journalist founder of Inter
Press Service (IPS), Roberto Savio, and sociologist-political scientist
Valeria Betancourt, APC's Latin American specialist in information
technology and communication. - IPS
http://www.ipsnews.net/sendnews.asp?idnews=31266
Frequency post: Investigating radio frequency allocation
Australian curator Andrew Garton explores radio frequency allocation as
defined by the broadcasting legislations, technologies and economic
pressures brought to bear on each of the countries or regions that the
six artists and composers commissioned by internet radio station
Kunstradio have chosen to draw inspiration from. The sound works are
broadcasted, podcasted and netcasted until March 2006. - c2o
http://kunstradio.at/PROJECTS/CURATED_BY/fpost/broadcaste.html
EU Parliament agrees to data retention
The European Parliament voted in favour of a backroom deal that had been
made between the two big parties in Brussels and the Council of
Ministers, currently chaired by the UK. The deal completely ignored the
amendmends proposed by the Parliament's Rapporteur and by the Justice
and Civil Liberties Committee that was in charge of the process. After a
hot debate, a majority of parliamentarians voted in favour of mandatory
retention of telecommunications data.
http://wiki.dataretentionisnosolution.com/
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-- STRATEGIC USES & CAPACITY BUILDING --
Wireless networking: New knowledge sharing material now online
Material to share internet knowledge on wireless networking were
developed as part of the 'capacity building for community wireless
connectivity in Africa' initiative which is funded by IDRC and
coordinated by APC. This is the first public release of the materials,
which will be undergoing further revision during a pilot workshop
series. Additional materials will be released in English, French and
Arabic during 2006.
http://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/mmtk/wireless.shtml
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-- WOMEN & ICTs --
Women techies and activist training in FOSS
Women's organisations and women techies from across Africa keen to learn
more about free and open source software's potential for women's
empowerment and social development jumped at the chance to participate
in WENT Africa 2005, the Women's Electronic Network Training in Kampala,
Uganda. The workshop brought together 22 women from 12 countries in
Africa for skills building in free and open source software (FOSS)
solutions. - APC WNSP
http://www.apcwomen.org/news/index.shtml?x=91921
Lessons from Vietnam: No quick fix to being 'gender friendly'
Integrating GEM, or the Gender Evaluation Methodology, in the women's
health context, can be a daunting task and there are no quick answers to
gender issues in their contexts. But tools like GEM could help one
immediately know if their projects are "gender friendly", suggests the
experience of a mini-workshop held recently in Vietnam. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2997734
A help-line, vocational CDs and e-homeworkers get thumbs up in Tunis
While negotiations on internet governance were taking place a few
corridors down the hall on November 16, three projects received the
honours of the 2005 Gender and ICT Awards. The 2005 GICT Awards focused
on information and communication technology initiatives which promote
women's economic empowerment and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
- APC WNSP
http://www.apcwomen.org/news/index.shtml?x=91932
Gender an issue in ICT policy formulation: lessons from Zambia
Zambia, like many other African countries, has recognised information,
knowledge and technology as major drivers of social and economic
development. But Zambia's national ICT policy framework still lacks
gender integration. GenderIT.org's writer, Brenda Zulu, shares the
personal experiences from her active involvement in the gender
sensitisation of the Zambian ICT policy framework. - GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=91711
OPINION POOL: post-WSIS reflections - WSIS gains & losses
The WSIS process is over, what we have gained and lost in terms of
integrating gender as a relevant dimension into the 'information
society' after this 7 years? What do we have? And where should we go
from here? What is the importance of having these explicit mentions of
gender and women here and there? Share your views, experiences and
concerns with us. - GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=f--e--1&x=91912
NEW ISSUE PAPER: Paddling in circles while the waters rise: gender
issues in ICTs and poverty reduction
Can ICTs help reduce poverty? This paper examines poverty from many
different angles: from its definition to systemic causes of global
poverty, as well as tools used to address poverty. The study is the part
of APC WNSP issue papers series on ICTs for women's rights. - APC WNSP
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=r&x=91782
NEWS: Network for change: ICT can bring many benefits
An article by Indian journalist Paromita Pain visits the portal
GenderIT.org and reveals questions posed by the APC's Women's Networking
Support Programme (APC WNSP) with regards to the way in which ICTs can
be best explained and demystified in order to create opportunities for
women's empowerment - The Hindu Sunday Magazine
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/12/11/index.htm
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-- ICTs & THE ENVIRONMENT --
APC launches this new APCNews section in response to priorities in ICTs
worldwide highlighted by our members in a recent meeting in Bulgaria.
NEW ISSUE PAPER: E-waste challenges in developing countries: South
Africa case study
This discussion paper, by Alan Finlay and commissioned by the APC, aims
to raise the profile of e-waste issues in developing countries so that
the implications of ICTs for development initiatives can be better
understood - particularly in the context of the increasing flow of old
technology from developed to developing countries. South Africa is
thought to be at the forefront of waste management in Africa, and
practitioners aim to develop an e-waste model in the country that can
serve as a blueprint for an approach to e-waste elsewhere on the
continent. While the overall waste management strategies in the country
are highly regarded by experts, this document suggests that South Africa
faces a number of key challenges in dealing with e-waste and that its
'e-waste readiness' is mixed rather than certain.
Three APC members contributed to this document, and offered e-waste
perspectives from the United Kingdom and the Asia-Pacific region.
Summaries of these contributions are included in the appendices.
http://rights.apc.org/documents/e-waste_EN.pdf
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-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
Latino repository of ICT-focussed projects and professionals
APC member Colnodo and three other institutions from Latin America -ICA,
CEPAL and LIS- have jointly launched an online repository of ICT-focused
projects and professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean. The
repository, Protic, can be found at protic.org. Currently, it contains
information about over 850 projects and around 300 ICT professionals. -
Colnodo
http://www.protic.org
CAMPAIGN TOOL: Melt, now it's software to build awareness on climate change
ICT consultant Rolf Kleef has announced his work on an unusual project -
an online campaigning tool on climate change. This free and open source
software tool is being shaped into Melt, an online movement to take
action on climate change. -GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=91905
BOOK: Vision or hallucination?
The papers included in this volume -as well as in-depth research papers
on which they are based- were produced in the context of the "WSIS
Papers" project, developed by APC-member ITeM. Southern stakeholders
need timely and appropriate information to have an active and effective
role in global negotiations. "WSIS Papers" was aimed at contributing to
the materialisation of an information society for the South by
supporting well informed decision-making during the second phase of the
WSIS process. Available since November 2005. - Choike.org
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/3592.html
BRIEFING: eDevelopment - "Overestimating the Global Digital Divide"
The Development Informatics Group at the University of Manchester argues
that the extent of the global digital divide has been seriously
overestimated, leading to an inaccurate evidence base for ICT policy and
strategy in developing countries. The group believes that a
South-specific model of ICT access and use needs to be promoted - IPDM
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/dig/briefings.htm
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-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES --
Abusing numbers: Is Korea going just too far?
The Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet, an APC member, is currently
conducting a study on the state of the Korean National ID Number System.
Its aim: to demonstrate problems related to the Korean National ID
Number System by contrasting and comparing with abuse cases in foreign
countries. You are invited to answer short questions before the end of
2005, which would help the study immensely. Please contact Oh Byoung-il
from Jinbonet.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2998122
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-- IMPORTANT DATES --
December 19-20, 2005, Tamil Nadu, India
Gender issues in e-Society: Women in Information Technology (WIT) 2005
Conference
http://www.auwit.com
December 27-30, 2005, Berlin, Germany
22nd Chaos Communication Congress
http://www.ccc.de/congress/2005
January 8-15, 2006, Kalangla, Uganda
Africa Source II - Free and open source software for local communities
http://www.tacticaltech.org/africasource2
January 30-31, 2006, San Francisco, USA
Innovation Funders Network: Networks, Innovation and Social Change
http://www.innovationfunders.org/2006/Summit/
February 25-26, 2006, Brussels, Belgium
FOSDEM 2006: Free and open source software developers' European meeting
http://www.fosdem.org
March 17-19, 2006, Lyon, France
Libre Graphics Meeting 2006
http://wiki.gimp.org/gimp/LibreGraphicsMeeting
April 19-22, 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil
7th international free software forum
http://fisl.softwarelivre.org
May 25-26, 2006, Berkeley, USA
ICTD 2006
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/events/ictd2006
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-- SITES OF INTEREST --
Delicious: A social bookmarking, social software web service for storing
and sharing web bookmarks. It allows you to easily add sites you like to
your personal collection of links, to categorise those sites with
keywords, and to share your collection not only between your own
browsers and machines, but also with others.
http://del.icio.us
ICT4D Wiki
http://ictlogy.net/wiki/index.php?title=ICT4D_Wiki_home
Open Knowledge Network
http://www.openknowledge.net/
United Nations Information Technology Service
http://www.unites.org/
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-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC NEXT MONTH --
January 8-18, Kampala, Uganda
Free and open source software for local communities
January 19-23, Bamako, Mali
World Social Forum Africa
January 24-28, Dakar, Senegal
Atelier regional francophone sur les technologies sans-fil de APC
January 24-29, Caracas, Venezuela
World Social Forum Latin America
January 25-27, Katmandu, Nepal
BCO Alliance Meeting
January 30-31, San Francisco, USA
Innovation Funders Network 2006 Summit
January 30-February 1, Katmandu, Nepal
APC South Asian Policy Meeting
NOTE: APCNews will not appear in January due to APC's shutdown during
the vacation time. We will be back in February 2006.
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APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed
monthly by APC -- a worldwide network supporting the use of internet and
ICTs for social justice and sustainable development since 1990. APCNews
Archive: http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/
Some rights reserved: Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial Licence 2.0 - 2005 Association for Progressive
Communications (APC)
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