[DDN] Invitation to join - iG4D Internet Governance for Human Development iG4D
Invitation to join - iG4D Internet Governance for Human Development iG4D I would like all of you to join a small virtual ICT4D initiative (still evolving, initially as an online discussion) that intends to create initially an online centre to deliberate and intervene on Internet Governance for Human Development related issues, ideas, incubation, research and development etc. It will be an open and inclusive platform and the future idea is to evolve it in various developing countries of the world: iG4D Centre - Internet Governance for Human Development Description: The Internet raises significant challenges for public policy and sustainable human development, both internationally and for individual nations. Internet Governance for Human Development (IG4D) is Civil Society platform for Human Development enabled through the Internet. Group email: i...@googlegroups.com Group address:http://groups.google.com/group/ig4d -- Regards. -- Fouad Bajwa Founder - iG4D Centre (online) Internet Governance for Human Development http://groups.google.com/group/ig4d @skBajwa Answering all your technology questions http://www.askbajwa.com http://twitter.com/fouadbajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Changing Mindsets - How do you change a whole country's perception - For the Educated Lots
Changing Mindsets How do you change a whole country's perception - For the Educated Lots (Fouad Bajwa, Independent Discussion, 19-03-2009) How much will a Ubuntu Linux CD cost in Pakistan, this student of University of Jamshoro asks me via SMS after a session of exchanging introductory messages, My friend gave me your number when I asked about that where can I acquire an original CD for an operating system? she clarifies. She further inquires, Where can I get a free Ubuntu CD? to which I reply, The CD is free to order, will be land mailed to you for free, you can use it for free and after you have benefited from it, pass it on to your friends because it takes around 2-3 weeks to be delivered! I continue to share, and it's pretty simple to order, you can visit http://shipit.ubuntu.com, register a free user account and order a server or desktop Linux Operating System Free Ubuntu CD!. After four years today, nearly half a million Ubuntu Linux CDs have been distributed for free either by http://shipit.ubuntu.com or by volunteers in Pakistan. I know about more than a hundred thousand CDs distributed by Ubuntu volunteers, friends and myself. This is the current scenario of an environment of local demand for adoption and use of Free and Open Source Software FOSS in Pakistan. I used Ubuntu Linux for the first time before taking up the responsibility for evolving its community and the ecosystem for generating a demand and supply system, when I wanted to something other than my copy of Windows Xp. I had trouble with it, it was too slow after all that I had to test and with every new development environment, I would delete this system file or that. My friends on the network could knock over my machine for fun and the bugs were climbing up my brains every day in and out! I was in search for freedom, I was looking for my freedom of choice! I had used Linux before at work and now I wanted to use it again as a solace to my operating system troubles. I respected Intellectual Property being a Computer IT Professional (I am both a undergrad and graduate in both CS and IT). My peers had educated me to respect other peers' intellectual assets and to encourage others to respect mine. But, we lived in a false and artificial economy where everyone would wag their tails to the current trend! Y2K then was a big thing but we lacked lots of important software in the local market. We resorted to downloading free software from the Internet and exchanged information with peers all over the world using the web. We had to find a solution to the problem before the so called lights blacked out. Out of knowledge, we downloaded a lot of FOSS technologies and platforms. In the years to follow, I would adopt PHP-MySQL-Linux-MySQL (LAMP) to solve my web needs, earn my bread butter as well as complete research contracts online. I was to learn to use various other technologies and platforms without the word Windows in them. It was fun, I could run my FOSS solutions on Windows too. The somehow bonded for some reason to be differentiated valued later on. I wanted to share these findings with other people. I did so during my service in the govt. When I left the govt. I brought it to the academic sector and civil society. I grew an affiliation with like minded people and FOSS users all over the world and got a visit to see the amazing things they were doing with their solutions in their countries, both developed and under developed. I thought for a moment, to share the spirit for mutual respect of intellectual property with my local friends and others in my city. I tried to remove bugs from my research work using Ubuntu Linux, today, thousands of my countrymen continue to do so from Karachi to Quetta to Peshawar to Islamabad and of course, in Lahore, I thought you would figure that out already. From I its now about you, us and we. We are a community, we work for eachother's continued benefit. We want to help eachother keep away from stealing other people's property, prosper with open and inclusive technology, grow together as a nation. You know about Ubuntu Linux, your family members, your friends and colleagues know about Linux in general, everyone that has installed software on their or someone's computer knows about Linux or even FOSS or Free Software. I can relate to this mindset as a result of evident change. I feel happy that the FOSS platform developed by the old community members of the Debian Linux Distribution and thousands of others under the umbrella of www.Ubuntu.com and www.Launchpad.net is used so much or people know about it to a large extent in the Government, Academia, Civil Society and Private Sectors has reached this level due to our volunteers and people who use it for learning, fun, research, work or business find it useful. We have visited your offices, we have written stories and case studies about you. We have shared with the world that you are an aspiring and inspiring nation. You are open to intellectual change
Re: [DDN] in search of volunteer moderators (was The future of DDN)
Hi, I have been moderating lists at various policy community and development forums. I would like to volunteer. On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 10:34 PM, Andy Carvin andycar...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi Tom, The problem is that there isn't an official moderator at the moment. Technically I'm not supposed to be moderating the list anymore because I work for NPR News and I can't be involved directly in policy discussions, but the moderating from TakingITGlobal sometimes runs behind. I would suggest that DDN members try to find three or four people who could share the moderating duties, and I'm sure the TIG folks would be happy to get them set up. Either way, I really shouldn't be doing it as long as I work for NPR. ac Andy Carvin andycarvin at yahoo com www.andycarvin.com www.pbs.org/learningnow - Original Message From: tom abeles tabe...@hotmail.com To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 12:20:20 PM Subject: Re: [DDN] The future of DDN hmm, how long between submission and approval as in this just released batch of postings. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. -- Regards. -- Fouad Bajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Digital divide in emergent countries
You should consult http://www.globaliswatch.org/ that can give you a very good feedback and statistics on many countries. On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 9:48 PM, wright sade [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I am doing a research on the above named topic and I am required to do a case study between Nigeria and Brazil. I will like to ask if anyone has any kind of data, statistics or any information that may be of a huge help on the topic. I have searched the Internet, but I am not satisfied with the things I found. Can anyone be of help please? Thanks. Sade. Make the switch to the world's best email. Get Yahoo!7 Mail! http://au.yahoo.com/y7mail ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. -- Regards. -- Fouad Bajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Fwd: [pakistanictpolicy] IPs being blocked again!
The following message is a recent pledge from the Pakistani IT Industry and ICT for Development Communities about a recent step by the national telecom regulatory authority - Pakistan Telecommunications Authority PTA that bans use of VoIP and basic services such as Skype etc. This is a blow to an booming industry of developing country that has reached 2.8 Billion dollars in revenue, including annual exports exceeding $1.4 billion, Pakistan is eyeing to increase the size of this sector to over US$ 11 billion by 2011. (Source: PSEB WTO) This is not the first time that PTA has done this but in a time of global economic recession and struggling businesses, this sends out a plea of how governments can affect the ICT growth of their own citizens and businesses at large reducing their own economic growth. Are there any examples out there where countries have done the same crushed their own economic growth options? Is it true that governments want to prevent the growth of their own industries and benefit to the common man whereas the promise of the Internet and ICTs was leap frogging social and economic benefit? Kindly read through and share your thoughts. For an update on the issue, kindly visit or join the Pakistan ICT Policy Monitor at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pakistanictpolicy or the message thread at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pakistanictpolicy/message/1597 Kindly read the message below: -- Forwarded message -- From: Jehan Ara [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 8:38 PM Subject: [pakistanictpolicy] IPs being blocked again! To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Some [EMAIL PROTECTED] companies have brought to my attention that their IPs have been blocked for as long as 30 minutes at a time, over the past few days. Their ISPs have told them that the PTA has installed software for packet sniffing of all VoIP users on their networks. They are therefore now insisting that if any voice activity takes place over IP, a license needs to be obtained from the PTA otherwise the following steps will be taken. The first step is blocking internet for 30 minutes as a warning, the second step will be a notice, and the third a fine and then the total blocking of their internet facility . This is of great concern especially to companies who are engaged in BPO and offshore development services, and for all IT and ITES companies servicing customers internationally. As it is, getting and retaining foreign customers is not easy for Pakistani companies and now if we have to forfeit this line of voice communication as well, our exports will certainly take a plunge. The PTA had previously expressed concern over large scale VOIP operations being run to terminate calls and offer services, but this does not explain why a business that has a couple of lines which are being used to stay in contact with customers or for tech support, is being targetted. During a meeting with General Shahzada, the former Chairman of the PTA, a few months ago, I had specifically been told that the PTA did not have any objection to people using VoIP (eg. Skype and Vonage) unless they were offering VoIP services without being licensed. In fact the PTA had circulated a determination, as far back as 2002, which specifically stated that they had decided that Net2Phone would no longer be blocked because it did not impact to any significant degree on the business of PTCL. I wrote to the PTA seeking a clarification on the VoIP policy and asking them to advise all ISPs that using VoIP is not illegal in this country unless one is using it for large scale call termination, and that in such a situation, one needs to be a licensed operator. I told them that this has caused quite a stir in the IT community. The result? I was told that there was a simple solution - the companies should pay Rs. 5,000 and get licensed through PSEB. Their IPs would be registered, IP addresses provided to the PTA and from that stage on, would not be prone to blocking. I still don't understand why. Don't they understand that VoIP should be free for use by individuals and companies? Are they going to block all our IPs next because we use Skype to talk to friends and family? Isn't it time we had a proper VoIP Policy or better still a complete deregulation of VoIP? Or am I being naive? Jehan Ara President [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] The New Wave of Non-Western ICT4D Aid Donors - My Comments
Production and Consumption models. In terms of this influence of western countries over ODA for ICT4D, I would like to emphasize that solutions to communities social and economic problems do not lie in pumping unlimited aid money into those communities but facilitating those communities to find solutions to their needs and problems. Where the community has buyin or generated the demand, ICT4D adoption is quicker and more productive though evidence has to be gathered around this for more acceptable results. Just to see how western ODA deals with ICT Production and Consumption areas, the following documents are good read: http://www.mehdimajidi.com/Files. -- Regards. -- Fouad Bajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for signatures
World Day Against Software Patents (24 September): Call now open for signatures (Benjamin Henrion) Please sign and spread: http://stopsoftwarepatents.org Considering the following: 1. The issue of software patents is a global one, and several governments and patent offices around the world continue to grant software business method patents on a daily basis; they are pushing for legal codification of the practice, such as currently in New Zealand and India, and via the misappropriation of Free Trade Agreement instruments; 2. Previous initiatives as the Noepatents.org petition (approx. 400 000) at the EU level are outdated (notably on the issues of the central EU patent court) and not open for signatures anymore. 3. Companies still view software patents as assets. They have yet to understand that software patents should also be considered liabilities, especially if they are in the hands of trolls. 4. Time is on our side as litigation gets spread wide: Markets learn the hard way that you may not leave reform to patent professionals. Patent litigation is becoming wide spread in key markets such as the financial sector, and will be more wide spread in the software sector in the forthcoming years due to the number of applications pending; 5. The United States lacks a coalition of business and civil society against software patents * The lobby gap makes Congress and Senate, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and the Supreme Court susceptible to lobbying from patent industries, holders and patent professionals. American software creators have been intimidated by the patent establishment and have failed to make themselves heard. * Companies affected by software patent litigation have been lobbying for reform, but their advocacy for quality and lower damages aims at symptoms rather than the roots of the problem. For these reasons, We declare the 24 September as the World Day Against Software Patents, in commemoration of the European Parliament First Reading in 2003 with amendments stopping the harmful patenting of software, guaranteeing that software programmers and businesses can safely benefit from the fruits of their work under copyright law. A Global Petition will be launched which asks to stop software patents, with some localised versions of the petition for specific regions, such as New Zealand, India, United States and Europe. The public will be invited to comment on the draft between the 1st and the 23rd September. -- Benjamin Henrion bhenrion at ffii.org FFII Brussels - +32-484-566109 - +32-2-4148403 -- Regards. -- Fouad Bajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Another IT Policy for Pakistan? - CIO Pa kistan - Fouad Riaz Bajwa takes a look…
CIO Pakistan - Another IT Policy for Pakistan? Fouad Riaz Bajwa takes a look… September 2, 2008 Source http://cio.com.pk/2008/09/another-it-policy-for-pakistan/ For those who are still not aware, the Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoITT), Government of Pakistan are still in the process of redrafting the IT Policy for Pakistan. While this is a step in more confused circular pattern, what does this mean for the Pakistani CIO trying to plan his next infrastructure deployment? The face of the IT industry is Pakistan is yet to receive another blow of significant change in one more effort to boost its current state of affairs of a lingering ecosystem. Let me share some perspectives. Whether or not this revised policy will have a positive or negative impact on the IT industry and general business, commerce and industry, will be determined by its objectives, and current or future actions. The IT Industry in Pakistan has been booming for the last decade but at the same time, has been facing a continuous round of set backs over time due to the changing shape of the shift in international social and economic dynamics. One of the major markets that the Pakistani IT business and industry has been catering to is the United States. The US market has been giving various negative economic shockwaves first in the form of the Dot Com Bubble Burst and the 9/11 disaster that not only rocked Pakistani IT businesses but also significantly affected the state of the world's developing economies. Now the US is under the pressure of increasing oil prices, its global War on Terrorism activities and of course now its economy facing a recession. Amidst these shockwaves, the Pakistani IT industry discovered in detail IT business opportunities in the fields of informatization, automation and call center services both at the enterprise and small and medium levels and estimated this market to contribute to the income of our industry. Major consumers in the local IT market scene emerged in the form of the Government of Pakistan and its constituent departments as well as provincial level Governments around the country. A large number of industrial groups, multinational companies and the innovative banking and financial services provider segments have been a major contributor to the local economy. However, within the identification of a local market for IT and outsourced services, Pakistan lost a number of large-scale IT firms due to the shockwaves from abroad and only those firms survived that had the backup and sought a constructive strategy to gain buy-in from a plummeting economy. The local IT industry has also seen a significant increase in revenues not by the software or hardware industries but due to the foreign investment directed towards the Telecom Sector de-regularization activity. Investors have established business investment consortiums and clusters while stepping into Pakistan from regions like Europe, Scandinavia, Middle East and the Asia Pacific. The local IT industry has been reporting significant gains in revenues with evidence from the State Bank of Pakistan and the Pakistan Software Export Board but are these gains a grand number to feel pride in? Unfortunately not! It can be experienced from our close by neighboring country, that some of their local giants have individual yearly revenues far exceeding the total revenues derived by the IT industry within both local and international markets. So where does the problem lay? In a discussion with a representative from the world's leading search engine and online advertising player, only one company in India provides more revenues in online advertising then all Pakistani companies combined. So what's the real problem? The problem can be attributed to lack of strategic direction in the national IT planning activities of course this is where an IT Policy and its affect on the IT and general commerce comes into play. National level IT planning also requires a very strategic direction and focus. It has to be planned in such a way that all stakeholders are present within the planning activity from the beginning so that they may today or maybe tomorrow benefit from such a policy or even the opportunities generated by technology. In order to engage the stakeholders in an affective manner ensuring full diversified participation from all sectors of society and economy, such as the academia, public sector departments, private sector and civil society, the Government has to use dual means. First, the Government has to generate the capacity of its citizens to embrace and engage technology and employ its uses in various venues of life. Once this has been achieved, a culture of technology becomes the driving force for a future IT industry development and growth. The impact of such an industry has both social and economic affects as technology becomes a daily life tool rather than simply a gadget based fascination for its users. Now to explain Pakistan's
[DDN] Interview footage from The Future of the Internet Economy - OECD Ministerial Meeting in Seoul, Korea, June 16-18, 2008.
Elon University/Pew Internet Project's footage of Fouad Bajwa's Interview from the OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the Future of the Internet Economy gathered by Imagining the Internet, an initiative of Elon University and the Pew Internet Project at the OECD Ministerial Meeting in Seoul, Korea, June 16-18, 2008. Fouad's Interview: http://stream.elon.edu/stream/predictions/oecd_2008/Fouad_Riaz_Bajwa.mov Fouad answers the following questions: Q.1. Who do you represent and why are you here? Q.2. Tell us more about your computer? Q.3. What is your greatest fear for the future of the Internet? Q.4. What is your greatest hope for the future of the Internet? Q.5. If you could describe the future of the Internet in one word, what would it be? All Interview Videos: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/oecd_2008_seoul.xhtml Production Information: Executive Producer: Janna Quitney Anderson Producer: Glenn Scoot Videography, reporting and editing by Craig Campbell and Asley Barna www.imaginingtheinternet.com Background OECD Future of the Internet, Seoul - June 2008 This page has links to interviews captured during the meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on the Future of the Internet Economy, in Seoul, Korea, June 16-18, 2008. Foreign ministers, global business leaders, technical experts, and representatives of civil society and academia conferred at this OECD ministerial event, with the goal of comparing experiences, seeking answers to common problems, and coordinating domestic and international policies. OECD, is an international organization headquartered in a secretariat based in Paris. It has 200 committees, working groups, and expert groups that collect data, monitor trends, research social changes and evolving patterns in trade, environment, technology and other areas and forecast economic developments. At the Seoul gathering in 2008, a team from Imagining the Internet interviewed the following 31 people about their hopes and fears for the future of the Internet. Transcripts of these interviews will also be posted in coming months. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] e-waste in Ghana
Would you be kind to share that what are your suggestions for running a e-waste programme? Do you have any references to such programs being run in Africa and what are the results and how can be the data on such be verified? Best On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 7:46 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: hi Kwame on the upside, it can be an opportunity for ghana a lot of organizations have already written how to recycle pc's and other ict equipment the hardest part is to find buyers for the segregated pc parts china and india are prospects with their new appetites for metals surplus ict equipment (and other surplus materials) from the developed countries are really opportunities for developing countries in this case for school children just the right mindset and procedures need to be implemented reduce-reuse-repair-recycle regards rene y3k foundation Denizens: I brought this issue up several years ago (about 10yrs). I was berated by another person who accused me of crying wolf and rather preventing some poor school children in Africa from receiving free computers donated by philanthropist. I tried to go to the archives to retrieve that thread but I can only go to 2001. This is a growing menace to African society where under the guise of donating computers, Africans rather end up being a dump site. we are still watching, stay strong, KDD http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7544003.stm Greenpeace says it is concerned about the electronic waste trade in Ghana which it claims is putting the health of workers at risk. The campaign group says the dismantling of discarded computers on rubbish tips exposes people to smoke and chemicals. Will Ross reports from Accra in Ghana. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. -- Regards. -- Fouad Riaz Bajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Inclusion on the reformulation of the Pakistani IT Policy
Dear Friends and Community Members, Though I have been very quiet on this list, I have been advocating the process of ICT4D change with similar minded colleagues in Pakistan. We have had great success in this area and the Government of Pakistan has included our team on the working groups for the new IT Policy forumlation activties. More information on the IT Policy formulation activity in Pakistan can be regularly monitored on the Pakistan ICT Policy Monitor, an initiative we established to encourage debate on ICT4D, Internet Governance, IPR, Human Rights etc. The community comprises of Civil Society, Academia, Researchers, Legislators, Government Heads of Departments, International and Local Media and so forth. The forum is open for anyone to join at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pakistanictpolicy/ -- Regards. -- Fouad Bajwa ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
