Re: [GKD] Making Computers, Software, Bandwidth Affordable (India)
Promising ideas. Not unique by themselves, but the first time I've seen someone actually attempt to put them all together. The key questions: 1) Where do you start? and 2) How to get critical mass? I certainly won't claim definitive answers, but here are some thoughts: 1) Start with the client machine -- the cheap PC, the network computer, whatever you want to call it. You can't deploy many in the beginning, but you have to have this designed and operational in some fashion. This needs to include network access. Vanilla 802.11b (wi-fi) is probably not right. See www.locust.net for one solution that turns wi-fi access points into a wireless mesh, bottom-up network using freely available software to control off-the-shelf access points. Include some kind of microphone and speaker capability, and Voice over IP voice communication service (i.e., a telephone system) can be made available to all on the mesh. These networks -- or any peer-peer bottom up network based on 802.11 will only be able to access the public Internet if one of there is a gateway hooked to the Internet -- and all the usual fees apply (bandwidth and/or equipment, etc.). This solution does not automatically yield affordable Internet access. Internet prices will fall, and can be made cheaper, of course. And naturally it should be pursued. I'm only suggesting the system should be constructed to add value to the users even if Internet access was down, or unavailable to some users due to costs. This leads to the second question: 2) A critical mass of content for users to access needs to exist to make the appliance/service useful. The Internet can not necessarily be relied on to provide this. And the Application Service Provider (ASP) model especially requires application content (i.e., spreadsheets, word processing, etc.). One way to get the mass needed is to focus on the utility applications that made computing and the Internet so valuable in it's early days. First, email for all machines connected to the wireless mesh (the bottom-up network). Even if Internet connectivity is not available or remains expensive for some time, this will provide exponential value as more client machines are connected to the mesh (a village at a time, perhaps?) Second, word processing, spreadsheets, small database applications, etc. With the proper training, these can provide productivity enhancements for small businesses that might not otherwise use computers at all. Third, games -- and networked games. This gets the younger generations engaged and familiar with the technology so that they have shorter learning curves with other applications as they grow up. (Just make sure they don't overwhelm network capacities or require cutting edge video cards/memory in the client machines!). Finally, make Internet style content available within the mesh. Enable people with client machines to build and manage sites (centrally hosted for most, but distributed hosting is possible if people have the proper equipment and meet appropriate guidelines). Deploy and host more sophisticated content on behalf of the users. It could someday be the world's largest intranet -- and be a valuable resource for many even if the price of public Internet access never falls into the price range of all. My very best to you. John Mullinax ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
[GKD] Vacancy at OneWorld South Asia
Dear Friends, Please circulate the following vacancy announcement among your colleagues and friends. This post is open to South Asian nationals. We are looking for an entrepreneurial Centre Director to provide leadership and direction to the OneWorld South Asia team based in Delhi. OneWorld is a dynamic, non-profit network using the Internet to promote human rights and sustainable development.Our award-winning initiatives have consistently broken fresh ground in showing how Civil Society can profit from new technology. The OneWorld South Asia team of 10 has already established itself as front-runners in South Asia in the use of ICTs for development, through a range of targeted activities: Partnership networking among 200+ regional partners. Syndicating news stories from South Asia to Yahoo, the web¥s biggest news site, alongside Reuters and AP. Highlighting news and features from partners on the regional portal www.oneworld.net/southasia. Running training sessions and delivering technical services to partners. Publishing specialist global portals on Education (www.learningchannel.org) and ICTs (www.digitalopportunity.org). Other new initiatives such as the Open Knowledge Network (see www.openknowledge.net) are in the pipeline. The current budget of R1.5 crore is expected to grow substantially. OneWorld South Asia is currently registered as a representative office of OneWorld International, but the new Centre Director will lead the office to become an autonomous Centre within the OneWorld Network. The post will initially report to the OneWorld International Southern Programmes Manager, and later to a representative Regional Board. We are looking for someone who is both an idealist and a realist: idealist enough to project a vision of how the new information tools can be used for social goals, and realist enough to know that nothing gets achieved without tight management, effective planning, and a keen eye on the bottom line. Responsibilities: 1. Management To provide overall leadership to the OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) team. To line-manage senior OWSA staff. To ensure that OWSA meets its statutory legal and fiscal obligations. To ensure sound budget management. 2. Representational To represent OWSA within the OneWorld network. To build the reputation of OWSA with its partners, the regional media and other stakeholders. To develop relations with donors, corporates, Trusts and other potential income-sources for OWSA. 3. Centre Business Development To develop a diversified income-generating strategy including both grants and technical services delivered to partners. To incorporate this income-generating strategy in a Centre business plan to be put to the OneWorld International trustees as the basis for Centre autonomy. To develop and manage balanced annual budgets for OWSA. 4. Technical To coordinate the development of the Open Knowledge Syndication Centre under or within OWSA. To coordinate the development of ICT services to be provided to partners, including on a paying basis. Essential Skills and Experience Proven track record of leadership achievement - not necessarily within NGOs. Management of technical services such as programming, web development and hosting. Financial Management and budgetary control. Fund-raising. Line management of staff in inter-disciplinary teams. Strategic thinker, professional, entrepreneurial, committed to the use of ICTs for social purposes. Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Passport-holder of a South Asian country willing to work in Delhi, with regular international travel. Commitment to OneWorld's values. Desirable Skills and Experience Knowledge of Web based ICT software applications. Experience of international working. Experience in the civil society sector. Experience of working within networks. Notes: This is a re-advertisement. Previous applicants need not re-apply. This is a paid position. Salary / Benefits : : Equivalent to c. 15,000 pounds sterling per year Type of work : Contract Location : New Delhi, India Closing Date : 5 Mar 2003 To apply : Please send for an application form to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In exceptional cases, a CV and covering letter will also be considered. Closing date for return of application forms: 5 March 2003. Interviews will take place in Delhi in the week beginning 24 March 2003. Agreed travel costs will be reimbursed. Short-listed candidates will be contacted no later than 14 March. Applicants who have not been contacted by this date should assume that their applications have not been successful. OneWorld is committed to equal opportunities. For more information about OneWorld see: http://www.oneworld.net/about For more information see : http://www.oneworld.net/southasia Kanti Kumar Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel www.digitalopportunity.org OneWorld South Asia New Delhi, India Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit
[GKD] Community Radio Fights for Widows' Rights (Nepal)
Radio broadcasters raise voices for a better world By Sudeshna Sarkar, Indo-Asian News Service Kathmandu, Feb 20 (IANS) When her husband died in an accident Amala Pradhan's in-laws made sure that her life ended as well by dictating what she could wear or eat and where she could go. There are reportedly hundreds of women like Amala (name changed) across South Asia who are deprived of the right to lead normal lives once their spouses die. To raise a voice against widows' oppression and other inequalities, community radio broadcasters will convene in Kathmandu from February 21 to March 2. Radio Sagarmatha Nepal, partnered by the Montreal-based AMARC International (the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters), will host the conference. Five participants from Kerala will attend the eighth world conference of community broadcasters that will also focus on media portrayals of conflict. Broadcasters from the Arab countries, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America are also expected for the event. In Nepal, community radio has played an important role in helping widows like Amala come out of their shells and fight for their rights to lead normal lives. Amala lost her husband at 24, after which she said: I had no freedom. I was forced to undergo all kinds of deprivations in the name of rituals by my in-laws. They stopped me from attending family ceremonies under the logic that I had brought bad luck to them by killing my husband and would bring bad luck to others too. The harsh treatment of widows is a social phenomenon in both India and Nepal, said Raghu Mainali, coordinator of the Community Radio Support Centre set up in Nepal in 2000 to promote community radio in rural areas across the country. To dispel the prevailing superstitions about widowhood, Radio Sagarmatha started a battery of programmes, including talks and debates. We invited community leaders to our studio who emphasised that the taboos inflicted on the women were not dictated by the epics or scriptures, which govern so much of traditional ways in Nepal, but erroneous interpretations. We feel the broadcasts helped improve the condition of widows in Nepal. Radio Sagarmatha, brainchild of veteran journalist Bharat Dutta Koirala that started broadcasting in 1999, last year fetched him the Magsaysay award for his involvement in development journalism. It was Nepal's first private radio channel. Nepal today has five other community broadcasting channels. The inaccessible terrain of Nepal, the rampant illiteracy and the lack of electricity in rural areas makes it difficult for the print media and television to generate awareness, said Koirala. Community radio is the only answer. Mainali adds that even during the height of insurgency, when Maoist guerrillas attacked infrastructure, the community radio stations were never harmed. The Maoists recognise that we are a non-political body and they themselves are a part of community. In fact, at times when our programmes are disrupted due to technical reasons, we've had them calling up to ask what happened. AMARC, a network of over 2,000 community radios, feels citizens, women and migrants should have access to communications technologies. So the conference in Kathmandu will highlight the need to place human rights and social justice at the heart of the global communications policy agenda for the World Summit on the Information Society, to build a grassroot South-centred platform for participation in global strategies for the information society and to reinforce community radio development in Nepal as a model for South Asia. --Indo-Asian News Service ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
