B y t e s F o r A l l --- http://www.bytesforall.org
Making Computing Relevant to the People of South Asia
AUG 2003 * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers
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ICTs and handicrafts
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In the Third World, artisans marketed their wares primarily through
middlemen, who charge artificially low prices before marking up prices
and shipping them to up-scale boutiques overseas. But with the Internet
and other information and communication technologies (ICT), artisans
have a competitive alternative.
http://www.digitaldividend.org/pubs/pubs_06_overview_handicrafts.htm
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Traditional knowledge
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Traditional knowledge holders often stand outside the fold of
intellectual property rights and are negatively affected by them. A new
handbook makes intellectual property issues and protection options more
understandable and readily available for traditional knowledge holders,
human rights NGOs, and legal professionals. In addition to introducing
intellectual property concepts, this handbook contains a series of
exercises to help the user to identify and classify types of knowledge,
cultural aspects, and community goals related to specific knowledge
claims. Through a series of exercises, it is possible for traditional
knowledge holders to identify whether or not specific intellectual
property protection options are relevant or appropriate for their
knowledge. An electronic version of the handbook in PDF format is now
available for download at: http://shr.aaas.org/tek/handbook/ More
details from Stephen A Hansen, Project Director, Science Intellectual
Property in the Public Interest (SIPPI), American Association for the
Advancement of Science 1200 New York Ave., NW Washington, DC 20005 USA
Tel: (202) 326-6796 Fax: (202) 289-4950 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW:
http://shr.aaas.org WWW: http://sippi.aaas.org
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Info bank
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The Nayudamma Information Bank contains information about and easy
access to technologies supported by IDRC - technologies from the South
for the South. Providing contact names for all the technologies
described, it is a way of sharing and updating information on
technological advancements for international development. The
information bank has been named in honour of the late Dr. Yelavarthy
Nayudamma, a Sri Lankan who dedicated his life to demonstrating how
science and technology can and should be used for human benefit.
http://indev.nic.in/indev/profNewsItem.asp?id=649
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Passing through
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Prof Ken Keniston [EMAIL PROTECTED], that thorough researcher of
ICT-for-development themes in India, was back scouring the country
recently. Said he: (M)y stay in India was productive and informative,
not to mention enjoyableAs a result of the trip, and encouraged by
Indian friends, I hope that an India-based project analyzing with some
precision both the impact and the costs of the so-called 'ICT for the
masses' projects could be undertaken over the course of the next two
years. That could make for an interesting read. While we need not get
pessimistic, it's long overdue that the hype be separated from the real
projects with potential. See his site at www.kken.net
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FLOSS and development
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Free/Libre and Open Source Software practitioners from Asia, Africa,
Europe and Latin America recently got together to produce a manifesto on
the role of Open Source Software (OSS) in the development cooperation
context. They asked all stake-holders to pay more attention to OSS, and
argued it should be employed wherever possible.
http://sarai.waag.org/display.php?id=28
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Rural jobs
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Like anything related to rural sector, placement services for rural
sector employees and employers are still very little organized, much
less than in all other sectors. Millions of unemployed people grope in
the dark, not knowing where to look for a job and this, despite the fact
that innumerable vacancies remain unfilled, the employers also not
knowing where to find the right people for them.
So what's the way out?
www.ruralnaukri.com sees the root cause of the problem as the absence of
any organized meeting ground for employers and employees, according to
