[GKD] ANN: International Symposium on Local E-Democracy
Are you interested in how to build stronger democracies in the information age? While broad access and use of the Internet is required for citizen participation online, the reality is that in the most wired countries most of the e-democracy activity is institutional in nature. When I visited Mongolia, it was clear to me that e-democracy ideas are not a wait until most people are online luxury - social expectations for this medium are being built now and we don't just want it to be viewed as a shopping mall, but also a town square. In that vein, I encourage development organisations to send delegates to the International Symposium on Local E-Democracy. You should also consider proposing a small group session on Developing Democracies and E-Democracy. Finally, please pass this on to those in government, NGOs, or media e-participation circles that you think would benefit from a chance to network with their global peers. Thanks, Steven Clift International Symposium on Local E-Democracy July 26-27, 2005 Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA http://dowire.org/localedem The International Symposium on Local E-Democracy is a dynamic conference exploring leading e-democracy trends around the world. The next day, a field trip to the wired chambers of the Minnesota State Legislature and Northfield, Minnesota's community blogging efforts along with traveling color commentary will bring one of birthplaces of e-democracy to life. This is the world's first international conference focused specifically on local e-democracy. We expect representatives of a number of government, non-profit, research, and civic organisations to attend. If you are interested in improving governance and citizen participation in the information age, this conference is for you. The symposium is sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the United Kingdom and the UK Local e-Democracy National Project along with other partners. * Register Today - Full Conference Details http://dowire.org/localedem Or sign-up for future conference e-mail updates: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Plenary Themes The following panels are being developed: - Informed Elections - From e-voting to voter education online - E-Government and Democracy - Leading e-democracy practices in governance and civic education - Local Citizens and Community Online - Citizen e-activism, local blogging, and media online We promise short presentations with an emphasis on interactive discussion. * Small Group Sessions and Networking Small group sessions, proposed via the conference wiki website by conference participants, provide an interactive opportunity for discussion of diverse topics. We expect 50 to 100 participants. Extensive opportunities for networking among practitioners, experts, and researchers will be provided. This includes a tailgating pre-conference event with E-Democracy.Org the evening of Monday, July 25 at a St. Paul Saints outdoor minor league baseball game. * 60 Second Pitch Do you have an e-democracy project, idea, technology, etc. that you want to share? Up to 20 speakers will have one minute to powerfully communicate their e-democracy message. * Stay Tuned The final agenda and list of speakers and small group sessions will be released on the conference website: http://dowire.org/localedem ***UPDATE: The full agenda with over 25 speakers is now out: http://www.dowire.org/wiki/Symposium_agenda * Cost and Hotel The fee for the conference is a modest $125 US (~70 GBP, 102 Euros). The enrolled student rate is $75 US. This will cover your symposium participation and the luncheon. For those joining us on the field trip, transportation will be provided at no additional cost. The pre-conference baseball event will be $15. Hotel accommodation in Minneapolis, with free Wi-Fi Internet access, is available at the special conference rate of $99 plus tax per night just a couple blocks away from our conference location, the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Please use the conference website to register and reserve your accommodations: http://dowire.org/localedem * Receive E-mail Updates - Note Your Interest If you plan to attend or are not quite ready to register, please sign-up to receive conference announcements. Simply e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Contact Us To contact the conference team, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Additional Details and Link About Minnesota - Plan a Minne-vacation http://www.dowire.org/wiki/Minnesota Transportation Advice http://www.dowire.org/wiki/Symposium_transportation Propose Small Group Sessions http://www.dowire.org/wiki/Sessions Highlights from the Global E-Democracy Best Practices Work http://www.dowire.org/wiki/UK_highlights UK Local E-Democracy National Project http://www.e-democracy.gov.uk Office of the Deputy Prime Minister http://www.odpm.gov.uk Steven Clift - http://publicus.net email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join
[GKD] The $100 Computer is Key to India's Technology Fortunes
GKD members may be interested in the following article detailing recent progress towards the design of a $100 computer in India. -FN ** http://news.com.com/Indias+renaissance+The+100+computer/2009-1041_3-575205 4.html India's Tech Renaissance The $100 computer is key to India's tech fortunes By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 29, 2005 MUMBAI, India--One of the critical ingredients for the $100 computer is probably in your garage. In about three months, a little-known company called Novatium plans to offer a stripped-down home computer for about $70 or $75. That is about half the price of the standard thin clients of this kind now sold in India, made possible in part by some novel engineering choices. Adding a monitor doubles the price to $150, but the company will offer used displays to keep the cost down. If you want to reach the $100 to $120 price point, you need to use old monitors, said Novatium founder and board member Rajesh Jain, a local entrepreneur who sold the IndiaWorld portal for $115 million in cash in 2000 and has started a host of companies since. Monitors have a lifetime of seven to eight years. It is this kind of entrepreneurial thinking that has made Jain the latest visionary to seek out today's Holy Grail of home computing: a desktop that will start to bring the Internet to the more than 5 billion people around the world who aren't on it yet. The first $100 computer is a fitting icon for a country undergoing major changes in the development of its technology, economy and society. As Indian companies increasingly break away from the limitations of handling outsourced services for Western corporations, innovations are likely to multiply and inspire the rising number of independently minded engineers and executives who are leading the country's technology industry to new frontiers. Because of thriving exports and low PC penetration, India has become the epicenter for projects on the cutting edge of computing hardware. Advanced Micro Devices has started to sell its Personal Internet Communicator for $235, including monitor, through a broadband partner here. It says a fully equipped $100 personal computer in three years isn't out of the question. The innovative spirit that pervades the industry is producing a variety of new approaches toward affordable computing. Tata Consultancy Services is tinkering with domain computers that reduce costs by just handling fixed functions such as bill payment or word processing, said Nagaraj Ijari, a senior executive in the company's operations in Bangalore. About 200 miles away in high-tech center Chennai, formerly known as Madras, Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the Indian Institute of Technology has developed a $1,000 automatic teller machine that can also serve as an Internet kiosk for villages. He has also built a wireless data system that has been exported to Brazil, Iran, Fiji and Nigeria. Creating a product that cuts costs without reducing functions isn't easy, as exemplified by the Simputer, a handheld computer designed for the masses. And many products face formidable logistical and infrastructural obstacles. Professor Jitendra Shah, from the Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing, is examining ways to reduce electricity usage by setting up solar-powered computing terminals that tap into battery-powered PCs acting as servers. We are looking at ways to take advantage of unconventional sources of power. Practically in every village you will find a truck or car battery that you can use when the regular power grid fails you, said Ketan Sampat, president of Intel India. You also want to design something that is more tolerant of dust. Living in a material world The key to success for the $100 computer lies in the sum of its parts. Even though the industry has seen continuous price declines for components--including metal, plastic and other raw materials--many executives believe that manufacturing a full-fledged PC for even less than $200 is probably still impractical. We are not able to fix the monitor and hard-drive problem, said P.R. Lakshamanan, senior vice president of Zenith Computers, one of India's largest local PC makers. With these realities in mind, some companies are adjusting their price goals. Xenitis, for example, has come out with PCs that cost just under $250, equipped with an older 1GHz processor from Via Technologies, 128MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, Linux software and a 15-inch screen. Via will join in with its own Terra PC in the fall. The Terra comes with the same basic configuration as its Xenitis competitor, but the operating system and the basic applications are loaded on a flash memory chip, not the drive--making the computer less susceptible to viruses and other problems. Via, however, admits that it will need to select battle-hardened software. There is no way I am going to take care of all of the problems, said Ravi
Re: [GKD] RFI: How Can A Grassroots Project Obtain Financing From Private Donors In Rich Countries?
Dear Colleagues, Here is an interesting solution and perhaps a funding model that might be useful for projects that require micro-financing: http://www.fundable.org/ Respectfully, Ken DiPietro New-ISP NextGenCommunications ***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/
Re: [GKD] POWERING ICT: An Energy Solutions Toolkit for ICT Projects
It would be interesting to know how much money was spent on the development of this tool kit. How much? It would also be interesting to know whether the developers of the tool kit reviewed the literature on expert systems and the attempts which were made a number of years ago regarding what might be called first generation knowledge management systems, where there were attempts to capture the knowledge of professionals in the field. David Snowden, one of the foremost experts in the field of KM currently, has created his ASHEN model where the order of ease of knowledge capture from easy to hard ran as follows: A =artifacts- it is easy to give someone an object S =skills - skills take time to transfer along with experience H = heuristics or basic rules of thumb one learns that works from a pragmatic perspective E = experience- what comes from years in the field N = natural talent- there are some whose skills seem almost inherited and others who may try all their life and never reach this level of capability All of this points to the idea that such a tool kit is a nice academic exercise, but one which will find little use. thoughts? tom abeles On 7/8/05, Barbara Fillip wrote: I am pleased to announce that the Energy Solutions Toolkit for ICT Projects is now accessible through the DOT-COM Alliance web site The toolkit is designed to help ICT program managers, decision-makers and entrepreneurs select the most cost-effective mix of ICT and energy systems for projects in off-grid and poorly electrified areas. ..snip... You can access the toolkit at: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/Toolkit.htm. On this page, you will find 1) a short presentation about the toolkit; 2) a link to the toolkit itself; 3) a link to the survey form to send us your feedback. ***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/
