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| <nettime> BytesForAll June 2000 issue |
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_/ B y t e s F o r A l l --- http://www.bytesforall.org
_/ Making Computing Relevant to The Common (Wo)man JUNE2000
_/ Editors: Frederick Noronha (India) Partha Sarkar (Bangladesh)
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In this issue
* Web site for Pakistani drought
* Computers for the blind in Bangalore, India
* Malaria surveilance software
* Life-saving blood online
* Knowledge sharing and tech-coop in the Third World
* Word Processor costing over a year's income...
* Vagaries of Internet democracy
* Nepal seeks ICT info for mountain development
PAKISTAN IS IN THE PROCESS OF launching a website on the drought
situation in the country. It will provide and link information
resources about the drought incidences in different areas. Its
aim will be to keep maximum track of information published in
national and international newspapers and journals, track
initiatives (government, civil society and business) for
alleviating the drought situation, host field reports from local
populations or journalists on site.
It will also attempt to link information and knowledge websites
on sustainable development practices (water management, food
security and drought alleviation) the world over, facilitate and
exchange of information through e-mail, and create electronic
linkages amongst those fighting drought.
Send in all useful information to [email protected]
http://www.drought.sdnpk.org
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Zubair Faisal Abbasi, SDNP Islamabad [email protected]
IT'S ALMOST NOON AND the computer class is already in progress.
When you enter the room you see the students bunched around
monitors, their hands flying over their keyboards. On closer
inspection, you will realise that the students are actually
listening to the computers, not looking at them. For they are
blind. With the support of Intel, US-based Asha Foundation and
NIIT, Karnataka's National Association for the Blind has opened
new career options for the blind by starting these computer
training classes for them. JAWS is a speech software by Henter-
Joyce, Inc, and was created by individuals who themselves were
blind. It costs Rs 45,000 and comes with a security disk, to
prevent piracy. The three-month long course is conducted on the
NAB campus at Jeevan Bima Nagar in Bangalore.
http://www.rediff.com/computer/2000/apr/25rehmat.htm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Rehmat Merchant in Bangalore, Rediff.com and S-Asia-IT
MALARIA SURVEILLANCE SOFTWARE: Researchers at the Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro's (UFRJ) biomedical engineering
department have developed a computer software program called
SIG-MALARIA, designed for malaria surveillance. It uses a
microcomputer-based image information system to evaluate malaria
in municipalities.
http://www.idrc.ca/books/reports/v211/software.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source IDRC
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, FARMERS IN India's central tribal belt
were locked in a battle against three seemingly invincible foes --
drought, poverty and corrupt middlemen. Now, thanks to a new
computer system, they are on their way to bypassing the third
evil and are better equipped to combat the other two. Earlier
this year the government of central Madhya Pradesh state launched
an experimental computer network in the remote farming district.
The intranet system gives villagers access to everything from
copies of land titles -- a must for securing yearly bank loans --
to rural water supply schemes. No bribes, no queues, just 10
rupees (about HK$1.70). The pilot project covers 600 villages in
Dhar district, one of dozens of dirt-poor tribal areas in Madhya
Pradesh. It is part of a push by the state's reformist chief
minister, Digvijay Singh, to find low-cost ways of overcoming the
state's lack of infrastructure and improving conditions in rural areas.
http://www.scmp.com/News/Comment/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-
20000524052040288.asp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Marion Lloyd <[email protected]> South China Morning
Post & Irfan Khan <[email protected]> South-Asia-IT list
LIFE-SAVING BLOOD ONLINE: A few months after Pankaj Som
Chaturvedi lost his grandmother because blood was not available,
he pledged to ensure the same fate doesn't befall others.
Chaturvedi has launched http://www.thebloodbank.org. The Web site
brings together people looking for blood and willing donors.
"There was a sort of helplessness that I was carrying around
which, I hope, no one will need to experience now," said
Chaturvedi. The site he has launched is not commercial and that
is how it plans to stay. The Web site offers information about
blood types, some of the diseases that require blood transfusion
as treatment and about voluntary donors. It has already attracted
4,000 donors from 11 countries. If a person from a country that
has not appeared on the site wishes to donate blood or is looking
for blood, he or she can register online instantly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Anisha Sodhi, India Abroad News Service
WIDEFORUM-L IS PART OF WIDE Initiative internet-based services
and efforts set up by the UNDP's Special Unit for Technical
Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC). TCDC was
established within UNDP by the United Nations General Assembly in
1974.
The WIDE Initiative is designed to give more visibility to
developing country expertise, foster communications and promote
more effective technical cooperation among developing countries.
Details can be found at: http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide or
directly at http://www.bellanet.org/wide
WIDE Initiative services include WIDE Online, a public access
database for collecting and locating experts' bio-data
(expertise, location, contacts, publications, etc.) and
information on institutions, products, services and best
practices. The WIDE Online database currently has over 40,000
entries. It is run in partnership with CESAR in Recife, Brazil,
and can be reached via http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide or directly
at http://www.wide.org.br
TO JOIN WIDEFORUM-L, a discussion area, and forum for policy
dialogue for strengthening knowledge sharing and technical
cooperation among developing countries please visit
http://www.bellanet.org/wide Or send an email to:
[email protected]
with a single line in the body of the email saying:
subscribe WIDEFORUM-L "Your Name here"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OXFAM'S 'INFORMATION AS A GLOBAL PUBLIC GOOD' CAMPAIGN says:
Knowledge is now the critical component to production, and access
to it represents a key divide between rich and poor.
Increasingly, information and tools for manipulating and
communicating information are controlled ("owned") by individuals
or corporations rather than being public goods available to
everyone. The Oxfams should work to change policies of
governments, multilaterals and companies which are driving this
appropriation, in order to avoid the creation and exacerbation of
inequalities in access to information.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source/contact: Ronni Martin <[email protected]> acting advocacy
coordinator, Community Aid Abroad Oxfam Australia; or Danny Yee
<[email protected]> or George Grisancich <[email protected]>
OXFAM ON FREE AND PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE: NGOs and Southern
people's organizations are often forced to utilize illegally
copied proprietary software, leaving them vulnerable to
intimidation and manipulation through corporate and government
threats to 'enforce software licenses'. Such software also
creates long-term dependencies for support, maintainance and
upgrades. With free software, in contrast, users have the
freedom to make modifications to suit their own needs, to build
new tools using existing ones, and to share with others. The
free software movement has demonstrated, through the creation of
systems such as GNU/Linux and others, that there are alternatives
to proprietary software systems that force users into relations
of dependency.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Oxfam
THE VAGARIES OF INTERNET DEMOCRACY: According to the German
weekly _Der Spiegel_ [1], almost 17.000 individuals have
registered for the election of the ICANN Board. About half are
Americans (6915), the other half are Europeans.
This reminds one a bit of municipal votes where the turnout is so
low that the results reflect more the ability of special interest
groups to mobilize their member on single issues, than the
opinion of the public.
[1] http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,77799,00.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source: http://danny.oz.au/free-software/advocacy/oicampaign.html
and Nettime-L mailing list
LINUX IN INDIA: Prakash Advani says he has been on a personal
crusade to bring Linux to the Indian masses. One of the problems
is that English is not native to most Indians. More than 90
percent of the population cannot read or write English. "I had
been thinking about it for long, when I met Venkatech Hariharan.
He has been involved with Indian languages for a long time as he
helped develop the www.bharatbhasha.org project where they
developed free Indian language fonts for Linux. I discovered that
he had similar goals. Since he understood the language issues and
I had an understanding of Linux, we started the Indian Linux
project. Our goal is to make Linux available in all Indian
languages. Since then, we have received thousands of responses
from people interested in helping us with this project. We don't
have anything ready as yet but we are working towards it with our
volunteers.
The Indian Linux project is at http://www.freeos.com/indianlinux
E-mail: [email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Prakash Advani [email protected].
KNOWNET WEAVER: A Tool Kit developed by SDNP India based on its
experience to catalyse Knowledge Networking KnowNet Weaver
enables you to create your own interactive website, give it a
domain name and host it on the World Wide Web (WWW) absolutely
free-of-cost using freeware or shareware available on the
internet. You do not have to look elsewhere for any other support
to become a part of the information superhighway and reap the
advantages of knowledge networking.
http://www.sdnp.undp.org/perl/news/articles.pl?id=894&do=gpage
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source SDNP NITs News, 27 April 2000 and [email protected]
CYBER-ACTIVISM: The Rise of Civil Accountability and Its
Consequences for Governance. By Allen Hammond and Jonathan Lash.
"Never in history have so many people been able to communicate,
exchange information, and interact with each other -- via e-mail
and cellular phones and Internet chat rooms -- so readily on a
global scale. . .Could this process temper the excesses of
economic globalization, creating a kind of civil accountability
that imposes novel checks and balances on the power of global
corporations, providing new ways of articulating and enforcing
social values -- in effect, give rise to new forms of
governance?"
http://www.cisp.org/imp/may_2000/05_00hammond.htm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source: iMP: The Magazine on Information Impacts
ITNTI, NEPAL: Operating in Nepal and the United States, ITNTI, a
multidisciplinary communications group, was founded in 1996 to
integrate business with technology for development. The GKP
representative is ITNTI's President, Shashank Kansal. For more
information, visit the website at http://www.itnti.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source: GKP (Global Knowledge Partnership) Partners & S-Asia-IT
THE PROPOOR INFOTECH CENTRE, India. Founded in 1998, this not-
for-profit centre's mission is to promote the use of the Internet
and information technology in development in South Asia. Its
website, www.ProPoor.org is a portal of information on South
Asian non-governmental organizations. ProPoor's president is
Jayesh Parekh.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source: GKP (Global Knowledge Partnership) Partners & S-Asia-IT
EDURITE.COM IS A new portal for the exam-taking student
population. Its founders are targeting students in standards 10
and 12 as well as in engineering colleges. "We hope to cover 140
subjects developed by hand-picked faculty; educational material
will be validated by experts. Portal content, including video
lectures, will also be available on affordable CDs," said D.
Jawahar, managing director of Edurite Technologies and professor
at the People's Empowerment School. The language of instruction
will be in English; Indian languages may follow later.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Dr Madanmohan Rao [email protected]
FROM NEPAL WRITES, MAHESH KUMAR MALLA who is Project
Coordinator/Research Assistant in Information Communication and
Outreach Division of the International Centre For Integrated
Mounatin Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu. He is involved in a
team that is preparing for E-conference on the Asia Pacific
Mountain Network and also trying to identify relevent information
on ICTs with a special focus on mountain development and help
develop a focussed section on the ICIMOD Homepage.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Please contact Mahesh Kumar Malla at [email protected]
BYTES FOR ALL's fifty issue is now online at
http://www.bytesforall.org This is a special edition on
'education'. Also gaining mention are * BytesForAll becomes a
Greenstar Premium Partner * Genevalink.org names
BytesForAll as the project of the week.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Partha Sarkar [email protected]
ERICA: THE ERICSSON INTERNET Community Awards is offering five
prizes of $100,000 USD in web development services to any
registered non-profit organization anywhere in the world with an
innovative idea for a web-based application.
The ERICA program is designed to help non-profits use the
Internet to realize their missions and share visionary ideas for
community building in today's technology-driven world. Full
details at http://www.ericsson.com/erica.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Helen Simpson, Social Marketing [email protected]
LINKS TO BANGLADESH government organisations...
http://www.BangladeshGov.org/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Partha Sarkar [email protected]
PORTAL SITE, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)and the International Development
Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in collaboration with Ministry
of Environment and Forests (India) has launched the portal site
of Sustainable Development Networking Programme, India (SDNP-
India) at http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in mirrored at
http://members.tripod.com/sdnp_india.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Vikas Nath, SDNP-India [email protected]
INDEV E-MAIL DIGESTS and old issues of the same... The complete
issue of e-mail digest can be found at http://www.indev.nic.in
or http://www.indev.org. The Web version includes hot links to
the complete text of cited articles, a fully searchable archive
and easy access to recent issues.
Please access recent issues at
http://www.indev.nic.in/news/archives.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source INDEV, New Delhi
THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES GROUP'S latest publication,
"Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing
Countries" is a practical tool that will help to spur dialogue
and cooperative action in addressing Digital Divide issues in the
developing world. It is online at http://www.readinessguide.org
To make the Guide more accessible in the developing world, its
publishers are intent on localizing both the printed version and
the website into many more languages in the near future. Please
contact them if you are interested in participating in or
supporting this important process. Questions or feedback to
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Tariq_Mohammed/FS/[email protected] ITG-Center for
International Development at Harvard University Cambridge, MA
Web: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/ciditg
BRITAIN MOVES TO NARROW DIGITAL DIVIDE: UK's Social Exclusion
Unit has published a consultation framework for a National
Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. Proposals include improving
IT in deprived neighbourhoods by ensuring at least one publicly-
accessible, community-based facility in each deprived
neighbourhood by 2002; and encouraging people to use them by
employing local champions and offering user-friendly courses.
See: http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/seu/index/national_strategy.htm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Colin J. Williams [email protected] & [email protected]
COMMENTS MUHAMMAD MUKHTAR ALAM of Terre des Hommes(G) in New Delhi:
"BFor us, Internet connection has miraculously enhanced the speed of
message transmission.... ICTs offer faster communication of
actions and experiences along with the sharing of the skills. For
our work with the people in slums and villages it does not appear
to have much meaning as yet, because there is an urgent need for
better housing, food security and health. But those things may
change for the better if all people are given access to ICT.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Muhammad Mukhtar Alam <[email protected]>
Recent discussion on a mailing-list
OXFAM RECENTLY PUT OUT its international campaign proposal
recently. It said: "You will note that this document is written
in plain ascii,rather than being a Word document as requested.
If there is to be genuine grass-roots participation in Oxfam
International campaigns, all the communications and information
required for such participation must be available to everyone --
not dependent on access to word-processing software which costs
more than the annual income of a quarter of the planet's
population."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Oxfam
MADHYA PRADESH, a province in central India, has so far launched
two projects using IT. The first is a network in the tribal
district of Dhar which could serve as a forerunner to e-
governance. Through a network of computers that connects
villages, people can access vital information regarding land
records, file complaints with officials and also get routine
information. The other project is a website,
http://www.fundaschool.org, to mobilise resources for schools
under the Education Guarantee Scheme in far-flung areas. One can
adopt a school by contributing as little as Rs 16,000, or $400.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source: http://www.economictimes.com/today/27tech02.htm
MORE INFOKIOSKS PLANNED IN INDIA: Encouraged by the success of
its information kiosk project in Gujarat, Bangalore-based Shonkh
Technologies is now thinking of setting up these infokiosks in
the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (all
locations in India). Ravi Krishnamurthy, director of business
development at Shonkh Technologies, said the Gujarat infokiosk
project provides information on schemes, policies and regulation
of the state government. The kiosks will be linked to the
districts and the central secretariat, facilitating a one-point
interaction between the citizens and the government.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Hari Menon, India Correspondent, asia.internet.com
http://asia.internet.com/2000/4/2708-india.html
ATTEMPTS ARE UNDERWAY to prepare a telemedicine project in rural
areas of Nepal for dial-up system. Organisers would appreciate if
somebody could tell of their experience in developing a system
at low cost as a dial-up system.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contact Mohan Raj Pradhan HealthNet Nepal [email protected]
ips NEWS-SERVICE WARNS US FROM RIO DE JANEIRO: There is much
talk about the Internet's great potential for democratising
society. But so far traffic over the information superhighway has
been monopolised by the United States. More than 90 percent of
the world's information flows pass through the United States,
whose hegemony over Internet is so strong that it even exceeds
its influence over the global film-making industry, for example
-- a matter of concern to the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU). The language issue is also crucial, given that 85
percent of the information posted on the Internet is in English.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Debra Guzman <[email protected]>
THE MAY/JUNE 2000 ISSUE OF TechKnowLogia (theme: Technology and
Basic Education for All) has been posted on the
http://www.techKnowLogia.org.
Contents include * Technology for Basic Education: A Luxury or a
Necessity? * A Vision for Basic Education in the New Century
Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF * Basic Education for
All: Global Report Card * Literacy, Technological Literacy and
the Digital Divide Daniel A. Wagner, Director and Professor,
International Literacy Institute, University of Pennsylvania &
UNESCO * Multi-grade Schools and Technology, by Laurence Wolff
and Norma Garcia, Inter-American Development Bank * TechKnowNews
etc, etc, etc
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source Wadi D. Haddad <[email protected]>
WARM WELCOME TO THE NEW MEMBERS of the BytesForAll volunteers
team: Archana Nagvenkar <[email protected]> and Shiv Kumar
<[email protected]> We look forward to support and
participation of all those sharing the goals of this important
task. Let us know how you can volunteer!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contact the Editors
[email protected] [email protected]
BYTESFORALL CELEBRATES ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY IN JULY 2000!
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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