telecentre.org community updates

[blog post] Issues and Challenges in Digital Inclusion: The Rajasthan Experience Call for Articles, Comments and Insights

Shipra Sharma — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Members,
DigitalLEARNING (a Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies initiative), in association with UN Solution Exchange ICT, Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), is pleased to announce the launch of e-Rajasthan 2009. We propose to have a series of conferences in diverse regions of India with the objective of focusing and deliberating on regional concerns and challenges in integration of technology and fostering digital inclusion in different fields. The conferences will become a place for those with an interest in digital inclusion to meet, mingle and deliberate over the latest in policy developments, technological advances and ground level practices.

eRajasthan 2009 event shall aim at active knowledge sharing, showcasing of existing e-Education, eHealth, eAgriculture, Telecentre, eGovernance and Municipal IT initiatives in the state, the way forward and to provide a platform to exchange ideas and capacity building.
The first event of will focus exclusively on the State of Rajasthan. The event is conceived in light of the following themes while exploring the opportunities for a digitally inclusive society:
• e-Readiness & roll out
• Resource mobilisation: hardware/software/funds/application development
• Capacity building
• Sustainability models & best practices
• Community participation & linkages to policy and regulatory environment
• Public Private Partnerships

Keeping local concerns of digital inclusion as the key focus, we invite inputs, insights and feedback on fundamental issues including:
1. Digital Inclusion projects in developing countries have aimed at not only to deliver ICT access to particular targeted groups, but also to provide various types of support for learning and capacity building. How have such projects contributed towards the broader goal of social inclusion in Rajasthan?
2. How can Digital Inclusion contribute towards fostering participatory democracy and better targeting and monitoring of social spending schemes?
3. The primary challenges of digital inclusion projects have been in the processes of institutionalisation, which are crucial to the long-term value, sustainability and scalability of such projects. How can such issues be addressed for these projects?

We invite policy makers, field practitioners, research scholars and professionals to contribute their research studies and papers relevant to the focus areas. With region specific concerns in mind, we encourage members to highlight studies or issues concerning the Digital Inclusion scenario in Rajasthan.

Feedback from members will add value to the workshop and will be used by the session chair persons to seed the discussions during the conference. Members who provide substantial inputs on the above will be invited to participate in the conference, which commences on 15 December 2009 at B M Birla Auditorium, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The organisers plan to also confer eRajasthan Awards 2009 to distinguished professionals and institutions working in the domains of Digital Inclusion. For details log on to: www.eindia.net.in/regional_summit/erajasthan/award.asp

Research papers, articles should be sent to sheena@digitallearning.in/ yukti@digitallearning.in by 12 December 2009.

Klara Nemeskeri commented on Klara Nemeskeri's group 'Central Europe in Telecentre.org'

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:55:48 -0800

Klara Nemeskeri commented on Klara Nemeskeri's group 'Central Europe in Telecentre.org'

Well, if I see our practice, we don't need own library or database by topics (agricultural, health care, education...), but yes, we need link collections and articles and comments by topics. Each telecentre can create, generate and tailor an own o...

Klara Nemeskeri joined Jannat's group

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:37:47 -0800

Klara Nemeskeri joined Jannat's group

TELECENTRE FOR EDUCATION

Telecentres are providing immense services to the promotion of education.Students of all disciplines and societies use the various services of telecentres for their assignments and communications.We may highlight educational activities in this group.

Morenike Ladikpo joined telecentre.org's group

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:41:14 -0800

Morenike Ladikpo joined telecentre.org's group

Online Consultation 2009

Here we will hold our online consultation from the 12th till 30th November, 2009. Please do participate and help shape the future of telecentre.org. Follow the discussion via email, by clicking the 'follow' link on the right hand side panel.

Reynald M. Cacho left a comment for Shoaib Hamid Khawaja

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:21:20 -0800

Reynald M. Cacho left a comment for Shoaib Hamid Khawaja

Community Facilitator left a comment for pradip khadka

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:15:11 -0800

Community Facilitator left a comment for pradip khadka

pradip khadka and April Anne Mendizabel joined telecentre.org

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:12:24 -0800

pradip khadka and April Anne Mendizabel joined telecentre.org

[blog post] A video summary of Telecentre-Europe Summit

Laia Fauró Gual — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:30:00 -0800

A video - summary of what happened in Istambul is already available in Telecentre-Europe ning. Please, watch it, it is a really nice compillation about what we lived, and takes less than 4 minutes.

Find more videos like this on telecentre-europe
There are more pictures and documents also ready to download in the group we created for the event.

[discussion] A Portable Telecenter: Suggestions Please!

Runil Wazlib — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:45:54 -0800

Hello Everyone!

I recently joined the community, and started working on telecenters from six months back. I worked with the OLPC Project for sometime, and then helped indirectly with a similar project involving the CMPC. I realized then that combining the two ideas would be a fantastic concept, and have been working on the idea since. I am not sure if someone else is working on it too, but it'd be fantastic if you let me know. The project I am going to talk about is just a proposal, it'd be great if you could give suggestions and point out possible areas where it might not work.
Please look at this with a very critical eye. Suggestions Please!

Portable Netbooks In Rural Communication

The Concept

We know about Telecenters. We know about the oh-so-cheap netbooks that are the so popular nowadays. My idea: lets make a portable telecenter, so that if it does not work out, it can be taken to any other place by one or two persons. Also, telecenters tend to be power-hungry, and it'd be difficult to imagine a telcenter running solely on solar power. With, say, four notebooks, a router, and some solar panels, and some optional components, the entire telecenter can run on solar power AND be highly portable.

The two highlights:
1) Highly Portable. If it doesn't work out well in a village, its only a matter of packing up and going to the next.
2) No problem of Power. Very Important for a country like mine, where even the capital sees 18 hours of power cuts during winter months, and 70 percent of the villages are un-electrified.
3) Apart from the solar panel thing, Dead Cheap. I'll come to this point later.

How It will work

Another important point: the telecenter will be commercial. This is important because from government telecenters in our country, we have seen that these things tend to fizzle out. After the first few months, several expensive detachable components(eg RAM, etc) are seen missing. An important point to remember, however: all the money made will go to making new telecenters.

So, what happens? This is the ideal case. A villager/village institution who can afford to make an initial investment of around US$ 2000-2500 is chosen, given basic training, and given the equipment. While using internet in the villages is awesome, he will mainly market himself(allow me to use a male for the example) as a way to contact relatives outside the country in VERY cheap rates, using VOIP. Further, he will encourage the villagers to ask there relatives abroad to use skype, and show the advantages of video chat. The cost will be minimum, consumer satisfaction high, and the consumers will be spending a lot less per call, on both the sides. As a result, spending on communication will go down and the operator can direct the money saved on other services such as photo printing(optional but highly profitable) internet browsing, etc. The telecenter will obviously charge money for this, but even after charging minimal amount, this should prove to be profitable.

So how is this MY project? As an experiment, five operators in five villages will be given a set of equipments each, and given training. They can use the equipment free of cost(or maybe just a little) for the initial three months, and if they feel it will be profitable, they must either buy it, or rent it. The money will go directly to a fund that will buy more such sets. For the money the operators pay, they will receive constant training, and maybe additional equipments, with some arrangement.

Now, this appears to be a purely business venture. To make it more of a social venture, the center will do several other things. For $1-2 monthly per person per month, the center will give computer classes to school-children, one hour every week. They will be taught to use the internet, and internet use for students will get 33% discount, or something similar to that affect. On days of the week business is not very good, the center could even make an arrangement with local schools for the computer use. The private schools will pay more than the public schools. Remember, we are in a village that is yet to see electricity, though has cell-phones, which are charged by some limited solar panels.

The center will promote journalism too. Almost every village has a reporter or the other. Journalists, will get limited hours of internet per week where they have to pay a lot less than the usual hours, maybe a fourth. However, in return, they must post their reports to a website of the telecenter networks too. If their agreement doesn't allow them to, they may publish a condensed version, but that rarely happens i rural villages. Thus we will have a site with news coming out from every village, most of which will never see newspaper publishing. Villagers in neighboring villages, and people who have gone abroad to work, are bound to find this useful. In addition, if a news item seems interesting, the network can buy it from the reporters, and market it. Remember, the money will go to making more telecenters, or for health issues, which I am coming to.

The telecenters will work with the networks and hospitals in Kathmandu to give some hours of telemedicine services. The service will have a entry feel, but negligible, just enough to deter those who will try to hog the time with the doctor just to make sure they are perfectly healthy. With a help of a local health assistant(who will have to be paid), the doctors in the big cities will check patients, and make recommendations. This will have multiple implications: the doctors will be interested because they can serve in the rural areas without actually going there, the villagers will get expert advise for a minimal fee. The portability of the center will be useful here: it can be taken to different villages, and to the patients, if need arises.

If everything works out as mentioned, the telecenters could work as a center for connecting the villages they represent to the world. They could employ local people, in exchange for internet hours, or for money, to keep track of the NGO and INGO works in the villages. This way such organizations to refer to that database, and avoid overlapping programs, and coordinate their activities in a better way.

The main source of income for the centers however will be VOIP calls. Lets say, for some reason, a village does not work out as expected. All one would have to do would be to pack up the netbooks, the router, and maybe the chargers, along with some extra materials and get going. It would easily be taken by one person, two at the most. The operator could rent a room in yet another village, which he believes might work out better, set up the equipments and get going, within less than a day. He would have to spend most of the time advertising, but villages being what they are, and the computers so rarely seen, that is not bound to be a very big problem. Even if the calls do not make good money, simply working with schools is bound to be a good source of return. I estimate that the investment will return in 2-3 yrs, and within 5 years, the operator will have quite alluring returns. An article in a newspaper, unfortunately for which I could not find link, stated that telecenter made US$ 20,000 in two years. While expecting that would be very optimistic, it does show the potential of what can be done.

In the worst-case scenario, where nothing will work and the idea appears to fail, the project will still not fail completely. Since there is little sunken costs, the entire setup could be donated to a local school, after some training, and that would still be a big contribution to the community. If the idea does work out, the sets could be updated every three years, and the replaced sets could be donated to the local schools. If the center is making good profits, the time could be made shorter...

End

That's the basic idea for the project. Please do make suggestions, and be critical. I plan to submit the project to any agency interested. Do you think I should modify the revenue-generation model? Because it might sound like a for-profit project, which it is NOT. I was just trying to make it sustainable. That way, the success of one telecenter will pave way for several others, and the failure will slow down the pace, according to the market forces.

[photo] AIJC LOGO

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:02:39 -0800

by Madeline B. Quiamco The Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication

[photo] IMG0975A

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:29:45 -0800

by yapa chandralatha

[photo] IMG0981A

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:29:44 -0800

by yapa chandralatha

[photo] White fly on Guava leaf

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:36:28 -0800

by Mahfuz Hossain Mirdah This incest in becoming major pest now a days. It can be controlled by spraying detergent powder.

[blog post] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP-AFRICA

Francis Mwathi — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0800

Growing Use of Cellphones for Family Planning
19th November 2009
The growth of cellphone use, particularly in the developing world, is providing health experts with a new channel of communication to provide family planning information. "The number of mobile subscribers is increasing at a dramatic rate with the number of global cellphone subscribers in 2006 being estimated at 2.5 billion of an estimated global population of 6.6 billion," says David Cantor, a senior technical manager of ICF Macro - a U.S.-based research firm.

"These figures are expected to grow to 3.3 billion or approximately half of the world’s population by 2010, with the greatest growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa." Cantor, who was attending the International Conference on Family Planning held in Kampala, Uganda Nov. 15-18, says there is growing interest in the health sector in capitalising on this rapid uptake of mobile communication. One World’s Mobile4Good in Kenya uses cellphone technology to inform subscribers about opportunities for free exams or treatment, and also provides a question-and-answer service that allows individuals to ask sensitive health questions. In South Africa and Botswana, cellular technology is being used to remind people needing to take medicines at regular intervals.
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=49343

Seacom wins award for bandwidth connectivity
20th November 2009
Undersea fibre-optic cable operator Seacom has been named the best Pan African initiative at the AfricaCom Awards in Cape Town. The award recognizes initiatives to improve telecommunications at a regional or continental level. Other than Seacom, there are other three cables expected to connect the region to the rest of the world, including, Teams, Eassy and Lion. “Seacom is honored to have been recognized for its effort in bringing much needed bandwidth connectivity to east and southern Africa. With more and more countries getting connected to the rest of the world through the Seacom system, it is only a matter of time before we see the direct socio-economic benefits that cheap and readily available bandwidth will have on the region,” said Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy.
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/691826/-/u4qysaz/-/index.html

Youth multimedia conference to be held in Nigeria
18th November 2009
The Federal Capital Territory Administration will host the 1st African Children and Youth Multimedia Conference as part of efforts to improve the participation of children in multimedia activities in Nigeria.
The event which is being organized by the Glorious Diamond productions in collaboration with Children and Young Persons Development Centre and African Children Broadcasting Network, is billed to hold in Abuja from the November 16, 2009. Briefing journalists at the pre -conference summit, the Programmes Coordinator, Nkem Orakwue, stated that the conference would among other things advocate for the enactment of the Child Rights Act in other African countries.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9728:fct-to-host-youth-multimedia-conference&catid=19:city-news&Itemid=26

Africa urged to take advantage of technology for development
11th November 2009
For sub-Saharan Africa, building a knowledge economy “is no longer an option, it is a necessity”, World Bank Institute economic adviser Shahid Yusuf said last week at a University of the Witwatersrand symposium on research and training for sustainable development in Africa. The region could no longer rely on its resources alone to promote economic growth. It had to find ways of taking advantage of the opportunities inherent in technological change because economic growth was increasingly dependent on technology and knowledge, he said. Skills development deserved priority because better skills improved economic management and innovation, Yusuf said.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=87098

Why privacy on internet must be addressed
15th November 2009
East Africans welcomed the undersea fiber optic cables with much excitement and great expectations. When it comes to on line business transactions, concerns about cyber security, legal and ethical issues start to come up. The question of privacy must be addressed. Constitutions, legislations and past court decisions have however indicated that the right to privacy is not absolute and that privacy must be balanced against the need of society.
To gauge the seriousness of the question of privacy, consider how personal computers, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, databases and the Internet have made it possible for others to access your personal data. Other web sites collect information in more subtle ways like recording your computer address, the web pages you visit. Web sites do this by placing one or more "cookies" on the hard drive of the computer you are using.
http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2672&Itemid=30

[photo] practicas con el ratón y teclado juegos didácticos

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:07:02 -0800

by Petrona

[photo] practicas con el ratón y teclado juegos didácticos

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:01:13 -0800

by Petrona

[blog post] Weekly News Round Up: Asia (12- 18 November, 2009)

Shipra Sharma — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:40:57 -0800

Develop innovation culture: Premji
12 November 2009
Wipro chairman Azim Premji said a culture of innovation was what could sustain companies in these competitive times. “Products can be quickly copied. So it’s important to continuously innovate in products, services, customer service . Industry must drive high value solutions through R&D ,” he said. He urged the government to use IT in their endeavours . IT, he said, would significantly improve the government’s productivity, and help to increase the reach and efficiency of government agencies in delivering citizen services... http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/software/Develop-innovation-culture-Premji/articleshow/5222623.cms

Convergence 2009 focuses on improving lives of Filipinos thru ICT
13 November 2009
"An ICT-enabled society where citizens live in an environment that promotes access to technologies providing quality education, sustainable employment, efficient government service and, ultimately, a better way of life for Filipinos." This vision of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) has paved the way for holding "Convergence 2009: Empowering the Filipino Through ICT" in Cagayan de Oro City (CDO), from Nov. 12-13, 2009, Commissioner Angelo Timoteo M. Diaz De Rivera said... http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p091113.htm&no=61

Domestic market for ICT products may grow four times by 2014
14 November 2009
The country's domestic market for ICT and ICT-related products and services is likely to grow by a robust 400 per cent by the year 2014, industry insiders said Saturday. However, the growth would largely depend on growing access to ICT services at the rural level and increased use of information technology in high school education, IT leaders said at a press conference in the city... http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=84431

Nandan Nilekani to help Bihar improve e-governance
15 November 2009
Bihar has sought the help of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, the chief of India's Unique Identification Database Authority, to improve the state's e-governance system. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar disclosed at a function here Friday evening that Nilekani will visit Patna Nov 17 and hold talks with senior government officials to strengthen e-governance in the state. All 37 district headquarters and 470 block headquarters in Bihar can be accessed online through the Bihar State Wide Area Network. "We have made progress in e-governance in the last few years - from Remington typewriters to online access," the chief minister said... http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a93055.html

Govt mulls $37 computers for students
16 November 2009
If the human resource development (HRD) ministry has its way, students at the UGC-recognised colleges and universities across the country may soon get low-cost computers to aid learning in anytime-anywhere' mode. The move forms part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) that envisages, among other things, computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18,000 colleges and each department of the 419 universities through the department of telecommunication. The idea is to leverage the potential of ICT in providing personalised and interactive knowledge modules over the internet to learners in higher education... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Govt-mulls-37-computers-for-students/articleshow/5233583.cms

Indian project to track foreigners begins with Bangladesh
17 November 2009
India's long-term project to track the movement of foreign nationals applying for its visas will kick off with Bangladeshi citizens. As part of the e-governance plan, the government had drawn up a mission mode project for immigration, visa and foreigners registration and tracking called IVFRT. It is driven by the home ministry. The Bangalore-based National Institute of Smart Governance (NISG) had submitted two voluminous reports on the project, which listed out the concerns and challenges of the different stakeholders... http://www.samaylive.com/news/indian-project-to-track-foreigners-begins-with-bangladesh/667897.html

Vietnam supports ICT cooperation with Ireland
17 November 2009
Vietnam is ready to provide assistance to its businesses in establishing cooperation with their Irish counterparts in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on November 16. Speaking at the Vietnam-Ireland Business Forum held in Hanoi, Deputy PM Hai also expressed his support for the establishment of the Vietnam-Ireland Business Council which will serve as a regular channel to exchange and review cooperation, investment and trade between the two countries... http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Vietnam-supports-ICT-cooperation-with-Ireland/200911/109906.vov

[blog post] Weekly News Round Up: Asia (12- 18 November, 2009)

Shipra Sharma — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:40:57 -0800

[blog post] Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, UNIMAS, East Malaysia. An Introduction

Tariq Zaman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:01:01 -0800

Introduction.
The Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics was established in January 2007 and is anchored at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). 1n 1999 UNIMAS launched eBario project in remote community of Bario, Sarawak. By applying a people-centered/participatory approach, the project aims to deploy the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), empower and train the Bario community to apply ICTs in improving their livelihood. So after the successful experiment of eBario UNIMAS developed the expertise in Rural Informatics, ICTD and ICT4D. The CoERI is established to replicate and enhance the scope of the eBario project. Among the key activities, CoERI sets out to generate and disseminate knowledge that transforms and empowers communities to harness technologies and become a knowledge-based society. The research scope for CoERI covers: • Enabling technologies (includes telecommunication and alternative/renewable energy)
• Information systems
• Cohesiveness of communities and stakeholders
• Individual and community transformation and empowerment
• Knowledge-based value creation
Structure of CoERI.
CoERI has four (4) functional structures, or research clusters:
• Technology Infrastructure.
• Cultural and Social.
• Development and Services.
• Information and Research Management.
Showcase projects of CoERI.
• Knowledge Readiness Index for Sarawak (KRIS).
• eBario 2.0.
• Pangaea.
• Impact Study on community centers and libraries (broadband) on the rural community.
• Development of an Online Directory System for Bridging the Digital Divide Initiatives in Malaysia.
DAGS rollout - replication of eBario
o eLamai
o eLarapan.
o eBuayan.
o eBa’klalan
o eBario upgrade

[blog post] Workshop on Information for people with print disabilities: Daisy for all

Mahmud Hasan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:50:17 -0800

Bangladesh Telecentre Network arranged a workshop which objective was to orient different stake holders with Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) on 18th November at BRAC Inn.

At inauguration speech by Mr. Mahmud Hasan, Chief Operating Officer of Bangladesh Telecentre Network; there are difference between the education and knowledge, now the time has come to raise the voice for the rights of the people and their excess to information. Bangladesh is a densely populated country but around 50% are illiterate and 10% of these populations are disables, these have very low excess of information. Ignoring this large number of people we can not expect that Bangladesh will become a Digital Bangladesh. Bangladesh Telecentre Network (BTN) is a national level network having 63 members around the country, can play a facilitation role in this process.

In the key note Mr Vashkar Vattacharjee, Program Officer of Young Power in Social Action- YPSA, Focal Person DAISY Consortium, Bangladesh Chapter addressed different issues of information Accessibility on Bangladeshi context. In his session he spoke to that ICT is a buzz ward of this current era, and it is one of the genuine ways to empower large number of person with disability. A large number of students, and print disable person now got the chance to know their rights and also participate at the well being of the nation. DAISY is an internationally recognized platform working for the access of the people with disability. It is a very much user friendly and accessible and cost efficient. There are different forms for example it could be in Brail, talking book, E-text, Large print in any format based on the need of the target people. Daisy can play very role to preserve indigenous people's knowledge and preserving their culture and customs. Any one can use this text using any ordinary devices like mp3 players or any kind of audible devices.

Then he demonstrated different software's and how a print disable or visually impaired person can get access to internet using software's.
At the end of the session some recommendations came out through discussion there are:
1. Arrange training and workshop with different stakeholders.
2. Develop more content base on peoples need.
3. Proper dissemination of user friendly contents.

4. Exchange program
5. Advocacy at different level with government.

This workshop was supported by telecentre.org.

[video] Growth vs Mature Markets for ICT

Seuwandi Yapa — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:51:08 -0800

The ICT industry has changed the way we live, work, and play. With the advent of wireless technologies, the emerging markets have witnessed a tremendous amou...

[discussion] Online High School Paper Publication for Consultation

Reynald M. Cacho — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:56:29 -0800

I'm working on a blog about online journalism. It is under construction at this site ischoolsreynald2.wordpress.com

It opts to be an online catch-basin for teachers, students, journalism practitioners, and blogging enthusiasts. Its materials and content serve as source and reference materials in starting and sustaining participative journalism thereby creating a community of online high school papers.

With wordpress as its platform, this site aims to the model for innovative and interactive approaches to online campus journalism, thus empowering high school students, teachers, parents and other school stakeholders to impact their school and community.

We are working on a model, Lightline, to become standard public schools in the Philippines.

I hope to hear some comments or feedbacks on this endeavour.

Reynald

[photo] EN EL TELECENTRO NO SE DESCRIMINA A NADIE LLEVE O NO ZAPATOS

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:27:08 -0800

by Petrona

[photo] MIS AMADOS NIÑOS CON LOGO DE COMPARTEL

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:22:31 -0800

by Petrona

[photo] In the Class Room

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:17:11 -0800

by Nishantha Sanjeeya Kumara

[photo] In the Class Room

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:13:04 -0800

by Nishantha Sanjeeya Kumara

[blog post] About Our Telecenter & Govisanvidanaya

Nishantha Sanjeeya Kumara — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:54:26 -0800

Click this link www.Ekamuthugovisanvidanaya.ning.com

[blog post] World Bank to Invest $215 Million to Boost Internet in Africa

Sandra Nassali — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:35:31 -0800

The World Bank says it will spend $215 million to help central African countries provide better quality and more affordable high-speed Internet service.

The bank noted that the funds will be used to build a broadband Internet infrastructure in 11 African countries.

It is argued that this is to further boost connectivity in central African countries as they currently offer the worst quality and most expensive internet services in the continent.

The initial phase of the 10-year program, called the Central African Backbone Program, will cost about $26 million and involve Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Eight other countries are also eligible to take part, including the two Congos, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Sudan.

[blog post] Weekly News Round Up: Asia (05- 11 November, 2009)

Shipra Sharma — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:40:47 -0800

LG India forays into education vertical
5 November 2009
LG Electronics India Private Limited, a market leader in consumer durables and home appliances, on Wednesday, announced its foray into education vertical by offering its innovative technology product line of IT business solutions, besides enhancing the learning process for the schools and colleges in the country... http://tinyurl.com/ycylvtl

Fifteenth Azerbaijan International ICT Conference held in Baku
6 November 2009
A conference has been held here today as part of BakuTel, the 15th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition. The event focused on communications market, communication system for mobile and stationary devices, application of modern technology solutions and other issues... http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2631433/

Financial innovation, ICT can turn around higher education sector: FICCI (India)
7 November 2009
Financial innovation, innovative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), reinvigorating research, thrust on vocational education and training (VET) and a regulatory framework comprise the five critical areas that can prove to be ‘game changers’ for the higher education sector, suggests a new report on higher education by FICCI and Ernst & Young... http://tinyurl.com/yk9pajw

MCD may adopt e-governance model
8 November 2009
The Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has given the go-ahead to the project for implementation of the information and communication technology-based e-governance solution in the civic body. Under the ambitious project, the civic body would soon be able to provide effective single-window services to the Capital’s citizens and integrate the information system across all its departments and offices... http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article45274.ece

Ministries must take pro-active action to maximise use of ICT (Malaysia)
9 November 2009
The ministries must take pro-active action to maximise the use of information communication technology (ICT) in the delivery of public services because it can improve the quality of life of the people and the image of the government, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said on Monday. However, the e-Government initiative should move one step further and go beyond automation of government transactions, the prime minister said... http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=453578

Kerala set to emerge pioneer in e-governance
10 November 2009
After its pioneering record in achieving cent per cent literacy, Kerala is set to emerge as a role model for the country in computer literacy and e-governance with a host of state-sponsored programmes underway in the state. While schemes like "Akshaya" have been able to impart basic knowledge of computers to a large number of people down the rungs of society, at the government level several projects to create inter-departmental as well as government-public linkage are under way... http://www.ptinews.com/news/369817_Kerala-set-to-emerge-pioneer-in-e-governance

What technology should we innovate for Malaysia?
11 November 2009
The MSC Malaysia International Advisory Panel is a group of individuals who advise the Malaysian Government on how to build a fertile environment for innovation to grow in the country's Information Communication Technologies (ICT) sector. The current members of this panel includes distinguished Malaysians such as the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation, the Chairman of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) which is the agency that oversees the growth programs, and the CEO of MDEC... http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/high-on-a-hill/post.htm?id=63014803&scid=hm_bl

[blog post] Weekly News Round Up: Asia (05- 11 November, 2009)

Shipra Sharma — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:40:47 -0800

[blog post] Technology and Real Estate

Cindy Fallsen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

I have been thinking about the connection between home sales and technology availability. While the Scottsdale Homes market has been down a bit in recent years, the business sector has been growing. With 4G data networks and IP PBX making its way into the area, businesses are being attracted to the region. Do any of you know of research that has connected real estate markets with tech availability? Any tips or advice welcome.

[blog post] International Mobile Money Transfer Services to Exceed $65bn by 2014

Francis Mwathi — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:11:02 -0800

With mobile penetration reaching 100 per cent in many developed markets, the mobile phone will soon be in virtually everyone's pocket. Payments and banking are currently major areas of growth in the mobile world and these are set to become even more specialized than they are at the moment.
According to a new report from Juniper Research the international mobile money transfer market will be worth in excess of US$65 billion by 2014, based on gross transaction values - driven principally from migrant workers based in developed countries.

The huge potential for mobile money transfer can be seen from the sheer volume of cross-border remittances typically sent through existing channels such as banks and money transfer agencies. Measured flows have grown exponentially over the last decade, with an estimated US$248billion sent primarily from industrialised countries to the world's emerging markets in 2007. Although remittance flows are currently experiencing short-term decline, existing services and pilot projects have shown operators a feasible route towards gaining a share of those large remittance flows expected by and new mobile remittance services are expected by 2011 at the latest. Operators and banks in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa are in the process of deploying services primed to encourage and exploit potential growth.

Major operators with international and inter-regional footprints such as Vodafone and Orascom Telecom have announced their intention to deploy mobile remittance, which they hope will act as a catalyst for the wider adoption of mWallet-enabled transaction services. Mobile remittance offers a speedy, cost effective and convenient channel for people to send money regularly to friends and family at home, who themselves may not have bank accounts.

The mobile money transfer report also revealed a new emerging sector for microcredits, saving accounts and insurance payments. Known as "sophisticated financial services" these services are entirely focused on developing countries where users do not have access to traditional banking or financial services or simply use alternative means of payment traditionally such as physically transporting cash, or storing cash savings at home. The report found that is new market for financial services on the mobile, can add to the attractiveness of mobile money services, and help to reduce mobile operator churn.

MobileMoneyTransfer2009-2014.pdf
http://juniperresearch.com/shop/viewreport.php?id=194

[video] eAsia 2009 Promo

Seuwandi Yapa — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:05:30 -0800

eAsia 2009 Promo

[blog post] The Vision behind the Dream!

Nabil Eid — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:52:03 -0800

It was three years ago that e-ISOTIS and AbilityNet decided that they should do something in order to make people aware of and celebrate how ICT, products and services were serving the lives of people with disabilities, and the elderly, and highlight how users could exploit these tools. Together, we wished to make people believe in the power of Accessible ICT and Assistive Technology by promoting best practice and success, to recognise the efforts made by the ICT and AT Industry, disability community and policy makers in making services and products that are affordable, usable and that address the needs of those with a disability or the elderly. This is where the ACCESS-IT award competition accompanied by related seminars, workshops and demonstrations was born. In 2009, ACCESS-IT, following the success of the ACCESS-IT Awards Competition in 2008, offered a two-day event on Accessibility and Assistive Technology on 22nd and 23 rd September 2009 at Microsoft (UK), Victoria, London. It featured a one-day seminar on Accessibility and Web 2.0 and a second day featuring the ACCESS-IT
2009 Award Ceremony along with two workshops on ICT and Ageing and ICT and Accessible Learning. This event built upon the success of 2008 and introduced in parallel to the ACCESS-IT awards ceremony, a series of seminars, workshops and networking activities with key players from across Europe working in the field of e- Accessibility and Assistive Technology. More than 200 attendees from all over Europe attended the events with a shared aim of promoting usable, affordable and needed developments and solutions that enhance the lives of people with disability and the elderly.
For the ACCESS-IT 2009 award competition, around 100 nominations have been submitted from 24 countries including countries outside Europe including the United States, Australia, Syrian Arab Republic, all submissions displayed significant progress, and 19 finalists were selected for the four ACCESS-IT awards. 44 additional nominations were found to represent good practice and were awarded the ACCESS-IT 2009 good practice label.
All of these good practices are included in this special electronic publication on ACCESS-IT 2009. Featuring a wealth of innovation, the publication offers an insight into progress of interest to a wide range of people with disabilities and elderly and their communities (careers, family, rehabilitation experts, SEN professionals, AT Experts, etc) from across Europe.

Kindly, download the best practice publication recognizing nominations as good practice through the website:
http://www.access-it-events.org/

[blog post] Essay Writing Structure!

Janet Wilkins — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:43:55 -0800

An essay can have a lot of intentions, but the basic structure of all type of essays will be same. You may be writing an argumentative essay to argue for a particular point of view or to may be doing a persuasive essay to explain the steps necessary to complete a task. Either way, your essay will have the same basic format and structure.
An essay consists of three major parts,

1.Introduction
2.Supporting Paragraphs
3.Summary Paragraph

In this article we will provide essay writing help that will teach you about basic structure of an essay. So, here it is…

Introduction
The introduction section of an essay consists of the main idea of the essay. It shows readers the theory and idea behind all this writing. It may explain why this topic is eligible to write over it. This paragraph also means to capture reader attention. If you can’t convince your reader in this paragraph that your work is worth reading, you will lose your reader in instance.

Start this paragraph of your essay papers by writing your thesis statement. The main idea of your whole essay will be your thesis statement. You must limit your entire essay writing to the topic you have introduced in your thesis statement. Giving some background info regarding the topic will develop your reader’s interest. You can use interesting facts, quotations, or definitions of important terms you will use later in the essay.

Supporting Paragraphs
Supporting paragraphs is the whole body of your essay.You have to present the entire concept in there. It may consist of 4 to 5 paragraphs and it needs all your concentration as it’s the theory behind your approach to the selected topic.

List the points that develop the main idea of your essay writing. Place each supporting point in its own paragraph. Develop each supporting point with facts, details, and examples. To connect your supporting paragraphs, you should use special transition words. Transition words link your paragraphs together and make your essay easier to read. Use them at the beginning and end of your paragraphs.

Summary Paragraphs
These are the last paragraphs of your essay writing project. It consists of the conclusion for the whole matter and your personnel opinion about it. This section may also contain call for action if needed. You can let your readers decide which concept is right and which one is wrong. You may put some action plan regarding the essay topic.

Use this paragraph to let your readers have something to think over. Don’t try to force your opinion but make them think over it by giving them some stats or proves.

[blog post] Internet Governance Forum Nov. 15-18, 2009 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Karim A. Kasim — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:56:18 -0800

As I walk into the IGF venue in the fine conference center of the city of Sharm El Sheikh, I started to hit some familiar faces of good people who made a difference worldwide and at home in the areas of ICT4D.
I was hesitant to come to Sharm EL Sheikh cause I was too tired and have been travelling for a while. Now, I can confirm that I am happy that I didnt follow my body that was asking for rest and followed the mind who was seeking some learning experiences and networking.

Some of the world leaders have been walking around us and speacking to us today. The father of the World Wide Web; Time Berners-Lee the was speaking about the history of the web and how it developed since he first start thinking and working on it. he also launched the World Wide Web Foundation while on stage from his own cell phone/device.

Also spoke:
Mr. Hamdoun toure, ITU Secretary General,
Mr. Tarek Kamel Egypt Minister of Communication and Information Technology,
Lynn ST. Amour Head of Internet Society,
Jerry Yang founder of yahoo

Among many others. There was an agreement about helping people come to the Information then the Knowledge Societies. Stress has been put also about not only how to bring 1 billion more people to the internet but also what they will be doing there?
Access, freedom of expression, openness among other values have been highlighted heavily. Not much controversial issues were discussed in the first sessions of the opening; the ceremony and the opening session, however I am looking for the days to come to discuss more deeper into the issues and learn more.

I can not includ everything about the openning ceremony or the opening session here in one blog therefore, I invite you to follow the streaming of the sessions online through both the website of IGF and the youtube channel.

http://igf09.eg/

[blog post] eASiA2009: ICT Conference & Exhibition - Promo Video

S Gavashkar — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:56:48 -0800

[blog post] Home TV Solution

Cindy Fallsen — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:30:00 -0800

We have been considering various options for our TV service. We have considered doing all our TV viewing through Satellite High Speed Internet using services like Hulu and maybe even the Apple TV. Sports is the biggest drawback. I am not sure of there are some sort of Super Bowl Packages that you could do with the Apple TV.
Cable or Satellite is an option, but I am not sure if I want to be tied to a contract. What have you guys been using and how is it working for you?

Update: We have decided to try out Apple TV for a bit. Do any of you guys have experience with this?

[blog post] ON 12th and 13th November ICBP IT/BPO Career Fair was held @ Public library badulla .

Muralikrishna — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:20:11 -0800

The IT/BPO Career fair organized by Private Sector Team at in Badulla 12th and 13th November @ Public library Badulla. we arrange Nenasala Information counter this event . As Nenasala Operators we arrange to provide information to participant, and we got a great opportunity to give good awareness to All Badulla District regional A/Level , O/Level Students,Teachers,parents , young youth’s, And all of who are interest about Careers in the IT/BPO industry. The Nenasala and ICTA showcase, Was the most interesting
Showcase in the event .it was a great success .more then three to four thousand participant get valid in this career fair .and all thanks will goes to ICTA for organizing as like this kind of events for out of Colombo to give best Guidance who are interest in IT industry .

[blog post] Samsung Networks linked to e-Asia 2009 as Technology Partner

S Gavashkar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:40:11 -0800

Samsung Networks Inc. enriched by technology and expertise accumulated through experience in various IT fields over a long period of time has been chosen by ICTA as the Technology Partner for e-Asia 2009.

Samsung Networks Inc. has ultra-speed global networks connected to 400 sites in 70 countries around the world.

Referring to Samsung Networks Inc.’s proven capability and efficiency in the digital sector in particular with the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), ICTA Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura said: “Samsung Networks Inc. is not new to the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). The technology component of the ICTA-initiated two–stage project called Lanka Government Network is provided by Samsung Networks Inc. Stage I of this project was completed in 2008 and stage II was launched in 2009”.

Emphasising the spread of the Samsung Networks Inc.’s prestige based on its recent partnership in the LGN project to other countries in the region Mr. Dewapura continued: “The word about the value of Samsung Networks Inc.’s technological contribution to ICTA-initiated LGN had reached other regions. This led to a team of Bangladeshi Government officials visiting ICTA recently together with representatives of Samsung Networks Inc. to study about the LGN project implemented with the technological support of Samsung Networks Inc. with a view to implementing a similar project of linking the Government institutions in Bangladesh”.

“As a company that has stood the test of time we have great pleasure in according to Samsung Networks Inc. the important role of being the Technology Partner of e-Asia 2009”, Mr. Dewapura attested.

A senior spokesman for Samsung Networks Inc. said that the company’s vision was to offer its partnership so that the partner country / institution realised affluence in daily life as well as customer’s activity based on digital technology. “Samsung Networks helps you enhance your competitiveness by implementing a custom-tailored communication environment and a variety of communication solutions based on such core competences. The world-best global communication partner to your succcessful business environment, Samsung Networks will become a reliable partner in creating your digital world”, the Samsung Networks Inc. spokesman said.

e-Asia 2009 culminating in the three-day conference cum exhibition from December 2 to 4 at BMICH Colombo, in which the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) will be the hosting partner, will provide the Sri Lankan ICT industry the opportunity for showcasing its potential. The premier ICT event is an open ICT for development (ICT4D) platform for Asian countries to disseminate and discuss the best practices, opportunities, challenges and for promoting growth in Asia.

About 45 countries particularly from Asia but including USA and Europe will be represented at top level. About 100 corporates, more than 1000 international delegates and 800 local visitors are expected to participate in the conference while about 30,000 are scheduled to visit the exhibition. True to its theme “Opportunities for digital Asia”, e-Asia 2009 will be a great opportunity for interacting particularly with the countries of the region. Indeed a great memorable experience of a life time is in store for the local and international participants at eAsia 2009 both at conference and exhibition.

[blog post] Ben Waumans the founder of GDCO passed away in Eindhoven - Netherlands

AHMED SUDAN — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:58:41 -0800

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Mr. Ben Waumans the great man of Eindhoven and the founder of GDCO was passed away last Wednesday 11th November (67 years)… I call him last week inquiring about his health but the phone was answered by his son … on behave of GDCO and its partners specially Gedaref university,,, and on behave of Gedaref state community and on behave of all the disabled I would like to show our deep condolences to his family and to his colleagues in the Digital City of Eindhoven also to the great people of Eindhoven .. Specially Dr. Agnes and Gedaref volunteers in Eindhoven … my condolences to Gedaref state community who benefit from the partnership between GDCO and DSE ,,, also to the disabled all over Sudan who learn how to communicate with their families through the internet our condolences to the Telecentre movement for missing a great hero who help Sudan to join this movement .
Ben Waumans was born in 1942 in Koewacht, Netherlands where he grew up. He attended university in Eindhoven. After university Ben joined Philips Electronics in various functions: researcher, development engineer, plant manager and board member at Philips research. After his retirement Ben worked as independent advisor for organizations as Eindhoven University and Medea. Besides his advisor activities Ben worked in various projects: chairman of Digital City Eindhoven, Chairman of Terre de Hommes Helmond, memberof the advisory board of the ANWB and chairman of the Belgian Dutch Federation. Ben passed away in 2009 at the age of 67.

[blog post] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP-AFRICA

Francis Mwathi — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:14:38 -0800

Cellphone operators need to get savvy to thrive in Africa
11th November 2009
African cellular network operators need to sharpen up their acts to make a profit in countries where already poor consumers are trying to cut back their spending even further. Operators must begin sharing infrastructure to cut costs, lobby governments for relief from arbitrary taxes, argue against politically imposed rate cuts and offer locally developed data content to keep consumers interested. That list of crucial steps was cited at the AfricaCom conference in Cape Town this week as the only way for operators to survive the economic gloom in highly competitive markets. Although analysts and operators still view Africa as having a huge growth potential, the main message of the conference is that the easy times are over.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=86984

Regional integration to lower infrastructure costs –World Bank
12th November 2009
African countries will have to continue pursuing regional integration if they are to cut costs across all aspects of infrastructure, the World Bank said in a latest report on Africa’s Infrastructure. The bank says that through regional collaboration African states can minimize costs of putting up ICT, power, ports and airport projects leading to economies of scale as a result of a reduction in the cost of service. The report dubbed “Africa’s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation” from a study conducted in 24 African economies including Rwanda, indicates that the high cost of infrastructure services in the region is partly attributable to disconnected national boundaries. “Most African countries are simply too small to develop infrastructure cost-effectively on their own. In ICTs, regional collaboration in continental fiber-optic submarine cables can reduce Internet and international call charges by half, relative to national reliance on satellite communications,” the report to be launched today in Johannesburg, South Africa reads in part.
http://newtimes.co.rw/print.php?issue=14077&print&article=22415

Nigerian Federal Government equips 474 schools with Internet facilities
10th November 2009
About 474 schools spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country, have so far benefitted from complete set of Internet tools and facilities provided by the Universal Service Provision Fund, USPF. USPF is a special fund set up by the Federal Government under the National Communications Act 2003, designed to provide telecommunications and ICT services to unserved, underserved and deprived groups and communities in the country. Minister of State for Information and Communications, Alhaji Aliyu Ikra Bilbis, who commissioned some of the projects in the North Western States of Kaduna and Katsina at the weekend, said Federal Government is committed to providing information communication technology facilities through the installation of network services in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/11/10/fg-equips-474-schools-with-internet-facilities-2/

Somali mobile phone firms thrive despite chaos
3rd November 2009
Somalia’s mobile phone business is booming despite the almost daily artillery fire that flies over expensive satellite dishes and the violence that has brought misery to the population of the Horn of Africa nation. The three largest firms, Hormuud Telecom, Nation Link and Telecom Somalia, have a combined 1.8 million mobile users who enjoy some of the world’s cheapest calling rates, allowing them to stay in touch with their loved ones amidst the conflict. “This business is very important during this time of conflict when everybody wants to know what is happening at every moment. It is a way of survival in every conflict zone,” Mr Ali Ahmed Nur, managing director of Nation Link, told Reuters.
http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE5A20DB20091103

War Torn Burundi Sees Future in IT Outsourcing
4th November 2009
One of the world's poorest countries is following offer African nations in looking to IT offshore services and crowd-sourcing. The effects of a twelve year civil war may still be very much in evidence in the African Republic of Burundi but aid-workers and educators believe the Internet could offer a brighter future for the country. Neighboring Rwanda has invested heavily in broadband and IT infrastructure in the years since the country was rocked by genocide in the mid-90s and Burundi appears to be following a similar strategy. UK charity World Emergency Relief issued a statement this week explaining its decision to fund a computer lab in a school in Burundi's capital city Bujumbura.
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/war-torn-burundi-sees-future-in-it-outsourcing-2338

[blog post] Cable vandalism may raise internet cost in East Africa

Francis Mwathi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:31:51 -0800

Fibre optic cable carriers are incurring millions of shillings lately as additional cost for security and monitoring off their lines as cases of vandalism are worryingly on a rise in East Africa.

Industry insiders say cable vandalism is fast emerging as avenues of unnecessary expenses and if this continues, operators may even be forced to to pass on the additional costs to the consumers. Companies now have to incur expenses in hiring guards to man the cables with some even being forced to introduce monitoring units which includes vehicles on paths where their cables lie.

Now the companies are preparing to move petitions to their respective governments to hand down stiffer penalties to suspected vandals.

Service providers are also pointing fingers at each other, saying vandalism on the fibre cable is a form of industrial sabotage, since the actual fibre cable does not have a resale value. Fibre optic cables allow for more services to be provided to end-users and can carry more voice and data information than copper wiring but are made from material that is almost valueless in black markets.

Uganda national fibre optic backbone route

[blog post] NVCEC partners with the CDA

Jimmy L. Calata — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0800

The Nueva Vizcaya Community eCenter (NVCEC) and the Provincial Office of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) are jointly undertaking the online registration of all cooperatives in the whole Province of Nueva Vizcaya pursuant to Art. 144 of R.A. No. 9520, otherwise known as “The Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008”, which was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on 17 February 2009, and implementing Memorandum Circular No. 2009-02, Series of 2009, dated 07 July 2009.

The ongoing new registration process that will end on 22 March 2010, is an operative act of the CDA confirming the juridical personality of all types and categories of CDA-registered and confirmed cooperatives existing prior to 22 March 2009 (except for canceled and dissolved cooperatives) through the issuance of new Certificate of Registration under its seal and in compliance with Art. 144 of R.A. No. 9520.

The joint project aims to help the more than 400 cooperatives that are operating in the province in complying with this new CDA requirement.

Under the partnership, the local office of the CDA provides each registering cooperative its unique Cooperative Identification Number (CIN) that serves as its user code in accessing the CDA Online Coop Registration System (http://125.5.52.42/cin_ra9520-reg/).

For its part, the NVCEC gives the cooperatives free access to its internet-enabled computers. The designated personnel of the cooperatives, especially those who cannot operate the computer, are provided technical assistance by the CeC staff in undertaking the online registration process that ends with the printing of computer-generated documents which they need to submit to the Provincial Officer of the CDA for the issuance of their new Certificate of Registration.

[blog post] "ICTA deserves Nations's Plaudits"

Seuwandi Yapa — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:40:25 -0800

Source: www.icta.lk

Much of the behind-the-scene work with regard to improvement in various services in the public and private sectors brought about through the use of ICT has been carried out by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). The country owes to the ICTA a bouquet of praise for this. This was stated by Minister of Science and Technology Professor Tissa Vitharana while participating as Chief Guest at the first e-Swabhimani 2009 award ceremony held in Colombo last Friday.

Speaking further on the occasion the Minister said that he was pleased to know about such a large number of e-Content products that had come forth from the creative ingenuity of a wide spectrum of people island-wide. While expressing his appreciation for the involvement in the project not only by those who had been given official recognition by way of prizes and certificates, and not only those who had come up to the level of being nominated but even those who thought about it, the Minister impressed on the need to forge ahead. “Other countries like India are far ahead of us and we should work hard to keep apace with the fast growing world of ICT”, the Minister urged.

One hundred and thirty-seven (137) nominations had been made from 18 districts under 8 categories and out of these 27 had been adjudged as winners by a review panel comprising national and international experts. World Bank Country Director Ms. Naoko Ishee participating at the event as the Guest of honour said that ICTA was a catalyst in the programme of ICT for Development. The 600 nenasalas spread island-wide, the ‘1919’ project that currently permits information on 77 Government organisations, the facility brought about to the people under the e-pension project and in Departments like the Department of Motor Traffic by the use of ICT came in for commendation by the World Bank Country Director. Ms. Ishee thanked not only the winners but all those who participated in the e-Swabhimani 2009.

Referring to the special nature of e-Content for societal use ICTA Chairman Professor P. W. Epasinghe who welcomed the participants said: “Recognising the efforts of local developers in this domain, we will incentivise content creation and open up an opportunity for unearthing hidden local talent”. Commending the organisers of e-Swabhimani 2009 for their timely intervention the ICTA Chairman said: “I am confident that this e-Content award ceremony will be an enlightening and memorable experience for everybody”.

Speaking on the occasion ICTA Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura said “e-Swabhimani 2009 serves to unearthing the hidden talent in developing content and application which will benefit society.” Referring to the special significance of the e-Content award programme launched for the first time Mr. Dewapura said: “For the first time in Sri Lanka we are recognising the creativity and skills of developers of digital content. The e-Swabhimani Award may be termed the coronation of digital content creators in Sri Lanka”.

The ICTA had launched this national contest in line with the internationally acclaimed World Summit Awards. This local counterpart, so to say, of World Summit Award 2009 called ‘e-Swabhimani 2009’ contest was conducted under the same eight thematic areas as those under which applications had been called for the WSA. The reason for sticking to the same thematic areas in the local counterpart contest is that ‘e-Swabhimani 2009’ could be s stepping stone to national nomination for the next World Summit Awards.

Recognising the key role played by the ICTA in e-content development, the WSA has appointed the Agency as its National Expert for Sri Lanka. The objective of the ‘e-Swabhimani ‘ award is to promote creative ICT applications and to assess and appreciate at a national level the individual and institutional creators of such applications.

The entries and those who submitted indicated a wide range. The entry by the youngest winner was explained by the young creator thus: “It enables a disabled person to use the computer by using only four knobs with any part of his body, (head, tongue, hand, leg…)”

The jury process was conducted on the lines of the World Summit Awards and was moderated by Founder Director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation, India, Osama Manzar who is also a Director of the World Summit Awards.

Read More

[blog post] Philippine telecentre academy approves accreditation and certification policies

Cuchie Echeverria — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:00 -0800

The telecentre.org-Philippine Community eCenter Academy (tPCA), together with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), has finalized and approved the policies and procedures for the accreditation of [telecentre] courses and certification of individual proficiency for [telecentre] knowledge workers. It is now awaiting implementation.

Under the tPCA Accreditation Standards and Certification Protocol, the tPCA, as the academic-arm of the Philippine CeC Network (PhilCeCNet), is tasked to accredit courses offered by certified members of the Academy for the purpose of aligning said courses with the tPCA curriculum and the National Competency Standards for [Telecentre] Knowledge Workers.

Accreditation, as defined by the 2008 tPCA Charter, is the assignment of credit to courses offered by accredited members of the Academy. This will serve not only to address the needs of [telecentre] knowledge workers but also to recognize [telecentre] management as a new profession.

Aside from accreditation, the Academy will also conduct proficiency examinations for individuals who wish to be certified as [telecentre] managers. The examination is open to all applicants who may or may not have undergone accredited courses.

The Accreditation Standards and Certification Policy and Procedures document is available in the Academy folder of the PhilCeCNet.ph Downloads section.

(originally posted in http://www.philcecnet.ph by Jasmine Alexandra)

[blog post] World Virtual School Telecentre Contract ready for review...

Diana Jean Muir — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:36:05 -0800

Hi everyone!

Someone asked for a contract for the telecentres in order to use PLC courses for students. In the contract Telecentres have free use of the courses for the intended purpose and can also earn $1 USD in credit for technology, equipment, or computer access for every course they sign students up for.

If you need a copy of the contract, please let me know at admin@plc.edu Thanks! Diana Muir

[blog post] Intel to play the role of Knowledge Partner for e-Asia 2009

S Gavashkar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0800

Intel, the world renowned company which supplies microprocessors including Pentium, now a household name, has been chosen by ICTA as the ‘Knowledge Partner’ for e-Asia 2009.
In a mutually rare opportunity Vice President of Intel Corporation, Navin Shenoy, will address the e-Asia 2009 conference in which about 1500 local and international delegates including global visionaries, innovators, practitioners, policy makers and representatives from donor agencies will participate.

e-Asia 2009 culminating in the three-day conference cum exhibition from December 2 to 4 at BMICH Colombo, in which the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) will be the hosting partner, will provide the Sri Lankan ICT industry the opportunity for showcasing its potential. The premier ICT event is an open ICT for development (ICT4D) platform for Asian countries to disseminate and discuss the best practices, opportunities, challenges and for promoting growth in Asia.

Intel Country Manager - Sri Lanka Indika De Zoysa said that Intel Sri Lanka would continue to carry out its mission of meeting and exceeding the expectations of the Sri Lankan clientele and stakeholders including customers, employees, shareholders and the Government of Sri Lanka.

“We hope to launch our world famous ‘Class-mate PC’ project at the event as our social responsibility initiative,” he added.

Welcoming the decision of Intel to play a leading role in e-Asia 2009, ICTA Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura said: “We welcome Intel as the knowledge partner of e-Asia 2009. We have confidence that as one of the companies that has contributed to the fostering and the rapid growth of the PC industry in Sri Lanka Intel will fulfill its role as Knowledge Partner of e-Asia 2009 in manner that far exceeds all expectations”.

About 45 countries particularly from Asia but including USA and Europe will be represented at top level. About 100 corporates, more than 1000 international delegates and 800 local visitors are expected to participate in the conference while about 30,000 are scheduled to visit the exhibition. True to its theme “Opportunities for digital Asia”, e-Asia 2009 will be a great opportunity for interacting particularly with the countries of the region. Indeed a great memorable experience of a life time is in store for the local and international participants at eAsia 2009 both at conference and exhibition.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/11/10/bus16.asp

[blog post] Announcing telecentre.org photo contest results!

Community Facilitator — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:30:00 -0800

The telecentre.org photo contest received overwhelming response from all the members. The pictures submitted for the contest captured all the moments and emotions that are so unique to the telecentres, very beautifully. The contest also reaffirmed the popularity of photography among our members. We received 47 entries in total out of which 17 were selected and forwarded to an esteemed panel of judges for their opinions. The judges represented a good mix of people from ICT4D, telecentre and photo journalism sectors. They judged the photos on the basis of theme relevance, creativity and technical quality.

Now, get ready for the results!

Following is the list of the photos that made it to the top five, in no particular order:

eLearning for Village Students by W.M.C.R.K. Disanayake (Sri Lanka)
http://telecentrecommunity.ning.com/photo/elearning-for-village-students?context=album&albumId=2086278%3AAlbum%3A40337

Creating Leadership for Grassroot Development by Niranjan Meegammana (Sri Lanka)
http://telecentrecommunity.ning.com/photo/creating-leadership-for-grass-1?context=album&albumId=2086278%3AAlbum%3A40337

Tamil Children Playing Yodigo by Oliver Zielke (Canada)
http://telecentrecommunity.ning.com/photo/tamil-children-playing-yodigo-1?context=album&albumId=2086278%3AAlbum%3A40337

Connecting Slaga Wirelessly by Agbenyo John Stephen (Ghana)
http://telecentrecommunity.ning.com/photo/connecting-slaga-wirelessly?context=album&albumId=2086278%3AAlbum%3A40337

Farmers and Telecentre in Bangladesh by Mohammad Kamrul Islam Bhuiyan (Bangladesh)
http://telecentrecommunity.ning.com/photo/farmers-and-telecentre-in-1?context=album&albumId=2086278%3AAlbum%3A40337

telecentre.org takes this opportunity to congratulate all the winners. They can look forward to exciting prizes! So, dear winners, don't forget to check your mailbox in the coming days!

At the same time, we would like to thank all the participants for their efforts. Because of you, the telecentre.org community was able to see some beautiful photos and also the work that the telecentres are doing in different parts of the world. It was really fun “celebrating telecentre successes” through the medium of photography.

Thank you everybody for making this contest a success!

[blog post] My encounter with eBario in Kelabit’s highland

Tariq Zaman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:30:04 -0800

The e-Bario project provides the context for analysis of the challenges of ICTs used in bridging the digital divide. The project is being implemented by the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), and financially supported by Malaysian Government and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

2009 is the 10th year of sustainable implementation of eBario project. The inspiring characteristic of the projects is the eBario relationship oriented Model. From the beginning community participatory development approach has been used in the project, where through out the designing and implementation process community leaders consistently provided input. A telecentre “Gatuman Bario” has been established with latest computers powered by solar energy and high bandwidth internet connection via VSAT. The telecentre provides the facilities of high speed internet, photocopy, telephone, scanning, fax machine, and hotspots for wifi internet connection around the village.
Some of the awards and recognition of the project includes;
• Bario as one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities 2001 by World Teleport Association.
• Gold Medal, International Innovations Awards, Commonwealth. Association of Public Administration (CAPAM), Sydney, Australia on 25th October 2006 – Winner from 112 submissions from Commonwealth countries.
• Mondialogo Engineering Award by UNESCO and Daimler-Chrysler in partnership with OSEAN, Cambridge University UK, Engineers Without Borders UK, Berlin, 31 May 2005.
• eAsia Award by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, Taipei, 24 September 2004.
• Anugerah Perdana Teknologi Maklumat– Presented by Prime Minister of Malaysia, 18 December 2003
• Industry Innovators Award for Systems Development & Applications by Society of Satellite Professionals International on March 6th, 2002, Washington DC.

So one year before when I was searching material on “ICT for Community Development” I become aware about eBario project and later on the success stories of eBario provoked me for my PHD study (Rural Informatics) in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). After my admission I got the opportunity to work with Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI), at UNIMAS that is established in 2007 after the successful implementation of eBario and with the purpose to enhance and replicate the eBario model.

2nd eBario Knowledge Fair:
The CoERI organized 2nd eBario Knowledge Fair from 4-6th November 2009 in Bario. It was great opportunity for me to visit Bario and to see on ground impacts of the project in Bario community. I reached to Kuching Sarawak on 31st October after attending the workshop on Composite Heritage and left for Bario on 1st November with excitement and impatience.
Throughout my stay in Bario meeting the community, CoERI members and organizers, researchers, speakers and presenters of the Knowledge Fair from south, east and pacific Asia built my spirits. The UNIMAS years of research and active struggle to improve the livelihoods of marginalized rural communities were something to behold. I could feel my own feelings towards eBario in the Knowledge Fair.
The Gatuman Bario, Bario Telecentre interior design, pictures, awards, and press clipping fixed on the wall reflects the journey of the project.
During the Knowledge Fair:
The Knowledge Fair was consists of two parallel sessions; one for keynote address speakers and researchers to present their experiances research papers and the other was a workshop for eBario replication projects community representatives from Long Lamai, Ba’Kalalan, Larapan, and Buayan.
The keynote address speaker Professor Emeritus Dato Dr Zawawi Ismail, (Professor Emeritus, UNIMAS; Director, Commerce Leadership of Education, Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad), shared his experience with eBario and the other ICT interventions in Malaysia in education, baking, e-government sectors. He recalled the two basic objectives of the eBario project; the first one is to explore the opportunities for social development that are available from the deployment of ICT in the remote rural communities and the second is that how we innovate ICTs to suit the needs of the community betterment.

The second keynote address speaker Professor Dr Paul James (Director of the Global Cities Institute, RMIT University; Director of the United Nations Global Compact, Cities Program; Researcher in the Globalism Institute) acknowledged the relationship model of the eBario project and emphasized that without the knowledge necessarily associated with I.T and only trying to recover the past by codifying, building dictionaries and databases that would be possible by the hardwares but maintaining the relationship with the community is more important. He criticized the negative impacts of the processes of globalizations, modernity, and capitalism and how it make difficult the living together of the people. He also pointed out the rapid lose of culture in Bario community. He shared his point of view as that we are not becoming the knowledge society, every society is a knowledge society and the claim of the knowledge society is actually true for information society.

The Third keynote address speaker Professor Emeritus Dato Dr Professor Hood Salleh (Principal Fellow Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) and Director, Museum for Academic Heritage, University Kebangsaan Malaysia) shared with participants his own experience with Bario community and he compared the Bario community before and now after implementation of eBario project.

The researchers presented their papers in modern research in the fields of ICT, Rural Informatics, ICT Social Impacts, ICT impacts in Education, Nation Branding, ICT in Tourism Industry, etc.

In first two days of the Knowledge Fair I was very disappointed to see no difference between Bario and any other developed city of Malaysia the only difference was the absence of electricity and roads. The peoples wear same modern cloths, they use Nestle milk for tea, you can order Nescafe in any restaurant, but you will not find any bull cart and motorbikes plus 4-wheelers are common for transportation.

For me the knowledge in communities is embedded in the ways peoples live out their daily lives. It is something more which you do then which you have. So the last day of the Knowledge Fair when we visited the paddy farms of Bario village, we enjoyed the Bario food and the cultural evening with Kelabits people I truly felt that Bario has a rich culture.

The Bario rice is very famous. The farmer shared with us the whole process of paddy cultivation. I was very much impressed that how technically he deals with the problems of advance agriculture era. From cultivation to processing the final product the whole community participates. The technique to cultivate the paddy, watering the field, deal with pest without pesticide and by traditional ways, harvesting from the fields, these all contains bulk of knowledge.
The handicrafts of Bario esp. of Penan’s community impressed the participants of the Knowledge Fair very much. The food of the Bario community in taste and usage of different spices and preparation of these spices is by itself a scientific task which is in mind and practice of almost every Kelabit.
The traditional dance and music was very nice and reflects the community traditions and whole environment. The slow movements of the dancers have embedded peace message that is a reflection of the peaceful environment of the Bario. The dress of the girls and the women were of same color and design even their ornaments that show commonality and unity in the society.
The community has a large number of heritage sites, they have discovered 800 yet and still the process of exploration is continued.
Indeed it was a nice opportunity for me to understand and try to become aware from cultural knowledge and heritage of the Bario community and first to explore the ways that how ICT can play a role to strengthen the community Knowledge management systems and to build and sustain the people to people relations and second to compare the indigenous communities of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Kelabits in term of social and technological transformation.

Being a CoERI member it was also a good team building exercise for us. We all CoERIANs were together for three, four days and we got also the opportunity to meet with Dr. Al Zawawi, Dr. Hud Saleh, and with the Bario community members who are the management committee for eBario project. The absence of electricity and remoteness of the location were the plus points for our concentration in debates about the CoERI’s projects. I am confident to say that it was a successful informal team building exercise.

So whenever I see the word eBario, I wish to add a success mark at the name.

During the Knowledge Fair everything was calm, casual and cool. But the discussion of the community people, scholars, university professors and researchers were surrounding on social development and opportunities for ICT.

I came back knowing more, more then enough. The visit was an experience of lifetime for me, and I need to thank many people who made it possible for me, but my biggest thanks goes to The UNIMAS, CoERI and my supervisors Dr. Alvin and Prof Nara and off course a big thanks to all my fellow CoERIANs.

Thanks Everyone,
Tariq Zaman

[video] ICTA Sevanagala Nenasala Job Website

Seuwandi Yapa — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:44:15 -0800

ICTA funded project by the Sevanagala Nenasala in Ratnapura district which has created and is maintaining a job bank website at http://www.srilankajobs.net

[discussion] i need a recognation frome you or certificate to make it on my telecenter

hicham taouil — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:21:22 -0800

i did participate in microsoft programme in moroco but
they don't give me a place to teache computer
so i decide to make my cybernet a smole telecrnter to help my communuties
so i need a microsoft recognation to help me teache
is that possibale i have computer degree .
thank you

S Gavashkar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:50:35 -0800

[video] Floro inviting the participants to online consultation

telecentre.org — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:43:13 -0800

[discussion] Free Feasibility Study web application Online

Tarek Fahmy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:25:20 -0800

In this web site below you will enjoy by Free Feasibility Study web application Online . after fill all screens you can print all report to have a full Feasibility Study . This Feasibility Study will help you to evaluate your business or to take a decision set up your business or not .
http://www.successwaysgroup.com
after registration on the site do to Ideas projects company then press on "study your project" to start work

[discussion] Health issues related to computering

Laia Fauró Gual — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:14:22 -0800

Hello,
Here in Esplai, where I work, we have started a discussion about how to provide assessment to our telecentre's facilitators regarding health problems caused by computering.
Doctors and health experts are advising since long ago about the problems that being in front of a computer for a significant number of hours/day can generate, and how to take in consideration postural and recommended usability of the devises.

I would be really interested in ideas or initiatives tested in telecentres. Is there anybody who has experience on this issue?

Here you have some links I thought could provide good information. There is assessment, guides, detailed information for children's uses...

http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/policies/computer_workstation_ergonomics
http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/healthycomputing/
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/hcg/default.html
http://www.safecomputingtips.com/
http://www.healthycomputing.net/
http://steve-olson.com/14-tips-for-healthy-computing/
http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/edu_healthy

[discussion] Up Scaling and Replication

Niranjan Meegammana — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:37:41 -0700

Dear All
I am carrying out a research, and would like to know what are the challenges, barriers, adaptations and needs of upscaling successful Telecenter and ICT4D Projects ?

Does quality and impact get diluted when Up Scaling and Replication ?

[discussion] International Awards Program for Telecentres and Telecentre Knowledge Workers

Jimmy L. Calata — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:34:27 -0700

If we were to implement an international awards program for telecentres and telecentre knowledge workers:
(a) what should its title be?
(b) what should its award categories be?
(c) what kind of prizes should we give?
(d) how should we implement it?
(e) should there be any relation between the awards programs of participating countries with the international awards program that we are thinking about (like the case between national and international beauty contests)?

[discussion] Imagine the life without internet

Dr Manohar Sunar — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:14:38 -0700

It has become to hard to live without internet. For every moment for every reason we need internet. The out of connection means the outer world.

[discussion] What would be the next to internet?

Reynald M. Cacho — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:51:49 -0700

Inspired from Yapa's discussion, I started t o discern this notion. What if the internet has aged and reached its plateau, what would be next? Let's use our imagination and infer the future that would be next to the internet?

Taken from

[discussion] What would be the next to internet?

Reynald M. Cacho — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:47:47 -0700

From