Officially inaugurated in July 2006, the Government of Jordan's and
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)'s e-Village initiative
aims to bridge the digital divide between women and men living in rural
and urban areas through the use of ICT as well as technical assistance.
A federal judge has ruled that the Americans With Disabilities Act
(ADA) applies to the Internet, a ruling that could have profound
effects on bridging the digital divide for people with disabilities
-- at least regarding resources in the USA. A press release from the
National Federation of
Four Web Accessibility Myths - Busted
With Web technologies changing so rapidly, how can you ensure that
your organization's Web site is accessible to everyone, regardless of
disability? TechSoup has published this snappy, easy-to-read guide to
see which rules still apply.
This was announced back in July 2006, but I don't think it was posted
here to the DDN... Easter Seals and software provider Convio, Inc.
have announced a partnership to develop new Internet accessibility
technology, job training and employment opportunities for people with
disabilities.
More
A federal judge has ruled that the Americans With Disabilities Act
(ADA) applies to the Internet, a ruling that could have profound
effects on bridging the digital divide for people with disabilities
-- at least regarding resources in the USA. A press release from the
National Federation of
(Since the benefits of online learning networks are often given as a
reason to bridge the Digital Divide, I wanted to pass on the
following. Please note that I am NOT involved in any way, shape or
form with this initiative)
Over the past several months, learning network experts and
Brought to my attention by www.idealist.org, and
several of the innovations profiled have
implications for bridging the digital divide:
From Stanford Social Innovation Review (PDF)
http://www.ssireview.org/pdf/2006SU_feature_Voelcker.pdf
Ten Innovative Technologies Building a Better World
I've just posted a few more thoughts on the House passage of DOPA
on my pbs blog:
http://www.pbs.org/learningnow
Even more important than blogs that preach to the choir is American
citizens contacting their elected US Representatives and letting them
know how they feel about DOPA. Write a
I'm posting this NOT to open up a debate about evacuations and what's
happening in the Middle East but, rather, as an example of how
handheld technologies can be used in critical mass evacuation/mass
communication effort -- which, IMO, is another reason to fund the
bridging of the digital
(please note that the person posting this to the Digital Divide
Network has no further information about this project)
UNESCO supported telecentre for the blind opened in Uruguay
The Juan Antonio Lavalleja Public Library of Minas, the capital of
the department of Lavalleja in Uruguay, hosts
I just wanted to let you know about a blog entry I just wrote in
response to a C|NET News article that debated whether or not online
social networks are a fad. In it, I look at the history of online
community building, from the earliest bulletin board systems and
email lists to community
I'll be in Washington, DC July 7 - 17. If anyone in the area would
like to meet face-to-face for whatever reason, please let me know
ASAP.
--
Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc
Bonn, Germany
Services for Mission-Based Orgs
www.coyotecommunications.com
International Development Studies Work
One of the things I thought as I sat at the NetSquared conference was
that, in hearing all these incredible examples of nonprofits,
including very small organizations, effectively involving/mobilizing
individuals, I was hearing reasons over and over again for WHY
bridging the digital divide is
What would lead a person or organization to support these issues:
valuing an open Internet, valuing free open source software,
valuing community access media and community owned networks?
Talking to people and organization's on their own turfs. Asking to
speak at Rotary Clubs and Lion's
An evaluation report has been released on UNESCO's Community
Multimedia Centre Initiative
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=22129URL_DO=DO_TOPICURL_SECTION=201.html
UNESCO's CMC initiative promotes sustainable local development
through community-based facilities that combine
Part of bridging the digital divide, IMO, has more to do with
building capacities of people and organizations regarding using
technology than actually providing connectivity. And that includes
nonprofits (NPOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). But just
giving an organization Net
Marie Godfrey wrote
a teacher from New York...couldn't access the essay through
regular channels because we are blocked from registering on a
newspaper or TV site due to school policies...
How can we to change such policies?
As I wrote back in April 19 here on the digital divide network, I
Information, Technology and Development study group meeting. One- Day
Workshop on Gender and ICTs in a Global Society, Tuesday 6th June
2006, Manchester Metropolitan University
There has recently been much discussion about the integration of
gender issues into both processes and outcomes of
Miguel has even started to organize an online protest campaign.
Um... how effective is an *online* campaign going to be, when the
school won't even see it because of the content? Is an online
campaign going to reach the people it needs to, or, will it be
oh-so-easy to ignore in this
Slashdot.org brought this to my attention Newsforge has a
thought-provoking article on the lack of communication between the
FOSS community and disabled persons. From the article: How can the
FOSS community address the issues of the disabled? The most urgent
task is to improve documentation.
Knowbility, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas that works to break
down access barriers to technology and tech-related opportunities for
people with disabilities, is working to identify some of the barriers
encountered by people with disabilities as they access wireless
technologies (or try
Voice from the Pacific Grassroots: pactoc.telecentre.org
28-02-2006 (Wellington) Community telecentre project operators from
around the Pacific have launched a regional online community website
to support and develop the telecentre movement in the Pacific. The
Pacific Telecentre Online
I wrote:
I am looking for two online resources in
Spanish: one regarding making web sites
accessible for multiple browsers and for people
using assistive technologies; and one regarding
online safety for children.
He recibido mucho información. ¡Gracias a todos!
(I have received a lot of
Why not form a voluntary umbrella alliance of all social
activists and civil
society organizations, to harness all our resources and synergise all our
efforts, to jointly work for the common cause of improving the lot of
every community and every society, by sharing and gaining, instead of
Women's ICT-Based Enterprise for Development
http://www.womenictenterprise.org/
coordinated by the University of Manchester's Institute for
Development Policy and Management. The project is funded by the UK
Department for International Development's Knowledge and Research
programme. It
The latest newsletter from TechSoup (www.techsoup.org) features this:
Securing Public Access PCs Without Shutting Out Users
Librarian Jessamyn West explains how libraries, CTCs, and other
organizations can keep their public access computers running
smoothly, without sacrificing safety, privacy,
Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Programme
For social entrepreneurs using technology...
Deadline: April 3 2006
The Digital Vision Program supports social entrepreneurs who seek to
leverage technology-based solutions in the interest of humanitarian,
educational, and sustainable development
Part of bridging the Digital Divide, IMO, is building the capacities
of particular groups of professionals, and aspiring professionals, to
use it. With that in mind, I'm passing on the following:
The Net for Journalists: A practical guide to the Internet for
journalists in developing
Two items from the most recent issue of *LWATI*, the monthly
e-newsletter of the Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation
Network (SANGONeT), the first regarding the second SANGONeT ICTs for
Civil Society conference that will be held from 7-9 March 2006 in
Johannesburg, and the other a
For those of you who follow the in's and out's of wikipedia,
here's an interesting story: a group of high school students in
Minnesota successfully exposed a registered sex offender who was
trying to tranfer into their school by tracking entries he had
edited on Wikipedia.
I love this story
The BBC's Click Online, a terrific TV show, has a year-end
article/program that highlights three items that are each somewhat
related to the Digital Divide (or, at least,
to technological social change.
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickonline.asp?pageid=666
From the web site:
T
Jacob Komar, 13, said he was puzzled after hearing his sister's
school was throwing out dozens of old computers. The computer whiz
knew he could recycle many of them for use by poor kids.
Komar rebuilt the computers himself and developed training manuals.
He now is founder of a group,
For more information, contact
George Awad, UNESCO Office in Beirut
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Buidling websites that meet the needs of people with disabilities
02-12-2005 (Beirut)
A special training workshop on website development for NGOs that care
for people with special needs will take place in
Did anyone on the DD network attend the UNESCO workshop ICT and
Persons with Disabilities at the WSIS in Tunis on November 16? The
workshop was supposed to look at policies that promote accessibility
and inclusion in the digital world, especially in developing
countries, and given the
Dave A. Chakrabarti wrote:
Actually, Don, it's being argued that much of the rioting was
instigated by blog postings and other technology-driven innovations
on the part of the youth involved, ranging from mass-SMS to a giant
blog site run by a radio station (will have to find the link for
La Familia de Padre Fabretto is a NGO which serves the needs of 4200
children in six locations in Nicaragua
SNIP
Can anyone point us to organizations in Central America that have similar
goals?
Try posting your message to the Aid Worker's Forum as well -- that's
a great way to connect with
perhaps instead of volunteering abroad, as I've done,
there must be some communities in the states (aside from those in
Louisiana) looking for librarian, digital types. If any DDN members
could steer me in the right direction, I'd be grateful.
Do you have a degree in library science? The
Taran Rampersad [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
the point is that a lot of the technology we're discussing
should be encouraged by critical things - not by things that
artificially creating a need and building unrealistic explanations -
I wanted to say hurrah for this excellent point. I know that
A list of ICT4D/digital divide initiatives
highlighted in The Drum Beat - Issue 318 - MDG #8
- Develop a Global Partnership for Development
September 26 2005
from The Communication Initiative
(at least one of which -- and probably more --
has been mentioned on the Digital Divide
Discussion
The resource for managers of volunteers involved in Hurricane
Katrina-related efforts is ever-growing at www.volunteertoday.com,
and even FEMA has now been in contact with the organizers to find an
experienced volunteer manager ready for immediate placement in one
site -- and this request was
I am looking to use a G3 iBook to bring some multimedia material
to a classroom. I'm landline-locked at the moment, and am wondering
if anyone has any ideas on cost-effective avenues for wireless
(AirPort cards, etc.).
lowendmac.com and ramjet.com are my favorite web sites for finding
Nancy MacDuff and her Volunteer Today site are providing even more
information to help those working with volunteers engaged in
activities relating to Hurricane Katrina, especially services for
evacuees.
www.volunteertoday.com
I've been sending her notices from the Digital Divide Network
(please circulate widely)
Help for Managers of Volunteers-Katrina
Volunteer Today, a free online newsletter for managers of volunteers
(www.volunteertoday.com) has launched a special edition to provide
assistance to managers of volunteers around the country related to the
Hurricane Katrina
(apologies if this has already been posted)
PART-15.ORG Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
http://www.part-15.org/emergencyrelief/katrina.html
General Information - PART-15.ORG (the Wireless Internet Service
Providers Organization) in cooperation with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
From Slashdot:
DirectNIC Crisis Manager Braves the Chaos of New Orleans
The Interdictor, a DirectNIC crisis manager, is currently braving
the madness of post-Katrina New Orleans. Server rescues, OC4 repairs
and live video and audio feeds abound as he and his crew battle the
odds with what
New Government site calls for volunteers
http://www.volunteer.hhs.gov/
Some text:
The Office of The Surgeon General and the Office of Public Health
Emergency Preparedness are in the process of mobilizing and
identifying healthcare professionals and relief personnel to assist
in Hurricane
Aki Tsuchiya wrote:
1) Are there any economic arguments/studies that supports the
empowerment of the elderly/retired population group by engaging them
into the knowledge economy via the internet?
If you can use information outside the UK, try contacting the
Independent Sector and
Jayne...
How does your pool of volunteers find out about opportunities? Is
there a way for an organization to submit a profile or list of
volunteer possibilities?
Clarification -- UNITeS is not a placement agency. It neither
recruits nor places volunteers. Instead, it:
-- offers resources
We feel that there is significant expertise
around the world and that year-long international volunteers can be a
powerful way in which skills, knowledge and wisdom can be exchanged to help
bridge the divide.
The United Nations Information Technology Service (www.unites.org)
has been tracking
A trainer's experience at the
Sengerema Community Multimedia Centre (CMC)
in Tanzania
01-07-2005 (UNESCO) - Lismas Julius is an IT Trainer at the Sengerema
Community Multimedia Centre in Tanzania, one of the CMCs supported by
UNESCO and giving communities in developing countries access to
(this is a Germany-based fellowship opportunity
-- they had an ad in the recent Der Spiegel
edition on The Germans. I thought it was worth
passing on. Please do NOT write me for more
information. I do not have ANY further
information.):
The Reinhard Mohn
A Call for Submissions to Community Media Review (CMR)
Once this is published, how would one get hold of a copy?
(I'm very, very interested in media literacy -- I believe all Digital
Divide initiatives should incorporate media literacy into their
activities)
--
Jayne Cravens
Bonn,
Deborah Elizabeth Finn wrote:
- If you feed them, they will come.
I want to really second this. It may seem silly or not that
important, but feeding people is a MAJOR draw and motivator to engage
in a meeting. Feeding the volunteers who show up for Knowbility.org's
fabulous AIR events
World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR) - Aug 31-Sep 2 2005
Gaborone, Botswana
Hosted by the Government of Botswana, and the International Federation
for Information Processing, WITFOR 2005 will address the application of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) in fighting
Beware the uniquely Liberal concept of ownership.
Clarification, for those in/from the US who are wondering about this
correlation between liberal and the concept of ownership (as I
was when I first moved to Europe -- so I'm assuming there might be at
least a few people puzzled by this...
I have two extra copies of a 2003 edition of the Journal of Technology in
Human Services (ISSN: 1522-8835); one of the books is published as
Technology-Assisted Delivery of School Based Mental Health Services, but
it's exactly the same content.
I am offering each of these journals for free to
Since debates about whether or not to use software from the dominant
software maker often come up in discussions about bridging the
digital divide, I'm posting the following from Slashdot (old news for
you Slashdot readers out there, but I'm catching up on a lot of email
and saw this only
I just wanted to say that I find this back and forth about Simputer
fantastic. Thank you to everyone who is contributing/debating. I'm
learning so much.
--
Jayne Cravens
Bonn, Germany
Services for Mission-Based Orgs
www.coyotecommunications.com
TECH4IMPACT Newsletter
A representative from Dubai's egov directorate just spoke. She talked about
a survey done by the government of policymakers regarding barriers to
e-government. While some thought Internet access inequities would be a
barrier, many more thought that a lack of skills by the public and a lack
of
(please note that the person posting this
information to this online discussion group is
NOT affiliated in any way with this event and has
no further information)
ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors - Live Webcast
UNESCO and the Club of Rome are co-organizing a three-day World
Nothing About Us Without Us: Developing Innovative Technologies
For, By and With Disabled Persons
This book is intended to help disabled persons in problem-solving and
is described as an idea book rather than a publication that offers
instructions concerning disabilities. It seeks to present a
We have reports of great last minute travel deals to Austin, so if you were
on the fence about coming out to the Open Space Austin event April 28-30,
please allow me to push the balance and tip you over and into open space!
Forget the travel deals -- ginger pancakes at Magnolia Cafe! There's
the
Twice this week, someone has written me with a comment that has
included computer/Internet technical jargon that I have no idea what
it means. It happens more frequently than I like to admit. And it
brings to mind times when I have interacted with people online,
particularly people from
The Blind Struggle As Gadgets Proliferate
Sat Apr 23, 8:38 PM ET
By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer
As technology has evolved, it's become lighter, smaller and more
portable. For most people, that makes it more convenient. For
millions of blind and vision-impaired people, it's anything but.
Is it too much to ask that folk with older browsers simply turn
off style sheets?
Yes. Maybe not too much, but it's the wrong approach. What's wrong
with initiatives like the W3C or www.knowbility.org encouraging
designers of web sites to make them accessible to all? It's what was
done with
There's no Sign In button to press, but enter your username and
password, then press Enter on the keyboard, and you're logged in.
Nope. It does not work. I assure you, I have tried repeatedly. I have
tried creating new accounts. It does NOT work on my machine, not with
any of the three
Actually, I am rather impressed with blogger.com in this regard.
Blogger.com does not work with my machine -- I'm on a Mactintosh, and
have three browsers: MS Explorer 5, Netscape 7.0, and Opera 6.3.
Blogger.com does not work with any of them -- it will not let me
create an account/login. I
I would like to gain some information from this mailing list on
finding funding for technology.
The company I work for has begun a new initiative to look for
federal, state, and foundation money to fund our State and Local
projects. We are also looking for key non-profits to partner with
in
Guide to Rural Telecentres Published in Brazil
09-03-2005 (UNESCO Brasilia) - A Guide to Rural Telecentres (Guia
Gemas da Terra de Telecentros Rurais) was recently published by the
Brazilian NGO Gemas da Terra. The Guide, that was produced with resources
from UNESCO's Information for All
Please note that the message is being forwarded to the DDN group by
Jayne Cravens, who has NOTHING to do with the aforementioned
activities, and NO additional information.
--
GENDER and INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY (GICT) AWARDS 2005
***ANNOUNCEMENT and APPLICATION
70 matches
Mail list logo
