[GKD] Using Wireless Technology for Health Care (Uganda)
Dear GKD Members, We have discussed the important role that wireless technology can play in expanding access, so I thought you might be particularly interested in this project: New Use of Wireless Technology: A Giant Leap for Health Care in Uganda Holly Ladd Satellife, Watertown, MA, USA Tel: (617) 926-9400 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.healthnet.org/index.php ** 9/22/03 OTTAWA The launch of a nationwide, wireless network to improve Uganda's ability to treat patients and combat the spread of disease was announced today. The network is built around the countrys well-established cell phone network, inexpensive handheld computers, and innovative wireless servers called Jacks. The technology allows health care workers to access and share critical information in remote facilities without fixed telephone lines or regular access to electricity. The announcement was made by Canadas International Development Research Centre (IDRC), WideRay, a wireless technology company based in San Francisco, and SATELLIFE, a non-profit organization focused on improving health in developing countries. The network was announced in occasion of the upcoming Emerging Technologies Conference to be held at MIT in Boston, September 24-25, 2003. The implementing partner in-country is Uganda Chartered HealthNet (UCH), started in 1986, as a project of the Makerere University Medical School in Mulago, to facilitate access to health information using information and communication technology. Affiliated with SATELLIFE, UCH has a mission to create access to health information and the tools for management in a resource poor environment such as Uganda. With technical, financial and material support from SATELLIFE, Makerere Faculty of Medicine, UCH has explored a range of communication options including LEO satellites, dial-up connection email/internet access, and now the hand-held/Wide Ray communication boxes. The WideRay Jack servers, which are about the size of a thick textbook and use long lasting industrial-grade batteries -- a single charge lasts up to a year -- are being installed in health care facilities across Uganda. Health workers can link to the device using the infrared port on their handheld computers to retrieve or submit information, and to access email. This is going to be a giant leap forward for Ugandan health care. It could save thousands of lives and have significant benefits in health outcomes for Uganda's citizens, said Holly Ladd, Executive Director of SATELLIFE. This project will provide health practitioners in the field with tools that were previously unavailable or outdated. For example, users can now access the latest treatment guidelines for tuberculosis and malaria and learn of the most cost-effective approaches to fight HIV/AIDS, which infects one in 10 adults in Uganda. They can also read the latest medical journals and textbooks from around the world, in a digital form. The technology should also improve health care administration by reducing the time taken to submit, analyze and respond to reports and requests for supplies. Recognizing the potential of this technology for Uganda, Connectivity Africa, a Canadian government initiative managed by IDRC and funded from Canadas Fund for Africa, contributed $761,000 CAD to the development of this information network. The convergence of new technologies low-cost handhelds, broad and reliable wireless coverage and WideRays innovative use of it have made applications that once seemed impossible in Africa a reality, said Richard Fuchs, Director of IDRCs Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) program area. This project will be a powerful example to the rest of the world of what is possible with wireless technology. Canadas International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is one of the worlds leading institutions in the generation and application of new knowledge to meet the challenges of international development. For more than 30 years, IDRC has worked in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their search for the means to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies. See backgrounder below for more information. Information: Diane Hardy, Media Relations Officer IDRC, Ottawa, Canada Cell (until Sept. 26 only): (613) 293-6588 Tel: (613) 236-6163, ext. 2570 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.idrc.ca Leslie Amadio WideRay Corporation, San Francisco, CA, USA Tel: (415) 975-3353 or 1-877-WIDERAY Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.wideray.com Holly Ladd Satellife, Watertown, MA, USA Tel: (617) 926-9400 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.healthnet.org/index.php BACKGROUNDER Uganda, like many developing countries that lack the infrastructure readily available in the developed world, is leapfrogging traditional fixed-line communication networks and adopting mobile, cellular technologies to provide communication links to remote locations. There are
[GKD] Microsoft Launches New Tech Training Program For Schools Worldwide
EDTECH MICROSOFT LAUNCHES NEW TECH TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOLS WORLDWIDE Microsoft has launched a new program that will help train teachers and students to integrate technology into the curriculum. The Partners in Learning program will provide $250 million in cash grants, discounts on Microsoft software for participating schools and free software to some developing nations. It will also establish Microsoft IT Academy Centers, which will provides services such as IT skills certification, teacher professional development, curriculum and assessment tools, school-based technology support and research. Microsoft will specifically target disadvantaged primary and secondary schools. According to Microsoft, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, and Italy have already signed up for the program. Although it seems most support is favorable, some critics consider the program just another strategic business decision for Microsoft. I can't believe Microsoft has anything but profit in mind as it rolls out the Partners in Learning program, said Doug Otto, superintendent of the Plano, Texas, Independent School District. If the company was so intent on helping schools, it would have provided deep discounts for school districts and also not been so Scrooge-like with its licensing agreements. SOURCE:eSchoolNews; AUTHOR: eSchoolNews staff and wire reports http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=4646 (requires free registration) -- (c) Benton Foundation 2003. Redistribution of this Internet publication -- both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message. Communications-Related Headlines is a free news service posted Monday through Friday by the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org). This service will keep you up-to-date on important developments and policy issues in communications, the Internet, edtech, community technology, journalism, public media, regulation and philanthropy. Headlines are compiled, summarized and edited by Andy Carvin ([EMAIL PROTECTED]), Jennifer Hill ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and Shani Smothers ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) -- we welcome your feedback. Based in Washington DC, the Benton Foundation's mission is to articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Projects at Benton include: The Digital Divide Network (http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org) Digital Opportunity Channel (http://www.digitalopportunity.org) Media Ownership (http://www.benton.org/initiatives/ownership.html) OneWorld United States (http://us.oneworld.net) Sound Partners for Community Health (http://www.soundpartners.org) To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or view the Headlines Archive, please visit http://owa.benton.org/archives/benton-compolicy.html ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
[GKD] Digital Opportunity Channel Newsletter
Please find subscription information at the bottom of the newsletter. With apologies for any cross-posting. -- What's New at Digital Opportunity Channel http://www.digitalopportunity.org + + For all the news and analysis about the WSIS summit from a civil society perspective, please visit our Special Coverage section at: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/section/dochannel/wsis + + * Latest News http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1138 * HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA EXCLUDED FROM WSIS Human Rights in China (HRIC), the only organisation devoted exclusively to human rights issues in China, has been denied accreditation to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) scheduled for Geneva in December. HRIC feels rejection of its application to attend WSIS raises serious concerns about transparency and legitimacy of this multilateral process. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68617/1138/433 SYNTHESIS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY DEBATES NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE - The World Forum on Community Networking (WFCN) has published the 2nd issue of Mosaic, a newsletter presenting a synthesis of civil society debates on the information society. Published in English, French and Spanish, it summarizes discussions held on a number of lists and sites from different cultural and linguistic perspectives. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68616/1138/433 INTERNET CREATES A NEW CLASS OF USERS IN AFRICA --- Even critics of massive spending on computer and Internet technology in Africa - at what they fear is at the expense of poverty alleviation efforts - are conceding that so-called ìnew mediaî are helping Africans economically. Computers linked to the worldwide information Web via the Internet are also helping efforts to promote democratisation and gender empowerment. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68505/1138/433 CISCO TO FUND VOICE MAIL FOR POOR IN THE US --- Community Voice Mail, a Seattle-based nonprofit, provides free voice mail for the homeless, poor and jobless around the US. A Cisco grant will more than double the number of people Community Voice Mail assists nationwide, from 25,000 to 65,000 by the end of 2007. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68502/1138/433 TELECENTRES HELP LATIN AMERICANS TO BE CONNECTED Several Latin American governments are setting up telecentres where people can surf the Internet, often free of charge, in an attempt to narrow the digital divide within their societies, which is perhaps larger than the gap that separates them from the industrialised world. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68386/1138/433 DIGITAL POWER HELPS INDIA'S DISTRICTS PREPARE FOR DISASTERS --- When cyclones, earthquakes or other calamities next strike in India, district officials in many areas can go online and quickly mobilize support for evacuation, search and rescue, medical aid and other relief priorities. The India Disaster Resource Network - a nationwide inventory of resources - was recently launched for emergency response to disasters. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68385/1138/433 SOMALIA'S TELECOM INDUSTRY SHINES IN SEA OF POVERTY --- Somalia is home to some of the world's poorest people. Yet, amidst all the anarchy of a country reduced to ruins by civil war and over 12 years of protracted power struggles between warlords, some things still shine bright: it has one of the best and cheapest telecommunications systems in Africa. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68384/1138/433 WORLD FORUM ON COMMUNICATION RIGHTS DURING WSIS --- The Communication Rights in the Information Society campaign (CRIS) will hold the World Forum on Communication Rights, a one-day event, alongside the WSIS. The forum is an independent civil society-led initiative, aimed to demonstrate and document the importance of communication rights for people and communities in an emerging information society. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68302/1138/433 BLACK EQUITY ISSUE SPLITS SOUTH AFRICA'S ICT SECTOR --- Battle lines that could prove tough to breach have been drawn in the debate over whether multinational IT firms must place some equity in black hands in
[GKD] e-Conference on Implementing the Monterey Consensus
Dear all, I am passing the invite without the attachment - please contact Mr. Can Atacik at WBI [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Patricia Mccall at UN DESA [EMAIL PROTECTED] for it and for being included! Regards Lilly Evans Strategic Learning Web UK -- Dear Invitees: The Financing for Development Office of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Private Sector Development Program of the World Bank Institute are organizing a two-week Global e-Conference on Implementing the Monterrey Consensus: Governance Roles of Public, Private and Advocacy Stakeholders from September 29 to October 10, 2003. The main objective of this online dialogue is to provide an opportunity for participants from around the world to share their expertise and ideas on the Monterrey Consensus and the implementation process and to provide these views to the official international community. That is, a summary of the e-conference will be provided as an input to the first global follow up the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico in 2002. The global follow up will take the form of a High-Level Dialogue (HLD) on Financing for Development in the United Nations General Assembly New York, 29 - 30 October 2003. The HLD includes a day of quadripartite round tables (governments, international institutions, business and civil society), and a day with an innovative open dialogue for all major stakeholders in the General Assembly. The HLD will be preceded by a half-day consultation with civil society and half day consultation with the private sector. After the Dialogue, governments will seek to agree in the Assembly on new implementation steps to better realize the promises of Monterrey. The e-Conference is structured around two general topics. Week 1 (Sept. 29-Oct. 3) will focus on the future of the Monterrey Consensus and the progress that has been made thus far. Week 2 (Oct. 6-10) will focus on issues of global economic governance and the role of public, private and advocacy stakeholders, including opportunities for public-private partnerships. We are pleased to invite you to participate in this e-conference. You could read the messages posted in this e-conference, and if you have expertise in a particular topic, we would encourage you to contribute to the discussion. The detailed agenda is attached to this invitation. Below please visit http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/corpgov/csr/econferences/monterrey/ to register for e-conference and to access the agenda, background readings and short bios of the moderators. Please feel free to contact Mr. Can Atacik at WBI [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Patricia Mccall at UN DESA [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you have any questions. Barry Herman Djordjija Petkoski Chief, Policy Analysis and DevelopmentLead Specialist Financing for Development Office World Bank Institute UN DESA AGENDA: (See attached file: Implementing the Monterrey Consensus-E-Conference-Agenda.doc) ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
