[GKD] DOT-COMments eNewsletter - Special Issue on Gender Perspectives

[Barbara Fillip]

DOT-COMments eNewsletter - May 2005 (Issue 11)

The May 2005 issue of the DOT-COMments newsletter is now on the DOT-COM
Alliance web site. This issue focuses on Gender. The full newsletter
can be accessed online at:
http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/newsletter/index.php

Forward articles to your friends and colleagues, let us know what you
think of the articles, search for articles by country or type of
activity, or explore the rest of the DOT-COM Alliance site.

Here is a list of articles in the May 2005 issue:

1. Editorial: A Gender Perspective
What has the DOT-COM Alliance done to address these issues and ensure
women's ability to take advantage of IT opportunities? The articles in
this May 2005 issue of the DOT-COMments eNewsletter provide some answers
to this question.



2. Women and ICT Policy
Focusing efforts into increasing women's participation in policy,
regulatory and advocacy issues is an effective and powerful way to
achieve competitive and fair levels in the ICT sector. This has the
potential to increase the role of women in community decision making,
where they can influence policy issues at any government level. With
increased participation, women can then ensure that gender issues are
taken into account in ICT resource planning and administration.



3. Gender Strategies in dot-ORG Projects
What do dot-ORG projects in Mali, Brazil, Macedonia and Uganda have in
common beyond the fact that they all involve the provision of some form
of information technology? They have all designed strategies that take
gender into account, strategies that ensure that women have the same
opportunities as men to access and utilize information technology.



4. Marching for Gender Equity in Peru
High in the Peruvian Andes a grassroots movement supporting gender
equity has taken hold. Led by a group of primary school students and
their teachers, the community of Cerro de Pasco is taking a closer look
at the implications of equal treatment and rights for men and women in
the public and private spheres.

  

The DOT-COM Alliance is funded by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID): (GDG-A-00-01-9-00, dot-GOV;
GDG-A-00-01-00014-00, dot-ORG; GDG-A-00-01-00011-00, dot-EDU).

You can subscribe to the newsletter through the DOT-COM Alliance web
site or email me directly to be added to our mailing list.


Best regards,

Barbara Fillip
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Information and Dissemination Coordinator
DOT-COM Alliance
http://www.dot-com-alliance.org





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[GKD] Update on Jhai PC and Communication System

[Lee Thorn]

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to give you a brief update on the Jhai PC and communication
system. There is also new and thorough information, including a
Powerpoint show, at 

*   We have seven (7) working open-source, open-design, low-power,
rugged Jhai PC v.1.6's at present. All are fully tested on a network.
Altogether our Jhai PCs have run over eight months constantly without
crashing.

* I go to the Navajo Nation on June 7 to present at a board meeting of
the Window Rock Unified School District.  We begin implementation of of
our proof of concept of the Jhai PC and communication system on June 8,
God willing.

   - We will ship the antennas that go on the roof of their school and
access points to Sawmill today for the district's test and use.
   - We have developed a .uml report (a special engineering report that
describes all software and hardware components and is almost infinitely
flexible in terms  of relating one piece of data to another), a users
document, an assembly document, an easily transferable version of the
open source software, a bill of materials, and drawings.
   - We have all the power and network components on hand or (in the case
of the solar equipment) locally sourced.
   - We have developed technical support staff, backup staff, methods,
training, and documentation for both hardware and software.
   - We have already secured consent from the village and cooperation from
the Tribe's telecom commission.
   - We will implement a network with four machines on the electrical grid
and one machine on solar.
   - We'll make a phone call to Kevin Fagan of the San Francisco Chronicle
as soon as we set up at his request. Kevin wrote a series of stories
about us in 2003.

* We remain in a careful preparation phase on agreements with Datamation
Foundation Trust in India, Gems of the Earth in Brazil, and Amity
Foundation in China. I will announce agreements as they are finalized. 
We are in an earlier stage of discussion with several programs and one
network, the Women's International Leadership Programme associated with
the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre and Glenda Wildschudt, to do a beta in the
Southern part of Africa.

* We are in a long-term partnership with Teachers without Borders (TWOB)
and Cisco Foundation extending at least to the end of 2006. We have
funding from Intel targeted for the Navajo proof of concept. We are in
the beginning stages of discussions with Intel and other IT companies on
potential long term partnership relationships. We welcome further
conversations. We are searching for partners to help us develop a one
card version of the Jhai PC and for joint field testing.

* Amity Foundation's  General Secretary is
visiting us on June 6. Jhai will seek a meeting of the minds. If we are
successful in this work, Amity's implementation will be historic.
Representatives from IT companies will be on hand for a get-acquainted
dinner.

* The original village, Phon Kham, Lao PDR, is seeking permission
through their own efforts for an IT implementation there. We are also
exploring the possibility of an implementation of the Jhai PC and
communication system in Laos with remote coffee growers.

* We are pursuing the design of a website that will allow end-users and
their implementing organizations (initially) to communicate among
themselves with the help of translation services, seamlessly and
securely. This website will quickly be open to people seeking to
implement low power IT solutions of any kind as well. It will work for
people with Pentium One or equivalent computers or better. It will link
to site(s) where people are networking, especially in an open design
way, on low power and alternative power engineering solutions and
inventions for technological innovations. At the moment I find this site
useful and it might be linked to on our new site (still, as I said, in
the design stage): 

By the way, the Fair Trade people are coming to certify the Jhai Coffee
Farmers Cooperative's coffee this month according to the last report
from them. The coffee is so good! It is for sale through Thanksgiving
Coffee  and our website at


We've had a pretty good year, I think. I know we have worked very hard
and we have very good relationships, now, on all continents. I think
this is going to be the make-or-break year for Jhai. I am confident we
will be able to help local folks solve their computing and communication
problems in a sustainable way. I expect we will set up a virtual
consulting firm that makes sense for end-users, computer companies, and
funding agencies. I believe this work will garner worldwide support and
publicity, especially since we will be doing all this on an open-source,
open-design basis.

I am eager for any feedback you might give us and any advice you have
for us. I hope you see fit to fund us and help us. Donations can be
given through our http://www.jhai.org/> or through the address
below. 

[GKD] RFI: Funding Sources for a Rural Community Radio Station

[Edward]

Dear GKD Members,

In line with our bid to promote ICT in rural Ghana, we are attempting to
find sources of funding for the development of a rural community radio
station. We will be grateful if you could share any information on this.

Regards,

Edward




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[GKD] ANN: Resumption of Regular GKD Discussion

[Global Knowledge Dev. Moderator]

Dear GKD Members,

The GKD List will resume its regular, open-ended discussion starting
today. We thank our members for their valuable insights and
participation during our focussed discussion on the theme of "Empowering
Local Communitites and Improving Local Government Through ICT".

Although the open-ended discussion resumes today, we will still welcome
any further submissions on the Local Government/Governance theme.

Once again, thank you for your continuing contributions to the GKD List.


Sincerely,

The GKD Moderators and the DOT-COM Alliance




***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization***
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