Re: [GKD] The $100 Computer

2005-03-14 Thread Michel J. Menou
I am afraid this discussion tends to be focalized around the dominant
consumerist perspective of development.

What will we do with waste resulting from 2 billion obsolete 10$
Xputers that might pile up in 2025?

Don Slater's points are however well taken.

Actually there was a report a few days ago that MS was going to sell its
OS and Office suite in China at much reduced prices. One can only
wonder, if the company is so much concerned with supporting development
in poor communities, or else by piracy, why such practices are not
generalized.

As to a cheap Office there is already one, free, Openoffice, which
runs on MS Windows as well.

Addressing the OS issue in absolute terms is often excessive. Yet there
are many instances such as education or large systems where Open Source
solutions present a clear advantage in terms of TCO. Not to mention the
dependency effect associated with initial learning. Options might need to be
considered not on the basis of countries but on the basis of users'
institutions or situations. Among the options is also the support of
local Open Source developers and backstoppers capacities.

Michel Menou


On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, Don Slater wrote:

 This point might seem silly, but surely a very 'sensible' alternative OS
 would be a very *cheap* Windows XP, with very cheap Office or Works
 versions? If Windows XP were sold at the price it usually commands in
 pirate markets, it would be perfectly OK. So doesn't it make just as
 much sense to pressure M$ for the equivalent of educational licences, or
 simply donated software? The demand would be for a more appropriate
 pricing structure, and would be similar to demanding that drug companies
 allow or produce very cheap generic versions of drugs that are essential
 to lives in poor countries.
 
 I tend to get worried (particularly as an ethnographer) when I see the
 word 'only' used in these discussions - there may seem to be only one
 solution *technologically*, but there are always multiple political and
 economic strategies, and Linux is 'only' one of these.

..snip...


===
Dr. Michel J. Menou
Consultant in Information and Knowledge Management
B.P. 15
49350 Les Rosiers sur Loire, France
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: +33 (0)2 41518165
Fax: +33 (0)2 41511043
http://ciber.soi.city.ac.uk/peoplemenou.php





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[GKD] CFP: Sustainability and Community Technology: What Does this Mean for Community Informatics?

2004-03-09 Thread Michel J. Menou
Dear Colleagues,

The Community Informatics Research Network Inc. (CIRN) calls for papers
to its 2004 Inaugural Conference and Colloquium with the overall theme,
'Sustainability and Community Technology: What Does this Mean for
Community Informatics?, at the Monash Centre, Prato, Italy, 29 September
- 1 October, 2004. www.ciresearch.net/prato2004.

The event is meant to provide an opportunity for researchers,
practitioners, and policy makers to present findings and reflect in a
convivial atmosphere on key issues of concern for the future of enabling
communities with Information and Communication Technology (ICT).  It
will also be the founding organisational conference of CIRN.

Further details of the conference will be forthcoming shortly. Please
bookmark the website for updates. CIRN members will receive a conference
discount (see www.ciresearch.net for membership information), and the
number of places available is limited. Please forward this notice to
colleagues.

Call for Papers

Papers (full length for blind peer review and discussion or position
papers) from researchers and practitioners are invited. Possible topics
include:

.Defining 'sustainability' in a community technology context: is it
an adequate concept? What are its meanings and how are they relevant?

.Are there alternate concepts which are more practicable and how are
they linked to the life of communities and community networking?

.Sustainability and the Digital Divide: Friend or Foe?

.The political economy of community technology sustainability:
dependency on government, and funders' understanding of 'sustainability'

.Community Technology Sustainability in different spheres:
developed, developing countries: are there universal principles?

.The sustainability criteria of national and international financial
institutions and donors: Explanations and Critiques

.Indigenous and first nations people and the sustainability of
community networks

.Gendered technology and the sustainability of community networks.

.Is there a connection between sustainability and 'social capital'?

.Time, virtual space, geography and network sustainability

.Power relationships in networking and their impact on
sustainability

.The policy dimensions (dementia) of sustainability

.Evaluating 'sustainability'

.Case studies of 'sustainability' in different community informatics
settings

.Case studies of the policy frameworks and applications of
'sustainability'

## A special issue of Community Informatics: A Global E-Journal will be
prepared as part of this event and contributors to the event will be
encouraged to submit their papers for either the peer-reviewed or the
commentary section of the journal.

*Doctoral Colloquium*

The CIRN Doctoral Colloquium offers PhD students a special forum on 29
September 2004 where they will have a chance to present their research
plans and discuss them with peers and established senior researchers.
Interested students should prepare a 2 page summary of their research.
This should provide a context for the research, describe the methods
being used, the progress to date and expectations and hopes from the
colloquium.

Please submit your 2 page application by 1 April 2004 to: Marcus Foth at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Applicants will be notified of acceptance by 1 June 2004. Successful
applicants will be asked to prepare an 8 page paper on their research by
1 August 2004. For further details please contact the organiser of the
CIRN Doctoral Colloquium, Marcus Foth, at [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Key Dates

*Abstracts of papers (in English only) should be sent as soon as
possible. Please submit abstracts to Professor Michael Gurstein
([EMAIL PROTECTED]) or Larry Stillman ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) by 1 April
2004.

*Full Papers (up to 5,000 words, including references) are due 1
August 2004 for blind refereeing via peer review and inclusion in the
publication.

This deadline is final if you wish to be included in the publication.
Papers can be in English, French, Italian, German or Spanish. There will
be a prize given for the best refereed paper and a second, for the best
paper submitted by a student (please indicate on your submission whether
you are a student). Position papers (up to 2,500 words) are also welcome
and are due by 1 August 2004 if the abstract is accepted.

Research students are particularly encouraged to attend to present
work-in-progress.

*Interim Conference Committee

Michael Gurstein, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
Peter Day, University of Brighton, UK
Don Schauder, Monash University, Australia
Michel Menou, CoVITALC (Virtual Latin American and Caribbean Consortium
for Telecentres Research), Ecuador
Larry Stillman, Monash University, Australia
Scott Robinson, Universidad Metropolitana, Mexico
Graeme Johanson, Monash University, Australia
Wal Taylor, Central Queensland University, Australia
Beris Gwynn, Foundation for Community 

[GKD] CFP: Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication

2003-12-08 Thread Michel J. Menou
Dear GKD Members,

See in particular the 2 special topics that have been added to the
earlier call.

Michel

***

CALL FOR PAPERS

Fourth International Conference on
CULTURAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION
(CATaC'04)
27 June-1 July 2004
Karlstad University, Sweden
www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/

Conference theme:
Off the shelf or from the ground up?
ICTs and cultural marginalization, homogenization or hybridization

The biennial CATaC conference series provides a continuously expanding
international forum for the presentation and discussion of current
research on how diverse cultural attitudes shape the implementation and
use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The conference
series brings together scholars from around the globe who provide
diverse perspectives, both in terms of the specific culture(s) they
highlight in their presentations and discussions, and in terms of the
discipline(s) through which they approach the conference theme. The
first conference in the series was held in London in 1998, the second in
Perth in 2000, and the third in Montreal in 2002.

Beginning with our first conference in 1998, the CATaC conferences have
highlighted theoretical and praxis-oriented scholarship and research
from all parts of the globe, including Asia, Africa, and the
Middle-East. The conferences focus especially on people and communities
at the developing edges of ICT diffusion, including indigenous peoples
and those outside the English-speaking world.

Understanding the role of culture in how far minority and/or indigenous
cultural groups may succeed - or fail - in taking up ICTs designed for a
majority culture is obviously crucial to the moral and political
imperative of designing ICTs in ways that will not simply reinforce such
groups' marginalization. What is the role of culture in the development
of ICTs from the ground up - beginning with the local culture and
conditions - rather than assuming dominant off the shelf technologies
are appropriate? Are the empowering potentials of ICTs successfully
exploited among minority and indigenous groups, and/or do they rather
engender cultural marginalization, cultural homogenization or cultural
hybridization?

Original full papers (especially those which connect theoretical
frameworks with specific examples of cultural values, practices, etc.)
and short papers (e.g. describing current research projects and
preliminary results) are invited.

Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to:

- Culture: theory and praxis 
- Culture and economy 
- Alternative models for ICT diffusion 
- Role of governments and activists in culture, technology and
communication
- ICTs and cultural hybridity 
- ICTs and intercultural communication 
- Culture, communication and e-learning 

Our conference themes provide a range of approaches to the questions
raised.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Nina Wakeford, Foundation Fund Lecturer in Sociology and Social
Methodology. For her DPhil at Nuffield College, Oxford, Dr Wakeford
studied the experiences of mature students using a sociological
conception of risk. Before coming to the University of Surrey in
September of 1998, she spent three years studying Women's Experiences
of Virtual Communities, funded by an ESRC Post-Doctoral grant. The last
two years of this Fellowship she conducted fieldwork in and around
Silicon Valley while based at the University of California, Berkeley.

CATaCĂ­04 will also feature two particular foci, each chaired by a
distinguished colleague who will oversee paper review and development of
the final panels.

PANEL 1: The Multilingual Internet
Panel Chairs: Susan Herring and Brenda Danet 
Expanding on their collective work, including a special issue of the
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (Vol. 9 (1), November, 2003
- see http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/, this thread invites papers with a
specific focus on how the Internet impacts language choice and
linguistic practices in traditionally non-English speaking cultural
contexts. Of particular interest are situations that respond in various
ways to the tension between global English dominance and local
linguistic diversity, e.g., through use of English as an online lingua
franca, the localization of global or regional linguistic influences,
translation or code-switching between different languages, and strategic
uses of the Internet to maintain and invigorate minority languages.
Susan Herring is Professor of Information Science and Linguistics,
Indiana University Bloomington
Brenda Danet is Professor Emerita of Sociology and Communication at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

PANEL 2: Utopian Dreams vs. Real-World Conditions: Under what conditions
can ICTs really help worse off communities?
Panel Chair: Michel Menou.
CATaC'04 will likely feature some examples of best practices in using
ICTs to aid culturally-appropriate development, especially as pursued
through governmental or NGOs' projects, 

[GKD] ANN: Global Information Village Plaza

2002-07-31 Thread Michel J. Menou

Frustrated by the Dot Force, Dot Opportunity, Dot Future, Dot For-All,
Dot You-Name-It?

Join the Global Information Village Plaza
Celebrating ASIST SIG/III 20th Anniversary

@@@ Apologies for duplication. Please forward to all relevant lists and
colleagues.@@@

A major feature in the so-called information society or else digital
economy is its global nature. This aspect is analyzed, described and
commented upon by many specialists. The same specialists and other
happy few are involved in the preparation of policies and programs
supposed to support the transition into this new era. Yet the lay
professional public has little opportunity to express and confront its
views in a truly open and participative fashion, unbiased by corporate,
political or career stakes. While general economic and social challenges
or current practices are often debated, what do this new  society mean
and imply for people is more often than not overlooked. This event will
provide a unique opportunity for all ASIST members and information
professionals at large to express and share their personal views. In
keeping with the spirit of the Plaza -e.g., the 'public place' or shared
community space reminiscent of the public sphere- the social interaction
between the various participants and contributors is an important part
of the process of reflecting about these issues.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE?

Step #1:
Send to the SIG/III discussion list [EMAIL PROTECTED] a short (300 words
maximum) position statement on the following questions:

1. What in your opinion will be radically changed in your professional
life as a result of the globalization of the information society?
- Why?
- What should you do in order to cope with the change?
- What should the information science  technology community do to help
you cope with the change?
- What should the information science  technology community do to help
itself cope with the change?

2. What in your opinion will be radically changed in your personal life
as a  result of the globalization of the information society?
- Why?
- What should you do in order to cope with the change?
- What should the information science  technology community do to help
you cope with the change?

Messages should clearly indicate Plaza in the subject line. Anyone can
post messages to the sigiii-l list but if you wish to see what others
have posted and participate in further discussion, we recommend that you
subscribe to the list (see
http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigiii-l for details on how to
subscribe). Note that the list will be moderated to avoid spamming and
unrelated announcements.

Step #2:
Send your comments about the statements posted on the list

Step #3:
Attend the Global Information Plaza session on Tuesday November 19
from 12-1pm, at the ASIST Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA
(http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM02/index.html) and participate in the
debates.


WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE ASIST ANNUAL MEETING?

A few weeks before the session, the moderators will summarize the major
themes that arose from the statements and discussions into poster form.

A poster with an overview of the main topics identified will be placed
in the Registration area. Attendees are encouraged to contribute their
ideas by  putting stickers with their comments and suggestions
throughout the conference.

At the special session on Global Information Plaza:
a) Posters on the various topics identified will be placed on the walls
around the room. Participants will be able to move around the room and
contribute to the topics by placing stickers with their ideas, or
discussing  these with other participants
b) Volunteers will be asked to moderate each poster discussion.
c) Halfway through the session, individual discussions will stop. The
volunteers and moderators will then gather the various ideas (and
stickers) and produce a short position statement summarizing the main
concepts and proposals.
d) The volunteers and moderators will briefly introduce the position
statements and highlight the contentious issues. This will be followed
by a general discussion (recorded).

A summary of the session will be subsequently posted on the Sigiii-l
discussion list along with edited position statement(s). It is our hope
to then revise and expand these for publication in a professional
journal, along with reflections on the process and outcomes of the
experience.

Don't miss the opportunity to say your word (politically correct
language NOT required). It might not change the course of history but it
may make you  feel better.

The moderators: Michel J. Menou, Department of Information Science, City
University London ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and Nadia Caidi, Faculty of
Information Studies, University of Toronto ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) for
the Special Interest Group on International Information Issues SIG/III
of the American Society for Information Science  Technology





***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member***
To post

Re: [GKD] Acknowledging the Digital Divide

2001-12-21 Thread Michel J. Menou

A quick reaction to

Monday, December 17, 2001, 6:05:20 PM, Alan Levy wrote:

 My true goal is to achieve universal access to IP communications. It is
 possible, if sufficient political will is created. This requires
 voices, nothing more.

Fine but this is not the only fundamental issue in development.


 The digital divide solely exists due to a surprising few reasons.

While Mr. Levy's presentation of the vicious logic of telecom markets
is quite appropriate, the digital divide is of limited concern if not
considered as part of the overall social divide. It does not matter much
to be able to call emergency assistance if one cannot pay for the
treatment in the hospital and have to.

snip

 [More ominously, one might conclude government does understand this, and
 is willing to sacrifice generations to gain tighter control over
 communications, and a subsequent power to participate in determining who
 in the future will own the small number of large content producers. 
 This creates franchises (ie. Disney) and also generates taxes from
 worldwide sources.]

This, and all the demonstration that preceded is certainly part of the
picture. But government should be considered here a shorthand for
techno-structure so much governments and big business have incestuous
relations at this time. However, it is unlikely that change could occur
in any area, much less the telecom one, as long as the overall premises
and foundations of social order will remain unchanged.

snip

 Sadly, no one believes a minimum degree of access to communications, to
 basic information-exchange, should be considered a basic human right. 
 Sadly, no one recognizes the cost for failing to share equitably such
 right. Sadly, no one has made proper use of their $5.00 calculator.

Well, Mr. Levy may feel lonely but there are plenty of people and
organizations who did and act about these issues. Not least the
telecentres which he said in another message, if I got it correctly,
are not appropriate. They may not be from his perspective of universal
individual access to telecoms. But true telecentres do not seek to
provide acces to telecoms, they seek to support social transformation
efforts by the communities themselves, using telecom facilities whenever
they can be of help.


Michel Menou




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