_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ B y t e s F o r A l l --- http://www.bytesforall.org _/ Making Computing Relevant to the People of South Asia _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ JULY 2001 ISSUE * SECOND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE Thanks to all who have helped us reach 2! BytesForAll was founded in July 1999..... ------------------------------------------ IN ADDITION TO creating the info-structure, we have to create a knowledge society that is not only computer literate but has the capacity to create content and application solutions in order to leverage on ICT for development. Meeting this requirement represents one of the biggest challenges that developing countries face in the information age. -- Mahathir Bin Mohamad, prime minister of Malaysia. ********************************************************************** HINDI WEBSITE ON CAREERS: The first Hindi website on careers has become functional. Editor of careerduniya.com Meena Bhandari, has said that more than 100 million students and youths would benefit from the career-related information in Hindi. The website provides updated facts on various competitive examinations dealing with subjects such as computers, management, commerce and arts and on courses and scholarships worldwide. Link: careerduniya.com ********************************************************************** KEEPING ABREAST WITH IT IN SOUTH ASIA: S-Asia-IT, a mailing/discussion list for IT developments in South Asia -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka -- is intended to provide a forum for those interested in the development and use of information technology in the South Asian context. Its specific interest is in advancing information technologies to support equitable social and economic development in the region, recognising that the development of information and communication technologies, particularly Internet connectivity, are important tools in this work by activists, donors, NGOs, government and the private sector. To subscribe to the S-Asia-IT mailing list send mail to the address <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with the following command in the body of e-mail message: subscribe s-asia-it The S-Asia-IT mailing list is archived at http://www.apnic.net/wilma-bin/wilma/s-asia-it ********************************************************************** I.T HELPS THE MILKMAN TOO: Akashganga - using simple but appropriate information technology, to facilitate timely collection of milk and thereby generating, higher profits for the rural milk producers has won the ICT Stories Competition 2001 from India. This project was conceptualized more than four years ago, when IT awareness in the country was limited to big urban centers only. The fact that illiterate and semi-literate farmers accepted the system and are operating it confidently, is an achievement by itself. Computers are being used for a very basic activity like collection of milk for the past so many years and rural masses are comfortable with it and have reposed their confidence in it. Local entrepreneurs could spot the latent potential and have spread the system in the remote areas, through diligent work and timely support. They kept their system, without any monetary compensation for weeks together, for the DCS to try out and feel comfortable with it. The popular and widespread usage of AKASHGANGA breaks the myth that ICT will not help in solving the day-to-day problems of the rural masses. On the contrary, the farmers are very open to adopting new technologies (without being granted any kind of subsidies!), provided it delivers tangible benefits. Read about AKASHGANGA at http://www.iicd.org/base/story_search_read?id=105 ********************************************************************** VILLAGES ONLINE PLANNED IN PAKISTAN: ePoor.org a non-profit civil society initiative has developed a flagship Programme in Pakistan by the name of Villages Online (VOL). The VOL (Villages Online) initiative of ePoor.org, is spearheaded to change the development scene, increase social well-being, and expand opportunities of wealth generation by making IT relevant to community needs at the village levels. The philosophy of ePoor.org is based on the highly successful efforts of community development led by such pioneers as Akhter Hameed Khan and Shoaib Sultan Khan. These efforts revolve around the creation of social capital to enhance the coping and adaptive capacities and strategies of the poor. Details: Zubair Faisal Abbasi. CEO/Project Director, ePoor.org Waheed Plaza, West 52, First Floor, Blue Area, Islamabad, Pakistan. Ph: 092-051-2201484, 0303-7759274 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERMENT: Check out the Technology Empowerment Network. http://www.techempower.net The strength of TEN ultimately resides in the size and quality of our member network. And you play a key role. The only way to become a member is to be invited by a current member, like you. When you invite active people into TEN you add value to the network. Remember, membership is free. ********************************************************************** MAILING-LISTS ON EDUCATION, HEALTH, CULTURE: Jiva is working in three areas: Education, Health, and Culture. Because so much is happening in each area, and because we have different audiences, we have decided to split our mailing lists into three: one for Education, one for Health, and one for Culture. These are: PRAGATI: Pragati (which means "progress" in Sanskrit) is a newsletter from Jiva's Education department, edited by Steven Rudolph, Educational Director. It provides updates on educational trends, IT in Education, useful learning resources, methods to enhance teaching, the development of ICOT (India's Curriculum of Tomorrow), and more. It is meant for teachers, principals, educators, parents, administrators, policy makers, and anyone concerned about the state of education in India and internationally. SEND BLANK EMAIL TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AROGYA: Arogya (which means "health" in Sanskrit) is a newsletter sent out by Dr. Partap Chauhan. It provides tips for healthy living according to the principles of Ayurveda, including recipes, home remedies, diets, types of exercise (yoga and breathing), and more. It is meant for anyone interested in maintaining and improving their health, as well as for doctors, nurses, researchers, and medical/health professionals. SEND BLANK EMAIL TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SAMSKAAR: Samskaar (which means "impression" in Sanskrit) is a newsletter written by Satya Narayana Das, Jiva's Cultural Director. It focuses on topics including spirituality, Indian philosophy, Vedic arts, and more. It is intended for anyone seeking deeper meaning in life. SEND BLANK EMAIL TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] MORE INFO: The Jiva Newsletter Team [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** MDLF-C@MP New Media Fellowships: Wanted, creative individuals to develop new-media products and projects in cooperation with C@MP. Interested in supporting the development of: products that can efficiently function in low-bandwidth conditions, secure web-mail interfaces, remote management of radio transmitters, secure wireless communications, new-media solutions for the print media, etc. The fellowships will be awarded to a maximum of $4,000 for a six-month period. Fellows will be able to work at our media lab in Prague. Details from [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** UNITeS LAUNCHES EXPANDED WEB SITE: United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), a global volunteering effort to help bridge the international digital divide, has launched a new, expanded web site [http://www.unites.org] that includes a list of volunteering opportunities, activities already underway, and a resource center of applications of information and communications technologies (ICT) to human development. UNITeS is a global initiative that allows volunteers from any country to work directly with people and institutions in developing countries to build their capacity on the applications of information and communications technologies (ICT) to human development. The United Nations Volunteer programme (UNV), as the volunteer arm of the UN, coordinates this innovative volunteer initiative. UNITeS has three primary goals: (1) Improve the capacity of individuals and institutions in developing countries to make practical use of ICTs in their development processes, through the cooperation of volunteers from all around the world. (2) Establish a significant knowledge base/network on applications of ICT to various areas of human development(e.g., support to small and medium enterprises, health, education, governance, gender equity, environment) and humanitarian aid. (3) Promote ICT volunteering in development initiatives and organizations, particularly among volunteer-sending agencies (VSAs), resulting in increased participation of volunteers in efforts to bridge the digital divide. -- DETAILS: Manuel Acevedo Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alexandra Haglund-Petitbo Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Richard Nyberg Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** CHECK OUT Free Software Foundation-India's mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://202.88.232.42/mailman/listinfo/fsf-india ********************************************************************** IT CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT: Gaurab Raj Upadhaya <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> informs us of an International Conference on IT, Communications and Development from November 29-30, 2001 at Kathmandu. The main objective is to learn from one another and also to draw up recommendations for better policies and better projects that benefit people, particularly in developing countries. The conference will have five main topics for presentation and discussion: Information Communication Technology; Communication, Media and Internet; Using ICT in Development; Web and society; Policy and Legislation Info from: http://www.fesnepal.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Paper/proposal submission deadline: September 30, 2001. Confirmation for presentation deadline: October 15, 2001. Full paper / presentation submission deadline: October 30, 2001. ********************************************************************** GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT: Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.globalknowledge.org> To join this list, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the first line of the message type: subscribe gkd ********************************************************************** FROM eMARKETER -- The Killer App: eMail. The report by NetSense ..indicates that e-mail is by far the most popular online activity among Indian users. Not only does this preference follow similar trends worldwide, but it also underscores the need for Indians to have a cheap and efficient way of communication. In a country as big as India, e-mail can serve as a vital link between friends, family and co-workers. ********************************************************************** FREE KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION: Navaid Abidi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> is making the case for a Free Knowledge Foundation "to lay down the basics for sharing of information and knowledge in the public domain". He is currently studying the nature of collaborative Open Source Software development, and trying to apply it to a more general concept of using ICT "for common good of human kind." CONTACT: Navaid Abidi, Founder & President, Free Knowledge Foundation Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.FreeKnowledgeLicense.org ********************************************************************** I.T. FOR THE FARMER: The Centre for Alternative Agricultural Media (CAAM) - India - focuses on farmer friendly communication systems. It aims to promote alternative efforts in agricultural communication, bridge the communication gap between farmers and scientists/government, set up a library on alternative agriculture and alternative agricultural communication, and maintain a website and publish an e-bulletin. http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1881.html Contact Dr. Shivaram Pailoor [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** TAKING EMAIL TO THE MASSES: Planning to tap the potential of e-mail as a low-cost communication medium in developing economies, a Bangalore-based startup, iNabling Technologies Pvt. Ltd., has introduced a $150 e-mail appliance called iStation that also helps with chores like word processing and spreadsheets. INabling Technologies is bundling the device with its own Internet service designed exclusively for text-based e-mail. Users will be charged $3 per month for unlimited mail. http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=499833 iNabling Technologies can be reached at http://www.ipcellindia.com/ ********************************************************************** CHECK OUT SARAI'S newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/newsletter If you wish to involve a wider audience, please subscribe to the Reader-list, which is a discussion list that grew out of the responses to the Sarai Reader 01: The Public Domain. (http://www.sarai.net/journal/reader1.htm). The Reader list has grown into a lively community of programmers, web designers, artists, academics and media practitioners, and anybody is free to post on any issue related to communication and media technologies and urban space. To subscribe, please go to the url http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list, or mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sarai was a lively space the whole of the month of May. The Cybermohalla workshop - a collaboration between Sarai and Ankur, Society for Alternatives in Education - was attended by ten children between 14 \15 years, and what a time we all had. The adeptness with which the children took to the computer, the camera, the audio recorder was truly amazing. The work generated by the workshop will soon be uploaded on to the Sarai website. The project is now on at the Ankur Centre at the Basti Vikas Kendra, J.P. Colony, Turkman Gate, New Delhi. ********************************************************************** FROM A LINUX STARTUP IN BANGALORE, INDIA -- Abhas Abhinav <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> explains his work thus: I head a Linux startup here in Bangalore, India - called DeepRoot Linux (www.deeproot.co.in). We are a young company involved in developing products based on Linux... not only are we working on developing commercial Linux products, we are also helping others architect Linux solution for their needs. All along, we are trying hard to be able to "eat" Open Source. We want to write Free Software and create great products based on it, but also be able to base practical and viable business models around it. We believe the the way of selling Linux is to sell the value Linux will provide - not Linux alone. Our first product, a Network Attached-Storage (NAS) device is not only based on Linux but will be able to compete with a lot of proprietary and closed source offerings from other companies.... We are silently doing our bit. Talking to college students to get them more involved in development (not just system administration), creating resources (articles, infrastructure etc.) to help contribute to the Open Source movement ourselves and more... ********************************************************************** SOS PROJECT: The State of Open Source (SOS) describes how this unusual way of making software 'accessible' is working in various parts of the globe. http://www.gnacademy.org/psip/sos/ ********************************************************************** 'REINVENTING GOVERNMENT in the Information Age' has just been published in paperback. The book explains why so many government IT projects fail, and how to improve success rates. It includes four detailed case studies from Third World countries, each of which has an educator's guide, enabling the cases to be easily used in training. http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/rgia.htm ********************************************************************** WORLD COMPUTER EXCHANGE: Using discarded computers in rich countries for the benefit of disadvantaged populations in poorer countries sounds like one of those great ideas that, well, is still just a great idea. Fortunately World Computer Exchange, a non-profit group based in Massachusetts, is actually collecting used computers in the US and sending them to schools in Africa, Asia and Latin America - helping to bridge the global digital divide for youth in the process. The Exchange, led by founder and President Timothy Anderson, takes a hands on approach to the hardware it supplies: each donation is accompanied by installation, connection, and maintenance plans, and recipient schools are partnered with tech-savvy schools in developed countries. To learn more about the World Computer Exchange go to their web site at www.WorldComputerExchange.org or send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** INDIAN MEET ON THE THIRD SECTOR: In an attempt at bridging the gap between research based knowledge and practical application, ATRI's first National Conference on Third Sector and Knowledge based Development, seeks to look at varied issues concerning the Third Sector to gain a better understanding of the Voluntary sector. ATRI (Association for Third Sector Research in India) has extended the deadline for receiving the application for the First National Conference to be held on 22-23 Oct. 2001 in New Delhi from 30 June 2001 to 20 July 2001. http://www.ngoresearch.org/conference_main.htm Papers should be submitted to Rhitu Jain [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** WWW.IITIAN.COM: We are currently running a website called www.iitian.com that provides a platform for all IITians from 6 IITs in India. Going forward we are planning to create a virtual community of engineers, institutes and industry in India. We strongly believe that the power of the Net can be exploited to transform the Indian engineering community. It is in this context that we would like to explore opportunities to be of some value to this project. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR Nilesh Khare, Director, TechAveNU.com India Pvt. Ltd. http://www.iitian.com ********************************************************************** INDIA'S SOCIAL AND DEVELOPMENT SECTOR: Your virtual window to the Indian Social and Development Sector: http://www.IndianNGOs.com Headlines of the social and development sector: http://www.DevelopmentToday.org One-place for NGOs (non-government organisations) http://www.NGOCareers.com Benefits, opportunities of volunteering. Gateway to volunteering http://www.IndianVolunteers.org ********************************************************************** IT IN GOVERNANCE: DigitalGovernance.org functions on a continuous learning mode. More knowledge products would be brought into light in the free automated updates. You may subscribe to these updates by sending a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Contacts: Vikas Nath Inlaks Fellow 2000-1, London School of Economics, UK Home Page : http://www.vikasnath.org Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************** GLOBAL POOL OF CREATIVE IDEAS: CreativityPool.com is a global pool of creative ideas - people can browse through the database for original solutions and inspiration, or donate their unused creativity. Unlike "bulkier" projects, the Creativity Pool works more or less like the penny cup next to the cash register: Ideas are basically free (except for an acknowledgement reward in case of success), and people can simply submit their spare ideas or help themselves. ********************************************************************** * * This Prix Arts Electronica is based in Germany. * (http://prixars.orf.at/) It has chosen BytesForAll for a *honorary * additional faith in the work we do... which, we are proud to say, * is done entirely by an unpaid, voluntary team scattered across * South Asia. Bytesforall.org has been designated by the Changemakers.net Library as one of the top Web sites for social entrepreneurs. Changemakers focuses on the rapidly growing world of social entrepreneurship, and is an initiative of Ashoka - Innovators for the Public. Its mission is to provide inspiration, resources, and opportunities for those interested in social change throughout the world. Thank you Changemakers for the honour! 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 bYtES For aLL is a voluntary, unfunded venture. CopyLeft, 2001. bYtES For aLL e-zine volunteers team includes: Frederick Noronha in Goa, Partha Sarkar in Dhaka, Zunaira Durrani in Karachi, Zubair Abbasi in Islamabad, Archana Nagvenkar in Goa, Arun-Kumar Tripathi in Darmstatd, Shivkumar in Mumbai, Sangeeta Pandey in Nepal, Daryl Martyis in Chicago, Gihan Fernando in Sri Lanka, Rajkumar Buyya in Melbourne, Mahrukh Mohiuddin in Dhaka and Deepa Rai in Kathmandu. To contact them mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Two years on, BytesForAll thanks all those who have volunteered their time, energy and motivation in taking this experiment forward, since its launch in July 1999. BytesForAll's website www.bytesforall.org is maintained by Partha Sarkar, with inputs from other members of the volunteers' team and supporters. To join or leave this mailing-list simply send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with s u b s b4all or u n s u b b4all as the subject. 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 ------------ ***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership*** 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.globalknowledge.org>
