[GKD] Digital Opportunity Channel Newsletter
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 * INDIA PLANS MASSIVE CYBER PROJECT IN KASHMIR, SANS POWER & CONNECTIVITY --- The Indian government has announced an ambitious US $8.2 million plan to set up 139 Community Information Centres connecting all villages across the state of Kashmir, alongside call centres and other schemes to boost information technology, even though both power and connectivity remain elusive in the state. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70973/1138/557 UK COUNCIL PUTS CITIZEN BENEFITS CLAIMS ON EXPRESSWAY - In an innovative e-government initiative, the Halton Borough Council in UK is driving its housing and other benefits straight to the citizenry, literally. Equipped with laptops connected to the council's benefits-management system, its Benefits Express bus helps local people navigate the bureaucratic maze of applying for housing benefits and council tax relief. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70972/1138/557 AS ONE COMPANY TAKES OVER US AIRWAVES, DIVERSITY DISAPPEARS Before the deregulation of radio in the US in 1996, no company could own more than 40 radio stations. Now one - Clear Channel - owns over 1,200, as well as hundreds of thousands of billboards, concert halls, and other entertainment products. All this means most of what we hear is only what they want us to hear, explains Free Speech Radio's Dante Toza. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70894/1138/557 MEDIA, COMMUNICATORS CONCERNED AT WSIS MEASURES --- The Bellagio Symposium on Media, Freedom and Poverty, which came together recently, has expressed concern that in the World Summit on the Information Society some of the measures being considered run counter to freedom of expression and that there is inadequate mapping of development objectives against the proposed actions. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70782/1138/557 ACCESS TO INFORMATION ESSENTIAL TO KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES: MINISTERS - Meeting in Paris in preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society in December 2003, ministers from all over the world have agreed that universal access to information and press freedom must guide the ICT use to maximize its effectiveness for individual, community and national development. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70780/1138/557 BOLIVIA ACTIVISTS PROTEST FORCED CLOSURE OF RADIO STATION - Communication rights activists in Bolivia have denounced the forced closure of Radio Pio XII, one of the affiliates of the Association for Wireless Education in Bolivia. The closure was a direct result of the radio station's role in providing information on the crisis that is developing in the country. Latin American and Caribbean communicators have also expressed their solidarity with the Bolivian people. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70682/1138/557 RADIO PROJECT IN WEST AFRICA GIVES VOICES TO COMMUNITIES The Panos Institute West Africa has set up, in Ghana and Sierra Leone, a pilot radio project using ìOral Testimoniesî, or interviews that are long and extensive discussions on specific topics. Using the oral testimonies of the local population in their original languages, it aims to bring about a concept of a more listener-friendly radio format that facilitates integration and synthesis and encourages creativity. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70675/1138/557 FINALISTS NAMED FOR APC BETINHO COMMUNICATIONS PRIZE 2003 - APC has announced the 12 finalists for the Betinho Communications Prize 2003. Three of the projects will be awarded US$ 7,500 in prize in recognition of their outstanding people-centred technology initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/70540/1138/557 SOUTH AFRICA GETS ITS OWN 'GRAZING LAND' FO
[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 * OH MY NEWS! ANYONE CAN BE A REPORTER - Which online news service recently played an instrumental role in the election of a President? The South Korean on-line news service 'Ohmynews' is probably the only example to date of a Net-based initiative that has made a decisive difference in a presidential election. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69902/1138/493 $53.7M FOR TECH-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL US -- Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced 128 awards totalling $53.7 million for rural tech-based economic development initiatives. The 84 distance learning and telemedicine grants, which total $32.4 million, are aimed to provide greater educational opportunities and medical service to rural citizens in 41 states. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69867/1138/493 ARAB YOUTH LEARN COMPUTER SKILLS AT TRAINING CENTRES An after school programme for Arab youth in the West Bank city of Ramallah is providing students a safe place to interact and be creative while learning technology skills. Youth, ages 10 to 18, have access to high-tech equipment, professional software and adult mentors to help them develop the self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning they need to be successful in the future. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69866/1138/493 CHINA RELEASES CYBER DISSIDENT QI YANCHEN -- The Chinese government has released from prison cyberdissident Qi Yanchen before completion of his four-year sentence for alleged subversion and ìputting out anti-government newsî by posting pro-democracy articles on the Internet, Reporters Without Borders has confirmed. China remains by far the world's biggest prison for cyber dissidents and Internet users, with at least 37 currently in jail for speaking out online. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69737/1138/493 CRIS WELCOMES INCLUSION OF COMMUNICATION IN WSIS DRAFT DECLARATION -- The Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) campaign has welcomed the inclusion of Paragraph 4 - which refers to communication as a basic human need - in the draft declaration of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). It called on all governments, however, to ensure that communication as a central and crucial human activity remains in the final declaration that will be presented at the summit in December 2003. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69735/1138/493 PAKISTAN TO SET UP WIRELESS EXCHANGES - Pakistan plans to establish Wireless Local Loop (WLL) system exchanges all over the country, including rural areas and mountainous terrains. The aim is to tackle unemployment and usher in development in areas that have remained untouched. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69734/1138/493 CIVIL SOCIETY PONDERS ALTERNATIVE DECLARATION FOR WSIS -- Civil society organisations (CSOs) are frustrated that a large number of their proposals have been ignored by state officials crafting the declaration for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December 2003. CSOs are now deliberating on an alternative declaration of their own for delegates' consideration at the summit. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69632/1138/493 NEW ONLINE RESOURCES FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS OF THE AMERICAS - The Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA) has launched the latest version of the Virtual Parliament of the Americas, an online tool enabling parliamentarians to communicate and work together on issues of hemispheric importance. The project intends to address the communication needs expressed by FIPA's member parliamentarians. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/69628/1138/493 MICROSOFT TO SUPPORT ANGOLA'S TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY - Microsoft wil
[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 Sou
