Hi All,
We are all set to be at FOSS.IN <http://FOSS.IN>.
There is not much planned at this time.
1. Stall with FSF-India brochures and posters
2. GNU/Hurd demo
Everybody interested is welcome to join us.
Anybody having links to FSF-India t-shirt ideas
We are planning to put following
a. Front - GNU head logo on breast
b. Back - FSF-India logo , Weave your own code,
www.gnu.org.in<http://www.gnu.org.in>
Thanks and Regards
Kanti
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --
SPECIAL EDITION
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (WSIS)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --
*APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
- November 2005 No. 58 -
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- ON THE ISSUES: INTERNET GOVERNANCE --
-- ON THE ISSUES: HUMAN RIGHTS IN TUNISIA --
-- ON THE ISSUES: FINANCING OF ICT4D …
[View More]--
-- APC AT WSIS --
-- WSIS BLOGS --
-- SNAPSHOTS FROM WSIS --
-- INTERESTING READING --
-- USEFUL SITES ON THE WSIS --
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
The second World Summit on the Information Society has started. Today,
Wednesday November 2005, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and
Tunisian President Ben Ali opened the summit which has focussed
primarily on the twin issues of financing of ICT for development in
developing countries and internet governance since the first summit was
held in Geneva in December 2003. A controversial host for an
international 'information summit' given its well-documented suppression
of freedom of expression including on the internet, the Tunisian
authorities were openly criticised by Swiss President Samuel Schmid and
civil society representative Shirin Ebadi for their repressive acts
against local and international civil society prior to the summit
opening. The Tunis Agenda and the Tunis Commitment -the two summit
documents- were finalised on Tuesday after long negotiations.
APC is producing two APCNews and APCNoticias specials direct from WSIS
and for the first time, original content in French. Here's the first on
Day One of the WSIS Summit. The next APCNews will appear on Day Three,
the last day of the Summit.
Keep informed about the WSIS with APC. We covering events on the ground
from Tunis and logging it all on our blogs in English, French and Spanish.
English blog: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog
Spanish blog: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog
French blog: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog
RSS feeds also available from each blog page.
Detailed coverage in Spanish comes from APC's Latin America and
Caribbean ICT Policy Monitor. Http://lac.derechos.apc.org/wsis
All stories in this APCNews Special are from the APC WSIS blogs.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- ON THE ISSUES: INTERNET GOVERNANCE --
The Tunis Commitment almost signed [By APCNews]
APCNews writing from TUNIS, Tunisia, 16/11/2005 09:15 -- By 10 pm
Tuesday, the chairperson, ambassador Khan, had concluded negotiations on
chapter 3 on internet governance and received a standing ovation from
all attending delegates. The outcome of the internet governance process
is to have a forum that will take up broad public policy issues on the
one hand, and a process of cooperation on the narrow principles that
relate to domain name, numbers and the root zone file on the other.
"This outcome has to be evaluated in terms of the balance of power in
the community of nations," said Willie Currie, APC's Communications and
Information Policy Programme Manager. "The U.S. clearly saw that its
strategic interest with regard to the war on terror and its dominant
role in the global economy meant that it had to retain its oversight
over the primary form of communications in the world, which today is the
internet," Currie added.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2466414
Who will control the internet? Negotiations appear to be pointing
towards a multi-stakeholder, multi-lateral forum [By APCNews]
Heated discussions between governments meeting in Tunisia at the World
Summit on the Information Society seem to reaching results which could
change the face of how the internet is managed for the next several
years. APCNews reports.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2452593
APC... recommendations on internet governance [By APC]
APC crystallizes a set of recommendations with regard to internet
governance for the final Summit in Tunis in November 2005 including for
an internet governance forum that has become reality in the Tunis
declaration. Recommendations available in English, Spanish and French.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2379688
IPS, WSIS and paedophile issues [By FN]
From my RSS-feed, I just came across this story from one of my
favourite news sources -- IPS filing from Bangkok -- that makes a case
on why the information society must block paedophiles.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2378624
Who gets the credit, and who controls? [By FN]
Here's an articulate post by a journalist colleague from India -one of
the few that makes sense of the issues at Tunis. It was written by Anand
Parthasarathy of The Hindu, a prominent Indian newspaper, and reproduced
via the One World South Asia network. BytesForAll mailing list, an APC
member, reproduced it... and it raised a (brief but interesting)
discussion. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2447992
Crucial drafting session in Tunis [By APCNews]
Late on Sunday night, November 13, 2005, an assembly of about 100 people
agreed to a series of minimal points of common ground related
to internet governance in Tunis. These points were then to be reported
back to the general plenary of what is called the resumed PrepCom 3
meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) for
definitive negotiation and implementation.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2418539
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- ON THE ISSUES: HUMAN RIGHTS IN TUNISIA --
NEWS ALERT: Censorship by the host of THE UN summit on information?
People in Tunisia cannot access a number of websites because they are
being blocked. And the Citizens' Summit on the Information Society has
also been taken 'offline' for Tunisians. List of filtered websites:
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2436066
Flagrant violation of human rights at Tunis [By APCNews]
Under the incredulous eyes of the participants at the World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS), journalists and human rights defenders
were manhandled, insulted, and then violently beaten. APCNews reports
from Tunis. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2431813
Many civil society activities cancelled [By Markus Beckedahl]
Many international NGOs taking part in WSIS have collectively decided to
cancel their activities planned for today at WSIS. This measure is
intended to make government, private sector and civil society delegates
aware of the human rights violations that have been adding up since the
beginning of PrepCom3 resumed. It is also a clear showing of solidarity
with all independent NGOs in Tunisia who
seem to have to put up with police repression on a daily basis.
Interview with Anriette Esterhuysen of the APC.
In OGG format:
http://www.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/Interview_with_Anriette.ogg In MP3
format: http://www.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/Interview_with_Anriette.mp3
Utsumi happy about security... despite attacks on journalists and UN
staff [By Pavelan]
The internet should be more democratic and more international, says
the WSIS' chief organizer. More than 80% of the goals of WSIS have
already been achieved, says ITU chief Yoshio Utsumi at his opening press
conference for the summit's currently-underway second phase in Tunisia.
He however skipped answering whether ITU has communicated concern to
Tunisia's government regarding the safety of journalists and human
rights' campaigners. Utsumi also announced that over 300 parallel events
planned. Some 12,000 delegates are meanwhile in Tunis on the eve of the
summit opening.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2451281
Obstacles ...and whose security? [By Jac sm Kee]
Took a cab to the Kram Palexbo, where the Summit and IT 4 All exhibition
was happening[...] When we finally got to the site, we were stopped 5
times at security checks at every turn of the road and I had to flash my
registration card and a big smile to calm the security that I was
indeed, a legitimate subject to attend this conference, accredited
(somehow) and all.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2447599
Cause for concern: how free is free? [By FN]
IFEX Action Alert Network, the International Freedom of eXpression
Clearing House has come out with a statement quoting Article 19 to point
to attacks on journalists and others at the WSIS by the authorities.
This statement is being distributed on behalf of the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) Civil Society's Media Caucus.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2446625
Online protest ... an alternative home [By Neila Charchour Hachicha]
Since the official website of the Online Protest is censored as you
can check for yourself here http://www.yezzi.org. I copied all pics
from the protest on flickr cause I thought you might like to discover
this online protest http://flickr.com/photos/yezzi/sets/1366354/. It is
a virtual online protest to say "Yezzi...Fock" which means "Enough is
Enough". They just cannot say we are disturbing the public order and
protesting is
a constitutional right. The Keyboard Revolution is doing its way so
help us keep the internet free from censorship.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2438705
In Tunis, internet governance rhymes with state control [By APCNews]
Today, the website of the Citizens' Summit on the Information Society
(CSIS) was effectively off-line for all web users in Tunisia. It appears
that Tunisian authorities have started to intensify their crackdown on
legitimate initiatives related to the World Summit on the information
Society (WSIS). Blocking the access to the www.citizens-summit.org is
the latest in a series of measures
introduced to silence voices critical of the government and its human
right record. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2436066
Don't take pictures@WSIS-Tunis [By Shahzad BytesForAll, Pakistan]
Maxigas -- a friend from Hungary -- and myself had the opportunity to go
to the Tunis City Centre last afternoon, just to have a feel
of the city and get to know a little more about Tunis. The atmosphere
seemed quite festive, and preparations for the WSIS are in full swing.
Green plants are being transported in numbers and transplanted on
roadsides and important squares, large pictures of the Tunisian
President are installed everywhere, and even most of the banners also
carry his pictures welcoming the WSIS delegates ;)
But questions remain....
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2415647
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-- ON THE ISSUES: FINANCING OF ICT4D --
Making the ride to cyberspace affordable [By APCNews]
En route to the promised global village, the information superhighway is
plagued by poor access and high fares that the bulk of this planet
simply cannot afford. Reducing international internet costs is an
important priority, underlined in a set of recommendations from the APC
made to the WSIS stresses.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2427753
Some figures... and hard facts [By FN]
Some figures, and hard facts, from a Highway Africa article, titled
ICT4 All expo to attract 40,000 participants: "According to the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the 942 million people
living in the world's developed economies enjoy five times better access
to fixed and mobile phone services, nine times better access to Internet
services, and own 13 times more personal computers than the 85 per cent
of the world's population living in low and lower-middle income
countries. ITU also estimates that 800,000 villages still lack
connection by telephone line, the internet or any other modern ICTs."
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2418346
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- APC AT WSIS --
Programme of APC events in Tunis:
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/apc_wsis_programme.pdf (pdf to download
and print out)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- WSIS BLOGS --
APC blogs are open to anyone in Tunis or around the world who wants to
write or comment on the World Summit on the Information Society. Here
are some highlights.
WSIS II: A walking dead [By maxigas]
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a pseudo-transcript of the proceedings
of the Civil Society press conference held on November 15, 2005
(Tuesday) at 16:30. The second round of WSIS has not even started yet
but hearing the pronouncements below one would think that it is
already over!
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2452532
ICT for All? Really? [By Jac sm Kee]
At the end of the day, Maxigas and I decided to take a walk and survey
the images of women, men, elderly people, young people and disabled
people at the ICT 4 All Exhibition hall. Afterall, the claim is that ICT
is for all right? So who is this 'all' we are talking about.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2447600
Hope remains forever... Tunis vignettes [Shahzad BytesForAll, Pakistan]
Have just gotten out of the Global Knowledge Partnership or GKP's
partnership building workshop at the El-Hana Hotel in Tunis City Centre.
It indeed was a pleasant experience. Frankly, had no clue earlier that
how GKP works and what kind of partnerships they have all around the
world ... http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2439181
It's another world out there... [By FN]
Inter-Press Service, the alternative news agency, has these stories
related to the WSIS. Given its alternative perspective, it reminds us of
some diverse perspectives which the first-to-break-the-news Western
media often overlooks... or simply prefers not to highlight. One
interesting piece is Media Enemies to
Share UN Spotlight by Marty Logan.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2436316
Groggy at Tunis... another view [By Jac sm Kee]
The plane ride was as all plane rides become after awhile, uncomfortable
and far too long. Once getting off, there were large posters everywhere
advertising WSIS, especially about the IT 4 All exhibition, where the
tagline -- complete with pictures of multi-gendered and 'raced' children
smiling at a computer screen - promises to forefront the human dimension
of information communications technologies development. I think I
snorted audibly. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2431649
Gender voices from Tunis [By Katerina Fialova]
Here's some information about GenderIT.org coverage planned for the
WSIS at Tunis in mid-November 2005. See details of what's expected via
websites, blogs, RSS feeds and more, to keep cyberspace informed about
what's emerging. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2386770
Looking for environmental activists [By Milena B.]
Just curious whether environmental sustainability and ICTs is taking
place somewhere in the WSIS docs at all ;-) It will be good to know
if apart from BlueLink, whether there are other NGOs interested to stand
up for the issue of environmental sustainability in Tunis.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2376151
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-- SNAPSHOTS FROM WSIS --
[Thanks to maxigas of Hungary, you can read more snapshots on the APC
WSIS blog and here
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2452532]
Jeanette Hofmann (Member of the German Civil Society Coordination Group):
The U.S. is not willing to talk about internet government oversight.
Most likely the Summit will ask Kofi Annan the Secretary General of the
U.N. to set up a Forum on internet governance and the U.S. is expected
to participate. The Forum would take up a range of issues including
Information Technology for Development and political oversight.
Rikke Frank Jorgensen (Civil Society Human Rights Caucus):
"Many have asked about the human rights situation. [...] 10-15 of us
were to hold a coordination meeting at the Goethe Institute yesterday.
The Tunisian civil society people were not allowed to enter, and were
kept out by men in civilian clothes who introduced themselves as
"security personel". I am not sure what kind of police it was. When
myself and other members of the international civil society stayed
outside in solidarity, we were forcefully removed. Then we walked around
the city to find another place to peacefully gather - to exercise our
right for peaceful assembly. Each time we were removed again, we were
pushed, and some people were even tried to be taken into cars and taken
away. In the end the German ambassador arrived and tried to enter these
premises with his guests of his own choice but he was not allowed. After
that each of us contacted our respective delegations, and asked for
support from the governments to basically provide for a space where we
can have this Citizens' Summit."
Parmindeer Jeet Singh (Coordinator of the Civil Society Caucus for
Follow-up and Implementation):
"I am presenting the specific disappointment of the civil society. The
Tunis round was presented as a "Summit of Solutions" by its organisers.
We did not find any effective solutions to the problems that brought us
here, of using the new communication opportunities for more adequate
development in the developing countries. Countries of the North did not
show the political will to getting forward with the policy of internet
governance and did not establish any follow-up process. Financing ITC4D
(Information Technology for Development), which is a very important
issue, was not addressed at all and no commitments were made. At present
the governments are trying to cover up the possibility of a complete
failure of the implementation of the WSIS process."
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- INTERESTING READING --
Indepth: WSIS by Choike
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/703.html
RWB presents electronic dissidents at the WSIS
http://committeetoprotectbloggers.blogspot.com/2005/02/rwb-presents-electro…
Humanity will survive information deluge ?·Sir Arthur C Clarke
http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/74591/1
Who owns and controls the information societies? FSF Europe 2003
http://www.germany.fsfeurope.org/projects/wsis/issues.de.html
WSIS and Beyond : A dialogue between Soenke Zehle & Geert Lovink
http://www.worldsummit2005.de/en/web/810.htm
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- USEFUL SITES ON THE WSIS --
The WSIS documents:
Tunis Agenda:http://www.ngocongo.org/ngomeet/WSIS/TunisAgenda.htm
Tunis Commitment: http://www.ngocongo.org/ngomeet/WSIS/TunisCommitment.htm
Citizens' Summit on the Information Society
http://citizens-summit.org
This website has been blocked in Tunisia since Monday November 14, 2005.
It is only accessible from WSIS Media Center but the rest of us around
the world can still visit it.
WSIS official site from the ITU
http://www.itu.int/wsis/
United Nations Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships
http://www.unmsp.org/
Summit Newsroom, Tunis Phase
http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/newsroom/index_print.html
IPS on WSIS – the progressive Global News Agency
http://www.ipsnews.net/
WSIS Wire
http://www.wsis-wire.net/
ITU's ICT success story home page
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/ict_stories/index.phtml
Unesco WSIS publication series
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=10592&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECT…
Gender at Tunis: from GenderIT.orghttp://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=f--e--
The World Summit on the Information Society Civil Society Meeting Point
http://www.wsis-cs.org/
Germany-based site on WSIS (also in German)
http://www.worldsummit2005.de/en/nav/14.htm
Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung (German Greens Party-linked foundation) on
WSIS. Some sections of the site in Spanish too.
http://www.boell.de/en/04_thema/3800.html
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --
APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are
distributed monthly by APC -- a worldwide network supporting the
use of internet and ICTs for social justice and sustainable
development since 1990. APCNews Archive:
http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/
Some rights reserved: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Licence 2.0 - 2005 Association for Progressive Communications
(APC)
[View Less]
http://c-o-d-e-x.info
Codex is a network of people, organizations, websites and contents
that share and make visible the idea of free knowledge. Whoever shares
the idea that the society should be built for the benefit of human
beings; that society should provide freedom and justice to every body;
that in the new information and knowledge society every human being
should be allowed to benefit the potential of digital networks can
subscribe Codex reading the following text and sign it up. You …
[View More]can add
to Codex every website that makes visible the potential of the free
knowledge following this link.
Codex Manifesto:
We claim a free knowledge society
We share a common codex: our human nature.
We believe that human being is the central value for the building of
a free, fair and sustainable society.
We believe that human creativity flourishes in a free environment.
Free digital networks empower human beings allowing them to express
their creativity.
On the path towards the information and knowledge society we claim for
the right of every human being
to fully benefit the potential of digital networks.
Reference:
http://fsfs.hipatia.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
[View Less]
This is one of the three stories winning a media award from GKP at
Tunis. "For thoughtful and incisive reporting on the Information Society
through analyses of social and political impacts and policy
implications."
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2005/04/18/stories/2005041800030100.…
Waiting to fly
Vipin V. Nair
Akshaya, the Kerala Government's project to make the common man log into
a computer, can take to the skies if it learns from teething trouble. A
status report from eWorld. …
[View More]
THE overnight rain had soaked Nilambur and its teak woods. A drizzle in
the morning brought a fresh layer of chill. Nilambur, famous for its
teak plantations, was about to sneeze.
But it was not the weather that dampened the spirit of Nazar. Sitting in
a small room that he calls office, Nazar looked more a loser than an
entrepreneur.
His Akshaya centre is in financial trouble, he has run up losses, and
the future is bleak, Nazar says.
He is not comfortable talking about selling a computer at one-third its
price to pay rent for the centre.
On the other side of the district, Mujeeb has a different story to tell.
His centre in Tirur has four staff to run the show.
It provides e-payment, DTP services, Internet browsing and computer
training. Why, he has even developed a billing software for local
cable-television operators.
In a nearby area, Noushad too has managed to take his Akshaya centre
forward, offering similar services to the local population, many of whom
saw a computer for the first time in their lives at the Akshaya centre.
Two years after Kerala's Akshaya project was launched — and gained
national and international attention for its pioneering vision — such
divergent voices about its viability and future are heard from
Malappuram, the district where it was piloted.
What is happening to Kerala's most ambitious information technology
project ever? Is there anything wrong?
Concept
The basic idea of Akshaya was to bridge the `digital divide' and thereby
propel Kerala as `India's foremost knowledge society.'
The Kerala State IT Mission, the nodal agency for the development of
information technology in Kerala, conceived the project, envisaging a
network of some 6,000 information centres across the State.
These centres would impart basic computer skills to at least one member
of the 65 lakh families, offer various e-services such as bill payment
for utilities, bring information through the Internet to people, and
most importantly, dispel the fear among ordinary citizens that the
computer is beyond their reach.
In the process, at least 50,000 people would find jobs, and Rs 500 crore
would be invested in the State within three years.
"The concept was to have an Akshaya centre within two km of every
household, just like a ration shop," says M. Sivasankar, now Malappuram
District Collector, and the man who spearheaded Akshaya.
These centres, set up by local entrepreneurs, would start off by
imparting computer skills to people under their coverage area. Over 15
hours of training, a person would acquire the basics of Windows, MS
Office, Internet, etc, from the Akshaya centre.
And for every such person trained, the centre would get a fee of Rs 120
from the State Government through the District, Block and Grama
Panchayat.
The first two institutions would chip in with Rs 20 each, while the
Grama Panchayat would spend Rs 80 for a person.
Every centre was supposed to train at least 1,000 people in three
months, thereby ensuring an income of Rs 1.20 lakh. Subsequent to this
e-literacy campaign, a host of services would be rolled out, including
the second phase of the training.
Malappuram, in northern Kerala, was selected as the test bed for the
project.
Initial days
The Kerala Government launched the Akshaya project in November 2002.
Entrepreneurs were selected by February 2003 and given training.
Over the next few months, a number of Akshaya centres, sporting their
blue logo, sprang up across Malappuram, one of the backward districts in
terms of social and economic development in Kerala.
Eventually, 634 Akshaya centres would be set up, it was planned.As per
the project report of the Kerala IT Mission, each centre would entail an
investment of Rs 3.83 lakh for its 10 computers and other paraphernalia,
plus working capital.
The Government ensured the Akshaya project priority funding from banks
and term loans to cover half the project cost were arranged.
The project went on steam in May 2003, and by February 2004, over 5.80
lakh people in Malappuram knew how to log on to a computer, open a file,
save it, surf the Internet and send e-mail. The world took note of
Malappuram.
But this process was not as easy as doing a search on Google, many
Akshaya entrepreneurs soon realised.
Every centre was supposed to train a certain number of people (over
1,000 from each ward in their respective area) over three months.
But sometimes, even a free meal is not enough of an attraction. Many
people showed reluctance to turn up at the centres at a given time,
putting aside whatever they were doing.
"We had to then open sub-centres to take the classes close to them,"
says M.M. Sadique, President of the Akshaya Entrepreneurs Forum. This
entailed additional spending.
He alleges that there were many instances of unnecessary expenditure
that entrepreneurs were forced to incur.
Like the case of handbooks for learners at Rs 8 per copy. These books
were to be sold at Rs 10 each but Sadique says the centres could not
sell even 100 copies. "Each of us had spent Rs 8,000 or more for this
handbook. We were promised that unsold books would be taken back, but we
are yet to be refunded," he says.
The delay in completing the training — it took nearly six months as
against the proposed 100 days — was reflected in disbursement of funds
as well. "It took about six months for us to get the money," one
entrepreneur says.
Government officials say no amount is now pending for the first phase of
the e-literacy campaign. A part of the funds was remitted directly to
those banks that had given loans to Akshaya centres.
A total of Rs 7.58 crore have been disbursed for the campaign, officials
say.
Yet, many centres were closed down. "Forty seven centres were closed
during the e-literacy project and 50 afterwards," says an official
associated with Akshaya. Only around 450 centres are now functional in
Malappuram, out of the planned 634, he admits.
"But this was the first time such a project was ever tried anywhere in
the world. In such a project, you usually don't get more than 30 per
cent success rate," he argues in the same breath.
Sivasankar says Akshaya was "slightly ahead of its time. Even in cities
like Kochi, many services are not available over the Net," he points
out.
Nevertheless, he too agrees that there were problems. Another critical
issue to be looked at is how many of those 5.80 lakh who learned their
skills at the expense of public money can now actually use a PC, after
two years. Apparently, many among them haven't used a PC again.
Missing: Fire in the belly
The selection of entrepreneurs was, perhaps, the first problem with
Akshaya. "There were substantive miscalculations," Sivasankar says. All
the 634 people who were chosen to run the centres, it was thought, would
make it on the lines of a Sabeer Bhatia or Narayana Murthy.
But many lacked the business acumen, the courage to take risks, and the
ability to see difficulties through. The result: when plans didn't work,
they tottered and waited for help, rather than finding innovative ways
to solve issues.
Since the project was a government baby, many thought there would be
continued support from the administration. "The Government had made it
clear in the MoU that there will not be any commitment after the
e-literacy campaign," the Akshaya official says.
Mujeeb, who runs the Tirur centre, says many unemployed youth jumped on
to the Akshaya bandwagon, thinking the Government would support them
throughout.
"The element of risk was not anticipated and they expected grants all
the time," he says. The political pressure that led to selection of some
entrepreneurs only added to the problem, officials say.
Promises fail
Entrepreneurs say many of the revenue streams the Government promised
for Akshaya after the e-literacy phase never saw the light of day.
"We were told during our training period that there would be a number of
avenues for business generation through the centre," says one
participant. The project report, in fact, lists a host of such
opportunities. The Akshaya centre, it says, would function as a direct
link between the people, Government and private organisations.
It can offer services such as data collection, training and education,
Web-based consultancy services, printing and publishing, information
sales and other general services.
For instance, the centres can do data collection such as census (for
government) and market data (for industry).
Several other services such as computer training to more people,
providing courses such as spoken English and personality development,
e-learning, online exams, Web-based marriage consultancy, real estate,
telemedicine, DTP, sales of government information and application
forms, Internet browsing and what- have-you were up for grabs for
enterprising folks.
A model centre in a normal year can thus make Rs 5.43 lakhs, the report
postulates.
While those like Mujeeb and Noushad managed to provide some of these
services, many others couldn't. The Government, from its side, did offer
large-scale data entry work, but this ran into rough weather.
One centre in a panchayat was selected by Information Kerala Mission to
convert panchayat records into digital format.
Sadique alleges that many centres are yet to receive their dues after
completing the work. Akshaya officials also agree that there are
problems with regard to this initiative.
Efforts are now on to get the funds released.
A health-kiosk concept was initiated, but it remained a concept only. It
is not clear now as to how far it is possible for Akshaya centres to
provide the kind of services envisioned in the project report.
Whether every citizen would go to an Akshaya centre to pay his bills,
buy his application forms/submit them and to deal with authorities
remains to be seen.
Besides, labour unions in utilities are grumbling, as they fear that
Akshaya would render many employees jobless.
Connectivity
Meanwhile, Akshaya centres were networked with one another through
wireless Internet. Through a global bidding, Delhi-based Tulip IT
Services was chosen to roll out a wireless Internet network over the
hilly terrain of Malappuram (which itself means `atop a hill').
Once the network was established, Akshaya centres would start providing
e-payment facilities, besides offering Internet browsing, e-mail, and
chat.
Establishing such a network in a district like Malappuram proved to be a
tough task.
Entrepreneurs complain that there were connectivity problems in the
early days. Each Akshaya centre was to pay Rs 8,000 for connectivity
through four post-dated cheques of Rs 2,000 each. Of this, only one
cheque has been cashed so far.
The centres were also to pay a monthly charge of Rs 1,000 for unlimited
connectivity. This amount has also not been levied as yet, despite the
network being up and running.
But the delay that occurred during the rollout affected the centres
severely, says Sivasankar. "The centres could not graduate to the second
phase," he says. Apparently, Tulip had underestimated the nature of
Malappuram's terrain and hence the delay.
But Tulip's Managing Director, Lt. Col. H.S. Bedi VSM, says Akshaya has
been "one of the most successful of such projects to date."
"The network has been in use for almost eight months as of now. The very
high usage of the project is probably the best measure of its success,"
he argues.
The centres agree Net connectivity has stabilised now and they are happy
about its bandwidth (between 16 Kbps and 64 Kbps), notwithstanding
occasional drops.
Out of the 401 centres that are connected, 151 are now providing e-pay
services. People can pay electricity and BSNL telephone bills through
these centres by paying a fee of Rs 5 per bill.
"In the past two-and-a-half months, 33,000 electricity bills of Rs 1.03
crore have been paid," officials claim.
Here too, entrepreneurs say more streamlining needs to be done at the
bank and utility offices to avoid glitches at the back-end.
They would like the Government to provide spurs on these lines: a lower
power tariff, waiver of interest on pending loans, status of small-scale
industrial units, and channelling of more government services.
What next?
Even though over one-fourth of Akshaya centres have closed down, it may
not be appropriate to term the project a failure.
In fact, the very fact that 450 centres are functioning across
Malappuram, braving the initial unforeseen hiccups, is a tribute to the
project.
But the State Government, now preparing to replicate the project in
other districts, should not overlook the problems that these centres
encountered.
And offering a helping hand to those in trouble, rather than just
washing its hands off, would send a positive message to potential
Akshaya entrepreneurs in other parts of the State.
vipin(a)thehindu.co.in
Picture by G.P. Sampath Kumar
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http://www.thehindu.com/edu/2005/09/26/stories/2005092600150200.htm
Microsoft award for teachers
Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited has announced the second
round of its "Innovative Teachers Leadership" awards 2005.
Instituted last year, under its flagship India education programme
"Project Shiksha," these awards seek to honour school teachers who
innovatively use IT in their teaching techniques. The entries for the
award are currently open to both Government and private school …
[View More]teachers
and will close on September 30, 2005.
The top five entrants will be selected by a panel of judges. They will
then attend a three-day regional seminar in Seoul, South Korea.
The winner, from the region will then attend the global seminar in the
U.S.
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>From the APC blog. Please add your voice here... There are also APC
blogs in Spanish and French getting underway. FN
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml
Making the ride to cyberspace less costly, bumpy
By FN (Frederick Noronha) 14/11/2005 08:08 [Access, ICT policy,
Communication rights, Content & language]
En route to the promised global village, the information superhighway is
plagued by poor access and high fares that the bulk of this planet
simply cannot afford. …
[View More]Reducing international internet costs is an
important priority, underlined in a set of recommendations from the APC
made to the WSIS stresses.Read more...
Crucial drafting session in Tunis on internet governance
By APCNews 13/11/2005 20:40 [Internet governance]
Late on Sunday night, November 13, 2005, an assembly of about 100 people
agreed to a series of minimal points of common ground related to
internet governance in Tunis. These points were then to be reported back
to the general plenary of what is called the resumed PrepCom 3 meeting
of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) for definitive
negotiation and implementation. Read more...
Some figures... and hard facts
By FN (Frederick Noronha) 13/11/2005 20:24 [Communication rights]
Some figures, and hard facts, from a Highway Africa article, titled ICT4
All expo to attract 40,000 participants: "According to the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), the 942 million people living in the
world's developed economies enjoy five times better access to fixed and
mobile phone services, nine times better access to Internet services,
and own 13 times more personal computers than the 85 per cent of the
world's population living in low and lower-middle income countries. ITU
also estimates that 800,000 villages still lack connection by telephone
line, the Internet or any other modern ICT." Read more...
Don't take pictures@WSIS-Tunis
By Shahzad (BytesForAll, Pakistan) 13/11/2005 18:02 [Civil society
participation, Communication rights]
Maxigas -- a friend from Hungary -- and myself had the opportunity to go
to the Tunis City Centre last afternoon, just to have a feel of the city
and get to know a little more about Tunis. The atmosphere seemed quite
festive, and preparations for the WSIS are in full swing. Green plants
are being transported in numbers and transplanted on roadsides and
important squares, large pictures of the Tunisian President are
installed everywhere, and even most of the banners also carry his
pictures welcoming the WSIS delegates ;) But questions remain....
Read more...
Some voices... about Tunis
By FN 13/11/2005 16:43 [Media & ICTs, WSIS implementation]
How's the world comprehending Tunis? From disinterest to unheard voices,
bewilderment, hidden agendas and nationalistic positions... all these
seem to be the trends emerging from the media conference on November
2005's World Summit on the Information Society at Tunisia. More so, if
one looks at the media from a Southern perspective. Read more...
The WSIS is _not_ in Tunis
By maxigas 13/11/2005 07:45 [Local ICT tactics, WSIS implementation]
Yesterday me and Shahzad had a chance to see Tunis in all its WSIS
splendour. Tunis as a city has been completely appropriated by the WSIS
campaign. Public spaces where people lead their daily lives are heavily
marked by a campaign about an event that they have no meaningful way to
experience, and that will perhaps not bring any lasting good for their
country. Read more...
New book... via Tunis
By Partha Pratim Sarker 12/11/2005 08:23
Word Matters Multicultural perspectives on information societies has
been described as "a collective work by some 30 authors from civil
societies all over the world, deciphers the central concepts of the
'information society'." Read more...
Ultimate webmaster, citizens' voice
By FN 12/11/2005 08:03 [Internet governance, Civil society
participation]
Might interest you: Inter-Press Service has this story U.S. Fights to
Remain the Ultimate Webmaster which says that international efforts to
break down the digital barriers facing the world's poor will backfire if
governments fail to work out their differences on the issue of internet
governance. Meanwhile, here's the website for the Citizens' Summit on
the Information Society (CSIS). It was launched on November 10. Read
more...
Technorati links (2488 and growing) By FN 12/11/2005 07:40
Technorati.com, the search engine for blogs, throws up a total of 2,488
posts related to the WSIS among the 21 million sites and 1.7 billion
links that it tracks. Read more...
WSIS Panel on WIPO and IPRs (Nov 16) By Al Alegre 12/11/2005 07:19
[Intellectual property]
Thought this -- IPJ at WSIS:A parallel event to be held at the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis -- would be of
interest. Not sure if it conflicts with any events. Probably will :-).
Read more...
Gender voices from Tunis
By Katerina Fialova 12/11/2005 05:20 [Civil society participation,
Gender & ICTs]
Here's some information about GenderIT.org coverage planned for the WSIS
at Tunis in mid-November 2005. See details of what's expected via
websites, blogs, RSS feeds and more, to keep cyberspace informed about
what's emerging. Read more...
APC ... reflecting the WSIS By FN 12/11/2005 04:24 [Civil society
participation]
Some of APC's plans for reflecting what's happening at Tunis include its
English and Spanish websites and a blog in French These blogs aim to be
a mix of indepth structured articles plus notes and comment from the APC
team in Tunis, and anyone else who would like to write. It's open to the
public to post items and comments, subject to posts being relevant to
the theme. Read more...
APC... on internet governance By APC 11/11/2005 18:05 [Internet
governance]
APC has participated extensively in the internet governance process at
the World Summit on Information Society. Out of this participation and
in collaboration with other partners, including members of the WSIS
civil society internet governance caucus, APC has crystallized a set of
recommendations with regard to internet governance ahead of the final
Summit in Tunis in November 2005. Read more...
Blog links By FN (Frederick Noronha) 11/11/2005 17:50 [Communication
rights]
Wikipedia's entry on the WSIS has this useful set of links to some other
blogs on this theme. There's the WSISBlogs.org, a multilingual coalition
of bloggers attending WSIS; includes text, photos, podcasts and video;
apart from WSIS wire news on the summit; iwitness, offering debate, news
and resources for "journalists creating a fairer information society"
and The Daily Summit - WSIS and similar World Summit coverage by the
British Council Science Team (with items dating back to 2003 and 2004,
at the time of blogging). Read more...
IPS, WSIS and paedophile issues By Frederick Noronha 11/11/2005 15:56
[Laws & regulation] From my RSS-feed, I just came across this story
from one of my favourite news sources -- IPS filing from Bangkok --
that makes a case on why the information society must block
paedophiles. Read more...
Looking for environmental activists By Milena B. 11/11/2005 06:59
[Environment & ICTs]
Just curious whether environmental sustainability and ICTs is taking
place somewhere in the WSIS docs at all ;-) It will be good to know if
apart from BlueLink, whether there are other NGOs interested to stand up
for the issue of environmental sustainability in Tunis. Read more...
Welcome to the APC WSIS blog By Karen Higgs• 08/11/2005 16:57
[Access]
APC will be producing two APCNews/APCNoticias specials direct from WSIS
and for the first time, original content in French. Watch our for our
trilingual English-Spanish-French blogs! Read more...
--
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/
_/ Frederick Noronha | Independent Journalist | Ph 832.2409490
_/ Goa India | fred(a)bytesforall.org | http://fn.notlong.com
_/ Mobile: 0 9822 122436 | http://fn-at-google.notlong.com
_/
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EDUCATION INDIA: Relevant discussions from the world of education
http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/education-india/ (See archives)
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Just sharing these figuress downloaded from a Tunis 2005-related
website... FN
http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/newsroom/stats/index.html
ASIA-PACIFIC
The world’s most diverse region, Asia-Pacific’s 41 economies span 30% of
the world’s land mass, encompass 3’500 languages, and are home to 57% of
the world’s population (or 3.6 billion people).
Nowhere is the digital divide more pronounced. Internet penetration
ranges from below 1% in countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia and Lao, to
above 65% in …
[View More]countries like Australia and the Republic of Korea. Mobile
penetration ranges from below 1% in countries like Bhutan, Myanmar,
Nepal and Papua New Guinea to 90% or more in countries like Hong Kong
(China) and Singapore.
China remains the region’s powerhouse. During 2004, the country added an
average 5.4 million new mobile subscribers every month.
China already represents almost 50% of the entire Asian mobile market in
terms of subscriber numbers, yet domestic penetration still hovers at
around just 25%. That translates into another one billion more potential
mobile customers.
India has overtaken China to become one of the region’s fastest-growing
mobile markets, with growth rates of over 90% per annum every year since
1999. With just total mobile penetration rates of just over 4%,
potential for growth is enormous.
The Republic of Korea leads the world in broadband penetration, with
high-speed lines serving more than a quarter of the population.
Did you know that . . . ?
Figures can paint a striking picture of the ICT landscape around the
world. ITU provides some interesting snapshots, drawn from its 2004 ICT
World Telecommunication Indicators Database.
Internet
* In 2004, less than 3 out of every 100 Africans use the Internet,
compared with an average of 1 out of every 2 inhabitants of the
G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the
UK and the US).
* There are roughly around the same total number of Internet users
in the G8 countries as in the whole rest of the world combined:
* 429 million Internet users in G8
* 444 million Internet users in non-G8
* The G8 countries are home to just 15% of the world’s population
- but almost 50% of the world’s total Internet users.
* It is estimated that top 20 countries in terms of Internet
bandwidth are home to roughly 80% of all Internet users
worldwide.
* There are more than 8 times as many Internet users in the US
than on the entire African continent.
* There are more than three times as many Internet users in Japan
as on the entire African continent.
* There are more than twice as many Internet users in Germany than
on the entire African continent.
* The entire African continent - home to over 50 countries - has
fewer Internet users than France alone.
* There are more Internet users in Seoul (Republic of Korea), than
all of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa.
* There are more Internet users in London than in the whole of
Pakistan.
* Switzerland, host of the first World Summit on the Information
Society, has five times the Internet penetration rate of
Tunisia, host of the second Summit.
* Discrepancies in international Internet bandwidth - the critical
infrastructure that dictates the speed at which websites in
other countries can be accessed - are nothing short of
astounding. Tiny Denmark has more than twice the international
Internet bandwidth that the whole of Latin American and the
Caribbean combined.
* The high cost of international bandwidth is often a major
constraint, with developing countries often having to pay the
full cost of a link to a hub in a developed country. More than
40 countries have less than 10Mbps of international Internet
bandwidth, whereas in Belgium, a 9Mbps ADSL high-speed Internet
package is available for just EUR 60 a month.
* There are still 30 countries with an Internet penetration of
less than 1%
Mobile
* The 14% of the world’s population that lives in the G8 countries
accounts for 34% of the world’s total mobile users.
Fixed
* Of Africa’s 26 million fixed lines, over 75% are found in just 6
of the 55 African nations.
* Africa has an average of 3 fixed lines per 100 people.
* The Americas region has an average of 34 fixed lines per 100
people.
* Europe and the CIS has an average of 40 fixed lines per 100
people.
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Does anybody know where I can find a list of malayalam words? Is a compilation of words copyrightable? How about mathematical models derived from such compilations? If a freely usable list does not exist, can we approach some literary organization to help make one available? Such word lists and corpora are essential for developing models for software like OCR. While individuals can work on aspects related to algorithms, it is extremely difficult to build their own databases for such purposes.
…
[View More]Thanks in advance,
Bala.
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Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE),
Kerala, invites applications for its Small Research Grant programme to
projects in the area of FLOSS (Free Libré and Open Source Software).
SPACE invites developers/researchers/programmers (practitioners as
well as students) to propose projects in the area of FLOSS (Free Libré and
Open Source Software) applications. These projects can be
software development or research initiatives, or associated tasks such
as localization …
[View More]or documentation. Some of the priority areas under
this programme are :
- Local language computing
- Solutions for Small and Medium Businesses
- Education
- E-Governance
Some ideas for your thought:
- OCR for Malayalam
- Tools for School Education
- Mini ERP for SMEs
- Software for Microcredit for Self Help Groups
We are looking for original ideas as well as contributions to existing
Free Software projects.
Please send your project proposal to
research-grant(a)space-kerala.org
or
SPACE
109 Mangalam Lane,
Sasthamangalam,
Thiruvananthapuram 10
Kerala.
a rough format of proposal available at
http://space-kerala.org/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=32
About SPACE
-----------
SPACE, the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and
Employment, is a registered society that has members from academia, IT
industry, professional societies such as IEEE and Computer Society of
India, and IT Administration of the Government of Kerala. The vision
of SPACE is to promote Free, Libré and Open Source Software (FLOSS) in
academics, governance and individual use, and supporting advocating
the use FLOSS for employment generation in Kerala.
contact(a)space-kerala.org
www.space-kerala.org
--
Vimal Joseph
www.space-kerala.org
Free Software, Free Society <http://fsfs.hipatia.net/wiki>
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