civil society & ICT

29.06.2003 Eleven countries from Southern Europe are currently participating in a project on ICTs for the development of education and the construction of a knowledge society. The project, which got underway earlier this year, includes activities like seminars and expert meetings on topics such as ICT application in distance education, IT training and multimedia courses.

26.06.2003 Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) is organising an e-awareness seminar for Asian parliamentarians in July 2003. To be held in three phases, at different locations, the series is aiming at sensitising the parliamentarians to the use of ICTs by highlighting policy issues, sharing ideas and experiences and discussing gender issues with regard to access and use.

22.06.2003 Emphasis on the need to promote local cultures, forging of new partnerships, giving the disabled full role in Community Multimedia Centres and the use of appropriate technology were some of the issues discussed at the recently concluded symposium on development of CMCs in Africa. More than 40 managers of CMCs, radio stations and telecentres participated in this workshop, which took place in Dakar, Senegal.

18.06.2003 Digital Freedom Network (DFN) will host a meeting on Web designing for non-profit organisations later this month. Since a Website is an important communication tool, especially for organisations with little resources, issues related to feedback and interactivity etc will also be discussed.

18.06.2003 Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) is organising a forum on "ICTs and Gender: Optimizing Opportunities" in August 2003. To be held in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, the aim of the conference is to study the barriers in adoption, create awareness and maximize the use of ICTs by women in various fields.

17.06.2003 The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is aiming for a better understanding of the information age. Use of ICTs for development is an important issue, especially in the South. Chakula, the Africa ICT policy newsletter, in a special edition focuses on the African civil society and the WSIS.

17.06.2003 The NEPAD E-Schools initiative got under way at Durban recently. Targeted at the youth, the programme will equip them with basic skills to function in the information society.

17.06.2003 The Worldwatch Institute's Friends For A Sustainable Future Campaign ends on July 1. Under a special challenge grant, every online gift from new donors through this campaign will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $600,000. It is easy to participate in the campaign: just sign up for a personal campaign Web page and email your friends, family and colleagues for recruiting new support.

15.06.2003 The European Union (EU) has outlined its objectives for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process to be held at Geneva later this year. This document also identifies the main position of the EU vis-à-vis important issues to be discussed at the summit.

15.06.2003 An interactive ICT discussion programme is being organised by InterAction later this month. The aim of this event is to increase the use of ICTs for developmental purposes and to highlight the various problems faced by NGOs.

12.06.2003 A six-day pan-African symposium on Community Multimedia Centres (CMC) is being held in Dakar, Senegal. Attended by participants from diverse fields, the focus of the meeting is to formulate a cohesive CMC development strategy for Africa.

10.06.2003 Saying that only very limited success is possible at the WSIS in influencing official declaration, the Communication Rights in the Information Society campaign (CRIS) is planning to organize a separate Communications Rights Summit. CRIS and APC have published their inputs to the WSIS process from the civil society perspective.

10.06.2003 A one-day workshop, focusing on the role of ICT enabled communities in international development will be held later this year in Amsterdam, Holland. Sponsored by the International Institute for Communication and Development, the event will focus on an evidence based analysis of ICT implementation.

09.06.2003 APC member TAU is setting up six more community telecentres in the Argentinean city of Rosario. Among other things, the effort also involves arranging for donated hardware and training of managers and volunteers.

08.06.2003 Global Knowledge Partnership and its two partners will be organising a two-day workshop for young women leaders in information communication technology. Forty women from the Middle East and the North African region will participate in the event, to be held later this month in Egyptian capital Cairo.

05.06.2003 The third annual Baramati Initiative on ICT and Development, held between May 30 and June 1, focussed on finding ways to leverage ICTs for empowering the poor. The conference saw experts emphasising the role of social entrepreneurs using ICT in opening new avenues for the poor in markets, e-commerce, and information-sharing.

05.06.2003 Free and Open Source Software should be promoted as the new tool in the area of using information and communication technology (ICT) for human development. This was the key message of the discussions during the second day of a consultation on "ICTs for Development and Cross-Media Partnerships", held recently in the Indian capital New Delhi.

04.06.2003 BlueLink Information Network of Bulgaria has launched a South Eastern Europe regional environmental content-sharing )Website in partnership with StrawberryNet of Romania. The English-language initiative aims to strengthen the environmental information exchange in the South Eastern Europe region through online content sharing and joint information flow.

03.06.2003 In contrast to the media attention that UN conferences on water, racism and sustainable development receive in the US, the mention of the two-part World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) receives blank stares and confused looks.

02.06.2003 APC and the APC Women's Programme (WNSP) have criticised the draft documents prepared for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) for, among other things, their reluctance to explicitly confront the fact that fundamental political, social and economic inequalities shape today's world. "There are critical issues [that] are not addressed sufficiently, if at all," they say.