communications

29.10.2003 Reporters Without Borders has expressed alarm at attempts by the Ukrainian secret police to take control of Internet operations in the country and intercept e-mail messages. The government’s bid to take over management of the national domain name ".ua" and its proposal that parliament legalise e-mail monitoring, will allow it to effectively gag online activity, says the media rights group.

28.10.2003 The issues of affordable access to the Internet, telephony and other telecom services is greatly exercising the minds of many at the World Summit on the Information Society and other arenas. There are many genuine efforts afoot to deploy ICTs more effectively for development, calling for us all to ‘think outside the box’. Finding the right solution(s) to move forward, however, is not easy and demands the concentrated effort, especially, of civil society.

23.10.2003 The World Summit on the Information Society will be held in two phases. The first phase will take place in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003, while the second phase will be in Tunis, from 16 to 18 November 2005.

21.10.2003 La notion de « société de l’information » a acquis un caractère d’évidence sans que les citoyens aient pu exercer leur droit à un vrai débat. En témoignent les controverses, notamment au sein des grandes instances internationales, sur la « fracture numérique ». Au point que l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies a convoqué un sommet mondial sur la société de l’information qui se tiendra en décembre, à Genève.

21.10.2003 Registrations for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) have begun and applications for fellowships are available. The cut off point for grant applications is October 25th, so hurry.

21.10.2003 Making the Links is an independent, alternative radio from the heartland of Canada, now in its sixth year of broadcasting. Airing on community stations in Saskatoon and Regina, it features the voices of many communities fighting for social and economic change at home and globally.

21.10.2003 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.

20.10.2003 The UK Department for International Development, Gamos and Big World invite you to compete for a digital video camera, plus accessories, to enhance your information and communication for development. Develop a script for a short video that you will use the digital video camera to make and its project planning and send by email or post. Closing date: 30 October 2003

20.10.2003 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.

20.10.2003 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.

17.10.2003 En 2001, l'Assemblée générale de l'Organisation des Nations unies (ONU) a confié à l'Union internationale des télécommunications (UIT) la préparation du Sommet mondial sur la société de l'information (SMSI). Organisé en deux étapes, le SMSI doit aboutir lors de sa première phase à l'adoption d'une Déclaration de principe et d'un Plan d'action à Genève en décembre prochain qui fera l'objet d'une première évaluation lors de la seconde phase à Tunis en 2005.

17.10.2003 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.

17.10.2003

17.10.2003 The Panos Institute West Africa has set up, in Ghana and Sierra Leone, a pilot radio project using “Oral Testimonies”, 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.

16.10.2003

16.10.2003 The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) has set up a news agency on development issues. Simbani [1] Africa News Agency will make use of technical information from various organizations, editing it into radio format, thus making it accessible to a wide audience, including to people in the most remote rural areas. Read more in French

16.10.2003 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.

14.10.2003 In the latest of our BDO ICT Case Studies series, read how an Indian NGO has used a wireless communication system to improve the exchange of information and communication between isolated tribal communities and to increase their self-worth and confidence level.

14.10.2003 Published October 14, 2003
By Rahul Nainwal
RLEK has been working with the Van Gujjars - an isolated tribal community in North India - and fighting for their rights over the use of forestland. In this backdrop it has equipped the Van Gujjar community with wireless sets for better communication and empowerment.
Project Summary
Full Report

14.10.2003 Although cellular access to the Internet is nothing new, it has not caught on in Africa. That is largely because it has been sold as a way for users to display Internet content on a cellphone itself, with its tiny screen making very unappealing viewing. Now a trio of firms is touting a new technology as a way to connect computers to the Internet by using cellphone as a modem.