policy initiatives in ICT

31.07.2007 The fast-growing GeoWeb is helping people across the world by providing simple tools that allow people to draw on digital maps and annotate them with text, images, sound and videos, literally making anyone a mapmaker on the web.

27.07.2007 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is organising a workshop in collaboration with the Ministry of Posts and Telematics, Viet Nam with support from the Government of Australia on Frameworks for Cybersecurity and Critical Information Infrastructure Protection on 28-31 August 2007 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

27.07.2007 Director of Health and Human Services Industry, Microsoft Asia Pacific Gabe Rijpma tells the ehealth team about Microsoft's investments to NGOs and allocation for healthcare IT. The interview also explores Gabe's candid views about India's e-healthcare scenario.

27.07.2007 Citizen smart cards are a new revolution that provide a unique citizen number which is centralized in a national register of Indian citizens.It can bring the benefits of e-governance as the use of data warehousing and data mining could also help the government monitor its welfare schemes effectively.

26.07.2007 According to a recently released report by the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the world's least developed countries (LDC) are falling behind in technology. The report said foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into LDCs had increased substantially three times in the past 10 years but with little contribution to technological apability accumulation in LDCs.

25.07.2007 UNESCO is organising an International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks in Muscat, Oman from September 01-03 2007. The objective of the conference is to review ICT-based knowledge parks in developed countries and how this idea can be implemented successfully in developing countries.

25.07.2007 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have agreed on a new approach to make online shopping safer. They have called on national authorities and business to set out clear, simple policies, explaining steps that customers should follow to make a complaint and then have it resolved.

24.07.2007 YK:n järjestöjen, yliopistojen ja tieteellisten julkaisijoiden yhteistyön tuloksena kehittyvien maiden tutkijat saavat vapaan pääsyn tiedejulkaisuihin. Jo kauan puhutun ja odotetun kehitysaskeleen arvellaan toteutuvan vuoteen 2015 mennessä. Uudistuksen odotetaan lisäävän maailmanlaajuista tieteellistä yhteistyötä sekä auttavan konkreettisesti syrjäisten seutujen terveys- ja koulutushaasteiden ratkaisemissa.

24.07.2007 A new research says that with controversies taking place often - genetically modified crops and AIDS drugs - there has to be more involvement of the common man in decision-making related to scientific and technological issues.

24.07.2007 Egov magazine interviews Kuanishbek Esekeev, the Chairman of Agency for Informatisation and Communications, Republic of Kazakhstan on the development of IT-technologies and the vision of the National e-Government Programme of the country.

24.07.2007 The European Commission has awarded an 'excellent' rating to the Open PLC European Research Alliance (OPERA 2) project, which aims to develop an open standard for the next generation of power line technology.

23.07.2007 A meeting by Bangladeshi NGOs - Strategic Use of ICT for Poverty Reduction - held on July 17, 2007 at in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka focused on using ICTs strategically to empower the poor.

23.07.2007 The Global E-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) invites written Expressions of Interest (EoI) from consulting firms, consultants and other organisations for the provision of the following services: Baseline Study of Schools supported under the Rajasthan Education Initiative (REI) till July 30th 2007.

23.07.2007 A new report by the United Nations - Knowledge, Technological Learning and Innovation - focuses on how governments in the least developed countries (LDCs) can promote technological progress in order to achieve economic growth which can reduce poverty.

20.07.2007 UN organisations and some US universities have decided to enhance access to online research for scientists, policymakers and librarians in the developing world has been extended till 2015, in line with the UN's Millennium Development Goals in a meeting held in Washington.

20.07.2007 The Finance Ministry of India is planning to introduce Iris-based biometric PANs for new applicants which will provide accurate, secured access to information. The Biometric PAN cards will enhance security features like fingerprint or retinal scans to income tax payers in the country.

19.07.2007 The first-ever conference on the use of Web 2.0 tools for rural and agricultural development and natural resource management will be held at Rome, Italy, from 25-27 September, 2007. The meeting will be hosted by FAO and supported by CTA among others.

18.07.2007 To promote Hindi and the use of the Devanagri script around the world, the eighth World Hindi Conference has announced that the World Hindi Secretariat would be launching a website on 'Hindi on World Stage'.

16.07.2007 Manthan Award 2007 announces nominations for e-Content stakeholders across India working on developmental issues at the grassroots level. The last date for the nomination is 31st July 2007.

16.07.2007 To deliver better and more efficient customer services, Indian Bank has launched an e-Learning initiative for its employees in association with US based e-learning solution provider, KESDEE.