news

17.11.2003 Mandla Njokwane, once a street kid and now a tutor at the Youth Development Trust centre in Johannesburg, was awarded the youth innovation award at the annual African ICT Achievers awards. Njokwane, who grew up in Thokoza on the East Rand, was awarded an offer to pursue IT studies at Thutong Training Institute For Communication and IT as part of his prize.

17.11.2003 Government schools in Sri Lanka will benefit from the implementation of the National Policy on School ICT Education. Over 4 million students in about 9,700 schools will receive basic ICT skills within next five years under this plan. Grade 12 students will have the option to study a new subject called General Information Technlogy which will give them basic ICT knowledge and skills.

17.11.2003 E-democracy, fuelled by new techniques like automated text summaries, is more than a tool of efficiency, customer service or good public relations – it could help create a refreshed public space and a more accountable democracy. An innovative project in Canada’s New Brunswick province highlights the benefits of continuing to experiment.

14.11.2003 Singapore’s Parliament has amended Article 15A of the Computer Misuse Bill, allowing continuous surveillance of cyber-suspects and authorising their pre-emptive arrest before a crime has been committed. Reporters Without Borders has warned against the risk of abuse of the amendment. Cyber-criminals are liable for jail terms of up to three years.

14.11.2003 After years of keeping it on hold, Bangladesh has legalised Internet telephony, ringing in an era of cheap communications which could help it grab a slice of the rapidly growing telecom business in the Asia-Pacific. But the common man is the major gainer. The decision is likely to lower international call rates by 60-70 per cent while it will boost the country's promising IT sector and create huge job opportunities, say Internet service providers (ISPs).

12.11.2003 Sri Lanka has drawn up a blueprint for an ambitious "e-Sri Lanka" project to bring together all government institutions through networking. Champika Liyanaarachchi of OneWorld South Asia reports on how the island nation is preparing for the World Summit on the Information Society.

12.11.2003 Internews, a US-based non-profit group dedicated to independent media, is working with women in Afghanistan to launch women-run radio stations to help women overcome the isolation imposed by cultural and political factors. A new station has just begun broadcasting in Herat.