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22.09.2003 Even critics of massive spending on computer and Internet technology in Africa - at what they fear is at the expense of poverty alleviation efforts - are conceding that so-called “new media” are helping Africans economically. Computers linked to the worldwide information Web via the Internet are also helping efforts to promote democratisation and gender empowerment.

22.09.2003 Community Voice Mail, a Seattle-based nonprofit, provides free voice mail for the homeless, poor and jobless around the US. A Cisco grant will more than double the number of people Community Voice Mail assists nationwide, from 25,000 to 65,000 by the end of 2007.

19.09.2003 Several Latin American governments are setting up telecentres where people can surf the Internet, often free of charge, in an attempt to narrow the digital divide within their societies, which is perhaps larger than the gap that separates them from the industrialised world.

19.09.2003 When cyclones, earthquakes or other calamities next strike in India, district officials in many areas can go online and quickly mobilize support for evacuation, search and rescue, medical aid and other relief priorities. The India Disaster Resource Network – a nationwide inventory of resources - was recently launched for emergency response to disasters.

19.09.2003 Somalia is home to some of the world's poorest people. Yet, amidst all the anarchy of a country reduced to ruins by civil war and over 12 years of protracted power struggles between warlords, some things still shine bright: it has one of the best and cheapest telecommunications systems in Africa.

18.09.2003 The Communication Rights in the Information Society campaign (CRIS) will hold the World Forum on Communication Rights, a one-day event, alongside the WSIS. The forum is an independent civil society-led initiative, aimed to demonstrate and document the importance of communication rights for people and communities in an emerging information society.

18.09.2003 Battle lines that could prove tough to breach have been drawn in the debate over whether multinational IT firms must place some equity in black hands in South Africa to comply with empowerment criteria. A split in opinion quickly emerged at a workshop, where members of the ICT sector hoped to draw up a charter setting out clear black empowerment targets.