Full coverage: ICT

31.03.2008

28.03.2008 Bunkar Vikas Sanstha in Chanderi town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has changed the lives of weavers by helping them earn better incomes. Once bound by poverty and exploited by traders, the community now aspires to use media tools to create more livelihood opportunities.

27.03.2008 As players in the ICT industry,we are to provide impetus and help to monitor the implementation mechanism that will harness the translation of the Policy into tangible results on the ground. Our contribution towards this process must ensure policy implementation strategies speeds up at all levels.

25.03.2008 Under its World Ahead Programme, Intel Corporation will supply a thousand personal computers to schools across 64 districts in Bangladesh. Ensuring cost-effective Internet connectivity with the help of other agencies is also one of the objectives of the programme.

25.03.2008 Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, was in Mumbai, India to launch his new commercial venture ‘Wikia’. Here he shared his desire to increase local Indian language contributions on the site and the need to challenge spam content.

24.03.2008 Science fiction writer and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke died on March 19, 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 90. The global telecommunication community will remember him for his farsighted prediction of artificial satellite stations for earth-based communications.

24.03.2008 Tata Consultancy Services has designed a special software to prevent the misuse of funds meant for rural poor under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Over Rs 10 million have been recovered from local politicians and government officials in a village in southern India through the online system.

24.03.2008 Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) invites nominations from South Asian countries for the Manthan Award 2008 to recognize the best e-content for development. The Manthan Award, after its four years of interventions in India, has now decided to cover Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

24.03.2008 Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) invites nominations from South Asian countries for the Manthan Award 2008 to recognise the best e-content for development. The Manthan Award, after its four years of interventions in India, has now decided to cover Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

21.03.2008 If the Kenyan lawmakers had debated and approved the recent ICT Bill put before parliament, some of the communications issues raised by the recent political crisis in that country would have been more easily dealt with, argues KICTANeT's Alice Wanjira.

21.03.2008 Five states in India now want to start their own radio stations. AIR, the national broadcaster, does not highlight region-specific issues, they feel. Critics are however concerned that this move by the states is an invasion of the community radio space.

21.03.2008 A Kenyan company has launched a project called Digital Village Constituency Cluster geared to expand the country’s ICT reach to connect the rural population. Each cluster will have minimum of eight digital units serving commercial, developmental and educational activities within a 15 km radius.

20.03.2008 WiMax, a new super high speed wireless technology and described as big brother of Wi-Fi, has a huge growth potential in Asia with more than 11 million subscribing to it by 2011. Worldwide the figure is expected to reach 36 million during the same period.

19.03.2008 Punarbhava, a new interactive website for the disabled, is a one-stop cyber shop for information, aids, appliances, research and employment. The portal was recently launched at the Indian capital, along with the release of a new screen reader software for the blind.

18.03.2008 Kalpakkam in southern India, famous for its atomic power station, will soon have its own community radio station. Once established, thousands of professionals, including scientists, engineers and technicians will have the space to interact and strengthen mutual relationships.

18.03.2008 Timely intervention by the International Telecommunication Union has helped restore vital communication links by deploying satellite terminals in the aftermath of severe floods in Zambia, a southern African country. This facilitated the coordination of relief operations by both government and humanitarian agencies to aid the victims of this disaster.

18.03.2008 Jaipur, capital of western Indian state of Rajasthan, is soon going to be a wi-fi-enabled city. Data Infosys Ltd, which is among the top seven Internet Service Providers in the country, has signed an MoU with the state government in this respect.

17.03.2008 UNICEF is inviting entries from broadcasters for the 2008 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Awards. Radio and television broadcasters from around the world, whose programming best reflects the last year’s theme, The World We Want, and who demonstrate an overall dedication to youth participation in media will be awarded.

15.03.2008 Punarbhava, a new interactive website for the disabled, is a one-stop cyber shop for information, aids, appliances, research and employment. The portal was recently launched at the Indian capital, along with the release of a new screen reader software for the blind.

13.03.2008 Shonankielinen soittoääni raikuu näinä päivinä useista zimbabwelaisista matkapuhelimista ja kysyy, "kauanko aiot äänestää (hallitsevaa puoluetta) Zanu-PF:ää". Toisaalla puhelin piippaa tekstivistin "maa kansalle, äänestä presidentti (Robert) Mugabea". Edullinen kännykkäviestintä on Zimbabwen vaalikampanjoinnin hitti.