<incom> weekly highlights from telecentre.org (from bytes4allreaders) (Modified by Geert Lovink)

Fri Oct 5 16:29:57 CEST 2007

  Hi Everyone,

  Here are the latest highlights from telecentre.org

  * UNESCAP networks telecentres to benefit the poor
  * HIVOS supporting telecentres to create content
  * i4d Film Festival India 2007 - Beyond the Mainstream
  * A telecentre connects to internet via a mobile phone
  * UDS transforms communities through information sharing
  * Telecentre National Alliance-Movement for a sustainable partnership
  * Young people call for involvement in information technology
  * Manthan Award 2007 and ICONECS
  * Sengerema telecentre receives 220 computers for rural communities
  * Weekly news roundup

  * UNESCAP networks telecentres to benefit the poor
  The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the 
Pacific
  (UNESCAP) is to establish a regional knowledge network of telecentres 
to
  empower the poor, disadvantaged communities and women. UNESCAP hopes to
  network and transform selected telecentres into knowledge hubs of 
global
  knowledge networks to provide, develop, organize, share and disseminate
  knowledge pertinent to those communities.

  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44401

  * HIVOS supporting telecentres to create content
  HIVOS is supporting telecentres in accumulating and documenting content
  from communities. Relevant Content has been one of the prime 
challenges to
  telecentres. For many years, the telecentre community has not thought 
that
  the potential linkage of telecentres to focused organizations would
  address this challenge. Through UgaBYTES Initiative, telecentres are
  gathering and documenting relevant content from their respective
  communities to bridge the gap.
  Read the rest of this entry here:
  http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44573

  * i4d Film Festival India 2007 - Beyond the Mainstream

  There is no escaping the mass media. Whether its print, television, 
radio
  or the latest communication channel – the Internet, mass media is
  ubiquitous and represents the voice of the masses. In India, about 20
  major media houses represent the voice of a nation of over a billion
  people. There is an assumption that in a free and democratic society,
  exemplified by the US, the media is free, unbiased and objective. 
However,
  the politik of media is endowed with some essential ingredients which
  falsify the notion of a free and open press. The most important of 
these
  are: the size, concentration of ownership, owner wealth, and profit
  orientation of mass media and advertising as a primary source of 
income.
  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/43746

  * A telecentre connects to Internet via a mobile phone
  As from 17th January 2006 a new business venture opened in Fultola, an
  area of Bogra town, in Bangladesh. At first sight, it looks like a
  standard Internet cafe - a one-room "commercial unit" which opens onto 
a
  bustling street; four screens each with a keyboard and mouse; customers
  browsing the Web and reading email. But look inside and you find that 
this
  "Community Information Centre" (CIC) is radically different from a 
typical
  Internet cafe. For one thing, there's only one PC, which functions as a
  server: each of the other workstations is powered by a small device, 
not
  much bigger than a cigarette packet.

  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44315

  * UDS transforms communities through information sharing
  UDS aims to uplift the lives of the rural poor by giving them 
appropriate
  and relevant information in order to make informed decisions that
  transform their lives. It does this through provision of community 
library
  services, distribution of books to poor school children, promoting 
reading
  in primary schools, dissemination of information to farmers and other
  community members and development of skills in computer applications. 
It
  also provides Community Based Organisations (CBOs) with relevant
  information to enable them improve their service delivery.

  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44316

  *Taking computers to rural India
  Kalyan, a thickly-forested village located in western Indian state of
  Maharashtra, did not have a telephone connection until about six years
  ago. Then one day in 2001, the village's only secondary school 
received a
  computer as a gift. The students, who had never even heard of a 
computer,
  were visibly excited. When a girl student, Shraddha Dimble, was asked 
to
  key in her name, she sweated and fumbled nervously and took a good five
  minutes to do so.

  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44302

  * Young people call for involvement in information technology
  Young people attending a United Nations-backed summit in Geneva have 
asked
  to be involved in initiatives that utilize information and 
communications
  technology (ICT) to tackle global challenges. At the three-day Global
  Forum on Youth and ICT for Development at the Centre International de
  Conférences, young people from around the world proposed measures for
  addressing the impact of the ICT explosion on their lives.

  Read the rest of this ntry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44159

  * Telecentre National Alliance-Movement for a sustainable partnership
  Today's increasingly technocratic world is in constant search of
  innovative ways to keep both man and machine in harmonious existence.
  Enormous amounts of e-waste generated from out-of-use electronic 
machines
  are becoming a serious global problem. Yet, this has to be seen as
  inevitable within the growing demand-in-need framework of technological
  and communicative development. What is most required today is a search 
for
  ways that could meet people cost efficiently with their advanced
  aspirations and needs, certainly in a minimal hazardous way. It is a
  national call.

  Read the details here http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/43655

  * Manthan Award 2007 and ICONECS
  Recognising the best of e-Content innovations and creativity in India, 
the
  2007 edition of the Manthan Award event gala was held on September 
22nd in
  New Delhi, India. The Award ceremony was preceded by a two day 
conference
  on 'e-Content for Development and Sustainability' that culminated in 
the
  felicitation ceremony and Award ceremony on September 22, at India 
Islamic
  Cultural Centre auditorium, New Delhi.

  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/43749

  * Sengerema telecentre receives 220 computers for rural communities
  Sengerema Telecentre in Tanzania received 220 computers to increase and
  improve access to ICT tools. The computers are part of the August
  consignment of 200 P3 desktops and 20 P3 Laptops from Jireh Technology
  Solutions - Texas USA. Felician Ncheye from Sengerema telecentre said 
that
  so far 293 computers had been received and are to be distributed with 
an
  aim of providing affordable ICTs to rural communities and meet the 
ICT4D
  initiatives.

  Read the rest of this entry here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44572

  * Weekly news roundup – Asia
  UN sponsored meeting to link remote Asia-Pacific communities to the 
web,
  ICICI Bank plans to demonstrate its rural smart card in Sri Lanka, 4th
  meeting of the SASEC ICT Working Group, OLPC announces 'Give 1 Get 1'
  programme and remote Vietnamese village gets Internet access via WiMax

  Find the details of the news from Asia here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44166

  * Weekly news roundup September 30

  Software Development Support for Uganda, making Nigeria an ICT 
compliant
  Economy, Nigeria's Top Schools Go for World Class ICT, 'Silicon Ribbon'
  Pops Up Across the Maghreb

  Read these and more stories here
http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/44170

  Cheers,
  Esther
  Community Content Facilitator - Africa
  telecentre.org
  Based at: Ugabytes Initiative (Uganda)
  www.ugabytes.org

  ----------------------------------------------------------
  telecentre.org is a global community of people and organizations 
committed
  to increasing the social and economic impact of grassroots telecentres.
  Working together, we provide the resources that telecentres need to
  succeed: locally relevant content and services, support and learning
  opportunities, and networks that help telecentre activists connect to 
each
  other. With these things in hand, tens of thousands of telecentres 
will be
  in a better position to enrich the communities they serve. Our founding
  investors include Canada's International Development Research Centre,
  Microsoft, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. We 
invite
  others who share our vision and commitment to join us. Visit
  www.telecentre.org to learn more.

  --

  Esther Nasikye
  UgaBYTES Initiative
  Kanganve House
  Kabalagala Town, Kampala
  Tel: 256772351885