[Africa-ir-public] [APCNews] APCNews - March 2004 - No. 40

Mon Mar 29 17:06:32 SAST 2004

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           *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
      Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                - March 2004 No. 40 -
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
-- NEWS FROM APC --
-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
-- BUILDING CAPACITY & STRATEGIC USE OF ICTs --
-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES -
-- IMPORTANT DATES --
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --

Colnodo, Colombia: Internet to improve local government transparency and 
accountability in Colombia

Transparency for Colombia and APC member Colnodo recently donated their 
new software "Internet for Accountability" to allow a mass take-up of 
the 'good government' tool. More than 500 municipalities will receive 
the software plus internet access on the signing of a transparency and 
anti-corruption agreement. - Colnodo
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17998

ITEM, Uruguay: Southern civil societies portal launches monthly bulletin

Choike, the southern civil societies portal produced by APC member in 
Uruguay, the Third World Institute (ITeM), is now offering a monthly 
newsletter. This month’s features special reports on the World Bank and 
the International Monetary Fund, and migrant sex work. The specials are 
produced by Choike's editorial team but they take their sources from the 
work of civil societies in the South. Subscribe to the Choike bulletin. 
– Choike http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/tools/suscripcion.html

RITS, Brazil: Brazilian publication on the first phase of the World 
Summit on the Information Society

On April 28, APC member in Brazil, RITS, and the Heinrich Böll 
Foundation will present a new publication "The World Summit on the 
Information Society: a subject for everyone". Composed of analytical 
articles on the principal issues involved in the WSIS process, the book 
will also look at the Summit Declaration and Action Plan and the civil 
society declaration. The presentation will also include a debate with 
panelists - Sergio Amadeu da Silveira, president of the National 
Information Technology Institute, and ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney, 
representative of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. According to Paulo Lima, 
RITS director, this is the opportunity to place in the balance the 
Summit up till now and its strategic importance as well as broadening 
the debate and the participation of civil society in information society 
issues. - RITS
RITS: http://www.rits.org.br

RITS, Brazil: Two thousand telecentre users from marginal neighbourhoods 
in São Paulo surveyed

In December 2003, APC's member in Brazil RITS carried out a survey of 
the users of 10 of the 107 municipal telecentres that serve 
under-privileged neighbourhoods in São Paulo in order to find out who's 
using them, users' habits and preferences when they visit the centres 
and use the internet, and to find out what their expectations and 
possibilities are regarding really getting the most out of ICTs. Two 
thousand questionnaires were distributed in different neighbourhoods. 
The results of the survey will be posted on the OPPI - the Observatory 
of Public Policies on Infoinclusion in Brazil. - RITS
Find out more about RITS's involvement in the telecentres: 
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=8176
OPPI: http://www.infoinclusao.org.br/

SANGONeT, South Africa: Theta on Survival & Prosperity in the NGO Sector 
- The Role of Technology in Strengthening Organisational Capacity

During the past few years the South African non-governmental 
organisation (NGO) sector has experienced dramatic changes. In the 1990s 
many NGOs were forced to close down because of a lack of funding and 
related organisational problems. APC member in Johannesburg, SANGONeT, 
is currently in the process of establishing various new partnerships and 
brokering arrangements in support of its ICT service delivery activities 
and services to the South African NGO sector. To assist in developing 
these ICT services, SANGONeT is offering this Thetha –or discussion- in 
early April. - SANGONeT
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=18124

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-- NEWS FROM APC --

APC action plan for 2004-2007 in final stages

The APC executive board and staff met in March for an intensive planning 
meeting to map out APC's activities for the next three years. The 
meeting took place following the definition of strategic priorities for 
the APC by the 36-member APC council in Cartagena, Colombia last 
November. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=18127

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-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --

OPINION: Whose "information society"?

Was WSIS worth it? The general verdict on the recent United Nations 
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in December 2003 was 
a thumbs-down. The Summit outcomes were limited after an arduous and 
expensive process. However, argues Anriette Esterhuysen, APC's executive 
director, from the perspective of many civil society organisations that 
participated actively, the WSIS has created a new opportunity for 
solidarity across ideological, sectoral and geographical divides. -- 
APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/about/history/english.shtml?cmd[384]=i-575-17983

[A shorter version of this article was first published in Alliance, Vol 
9, No 1, March 2004. This longer article will be available shortly in 
Spanish.]

OPINION: GESAC, SCD, FUST, XPTO ... and digital inclusion?

Carlos Afonso, director of planning at RITS -APC's Brazilian member 
organisation-, outlines the digital inclusion opportunities and 
initiatives carried out in Brazil so far, from the successful ones to 
the dismal failures. According to Afonso, despite the flurry of acronyms 
being thrown around, Brazil still does not have a national strategy that 
will provide the majority of Brazilians with access to the internet. He 
believe it's crucial that the Brazilan government gets involved in the 
set-up of community telecentres and computers in schools and public 
libraries - the cheapest and most efficient way of democratising access 
to information and communication technologies. -- RETS
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17784

[Opinion originally published in Portuguese by RETS and translated into 
English by APC]

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- BUILDING CAPACITY & STRATEGIC USE OF ICTs -

Choosing open source software: Decision-making materials for civil 
society organisations

Free and open source software (FOSS) holds a great deal of potential for 
civil society organisations. The most obvious benefit of FOSS is that it 
is often free to use or low-cost. However, it also offers more including 
-crucially- better security. Did you know that if your computer uses the 
GNU/Linux operating system you don't have to use anti-virus software? No 
more days or data lost recovering from the latest virus... Plus, FOSS is 
based on the kind of collaborative and cooperative principles that many 
civil society organisations embrace.

The materials available in the MultiMedia Toolkit's latest unit on FOSS 
provide an introduction to FOSS, tackling questions like 'what is open 
source?' and 'how will it benefit my organisation?' They also include 
practical advice on how to review open source software packages and 
select the right ones for your organisation. The guides are planning and 
decision-making tools not a detailed technical manual.

Introductions to selected OpenOffice tools. OpenOffice is fast becoming 
known as the real challenger to Microsoft Office - and it's available 
for free! Take a look at the MMTK units available on OpenOffice Writer 
(it's like Microsoft WordTM) and OpenOffice Impress (which is similar to 
Microsoft PowerPointTM).

These materials are part of the ItrainOnline Multimedia Training Kit 
(MMTK). The MMTK provides an integrated set of multimedia training 
materials and resources to support community media, community multimedia 
centres, telecentres, and other initiatives using information and 
communications technologies (ICTs) to empower communities and support 
development work. The six units on FOSS were developed by APC for the 
MMTK with the support of UNESCO.

The materials are online free to download. They are designed to be used 
by trainers for face-to-face group training work, however, if you are 
interested in the guides you should look for materials labeled 
'handouts'. http://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/mmtk/opensource.shtml
Questions about MMTK? Want to receive the MMTK on CD-Rom? Write to 
mmtk at apc.org

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-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --

PUBLICATION: Gender issues in the information society

Unless gender issues are fully integrated into technology analyses, 
policy development and programme design, women and men will not benefit 
equally from ICTs and their applications. This book is written by 
Natasha Primo of APC member Women'sNet for UNESCO and is available in 
English and French. It sketches out the evolution of the international 
debate on gender and information technology, contrasts the impact of 
infrastructural and gender-specific constraints on women's capacity to 
exploit the potential of ICTs in different world regions and looks at 
the cross-cutting role of gender in determining participation in the 
information society. The book also examines strategies, initiatives and 
best practices aimed at bridging the gender divide, and proposes a range 
of actions to be considered by the various stakeholders. 
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=12847&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201 
[English]
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=12847&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1076946908 
[French]

REPORT AND ACTION AGENDA: Working conditions in the electronic sector

The Catholic charity, CAFOD, has published this report on the working 
conditions on computer assembly lines in developing countries.
http://www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/application/phpYyhizc.pdf

CASE STUDY SERIES ON ICT-ENABLED DEVELOPMENT: I-Network, Uganda and 
Tsilitwa Telehealth, South Africa

The bridges.org/IICD Case Study Series sets out to illustrate how ICT 
contributes to development in Africa. The aim of this series is to help 
ground level initiatives imagine the possibilities of what can happen if 
they use ICT successfully to overcome development obstacles, and to 
contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the digital divide.
http://www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/case_studies.html

PUBLICATION: Online political activism in Asia

"Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship" is 
edited by journalists and media activists Steven Gan, James Gomez and 
Uwe Johannen. This 664-page compilation sketches current trends in Asia 
related to media strength and freedom of expression. The book outlines 
how internet activism has helped the creation of grassroots civil 
society organisations and activist groups. It also examines the social, 
political and legal challenges that journalists, media professionals and 
activists face when using the media for advocacy work. For more 
information, contact Gomez at gomez at fnst.or.th, or visit 
http://www.malaysiakini.com/pages/cyberactivism/

NEW JOURNAL: Information Technologies and International Development 
(ITID), MIT Press

ITID aims to be the provocative, interdisciplinary "watering hole" for 
pragmatic research on information and communication technologies in 
conjunction with international development. http://mitpress.mit.edu/itid

MANUAL: Telecentre Cookbook now available in Portuguese

Recipes for creating a self-sustainable community telecentre, by Mike 
Jensen and APC executive director, Anriette Esterhuysen. "The Telecentre 
Cookbook for Africa: Recipes for Self-sustainability" is a step by step 
guide on how to implement community based telecentres in an African 
environment complete with examples of telecentre infrastructure, 
baseline questionnaires, business plans and more. 
http://www.unesco.org.uy/informatica/comunitario.pdf [Portuguese]
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001230/123004e.pdf [English]

HOW-TO: Writing a Funding Proposal

Civicus offers you a detailed 39-page guide in English, French and Spanish.
http://www.civicus.org/new/media/Writing%20a%20funding%20proposal.pdf

Rédiger une proposition de financement: 
http://www.civicus.org/new/media/Rediger%20une%20proposition%20de%20financement.pdf

Redacción de una propuesta financiera: 
http://www.civicus.org/new/media/Redacion%20de%20una%20propuesta%20financiera.pdf

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-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES -

LACNIC: Fund for digital innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean

The FRIDA Program is offering small grants to one- or two-year research 
projects in the field of ICTs for amounts of up to US$ 12,500 and US$ 
25,000 respectively. All projects must be proposed by legally 
incorporated non-profit organisations based in Latin America and the 
Caribbean, and address at least one of the following objectives:
* Developing or adapting new technologies and standards,
* Social innovation in the use of new technologies for development,
* Modernization of public policies and regulation.
Frida is the result of an agreement between the Research Initiative 
(PanAmericas) of the International Development Research Center (IDRC), 
the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA) and the Latin 
American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC).
http://www.programafrida.net

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-- IMPORTANT DATES --

First Software Freedom Day
August 28, Online

The Software Freedom Day initiative intends to make the world aware of 
the existence, availability, and high quality of free and open source 
software (FOSS), and to encourage its use by as many people as possible. 
It's a global grassroots campaign and anyone can participate. It is up 
to the individual teams to choose how to organize their efforts locally, 
but the organisers are offering to assist with bulk production of 
posters, T-shirts, CDs, etc. FOSS advocacy groups around the world are 
invited to become partners in this event.
http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/

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APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed 
monthly by APC - a worldwide network supporting the use of internet and 
ICTs for social justice and sustainable development since 1990. APCNews 
Archive: http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/

CopyLeft 2004. Association for Progressive Communications (APC). 
Permission is granted to use this document for personal use, for 
training and educational publications, and activities by peace, 
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