[Reader-list] Digital Opportunity Channel- this week's newsletter

Wed Sep 24 16:24:49 IST 2003

Please find subscription information at the bottom of the newsletter.
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What's New at Digital Opportunity Channel
http://www.digitalopportunity.org

  + ---------------------------------------------------- +
  For all the news and analysis about the WSIS summit
  from a civil society perspective, please visit our
  Special Coverage section at:
  http://www.digitalopportunity.org/section/dochannel/wsis
  + ---------------------------------------------------- +

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Latest News
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1138
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HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA EXCLUDED FROM WSIS
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  Human Rights in China (HRIC), the only organisation devoted exclusively
  to human rights issues in China, has been denied accreditation to the
  World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) scheduled for Geneva in
  December. HRIC feels rejection of its application to attend WSIS raises
  serious concerns about transparency and legitimacy of this multilateral
  process. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68617/1138/433

SYNTHESIS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY DEBATES NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
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  The World Forum on Community Networking (WFCN) has published the 2nd
  issue of Mosaic, a newsletter presenting a synthesis of civil society
  debates on the information society. Published in English, French and
  Spanish, it summarizes discussions held on a number of lists and sites
  from different cultural and linguistic perspectives. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68616/1138/433

INTERNET CREATES A NEW CLASS OF USERS IN AFRICA
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  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. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68505/1138/433

CISCO TO FUND VOICE MAIL FOR POOR IN THE US
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  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.  
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68502/1138/433

TELECENTRES HELP LATIN AMERICANS TO BE CONNECTED
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  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.  
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68386/1138/433

DIGITAL POWER HELPS INDIA'S DISTRICTS PREPARE FOR DISASTERS
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  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.
 http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68385/1138/433

SOMALIA'S TELECOM INDUSTRY SHINES IN SEA OF POVERTY
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  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. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68384/1138/433

WORLD FORUM ON COMMUNICATION RIGHTS DURING WSIS
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  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. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68302/1138/433

BLACK EQUITY ISSUE SPLITS SOUTH AFRICA'S ICT SECTOR
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  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. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68301/1138/433

SCIENTISTS TAP GLOBAL COMPUTER POWER TO PROBE CLIMATE CHANGE
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  British scientists have launched a new program, climateprediction.net, 
  that will draw on the input of thousands of personal computer users
  around the world to track climate change and provide comprehensive
  forecasts.   
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68300/1138/433

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Success Stories
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1136
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SOUTH AFRICA: TAKING TECHNOLOGY TO RURAL LIMPOPO
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  Until a year ago, some villagers in deep rural Limpopo had never seen a
  computer. Now their fingers fly across the keyboard. They are the members
  of the Mogalakwena Hewlett Packard i-community where villagers are being
  exposed to technology in a project initiated at the World Summit on
  Sustainable Development (WSSD) a year ago. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68387/1136/433

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Get Involved
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1112
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JOIN OUR NEW FORUM ON GENDER & ICT ISSUES
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  Are women increasingly getting even access to information technologies
  and services? Is unequal power relations in our societies contribute to
  differential access for men and women in information society? How can the
  situation be improved through ICT? These are some of the issues that our
  new Gender & ICT forum aims to address.  
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68410/1112/433

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Partner News
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/4678
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MAHITI BUILDING ONLINE DONATION CHANNEL FOR INDIAN COMMUNITIES
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  Mahiti from India provides simple and affordable information and
  communication technology services to the civil sector. It specialises in
  multi-platform, multi-lingual Web, intranet, multimedia and kiosk
  applications. Mahiti is building an online donation channel on a portal
  called ICICI Communities, in collaboration with Give Foundation and
  Murray Culshaw Advisory Services. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68759/4678/433

NEW VERSION OF KABISSA'S 'TIME TO GET ONLINE' TOOLKIT
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  Kabissa has come out with an updated version of its highly successful
  'Time to Get Online' self-learning materials for African civil society
  organisations. The materials help civil society activists and organisers
  to get online, learn the essential steps to success on the Internet and
  to integrate the Internet into their work. The toolkit is available
  online for free download and in print and CD-ROM version at a nominal
  cost. 
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67590/4678/433

Digital Opportunity Channel
http://www.digitalopportunity.org
Promoting Digital Opportunities for All
Editor: Kanti Kumar
Email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net

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