Title: Information for All Programme: Information Society Policies. Annual World Report 2009
Editor: Árpád Rab
Pages: 61 pp.
Publisher: UNESCO
Date (published): 22/02/2010
Date (accessed): 28/02/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Assistance to UNESCO Member States in the formulation of national information policy frameworks has been the main focus of the Information for All Programme (IFAP) in 2008-2009. The IFAP Annual World Report 2009 offers an overview of major international and national policy documents and highlights the most important trends of the information society during the last year.
Information Society Policies. Annual World Report 2009 was written by researchers from the Information Society Research Institute of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. According to their analysis, the most important effect of the information society is probably the fact that it eliminates several historical divides. Social differences caused by the unequal distribution of ICT tools are being eliminated by the same tools, which causes a paradoxical situation.

The Report outlines cultural and geographical aspects of the digital divide and highlights solutions offered by the information society, such as broadband Internet and mobile technology. It also analyses the link between social and technological changes, which vary from country to country. Among the most significant trends introduced in the Report are some important technical achievements that are likely to change people’s lives in several aspects.

Information society strategies increasingly focus on e-government, which is becoming more and more socially oriented. The authors of the World Report examine the e-government aspects that proved to be the most important last year: the breakthrough of social networking, the increasing importance of open source software and of the green IT. No information society strategy today can disregard these trends.

The last section provides an overview of the worldwide penetration of ICT tools, both globally and regionally, showing the social and policy challenges faced by particular regions.

Title: Report of the Zambia Telecentre Development Workshop
Pages: 14 pp.
Source: http://www.share4dev.info/
Publisher: Southern Africa Telecenter Network
Date (published): 23/02/2010
Date (accessed): 26/02/2010
Type of information: conference report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Southern Africa Telecenter Network in conjunction with Zambia Association for Advancement of ICTs organized a national telecenter development workshop in mid December to explore ways to mitigate challenges facing telecenters. The event was supported with the auspices of Technical Center for Agricultural Cooperation (CTA).

This report gives some detail and outputs on the deliberations of the first Zambia Telecentre Development Workshop undertaken at Andrews Motel from 14th to 17th December 2009.

Since the liberalization of the telecommunication sector in 1994, Zambia has witnessed significant growth in the ICT sector. Despite this growth, access to ICT services such as internet and related technologies are more biased to urban population leaving out rural areas that comprise over 60% of the country’s population.

Like any other Sub Saharan country, Zambia is faced with many challenges that include lack of adequate ICT and energy infrastructure restricting opportunities for increased private sector investments in rural areas. To mitigate some of these challenges, rural communities rely on shared ICT infrastructure and services through the use of community based telecenters and/or internet kiosks.

However, existence of telecenters and their activities in Zambia have been in isolation and activities are not effectively coordinated. Telecenters are negatively affected by several challenges and affect their overall operations and sustainability. There is a need to increase management skills, networking and coordination among community based telecenters is therefore necessary to have overall impact on the lives of the local people and development in general.

Title: Youth Promotion through ICT
Authors: Rodgers Mulenga, Justin Somi, Martine Koopman, Saskia Harmsen
Pages: 8 pp.
Publisher: International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)
Date (published): 22/10/2009
Date (accessed): 26/02/2010
Type of information: research brief
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This Thematic Brief describes the lessons learned of the Chawama Youth Project (CYP), a Community based skills training centre in Lusaka, Zambia. The project shows how ICT can be integrated into youth promotion and particular in vocational training. These lessons are intended for practitioners in the field as well as organisations that would like to learn from the experiences of this project and implement similar activities.
Most of this brief’s content is based on results from monitoring and evaluation exercises that have been performed with support from IICD and Travaillant Vers Une Economie Liberale (TEL), a local Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) partner over the last two years. This M&E system, which was developed by IICD, consists of quantitative and qualitative assessments. Each year, questionnaires are filled in anonymously by the end-users of the project (a representative sample). The answers are then analysed to discover more about end-user profiles, levels of use and satisfaction, and the impact of the project. This process is complemented by periodical Focus Group discussions which are attended by project staff and end-users in order to reflect on the data that has been collected through the questionnaires and discuss successes and challenges relating to the project, and possible solutions.

Title: From the web to the phone. Information system sends RSS feeds to Chilean farmers via SMS
Author: Meghan Cagley
Source: ICT Update, Issue 53
Publisher: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (ACP-EU)
Date (published): February 2010
Date (accessed): 26/02/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
In Chile, the Mobile Information Project takes advantage of the growing ubiquity of mobile phones to deliver agricultural information from the web directly to farmers.

Title: Direct data on demand. Mobile apps deliver a broad range of information to Ugandan farmers
Authors: Whitney Gantt, Eric Cantor
Source: ICT Update, Issue 53
Publisher: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (ACP-EU)
Date (published): February 2010
Date (accessed): 26/02/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
A network of community knowledge workers (CKWs) in Uganda uses a suite of mobile applications to give farmers a broad range of information. The CKWs can provide farming advice, market data, pest- and disease-control training, plus weather forecasts.

Title: A Guide to Distributed Digital Preservation
Editors: Katherine Skinner, Matt Schultz
Pages: 156 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-9826653-0-5
Publisher: Educopia Institute Atlanta
Date (published): 12/02/2010
Date (accessed): 25/02/2010
Type of information: handbook
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Authored by members of the MetaArchive Cooperative, A Guide to Distributed Digital Preservation is the first of a series of volumes describing successful collaborative strategies and articulating specific new models that may help cultural memory organizations work together for their mutual benefit.

This volume is devoted to the broad topic of distributed digital preservation, a still-emerging field of practice for the cultural memory arena. Replication and distribution hold out the promise of indefinite preservation of materials without degradation, but establishing effective organizational and technical processes to enable this form of digital preservation is daunting. Institutions need practical examples of how this task can be accomplished in manageable, low-cost ways.

This guide is written with a broad audience in mind that includes librarians, archivists, scholars, curators, technologists, lawyers, and administrators. Readers may use this guide to gain both a philosophical and practical understanding of the emerging field of distributed digital preservation, including how to establish or join a network.

Title: Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines: Cross-country Study on Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Author: Sonia Randhawa
Pages: 7 pp.
Publisher: genderIT.org
Date (published): 22/02/2010
Date (accessed): 24/02/2010
Type of information: research article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This article presents and compares the findings of four national reports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines undertaken by the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) as part of the project “Strengthening women’s strategic use of ICTs to combat violence against women and girls”. Asia has been at the forefront of embracing new information and communications technologies (ICTs), and in using them to promote democracy and human rights. From using SMSes to coordinate public protests in the Philippines, to circumventing the firewalls of Burma and China, Asians have shown ingenuity in mobilising ICTs for innovative rights-based purposes. However, ICTs in the region have also been used to violate rights, through increased opportunities for censorship and surveillance; whether surveillance by the state, or by perpetrators of violence against women (VAW). This article looks at the intersection between ICTs and violence against women, an area often overlooked in the discourse on ICTs and human rights, which tends to focus primarily on issues of access and freedom of expression.

Title: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia: Cross-country Study on Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Authors: María Isabel Davidziuk, María Alejandra Davidziuk
Pages: 8 pp.
Publisher: genderIT.org
Date (published): 22/02/2010
Date (accessed): 24/02/2010
Type of information: research article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This article presents and compares the findings of four national reports from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia undertaken by the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) as part of the project “Strengthening women’s strategic use of ICTs to combat violence against women and girls”. Despite the differences between and disparities among countries in the Latin American region, and that a great deal needs to be done before women achieve full digital participation and ownership, it is possible to assess a number of issues from a common perspective, in order to more clearly understand the problems faced, identify the challenges that need to be tackled, and find solutions that allow greater freedom for women and girls in Latin America.

Title: Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective
Editor: Nirmita Narasimhan
Pages: 106 pp.
Publisher: G3ict & the Center for Internet and Society, Bangalore
Date (published): 15/02/2010
Date (accessed): 24/02/2010
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This paper seeks to identify some of the initiatives and best practices which have been adopted by countries around the globe as a first step towards policy formulation for countries. Many of the countries included in the study are developed nations since the aim is to look not merely at a collection of policies in place, but at a wide gamut of regimes where the principle of accessibility has taken shape in different forms, ranging from legislations and policies to directives and ordinances, and observe the efficacy of these forms in their respective national environments. It is hoped that the various frameworks embodying this principle illustrated in this study, would serve as an inspiring example to other developing countries in Asia and neighbouring continents to enact similar legislations and policies and help to build a more inclusive world. The paper explores 15 countries and the European Union as subjects of study. The countries include the United States and Canada from the Americas; the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Sweden in Europe; and Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Korea and Thailand from the Asia Pacific.
This document contains a detailed report on the initiatives taken by each country and concludes with a brief summary and a set of generic recommendations for policy makers.

Title: State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector 2009
Editors: Arthur Goldstuck and Steven Ambrose
Pages: 82 pp.
Publisher: Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT)Date (published): 24/02/2010
Date (accessed): 24/02/2010
Type of information: research survey
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector 2009 survey was conducted in 2009 by World Wide Worx, on behalf of the Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT).

The objectives of the survey were to:

Establish the effectiveness of South African NGOs with regard to information communication technology (ICT) usage;
Reflect on how NGOs are using ICT in unique ways within development initiatives;
Establish whether ICT helps NGOs to make a positive difference in serving their constituencies;
Determine if NGOs are being properly served by the ICT industry;
Highlight the ICT resources NGOs currently have, and see how they use such resources;
Review the expectations NGOs have of these resources and what benefits they might gain from such resources.

World Wide Worx interviewed decision-makers at 800 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) spread across the country, representing organisations of all sizes and interest groups.
The 80-page survey report, compiled by Arthur Goldstuck and Steven Ambrose, highlights various interesting technology trends in the South African NGO sector.

The 2009 survey was sponsored by Microsoft and the National Development Agency (NDA).