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Bridging the Rural Digital Divide
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), governments, and other international agencies are implementing
a strategic Programme entitled Bridging the Rural Digital Divide.
The programme highlights innovative approaches to knowledge exchange
that take advantage of new digital technologies, and that are based on
synergies between information management and communication for development.
This website ( www.fao.org/rdd )
is designed to be a resource for organizations and individuals involved
in rural development wishing to enhance their capabilities by drawing
on the experiences of others.
Development Gateway
Learn about the World Summit on Information Society's Stocktaking Initiative: http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict
NGO.ZA
- ICT Services for Civil Society
The
Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) and ICOZA have launched a
new joint venture, called NGO.ZA. The
overall aim of NGO.ZA is to meet and respond to the South AfricanNGO
sector's connectivity, hardware and e-business infrastructurerequirements
and transform the ICT usage, capacity andinfrastructure
levels of the sector. Visit www.ngo.za for more information on the new NGO.ZA initiative and services.
InterAction Discount on Relief Communications
Equipment
I-Linx, a Washington, DC-based ICT solutions provider, is
offering reduced rates to InterAction members for key communications equipment used
in relief and development:
· Inmarsat, Thuraya and Iridium satellite phones
· Regional BGAN terminals
· Inmarsat M4 terminals
Price points for InterAction are as follows:
THURAYA Satellite
Handset
Hughes 7101 Kit (Regional Coverage): $649 US
IRIDIUM Satellite
Handset
Motorola 9505A KIT (Global Coverage): $1399 US
INMARSAT R-BGAN
User Terminal
ALL-IN TERMINAL PACKAGE: $849 US
Includes:
- RBGAN Terminal
Kit
- Activation
- 12-month
subscription
- 5/MB month
FREE Airtime
TERMINAL KIT ONLY:
$549
To take advantage
of this offer, contact I-LINX directly and mention the promotion
code "InterAction ICT." This will enable them to track sales and InterAction members
will more quickly benefit from the volume discounts described above.
Contact: Amit
Mathur
Business Development Manager
I-LINX, LLC
1312 9th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001 USA
Tel: +1 202 232 0620
Fax: +1 202 232 0621
Mobile: +1 202 215-6857
Email: amit@i-linx.net
I-LINX also provides
Wireless Broadband and VSAT products and services. VSAT pricing varies
based on client-specific requirements. Volume
discounts available.
New
Development Through Dialog Workspace on ICT-based Enterprises for
Women in Development
A new project
investigates how ICT-based enterprises can improve women's livelihoods
in developing countries. The community
of ICT for Development practitioners is invited to join the workspace
on this topic and to share experience, ideas and resources. This
will help build knowledge: about the impacts of such enterprises
on women, their lives and livelihoods; and about business models
and strategies for developing such enterprises. In
turn, they will share this back with participants.
To
join, click the word "Join" via
Web page:
http://www.dgroups.org/groups/WomenICTEnterprise
To The Community
of ICT for Development Practitioners: Design That Matters
Design that
Matters (DTM), a student-run organization founded at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, promotes engineering design to help underserved
communities. The group organizes lectures, conferences,
and speaker presentations to raise awareness and disseminate information
about relevant applications of technology and design work within
the private sector, the public sector, academic institutions, and
NGOs. DTM is also affiliated
with aclass taught at MIT, in which students are presented
with specific design challenges. The
goal is to implement solutions developed by students in the actual
target community. DTM is forming
a network of local, national, and international partners working
to bring engineering and technological solutions to communities in
need. The network helps partner MIT students with outside organizations
so for research projects and fieldwork. It also links students to
members of the academic community and NGO community who can provide
them with guidance and insight. DTM seeks to expand its work
into other areas and communities, and to develop more connections
with people working in the field (be they in academia, NGOs or private
companies) to identify new design challenges and solutions. ICT
for Development practitioners could serve as mentors mentors to DTM
students, and could visit the campus to give presentations.
For more information visit: http://www.designthatmatters.org
ICT4D
Training Materials Available Online
The self-paced training modules
on ICT4D that Barbara Fillip Ph.D., President of Knowledge for Development,
LLC, has developed over the past few years of teaching ICT4D online are
now posted on her website. She invites all who are interested to visit
and feel free to send comments and use the materials for educational and
nonprofit uses. The materials were developed using Eclass.building 2.5.
For general entry to the site
please visit: http://www.knowledgefordevelopment.com.
Or, for a direct link to the materials please visit: http://www.knowledgefordevelopment.com/ICT4D03SP/index.htm
A Guide to Community
Multimedia Centres: How To Get Started & Keep Going
Written by practitioners and
researchers working on CMCs (Community Multimedia Centres) or ICT (Information
and Communication Technology) for development, this book is meant to
be a practical tool designed for those involved in CMCs or other models
of community media (information centres, multipurpose telecentres, community
learning centres, etc.). It may be of particular use to those wanting
to start a CMC or a related information centre, as it covers a range
of topics linked to community broadcasting and telecentre management.
Download
this book in pdf format.
Contact Stella Hughes by email at s.hughes@unesco.org
to order the hardcopy or CD-ROM version.
Using
ICTs to Build Government Transparency and Fight Corruption
The "eGovernment
for Development Information Exchange" project is coordinated by
the University of Manchester's Institute for Development Policy and Management.
It has developed a set of new online guidance materials for those with
an interest in e-government applications in developing and transitional
countries. The materials cover a wide range of issues and are split into
five main sections: why e-transparency, understanding e-transparency,
practical techniques, online resources, and a training guide. The guides
are located at: http://www.egov4dev.org/topic2.htm.
For more information please contact Richard Heeks at richard.heeks@man.ac.uk.
Cisco’s
Volunteer Connection System: Request Cisco Volunteers Online
Cisco has launched
their Volunteer Connection System, which enables others to request Cisco
employees as volunteers and mentors for in-person and virtual projects.
The system brings community volunteering opportunities to nonprofits and
Cisco employees in an accessible, web-based application. It matches individual
employees and employee teams to philanthropic opportunities in their community.
In addition, it will also match the skills and experience of Cisco employees
with nonprofit organizations that are seeking specific expertise for themselves
or their constituents.
For those unable to visit a
large Cisco office, virtual opportunities exist. Examples of common "virtual" requests
include reviewing written material such as a brochure or content for
a website on-line, helping with the development of a business strategy
over the phone and technical troubleshooting.
The system is online at http://cisco.cybergrants.com/sgrquiz.
Questions and comments should
be directed to Barbara Jones at
bajones@cisco.com.
Information
Technologies and International Development
ITID is new quarterly journal
focused on the intersection of information and communication technologies
with international development. ITID aims to create a networked community
of leading thinkers and strategists to discuss critical issues—a
community that crosses disciplines, national boundaries, and the North
and South hemispheres.
For more information, visit:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/itid
FREE IT HELP
DESK SOFTWARE
itforcharities has
released a new IT Help Desk software package which is free to use. It
has been deliberately designed for simplicity of use (and although it
is rich in features, if you do want the most sophisticated solution available
then this may not be the database for you!) It does require Access 2000
(or later) on any PC where you want to run the system. Its functions include
the ability to: Record all calls and caller information; Allocate calls
to your support staff and send them instant emails to inform them of a
new call; Record multiple actions against each call to show what has been
done; Link documents and files to calls for one-click automatic retrieval;
Produce reports on outstanding calls and call statistics, and export data
to Excel/Word for further analysis' and Access and query an automatically
built Knowledge Base; and much more. The software can be downloaded at:
www.somehelp.net
(submitted by Jayne Cravens)
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