[APCPress] APCNews - April 2007 - No 74

Wed Apr 11 14:12:19 BST 2007

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                *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
           Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                                 April 2007 No. 74
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
-- NEWS FROM APC --
-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
-- STRATEGIC USES & CAPACITY BUILDING --
-- WOMEN & ICTs --
-- ENVIRONMENT & ICTs --
-- APC IN THE NEWS --
-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES --
-- IMPORTANT DATES --
-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC --
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS –-

BLUELINK, Bulgaria: Thousands sign an online petition to save Bulgarian 
nature

Is the Bulgarian environment in danger? Does a new threat arise from the 
Balkan republic’s joining the European Union? A petition launched by the 
civil society campaign “Let Nature Live in Bulgaria!” says yes on both 
counts. Over 14,000 people have already signed. The campaign site, 
developed by APC-member BlueLink, contains information on potential 
threats to protected areas, case studies on violations of environmental 
protection laws and destructive projects in the Bulgarian mountains, 
wetlands and on the Black Sea coast. - BlueLink
http://bluelink.net/en/menu/news.shtml?x=11475

BYTES FOR ALL, South Asia: Pakistan works to joining the Creative 
Commons network

Soon after the launch of the CreativeCommons.org licensing programme for 
India, to the west, neighbouring Pakistan is working to get the same 
moving too. During a two-day workshop in Lahore, Pakistan, entitled 
"Towards an Open Information Society in Pakistan", there was intense 
debate on issues of copyrights, intellectual property rights and 
alternate forms . Will these discussions translate into more content 
sharing in Urdu? Will Qawwali music and music by the renowned Nusrat 
Fateh Ali Khan now trade freely under the double “c” or any other 
general public licence? – BytesForAll
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059267

CECS, South Africa: An ICT literacy portal is in the works in South Africa

South Africa-based APC member Community Education Computer Society 
(CECS) is working to build a free knowledge and ICT literacy portal as 
part of its wider goal to promote "ICT Literacy For All". Is it just one 
more internet portal? APCNews has talked to CECS’ Arnold Pietersen, just 
to learn that this new online resource could well become the right 
address for finding training material on how the use free software. 
Plus, it’s to be fully collaborative, which means that you can share 
your ICT knowledge with the rest of us. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059293

ECONNECT, Czech Republic: Czech ICT group bets on multimedia for its 
news production

Up until recently, Prague-based Econnect, a civil society association 
facilitating communication through the internet, broadcast news segments 
via its website. Most of these were simple text articles. Some had 
pictures. Now, Tomáš Tetiva of Econnect says his group is changing its 
ways and going for an improved approach to media using video and audio 
clips. But is that all it takes for news to make its way to a wider 
audience? Read a historical overview of media in the Czech Republic to 
see how this fits in. – Econnect
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059302

FORUM FOR MEDIA ALTERNATIVES, Philippines: Asia pursues a roadmap of 
action to strengthen “access to knowledge”

"Access to knowledge is both an issue of economic development and an 
issue of individual participation and human liberty" says an article by 
Jack M. Balkin. This buzzword makes reference to a world in which 
information and knowledge are increasingly becoming like products. 
Knowledge is worth money. Knowledge is worth power. Without much 
fanfare, a group of twenty-two Asians sat down in Bankok last March to 
tap into that power. They drew out a roadmap of actions in order for 
that knowledge to stay in the hands of the people. Idealistic? Maybe, 
but the actions are real and timely and might take you further than you 
think. – FMA
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059252

NODO TAU, Argentina: Native communities connect in Rosario

The Tobas are native people from the Chaco region, one of the main 
geographical entities of Latin America. Many of them have migrated to 
cities and Rosario, in Argentina, has attracted several members of that 
community. News about the recent launch of a community computing 
telecentre in the Toba neighbourhood of that city has been making waves. 
This is because the neighbours do not actually have access to internet 
cafés and are often discriminated against on the basis of their ethnic 
background. Nodo TAU, APC’s member in Rosario, has been supporting this 
cooperative project since many years. - Nodo TAU
http://www.tau.org.ar/noticia_desarrollo.shtml?x=32788 [in Spanish]

STRAWBERRYNET, Romania: Internet governance awareness in Romania

StrawberryNet, APC’s member in Romania and the Association for 
Technology and Internet held a workshop to raise awareness about 
internet governance in Romania. Supported by APC’s ICT policy programme, 
the February 2007 Bucharest workshop acknowledged that Romania suffers 
from a lack of cohesion among civil society in the ICT field. The role 
of civil society itself is furthermore perceived differently by NGOs and 
the government, reveals the workshop. - Diplo
http://www.diplomacy.edu/ig/Activities/display.asp?Topic=APTI

ZAMIRNET, Croatia: ZaMirNET joins a Croatian free software cluster

The APC member in Croatia, ZaMirNET, has joined an industrial cluster 
working on free and open source software. Read part one (of two) of this 
new adventure that could help transform Croatia’s software sector. The 
full interview in part two reveals the specific role ZaMirNET will play 
in the nascent economic network. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059261

ZAMIRNET, Croatia: “We want to make free software producers more 
influential, customers happier”

APC member in Croatia, ZaMirNET, has joined an information and 
communication technologies industrial cluster working on free and open 
source software. Interview with Danijela Babic of ZaMirNET in this part 
two (of two) on Croatian software policy. The news article in part one 
provides the details about the orientation and composition of the free 
software cluster. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059263

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-- NEWS FROM APC --

HARAMBEE SMALL GRANT WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Harambee (pronounced haram-BAY) means "pulling together" in the most 
widely spoken language of sub-Saharan Africa: Swahili. The word Harambee 
captures the efforts invested to build and maintain communities.

The Association for Progressive Communications not only borrows the 
term, it also celebrated it in March 2007. In releasing the list of 
successful applicants in one of its small grants initiatives, APC's 
women programme in Africa injected some real-life into the motto online. 
  Harambee small grants are offered to better equip Africa-based 
networks to play a lead role in development dialogues and actions 
affecting them. Six applicants out of the original 200+ walked away with 
a grant that highlights their networking activities.

APC's writers will offer you the profiles of the six Harambee grantees 
of 2007 over the next three months. This month, APCNews zooms in on the 
"Diary Project" in Uganda and the "Blogs for African Women" out of Nigeria.
http://wikis.bellanet.org/harambee/index.php/Main_Page

DSI.ORG, Uganda: Overcoming the orphan curse with ICTs

DSI.ORG, a small non-profit located in the western Ugandan district of 
Kabarole, recently created the Diary Project. It assists boys from 
child-headed families affected by HIV/AIDS to cope with grief, stigma 
and discrimination, share experiences and knowledge, and work together. 
But why would boys with hands full of responsibilities even bother 
getting their heads around ICTs asked APCNews writer Katherine Walraven 
in a March interview.  – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059254

BLOGS FOR AFRICAN WOMEN, Nigeria: Getting Nigerian women hooked on 
technology

Blogs for African Women (BAWo) has taken hold of Nigerian creativity to 
strengthen women's activism. Read about Networking for Success, BAWo's 
second initiative getting Nigerian women into the blogosphere. APCNews 
writer Erika Smith has found out that the driving force behind the 
Nigerian blogging spirit is that it “helps pool knowledge”. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059158

APCNEWS READER SURVEY: 15-minute questionnaire to tell us what you think

In mid 2007, APC is launching a *new APC.org* website in English, 
Spanish and for the first time *French* and  *Portuguese*. We'll also be 
introducing a new French-language newsletter *APCNouvelles*. APC first 
started producing APCNews and APCNoticias -our monthly newsletters in 
English and Spanish- back in 1999 and our newsletter format and 
distribution has not changed radically since it was first introduced. 
It's time to take stock. If you are subscribed to APCNews, we want your 
opinion!

APC wants to find out:
1. What you think about APCNews
2. How you are using our stories and articles in your work
3. If it's time to change how APCNews looks and how often you receive it. –
This is the last week to tell us what you think. Many thanks!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=703013452577

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-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --

INTERVIEW: Internet in Africa: Development first, governance later

“In a nutshell, Africa needs to be concerned about developing internet 
usage first, rather than dwelling on who governs the internet and how,” 
claimed the African non-governmental organisation CIPESA in a research 
paper published right before the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which 
took place in Athens at the end of 2006. With eye kept on the upcoming 
IGF II in November, APCNews discussed this underrepresented approach to 
internet governance with Vincent Bagiire of CIPESA. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059315

ANALYSIS: Ownership models for fibre cables

There are two distinct business models for providing fibre optic cables, 
namely: purely commercial and partly commercial. “A third approach, 
which is yet to be tried (as in implemented), but which is highly 
acclaimed in donor and academic communities, is known as the open access 
approach,” explains John Walubengo of the Kenya ICT Action Network. – 
Fibre for Africa
http://fibreforafrica.net/main.shtml?x=5058919

EASSy SUBMARINE CABLE ANALYSIS: Mapping the players

This paper by APC’s ICT policy researcher for the African region, 
Abiodun Jagun, adopts a stakeholder approach to analysing EASSy. It 
provides a graphical illustration of the hierarchy of power and interest 
among the different groups engaged in the EASSy process and highlights 
how different stakeholder groups are able -through forming coalitions– 
to influence the proposed ownership structure of the fibre-optic cable. 
The paper looks at the current impasse within the EASSy project, which 
has been described as a disconnect between the commercial and political 
ends of the cable and concludes that the powerful position initially 
held by the EASSy consortium has been diluted with the impasse creating 
high levels of uncertainty about the viability of the EASSy project. – 
FibreForAfrica.net
http://fibreforafrica.net/main.shtml?x=5057715

The following interview is drawn from Chakula, APC’s information and 
communication technology (ICT) policy newsletter for Africa. It is 
published quarterly by APC’s policy programme (CIPP).

INTERVIEW: NEPAD - ‘We’re not telling anyone what we do…’

Edmund Katiti is the policy and regulatory advisor to the New 
Partnership for Africa’s Development’s (NEPAD’s) e-Africa Commission. 
The e-Africa Commission is charged with the coordinated development of 
NEPAD’s ICT policies, programmes and projects. A top priority is to 
ensure that all African countries will be connected to one another by 
broadband fibre-optic cable systems that will, in turn, link them to 
global telecommunication networks. APC’s Africa ICT policy monitor 
newsletter Chakula asked Katiti some easy, and more difficult questions… 
- Chakula
http://africa.rights.apc.org/en-chakula.shtml?x=5059183#one

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-- STRATEGIC USES & CAPACITY BUILDING --

ARTICLE: An option for online documentation, Newsrack.in, helps NGOs

Subramanya Sastry is an Indian techie who holds a doctorate from the 
University of Wisconsin but chooses to deploy his software skills for 
the development sector back home. A tool he created, called NewsRack.in, 
is drawing rave reviews from the few who have encountered it early. - 
Asia Commons
http://www.asia-commons.net/newsrack

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-- WOMEN & ICTs --

UPDATE: The GRACE research to hold new workshop, launch new website

The Gender Research in Africa into ICTs for Empowerment (GRACE) is a 
research project that APCNews has been covering in the past. APC's women 
programme in Africa (AAW) also engaged with the project over the last 
months. But where is it at? Capacity building workshops were held in 
July 2005 and June 2006, with a third workshop planned for July 2007. 
Here is a short update on GRACE. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5059433

ANALYSIS: The following in-depth analysis articles are drawn from 
GenderIT.org, APC’s Women Networking Support Programme’s (APC WNSP) 
gender and ICT policy news source.

ANALYSIS I: Pakistan’s web of censorship

The internet has become a critical space for ordinary citizens in 
Pakistan to speak their minds, and exchange information. These include 
women who sharpen their ICT skills and turn to weblogs as a platform for 
articulation of their concerns of everyday life. But is this relative 
‘freedom’ under threat? This article presents an overview of the 
country’s internet regulation mechanism, and how a recent banning of the 
Blogspot website has revealed the multiple attempts by the government to 
control content in cyberspace. – GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=95134

ANALYSIS II: Mommy knows best, or perhaps the church, or maybe the 
school? A conversation about online content regulation

Who decides what we should see and not see online? Should parents decide 
on behalf of their children? Or should it be the church? Or the school? 
Are women and children better left alone? Mavic Cabrera-Balleza was a 
member of the GenderIT blogging team at the first Internet Governance 
Forum (IGF) that took place in Athens in November of 2006. She spoke 
with two IGF participants, Caroline Wamala from Uganda and Itir Akdogan 
from Turkey, about gender issues in internet governance and online 
content regulation. – GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=95136

ANALYSIS III: Women and the Philippine media: At the fringes of freedom

Where do women stand in the struggle for freedoms to express, create and 
disseminate information through ICTs? Censorship comes in multiple forms 
in the Philippines. The country has one of the highest counts of media 
practitioners killed in the course of their work in the region. Yet, it 
retains a contradictory position as one of the more open media 
landscapes in South East Asia. Whatever the reality, gendered 
expectations and roles seem to play out in this field, from ‘old’ tech, 
to the new. Female sexuality becomes a site for contestation and 
(re)appropriation. – GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=95133

BLOGGING FROM THE PHILIPPINES: ‘Pinays’ discuss Take Back The Tech and 
free software
By Sarah Escandor-Tomas

In a Philippine conference on FOSS and e-governance running on March 7 
and 8, participants talked about advocating free and open source 
software (FOSS) in the government, especially at the local level. Apart 
from the main event, APC-member WomensHub organised a mini-session for 
women to talk about the Take Back The Tech campaign and FOSS 
training/mentoring for girls. – APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5058469

BLOGGING FROM INDIA:  Films, Desire & Digital Spaces
By Jac sm Kee

“It seems almost unreal to engage in conversations about desire at a 
fifteenth century fort in India, but that's exactly what Cheekay Cinco 
and I did from 7 - 10 March,” writes Jac sm Kee. APC WNSP organised a 
panel and workshop at Films of Desire, an event that brought together 
activists, human rights advocates, film makers and academics to engage 
in dialogue around the socio-political dimensions of representation. The 
focus of the event was around sexualities, and how their 
mis/non/positive representations on screen is related to real life 
negotiations on this difficult and shifting terrain. – APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5059040

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-- APC IN THE NEWS --

THISDAY ONLINE, Nigeria: ICT as a development tool
Efem Nkanga, Wednesday March 28 2007

Has any one heard of a small and remote village in Kaduna state called 
Fantsuam? It's the smallest village in that state in the northern part 
of Nigeria. Fantsuam locals are a savvy digitally compliant lot who in a 
few years have become a living example of what ICT can do to usher in 
development where none existed. The digital growth of that village is 
driven by APC-member Fantsuam Foundation, a non-governmental initiative 
that is slowly transforming that locality into a digitally compliant 
village.- THISDAY
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=74167

IDRC, Canada: Grounding GEM for Telecentres: Experiences of Ecuador and 
the Philippines
By Claire Buré, March 2007

This 19-page comparative study examined how the Gender Evaluation 
Methodology
(GEM) framework was used with telecentres in Ecuador and the 
Philippines, and
outcomes of its use. Findings from this study lead to a set of 
recommendations for the use of GEM within telecentre contexts in the 
future, including a need for GEM for telecentres to be more concrete, 
locally grounded, and participatory. It is also recommended to include a 
feasibility scan before implementation. GEM is an initiative of the APC 
women’s programme. - IDRC
http://www.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/11722592811Grounding_GEM_for_Telecentres.pdf 

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-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --

PRIMER ON FOSS: The “e-primer on free and open source software (FOSS): 
Network infrastructure and security”, with a foreword by Robert Shaw of 
the International Telecommunication Union, introduces readers to the 
network concepts and architectures, and the major networking functions 
with FOSS. It also discusses network security functions with FOSS, 
including security best practices and ‘to-do's’.
http://www.apdip.net/news/fossnetwork

MDGs ATLAS: If you feel like visiting the World Bank, note that their 
new online atlas of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is out. It 
offers a visualisation of the Millennium Development Goals. One can 
explore the maps of key indicators for each of the eight MDG goals. It 
intends to make a wide range of data for over 200 economies easily 
accessible.
Available in English, French and Spanish.
http://devdata.worldbank.org/atlas-mdg/  and
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/home.do?siteId=2

POCKETBOOK ON FREEDOM OF EXRESSION: Freedom of expression organisation 
ARTICLE 19 has released a new publication, the "Central Asian Pocketbook 
on Freedom of Expression" at the Almaty Press Club in Kazakhstan on 
March 13. The 230-page long book, provides a brief but comprehensive 
overview of key thematic areas such as acceptable limitations on freedom 
of expression, regulation of the media, the rights of journalists, the 
law of defamation and privacy, national security and the right of access 
to in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
In English: 
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/tools/central-asian-pocketbook.pdf
In Russian: 
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/tools/central-asian-pocketbook-ru.pdf

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-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES --

MANUAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS: The online version of the Digital Security and 
Privacy for Human Rights Defenders manual has just been launched. The 
website offers an easier way to read the manual, browse through the 
different links and possibly contribute to it. Frontlinedefenders.org 
also provides a much better platform for translation.
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/manual/en/esecman/

SPECIAL JOURNAL ON WIRELESS: A special edition of the Journal of 
Community Informatics will be devoted to ‘Wireless Networking and Social 
Justice’. The journal takes a global perspective on community wireless 
projects, in order to broaden its understanding of the technologies, 
organisational structures, and policy implications of projects developed 
by communities around the world. Abstracts are due on April 15, 2007 and 
must include the author's affiliation and contact information. Full 
paper submissions are due by June 1, 2007. For more information, contact 
Sascha Meinrath: joci at saschameinrath.com
http://ci-journal.net

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-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC –-

You can meet up with APC and/or APC WNSP (APC women's programme) 
representatives at the events below during the next two months. Write to 
events at apc.org to obtain contact information. See you there!

APRIL 9-13: Ourmedia conference VI
Sydney, Australia
http://www.ourmedia07.net/

APRIL 15-17: APC Asia member meeting
Sydney, Australia

APRIL 19-20: Second national encounter of women mayors
APC WNSP participating
Buenos Aires, Argentina

APRIL 23-27: FOSSFA media practitioners free software meeting
Accra, Ghana
http://www.fossfa.net/fossfa

APRIL 23-MAY 4: AFNOG/AfriNIC/ISOC Africa meetings
Abuja, Nigeria
http://www.afnog.org/

APRIL 27-29: Yale University access to knowledge II conference
New Haven, United States of America
http://research.yale.edu/isp/eventsa2k.html

MAY 1-4: Computer, Freedom and Privacy 2007
Montreal, Canada
http://www.cfp2007.org/live/index.html

MAY 7-9: APC North American member meeting
Montreal, Canada

MAY 14-25: World Summit on the Information Society action line follow-up 
meetings and World Information Society Day
Geneva, Switzerland
http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/cluster.asp?year=2007&month=0&type='alf'&subtype=0

MAY 14-15: Second facilitation meeting on “Building confidence and 
security in the use of ICTs” (WSIS action line 5)
Geneva, Switzerland
http://www.itu.int/pgc

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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.

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Attribution-NonCommercial Licence 2.5
Association for Progressive Communications (APC), 2007