[huridocs-tech] APCNews - February 2004 - No. 39

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
           *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
      Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                - January 2004 No. 39 -
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
-- NEWS FROM APC --
-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
-- BUILDING CAPACITY & STRATEGIC USE OF ICTs --
-- WOMEN & ICTs --
-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
-- IMPORTANT DATES --
-- WHAT'S NEW ON THE APC WEBSITE --
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -

Open Forum of Cambodia, Cambodia: New intellectual property law forces
Cambodians to start developing their own Khmer-language software

"We envision, in 2007, a country where Cambodians can learn and use
computers in their own language, a country that does not have to change to
a new language in order to use computers!" say the activists behind the new
KhmerOS initiative.

Until now, computer use in Cambodia has been mostly in English, and mostly
using unlicensed copies of Microsoft Windows products. However, a new
Cambodian intellectual property law means that a user will have to purchase
a license for each copy of software sold by companies such as Microsoft and
that's unaffordable for most Cambodian computer users. This new portal
coordinated by APC member, Open Forum of Cambodia, gets together some
previously isolated developers and is starting out by providing Khmer
translations of well-known free software programmes such as Mozilla (the
powerful web browser and mail programme). But the eventual goal is to
create a full applications package under GNU/Linux, "which has 90% of all
applications which 100% of all users need". Find out more about the
motivation behind KhmerOS.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17264


CEPES, Peru: Farmers and local government in rural Peru use free APC software

CEPES, one of APC's newest members, has trained participants in a
rural-urban information service to set up a portal and exchange
agricultural information from six telecentres in remote area of the
northern Peruvian sierras. A replication of the course is being organised
for staff at the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture's offices in the same
region. The technology of choice is APC's free software, APC ActionApps.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17062


ALIN-EA, Kenya: Stakeholders meet to discuss an all-inclusive information
society in Kenya

Kenya needs a workable and all-inclusive ICT policy and this is only
possible through a partnership approach. This was the conclusion of a stake
holder's forum held in Nairobi in November 2003 that brought together
members of the government, the private sector and civil society
organizations interested in ICT policy issues to deliberate on an all
inclusive information society in Kenya and Kenya's participation at the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). - ALIN-EA
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17258


Women'sNet, South Africa: Advancing rural women's empowerment in Southern
Africa through ICTs

Women'sNet, an APC member in South Africa, is hosting a regional workshop
to be held in Johannesburg in February which will bring together women's
organisations, government officials, and gender and development
practitioners and researchers, involved in gender and information and
communication projects and initiatives.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17279


ITeM, Uruguay: Choike at the Fourth World Social Forum - Coverage in
English and Spanish

Reports and news on the fourth edition of the World Social Forum, which had
its venue for the first time in Asia from the portal on southern civil
societies. This year the Forum, held in Mumbai, focused on imperialist
globalization, religious sectarianism, identity politics and
fundamentalism, castes, racism and social exclusion, patriarchy and
militarization. - Choike
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/eventos/1.html (English)
http://www.choike.org/nuevo/eventos/3.html (Spanish)


RITS, Brazil: World Social Forum 2004 - Coverage in Portuguese

With the support of Avina Foundation, APC member in Brazil, Rits, was able
to send a team to the IV World Social Forum, in Mumbai, India, from January
16 to 21. The special coverage was published in the hotsite "Rets - Edição
Especial Fórum Social Mundial". Even before the WSF had started, the
hot-site was releasing information about the concerns, expectations and
opinions the event was generating.

The RITS team which included Paulo Lima (our Executive Director), Graciela
Selaimen (Infomation and Communication Director) and editor, Fausto Rego,
produced daily coverage focusing on the most interesting and relevant
seminars and workshops. There were also exclusive interviews, photos and
reports of what was going on at the WSF, all produced for a Brazilian civil
society audience. ­ RITS
http://fsm2004.rits.org.br.


c2o, Australia: D3 tested at Australian Centre for the Moving Image

D3 - a prototype public multimedia interactive created by APC member in
Melbourne, c2o- is a storytelling engine which explores a sense of place by
mapping trails through a city. - c2o
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16342


Intercom, Ecuador: ICT4D newsletter from Ecuador gets facelift

Since 1997, Intercom - Ecuanex, APC member in Ecuador, has published
'Conexión' a newsletter featuring resources and news on the use of internet
for the democratisation of communication and human development.  Now since
edition no. 58, thanks to the support of the International Institute for
Communication and Development (IICD), Conexion will be getting a face-lift
which will include full-colour printing and new in-depth sections.
Published three times a year and with an increased distribution, Intercom
will broaden its ICT for development coverage. Please write to
comunicacion@ecuanex.net.ec with comments, contributions or to subscribe.
Conexion: http://conexion.ecuanex.net


BlueLink, Bulgaria: APC member in Bulgaria is a finalist in the Stockholm
Challenge

APC is delighted to announce that BlueLink's project "Regional
Environmental Content Sharing in the South Eastern European (SEE) Region"
has made it to the final of the Stockholm Challenge Awards for pioneering
IT projects worldwide. The platform designed for non-profit users became
one of the nine finalists of the "Environment" category selected from over
900 applicants for the annual awards. Another APC member StrawberryNet is a
partner in the successful project which is based on a content exchange
replication process developed by APC and made possible using APC's free
software, the APC ActionApps.

See the finalists:
http://www.challenge.stockholm.se/finalists.asp?Ar=2003&key=39KV85332
The content sharing project: http://www.see-environment.info
BlueLink: http://www.bluelink.net
APC ActionApps: http://www.apc.org/actionapps


StrawberryNet, Romania: Wealth of information about Romanian non-government
organisations goes online

CENTRAS in collaboration with APC member, the StrawberryNet Foundation, has
launched the first tri-language database of non-governmental organisations
in Romania", RO_NGO.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17401


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- NEWS FROM APC -

New Member: Montreal-based action and communication network becomes APC member

Alternatives -the Action and Communication Network for International
Development- joined APC in November 2003. Alternatives is based in
Montreal, Canada, and works on a regional, national and international level
with non-governmental organisations defending the interests of vulnerable
populations; specifically, labourers, women and young people constructing a
more environmentally conscious, humane and democratic society.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17336


New Member: Computer Aid International joins APC

Based in the UK, Computer Aid the largest and most experienced non-profit
in the world which supplies professionally refurbished computers to
not-for-profit organisations in developing countries. They have provided
over 25,000 quality computers to progressive organisations in the South
working to bring about social and economic change. This year, Computer Aid
is focusing their work on less-developed countries and to increase
provision to and via rights based organisations and women-led initiatives.
They also plan to focus on training and computer refurbishment as a means
for self sustainability. Computer Aid is APC's first new member of 2004!
Computer Aid International: http://www.computer-aid.org/


APC at the World Social Forum 2004, Mumbai: A Personal Account from APC's
African Policy Coordinator

Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna of APC's Africa ICT Policy Monitor project has been
involved in various global policy-making processes on communication rights
issues. He gives us his impressions of the World Social Forum as he went to
Mumbai to run an ICT Policy for Civil Society' workshop for Forum participants.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17333


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --

No more back-room deals for .br (Brazil)

There's a new openness since the Lula government came to power at the
beginning of 2003 and began working hand-in-hand with Brazilian civil
society to change the way the internet is being governed in Brazil. It's
been announced that the committee which handles all Brazilian-registered
website addresses will be chosen in public online elections. For the first
time since the .br registry was created in 1995, members of civil society
will be elected and can participate directly in the deliberations. -- APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17286


Management Committee Elections to be held via the internet, with digital
certification

The Brazilian government has decided to support this transition to a new
internet governance structure for the administration of ".br". ITI and
Abong outline the process which involves elections and the nominations of
candidates from civil society, government and the science and technology
sectors in this article translated into English by APC. - ITI/Abong
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17353


NEW PUBLICATION: A new book from APC - "ICT Policy - A Beginner's Handbook"

APC's new book lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to
encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes.
It's a book for people who feel that ICT policy is important but don't know
much about it, e.g. a government official worried about a gap in her
technical knowledge of how the internet works, a human-rights worker
concerned that his need to send secure email is being challenged by
national government policy, a citizen fed up with paying exorbitant rates
for dial-up internet access and ready to organise...

It's not a map but it *is* a compass.
"ICT Policy - A Beginner's Handbook" will be available in 2004 in Spanish.
Find out more about the new handbook:
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16108


An interview with the editor of "ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook"

APCNews asked the editor of APC's new book "ICT Policy: A Beginner's
Handbook" Chris Nicol to comment briefly on the motivation behind the
handbook which was published in December. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16109


NEW PUBLICATION: "The Other Side of the Divide" - Voices from Latin
American and the Caribbean speak out about the social impact of ICTs

RedISTIC (Networking on the Social Impact of ICTs) is a coalition made up
of groups that work on information society-related issues (communication,
knowledge, wisdom, etc.) in Latin American and the Caribbean. The first
achievement of RedISTIC is the publication of the book "The Other Side of
the Divide: Latin American and the Caribbean Perspectives on the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)".
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17331


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- BUILDING CAPACITY & STRATEGIC USE OF ICTs --

APC ActionApps is one of the top 10 open source tools for e-Activism

APC's free content management system designed specifically for progressive
organisations to publish news automatically and share content at the click
of a button has been nominated one of the best open source software tools
that can be used by activists to spread the message and promote interaction
by e-newsletters, forums, blogs, and online petitions.

Compiled by Dan Bashaw and Mike Gifford in an article for the Democracies
Online Newswire APC ActionApps came out tops along with other well-known
applications like PostNuke, Twiki and WebCards.
http://www.openconcept.ca/index.php/Top10


ItrainOnline News: New modules

The ItrainOnline partnership has recently released nine new Multimedia
Training Kit (MMTK) units on the following topics: open source software;
OpenOffice.org; radio browsing; reporting on HIV/AIDS; and older and
refurbished computers.

All materials are available on the ItrainOnline site at:
http://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/mmtk/index.shtml
If you would like a copy of the materials on CD-ROM please e-mail mmtk@apc.org


UNESCO joins the ItrainOnline initiative

UNESCO has joined six expert organisations in the ItrainOnline initiative,
an online service that aims to tackle challenges faced by civil society
organisations and individuals who want to take advantage of ICT to meet
their missions. This initiative was created to help internet and computer
users sharpen their individual skills and play a key role in bridging the
knowledge gap. APC is one of the six partners in the initiative.
http://www.itrainonline.org


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- WOMEN & ICTs -

Women's Electronic Network Training Workshop in India

Nineteen women from all over India participated in the Women's Electronic
Network Training Workshop in India (WENT-IN) where they trained in planning
effective web-based information services, and in using online communication
tools to advance their networking and advocacy work. - APC WNSP
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16344


Gender Evaluation of ICT projects (GEM) Workshop in Seville, Spain

"The Andalusian Institute for Women decided to invite the GEM team after
learning about the tool via the website where it is now in English,
Portuguese and Spanish," said Dafne Sabanes Plou, regional coordinator for
GEM in Latin America. - APC WNSP
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=17359


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --

Special edition of the ICT Policy Monitor in Latin America and the
Caribbean highlights 2003

A special end of year edition featured the sections, materials and content
which were most developed in 2003 and those that have had the largest and
most positive impact on policy work taking place in LAC at this time.
"El boletin": http://lac.derechos.apc.org/boletines.shtml?x=16184 (in Spanish)


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- IMPORTANT DATES --

Thetha on ICT Policy Organisations and Processes
11 February 2004, Johannesburg, South Africa

Do you know your acronyms - PNC-ISAD, GCIS, MPCC, DoC, Convergence, ICASA,
WSIS, etc.? This meeting will seek to explain the range of national ICT
organisations and processes, and work towards a network for sharing
information between civil society organisations to become more engaged in
this regard. The aim is to exchange information, and if possible,
coordinate fuller involvement of civil society organisations in ICT
processes. This meeting forms part of Thetha - The SANGONeT ICT Discussion
Forum, and is organised in conjunction with the Open Knowledge Network.
http://www.sangonet.org.za

Advancing rural women's empowerment: ICTs in the service of good
governance, democratic practice and development for rural women in Africa
February 23-25 2004, Johannesburg, South Africa

The workshop will bring together women's organisations, government
officials, and gender and development practitioners and researchers,
involved in gender and information and communication (ICT) projects and
initiatives to identify the how ICTs have been used to deal with real
issues that rural women face like food security, conflict situations,
drought, land, health, economic well-being, and so forth, explore and
strategise how participating organisations can strengthen their own
information and communications work, etc
http://womensnet.org.za/dimitra_conference

Africa Source: African Free and Open Source Software Developers Meeting
March 15-19 2004 Namibia

This practical workshop will, for the first time, bring together free and
open source software (FOSS) developers from across Africa. During the five
day event, participants and facilitators will share technical skills and
experiences, discuss key challenges in realizing FOSS projects, and develop
concrete strategies for strengthening the nascent community of FOSS
technologists  working in African contexts. Confirmed meeting participants
include experts with a wide range of knowledge  in key areas, including DIY
wireless networking, customized GNU/Linux distributions, hardware assembly
and repair, large-scale web development, and multi-media web casting.
Deadline for applications is February 6
http://www.tacticaltech.org


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- SITES OF INTEREST --

Asociación Afecto - fighting child abuse in Colombia
This site is dedicated to preventing all types of mistreatment of children
and adolescents in Colombia and raising awareness in the general public on
the issues.
http://www.afecto.org.co/

Capital & Class magazine online
The Conference of Socialists Economists (CSE) is an international,
democratic membership organisation committed to developing a materialist
critique of capitalism, unconstrained by conventional academic divisions
between subjects. APC member in London, GreenNet, has developed the online
archive of their Capital & Class magazine. The site is built using APC's
free content management system, APC ActionApps which allows visitors to
search or browse quickly through more than 2000 articles from past C&C
issues as well as and download them in the high quality PDF format.
http://www.cseweb.org.uk/


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

-- WHAT'S NEW ON THE APC WEBSITE --

**APC ActionApps has a new address**
http://www.actionapps.org

Following more and more interest world-wide to use APC's free software, we
now have a new website address! However, www.apc.org/actionapps still
continues to function.

APC ActionApps allows anyone to publish online without knowing any
programming or learning specialised software. It's a content management
system design specifically for progressive organisations.  And because it
is being developed and adopted all over the world APC ActionApps software
is available in English, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian,
Japanese and German.

Got a question about the ActionApps? Check out the new frequently asked
question section developed by Canadian free software activists, the Commons
Group. Articles cover everything from a basic introduction to in-depth
notes for free software programmers: http://actionapps.org/faq/

APC ActionApps documentation is collected here: http://actionapps.org/aa/doc/

Try out the APC ActionApps! Take a test drive in our sandbox:
https://actionapps.org/aa/admin/ (user id and password: demo1 / demo1)

A one-page introduction to the APC ActionApps:
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16314


**The APC Press Room**
http://www.apc.org/english/press/index.shtml

Visit the press room to:
-Download informative background material (primers)
Our frequently updated primers in more than three languages cover all major
areas of APC's work - our ICT policy work, the APC prizes, etc, etc. They
are short (usually one page long) and designed for you to be able to print
them out and keep them as concise reference materials.
-Visit our press release archive
-Join our press lists in English and Spanish


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are
distributed monthly by APC, the Association for Progressive
Communications (APC), the international Internet community
for peace, human rights, development and the environment.
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, environmental, human rights or development
organizations. Please provide an acknowledgment to APC.




========== HURIDOCS-Tech listserv ==========
Send mail intended for the list to <huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.
Archives of the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/maillist.php
To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: subscribe huridocs-tech
To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: unsubscribe huridocs-tech
If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.