January  2012



ANIE Workshop on Social Media in Africa

in cooperation with the SCECSAL XX Conference on Information for Sustainable Development in a Digital Environment
See also: SCECSAL Forum
Nairobi, June 2-3, 2012


Third Africa Conference on Information Ethics
Pretoria, September 2012 (in prep.)



October  2011

euroafrica-ICT

"Neelie Kroes’ visit in Kenya: how ICT helps developing countries – some Kenya case studies

On the occasion of the Internet Governance Forum, held in Nairobi on 27-30 September 2011, the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes visited Kenya to further explore the role of ICT in the developing world.

Passionate about the role that ICT can play in stimulating Europe’s economy, Commissioner Neelie Kroes strongly believes that it can be similar in the developing world: “Supporting development has always included investing in infrastructure, which has historically meant things like the water supply, roads, electricity networks, or human capital. But in the modern world ICT is essential infrastructure too, without which our economy cannot function”.

During her visit in Kenya Ms Kroes had the chance to visit three successful projects addressing “ICT for development”: Close the Gap, the WEEE and i-Hub. Talking to those entrepreneurs “I was clear how much the Kenyan society stands to gain. From medical innovations like making it easier to find your local clinic and make an appointment, to audio text-messaging for the visually impaired, to projects targeting women and those from the slums. All in all, a very fulfilling day looking at what ICT can do for developing countries – and a day which reminded me just how similar the opportunities and challenges are in Europe, too."

The complete report is available on Neelie Kroes’ blog.

September 2011

Frida Award 2011 for "Plan Ceibal" of Uruguay

"Plan CEIBAL (Conectividad Educativa de Informática Básica para el Aprendizaje en Línea), es un plan de inclusión tecnológica y social, implementado a través del sistema educativo, que ha entregado una computadora por niño y por docente entre los estudiantes de Educación Primaria y primer ciclo de Enseñanza Secundaria y Bachilleratos Técnicos que asisten a todos los centros educativos de enseñanza pública del Uruguay."

"En palabras del ex presidente de la República, Dr. Tabaré Vázquez, “el objetivo a largo plazo del Plan Ceibal es promover la justicia social mediante la promoción de la igualdad de acceso a la información y herramientas de comunicación para todo nuestro pueblo”.

Frida Award

"This award seeks to recognize those projects and initiatives that contribute significantly to the use of the internet as a catalyst for change in Latin America and the Caribbean. Based on the theme of the IGF 2011, it focuses on the areas of access, freedom, development and innovation.

Five awards will be given to nominated projects and initiatives, being one award for each of the 4 following subject areas:

Access – this includes initiatives that expanded fixed and mobile access to the internet through new forms of technical and organizational arrangements as well as improve the quality of access based on issues of accessibility, disability and linguistic diversity.

Freedoms – this includes initiatives related to freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy, security, consumer’s rights, new forms of intellectual property in the digital environment and a wider range of issues related to internet and human rights.

Development –This includes initiatives that use the internet to contribute directly to the solution of environmental and socio–economic challenges. It is such as education, health, access to finance and environmental conditions.

Innovation – Includes initiatives that introduced technical innovation on any aspect related with Internet development, ranging from physical to conceptual. Among others, it includes innovation in materials, devices, standards for software and content, as well as aspects related to development of the semantic web."

February  2011

UNICEF: 2011 World’s Children report:  ‘Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity’

pdf

Paolo Najera, 17, Costa Rica
"In order to provide quality education, our teachers must be provided with proper classrooms and new textbooks. If only the children in my village could access the world through a computer as do children elsewhere. I feel sad that they have been denied their right to education and to achieve their full potential." (p. 11)

John Palfrey, Urs Gasser and Colin Maclay of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University, and Gerrit Beger of UNICEF
"Digital natives and the three divides to bridge
[...] The benefits of far-reaching digital technologies extend beyond learning to promoting creativity, entrepreneurship and activism. Adolescents and young people are using these technologies to express themselves through videos, audio recordings and games. They are creating inspiring political movements, watchdog groups and new modes of organizing that combine the online and the offline. As they become young adults, some of them are inventing new businesses and technologies that create jobs and opportunities. They teach one another as they build out into the global cyber environment. Our challenge as a global society is to design and build online experiences for adolescents that help them seize the opportunities – while mitigating the challenges – of life that are partially mediated by digital technologies. If the three divides of digital access can be bridged, new interfaces and experiences will expand adolescents’ minds, connect them to people around the world and enable them to participate in the making and sharing of knowledge in the information economy." (pp. 14-15)

Graham Brown, Co-founder, mobileYouth
"Young people, mobile phones and the rights of adolescents
[...] Three of the five markets with the highest numbers of mobile accounts among young people are developing countries: Brazil, China and India (Japan and the United States are the other two). By 2012, the number of subscribers below the age of 30 in South Asia is projected to rise by 30 per cent, to 380 million, sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have 108 million subscribers under 30, and Latin America, 188 million. This increased connectivity offers an opportunity for young people to access knowledge and fulfil their right to information. Although it was long thought that low-cost laptops would unlock the world of cheap mass communications for youth in developing markets, the mobile phone has become the de facto access channel to the Internet in places where there is low PC penetration. In South Africa, for example, mobile phone subscriptions among youth outstrip PC ownership by as much as 123 per cent." (p. 36)

Colin Maclay, Gerrit Berger, Urs Grasser and John Palfrey
"Digital Safety for young people: Gathering information, creating new models and understanding existing efforts.
[...] A growing concern for parents, educators and others involved with the welfare and well-being of children and adolescents is related to young people’s ability to use these tools safety and effectively. In addition, the explosive growth of ICT also presents challenges to young people’s privacy, freedom of expression and physical and psychological well-being – and there remain fundamental knowledge gaps regarding their impact. Despite agreement that risks for young people exist, these have largely gone both unexamined and unaddressed in developing countries. At the same time, a mixture of genuine concern, powerful anecdote, traditional culture and diverse political forces is driving interventions in the name of child safety and may lead to ineffective or even counterproductive policies. " (p. 50).