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Reading Room
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@fric@
and Bust: On the Dialectics of Technology and
Development
- By Geert Lovink and Patrice Riemens. This
article, largely critical of past development
efforts and Africa's alleged decay, wonders what
the new information technology has to offer.
"Thclash between the slow time of Africa and
the absent time of the Net couldn't be more
acute, and it is impossible to interpret the
result."
Last updated on 1/16/98 by Dirk
Staatsen
-
"Africa-Development": More
Than Just Internet Connections Required
- by Gumisai Mutume
Last updated on 1/6/98
by Dirk Staatsen. Submitted by Cliff Missen
-
African Internet Status
- This article by Mike Jensen written in July 99
updates the current Internet status of African
Countries.
- Submitted on 3/21/00 by Rick
Brenneman
-
African Connectivity, Problems,
Solutions and Actions:
Some Recommendations
from Inet'96 by Lishan Adam
- Last updated on 1/6/98 by Dirk
Staatsen. Submitted by
Cliff Missen
-
A
Guide to Improving Internet Access in Africa with
Wireless Technologies
- IDRC Study
August 31st 1996
Mike Jensen mikej@wn.apc.org
Last updated on 1/6/98 by Dirk
Staatsen. Submitted by Cliff Missen
-
Applying
the Lessons of Participatory Communication and
Training to Rural
Telecentres
- by Jon Anderson, L. Van Crowder, David Dion,
Wendy Truelovec (1997)
This paper reviews the efforts being made to
construct rural telecentres
but poses questions about the appropriateness of
the technology and what is being done to
accomodate the needs and abilities of the rural
users.
- "New information and communications
technologies, in particular the
Internet, offer a potentially powerful tool for
contributing to rural
development. However, the introduction of these
tools into rural settings through telecentres
will inevitably be accompanied by many of the
same constraints and difficulties experienced
with previous technology transfer attempts."
Last updated on 1/16/98 by Dirk
Staatsen
-
At Ease with Email
- This provides copies of an excellent handbook on
email for International NGO's. The book is
available in English, Spanish and French.
Last updated on 3/23/00 by Rick
Brenneman Submitted by Alex Janosek
Emerging Internet
-
In the
summer of 1996, the Institute for Information Studies, a joint
project of The Aspen Institute and Nortel,
sponsored a conference on the future of the Internet.
That meeting produced The Internet as Paradigm, a collection of
articles examining the implications of the Internet
as "an emergent paradigm, one whose
lineaments are neither fully realized nor defined, but that by
virtue of its obvious imaginative power
characterizes and reshapes all it touches." That imaginative
power fueled a second Internet conference, held in the summer
of 1997. This volume, The Emerging Internet, is the
product of that meeting.
Introduction
by Arthur A. Bushkin
Sovereignty
in the Networked World by Michael R.
Nelson
The
New "Civic Virtue" of the Internet
by David R. Johnson and David G. Post
The
Internet and Community by Jeffrey
Abramson
Will
the Internet Transform Higher Education?
by Walter S. Baer
The
Internet and Electronic Commerce: A Tale of Three Cities
by Elliot Maxwell
Development
and the Globalization of Cyberspace by Heather E. Hudson
Submitted on 4/20/00 by Rick Brenneman
-
Going Digital
- By PAUL CONSTANCE. This article
tells the story behind Inter-American Development
Bank's Informatics 2000 Initiative. It offers
some reasons for investing in digital
communication as well as some analysis of the
hurdles to overcome.
Last updated on 3/17/00
by Rick Brenneman
-
Information Technology/Telematics
- This site gives more information
on a series of lectures held on Information
Technology/Telematics in Developing Countries.
RAWOO, the Advisory Council for Scientific
Research in Development Problems, organizes these
lectures. This council advises the Dutch
government on matters involving research that is
important for developing countries. Lecture
topics include "Investigating the
Digital World," "Information
and Communication Technology: How does it Help?!,"
"Digitalization: Globalization and
Privatization" and others.
Last updated on 3/17/00
by Rick Brenneman. Submitted by Alex Janosek
-
Making the Difference
- Measuring the Impact of
Information on Development: Proceedings of a
Workshop held in Ottawa, Canada, 1012 July
1995.
- Edited by Paul McConnel
Last updated on 4/4/00
by Rick Brenneman
International
E-mail Accessibility
- This provides detailed lists and information on
country codes and connectivity. It also provides
a Connectivity FAQ.
Last updated on 1/6/98 by Dirk
Staatsen. Submitted by Alex Janosek
Internet
Access in the World**
- The US is constantly advancing by developing new software,
creating the best infrastructure for computer mediated
communications and giving opportunities that do not end for the
users. As a result of the opportunities created in this country,
the net has become really global only within the US. The rest of
the world ambitiously is trying to follow the path so that they
can keep up with the competition and the development that the US
is taking.
Submitted on 3/21/00 by Rick Brenneman
-
Internet
and Rural Development: Recommendations for
Strategy and
Activity
Final Report and Executive Summary
- Prepared for the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations
by Dr. Don Richardson. A broad-ranging analysis
of the current state of digital communication
technlogies in the developing world. This report
is rich with resources, facts and figures. While
essentially a document to underline the FAO's
activities, the information and ideas presented
here are relevant to all in the field.
Last updated on 1/16/98 by Dirk
Staatsen
Internet for the People
- The Peruvian Scientific
Network/Internet Peru (RCP ) is bringing the
Internet to low-income users in underdeveloped
areas of Peru via via "cabinas
públicas" that offer Internet connected
computers for as little as $1 an hour.
Last updated on 1/16/98
by Dirk Staatsen
-
Internet Unwired
- By Michiel Hegener (Sept 1997) A
very readable analysis of the current move
towards satellite-based Internetworking.
Highlights the technical issues and describes the
projects currently underway.
Last updated on 3/30/00
by Rick Brenneman
-
Low
Cost WWW Access Internet Model for Third World
Countries
- By Zubair A. Shaikh, Ph.D. et al. (1995) This
paper provides a wide ranging analysis of the
Internet and it potential, drawing on the
authors' experiences and knowledge of Internet
development in Pakistan.
Last updated on 1/16/98 by Dirk
Staatsen
-
"Netizens:
On the History and Impact of Usenet and the
Internet."
- Netbook by Michael
and Ronda
Hauben
Last updated on 4/4/00 by Rick
Brenneman
Networks
and CD-ROMs Aid Research, Dev. and Education in
Zimbabwe
- This is an article by Tim Buxton at the
University of Zimbabwe. It summarizes the
situation and potential in Zimbabwe at the end of
1994 with regard to computers, communications and
information. It is in the January 1995 T.H.E
Journal.
- Last updated 3/22/00 by Rick
Brenneman
-
Papers & Proceedings
Symposium on African Telematics-
Ethiopia, April 3-7, 1995
- Of particular note:
- Telematics for Development by Michael
Jensen
Last updated on 1/16/98
by Dirk Staatsen
"Partnerships and Participation in
Telecommunication for Rural Development"
Release of Conference Proceedings.
Conference proceedings for the "Partnerships and
Participation in Telecommunication for Rural Development"
Conference, hosted by the Don Snowden Program for Development
Communication at the University of Guelph, Canada on October 26
& 27, 1998 are now on-line at: http://www.telecommons.com
For further information, contact info@snowden.org
Last updated on 3/21/00 by Rick Brenneman
Technology
Revolution Study
- Mr. Hans d'Orville. UNDP's Bureau
for Policy and Programme Support
-
- Perhaps the best overall assssment
to-date of digital communication technology's
role in development. This article includes lots
of easy-to-understand technical information,
examples, facts and figures.
Last updated on 3/22/00
by Rick Brenneman
-
Telecommunications
in Africa - via Internet in Particular
- by Michiel Hegener (1996) A well-documented and
thoughtful survey and critique of the status of
the Internet in Africa. Provides solid examples
of the efforts to create connectivity, the
players in the field, and the hurdles to be
overcome.
Last updated on 3/17/00 by Rick
Brenneman
-
The
Internet and Middle East Studies
- By Hosaka Shuji (1997) JIME
Review. A paper describing in detail the state of the
Internet in the Middle East and its application to Middle Eastern
studies. Reproduced by permission of Japanese Institute of
Middle Eastern Economies (JIME)
Last updated on 2/13/01 by Bonnie Pedersen.
-
The
African Internet Service Provider Database
- This sites serves as a guide to The AAAS Africa Program's list
of databases and listings of African country's internet
capabilities and related material.
Last updated on 2/13/01 by Bonnie Pedersen.
-
Information
and Communication Infrastructure in Africa
- Provided by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS)
Sub-Saharan Africa Program, this is a
country-by-country listing of Internet services
and their capabilities. This database was created by Mike Jensen
on behalf of the African Information Society Initiative with the
collaboration of Bellanet.
Submitted on 2/13/01 by Bonnie
Pedersen.
-
The
Network Startup Resource Center
- Provides reports and papers about networking in
particular African countries, connectivity and topology maps for
the regions, Africa/MidEast exchange points, and links to each
country.
Submitted on 2/13/01 by Bonnie
Pedersen.
African
Internet Connectivity Directory
- Also known as "Mike Jensen's Directory." (Mike
Jensen is an African networking pioneer who keeps close track of
developments in the region).
Submitted on 2/13/01 by Bonnie Pedersen.
-
Wiring
Africa
- You go to a small village in Africa. People are
hungry. Is the real solution 100 kilograms of
corn - or an electronic mailbox?
Last updated on 6/12/98 by Dirk
Staatsen
-
World Internet Connectivity
- This map, another by Larry
Landweber, shows that most countries have some
sort of Internet connectivity, but no indication
of how many people use the Internet.
Submitted on 2/13/01 by Bonnie
Pedersen.
-
Internet for the
Third World: Chance or Threat? (Oktober 1997)
- The use of Internet in Third World
has its benefits, but usually only
- the elite of the countries will
profit from it. By Uwe Afemann.
Submitted on 4/5/00 by
Rick Brenneman
-
THE INTERNET AND POVERTY: Real help or
real hype? (April 1998)
- Governments, donors and development organisations
are rushing to realise the benefits that Internet
access promises in the fight against poverty. But
are the benefits it has brought so far merely
isolated examples or are they signs that a
revolution is underway?
Submitted on 4/5/00 by
Rick Brenneman
The Internet and the South: Superhighway
or Dirt-track? (Oktober 1995)
- Hopes and fears of the electronic future
What does the internet mean for its users?
Who set up the internet?
Why has the internet spread so fast?
Submitted on
4/5/00 by Rick Brenneman
Challenges to the Network: Internet for
Development, 1999 (February 1999)
- The ITU's Telecommunication
Indicator Reports present an analysis of trends
and developments in the global telecommunications
sector, backed
- by official statistics from the
world's leading source of telecommunication
information.
Submitted on
4/5/00 by Rick Brenneman
Information Technologies: Articles and
Links
- At a time when the
world confronts immense social problems, many
hopes for progress are grounded in the
development potential of new information
technologies. But technical breakthroughs in
themselves are not a sufficient condition for
improving the lives of most people in Third World
countries.
Submitted on
4/5/00 by Rick Brenneman
CEOs Discuss "Digital Divide,"
September 10, 1999, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
- At a time when the
world confronts immense social problems, many
hopes for progress are grounded in the
development potential of new information
technologies. But technical breakthroughs in
themselves are not a sufficient condition for
improving the lives of most people in Third World
countries.
Submitted on
4/5/00 by Rick Brenneman
Supporting
Women's Use of Technologies for Sustainable
Development
- Submitted to the Gender and
Sustainable Development Unit, IDRC 18 February
1997 Prepared by Sophia Huyer Women in
Global Science and Technology.
- Submitted on 4/14/00 by
Rick Brenneman
Creating
Virtual Learning Communities in Africa: Challenges and Prospects
- This paper discusses the growing application of information
communications
technologies in Africa and other parts of the world. It examines
the growing
global information technology revolution and how it is
transforming
educational institutions. It then discusses the state of distance
education
in Africa, identifying the institutions offering distance
education and the
nature of the delivery platform used. The prospects and challenges
in
introducing distance education to Africa tertiary institutions is
discussed.
Finally, it offers suggestions to overcome the challenges
confronting
technology-based education in Africa.
- By Osei Darkwa and Fikile Mazibuko
- Submitted on 5/02/00 by
Rick Brenneman
-
Connecting
Women from Developing Countries to the Internet: Searching
for the Appropriate Paradigm
- Women from developing countries, using the Internet for gender
activism, have specific Internet needs - and even among this
‘group’ the needs vary. These users further represent women on
the grassroots level without access to computer networks. By
Ellen S. Kole
Submitted on 2/15/01 by Bonnie Pedersen.
Full Text
(Permissions Granted)
A New Satellite
Connection to the Internet
Summary: Steve Cisler, Advisor,
Tachyon, Inc. discusses a new satellite service he is
working with. The article was written for the
December 1998 print version of Community Networking,
the newsletter of the Association For Community
Networking <bcn.boulder.co.us/afcn>.
High Rates Limit
Net Access in Sudan
Sunday, February 15, 1998: The Tech Channel
-
- Summary: Sudan's sole Internet
Service Provider (ISP) started operations last
January. With 300 subscribers, the company does
not expect to sign up more than an additional 500
hundred during this year.
The Internet and the
Developing World
British Medical Journal 1998 ; 316:1111 (11 April
)
Summary: Richard Smith talked to
India's premier information scientist, Subbiah
Arunachalam, about whether the internet will solve
the information problems of the developing world.
World
Wide Wireless
New York Times, 2 June 1998
Summary: A new wireless phone
that can operate without modification on different
continents has been developed.
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