Conference on Communities and Technologies

Fourth International Conference on Communities and Technologies
June 25-27, 2009, on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University

Paper submission deadline: December 15, 2008

http://cct2009.ist.psu.edu/

The Communities and Technologies biennial international conference serves as a forum for stimulating and disseminating research on the complex connections between communities - both physical and virtual - and information and communication technologies. Researchers studying aspects of the interaction between communities and technologies from any disciplinary perspective are invited to participate.

Sponsored by Microsoft Research and Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology. In cooperation with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM SIGCHI and SIGCAS). Proceedings will be published in the ACM Digital Library.

Information technology is not just for people who bowl alone!

Intelligent Communities

Creating a More Connected Community with Broadband: An Intelligent Communities ePanel

As friends of the Intelligent Community Forum, we would like to invite you to a special ePanel organized by the Ontario Ministry of Government Services:

What: An online discussion with four leaders of communities named as Intelligent Communities on how their communities are using broadband to help citizens and organizations increase their efficiency, expand their knowledge and improve living standards.

When: Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 9:00 am - 10:30 am EST

Where: http://digitalontario.na3.acrobat.com/intelligentcommunities/

** You must pre-register by emailing digitalontario@ontario.ca **

Minimum Computer Requirements: Pentium II, 128mb RAM, 56kpbs Internet connection, speakers or headphones, most common internet browsers. (For full compatibilities, visit www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/systemreqs/)

ePanel Moderator:
Louis Zacharilla, Co-Founder, Intelligent Community Forum

ePanel Experts:
Gordon Kennedy, Former Deputy Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise, City of Glasgow - 2004 Intelligent Community of the Year

William Lin, Chief Executive Officer, Dragon Telecom, Tianjin, China - Two-time Top 7 Intelligent Community

Lev Gonick, Vice President, Information Technology Services, Case Western Reserve University, City of Cleveland - Two-time Top 7 Intelligent Community

Thomas Hurst, Chief Investment Officer, City of Sunderland - Five-time Top 7 Intelligent Community

Find out how the Intelligent Community Forum defines intelligent communities. Register for the ePanel today - spots are limited! Participants will be able to ask questions, rate content, take quick surveys and post comments.

For more information on ICF and the criteria for evaluating intelligent communities, please visit the Web site: http://www.intelligentcommunity.org

ePanels support the Ministry of Government Services’ (MGS) research into the challenges and opportunities of broadband technology.

Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5)

The the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5), held at the University of London in July 2008, was a huge success. It was advertised in this blog on February 25, 2008, when I was eagerly anticipating going. Unfortunately I couldn't attend - instead I had an appointment with a Gamma Knife machine :-)

Here are some details of the event taken from an article in Connections/EdTech News, October 2008.

PCF5: EXPLORING ACCESS TO LEARNING FOR DEVELOPMENT

More than 700 delegates from 70 countries attended the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5) at the University of London in July 2008. COL's biennial forum has grown to become one of the world's leading international conferences on learning and global development. This year's forum was by far the largest. The theme of PCF5 was "Access to Learning for Development" and the unique contributions that open and distance learning (ODL) can make towards achieving international development goals.

There were more than 320 papers, workshops and discussions around the forum's four main action themes:
. Children and young people;
. Governance, conflict and social justice;
. Health; and
. Livelihoods.

Three cross-cutting issues - appropriate learning technologies, institutions and learner support - helped to inform the discussions. Over four days, delegates discussed best practices, shared their experiences and were inspired by keynotes from leaders in ODL.

COL's Excellence in Distance Education Awards were also presented at PCF5.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

PCF5 was hosted by COL in partnership with the University of London, forming a part of the University's celebration of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of its External Programme.

Vice Chancellor Sir Graeme Davies opened PCF5 with comments about the world's first open access university - the University of London. While many people associate distance education with the Internet and modern technology, the University of London began offering distance education in 1858 to enable people to learn without having to come to London. They exploited state-of-the-art technologies of the day - the postal service (developed to take advantage of the new railways) and the printing press. The University of London worked with partner institutions that provided local support and in so doing, helped to develop universities throughout the Commonwealth.

Charles Dickens' magazine, All the Year Round, called the University of London "the people's university". The External Programme's many graduates include five Nobel Prize winners, many heads of state and prisoners of war during World War I and II.

............. and finally, what everyone has been waiting for ...........




PCF6 TO BE HELD IN KOCHI, INDIA

COL President Sir John Daniel and Dr. Latha Pillai, Pro Vice-Chancellor of India's Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), took the podium at PCF5 in London to announce that the Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning will be held in Kochi (Cochin, Kerala), India, co-hosted by IGNOU in late November 2010.
www.col.org/pcf6

Towards a digital Quito

Original article: "E-government, access and transparency route: Towards a digital Quito,
06-11-2008 (Quito)"

Traditional Ecuadorian chiva inviting citizens for a trip to a cybernarium.
© UNESCO

All through this month, a local chiva, the traditional Ecuadorian bus, will be travelling to popular neighbourhoods of Quito and inviting citizens to get on for a trip to the closest cybernarium, the capital’s public Internet access centres. Once in the cybernariums, free training courses are to be provided on how to access local government information and use e-government services.

This activity is part of UNESCO’s IFAP project ‘E-Government Model for World Heritage Cities - Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador) and Cusco (Peru)’, supported by the Spanish government and implemented in collaboration with the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito.

In addition to the bus, radio and television spots will be broadcast daily in order to disseminate the information as widely as possible and invite citizens to participate. Local secondary schools will also be sending their students.

Target groups for this activity are secondary school students, neighbourhood leaders, social workers and organizations as well as house wives and elderly people. Each cybernarium will receive daily groups of 150 people, who will be divided into smaller groups of 25 for the training sessions. After each training course, the participants will receive a certificate as well as a set of information materials.

The main objective of this initiative is to sensitise citizens on the benefits of e-government services in a festive environment, motivating them to use information and communication technologies (ICT) without fear.

My comment: This top-down model of providing access to "local government information" and "e-government services" didn't work particularly well in Australia some years ago - thank goodness the government improved its approach later. We need to get away from using ICT to "deliver information" and embrace using ICTS to "communicate with one another".

Solar-powered Linux computer networks for remote villages

Original article by Robin 'Roblimo' Miller on November 04, 2008 (7:00:00 PM)

Scott Johnson of GNUveau Networks has developed a solar-powered Internet "hub" system (running Ubuntu GNU/Linux) that he builds to order in his Daytona Beach, Florida, home.

Here is a video about his solar powered system.

His objective is to bring computers and the Internet to places that have no connectivity, no phone service, and no electricity. This is no pipe dream. There are real SolarNetOne installations running in Africa right now, providing wireless connectivity and "Internet Cafe" access to hundreds of people. The system uses off-the-shelf hardware that Scott modifies to run on 12V -- and to use a lot less power than the stock versions. As Scott says, in solar-powered computer installations, "The Watt is king."

Standing by Ponds

You may recall that in May, I blogged about an open access online journal: The International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT). Here is another such journal that actually uses the same open source software to publish it. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) is an excellent refereed, open access e-journal that aims to disseminate research, theory, and best practice in open and distance learning worldwide. IRRODL is available free of charge to anyone with access to the Internet.

Here is a rather interesting video-editorial to IRRODL, Volume 9, Issue 3, 2008 by Jonathan Baggaley:

Searching the web

Here's another useful video by Lee LeFever of CommonCraft.





I recommend visiting the CommonCraft site to see all the other explanatory videos available.

Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on human rights and the rule of law in the Information Society

In May 2005, the member states of the Council of Europe formally recognised that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a driving force in building the Information Society and have brought about a convergence of different communication mediums. They also recognised that ICTs can offer a wider range of possibilities in exercising human rights, and therefore that limited or no access to ICTs can deprive individuals of the ability to exercise fully their human rights. The “Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on human rights and the rule of law in the Information Society” captured this in a series of statements.

That was over three years ago. So how much of this has filtered into policies and strategies? I guess these things take a long time, but with ICTs, one year is a very long time. So that we don't lose sight of what that important document said, here is a brief summary of each statement.


I. Human rights in the Information Society

1. The right to freedom of expression, information and communication

ICTs provide unprecedented opportunities for all to enjoy freedom of expression. However, ICTs also pose many serious challenges to that freedom, such as state and private censorship. Member states should promote, through appropriate means, interoperable technical standards in the digital environment, including those for digital broadcasting, that allow citizens the widest possible access to content.


2. The right to respect for private life and correspondence

Member states should promote frameworks for self- and co-regulation by private sector actors with a view to protecting the right to respect for private life and private correspondence. A key element of the promotion of such self- or co-regulation should be that any processing of personal data by governments or the private sector should be compatible with the right to respect for private life, and that no exception should exceed those provided for in Article 8, paragraph 2, of the ECHR, or in Article 9, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.


3. The right to education and the importance of encouraging access to the new information technologies and their use by all without discrimination

Member states should facilitate access to ICT devices and promote education to allow all persons, in particular children, to acquire the skills needed to work with a broad range of ICTs and assess critically the quality of information, in particular that which would be harmful to them.


4. The prohibition of slavery and forced labour, and the prohibition of trafficking in human beings

Member states should maintain and enhance legal and practical measures to prevent and combat ICT-assisted forms of trafficking in human beings.


5. The right to a fair trial and to no punishment without law

Member states should promote codes of conduct for representatives of the media and information service providers, which stress that media reporting on trials should be in conformity with the prescriptions of Article 6 of the ECHR. They should also consider whether there is a need to develop further international legal frameworks on jurisdiction to ensure that the right to no punishment without law is respected in a digital environment.


6. The protection of property

Intellectual property rights must be protected in a digital environment, in accordance with the provisions of international treaties in the area of intellectual property. At the same time, access to information in the public domain must be protected, and attempts to curtail access and usage rights prevented.

Member states should provide the legal framework necessary for the above-mentioned goals. They should also seek, where possible, to put the political, social services, economic, and research information they produce into the public domain, thereby increasing access to information of vital importance to everyone. In so doing, they should take note of the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime, in particular Article 10, on offences related to infringements of copyright and related rights.


7. The right to free elections

Member states should examine the use of ICTs in fostering democratic processes with a view to strengthening the participation, initiative, knowledge and engagement of citizens, improving the transparency of democratic decision making, the accountability and responsiveness of public authorities, and encouraging public debate and scrutiny of the decision-making process. Where member states use e-voting, they shall take steps to ensure transparency, verifiability and accountability, reliability and security of the e-voting systems, and in general ensure their compatibility with Committee of Ministers' Recommendation Rec(2004)11 on legal, operational and technical standards for e-voting.


8. Freedom of assembly

Member states should adapt their legal frameworks to guarantee freedom of ICT-assisted assembly and take the steps necessary to ensure that monitoring and surveillance of assembly and association in a digital environment does not take place, and that any exceptions to this must comply with those provided for in Article 11, paragraph 2, of the ECHR.


II. A multi-stakeholder governance approach for building the Information Society: the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders

Building an inclusive Information Society, based on respect for human rights and the rule of law, requires new forms of solidarity, partnership and cooperation among governments, civil society, the private sector and international organisations. Through open discussions and exchanges of information worldwide, a multi-stakeholder governance approach will help shape agendas and devise new regulatory and non-regulatory models which will account for challenges and problems arising from the rapid development of the Information Society.


1. Council of Europe member states

Taking full account of the differences between services delivered by different means and people's expectations of these services, member states, with a view to protecting human rights, should promote self- and co-regulation by private sector actors to reduce the availability of illegal and of harmful content and to enable users to protect themselves from both.


2. Civil society

At a trans-national level, civil society is urged to cooperate in the sharing of objectives, best practice and experience with respect to expanding the opportunities held by the Information Society.


3. Private sector

Private sector actors are urged to play a role in upholding and promoting human rights, such as freedom of expression and the respect of human dignity. This role can be fulfilled most effectively in partnership with governments and civil society.


4. The Council of Europe

The Council of Europe will raise awareness of and promote accession to the Convention on Cybercrime and its Additional Protocol, and the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, on a worldwide basis. The Convention Committee will monitor the implementation of these conventions and their additional protocols and will, if need be, propose any amendments.


The complete document can be found at https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=849061

Social Action and IT

Making Links Conference
11th - 13th November 2008
Melbourne University, ICT Building, 111 Barry Street, Carlton, Victoria, Australia

Making Links is a conference that seeks to engage interested people, organisations and groups working at the intersection of social action and IT - including community workers, educators, trainers, not-for-profit organisations, school teachers, environmental campaigners and activists.



The Conference seeks to:

• Bring the community sector together to access resources, training and services, and to share ideas, skills and creative applications of technology;
• Explore the possibilities ICTs generate for communities whose voices have been marginalized and excluded from the mainstream;
• Showcase innovative, grass roots ICT initiatives in community cultural development, outreach, and e-learning;
• Build and develop networks amongst workers and activists interested in how ICT can be used to support social justice.

The conference, which started in 2004, is organised by a steering committee composed of representatives from a range of not-for-profit organisations.

Electing a US President

Given the recent worldwide interest in the Presidential elections in the USA, this explanation of "Electing a US President in Plain English" by Lee LeFever of CommonCraft is timely.





Seems like a complicated and unfair way to conduct an election, but I guess I'm not a politician.

I recommend visiting the CommonCraft site to see all the other explanatory videos available.