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Report on the Use of eSpeak in Urdu and Kashmiri
NVDA team conducted a training programme at Kashmir University from June 15 to 17, 2015. Forty-four delegates attended the training programme. Kaifee Asami was the trainer.
Open Data Intermediaries in Developing Countries - A Synthesis Report
The roles of intermediaries in open data is insufficiently explored; open data intermediaries are often presented as single and simple linkages between open data supply and use. This synthesis research paper offers a more socially nuanced approach to open data intermediaries using the theoretical framework of Bourdieu’s social model, in particular, his concept of species of capital as informing social interaction... Because no single intermediary necessarily has all the capital available to link effectively to all sources of power in a field, multiple intermediaries with complementary configurations of capital are more likely to connect between power nexuses. This study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the presence of multiple intermediaries in an open data ecosystem, each of whom may possess different forms of capital to enable the use and unlock the potential impact of open data.
Report on 15 days Training in Basic Computing at RNKS
The NVDA team organized a 15 days training in basic computing at Rajasthan Natrahin Kalyan Sansthan (RNKS) in Jaipur. The training programme held from June 1 - 15, 2015 was attended by 12 delegates. Mrityunjay Kumar was the trainer. The basic training for computers was targeted for school going children of RNKS.
How the Odia Wikimedia community is enriching Wikipedia with character encoding technology
Last year, I wrote about the development of Odia language character encoding converters that the Wikipedia community was working on. These converted text into Unicode, a universal encoding standard. These converters have now been made available for use, just in time for today’s thirteenth anniversary of the Odia Wikipedia.
The Newly Updated Indic Keyboard App Now Supports 22 Asian Languages
This blog post was written in my personal capacity.
Report on eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training Workshop
The NVDA team held a five days training (June 3 - 7, 2015) at Anne Jane Askwith Higher Secondary School for the Visually Impaired, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli.
Report on Kannada eSpeak Training with NVDA
NVDA team conducted a two day training programme at Mitra Jyothi in Bangalore (June 8 and 9, 2015). Forty-three delegates attended the training programme.
Indian government includes open source in RFPs
The Government of India has implemented a remarkable new policy-level change for open source software (OSS) deployment.
Unfettering Stranded Capacity
Government can't control market forces, but can and must fix regulatory issues. First, the good news: the government does appear to be making serious efforts to tackle stranded capacity and stalled projects, as in the instances below. Such issues need to be resolved because of their effect on future investment and employment. Now, the bad news: one part is that some problems need solutions which are fraught with political risk.
Workshop on Open Data for Human Development
Sumandro Chattapadhyay and Sunil Abraham will take part in the workshop being organised for government officials from Bhutan, Maldives, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Tripura, by the International Centre for Human Development (IC4HD) of UNDP India, during June 3-6, 2015. The workshop will be held at the National Institute of Advanced Studies Campus in Bengaluru. Sunil will be one of the panelists in the opening discussion on 'data and transparency in governance,' and Sumandro will provide input for and lead the sessions on developing the draft implementation plan for the Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy. Sumandro worked with the IC4HD team to design the objectives and the agenda of the workshop.
Report on 30 Days Summer Course on Basic Computer Competencies and Language Proficiency
The month long summer course was held at Karna Vidya Technology Centre, Thiru-Vi-Ka, Industrial Estate, Chennai and was attended by 20 delegates.
Joining the Dots in India's Big-Ticket Mobile Phone Patent Litigation (Updated)
An analysis of the significant commonalities and differences in various big-ticket lawsuits in India over the alleged infringement of mobile device patents.
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡିଆ: ନୂତନ ଯୁଗର ଆରମ୍ଭ
My op-ed on Odia Wikipedia and its journey of 13 years was published in Odia daily "The Samaja".
Odia Language Wikipedia Page Grows to 800K Page Views A Month
Odia Wikipedia is one of the first few Indian language Wikipedia projects celebrating such an old age. The Wikimedia community will gather in Odisha's capital of Bhubaneswar on June 3 to celebrate Odia Wikipedia's 13th anniversary.
Report on eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training Workshop
The training programme was held from May 25 to 29, 2015 at Differently Abled Children Section, District Central Library, Coimbatore. Twenty-one delegates attended.
Mastering the Art of Keeping Indians Under Surveillance
In its first year in office, the National Democratic Alliance government has been notably silent on the large-scale surveillance projects it has inherited. This ended last week amidst reports the government is hastening to complete the Central Monitoring System (CMS) within the year.
The Four Parts of Privacy in India
Privacy enjoys an abundance of meanings. It is claimed in diverse situations every day by everyone against other people, society and the state.
Report on Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Assamese
This training was held at Monfort School in Guwahati on May 9 and 10, 2015. Laishram Lingappa was the trainer. Eleven participants attended the programme.
FOSS for Public Use: Free and Open Source Software for Digital India
I attended a round-table meeting on May 29, 2015 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The meeting was organized by SFLC in collaboration with the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software, and the Centre for Internet & Society.
International Open Data Charter: First Public Draft
The first public draft of the International Open Data Charter was released at the International Open Data Conference in Ottawa, Canada, May 28-29, 2015. It is being developed by a range of organisations led by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Open Data Working Group (co-chaired by Government of Canada and the Web Foundation), the Government of Mexico, the Open Data for Development (OD4D) Network, and Omidyar Network. CIS has contributed comments to a previous version of the draft, and also took part in the pre-release meeting of potential stewards of the Charter on May 26 in Ottawa. Here is the text of the draft Charter. Please visit opendatacharter.net/charter/ to submit your comments.
