Centre for Internet and Society

Cluster in collaboration with the Architects Association of Turin (FOAT) participates at the Democracy Biennial

sachia — 2011-04-02T16:09:12Z

Sunil Abraham to speak at the conference 'Housing the Democratic City' in Turin, Italy

The first edition of the Biennale Democrazia, will take place in Turin the 22 – 26 April 2009, it is an international cultural event entirely dedicated to the ethical and political project of democracy a political system which, by definition, is in constant evolution and development, continually facing new challenges to be overcome. The Democracy Biennial is organized by the City of Turin, the Italia Committee and the Piedmont Regional government. It forms part of a series of programmes and public events called Esperienza Italia organized to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy in 1861. The Democracy Biennial takes its inspiration from the profound studies on democracy carried out by Norberto Bobbio and it is intended to function as a tool for spreading a culture of Democracy that can also be put into practice in everyday life. It aims to create a permanent, ongoing workshop, open to the public, that explores and debates, from both a local and international point of view, the fundamental values of democracy, the forms it has adopted and the challenges it faces today. The event will consist of different preparatory activities (workshops, debates, readings, international forums, in-depth seminars and events actively involving citizens (as well as films, theatre and music events).

In partnership with the Biennale Democrazia the Architects Association of Turin (FOAT), has curated a section, within the event program, entitled “Housing the Democratic City”. The section offers a series of sessions: a workshop, conferences and a call for paper that aim to stimulate reflections on issues related to housing the city, for a future of urban democracy.

In occasion of this important event Cluster, in collaboration with the Architects Association (FOAT), has invited a collaborator from Bangalore, India, Sunil Abraham to speak at the conference “Housing the Democratic City” at Teatro Gobetti on Sunday 26th April. Other participating speakers are Bill Dunster (UK), Cino Zucchi (Italy).

Sunil Abraham is an industrial and production engineer from Bangalore in India. In 1998 he founded Mahiti, an association dedicated to reducing the cost and complexity of information and communication technology for the voluntary sector. In August 2008 he co-founded The Centre for Internet and Society, that brings together a team of practitioners, theoreticians, researchers and artists to work on the emerging field of Internet and Society to critically engage with concerns of digital pluralism, public accountability and pedagogic practices, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange. Sunil contributed to the last issue of Cluster, Transmitting Architecture in a dual interview and discussion entitled “Design in Urban democracy:a question of survival?” PDF downloadable here.

Sunil Abraham will also be speaking in two other sections of the Biennial on April 25 ‘Democracy and India’ with Prof. Federico Squarcini, professor of History of Indian Religions, University of Florence and ‘Democracy and Technology’ with the Politecnico of Turin. More details on the programme coming soon.

For info. please visit: Biennale Democrazia Order of the Architects of Turin (FOAT)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/cluster-in-collaboration-with-the-architects-association-of-turin-foat-participates-at-the-democracy-biennial-1

Experimental Economy Camp

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:36:50Z

Open Discussion

n.e.w.s. is a platform for participatory development of artistic and curatorial projects in contemporary art and new media framed by curatorial contributions from around the globe, bringing together voices and images from North, East, West and South. n.e.w.s. reflects geographic diversity and facilitates a framework for collaboration, content and visions of change outside the normal parameters of the established art world networks.

Recently, n.e.w.s. won the ‘Competition of Ideas’ for authoring a book proposal entitled “Arbitrating Attention”, which would explore new economic and social contexts for art. This 100-page text will be published at the beginning of next year. One of things they hope to do in the book is tap the undercurrent of new economic experiments in the way artistic activities can be de-framed yet incorporate survival tactics for sustainability.

At the Experimental Economy Camp at CIS, n.e.w.s. contributors Renée Ridgway, Stephen Wright and Prayas Abhinav will present certain ideas, seeking counter-points, information and queries, which lend different perspectives to the questions at hand, in order to outline possible strategies and targets. The discussions thereafter will attempt to draw learnings from the dynamic media, academic and scientific community with which CIS interacts, imagining 'new social and economic contexts for art.' At this camp, n.e.w.s hopes to meet and interact with people and researchers with an interest in the creative industries, entrepreneurial and economic experiments.

Further interested individuals and institutions can take part in a symposium and brainstorming event that n.e.w.s will organize in July 2009 in Bangalore. n.e.w.s. will also run an online forum during the symposium in July (http://northeastwestsouth.net).

Speakers

Renée Ridgway is an artist, free-lance curator and writer, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Since completing her studies in fine art at the Rhode Island School of Design, (BFA) and Piet Zwart Institute (MA), she has exhibited widely in the Netherlands and abroad (P.S.1 MoMA Hotel New York, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Gouda Museum) She has made numerous public presentations at various conferences and forums and taught at several universities in the Netherlands and abroad. From 2005-6 she served on the board of the former Gate Foundation, whose artists archive and library were given as a gift to the Van Abbemuseum, and where in 2007 she organised a panel as part of the Be(com)ing Dutch caucus, entitled 'Gate Foundation- Past, Present and Future'. For 2009 Ridgway is organising ‘Negotiating Equity’, a collaborative project at DAI, (Dutch Art Institute) involving the n.e.w.s. platform and her contributors that examines the artist and 'the curatorial'.

As an artist Ridgway is presently preparing the latest installment of her 10-year 'Manhattan Project': 'Beaver, Wampum, Hoes'- a series of installations and public interventions at various locations in and around NYC and the Netherlands in 2009. This focuses on the value of the contemporary ‘cultural currency’ of Dutchness, in relation to the Dutch colonial past (US, Indonesia, South Africa, Suriname); the next presentation will be at De Lakenhal in Leiden, May 16th-August 31st 2009.

Ridgway is a co-initiator of n.e.w.s. Her website is http://reneeridgway.net/.

Stephen Wright is a Paris-based art theorist, writer, and Editorial Director of the Biennale de Paris. In 2004, he curated The Future of the Reciprocal Readymade (Apexart, New York), in 2005 In Absentia (Passerelle, Brest), in 2006 Rumour as Media (Aksanat, Istanbul) and Dataesthetics (WHW, Zagreb), and is currently preparing, amongst other projects, Withdrawal: The Performative Document (New York) as part of a series of exhibitions examining art practices with low coefficients of artistic visibility, which raise the prospect of art without artworks, authorship or spectatorship. He has also written extensively on the theoretical dimensions of such practices, and, following a writing residency at Artexte (Montréal, 2006) a book-length essay on the subject, dealing with the challenges of performatively archiving and documenting disappearance, is forthcoming. Wright’s writing has also focused on the use-value of art, particularly in contexts of collaborative practices outside the performative framework of the artworld. A former programme director at the Collège international de philosophie (2000-2007), and corresponding editor of Parachute magazine (1999-2005), he is currently on the editorial advisory committee of the journal Third Text.

Born in 1963 in Vancouver, Canada, he lives and works in Paris.

Prayas Abhinav is a writer and artist working and living in Bangalore, India. He has an interest in re-vitalizing and re-imagining urban spaces. Through his work he explores how public and semi-public spaces can be utilized for cultural and civic uses. He explores the potential of low-fi technologies to connect communities and resources.

He has been part of efforts to seed open content movements in India and in 2007 helped with launching the Creative Commons India licenses in India. In 2007, he also initiated a long-term engagement with urban food systems by using public-spaces to grow vegetables and make them openly accessible through recipe-based maps. In 2008, he spent a month at Khoj Workshops to work on modular toolkits for anarchic protests in cities. In 2006 he made a short film with the Public Service Broadcasting Trust in which he narratively mapped the spaces which the homeless in Mumbai use to sleep at night. In 2005, as a fellow at Sarai-CSDS, he responded to the way urban spaces were used for advertising through poetry and photographs. He edited the Crimson Feet magazine from 2003-2005 (after which it died).

Prayas' projects are documented at http://prayas.in and http://cityspinning.org.

Time and Date

Friday, 17 April 2009; 5.30-7.30 pm

Venue

Centre for Internet and Society, No. D2, 3rd Floor, Sheriff Chambers, 14, Cunningham Road, Bangalore - 560052

Map

For a map, please click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/experimental-economy-camp

Journals, Open Access, Copyright, Repositories

sachia — 2011-08-18T05:01:28Z

Prof N. Mukunda, Editor of Publications, The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, discusses open access in his keynote address at the 26 March 2009 one-day conference on 'Scholarly Communications in the Age of the Commons'.

On 26 March 2009, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautical Laboratories, in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society, organised a day-long conference on 'Scholarly Communications in the Age of the Commons', as a way to highlight the need for Open Access in Indian academia and research. The speakers and panellists included Prof N. Mukunda of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Prof John Willinsky of Stanford University, Dr D.K. Sahu, MD and CEO of Medknow Publications, Prof Leslie Chan of the University of Toronto, Prof Subbiah Arunachalam, Distinguished Fellow with CIS, Dr A.R. Upadhya, Director of NAL, Mr N.V. Sathyanarayana, CMD. of Informatics, and Mr Sunil Abraham, Director of Policy at CIS.

Prof N. Mukunda gave the keynote address, which is reproduced below.

“Journals, Open Access, Copyright, Repositories – Some Viewpoints from an Academy”

Invited key note address at the Conference on ‘Scholarly Communication in India in the Age of the Commons (Open Access)’ on 26 March 2009, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore

N. Mukunda, Editor of Publications, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore

1) Dr. Upadhya, Dr. Goudar, Prof. Arunachalam, Dr. Poornima Narayana, Prof. Chan, Prof. Willinsky, Prakash, Chandramohan from the Academy, distinguished invitees, ladies and gentlemen, may I on behalf of the Indian Academy of Sciences express a warm welcome to all of you to this one day Conference on ‘Scholarly Communication in India in the Age of the Commons’. This is the Academy’s Platinum Jubilee Year, and for NAL it is the Golden Jubilee; and it is a pleasure for the Academy to join NAL and the ‘Centre for Internet & Society’ in hosting this meeting. Thanks also to Dr. Goudar and Prof. Arunachalam for their initiatives in organizing this event. I am here substituting for Prof. D. Balasubramanian, President of the Academy, as he has to be at a meeting at Chennai today. If only the fanciful Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics were correct, the world could have split into two copies, and Prof. Balasubramanian also into two copies, one in Chennai and one here; and he could have spoken in both places simultaneously! In the tea break, I can tell you more about this interpretation of quantum mechanics, if any of you are interested.

I am used to giving seminars and colloquiua, on subjects of my research, but never have I given a key note address or an Executive Summary. These are new to me. Also, as you all know, President Obama always needs a teleprompter while giving his fine speeches. Similarly, I cannot speak without a written text in front of me, so please permit me this luxury. Let me also add that I believe in the well-known saying — levity is the soul of wit.

2) The Academy’s efforts in the Open Access direction go back to 1998. It was then that the journal Pramana was made available on the Academy website completely free for all to read. Thereafter all the other Academy journals have also been made freely available online, so now all ten Academy journals are available. Quite recently the speed of access has been considerably improved. In 2006 the Academy entered into an agreement with Springer to co-publish the international online and print editions of the ten journals, but with the proviso that world-wide open access on the Academy website would continue. So now there is the version on the Academy site, which is accessible world-wide and free, and also the value-added SpringerLink version available to paid subscribers. This arrangement is working quite well. The download figures from both sites are quite encouraging, and in any case the visibility of the journals world-wide is much better than it used to be. INSA by the way has signed the Berlin Open Access Declaration and its journals are also freely accessible.

3) Two important things happened in April 2008, just about a year ago. INSA arranged a meeting on Open Access and Copyright issues on 26th April, 2008, again thanks to Prof. Arunachalam’s initiative; and Prof. Balaram wrote an editorial in Current Science on 10th April 2008 on the subject ‘Science Journals: Issues of Access’. I must confess I am completely ignorant and totally naive in all these matters, so whenever necessary I turn to one of Prof. Balaram’s numerous beautiful editorials – and get educated about the finer points of English literature at the same time – I also read some of the steady stream of emails from Prof. Arunachalam which arrive each day. He is constantly exhorting us to do various things – like Mr. This or Mr. That we should give him the honorary title “Mr. Open Access”, it is a onepoint agenda with him. So I learn a lot from both these sources which are at least openly accessible to me. Incidentally a collection of Prof. Balaram’s editorials is likely to be published soon, and several of us have been asked to write editorials to introduce his editorials on various subjects. Science journals are proliferating in number and spiraling in costs. So these raise difficult problems of affordability for libraries and institutions. There are also issues of judging quality, and looking at the economics of the entire process, the whole information chain – overall costs of dissemination of research results, journal publishing and production, refereeing, circulation… who pays for what, who profits, is it reasonable or exorbitant? There is the impact of technologies on all this – these are times of extremely rapid changes, with new undreamt of opportunities appearing all the time. These are true of other arenas of life as well – in education, governance, entertainment, in news communication and so on. As a physicist I cannot help remembering that all this began in 1948 with Claude Shannon’s Classical Theory of Information – a major conceptual revolution which showed that information could be measured, and so could its transmission and fidelity and so on. Such a beautiful set of ideas – a fascinating mathematical structure embedded within the classical theory of probability. And this was accompanied and later followed by technical advances, transistors (1947), semiconductors and so on. Balaram’s view is that Institutional Repositories are more easily achievable than Open Access. This may greatly change the structure and traditional roles of libraries as we know them, at least as far as the sciences are concerned. He mentioned the recent much-heralded Harvard University faculty decision which ‘authorizes Harvard to place a faculty member’s work in a repository that will be available to all at no cost’. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has taken a similar even wider step very recently, on the 18th of this month.

There is also discussion of who pays – or should pay – for the costs of publishing research results – a shift from the traditional ‘researcher pays’ era through ever increasing subscription costs to a new ‘author pays’ arrangement. The idea is that agencies that fund research – whether private or public – should include costs of publication in their support. Balaram mentions that for some high impact journals, the cost to the author for one paper can be as much as Rs. 2.5 lakhs! When I saw this, I could not help wondering – what would someone like Albert Einstein do in such a situation? He was working in a Patent Office in Berne as an assistant third class about a hundred years ago, and of course he had no research funding of any kind; but in his spare time he wrote papers that revolutionized physics! His papers were all published, he even received free reprints – but how would he fare today? One gets the impression that subscription costs for well-known journals in those days were quite reasonable; and in historical accounts one reads that people like Julius Springer were in frequent contact with figures like Arnold Sommerfeld and others in a mutually beneficial and enlightened atmosphere.
It seems we have to accept and acknowledge that the methods of doing science, the costs, the sociology of the scientific enterprise, have all changed enormously. It has become intensely competitive, one can even say that cut-throat methods are common, it seems the scientific enterprise is no longer the domain of scholars alone. Claims for priority are severe. In a piece that appeared on 9th February 2009 in the New York Times, celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of Charles Darwin, the writer said:

“One of Darwin’s advantages was that he did not have to write grant proposals or publish 15 articles a year. He thought deeply about every detail of his theory for more than 20 years before publishing ‘The Origin of Species’ in 1859; and for 12 years more before its sequel, ‘The Descent of Man’, which explored how his theory applied to people.”

The old times are gone forever, the times of Darwin and Einstein. The game has become a game, with new rules of play. The new patterns and methods however seem more natural for the younger generation to adjust to, but some of us of an older generation cannot forget the past so easily.

4) The INSA meeting discussed many aspects including the need to educate working scientists about their rights with respect to copyright. There is a recent email from Arunachalam on this from Amsterdam. Again I think younger scientists are aware of their rights more than old fogeys like me, we are the ones needing education. There is a need for change in Copyright patterns, especially for books out of print, to decide when something should move into the Public Domain, and so on. Some of the major INSA recommendations are to granting agencies to mandate Open Access for results of publicly funded research, and to scientists to publish in Open Access journals by choice.

Some tasks are set for the Academies too, such as setting up Institutional Repositories, and to work toward Open Access in all possible ways. In this context, it is possible that the three national Science Academies of India – IASc, INSA and NASI – may try to cooperate in these matters, as they have been doing in the case of science education recently.

5) From its inception, publication of journals has been a major effort of the Indian Academy of Sciences. There has always been a striving to maintain standards. Today we can say about our ten journals, they are reasonably good, about the best from India. The main concerns – in these times of very rapid change and impact of new technologies – are: how do we maintain refereeing and review standards, how to tackle increasing cases of plagiarism, and while coping with all these how do we move in the Open Access direction? Quality of journals is most precious for the Academy, this is hard to achieve and to maintain, the whole enterprise seems to be under pressure.

6) Let me end by returning to Balaram and INSA and mention a recent initiative of the Academy. With generous help from the Indian Institute of Science, we are trying and hoping to set up an Institutional Repository covering all publications of all Fellows past and present. Starting since 1934 – the total number of Fellows is about 1500, 900 present and 600 past. And the total number of research publications may be around 60,000 or 75,000. The hope is that in this Platinum Jubilee year this effort should get started and make some progress. We should try to get a substantial number of entries into the Repository within this year, catch up as soon as possible, then make it an ongoing automatic process. Otherwise many of us here today will also become past Fellows before the job is done. Getting titles and abstracts seems easy, with full text there may be problems, but here Arunachalam tells us authors have more rights than they realize. Let us see what we can do. It seems about 50 institutions in India already have set up such repositories, but we have miles to go before we sleep!

I am happy to have given the first key note address of my life today – I am sure the day’s discussions will be full of ideas and fruitful. It has been a pleasure to have been here, my thanks to Dr. Goudar and Prof. Arunachalam for inviting me, and most of all to Prof. Balasubramanian for asking me to be here in his place.

Thank you.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/journals-open-access-copyright-repositories

Uploads

sachia — 2011-08-20T22:28:21Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/event-blogs/uploads

ಚರ್ಚೆ: ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಹಾಗು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಕುರಿತ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ (Discussion: Writing Science and Technology in Kannada)

sachia — 2011-08-20T22:28:28Z

ಭಾನುವಾರ, ಮಾರ್ಚ್ ೨೯ ರಂದು ಸಂಪದ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞರ ತಂಡ ಹಾಗು ಸೆಂಟರ್ ಫಾರ್ ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಎಂಡ್ ಸೊಸೈಟಿ ಜೊತೆಗೂಡಿ "ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಹಾಗು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಬರಹ" ಕುರಿತ ಚರ್ಚೆ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರು. ಈ ಬರಹ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ವರದಿ. ಕನ್ನಡ, ಭಾರತದ ಹಲವು ಭಾಷೆಗಳಂತೆ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ, ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಶೇಖರಿಸಿಡಲು ತುಂಬ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಬಳಕೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಹೀಗಿರುವಾಗ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಿಡಲು, ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಕುರಿತ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಬಳಸುವಾಗ ಏನೇನು ತೊಂದರೆ ಅಡಚಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ ಎಂಬುದರ ಸುತ್ತ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆದಿತ್ತು. ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಸವಿವರ ವರದಿ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ನಮ್ಮದೇ ಸಮುದಾಯದವರನ್ನು ತಲುಪುವುದು ತುಂಬ ಕಷ್ಟ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ನಿಜವಾದ ಸಂಗತಿ. ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಬೆಳೆದು ಬಂದ ಜಗತ್ತು ಈಗ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಹತ್ತಿರ ತಂದಿರುವ ಅದೇ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಸುತ್ತ ಪೋಣಿಸಿದ್ದು. ಹೀಗಾಗಿಯೇ ನಾವುಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿದ್ದೇವೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಳಸುವ ಭಾಷೆ ಬೇರೆಯದ್ದಾದರೇನು, ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯ ನಂಟು ಬಿಟ್ಟಿಲ್ಲ! ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ ರೇಖೆಯಂತಿರುವ ಈ "ಭಾಷೆ" ಎಂಬ ಬಂಧ ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ, ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯಗಳ ಬುತ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿ ತರುವ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಅದು ಹೇಗೆ ಹಿಡಿದಿಟ್ಟಿದೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಒಮ್ಮೊಮ್ಮೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ ಹುಟ್ಟಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.
ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ದಿನದಂದು ಕಂಡುಬಂದ ಮುಖಗಳು ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯ ಲೆಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ನಮಗೆ ಕೊಂಚ ಬೇಸರ ಮೂಡಿಸಿದರೂ, ಆ ದಿನ "ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಹಾಗು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಕುರಿತ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ"ಯ ಸುತ್ತ ಒಂದು ಉತ್ತಮ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆದದ್ದು ಖುಷಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿತು. ಉದ್ದೇಶ ಇದ್ದದ್ದು ಹೀಗೆ ಬರೆಯಲು ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಬಳಸುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ? ಮತ್ತು ತದನಂತರ ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ಟಿನಿಂದ ಹೊರಗೆ, ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತಿಯಿಲ್ಲದೆಡೆಗೆ ಅದನ್ನು ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ ಎನ್ನುವುದರ ಸುತ್ತ. ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆದದ್ದು ಭಾನುವಾರ ೨೯, ೨೦೦೯, ಸೆಂಟರ್ ಫಾರ್ ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಎಂಡ್ ಸೊಸೈಟಿ, ಕನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಹಾಮ್ ರೋಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ.

ಅಂದು ನಾವು ಕನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಹಾಮ್ ರೋಡಿಗೆ ಹೊರಟು ನಿಂತಾಗ ನಮಗದು 'ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಭಾನುವಾರ'. ಆದರೂ ಎಷ್ಟು ಜನ ಬರುತ್ತಾರೋ, ಯಾರು ಯಾರು ಬರುವರು ಎಂಬ ಕುತೂಹಲ ನಮಗೆ! ನಾವುಗಳು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಆಮಂತ್ರಣ ಕಳುಹಿಸಿದ್ದೇ ಕೊಂಚ ತಡವಾಗಿ! ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಲು ಒಂದು ವಾರ ಕೂಡ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿಕೊಂಡಂತೆ ಮೂರು ದಿನ ರಜೆ ಬೇರೆ - ಯುಗಾದಿ, ಶನಿವಾರ ಮತ್ತು ಭಾನುವಾರ!

ಆದರೆ ಆ ಭಾನುವಾರ ವಿಶೇಷ ದಿನವೆನಿಸಿದ್ದು ಹೌದು. ನಮ್ಮ ನೆಚ್ಚಿನ ವಿಷಯಗಳು - ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಇವುಗಳೊಡನೆ - ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲ ಕೂಡ ಬೆರೆತದ್ದಲ್ಲದೆ ಅವುಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ಉತ್ತಮ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆದದ್ದು ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಉಳಿಯುವ ನಿಮಿಷಗಳು.

ಮೊದಲ ಅವಧಿ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶಗಳು ಹಾಗು ಅದರ ಸುತ್ತ ಇರುವ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಕುರಿತು ಬರೆಯುವ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತುಕತೆ ಎಂಬುದಾಗಿತ್ತು ನಮ್ಮ ಉದ್ದೇಶ. ನಾನು ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಒಂದು ಪುಟ್ಟ ಪೀಠಿಕೆಯ ನಂತರ ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತ ಗೆಳೆಯರಾದ ಇಸ್ಮಾಯಿಲ್ ಚರ್ಚೆ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದರು, ಚರ್ಚೆ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ಹೇಗೆ ಬರೆಯುವುದು ಎಂಬುದರ ಸುತ್ತ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಹಲವು ವಿಷಯಗಳು ಚರ್ಚೆಗೆ ಬಂದವು. ತೀರ ಗ್ರಾಂಥಿಕವಾದ ಅನುವಾದ ಮಾಡಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ಇಸ್ಮಾಯಿಲ್ ಕೂಡಲೆ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪಿಸಿದರು. ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಬಳಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಕೆಲವು ಪದಗಳು ಅವು ಇದ್ದಂತೆಯೇ ಬಳಸಬಹುದು ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ಮುಂದಿಟ್ಟರು. ಅತಿಯಾದ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಬಳಸಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಪದಗಳನ್ನು ಅನುವಾದ ಮಾಡುವ, ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಪದಗಳನ್ನು ರಚಿಸುವ ಮನೋಭಾವ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದರು. ಅದೇ ಸಮಯ ಹಳೆಗನ್ನಡ ಬಳಸಿಯೂ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಮಾಡಲಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು extreme ಕುರಿತು ಗಮನ ಸೆಳೆಯುವ ಎಂದಿದ್ದೆ - ಅಷ್ಟರೊಳಗೆ ಚರ್ಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ದನಿ, ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯಗಳು ಬೆರೆತು ಮಾತುಕತೆ ಮುನ್ನಡೆದು ಹೋಗಿತ್ತು. ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ, ಪರ್ಯಾಯ ಪದಗಳಿಲ್ಲದ ಸಮಯ, ಗೊಂದಲ ಮೂಡಿಸುವಂತಹ ಪದಗಳಿರುವ ಸಮಯ, ಆಗಲೇ ಬಳಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಇಂಗ್ಲೀಷ್ ಪದಗಳನ್ನೇ ಬಳಸುವುದು ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯಕ್ಕೆ ಬೆಂಬಲ ಸಿಕ್ತು. ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಸಮಯ ಕಳೆದ ಚುನಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ "Feel Good Factor" ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ಅನುವಾದಗೊಳ್ಳುವಾಗ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೆಲ್ಲ ಅನಾಹುತಕ್ಕೀಡುಮಾಡಿತ್ತು, ಏನೆಲ್ಲ ಗೊಂದಲ ಹುಟ್ಟುಹಾಕಿತ್ತು ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪವಾಯಿತು. ಓದುಗರಿಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದೇ ಇದ್ದದ್ದಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಆಗ ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತರು ಬರೆದ ವಿಷಯ ಓದುಗರಿಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ತಲುಪದೇ ಹೋಗಿತ್ತು ಕೂಡ. ಈ ವಿಷಯ ಈಗ ನಗಣ್ಯವೆನಿಸಬಹುದು, ಆದರೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತಲುಪಿಸುವಾಗ ಈ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಯೂ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವಿಷಯವಾಗಬಹುದು.

ನಂತರ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಕುರಿತು ಬರೆಯುವಾಗ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಎದುರಾಗುವ ತೊಂದರೆಗಳು, ಬರೆಯುವ ಉತ್ಸಾಹವನ್ನೇ ಹೋಗಲಾಡಿಸುವಂತಹ ತೊಂದರೆಗಳು - ಈ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ಮುಂದುವರೆಯಿತು.

ಇಸ್ಮಾಯಿಲ್ ಹಾಕಿದ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ: "ಪ್ರೊಜೆಕ್ಟರನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನಂತ ಕರೆಯುತ್ತೀರಿ?" ಬರವಣಿಗೆಯ ಮೂಲ ಉದ್ದೇಶದ ಕುರಿತು ಗಮನ ಹರಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆ, ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನು 'ಶುದ್ಧ'ವಾಗಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾದದ್ದು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಒಪ್ಪುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡಿತ್ತು.

ನಡುವೆ ಕೆಲವು ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶಗಳ ಕುರಿತು, ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಬಳಸುವ, ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಅದನ್ನು ಬಳಸುವ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು.

ನಾಗೇಶ ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರು ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಅವಧಿಗೆ ಜೊತೆಗೂಡಿದರು, ಚರ್ಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡರು. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಹಾಗು ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಬರಹಗಳನ್ನು ಚರ್ಚಿಸುವಾಗ ನಾಗೇಶ ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರ ಹೆಸರಿಲ್ಲದೆ ನಡೆಯದು. ಸ್ವತಃ ಅವರೇ ಚರ್ಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿದ್ದು ಒಂದು ಅಪೂರ್ವ ಕ್ಷಣ.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಪ್ರಭದ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಾಹಕ ಸಂಪಾದಕರಾದ ರವಿ ಹೆಗಡೆ ಕೂಡ ಎರಡನೇ ಅವಧಿಯ ಚರ್ಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡರು. ಎರಡನೆಯ ಅವಧಿ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಸರದ ಸುತ್ತ ಬರೆಯುವ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತುಕತೆಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದದ್ದು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಚರ್ಚೆ ಡೇಟ ಸೆಂಟರುಗಳು ಗ್ಲೋಬಲ್ ವಾರ್ಮಿಂಗಿಗೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಕಾಣಿಕೆ ನೀಡುತ್ತಿದೆ ಎನ್ನುವಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಗೂಗಲ್ ವರೆಗೂ ಮುಟ್ಟಿತು. ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲ ಬಳಸುವವರ ಪ್ರೈವೆಸಿಗಿರುವ ತೊಂದರೆಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಆ ನಂತರ ಆರ್ ಟಿ ಐ (ರೈಟ್ ಟು ಇನ್ಫರ್ಮೇಶನ್ ಆಕ್ಟ್) ಕುರಿತ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಆರ್ ಟಿ ಐ ಕುರಿತ ಮಾಹಿತಿ, ಸಹಾಯ ಪುಟಗಳ ಅಗತ್ಯವಿರುವ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ತದನಂತರ ಸ್ವತ್ರಂತ್ರ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶಗಳಾಗಿ ಲಭ್ಯವಿರುವ ಪರ್ಯಾಯ ಆಯ್ಕೆಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ಮಾತುಕತೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಗ್ನು/ಲಿನಕ್ಸ್ ಹಾಗು ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಸುತ್ತ ಲಭ್ಯವಿರುವ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶಗಳು, ಪದ್ಮ (ಕನ್ವರ್ಶನ್ ಮಾಡಲು ಬಳಸಬಹುದಾದ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ) ಹಾಗು ಉದಯೋನ್ಮುಖ ಬರಹಗಾರರಿಗೆ, ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತರಿಗೆ ಉಪಯೋಗವಾಗಬಹುದಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಪ್ಲಗಿನ್ನುಗಳು - ಇವುಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಕೊನೆಗೆ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರನ್ನು ಪ್ಲಾನೆಟೋರಿಯಂನಂತೆಯೇ ಮಾಡಿಬಿಡುವ ಸ್ಟೆಲೇರಿಯಂ ಎಂಬ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು - ಒಂದು ದೃಶ್ಯಾವಳಿ ಕೂಡ ಇತ್ತು (ಸ್ಟೆಲೇರಿಯಂ ಒಂದು 'ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ' ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ).

ಚರ್ಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಗೇಶ ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರು ಹಲವು ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಂದಿಟ್ಟರು. ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಹೊಸ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುತ್ತಿರಬೇಕು, ಹೊಸ ನೆಲೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಕೊಂಡು ಮುಂದುವರೆಯುತ್ತಿರಬೇಕು, ಹಳತನ್ನು ಅಥವ ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬರ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಶೈಲಿಯನ್ನು ನಕಲು ಮಾಡುವಂತಿರಬಾರದು ಎಂಬುದರ ಕುರಿತು ಅವರು ಹೇಳಿದ ಮಾತುಗಳು ನನ್ನ ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಚ್ಚುಳಿದದ್ದು. ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರೆಯುವುದಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಅದರ ಬಳಕೆ (ಹೇಗೆ, ಎಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲಿ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ), ಅದರಿಂದಾಗುವ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆಗಳು, ತೊಡರುಗಳು - ಈ ಕುರಿತು ಬರೆಯುವುದು ಕೂಡ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಎಂದರು. ರವಿ ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರು ಬ್ಲಾಗುಗಳು ಸಾಂಪ್ರದಾಯಿಕ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ಮುಟ್ಟುವ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಓದುಗರನ್ನು ಮುಟ್ಟುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬುದರ ಕುರಿತು ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತ ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆಯುವವರು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಸಾಂಪ್ರದಾಯಿಕ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಟಿವಿ, ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಹಾಗು ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರೆದು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು ಎಂದರು. ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ ಬಳಸಿ ಹೇಗೆ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಹೊಸ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಗಳನ್ನಿಟ್ಟು ಬದಲಾವಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ತರಬಹುದು, ಇಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿ ಹೊರನಡೆದು ಹೇಗೆ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಭಾಗಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಟ್ಟಬಹುದು ಎಂಬುದರ ಕುರಿತು ಸಹ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಗಳು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ದೂರ ಅನಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ ನಮಗೆ - ಅಂದು ಜೊತೆಗೂಡಿದ್ದ ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲವರಿಗೆ ಇತರರ ಪರಿಚಯವಾದದ್ದು ಕೂಡ ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದ ಮೂಲಕವೇ... 'ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆ' ಎಂಬ ಒಂದು ಆಸಕ್ತಿಯ ಸುತ್ತ ಹೆಣೆದು.
ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಹಲವು ಸಮುದಾಯ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಗಳು ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಗೊಂಡು ಹೊರಗಿನ ಜನರಿಗೂ ತಲುಪುತ್ತಿರುವುದು.

ಚರ್ಚೆ ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದದ್ದಲ್ಲದೆ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಮುಗಿದದ್ದು ನಮಗೆಲ್ಲ ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ, ಖುಷಿ ತಂದಿತು. ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳು, ಮಾತುಕತೆ ಎಂದರೆ ಎಂದಿನಂತೆ ಕೆಲವರ ಮಾತು - ಇನ್ನುಳಿದವರು ಕುಳಿತು ಕೇಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಎಂಬಂತೆ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ದಿನದ ಮಾತುಕತೆ ವಿಭಿನ್ನವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ತಮ್ಮ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಮಂಡಿಸುವ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ ನೀಡಿತು. ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಮುಂದೆ ಹಾದೂ ಹೋಗಿರದಂತಹ ಕೆಲವು ವಿಷಯಗಳು ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬರ ಮಾತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇಳಿಬಂದಾಗ ಉಪಯೋಗವಾಗುವ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿದ್ದವು. ಇದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗಿಸಿದ ಸೆಂಟರ್ ಫಾರ್ ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಎಂಡ್ ಸೊಸೈಟಿಯವರಿಗೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಥ್ಯಾಂಕ್ಸ್ ಹೇಳಿದರೂ ಸಾಲದು. ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ನಡೆಸಲು ಜಾಗ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಲ್ಲದೆ ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಊಟ, ಬೆಳಗಿನ ಕಾಫಿ ಮುಂತಾದವುಗಳನ್ನೂ ಅವರೇ ವಹಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರು! ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲ ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹ ನೀಡುವುದಲ್ಲದೆ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ಮುಕ್ತ, ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ಹಾಗು ಸಾಂಪ್ರದಾಯಿಕವಲ್ಲದಂತೆ ನಡೆಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ಇವರ ಸಹಕಾರ ಮರೆಯಲಾಗದ್ದು. ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾದದ್ದು ಇವರಿಂದಲೇ.

ಅಂದು ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿ ಚರ್ಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ವಂದನೆಗಳು, ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು. ಮುಂದೊಮ್ಮೆ, ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಅದರ ಕುರಿತು ಬರೆದು ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಕಾರಣಾಂತರಗಳಿಂದ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಲಾಗದವರು ಆಗ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದು. ನವ ಚಿಗುರಾಗಿ ಹಳೆ (ಬೀರ್ ಅಲ್ಲ) ಬೇರಿನ ನಂಟು ಬಿಡದೆ ಹೊಸತನ್ನು ಕಾಣುತ್ತ ಹೊಸ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಇಡೋಣ, ಒಟ್ಟಾಗಿ!

-- Hari Prasad Nadig

Hari Prasad Nadig is an independent software developer and consultant specialising in GNU/Linux and web based development. He is a sysop and bureaucrat at Kannada Wikipedia, and was also an active editor starting from its initial version in September 2004. In 2005, he started Sampada, a community of Kannada speaking people; he is also the founding member of Sampada Foundation.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/event-blogs/writing-science-and-technology-in-kannada

RTI Response from VTU

sachia — 2009-04-03T06:37:26Z

Ref: VTU/Aca/OS-RIA-05/2008-09/11707
Date: 6 Feb 2009

Reply to Form A

To
The Centre for Internet & Society
No. D2, 3rd Floor, Shariff Chambers,
14, Cunningham Road,
Bangalore - 560 052

Sir,
Sub: Your application under RTI Act dated 7-01-2009
With reference to the above, this is to inform that the matter MoU between Microsoft Corporation and Visvesvaraya Technological University is in discussion level. No document is signed till date.

Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
[signature]
Registrar

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/rti-response-from-vtu

RTI Application to VTU

sachia — 2009-04-03T06:36:41Z

To,
Registrar,
Visvesvaraya Technological University,
“Jnana Sangma”, Machhe,
Belgaum - 590 014

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Dear Sir,
Subject: Application for Information under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005

1. Full Name of the Applicant:
Pranesh Prakash

2. Address:
Centre for Internet and Society
D-2, 3rd Floor
Shariff Chambers
14 Cunningham Road
Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Phone number:
+91 80 40926283

E-mail address:
pranesh@cis-india.org

3. Details of the document/Inspection/Samples required:
As per newspaper reports, Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Microsoft will aid in VTU's curriculum development programmes, students' projects, continuing education, and research and
development.

I request you to provide me:

A. A copy of the memorandum of understanding or other agreement between VTU, or any authorized representative of VTU, and Microsoft, or an authorized representative of Microsoft, establishing this tie-up.

B. A copy of any contracts entered into between VTU and Microsoft pursuant to this tie-up.

C. A copy of the software licences granted by Microsoft to VTU in pursuance of this tie-up.

D. A copy of any other legal and/or commercial documents related to this tie-up.

E. A copy of the memorandum of understanding or other agreement between VTU, or any authorized representative of VTU, and Microsoft, or an authorized representative of Microsoft, establishing the "Microsoft Dream Spark programme" at VTU in 2008.

F. A copy of the memorandum of understanding or other agreement between VTU, or any authorized representative of VTU, and Microsoft, or any authorized representative of Microsoft, establishing the"Academic Development Programme" introduced in 2002.

G. A copy of the memorandum of understanding or other agreement between VTU, or any authorized representative of VTU, and Microsoft, or any authorized representative of Microsoft, establishing the "Microsoft Technology Centre" at VTU's Bengaluru campus in 2005.

H. A copy of any internal memoranda or communications related to the adoption of Microsoft software and resources, and Microsoft curriculum, and any other communications between Microsoft and VTU.

I. A copy of the memorandum of understanding or other agreement between VTU, or any authorized representative of VTU, and Microsoft, or any authorized representative of Microsoft, establishing the "Microsoft IT Academy" at VTU.

J. Any policy that VTU has regarding tie-ups with software companies or other software groups when it comes to curricula.

4. Years to which the above requests pertain:
2002, 2005, and 2008.

5. Designation and Address of the Public Information Officer from whom the information is required:
Registrar,
Visvesvaraya Technological University,
"Jnana Sangma", Machhe,
Belgaum - 590 014

To the best of my belief, the details sought for fall within your authority. Further, as provided under section 6(3) of the Right to Information Act, in case this application does not fall within your authority, I request you to transfer the same in the designated time (5 days) to the concerned authority and inform me of the same immediately.

To the best of my knowledge the information sought does not fall within the restrictions contained in section 8 and 9 of the Act.

This to certify that I, Pranesh Prakash, son of M.S. Prakash, am a citizen of India.

A fee of Rs. 10/- (Rupees Ten Only) has been made out in the form of a demand draft drawn in favour of Finance Officer, VTU, Belgaum. Please indicate any further amount needed, if any, for provision of the above information in your response to this petition.

Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2009
Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/rti-application-to-vtu

Uploads

sachia — 2009-04-02T06:40:01Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/law-video-technology/uploads

Topic Images

sachia — 2009-04-02T06:40:01Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/law-video-technology/topic_images

Cluster in collaboration with the Architects Association of Turin (FOAT) participates at the Democracy Biennial

sachia — 2009-03-27T11:09:02Z

Sunil Abraham to speak at the conference 'Housing the Democratic City' in Turin, Italy

For info. please visit: Biennale Democrazia Order of the Architects of Turin (FOAT)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/cluster-in-collaboration-with-the-architects-association-of-turin-foat-participates-at-the-democracy-biennial

International School at the Digital Media program of the University of Texas at Austin - Portugal Collaboratory (CoLab)

sachia — 2009-03-27T09:55:53Z

Applications are now open for the first International School on Digital Transformation, to be held July 19-24, 2009, at the University of Porto in Porto, Portugal. The School is accepting applications from advanced students and recent graduates from around the world with an interest in how digital technologies are changing societies and the world as a whole.

The International School on Digital Transformation will be an intensive six-day residential program, conducted in English and bringing together emerging and established scholars and professionals from around the world. During the week-long session, innovators in digital communications will serve as teachers and mentors, presenting their current projects and research and participating in discussions with advanced students and professionals beginning careers in the field. Presenters and students will be regarded as peers during the School.

The School will focus on these themes:

• Democratic transformations of society through digital media
• Innovations in transparency and political participation using new online tools
• Grassroots civic activities using digital technologies
• Building effective communities with the Internet
• Reaching out to new users with mobile and online technologies
• Prospects for digital communication in developing regions
• Digital arts and culture in a globalized, online world

The goals of the International School include:

Combining lectures on current research and innovation with practical experience, using accessible, low-cost digital technologies
Providing an informal venue for sharing expertise, perspectives, and best practices and for mentoring advanced students
Fostering a sustainable network of scholars and activists in the field of digital technology, communication and social change

Program

The basic daily schedule will consist of one 90-minute session of lecture and discussion in the morning: free time for teachers and students to interact, converse and explore the city in the afternoon; and two more 90-minute lecture and discussion sessions in the evening, folowed by a communal meal.

The confirmed speakers for the International School on Digital Transformation include:

Sunil Abraham
Director of Policy at the Center for Internet and Society, Bangalore, India; and current board member of Mahiti Infotech
Patricia Aufderheide
Professor, School of Communication, American University; director,
Center for Social Media at American University
Warigia Bowman
Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy Leadership,
University of Mississippi
Fiorella De Cindio
Associate Professor, Computer and Information Science Department,
University of Milan
Martha Fuentes-Bautista
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of
Massachusetts at Amherst
Stephanie Hankey/Marek Tuszynski (tentative)
Co-founders and directors, Tactical Technology Collective
Lisa Nakamura (associate faculty)
Professor, Institute of Communication Research; Director, Asian
American Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tapan Parikh
Assistant Professor, School of Information, University of California
at Berkeley
Tiago Peixoto
Researcher, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Alison Powell
SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University
Andrew Rasiej
Founder of Personal Democracy Forum and techPresident
Nicholas Reville
Executive director, Participatory Culture Foundation
Scott Robinson
Professor, Department of Anthropology, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
Jorge Martins Rosa
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences; Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, New University of Lisbon
Christian Sandvig
Associate Professor, Department of Communication; faculty member,
Project on Public Policy and Advanced Communication Technology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Doug Schuler
Program Director, Public Sphere Project, an initiative of Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility
Leslie Regan Shade
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
Maripaz Silva (associate faculty)
Laura Stein
Assistant Professor, Radio-Television-Film Department, University of
Texas at Austin
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Associate Professor, University of Virginia, Media Studies and Law;
Fellow, Institute for the Future of the Book
Katrin Verclas
Co-founder and editor of Mobileactive.org

The International School on Digital Transformation is a program of the University of Texas Austin-Portugal Colaboratory, or CoLab. The co-directors of the School are Drs. Sharon Strover and Karen Gustafson, and Gary Chapman, of the University of Texas at Austin.

The School will be held at the Rectory, a building of the University of Porto in the center of the city. Student housing will consist of nearby hotels, and the cost of the School will include a shared hotel room, two meals per day (breakfast and dinner) and the program itself. The week will also include a cultural activity offered to all School participants.

The estimated cost of the International School on Digital Transformation will be between €300 and €400. Travel to Porto, Portugal, is not supported; students must find and pay for their own travel to Porto.

The student application, and more specific information for students, are available at this link.

Porto, Portugal

Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996, Porto is known for its spectacular architecture and medieval alleyways, and it is also compact, allowing visitors to easily explore the central city on foot. Porto is on the Douro River and also near the Atlantic Ocean. It is famous for its port wine from the inland Portuguese wine region along the Douro River valley.

During the free afternoons, students and teachers may explore the sidewalk café culture on Santa Catarina Street, a nearby pedestrian shopping area, or walk across the Dom Luís I Bridge spanning the Douro River to the promenade, restaurants, and port houses in Vila Nova de Gaia, directly opposite central Porto. Short river cruises may be taken in barcos rabelos, flat-bottomed boats traditionally used to ferry shipments of port wine.

While Porto is famous for its ancient Roman ramparts and Gothic churches, it is also home to the Casa da Música concert hall, a superb example of modern architecture, finished in 2005, that has become an icon of the city. The Serralves Museum is a major cultural institution which hosts rotating exhibitions of contemporary art and which features a world-class garden.

In the late evenings, Porto hosts a thriving clubbing culture, and the city’s nightspots attract DJs from around the world.

Porto has an international airport and is also served by trains from Lisbon and from Spain. By train, Porto is approximately three and a half hours north of Lisbon.

Please direct questions regarding the program to Karen Gustafson, at kegustafson@mail.utexas.edu.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/international-school-at-the-digital-media-program-of-the-university-of-texas-at-austin-portugal-collaboratory-colab

Open access conference seeks to free research

sachia — 2011-04-02T16:10:58Z

Article by Amulya Gopalakrishnan in the Indian Express (New Delhi), 26 March 2009

When Newton famously remarked that if he had seen further than others, it was by “standing on the shoulders of giants”, he wasn’t just being modest. He was stating the simple fact that knowledge builds on previous knowledge, that the back and forth of ideas is vital for scientific achievement. Though the current proprietory publishing model is stacked against scholars, an emerging open access movement across the world aims to free scientific content - and India has big stakes in it.

A conference in New Delhi brought together open access evangelists including Prof. John Willinsky of Stanford University, Prof Leslie Chan of the University of Toronto, Prof Surendra Prasad of IIT Delhi, Dr D K Sahu of MedKnow Publications, and Narendra Kumar of CSIR.

Now, all research papers published from CSIR labs will be made open access, either by putting the full text on freely available institutional repositories or publishing directly in open access journals. Meanwhile, across the world, MIT has become the first university to throw open all its research papers through the online repository software DSpace.

Globally, academic tenure and promotion is traditionally linked to research published in reputed, peer-reviewed journals. These journals are owned by commercial behemoths like Springer and Reed Elsevier, who own stables of journals in various disciplines, and dictate terms to university libraries. But in recent years, journal prices have shot through the roof.

Now, after years of weary negotiation, and empowered by new digital infrastructure, universities are teaming up via free institutional repository systems, to pool and circulate their collective research. In India, institutes like NIT Rourkela have adopted super-archives like DSpace for another reason — to showcase their scientific output to global peers. “NIT doesn’t have the research legacy of IIT or IISC — they needed the visibility,” says NIT director Sunil Kumar Sarangi.

Such a knowledge commons is especially valuable to developing countries — for instance, in agricultural research or public health, it is inexcusable that countries which could benefit most from the scientific debate are left out of the loop, simply because of prohibitive pricing (some journals cost up to 20,000 dollars, annually). This only widens the gulf between the state of research here and the US or Europe.

Even research produced in India with our taxpayer money is sent to big-name commercial journals and all copyright signed away, putting it out of reach for the Indian scholarly community. But all that could change if open access journals become the norm. S K Sahu, who runs MedKnow publications (over 80 open access journals), also busted claims that content on such journals tends to vanish into the ether after a few years online.

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To read the article at the Indian Express website, click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/open-access-conference-seeks-to-free-research

Hindi Translation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0

sachia — 2011-08-17T08:50:41Z

A Hindi translation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 was commissioned by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and is now available for download.

The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has supported the Centre for Internet and Society and its campaign for web accessibility for the disabled. In addition to sponsoring the first National Workshop on Web Accessibility to train web developers, held in February 2009, the NIXI has now brought out a Hindi translation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. It is hoped that this translated version will help Indian web developers to get a better understanding of the guidelines for creating accessible web pages.

To view a copy of the translated guidelines, in HTML format, click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/hindi-translation-of-web-content-accessibility-guidelines-2.0

Response from MSJE on web accessibility measures

sachia — 2009-03-25T11:33:22Z

RTI MATTER

MOST IMMEDIATE

F. No 32-6/2009 DD III

Government of India

Ministry for Social Justice & Empowerment

(Disability Division III)

Room No 630, Wing A,

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi

Dated 23.02.2009

Ms Nirmita Narsimhan,

D2, 3^rd Floor, Sheriff Chambers,

14, Cunningham Road,

Bengaluuru-560052

Sub.:- Information sought by Ms Nirmita Narsimhan under RTI, regarding.

Sir,

I am directed to refer to your letter dated 28.01.2009 received in this Ministry on 02.02.2009 under RTI Act 2005, on the above mentioned subject and to say that the information in respect of this division is as under-

Serial No	Question	Reply
1.	What steps has the government taken to fulfil its commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and provision 39 of the national policy to make websites of government as well as private and public sector organisations accessible for persons with disabilities? If no such steps have been taken by the government then kindly furnish reasons and explanation for the same and the time frame within which such steps will be taken.	All the Ministries/Departments of the central government, including attached and subordinate offices and autonomous organisations have been advised that their offices under their administrative control should ensure expeditious implementations of the provisions of the convention in so far as it concerns them including through appropriate laws, rules, orders etc. All state governments and UT administrations have also been requested to bring the provisions of the convention and all resultant obligations to the notice of all concerned, especially government bodies, district collectors, and local bodies, for suitable action. It has been requested that NGOs and the civil society in general should be associated in the effort to empower persons with disabilities. The ministry is monitoring the progress and implementation of the UNCRPD. Copy of the national policy for persons with disabilities has been circulated by the ministry on to all the Ministries/Departments/State Governments/UT Administrations/Autonomous Bodies/Statutory Bodies/PSUs etc for implementation of the provisions of the policy. Relvant information has also been placed on the Ministry’s website. www.socialjustice.nic.in
2. .	What are the surveys which have been conducted by your department to check accessibility of various government web sites? If no such surveys have been conducted, kindly furnish reasons and explanation for the same. If such surveys have been conducted, kindly provide me with a copy of the same	No such survey has been made by this ministry. The office of chief commissioner for persons with disabilities has responsibility to check accessibility of various government websites. Except above, the Ministry has no such information about accessibility of the websites. However, a copy of your application is being sent to them for necessary action.
3.	Please furnish me with details of the standards or criteria used for measuring accessibility to persons with disabilities?
4.	Please provide me with the details of circulars issued to various departments for making their web site accessible to persons with disabilities. Kindly provide me with a copy of the same as well.
5.	Please provide me with information about any other applications under the Right to Information Act, 2005, which have been filed with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment requesting similar/related information and the consequent replies given and action taken by the departments in those instances.	No other application under the act has been filed requesting for such information.

2. Appellate authority in the case is Dr Arbind Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, Room No 612, A- Wing, 6^th floor, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi, 110001.

Yours faithfully,

(Sd- Kaul)

(Vandita Kaul)

Director DD-II

Tel: 23388541

Copy to:-

1. Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, 6, sarojini House, Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi, together with a copy of application by Ms Nirmita Narsimhan W. R. T. Questions 2 to 5 of the application is pertains to your department. You are requested to please send reply directly to the applicant under intimation to this Ministry.

2. Ms Kamna S Dikshit, Section Officer (FC and RTI) ), Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi, for information.

3. Pay and Account Officer, Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi. Please find a Demand Draft No 171033 for Rs 10/- received from Ms Nirmita Narsimhan for providing information under RTI Act 2005.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/uploads/response-from-msje-on-web-accessibility-measures

Application to MSJE on web accessibility measures

sachia — 2009-03-25T11:33:59Z

Shri K.S. Sawhney,

Director - Ministry of Social

Justice and Empowerment

Shastri Bhawan,

Dr Rajendra Prasad Road,
New Delhi - 110 001
Tel: (011) 23387690.

Dear Sir

Sub: Application for information required under the Right to Information Act, 2005 regarding the steps taken by the Government to make web sites of the government as well as public and private sector organizations accessible to persons with disabilities.

Name of the Applicant: Nirmita Narasimhan

Address: D-2, 3rd floor, Sheriff Chambers, No.14 Cunningham road, Bengaluru - 560052.

Information Sought:

1. What steps has the Government taken to fulfill its commitments under the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) and provision 39 of the National Policy to make web sites of government as well as public and private sector organizations accessible for persons with disabilities? If no such steps have been taken by the Government then kindly furnish reasons and explanation for the same and the time frame within which such steps will be taken.

2. What are the surveys which have been conducted by your department to check accessibility of various government web sites? If no such surveys have been conducted, kindly furnish reasons and explanation for the same. If such surveys have been conducted, kindly provide me with a copy of the same.

3. Please furnish me with details of the standards or criteria used for measuring accessibility to persons with disabilities?

4. Please provide me with the details of circulars issued to various departments for making their web site accessible to persons with disabilities. Kindly provide me with a copy of the same as well.

5. Please provide me with information about any other applications under the Right to Information Act, 2005, which have been filed with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment requesting similar/related information and the consequent replies given and action taken by the departments in those instances.

6. If the required documents or information are unavailable, please furnish reasons and explanations for the same.

I request you to kindly supply the documents, wherever possible in English.

Further as provided under Section 6 (3) of the Right to Information Act, in case this application does not fall under your authority, I request you to transfer the same in the designated time (5 days) to the concerned authority and inform me of the same immediately.

To the best of my knowledge the information sought does not fall within the restrictions contained in Section 8 and 9 of the Act and it pertains to your office.

This to certify that I, Nirmita Narasimhan, d/o late Shri.B.Narasimhan, am a citizen of India.

A fee of Rs. 10 (Rupees Ten Only) has been deposited through ____________________ Dated: _________________

Place:

Date:

Sd/- Nirmita Narsimhan

(Nirmita Narasimhan)

E-mail: nirmita@cis-india.org

Mobile No: 098458 68078

Address: D2, 3rd Floor, Sheriff Chambers, No.14 Cunningham Road, Bengaluru: 560052.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/uploads/application-to-msje-on-web-accessibility-measures