The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
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E-Governance Interoperability Framework — Meeting in Iraq
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/e-gif-iraq-meeting
<b>A meeting to create a plan of action for the development of e-Governance Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) in Iraq and include formulation of an e-GIF policy and technical document within the larger framework of public sector modernization, was held from 25 to 27 January 2011. Sunil Abraham was the main resource person for this meeting. </b>
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<p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Mr. Abdul Kareem Al-Samaraii, Minister of Science and Technology and Mr. Peter Bachelor, Deputy Country Director, UNDP gave the opening remarks. </span></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_egifiraqmeeting.jpg/image_preview" style="float: none;" title="EGif" class="image-inline image-inline" alt="EGif" /></span></span></p>
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<h2><span class="Apple-style-span">E-GIF Meeting Agenda, ERBIL, 25-27 January 2011</span></h2>
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<td style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Tuesday</strong> 25/1/2011 </td>
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<div style="text-align: left;">08:30 – 09:00</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Opening Remarks</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul><li>H.E. Mr Abdul Kareem Al-Samaraii, Minister of Science and Technology</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Mr. Peter Bachelor/ Deputy Country Director, UNDP </span></li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div>09:00 – 10:00</div>
<div>e-GIF overview </div>
<div>
<ul><li>Introducing the GIF: Benefits of Interoperability for e-Governance</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">GIF Context </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">GIF Technical Content: Standard Categorisation </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">How we can Develop Effective GIF Policy Document and GIF Action Plan: Presentation on GIF templates (GIF text and action Plan) that required to be filled by the end of the workshop </span></li></ul>
<div>10:00 – 10:30<strong> </strong></div>
<div>Coffee Break</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>10:30 – 12:00</div>
<div>Survey and base-line for</div>
<div>
<ul><li>Map of existing and proposed e-governance and ICT4D projects.</li></ul>
<div>
<div>
<ol><li>User Interface and accessibility</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Storage and database schema</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Multi-modal input and output</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Access control and security</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Network schema</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Document flow and work-flow</span></li></ol>
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</div>
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Discussion on specific challenges and opportunities faced when attempting interoperability.</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">12:00 – 13:30 </span><br />
<ul><li>Discussion on the co-existence of the GIF with existing/proposed laws and policies</li></ul>
<div>
<div>
<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">E-governance and ICT4D </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Copyright</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Patents (software only)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">FOSS/Open Standards/Open Content/Open Data </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Privacy and Data Protection</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Right to Information/Freedom of Information/Access to Information/Public Information</span></li></ol>
<span class="Apple-style-span">13:30 – 14:30</span></div>
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<ul><li>Lunch Break </li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">14:30 – 16:00</span><br />
<ul><li>Discussion on definition of “Open Standards”</li></ul>
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<ol><li>Existing definitions of Open Standards </li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">RAND, FRAND and Royalty Free </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">De Facto and De Jure Standards </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Standards Setting Organisations </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Governance of Standards </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Single Standard vs. Multiple Standards</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Relationship between FOSS and Open Standards</span></li></ol>
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<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Review of international best practice</span></li></ul>
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<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">European Union </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">US</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Brazil</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Russia</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">India</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Indonesia</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">China</span></li></ol>
<span class="Apple-style-span">16:00 – 16:15</span></div>
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<ul><li>Coffee Break</li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">16.15 - 17.45<br /></span>
<ul><li>Discussion on degree of openness</li></ul>
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<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Hardware/Software/File Formats</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Maturity of the standard</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Adoption in Iraq</span></li></ol>
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<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Policy Objectives of the GIF</span></li></ul>
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<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Neutral playing-field / vendor independence</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Obsolescence </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Data convergence </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Cost-reduction</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Domestic ICT industry</span></li></ol>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wednesday</strong> 26/1/2011 </td>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">08:30 – 10:00</span><br />
<ul><li>Discussion on Organisational Architecture to Interoperability:</li></ul>
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<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Enterprise Architecture</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Service Oriented Architecture</span></li></ol>
</div>
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Example on Germany’s Slandered and Architecture of E-Government Application (SAGA) that contain both the architecture and standard for interoperability / or any other relevant example</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">10.00 - 10.30<br /></span>
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Coffee Break</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">10.30 - 13.00<br /></span>
<ul><li>Governance of the Government Interoperability Framework: Creating the GIF</li></ul>
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<div>
<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Organisational Structure: Authority/Agency/Ministerial Committee/Adjunct to the President/Prime Minister's office.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Light vs. Heavy regulation: Broad principles vs. Lists approach [Inclusion lists, exclusion lists, least common denominator approach]</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Exemptions and Limitation: Reactive vs. proactive. Formal vs. informal.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Versioning: Mechanism and time-frame for revising the GIF. Pre-determined </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Monitoring of Compliance: Agency responsible and protocol to be observed. Random vs. blanket approach. </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Sanctions: Design of remedies and punitive measures to discourage non-compliance. </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Incentives: Design of awards and prizes for those who comply first, most, at the least-cost, etc.</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Documentation and Public Consultation: How will the process of developing, implementing and monitoring the GIF incorporate public consultation and be documented. </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Capacity Building</span></li></ol>
<span class="Apple-style-span">13.00 - 14.00</span></div>
</div>
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Lunch Break</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">14.00 - 15.30<br /></span>
<ul><li>Discussion on specific standards for the GIF [categorization based on Indian GIF] with a focus on current problem areas (G2G, G2B)</li></ul>
<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Presentation And Archival Domain </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Data Integration Domain </span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Data Interchange Domain</span></li></ol>
<span class="Apple-style-span">15.30 - 15.45<br /></span>
<ul><li>Coffee Break</li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">15.45 - 17.15<br /></span>
<ul><li>Discussion on specific standards for the GIF [categorization based on Indian GIF] with a focus on (G2C) and local Governorates and emerging areas </li></ul>
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<ol><li>Presentation And Archival Domain </li><li>Data Integration Domain </li><li>Data Interchange Domain</li></ol>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><strong> Thursday</strong> 27/1/2011</td>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">08.30 - 11.30<br /></span>
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span"> Unplanned time for collaborative work on the text of the GIF</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Draft of E-GIF Action Plan and Working Groups</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">11.30 - 12.00<br /></span>
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Coffee Break</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">12.00 - 14.00<br /></span>
<ul><li>Review on e-governance plan of action </li><li><span class="Apple-style-span">Out of GIF scope</span></li></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span">14.00 - 14.30<br /></span>
<ul><li>Workshop Closing Session and Looking Forward</li></ul>
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<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/e-gif-iraq-meeting'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/e-gif-iraq-meeting</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-08-18T05:04:49ZBlog EntryThe Online Video Environment in India - A Survey Report
https://cis-india.org/openness/online-video-environment-in-india
<b>iCOMMONS, the OPEN VIDEO ALLIANCE, and the CENTRE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY have initiated a research project which seeks to survey the online video environment in India and the opportunities this new medium presents for creative expression and civic engagement. This report seeks to define key issues in the Indian context and begins to develop a short-term policy framework to address them.</b>
<p>The basic assumption of this paper is that the online video medium should support creative and technical innovation, competition, and public participation, and that open source technology can help develop these traits. These assumptions are not elaborated upon here. Instead, this report looks at questions of “openness” that are not strictly technological; that are specific to video in India; and that provide points of entry to a simple policy framework.</p>
<p>The paper is organized in the following parts:</p>
<ul><li>The first chapter, <strong>THE NATIONAL CHARACTER OF INDIAN VIDEO</strong>, provides a brief historical timeline of events from the first screening of the Lumiere Brothers films in India in 1896, through the beginning of the twenty-first century. This chapter traces the traditional channels of dissemination of video content in India, and establishes the close and unique bond that the visual medium has formed with Indian society.</li><li>The second chapter, <strong>DIGITAL MEDIA AND NETWORK TRANSFORMATIONS</strong>, looks at recent media transformations like the rise of the Internet and peer-to-peer networking, the proliferation of telecommunications, and other developments which form the backbone of the emerging online video medium. Peer-to-peer and associative networking provides a new means of content circulation throughout the country.</li><li>The third chapter, <strong>MAPPING CONTENT ON THE INTERNET</strong>, traces the various types of visual content visible over these new networks, exploring case studies of videos circulating on the Internet which have raised new questions of censorship, freedom of speech, and the openness of the medium.</li><li>The fourth chapter, <strong>THE ‘OPEN VIDEO’ QUESTION</strong>, creates a judgment-based framework to assess the openness of the medium. This chapter lays out a series of questions around the broad spectrum of openness, viewed from various perspectives of access, participation, open source technology, and availability, with the intent of mapping the circumstances under which online video operates in India. Moreover, the chapter focuses on the structural limitations to video which can be addressed by policy, or even an absence of policy.</li></ul>
<p><em>Whereas the report consciously makes an effort to explore not only transitory web videos but also films, the terms ‘video’ and ‘film’, in many parts are treated interchangeably. Although films and videos represent different traditional mediums of recording, the interest of this report in examining the ‘online video’ content in India, consists of both types of material—accessed perhaps with little distinction</em>.</p>
<p>The scope of this paper is extremely broad and touches upon a wide variety of issues in India, where each area has a peculiar specificity of its situation—urban or rural, geographic, and so on. Links and references have been provided in the footnotes for background readings of these issues.</p>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/publications/content-access/online-video-india-survey-v1" class="internal-link" title="The Online Video Environment in India: A Survey Report">Click here</a> to download the report. [PDF, 1.22 MB]</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/online-video-environment-in-india'>https://cis-india.org/openness/online-video-environment-in-india</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshOpennessOpen ContentPublicationsOpen Video2011-10-03T09:31:30ZBlog EntryCivic hackers seek to find their feet in India
https://cis-india.org/news/civic-hackers-in-India
<b>In 2006, when Sushant Sinha,who holds a doctorate in Internet security from the University of Michigan, tried to use the Indian government’s judicial rulings website, Judis.nic.in, he found it difficult to get the data he was looking for. “Judis.nic.in didn’t have a good text search or ability to sort results by relevance,” Sinha said. The lack of these two critical functions rendered the wealth of data on the site largely unusable.</b>
<p>Sinha, who currently works at <strong>Yahoo India</strong>, set about creating
the legal search engine Indiankanoon. org, which now has a database of
more than 1.4 million judgements. It tries to overcome the deficiencies
of the government’s effort, indexing judgements by the Supreme Court,
the high courts and various tribunals, and linking them to the
underlying Acts.</p>
<p>In November, the portal saw around one million unique visits. Sinha
is a “civic hacker”, a programmer driven by the urge to create
applications that will allow fellow citizens to help themselves and
further the democratic process by using information, often from freely
available government databases. (A “cracker”, on the other hand, uses
similar tools to break into secure systems with malicious intent.)</p>
<p>Nishant Shah, director, research, at the Centre for Internet and
Society (CIS), Bangalore, offers a wider definition for civic hackers.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In a Web 2.0 world, you needn’t have programming skills to be a
civic hacker. When people have access to digital technologies, they are
potentially civic hackers, because they have learned how to negotiate
with oppression and injustice. In the West, the ubiquitousness of
digital technologies has enabled a lot of people to engage with civic
hacking—from subversive documentaries by the Yes Men group to parodic
YouTube videos that critique state-market policies— all these qualify as
civic hacking.”</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>WikiLeaks, said Shah, is the biggest example of such a civic hacker
in recent times. “Civic hackers are always in grey territory,” he said.
“Their legality is always being questioned, depending on how far they
go. Remember, WikiLeaks was around for five years before they began
talking about banning it.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Much of the online Indian information in the open domain, from the
government or autonomous bodies such as the Election Commission (EC),
isn’t always served up such that it can be sliced and diced in ways that
citizens can digest, making the civic hacker a critical part of the
democratic process in the digital age.</p>
<p> A larger presence in the West, they are thin on the ground in the
country. “Civic hackers, while present (in India), are not numerous, and
it’s unclear to what extent they are conscious of the work that others
are doing, although this could be easily remedied through networking
efforts both online and offline,” according to a report by CIS.</p>
<div class="pullquote">One of the reasons for their sparse numbers CIS
suggests is that the Indian government doesn’t engage yet with the
hacking community,</div>
<p>unlike countries such as the US. New York, Washington DC and San
Francisco, for instance, have portals that share data with the intention
of encouraging application development.</p>
<p>The NYC BigApps competition has a cash prize of $20,000 (nearly `9
lakh) for the best application using the City of New York’s NYC.gov data
mine. Around 350 data sets including public safety data, buildings
complaints, and real-time traffic numbers are thrown open to
participants. In 2009, an application to let New Yorkers findmass
transit routes, public school information, etc., based on their location
won the prize.</p>
<p>Despite the lack of incentives, some hackers are still mushrooming in
the Indian space. In 2009, just ahead of the April-May general
election, 25-year-old Akshay Surve, the founder of a think tank for
social change called SocialSync.org Labs, was building a Web application
to profile members of Parliament.</p>
<p>The application was aimed at generating a snapshot of each legislator
based on the debates they participated in, the number of Parliament
sessions attended, and other such information that could help voters
make an informed choice.</p>
<p>The websites of the EC and the Lok Sabha had much of this data in
Excel and Adobe PDF documents, but that didn’t necessarily make it
usable. The formats changed every year, and some files didn’t allow text
and numbers to be extracted. To build the mashup—an application that
throws together data from more than one source, mashing everything up to
create a new service—Surve had to parse and standardize the data.</p>
<p>Realizing that the problem he faced was not an isolated one, Surve
and his friend, Pavan Mishra, launched OpenCivic.in this year, a set of
standards and APIs (application programming interface) that sift data
from government websites and make them available in a machine-readable,
remixable format.</p>
<p>Surve’s API is the primary engine for Askneta.com and Gov-Check.net,
which track the performance of elected representatives and use
OpenCivic’s feed. He plans to keep the API free for non-commercial use.
Now his team is at work to develop a mobile version of the API. Another
example is RTINation. com, built in August 2009 by a group of graduates
from the Kanpur and Delhi Indian Institutes of Technology.</p>
<p>RTINation.com enables the online filing of Right to Information (RTI)
applications. A 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimated that more
than a quarter of those who file RTI applications have to visit a
government office over three times to do so. RTINation.com generates its
revenue by charging each user `125 for an application. It is now
building a backoffice to handle marketing and promotion.</p>
<p>“Since we launched, we have seen 200,000 unique visitors,” said Rahul
Gupta, a cofounder of RTINation.com. Most civic hackers in India
entered the field through work related to various e-governance
initiatives and the RTI Act, which has put more government data in the
public domain than ever before. This data, though, is dumped in a format
that makes it difficult for citizens to use or understand. “Few of the
publicly accessible databases are open in terms of data reusability (in
terms of machine-readability and openness of formats), data reusability
(legally), easily accessible (via search engines, for persons with
disabilities, etc.), understandable (marked up with annotations and
etadata),” according to CIS. Here is where civic hackers such as Sinha
and Surve come in.</p>
<p>CIS suggests that networking across civic hacking teams could
strengthen this effort. OpenCivic.in has been proactive in its tie-ups.
In February, it joined hands with Yes To Politics, a civic participation
endeavour by Texas-based software engineer Murali M. Launched in 2009,
Yes To Politics offers tools to help communities work on causes. Among
these are analytics of previous elections and a tracker of ongoing
campaigns. During its peak usage in the four weeks leading up to the
2009 assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the website had on an average
43,000 visitors a day, with a oneday surge of 97,457 visitors on 9
April that year. Yes To Politics, inactive since last year’s polls, is
going to launch a new version in January. “Once we do that, we
contribute our own data feeds to OpenCivic,” said Murali.</p>
<p>Talking about the challenges, Murali said, “The data sets from the Election Commission’s site were raw and not directly presentable to users. So we had to iteratively transform it and correct (it) on the way and make meaningful sets. It took me almost
three-and-a-half weeks to get it ready. And when the EC releases any new
data, they always release in PDF files that are hard to retrieve and
mashup. So I wrote special apps (applications) to scan files, transform
data, and automatically correct spelling mistakes in names.” The
36-year-old software engineer works full-time for Alcatel-Lucent and
develops the applications when he’s free. Yes To Politics has been
steadily adding bells and whistles to its portal. Recently, it
integrated Google Maps into an application called Vote2009, layering it
with information such as when a constituency is scheduled to have
elections. “Another example is, due to delimitation, about 77 assembly
and eight parliamentary constituencies in AP (Andhra Pradesh) have been
reorganized. We set up a section where users can look at what has
changed and find their constituency based on mandal and district
information,” Murali said.</p>
<p>Read the original article in Livemint <a class="external-link" href="http://epaper.livemint.com/Default.aspx?BMode=100#">here</a></p>
<p>Read it in IndiaInfoline <a class="external-link" href="http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Civic-hackers-seek-to-find-their-feet-in-India/5037582858">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/civic-hackers-in-India'>https://cis-india.org/news/civic-hackers-in-India</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-04-04T06:45:41ZNews ItemDecember 2010 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2010-bulletin
<b>Greetings from the Centre for Internet and Society! It gives us immense pleasure to present regular updates on the progress of our research on the mainstream Internet media. In this issue of we bring our latest project updates, news and media coverage:</b>
<h2><b>Researchers@Work</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">RAW is a multidisciplinary research initiative. CIS believes that in order to understand the contemporary concerns in the field of Internet and society, it is necessary to produce local and contextual accounts of the interaction between the Internet and socio-cultural and geo-political structures. To build original research knowledge base, the RAW programme has been collaborating with different organisations and individuals to focus on its three year thematic of Histories of the Internets in India. Monographs arising from these projects are now online for public review:</p>
<p><b>Pornography & the Law</b><br />This monograph attempts to unravel the relations between pornography, technology and the law in the shifting context of the contemporary. Deadline for review expires on 15 Jan 2011.<a href="http://bit.ly/f1sQsi"><br />http://bit.ly/f1sQsi</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Re:wiring Bodies<br /></b>Dr. Asha Achutan historicises the attitudes, imaginations and policies that have shaped the Science-Technology debates in India, to particularly address the ways in which emergence of Internet Technologies have shaped notions of gender and body in India. Deadline for review expires on 15 Jan 2011.<a href="http://bit.ly/gYCP1C"><br />http://bit.ly/gYCP1C</a></p>
<p><b>The Leap of Rhodes or, How India Dealt with the Last Mile Problem — An Inquiry into Technology and Governance</b><br />The project has fed into many different activities in teaching, in examining processes of governance and in looking at user behaviour. The deadline for peer review expires on 15 Jan 2011.<a href="http://bit.ly/iiYJp1"><br />http://bit.ly/iiYJp1</a></p>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<p><b>Internet, Society and Space in Indian Cities</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/h3lWzS">From the Stock Market to Neighbourhood Mohalla</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/hU6GTL">Transforming Urbanscapes: ATM in cities</a></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Queer Histories of the Internet</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/hqrjqc">A Detour: The Internet and Forms of Narration: A Short Note</a></li>
</ul>
<p><b> </b></p>
<h2><b>Digital Natives</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS has interest in developing Digital Identities as a core research area and looks at practices, policies and scholarships in the field to explore relationships between Internet, technology and identity.</p>
<h3>Columns on Digital Natives</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A fortnightly column on ‘Digital Natives’ authored by Nishant Shah is featured in the Sunday Eye, the national edition of Indian Express, Delhi, from 19 September 2010 onwards. The following articles were published in the Indian Express recently:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/ig08Dr">Make a Wish</a> [published on 19 December 2010]</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/hRHUYu">Play Station</a> [published on 5 December 2010]</li>
</ul>
<h3>Workshop</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The third and final workshop in the Digital Natives with a Cause? research project will take place in Santiago, Chile, from the 8 to 10 February. Open Call and FAQs for the workshop are online:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/emKslL">Digital Natives with a Cause? Workshop in Santiago – An Open Call</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/eCu2it">Digital Natives with a Cause? Workshop in Santiago – Some FAQs</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Publication</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Position papers from the Thinkathon conference held at Hague from 6 to 8 December have been published:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/eVYR2h">Digital Natives with a Cause? Thinkathon: Position Papers</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Accessibility</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Estimates of the percentage of the world's population that is disabled vary considerably. But what is certain is that if we count functional disability, then a large proportion of the world's population is disabled in one way or another. At CIS we work to ensure that the digital technologies, which empower disabled people and provide them with independence, are allowed to do so in practice and by the law. To this end, we support web accessibility guidelines, and change in copyright laws that currently disempower the persons with disabilities.</p>
<h3><b>National Award</b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita Narasimhan got a National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government of India on 3 December 2010. The award was presented by Smt. Pratibha Patil, President of India under the Role Model category. The event was telecast live on Doordarshan.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/fKG9MH">Nirmita Narasimhan wins National Award</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Conference Report</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">An international conference on Enabling Access to Education through ICT was held in New Delhi from 27 to 29 October 2010. The full report of the conference is published online:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/eDHXyq">Enabling Access to Education through ICT - Conference Report</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://goo.gl/ddMBN">Accessibility at CIS – Looking back at 2010</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/igUi8H">G3ict-GW Global Policy Forum: "ICT Accessibility: A New Frontier for Disability Rights"</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Intellectual Property</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Copyright, patents and trademarks are the most important components on the Internet. CIS believes that access to knowledge and culture is essential as it promotes creativity and innovation and bridges the gaps between the developed and developing world positively. Hence, the campaigns for an international treaty on copyright exceptions for print-impaired, advocating against PUPFIP Bill, calls for the WIPO Broadcast Treaty to be restricted to broadcast, questioning the demonization of 'pirates', and supporting endeavours that explore and question the current copyright regime. Our latest endeavour has resulted into these:</p>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://bit.ly/glBYTS">Problems Remain with Standing Committee's Report on Copyright Amendments</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://bit.ly/hq9OZO">CIS Submission on Draft Patent Manual 2010</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Openness</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS believes that innovation and creativity should be fostered through openness and collaboration and is committed towards promotion of open standards, open access, and free/libre/open source software, its latest involvement have yielded these results:</p>
<h3>Reports</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/eKUKIY">Call for Comments for Report on the Online Video Environment in India</a></li>
<li><a href="http://goo.gl/wr8Td">Call for Comments for Report on Open Government Data in India</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Event</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/hQAUkg">Wikipedia Meetup in Bangalore, This time in TERI</a></li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Privacy</b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is doing a couple of projects, one Privacy in Asia which is supported by Privacy International, UK and the other on Privacy and Identity which is funded by Ford Foundation and managed by the Centre for Study of Culture and Society. The project is a research inquiry into the history of privacy in India and how it shapes the contemporary debates around technology mediated identity projects like <i>Aadhar</i>.</p>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/hYUmVK">The Privacy Rights of Whistleblowers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/hcP9lI">UID & Privacy - A Call for Papers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/esjtL7">Should Ratan Tata be Afforded the Right to Privacy?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/h0Vdz3">DSCI Information Security Summit 2010 – A Report</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Telecom</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The growth in telecommunications in India has been impressive. While the potential for growth and returns exist, a range of issues need to be addressed for this potential to be realized. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the second aspect is a countrywide access to broadband which is low at about eight million subscriptions. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum. It is imperative to resolve these issues in the common interest of users and service providers. CIS campaigns to facilitate this.</p>
<h3>Articles by Shyam Ponappa</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Shyam Ponappa is a Distinguished Fellow at CIS. He writes regularly on Telecom issues in the Business Standard and these articles are mirrored on the CIS website as well.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/fNADQo">Take 'Model T' for Telecom</a></li>
</ul>
<p><b> </b></p>
<h2><b>News & Media Coverage</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://bit.ly/h8TJwF">An online community platform for people with different needs</a> (Sify News, 12 December 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/fF3Y6V">Self-regulation in media and society meet to gain legal perspectives</a> (Indiantelevision.com, 13 December 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/e3gZGz">This Is All India Radia</a> (Outlook, 6 December 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/gYrF7h">'Pakistan' hackers target India's top police agency</a> (Google News, 4 December 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/gBMFzY">Intellectual Property Rights as seen in a graphic novel</a> (TimeOut Bengaluru, 1 December 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/fa4qcy">The Niira Radia Tapes: Scrutinizing the Snoopers</a> (The Wall Street Journal, 29 November 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/gWEkKw">Mobile banking set to get a boost from IMPS</a> (The Hindu, 28 November 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/gjyNbF">UID elicits mixed response</a> (Deccan Herald, 23 November 2010)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://bit.ly/hcrAd2">Time to bury e-mail?</a> (DNA, 21 November 2010)</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Follow us elsewhere</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india">Twitter</a></li>
<li>Follow CIS on <a href="http://identi.ca/main/remote?nickname=cis">identi.ca</a></li>
<li>Join the CIS group on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28535315687">Facebook</a></li>
<li>Visit us at <a href="http://www.cis-india.org">www.cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Looking forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to write to us for any queries or details required. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please do write to us and we will unsubscribe your mail ID from the mailing list.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2010-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2010-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceCISRAWOpenness2012-08-07T11:28:02ZPageCall for Comments for Report on Open Government Data in India
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-government-data-report
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society is pleased to announce a public call for comments on the Report on Open Government Data in India prepared by Glover Wright, Pranesh Prakash, Sunil Abraham and Nishant Shah.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This report situates the current move towards open government data in India in the context of the country’s growingly sophisticated information and communications technology (ICT) practices as well as the Right to Information Act. It relies primarily on conversations—both on the record and off—with government officials, businesses, civil society organizations, and individual activists. For background it relies on a review of the literature relevant to OGD and RTI generally, to present a snapshot of where India stands now in respect to OGD, and to predict where it is likely to go in the near future. It seeks to understand what “open government data” means in an Indian context, and what effects institutionalized open data practices and ideas might have on Indian society. Finally, it suggests certain technical and policy strategies for developing, promoting, and implementing, and maintaining a robust open government data policy in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Please do write in to Pranesh Prakash (pranesh at cis-india.org) with any suggestions, criticisms, or general comments that you have by 30 January 2011.</p>
<p>Download the complete report <a class="internal-link" href="http://www.cis-india.org/openness/publications/ogd-report" title="Open Government Data Report">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-government-data-report'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-government-data-report</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataFeaturedOpenness2013-03-01T05:50:49ZBlog EntryWikipedia Meet-up in TERI
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-meet-up-bangalore
<b>The Wikipedia Bangalore meet-up is a monthly get-together of Wikipedians (contributors and users) to meet, discuss, share experiences, reach out and advocate for Wikipedia and Wikimedia. Danese Cooper, Chief Technical Officer, Wikimedia Foundation, Alolita Sharma, Engineering Programs Manager, Wikimedia Foundation, Erik Möller, Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation and Achal Prabhala, Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board Member attended the meeting. The Centre for Internet and Society made arrangements for this event.</b>
<p>The Indian wiki community is dedicated to mainly improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to the Republic of India and the history and culture of the Indian subcontinent.The efforts of Indian Wikipedians in English wikipedia is coordinated through Wikiproject India.</p>
<p>This meeting was held at <a class="external-link" href="http://www.teriin.org/index.php">The Energy & Resources Institute</a> (TERI),
near to Domlur Club in Bangalore on Saturday, 18 December 2010 and was
attended by about 41 participants. There was good attendance from
various professional fields – wildlife photographers, journalists,
techies, students from Rajasthan (who were in Bangalore to attend <a class="external-link" href="http://foss.in/">FOSS.in</a>) and many who were interested in Indic versions of Wikipedia. </p>
<p>Wikipedia has 250 language versions. Their main data center is in Tampa (Florida). Most surfers from India would be hitting their caching servers in Amsterdam. The primary data however, will always reside in the United States of America as Wikipedia appreciates the freedom of speech provided by the US govt.</p>
<p>Wikimedia Foundation officials have met many important government departments in Delhi for promoting the <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indic_scripts">Indic versions</a> of Wiki. But the Government of India is not willing to open-source the fonts that are developed by the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.cdac.in/">Centre for Development of Advanced Computing</a>. There are <a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias">278 wikipedias</a> including one wikipedia each for English and Simple English and there are more than 79,000 articles related to India on English Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation wants to promote Indic versions on mobile in a big way and is keen to work with Indian mobile handset makers to have the offline version of Wikipedia shipped with handsets. English has about 3.5 million articles. Indic has far lesser but can catch up with English provided people start contributing content. Indic editors can set up their own rules for content contribution and it need not be as tight as they have for English. Examples were cited from other countries. For example, Russia has been doing exceptionally well in adding Russian content and nobody in the world can beat the Germans for perfection. They pay a lot of attention to quality. Indians should also do so, it was felt.</p>
<p>Also see</p>
<ul><li>The <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Bangalore/Bangalore23#Summary">Wikipedia</a> page</li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.mahesh.com/2010/12/18/wikipedia-meetup-in-bangalore-my-first-one">Mahesh's Blog Post</a></li></ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-meet-up-bangalore'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-meet-up-bangalore</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessMeeting2011-09-22T12:21:53ZBlog EntryCall for Comments for Report on the Online Video Environment in India
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-online-video-report
<b>The Open Video Alliance, the Centre for Internet and Society and iCommons are pleased to announce a public call for comments on version 1 of "Online Video Environment in India: A Survey Report".</b>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/publications/content-access/online-video-india-survey-v1" class="internal-link" title="The Online Video Environment in India: A Survey Report">This report</a> is an outcome of <a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/openness/blog/open-video-research" class="external-link">a research</a> <a class="external-link" href="http://openvideoalliance.org/2010/04/research-with-centre-for-internet-society-bangalore/?l=en">project</a> that seeks to survey the online video environment in India and the opportunities this new medium presents for creative expression and civic engagement. This report by Siddharth Chadha, Ben Moskowitz, and Pranesh Prakash seeks to define key issues in the Indian context and begins to develop a short-term policy framework to address them.</p>
<p>The basic assumption of this paper is that the online video medium should support creative and technical innovation, competition, and public participation, and that open source technology can help develop these traits. These assumptions are not elaborated upon here. Instead, this report looks at questions of “openness” that are not strictly technological and legal; that are specific to video in India; and that provide points of entry to a simple policy framework.</p>
<p>Please do write in to Ben Moskowitz (ben at openvideoalliance.org) and Pranesh Prakash (pranesh at cis-india.org) with any suggestions, criticisms, or general comments that you have by January 20, 2011.</p>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/publications/content-access/online-video-india-survey-v1" class="internal-link" title="The Online Video Environment in India: A Survey Report">Download the paper</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-online-video-report'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-online-video-report</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshOpennessFeaturedOpen Video2012-12-14T12:12:14ZBlog EntryOpen standards policy in India: A long, but successful journey
https://cis-india.org/news/open-standards-policy
<b>Last week, India became another major country to join the growing, global open standards movement. After three years of intense debate and discussion, India's Department of IT in India finalized its Policy on Open Standards for e-Governance, joining the ranks of emerging economies like Brazil, South Africa and others. This is a historic moment and India's Department of Information Technology (DIT) deserves congratulations for approving a policy that will ensure the long-term preservation of India's e-government data.</b>
<p>A major victory for the Open Source community is that the policy now says, "4.1.2 The Patent claims necessary to implement the Identified Standard shall be made available on a Royalty-Free basis for the life time of the Standard."</p>
<p>This victory is really important to the open source community because open source and open standards have a symbiotic relationship. While open source is the freedom to modify, share and redistribute software source code, open standards refer to the freedom to encode and decode data and network protocols. One freedom without the other is a limited freedom.</p>
<p>In the Indian policy, proprietary software vendors wanted to define open standards in such a way that even royalty-based standards would be included. Due to stiff opposition from the free and open source software community, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), academia and others, this proposal was rolled back.</p>
<p>Under the National e-Government Action Plan, the Indian government is spending more than 10 billion dollars on e-governance. Some of the largest greenfield e-governance projects are in India. For example, one project aims to give a unique ID to more than 700 million Indians. Given the scale and scope of e-governance in India, the storage, archival and retrieval of e-governance data is a critical state responsibility. The standards selected by India also have global implications because the sheer volumes of usage in India, could make those standards the most popular standards in the world.</p>
<p>It must be remembered that while software changes every few years, the underlying data (birth and death records, census data, tax data etc.) is fairly static and might have to be preserved for centuries. If the government stores its data in a closed format, it could permanently lose access to that data if the owner of that format goes out of business or refuses to provide access to that format. If the government stores its data in proprietary formats that require royalty payments, the negotiation power of the vendor goes up as more and more data is stored in that proprietary format; a situation that no sovereign power should tolerate.</p>
<p>The Indian policy also states that a single open standard will be used for e-governance. This clause is also extremely important. For example, if a Central Government Ministry requests a certain set of information from state governments in India, and each state government submits the data in a different format, enormous amounts of time will be wasted in converting the data into a common format. There is also risk that data could be lost in the process of converting data from one format to another. Therefore, the usage of a single, open standard for an application area is the backbone that will unify these applications and enable the sharing of data across different applications. This will drive more efficiency in e-governance enabling policy makers and e-government practitioners to quickly pull together data from different government departments and take more informed decisions.</p>
<p>It was a very tough fight and the proprietary vendors used their market clout and strong field presence in their attempts to subvert open standards. For example, in the previous draft policy dated 25/11/2009, the wordings of the key section read,</p>
<p>"4.1.2 The essential patent claims necessary to implement the Identified Standard should preferably be available on a Royalty-Free (no payment and no restrictions) basis for the life time of the standard. However, if such Standards are not found feasible and in the wider public interest, then RF on Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory terms and conditions (FRAND) or Reasonable and Non Discriminatory terms and conditions (RAND) could be considered."</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2010/11/a-great-indian-takeaway/index.htm">Commenting on the final policy</a>, veteran journalist, Glyn Moody said, “As you can see, there is no room for doubt here, no quibbling with 'RF on Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory terms and conditions (FRAND)' or 'Reasonable and Non Discriminatory terms and conditions (RAND)' as the earlier version suggested: just a clear and simple 'Royalty-Free basis for the life time of the Standard'.”</p>
<p>So how did the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community succeed against tremendous odds? Some key actions that helped us succeed are: </p>
<p> 1. We worked long and hard to educate the public and the media. At first, some journalists shied away from writing on this subject because they found it too arcane and complex. It took over six months of talking to mediapersons before one of the mainstream publications carried an article on open standards. Once that happened, the dam broke and other publications also started to write about this “arcane” subject.<br /> 2. The academic community, especially in the prestigious Indian academic institutions, were very supportive of open standards. Many academicians have influential positions on government committees and their support helped.<br /> 3. India has a very vibrant set of Civil Society Organizations. The FOSS community worked with leading CSOs like IT For Change, Center for Internet and Society, Knowledge Commons and others that are founded by people who have tremendous experience in working on technology policy issues. A loose-knit coalition was formed under the title of FOSSCOMM and some excellent <a class="external-link" href="http://fosscomm.in/OpenStandards">representations</a> were made to the Indian government.<br /> 4. Many sections within government itself were firmly in favor of open standards and the community worked closely with them.<br /> 5. The community made common cause with sections of industry that supported open standards. This helped counter the pressure from industry associations that were supporting proprietary standards.</p>
<p>It was a long but extremely rewarding issue to be involved in and I am documenting this in the hope that other countries can benefit from the experiences we gained in fighting for open standards in India. Jai Ho! (May you be victorious!)</p>
<p>Read the original <a class="external-link" href="http://opensource.com/government/10/11/open-standards-policy-india-long-successful-journey">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/open-standards-policy'>https://cis-india.org/news/open-standards-policy</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-04-02T07:40:53ZNews ItemPrivacy, Free/Open Source, and the Cloud
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy/privacy-cloud-computing
<b>A look into the questions that arise in concern to privacy and cloud computing, and how open source plays into the picture. </b>
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Cloud computing, in basic terms, is internet-based computing where shared resources and services are taken from the primary infrastructure of the internet and provided on demand. Cloud computing creates a shared network between major corporations like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo. In this way, cloud systems are related to grid computing systems/service- oriented architectures, and create the potential for the entire I.T. infrastructure to be programmable. Because of this, cloud computing establishes a new consumption and delivery standard for IT services based on the internet. It is a new consumption and delivery model, because it is made up of services delivered through common centers and built on servers which act as a point of access for the computing needs of consumers. The access points facilitate the tailoring and delivering of targeted applications and services to consumers. Details are taken from the users, who no longer need to have an understanding of, or control over the technology infrastructure in the cloud that supports their desired application.</p>
<p>There are both corporate and consumer implications for such a system. For example, according cloud computing lowers the barriers to entry for corporations and new services. It also enables innovative enterprise in locations where there is an insufficient supply of human or other resources through the provision of inexpensive hardware, software, and applications. The consumer, in turn, is provided with information that he or she is projected to be interested in based on information he or she has already “consumed.” Thus, for example: Google has the ability to monitor a person’s consuming habits through searches and to reduce those habits to a pattern which selects applications to display – and consumption of those reinforces the pattern.</p>
<h3>Privacy Concerns:</h3>
<p> Though cloud computing can be a useful tool for consumers, corporations, and countries, cloud computing poses significant privacy concerns for all actors involved. For the consumer, a major concern is that future business models may rely on the use of personal data from consumers of cloud services for advertising or behavioral targeting. This concern brings to light the fundamental problem of cloud computing which is that consumers consent to the secondary use of their personal data only when they are signing up for services, and that “consent” is almost automatically generated. How can the cloud assure users that their private data will be properly protected? It is true that high levels of encryption can be (and are) used, and that many companies also take other precautionary measures, but protective measures vary, and the secondary sources that gain access to information may not protect it as well as the initial source. Moreover, even strong protection measures are vulnerable to hackers. As well, what happens if a jurisdiction, like the Indian government, gains access to information about a foreign national? India still does not have a comprehensive data protection law, nor does it have many forms of redress for violations of privacy. How is that individuals information protected?</p>
<p>These questions give rise to other privacy concerns with respect to the data that is circulated and stored on the cloud, which are the questions of territory, sovereignty, and regulation. Many of these were brought up at the Internet Governance Forum, which took place on the 16th of September including: Which jurisdiction has authority in cases of dispute or digital crime? If you lose data or your data is damaged, stolen, or manipulated, where do you go? Is the violation enforced under local laws, and, if so, under the law of the violator or the law of the violated? If international law, who can access the tribunals, and which tribunals have this jurisdiction? What if a person's data is replicated in two data centres in two different countries? Are the data subject to scrutiny by the officials of all three? Is there a remedy against abuse by any of them? Does it matter whether the country in which the data centre resides does not require a warrant for government access? And how will a consumer know any of that up front? As a corollary, if content is being sent to one country but resides on a data centre in another country, whose data protection standards apply? For example, certain governments in Europe require data retention for limited amount of time for purposes for law enforcement, but other countries may allow retention of data for shorter or longer periods of time.</p>
<h3>How are privacy, free/open source, and the cloud related ?</h3>
<p>Eben Moglen, a professor from Columbia law school, and founder and chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center who spoke on cloud computing, privacy, and free/open software at the Indian Institute for science on Thursday September 25, had another solution to the privacy concerns that arise out of the cloud. His lecture explains how the internet has moved from a tool that once promoted equality between people – no servants and no masters – to a tool that reinforces social hierarchies. The reinforcement of these hierarchies is directly related to the language used and communication facilitated between the computer and the individual. Professor Moglen describes how initially, when computers were first introduced to the public, humans spoke directly to computers, and computers responded directly to humans. This open, two-way communication changed when Microsoft, Apple, and IBM removed the language between humans and computers and created proprietary software based on a server-client computing relationship. By removing the language between humans and computers, these corporations dis-empowered individuals. Professor Moglen used this as a springboard to address the privacy concerns that come up in cloud computing. Privacy at its base is the ability of an individual to control access to various aspects of self, such as decisional, informational, and locational. In having the ability to control these factors, privacy consists of a relation between a person and another person or an entity. Professor Moglen postulated that free/open access to code would make the internet an environment where choices over that relationship were still in the hands of an individual, and, among other protections, the individuals could build up their desired levels of privacy.</p>
<h3>Is free/open software the solution?</h3>
<p> Eben Moglen's solution to the many privacy concerns that arise out of cloud computing is the application and use of free software/open source by individuals. Unlike some applications on the cloud, open source is free, and once an individual has access to the code, that person can control how a program functions, including how a program uses personal information, and thus the person would be able to protect their privacy. Of course, this presumes that the consumer of the internet is sophisticated enough to access and manipulate code. But even putting that presumption aside, is the ability to write code enough to protect data (will help you protect data better – add more security)? Perhaps if a person could create his own server and bypass the cloud, but this does not seem like an ideal (or practical) solution. Though free/open source is an important element that should be incorporated into cloud computing, free/open source depends on open standards. According to Pranesh Prakash, in his presentation at the Internet Governance Forum, the role of standards in ensuring interoperability is critical to allowing consumers to choose between different devices to access the cloud, to choose between different software clients, and to shift between one service and another. This would include moving information, both the data and the metadata, from one cloud to another. Clouds would need to be able to talk to one another to enable data sharing, and open source is key to this, though it is important to note that if one uses free/open source, they must set up their own infrastructure.</p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p> Even though Moglen believes that free/open source software brings freedom and provides the solution to protect an individual’s privacy in the context of cloud computing, he was not speaking to the specific context of India. To do that, it is important to expand the definitions that one uses of free/open source and privacy, and then to contextualize them. Looking closely at the words “free/open source,” they are not limited to access to a software's code, even though that is free/open source’s base. For the ideology of free/open source to work, access to code is just a key to the puzzle. A person, community, culture and state must understand the purpose of free/open source, know how to use it, and know how it can be applied in order for it to be transformative, liberating, and protective. There needs to be a shared understanding that free/open source is not just about being able to change code, but about a shared commitment to sharing code and making it transparent and accessible. In the United States and other countries, free/open source did not just enter into American society and immediately fix issues of privacy by bringing freedom, as it seems Professor Moglen is suggesting free/open source will do in India. Though Professor Moglen promises freedom and privacy protection through free/open source, perhaps this is not an honest appraisal of the technology. Free/open source, if not equally accessed or misapplied, protects neither freedom nor privacy. As noted above, even if a person has access to code, he can protect data only to a certain extent. Thus, he might think that he has created a privacy wall around information that actually is readily accessible. In other words, free/open source cannot be the only answer to freedom, but instead a piece to a collective answer.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy/privacy-cloud-computing'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy/privacy-cloud-computing</a>
</p>
No publisherelonnaiOpennessInternet GovernancePrivacy2012-03-22T05:50:10ZBlog EntryReport: Digitally Open: Innovation and Open Access Forum, 23 Oct 2010, Doha, Qatar
https://cis-india.org/news/report-digitally-open-innovation-and-open-access-forum-23-oct-2010-doha-qatar
<b>A summary of the event "Digitally Open: Innovation and Open Access Forum" held in Doha.</b>
<p>Although I arrived in early morning of Saturday, 23 October 2010, I managed to attend <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/Page1988.asp">Digitally Open: Innovation and Open Access Forum</a>, held at <a class="external-link" href="http://www.sharqvillage.com/">Sharq Village</a>, Doha Qatar. Here is below a summary of the event. </p>
<p>The welcoming speech was given by Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, secretary General of the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology,<a class="external-link" href="http://www.ict.gov.qa/output/page2.asp"> ictQATAR</a>. Al Jaber spoke about the importance of open digital environments for the region, and outlined specific initiatives that ictQATAR is leading to embrace it (establishment of incubation center, drafting policies that encourage open source in government and arabizing content). She noted that "The Arab world has a strong and important voice that must be heard. Embracing a digitally open world will put us at the forefront of innovation and help propel us towards being a knowledge based economy." The full speech of Dr. Al Jaber is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ict.gov.qa/files/images/Dr%20%20Hessa%20Al-Jaber%20Speech_Digitally%20Open%20Forum_22%20Oct%202010.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Baker">Michelle Baker</a>, Chairperson of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/">Mozilla Foundation</a> provided her insights of openness. She described elegantly openness as “a state of mind” and is about spreading innovation. To Baker, if you want to be effective on the internet, you need to have “scale”. Openness is important for “scale”. Creative Commons is a framework of how to work with a copyright system and share ideas. Mozilla intends to build a layer of the internet designed for individuals to make civil and social value. According to Baker, there are many degrees of “openness” and it up to the users contributing to open projects and the companies to choose between the various levels. She argues that openness does not mean “free” and believe that in certain areas this might hold some truth, but the matter is far from being settled. </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://joi.ito.com/">Joi Ito</a>, CEO, <a class="external-link" href="http://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a> gave an interesting presentation entitled “Innovation and Digital Content Rights”. He described from his own experience while working for Japanese IT companies how innovation was perceived pre the internet era and afterward. He also compared between the traditional style of IT innovation (governments, large companies, experts) and the new style of innovation with the arrival of the internet (users contributing to open source and open content projects). To joi, the internet is made of various layers and stacks. Creative Commons is the next stack. It basically lowers the costs and creates an explosion in knowledge and innovation. He gave examples of organizations that are using Creative Commons including Wikipedia, Aljazeera, and Governments in New Zealand and Australia. </p>
<p>Chris Dibona, Open Source Programs Manager, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.google.com.au/ig?hl=en">Google</a>, spoke about open source. He outlined the motivations behind releasing code by developers. He described how Google practices open source projects such as <a class="external-link" href="http://www.chromium.org/">“Chromium”</a>. One audience member asked Dibona about Google’s attention in the region in relation to open source. He replied that Google needs to learn more about the region and the culture of the Middle East. His full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/Paul%20Keller%20-%20Promoting%20Openness%20is%20the%20public%20sector.pdfhttp://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/Chris-DiBona-The%20Open%20Source%20Revolution.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p>Professor <a class="external-link" href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/mrn24/">Michael Nelson</a>, a visiting professor of Internet Studies, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.georgetown.edu/">Georgetown University</a> spoke about “open clouds”. He emphasised that we are living in new world where small countries can make big impact in technology world. Estonia is the most “wired” country in Europe. Skype changed the way we do business. Qatar can provide the seed for the magic cloud. This can be achieved by having the right policies in the right time. </p>
<p>The second panel entitled “Openness in Science and Technology” was moderated by <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilbanks">John Wilbanks</a>, Vice President for <a class="external-link" href="http://sciencecommons.org/">Science, Creative Commons</a>. He gave introductory remarks to the use of CC in science. His full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/John%20Wilbanks-%20Digitally%20Open%202010.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p>Shaikah Al- Jaber, Director of Marketing, Innovation and Alliance, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.qtel.qa/IndexPage.do">Qtel International</a> gave a presentation entitled “Open Innovation for Telecom Companies in the Middle East”. She mainly spoke about innovation in the telecommunication sector and how it can be achieved. Her full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/2%20-%20Shaikha%20Al-Jabir_Strategic%20Innovation2-5.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p>Hesham Al Komy, Head of Sales and Marketing, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.europe.redhat.com/UAE/">Middle East and Africa, Redhat</a>, gave a presentation entitled “From Linux to Beyond”. He went through the history and development of “open source”. Redhat was the first cooperation to take “open source” into the commercial arena. It was founded in 1983 and it currently employs 3500 employees with offices in 29 countries. He also discussed other issues related to open source community and open source adoption. His full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/3%20-%20Hesham%20Al%20Komy%20-%20From%20Linux%20beyond.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.habibhaddad.com/">Habib Hadid</a>, the founder of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.yallastartup.org/">Yalla Startup</a> and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.yamli.com/">Yamili.com</a> did not give a presentation, but instead spoke spontaneously about business and how innovation and openness can help it. He recommended at the end to consider “innovation as a human right”. </p>
<p>Lucio Rispo, a strategic research director for the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.qstp.org.qa/output/page7.asp">Qatar Science and Technology Park</a>, spoke about the internet technological revolution and how it is changing the world. He described several initiatives that were taken in Doha, Qatar including IQRA to spread technology and innovation. His full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/4%20-%20Lucio%20Rispo%20-%20The%20Needs%20The%20Present%20The%20Future.pdf">here</a>.</p>
<p>The third panel was about “Openness in Government” that was moderated by Professor Michael Nelson. Sunil Abraham, executive Director for the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.cis-india.org/">Centre for Internet and Society</a> in Bangalore, India provided interesting remarks about the internet and openness from the perspective of developing countries especially India. He also mentioned the importance of putting government funded research under open transparent and open models.</p>
<p>Paul Keller, Senior Project Lead of Technology and the Public Domain, Knowledgeland, Netherlands, discussed the ways to promote openness in the public sector through the use of Creative Commons licensing model. To view his presentation click<a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/Paul%20Keller%20-%20Promoting%20Openness%20is%20the%20public%20sector.pdf"> here</a>. Marwan Marouf Mahmod, Executive Director of ICT Industry Development, ictQATAR spoke about his experience and the initiatives that they have taken in ictQatar. </p>
<p>The final panel was entitled “Culture, Creativity and Openness”. There were 3 speakers in this panel. Eric Steuer, Creative Commons Director and the moderator of the session gave an introduction to CC. He described how CC is being used in Education, music, museums, design, films and journalism. His full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/Eric%20Steur.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p>Addulrahman Al Qataba is a web and application developer from Qatar. He presented his philosophy on “open life”. He developed several projects that serve the open source community in mobile applications. The full presentation is available <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/files/images/Abdulrahman%20-%20Open%20Life.pdf">here</a>. </p>
<p>Arend Kuster, Managing Director of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bqfp.com.qa/">Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation</a> (BQF) outlined the initiative that <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/">Bloomsbury Publishing</a> is taking in Qatar to spread knowledge through printed books and journals published in Arabic and English. </p>
<p>Roger Mandle, spoke about museums and his experience as a director of the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.qma.com.qa/eng/">Qatar Museum Authority</a>. </p>
<p><strong>CC Arab World Second Meeting <br />Sunday, 24 October 2010 <br />Sharq Village<br />12:30 p.m – 9:00 p.m.</strong></p>
<p>The CC Arab world was attended by lawyers from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and also users and enthusiasts supporting CC from across the region. The meeting was divided into two sessions. The first was for all attendees and the second was divided into two groups one for users and another for lawyers. </p>
<p>The first session started with a welcoming note by Joi Ito, who stressed the importance of reaching consensus decisions on important matters related to CC in the Arab world. He noted the difficulties associated with organising such an event and the efforts that CC has invested to bring all people together. Donna thanked the organizers and the supporters of the event particularly ictQATAR. She also set out the agenda for the meeting. Diane spoke about the Affiliate Enhancement Program and Michelle gave details on drafting road maps for each jurisdictions. Speakers from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and the UAE presented their road maps to CC.</p>
<p>After discussion and questioning, Diane gave an introduction to CC naming policy in other jurisdictions including Spanish speaking countries. The discussion of CC naming policy started with Rami Olwan writing in Arabic suggested terms for English CC licences. There were two views in relation to the translation of the English terms to Arabic. The first view came from lawyers who want to use legal words that might not sound appealing to Arabic users of the licences. The second view came from users who want to use words that might not be legal and enforceable in courts. After discussion that lasted three hours, a decision was reached on each term. It was agreed to either to use المشاع الإبداعي (creative Commons) or use the English version alone. Attribution: نسب المصنَف; ShareAlike: الترخيص بالمثل, NoDerivatives: منع الاشتقاق; NonCommercial: غير تجاري.</p>
<p>I attended the second meeting of the session for lawyers. Diane and Joi were present at this session. Diane spoke then allowed each of the jurisdiction leads to speak. Hala Essalmawi from CC Egypt spoke about the A2K project in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bibalex.org/Home/Default_EN.aspx">library of Alexandria</a>, Egypt and how it was important to start the project there. </p>
<p>I spoke also about the importance for CC in governments and education. Pierre El Khoury and Mohammed AL Darwish spoke about their upcoming events that will feature Lawrence Lessig as a speaker to the Lebanese Bar Association. Mohammad from CC Lebanon also spoke about his involvement in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.consumersinternational.org/">Consumers International</a> and the reports that he produced for A2K in Lebanon. </p>
<p>Omar Al Taweel presented his views to CC of how CC should proceed in Jordan. Several questions were asked by the lawyers and Diane gave answers. The meeting ended as some of the attendees had to leave for the airport. </p>
<p>See the original <a class="external-link" href="http://www.olwan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=411:report-digitally-open-innovation-and-open-access-forum-23-24-oct-2010-doha-qatar-&catid=4:arab-countries&Itemid=44">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/report-digitally-open-innovation-and-open-access-forum-23-oct-2010-doha-qatar'>https://cis-india.org/news/report-digitally-open-innovation-and-open-access-forum-23-oct-2010-doha-qatar</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-04-02T07:43:25ZNews ItemSocial Mashup!
https://cis-india.org/news/save-date
<b>Save the Date
Join us to meet India’s most passionate, innovative, and curious start-up social entrepreneurs for two groundbreaking days of conversations, connections and inspiration. This event will be held on 2-3 December 2010 at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.</b>
<p><strong>Who’s invited?</strong> Start-up social entrepreneurs, senior social entrepreneurs, funders/investors and anyone else interested in early stage social entrepreneurship.</p>
<p><strong>What will you get?</strong> You’ll have direct access to resources that meet your immediate and long-term needs. You might meet your mentor or mentee, your investor or investee, and your CEO or team member. And did we mention that we'll have a selection of artists and musicians in residence, all set to spark your creativity? Believe us, you're in for a dynamic, inspiring, affordable and fun two days that truly captures the spirit of a start-up!</p>
<p><strong>What will you not get?</strong> Panels that seem to be designed for the panelists, talks that fail to inspire and networking that begins and ends with an exchange of business cards.</p>
<h3>Speakers</h3>
<p>The speakers represent a diverse range of perspective, experience and approach. With all of these people in the same place, sparks of social change are sure to fly.</p>
<ul><li>Sachin Malhan, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.inclusiveplanet.com/en/login?destination=node%2F241416">Inclusive Planet</a></li><li>Prema Gopalan, <a class="external-link" href="http://sspindia.org/index.html">SSP</a></li><li>Gijs Spoor, <a class="external-link" href="http://zameen.org/">Zameen Organics</a></li><li>Solomon Jayaprakash, <a class="external-link" href="http://india.ashoka.org/">Ashoka </a></li><li>Sunil Abraham, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mahiti.org/">Mahiti Infotech Pvt Ltd</a></li><li>Ravi Agarwal, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.toxicslink.org/">http://www.toxicslink.org/</a></li><li>Murali Mohan, Mukteshwari Bosco</li><li>Sunitha Krishnan, Muthu Velayutham</li><li>Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.loksatta.org/cms/">Lok Satta Party</a></li><li>Vipin Thekkekalathil, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.youthventureindia.net/">Ashoka's Youth Venture India</a></li><li>Pankaj Jain, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.acumenfund.org/">Acumen Fund</a></li><li>Payal Gupta, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.flowconsulting.in/">Flow Consulting</a></li><li>Rob Katz, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.acumenfund.org/">Acumen Fund</a></li><li>Aarti Madhusudan, <a class="external-link" href="http://governancecounts.org.in/">Governance Counts</a></li></ul>
<p> Download the <a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/social-mashup" class="internal-link" title="Social Mashup">schedule</a></p>
<p> Register <a class="external-link" href="http://www.socialmashup.org/pages/register-10">here</a> for Social Mashup! </p>
<h3>Contact<br /></h3>
<p>E-mail socialmashup@unltdindia.org or call + 91 22 3222 0475 or write to us at 4th floor Candelar Bldg, 26 St John Baptist Rd, Bandra W, Mumbai 400 050.</p>
<p>See the original <a class="external-link" href="http://www.socialmashup.org/">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/save-date'>https://cis-india.org/news/save-date</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-04-02T08:15:01ZNews ItemOctober 2010 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/october-2010-bulletin
<b>Greetings from the Centre for Internet and Society! </b>
<h3><b>News Updates</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Internet, szabadon<br />A polgárjogi aktivisták konfrontálódtak és panaszkodtak, a Google és a Facebook hárított és panaszkodott az Internet at Liberty konferencián, amelyet kedden és szerdán rendezett a Google és a CEU Budapesten.<a href="http://bit.ly/dwNhRw"><br />http://bit.ly/dwNhRw</a></li>
<li>Hogyan szűrik a kormányok az internetes tartalmakat?<br />Az internet szabadságáról tartanak háromnapos konferenciát Budapesten a Google és a Közép-Európai Egyetem (CEU) szervezésében. Kedden az internetes tartalmak szűrése volt a legfontosabb téma a rendezvényen.<a href="http://bit.ly/aFApER"><br />http://bit.ly/aFApER</a></li>
<li>Konferencia az internetes szólásszabadságról Budapesten<br />Az internet és szólásszabadság viszonyát vitatják meg Budapesten, a Közép-Európai Egyetem és a Google szervezte, háromnapos konferencián<a href="http://bit.ly/9evwE4"><br />http://bit.ly/9evwE4</a></li>
<li>How the UID project can be a cause for concern<br />The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), headed by Nandan Nilekani, is the UPA government's most ambitious project, where one billion Indians are branded with a unique identity number.<a href="http://bit.ly/bl7INY"><br />http://bit.ly/bl7INY</a></li>
<li>In new Facebook features, a comeback for community<br />Nearly 750 tweets bombard the web every second. Internet traffic is growing by 40 per cent a year. People post 2.5 billion photos on Facebook every month. Every minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded on YouTube. But who owns all that data? Until now, big business was in complete control and used the data to monetise operations. But all that is set to change. With Facebook launching two new features, ‘Groups' and a ‘Download your information,' the community is making a comeback.<a href="http://bit.ly/arEi4V"><br />http://bit.ly/arEi4V</a></li>
<li>Stiff Resistance Dogs India's ID Plan <br />An article about the UID project by Indrajit Basu in Asia Times Online.<a href="http://bit.ly/bMcOSs"><br />http://bit.ly/bMcOSs</a></li>
<li>Data Activism and Grassroots Empowerment in India<br />Glover Wright of the Center for Internet and Society talks about Data Activism and Grassroots Empowerment in India at the Innovate/Activate Unconference in New York Law School on 24 September 2010.<a href="http://bit.ly/alnjsn"><br />http://bit.ly/alnjsn</a></li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Upcoming Events</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Enabling Access to Education through ICT<br />ICT workshop in Delhi....Registrations open! <a href="http://bit.ly/9flyEK"><br />http://bit.ly/9flyEK</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Network Culture: Archaeological and Artistic Interventions Public Seminar – Talk by Kristoffer Gansing and Linda Hilfing<br />Kristoffer Gansing and Linda Hilfling will give a talk on Network Culture on 8 November 2010 in the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore.<a href="http://bit.ly/cEmOZw"><br />http://bit.ly/cEmOZw</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Research</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">City in the Internet 1: Geography Imagined (Part 1) <br />“The estuaries that flirt with the land mass before they finally perish in the vast deep blue ocean beyond were perfect in their shape and grace. And you know what; from top it appears like a surreal landscape that is so restive and peaceful, almost heaven. The countryside is actually very beautiful”, says Pratyush Shankar in his latest blog post. A random conversation between two persons discovering the joys of seeing our existence through Google Earth!<a href="http://bit.ly/9klUn1"><br />http://bit.ly/9klUn1</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>A Digital Native coordinating Digital Natives<br />Samuel Tettner, joined CIS as a Research Coordinator for the Digital Natives project. He has written a blog entry about his experiences in the project.<a href="http://bit.ly/cpJMQq"><br />http://bit.ly/cpJMQq</a></li>
<li>You Are Here<br />Geo-tagging applications are creating new and impromptu communities of true, says Nishant Shah in his column on Digital Natives in the Indian Express.<a href="http://bit.ly/a64kj7"><br />http://bit.ly/a64kj7</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">નિશાંત શાહ: ડિજિટલ પેઢીનો ઉદય<br />‘ડિજિટલ નાગરિક’ તેમને કહેવામાં આવે છે જેણે સામાન્ય જનજીવનમાં ડિજિટલ ટેક્નોલોજીના પ્રવેશ થઈ ગયા બાદ જન્મ લીધો છે. ડિજિટલ નાગરિકો દરેક જગ્યાએ છે. હવે સમય આવી ગયો છે કે આપણે એ જાણવાનો પ્રયાસ કરીએ કે આ લોકો કોણ છે, તેઓ શું કરી રહ્યા છે, તેઓ પોતાના અંગે શું વિચારે છે અને કેવી રીતે તેઓ કશું પણ જાણ્યા વગર આપણા ભવિષ્યને નવો આકાર આપવાનું કામ કરી રહ્યા છે. (A column by Nishant Shah in the Gujarati newspaper Divya Bhaskar)<a href="http://bit.ly/9HnyBa"><br />http://bit.ly/9HnyBa</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Digital Natives with a Cause?— Workshop in South Africa—FAQs<br />The second international Digital Natives Workshop "My Bubble, My Space, My Voice" will be held in Johannesburg from 7 to 9 November 2010. Some frequently asked questions regarding the upcoming workshop are answered in this blog entry.<a href="http://bit.ly/c1XJHO"><br />http://bit.ly/c1XJHO</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The silent rise of the Digital Native<br />In late August, this year, the world shook for many when they went online (on their computers, PDAs, iPads, laptops) and realised that the comfortable zone of talking, chatting, sharing and doing just about everything else, had suddenly, without a warning, changed overnight (or afternoon, or morning, depending upon the time-zone they lived in). With a single change in its privacy and location settings, Facebook, home to billions of internet hours consisting of relationships, friendships, professional networks, social gaming, entertainment trivia, memories and exchanges, allowed its users to geo-tag themselves when on-the-move.<a href="http://bit.ly/bHY72Y"><br />http://bit.ly/bHY72Y</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The geek shall inherit the earth<br />Demystifying the mysterious -agents changing the world around you...A column on Digital Natives by Nishant Shah in the Indian Express.<a href="http://bit.ly/aq2BqY"><br />http://bit.ly/aq2BqY</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Digital Natives Workshop in South Africa - Call for Participation<br />The African Commons Project, Hivos and the Centre for Internet and Society have joined hands for organising the second international workshop "My Bubble, My Space, My Voice" in Johannesburg from 07 to 09 November 2010. Send in your applications now!<a href="http://bit.ly/d0rl7E"><br />http://bit.ly/d0rl7E</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Telecom</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Broad-basing Broadband<br />Education and training through the Internet need Commonwealth Games-like crisis management, says Shyam Ponappa in an article on broadband for education and training published in the Business Standard on 7 October 2010.<a href="http://bit.ly/dnMtpU"><br />http://bit.ly/dnMtpU</a></li>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/october-2010-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/october-2010-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceCISRAWOpenness2012-08-07T12:02:11ZBlog EntryDigitally Open: Innovation and Open Access Forum
https://cis-india.org/news/digitally-open
<b>Promoting Openness in Today's Digital World</b>
<p>The internet has created exciting new ways to share information and collaborate globally and we are only beginning to see its full potential. So what does the future hold, or more importantly, what could the future hold?</p>
<p>Join ictQATAR and Creative Commons for an interactive forum addressing how innovation can thrive in the digital age through sharing and openness. We'll take on issues such as digital content rights, the open cloud, open source software, openness in government, openness in creativity, culture and art and the value proposition of openness.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://digitallyopen.eventbrite.com/">Register for the event on EventBrite!</a></p>
<p>Hear the latest thinking from Google, Mozilla, Georgetown University and other leaders in the digital rights arena. Participate in lively panel discussions on openness in government, openness in business, and openness for culture and creativity.</p>
<h3>Speakers:</h3>
<ul><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#hessa">Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, ictQATAR Secretary General</a></li><li> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#joi">Joi Ito, CEO, Creative Commons</a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#mbaker">Mitchell Baker, Chairperson, Mozilla Foundation</a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#chris">Chris DiBona. Open Source Programs Manager, Google</a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#mike">Michael Nelson, Professor, Communication, Culture & Technology Program, Georgetown University </a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#sunil">Sunil Abraham, Center for Internet & Society, India </a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#habib">Habib Haddad, Founder Yalla Startup, Yamli.com</a><br /></li></ul>
<h3>Program:<a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#mbaker">http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#mbaker</a></h3>
<p><br />8:45 a.m. Registration Opens<br /><br />9:30 a.m. Welcome <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#hessa">Dr. Hessa Al Jaber</a>, Secretary General, ictQATAR<br /><br />9:45 a.m. What it Means to be Open <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#mbaker"> Mitchell Baker</a>, Chairperson, Mozilla Foundation<br /><br />10:15 a.m. Digital Content Rights <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#joi">Joichi Ito</a>, CEO, Creative Commons<br /><br />10:45 a.m. The Open Source Revolution <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#chris">Chris DiBona</a>, Open Source Programs Manager, Google<br /><br />11:15 a.m. Break<br /><br />11:30 a.m. The Open Cloud <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#mike">Michael Nelson</a>, Visiting Professor of Internet Studies, Georgetown<br /> University<br /><br />12:00 p.m. Panel: Openness in Science and Technology <br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#john"> John Wilbanks</a>, Creative Commons, VP for Science - Moderator<br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#shaika"> Shaikha Al-Jabir</a>, Director of Marketing, Innovation and Alliance, Qtel<br /> International</p>
<p> Hesham Al Komy, Head of Sales and Marketing, Middle East and Africa, Redhat<br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#habib">Habib Haddad</a>, Founder, Yalla Startup, Yamli.com<br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#lucio">Lucio Rispo</a>, Qatar Science and Technology Park <br /><br />1:15 p.m. Lunch Break<br /><br />2:15 p.m. Panel: Openness in Government (moderated by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#michael">Michael Nelson</a>) <br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#sunil">Sunil Abraham</a>, Executive Director, Center for Internet & Society, India <br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#paul">Paul Keller</a>, Senior Project Lead of Technology and the Public Domain,<br /> Knowledgeland <br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#marwan">Marwan Marouf Mahmoud</a>, Executive Director of ICT Industry<br /> Development, ictQATAR<br /> <br />3:15 p.m. Panel: Culture, Creativity and Openness <br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#eric">Eric Steur</a>, Creative Commons Creative Director - Moderator<br /><br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#abdr">Abdulrahman Al-Otaiba</a>, Web and Application Developer<br /> <br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#arend">Arend Kuster</a>, Managing Director, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation<br /> Journals<br /><br /> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp#roger">Roger Mandle</a>, Director, Qatar Museum Authority <br /><br />4:15 End </p>
<h3>Speaker Bios:</h3>
<p><br /><strong>Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, Secretary General, ictQATAR<br /></strong><br />Dr. Hessa Al Jaber is the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology, ictQATAR. In her nearly six years of leadership at ictQATAR, Dr. Hessa has led Qatar's ICT strategy across sectors, spearheading major initiatives in government, education and business.<br /><br />She has overseen the liberalization of Qatar's telecommunications market, ushering in an era of choice and competition, and directed the modernization of Qatar's ICT infrastructure. Passionate about ensuring that the benefits of technology reach all sectors, Dr. Hessa has led numerous initiatives to make Qatar a more inclusive society through ICT.<br /><br />She has spearheaded the modernization of Qatar's government through ICT, streamlining processes, making government more transparent and accessible to its people, and also launching an online portal to the government, Hukoomi. She is also leading Qatar's initiative to build the first high-capacity satellite "E'Shail" to be launched in 2012. Dr. Hessa has been instrumental in the creation of Mada, an assistive technology center that serves persons with disabilities in Qatar, as well as initiating a host of national programs that empower women and youth, and protect children online.<br /><br /><strong>Mitchell Baker, Chairperson, Mozilla Foundation<br /></strong><br />As the leader of the Mozilla Project, Mitchell Baker is responsible for organizing and motivating a massive, worldwide collective of employees and volunteers who are breathing new life into the Internet with the Firefox Web browser and other Mozilla products. Baker was born and raised in Berkeley, California, receiving her BA in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley and her JD from the Boalt Hall School of Law. Her law career included working for Sun Microsystems and Netscape. She has also sat on the board of the Open Source Applications Foundation.<br /><br />Baker has been the general manager of the Mozilla project since 1999, helping shape the license under which Netscape's source code was released. In 2003, she became president and founder of the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to openness and innovation on the Internet. In 2005, Baker led the creation of Mozilla Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation. As Chairman of the Mozilla Foundation, Baker continues her commitment to an open, innovative Web and the infinite possibilities it presents.<br /><br /><strong>Joichi Ito, CEO, Creative Commons</strong><br /> <br />Joichi Ito is the CEO of Creative Commons. He is a co-founder and board member of Digital Garage. He is on the board of CCC and Tucows. He is a Senior Visiting Researcher of Keio Research Institute at Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Japan. He is on board of a number of non-profit organizations including The Mozilla Foundation, WITNESS and Global Voices.<br /><br />He has created numerous Internet companies including PSINet Japan, Digital Garage and Infoseek Japan and was an early stage investor in Twitter, Six Apart, Wikia, Technorati, Flickr, SocialText, Dopplr, Last.fm, Rupture, Kongregate and other Internet companies. He has served and continues to serve on various Japanese central as well as local government committees and boards, advising the government on IT, privacy and computer security related issues. He maintains a weblog (http://joi.ito.com/) where he regularly shares his thoughts with the online community.<br /><br /><strong>Chris DiBona, Open Source and Public Sector Program Manager, Google<br /></strong><br />Chris DiBona is the open source and public sector programs manager at Mountain View, Ca. based Google. His team oversees license compliance and supports the open source developer community through programs such as the Google Summer of Code and through the release of open source software projects and patches. In the public sector space, he looks after Google Moderator, the polling locations API. Additionally, he is on the board of Our Good Works, a non-profit that looks after the volunteer matching website Allforgood.org.<br /><br />Mr. DiBona is an internationally known advocate of open source software and related methodologies. He occasionally appears on the This Week in Tech and Cranky Geeks podcasts. He is a visiting scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management and has a masters in software engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, he serves on the advisory board of imeem, a San Francisco, Ca. based social networking firm.<br /><br /><strong>Michael Nelson, Visiting Professor of Internet Studies, Georgetown University<br /></strong><br />Michael Nelson is currently Visiting Professor of Internet Studies in Georgetown University's Communication, Culture, and Technology Program. Since January 2008, he has been doing research and teaching courses on "The Future of the Internet" and technology trends as well as consulting and speaking on Internet technology and policy.<br /><br />Nelson is a Trustee of the International Institute of Communication, a member of the Board of FirstMile.us, and until April was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet2 university research consortium. He is also the outgoing chairman of the Information, Computing, and Communications Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).</p>
<h3>Panelists:</h3>
<p><br /><strong>Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society<br /></strong><br />Sunil is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), in Bangalore. He is the founder of Mahiti, a social enterprise aiming to reduce the cost and complexity of information and communication technology for the voluntary sector by using free software. Sunil continues to serve on the board of Mahiti. He is an Ashoka fellow and was elected for a Sarai FLOSS fellowship.<br /><br />For three years, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of United Nations Development Programme's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007 - 2008, he managed ENRAP an electronic network of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects in the Asia-Pacific, facilitated and co-funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada.<br /><br /><strong>Dr. Shaikha Sultan Al-Jabir, Director of Marketing, Innovation and Alliances, Qtel International</strong><br /><br />Dr. Shaikha Al-Jabir a visionary IT executive who understands where business is going and takes corporate IT to a whole new level. She is currently the Director of Marketing, Innovation and Alliances in Qtel International (QI) where she is building a framework for strategic and sustainable innovation within QI.<br /><br />Prior to joining QI, she was the CIO at Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation- Kahramaa, where she established a sophisticated ICT infrastructure, placing the organization at the forefront of technology. Dr. Al-Jabir has a PhD in Computer Science, MS in Telecommunications and Computers, and a BS in Electrical Engineering.<br /><br /><strong>Abdulrahman Al Otaiba</strong><br /><br />Abdulraham is a Qatari developer who has been passionate about computers since an early age. He started as a software developer, then web developer, and recently mobile application developer. Most of his personal projects are released under the open source license. He also co-founder and editor-in-chief of Almashroo Arabic blog, which talks about all sorts of web development.<br /><br /><strong>Habib Hadad, Founder & CEO, Yamli.com<br /></strong><br />Habib is a serial tech entrepreneur, recently founder and CEO of Yamli.com a startup focused on empowering the Arabic language on the web. His also the founder and CEO of YallaStartup an NGO focused on early stage entrepreneurship in the MENA region.<br /><br />In 2009, the World Economic Forum recognized Habib as a Young Global Leader and the ArabianBusiness named him one of the most influential Arabs under 30. He currently serves on the Global Agenda Council on innovation.<br /><br /><strong>Paul Keller, Senior Copyright Advisor, Knowledgeland</strong><br /><br />Paul Keller is senior copyright policy advisor at Knowledgeland, an Amsterdam based think-tank focused on innovation in the knowledge economy. He is public project lead for Creative Commons in the Netherlands and serves as Collecting Societies Liaison for Creative Commons International.<br /><br />Paul is an expert on open content licensing with a special focus on the cultural heritage organizations, the music industry and the creative industries. Next to his work for Creative Commons he is currently coordinating the copyright related aspects of Images for the Future one of the biggest digitization projects for audio-visual heritage in Europe and he is one of the architects of the licensing framework for Europeana, the European Union funded online aggregator of Europe's cultural heritage. Paul frequently advises organizations on the implementation of open content licensing strategies.<br /><br /><strong>Arend Küster: Managing Director, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ)</strong><br /><br />Arend joined BQFJ from Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, where he was Business Development Director and led the development of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals. He has over 5 years of consulting experience in Sales and Marketing Strategies for scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishers including Elsevier Science, Springer, American Physical Society, Taylor and Francis, Wiley Blackwell, University of Chicago Press, British Medical Journal, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan.<br /><br /><strong>Marwan Marouf Mahmoud, Executive Director of ICT Sector Development, ictQATAR<br /></strong><br />An ICT professional with more than 20 years of experience working with various levels of technology, Marwan oversaw the preparation and implementation of some of the most comprehensive ICT strategies in financial institutions and now heads the ICT Industry development at ictQATAR. In this role ictQATAR, he is involved in building an ICT Industry ecosystem and a digital content ecosystem, which includes initiatives in intellectual property, broadband infrastructure, international ICT Industry cooperation and entrepreneurship programs in the digital content space.<br /><br /><strong>Roger Mandle, Executive Director, Qatar Museums Authority (QMA)</strong><br /> <br />Roger Mandle brings to the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) more than four decades of experience as a senior museum executive and arts educator. As Executive Director, he oversees all of the QMA's museum programs and building projects, including the Museum of Islamic Art. His responsibilities range from administration and finance to the curatorial direction of the museums to a comprehensive educational program, which includes the creation of an international network of training opportunities for Qatari citizens who desire careers in the museum field.<br /><br />Mr. Mandle comes to the QMA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island, where he served as President since 1993. From 1988 to 1993, he was Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mandle was the Director of the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio from 1977-1988 and served as Associate Director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1967 to 1974.<br /><br /><strong>Lucio Rispo, Strategy Research Director, Qatar Science & Technology Park</strong><br /><br />Lucio has more than 35 years of experience in multinational and multicultural environments.<br />Lucio is currently Strategic Research Director at Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP). Prior to joining QSTP Lucio was Managing Director at BioGeM, a European leader in the biotech research and services. He developed strategy and services based on a network infrastructure which allows internationally cooperation.<br /><br />In 2006 Lucio founded the telecom division of Pradac Informatica, Srl, which provided value added services for telecom companies, and which was acquired by Amuser. Prior to Amuser, Lucio held several executive positions including Wordwide Telecom Sales VP at Sema Group, President at Nortel Networks for the Southern European Region and CEO for Europe and Latin America at Bull.<br /><br /><strong>Eric Steuer, Creative Director, Creative Commons</strong><br /><br />Eric Steuer manages Creative Commons' relationships with artists, media companies, and cultural institutions. He produces creative projects and events that emphasize the use of CC licenses, and also directs the organization's media strategy. Before joining Creative Commons, Eric was as an editor for Wired Magazine, which he continues to write for. He is on the board of CASH Music, is the co-founder of Sneakmove Recordings, and is in a hip hop group called Meanest Man Contest.<br /><br /><strong>John Wilbanks, Vice President, Science Commons, Creative Commons<br /></strong><br />As VP of Science, John Wilbanks runs the Science Commons project at Creative Commons. He came to Creative Commons from a Fellowship at the World Wide Web Consortium in Semantic Web for Life Sciences. Previously, he founded and led to acquisition Incellico, a bioinformatics company that built semantic graph networks for use in pharmaceutical research & development. Previously, John was the first Assistant Director at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School and also worked in US politics as a legislative aide to U.S. Representative Fortney (Pete) Stark.<br /><br />John holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Tulane University and studied modern letters at the Universite de Paris IV (La Sorbonne). He serves on the Board of Directors for DuraSpace and AcaWiki.</p>
<p>See the original <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ictqatar.qa/output/page1988.asp">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/digitally-open'>https://cis-india.org/news/digitally-open</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-04-02T09:26:09ZNews ItemData Activism and Grassroots Empowerment in India
https://cis-india.org/news/data-activism-grassroots
<b>Glover Wright of the Center for Internet and Society talks about Data Activism and Grassroots Empowerment in India at the Innovate/Activate Unconference in New York Law School on 24 September 2010.</b>
<p><span class="Apple-style-span">Video</span></p>
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<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/data-activism-grassroots'>https://cis-india.org/news/data-activism-grassroots</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-04-02T09:59:30ZNews ItemSeptember 2010 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/september-2010-bulletin
<b>Greetings from the Centre for Internet and Society! In this bulletin we bring you updates of our research, news and media coverage and announcement of events organised in the month of September 2010.</b>
<h2><b>News Updates</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Conference: Internet at Liberty 2010: This conference is being held in Budapest from 20 to 22 September 2010. It is co-sponsored by Google and Central European University. Sunil Abraham and Anja Kovacs are attending the conference. <a href="http://bit.ly/afo0WY" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/afo0WY</a> </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> INDIA Fears of Privacy Loss Pursue Ambitious ID Project: Fears about loss of privacy are being voiced as India gears up to launch an ambitious scheme to biometrically identify and number each of its 1.2 billion inhabitants. <a href="http://bit.ly/dnJDRu" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/dnJDRu</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Innovate / Activate: The event will be held on 24 and 25 September 2010 at New York Law School. <a href="http://bit.ly/cbICFq" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/cbICFq</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Webinar: Closed for Business: A Global Panel Discusses International Copyright Laws and Their Impact on the Open Internet <a href="http://bit.ly/a3ZFBw" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/a3ZFBw</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The madness of software patents <br />India’s patent law excludes software per se, yet over a thousand patents have been granted, writes Lata Jishnu in an article published in Down to Earth. <a href="http://bit.ly/cpHd7R" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/cpHd7R</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Why piracy is tough to rein in <br />“Video market is being treated as a poor cousin of the film industry” <a href="http://bit.ly/aDUpiY" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/aDUpiY</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Transparency and MDGs: the Role of the Media and Technology <br />Key quotes from sixth panel <a href="http://bit.ly/b3a0YC" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/b3a0YC</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Copyright bill restricts Net access <br />Law to curb piracy may fetter creativity <a href="http://bit.ly/cFj3rD" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/cFj3rD</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">科技改變社會 數位原生代計畫 <br />The Chinese language press covered the Digital Natives workshop in Taipei. <a href="http://bit.ly/bPhEO4" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/bPhEO4</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">科技改變社會數位原生代掀波 <br />The Chinese press published an article on Digital Natives. <a href="http://bit.ly/bHaQor" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/bHaQor</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Information is Beautiful hacks in India with David Cameron <br />The Prime Minister took some of the UK's top hackers and data experts with him to India this week. David McCandless was with them. <a href="http://bit.ly/dr3AJ2" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/dr3AJ2</a> </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><b>Events</b></h2>
<ul>
<li>International Conference on Enabling Access to Education through ICT: ICT workshop in New Delhi from 27th to 29th October, 2010...Registrations open!<a href="http://bit.ly/9flyEK" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/9flyEK</a> </li>
<li>A Talk by Philipp Schmidt: Philip Schmidt of Peer 2 Peer University will be giving a lecture at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore on 6 October, 2010. <a href="http://bit.ly/aVyzMq" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/aVyzMq</a> </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><b>Research</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">On Talking Back: A Report on the Taiwan Workshop: What does it mean to Talk Back? Who do we Talk Back against? Are we alone in our attempts or a part of a larger community? How do we use digital technologies to find other peers and stake-holders? What is the language and vocabulary we use to successfully articulate our problems? How do we negotiate with structures of power to fight for our rights? These were the kind of questions that the Talking Back workshop held in the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica in Taiwan from 16 to 18 August 2010 posed. <a href="http://bit.ly/daE4dM" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/daE4dM</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Binary: City and Nature: A continuation of the last post wherein I am looking at various other representation of the city in both classical and popular medium, today I am writing my views on the analysis of certain Miniature paintings. <a href="http://bit.ly/b5FP5D" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/b5FP5D</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Of the State and the Governments - The Abstract, the Concrete and the Responsive: This post examines the concepts of state and government to lay the ground for understanding responsiveness enforced through transparency discourses and the deployment of ICTs, the Internet and e-governance programmes. It also lays the context for understanding why and how ICTs. Internet and e-governance have been deployed in India for improving government-citizen interfaces, eliminating middlemen, delivering services electronically and for introducing a range of similar reforms to institute transparency and a responsive state. <a href="http://bit.ly/cNLKcY" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/cNLKcY</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Responsive State --- Introduction to the Series: This post is an introduction to a series of posts on the concept of the 'responsive state'. In this series, I try to explain the various meanings that the term responsiveness has come to acquire when it is used in relation with the discourses surrounding transparency and the deployment of ICTs and the Internet to enforce transparency and thereby create a responsive state. Understanding the notion of responsiveness requires us to revisit and analyze certain concepts and the relations that have been drawn between concepts such as state, government, politics, administration, transparency, effectiveness, government-citizen interface, ICTs and effectiveness, among others. <a href="http://bit.ly/agBOiq" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/agBOiq</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Attentional Capital in Online Gaming: The Currency of Survival <br />This blog post by Arun Menon discusses the concepts of production, labour and race in virtual worlds and their influence on the production of attention as a currency. An attempt is made to locate attentional capital, attentional repositories and attention currencies within gaming to examine 'attention currencies and its trade and transactions in virtual worlds. A minimal collection of attention currencies are placed as central and as a pre-requisite for survival in MMOs in much the same way that real currency become a necessity for survival. The approach is to locate attentional capital through different perspectives as well as examine a few concepts around virtual worlds. <a href="http://bit.ly/aaGZj8" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/aaGZj8</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">What's in a Name? Or Why Clicktivism May Not Be Ruining Left Activism in India, At Least for Now: In a recent piece in the Guardian titled “Clicktivism Is Ruining Leftist Activism”, Micah White expressed severe concern that, in drawing on tactics of advertising and marketing research, digital activism is undermining “the passionate, ideological and total critique of consumer society”. His concerns are certainly shared by some in India: White's piece has been circulating on activist email lists where people noted with concern that e-activism may be replacing “the real thing” even in this country. But is the situation in India really this dire? <a href="http://bit.ly/9a3I0G" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/9a3I0G</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Sexuality, Queerness and Internet technologies in Indian context: This blog post lays out the discursive construction of sexuality and queerness as intelligible domains in the Indian context while engaging with ideas of visibility, representation, exclusion, publicness, criminality, difference, tradition, experience, and community that have come into use with the critical responses to queer identities and practices in India. <a href="http://bit.ly/byfPye" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/byfPye</a> </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><b>Accessibility</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Enabling Access to Education through ICT - A Conference in Delhi: The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore in cooperation with the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICT (G3ICT), a flagship advocacy organization of the UN Global Alliance on ICT and Development (UN-GAID), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), UNESCO, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment and the Deafway Foundation is organizing an international conference, Enabling Access to Education through ICT in New Delhi from 27 to 29 October 2010. The event is sponsored by Hans Foundation. Registration for the conference has begun. <a href="http://bit.ly/bmrkf7" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/bmrkf7</a></p>
<hr />
<h2><b>Access to Knowledge<br /></b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Pre-grant Opposition Filed for a Software Patent Application by Blackberry Manufacturers: A pre-grant opposition was filed against a software patent application filed in the patent office by Certicom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Research in Motion (RIM), manufacturers of Blackberry. The opposition was filed on August 31, 2010 by the Software Freedom Law Centre which has recently expanded its operations to India. This exciting development was announced by Mishi Choudhary from SFLC on the lines of the seminar on “Software Patents and the Commons” organised on 1 September 2010 in Delhi jointly by SFLC, the Centre for Internet and Society, the Society for Knowledge Commons and Red Hat. Filing more such oppositions to software patents in India was in the pipeline and this is just the beginning of a movement to take on monopolisation of knowledge and ideas through patenting software, the organisers said. <a href="http://bit.ly/9wE1Xs" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/9wE1Xs</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">First Post-Bilski Decision - Software Patent Rejected: In the first decision post-Bilski, the Board of Patents Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) rejected a software patent claimed by Hewlett-Packard. The ruling in this case has buttressed the fact that the Bilski decision furthered the cause of narrowing the patentability of software even though the Supreme Court of the United States totally avoided mentioning software patents or the applicability of the machine or transformation test for software patents in its decision. <a href="http://bit.ly/cnPw7E" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/cnPw7E</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Bilski Case - Impact on Software Patents: The Supreme Court of the United States gave its decision in Bilski v Kappos on 28 June, 2010. In this case the petitioners’ patent application sought protection for a claimed invention that explains how commodities buyers and sellers in the energy market can protect, or hedge, against the risk of price changes. The Court in affirming the rejection by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit also held that the machine- or-transformation test is not necessarily the sole test of patentability. The Court’s ruling of abstract ideas as unpatentable and its admission that patents do not necessarily promote innovation and may sometimes limit competition and stifle innovation have provided a ray of hope. In the light of the developments, the Bilski decision as far as patentability of software is concerned may not be totally insignificant, says Krithika Dutta Narayana.<a href="http://bit.ly/bjrPGh" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/bjrPGh</a> </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><b>Openness</b></h2>
<ul>
<li> Free Access to Law—Is it here to Stay? An Environmental Scan Report: The following is a preliminary project report collaboratively collated by the researchers of the "Free Access to Law" research study. This report aims to highlight the trends, as well as the risks and opportunities, for the sustainability of Free Access to Law initiatives in each of the country examined. <a href="http://bit.ly/9VVzkk" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/9VVzkk</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Open Access to Science and Scholarship - Why and What Should We Do?: The National Institute of Advanced Studies held the eighth NIAS-DST training programme on “Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Science, Technology and Society” from 26 July to 7 August, 2010. The theme of the project was ‘Knowledge Management’. Dr. MG Narasimhan and Dr. Sharada Srinivasan were the coordinators for the event. Professor Subbiah Arunachalam made a presentation on Open Access to Science and Scholarship. <a href="http://bit.ly/ciohYy" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/ciohYy</a> </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><b>Internet Governance</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Moldova Online: An Interview with Victor Diaconu: In this interview for Russian Cyberspace, set up with the help of Sunil Abraham (Executive Director at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, India), computer software professional Victor Diaconu explains the nature of Internet use, state control and the development of blogging and social media platforms in Moldova. Victor works at Computaris in Chisinau. He is Moldova educated, and has travelled to several western countries (including lengthy stays to US, UK) to learn about and understand what there is to be done in Moldova. Sudha Rajagopalan interviewed Victor Diaconu. <a href="http://bit.ly/cgIvXT" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/cgIvXT</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Presentation of the UID project by Ashok Dalwai – A Report: On Tuesday, 7 September 2010, Ashok Dalwai, the Deputy Director General of the Unique Identification of India (UIDAI), gave a lecture at the Indian Institute for Science in Bangalore. Representing the UID Authority, his presentation explained the vision of the project and focused on the challenges involved in demographic and biometric identification, the technology adopted, and the enrolment process. Elonnai Hickok gives a report of his presentation in this blog post. <a href="http://bit.ly/aAy5DG" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/aAy5DG</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Beyond Access as Inclusion: On 13 September, the day before the fifth Internet Governance Forum opens, CIS is co-organised in Vilnius a meeting on Internet governance and human rights. One of the main aims of this meeting was to call attention to the crucial, yet in Internet governance often neglected, indivisibility of rights. In this blog post, Anja Kovacs uses this lens to illustrate how it can broaden as well reinvigorate our understanding of what remains one of the most pressing issues in Internet governance in developing countries to this day: that of access to the Internet. <a href="http://bit.ly/cgS9py" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/cgS9py</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Summary of UID Public Meeting, August 25 2010: A summary of the "No UID" public meeting that took place on Aug. 25th at the Constitution Club, New Dehli. <a href="http://bit.ly/9epHTz" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/9epHTz</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">No UID Campaign in New Delhi - A Report: The Unique Identification (UID) Bill is not pro-citizen. The scheme is deeply undemocratic, expensive and fraught with unforseen consequences. A public meeting on UID was held at the Constitution Club, Rafi Marg in New Delhi on 25 August, 2010. The said Bill came under scrutiny at the meeting which was organised by civil society groups from Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi campaigning under the banner of "No UID". The speakers brought to light many concerns, unanswered questions and problems of the UID scheme. <a href="http://bit.ly/97HwbS" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/97HwbS</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wherever you are, whatever you do: Facebook recently launched a location-based service called Places. Privacy advocates are resenting to this new development. Sunil Abraham identifies the three prime reasons for this outcry against Facebook. The article was published in the Indian Express on 23 August, 2010. <a href="http://bit.ly/adXVjB" target="_blank"><br />http://bit.ly/adXVjB</a> </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><b>Telecom</b></h2>
<ul>
<li>What a highway can do: Despite signs of transformational change, we need more - SOPs and quality <a href="http://bit.ly/deUbmU" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/deUbmU</a></li>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/september-2010-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/september-2010-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceCISRAWOpenness2012-08-10T07:22:30ZPage