Centre for Internet and Society

'The Dark Face of Google'

sachia — 2009-03-24T06:51:47Z

Talk by Patrice Riemens

The extraordinary rise of Google Inc. from a 'confidential' search site in the late nineties, the heydays of Altavista, to its present preminent status on the internet, has attracted a lot of attention. The admirers see Google as the incarnation of things to come, not only in information retrieval & management, and not even on the Internet only, but in the economy and society as a whole. The nay-sayers variously view Google as a flattening behemoth of digital information, or as a cultural war machine, bent on the Americanisation of the planet, and generally as a mendacious commercial monopoly pretending to 'do no evil' while hypocritically promoting open source, access, and life in general.

Outside this discussion stand an ever growing mass of millions of users who ask no questions, profess neither admiration or hatred (and if so, rather the former), but are happy to use the search engine and the many other services provided by Google. That they hereby gladly if unwittingly contribute to reinforcing the assets of Google, in the words of Yann Moulier Boutang, "the only company in the world that is able to make 14 million people work for it at any given moment, for free", is one of the many starkly under-lighted aspects of this Internet giant's operative mode.

'The Dark Face of Google' is the title of the book written two years ago by the Italian Ippolita Collective, which Patrice Riemens is currently translating. Ippolita's brief is neither eulogizing nor demonising Google, but to understand it, especially in its less advertised aspects. Their aim is to educate Google's users, not to wean them away from it, and to politicise the discussion about search, digital services, and the management of information and knowledge in general. Patrice Riemens will discuss a few points in this context.

* The ways in which Google determines, undermines, or enforces existing power and knowledge structures

* The Google Books Project and how it reinforces IPR tyranny

* Google's local policies and how they affect fundamental civil liberties

This talk, like Ippolita's book, is intended as a general, informed introduction to an issue that has been insufficiently discussed, due to media hype, and the apparent innocuousness of a readily available, extremely fast and effective, free, Internet service.

Speaker

Patrice Riemens is a social geographer by education and a private intellectual and internet activist by choice. He is a promoter of Open Knowledge and Free Software, and has been involved as a "FLOSSopher" (a 'philosopher' of the Free/Libre and Open Source Software movements) at the Asia Source and Africa Source camps, held to promote FLOSS among non-governmental organisations. He is a member of the Dutch hackers' group Hippies from hell.

He has formerly worked with De Waag Center for Old and New Media, an institute housed in an old castle in Amsterdam, on the cutting edge of technology, culture, education and industry. Patrice has also been on the staff of Multitudes, a French philosophical, political and artistic monthly journal founded in 2000 by Yann Moulier-Boutang.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/the-dark-face-of-google

Technology and the Mediation of Place

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:37:18Z

Talk by Emma Ota

When mediated space surrounds us and our sense of place is increasingly constructed through technology, how do we locate ourselves? Challenging notions of location and locality, Emma Ota will present an overview of two years of research into the mediation of place through technology and the developments of media art in Asia.

We carry many locations with us, virtual, physical, psychological and cultural locations which have a complex relation to each other; this presentation will consider the impact of new media upon the construction of these locations and how they interact with each other, as these technologies increasingly become part of the reality of our located experience, no longer separate apparatus, not merely a portal to elsewhere but part of our encounter of place.

When identity, community and culture are formulated upon mediated experiences we are led back to Benjamin’s discussion of the loss of aura, debating what meaning can still lie in the original; yet, arguably, such an original state has never existed, all phenomena encountered and assimilated through one form of mediation or another. But to be mediated is to transform and, as Heidegger has demonstrated, technology presents an enframing of its content, which may lead to new revealings but also a loss of that which lies beyond the frame. We have perhaps reached a stage where we can no longer comment upon mediated localities, but must turn to the localities of mediation.

These are just some of the critical debates which Ota has been investigating in her research. While pursuing theoretical research into this topic, Ota has also followed studies in Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia in an examination of new media art provision and development in East/South East Asia. Interviewing artists, curators, theorists etc. over the course of a year, a large body of documentation has been accumulated which will be presented as a small glimpse into the new media condition of the region.

Speaker

Emma Ota is a curator and researcher based in Tokyo, the Director of Dislocate, Project for Art, Technology and Locality, and a Researcher at Musashino Art University, Department of Visual Imaging and Sciences. Her practices focus upon media arts and international exchange. She has worked for the media arts organization Trampoline, based in Germany and the UK and co-curated the Radiator Festival for Art and Technology in 2005. She initiated the project Traversing Territories, fostering collaboration between students and young artists in Japan and the UK (which has since continued annually). In 2006 she established the project Dislocate for art, technology and locality which brings together international artists and experts in the discussion and debate of the role of new media in relation to our surrounding environment.

Ota is guest curator at Ginza Art Lab, an independent artist run space and was also co-curator of Space Rabi Adesso, Koenji in 2008. Ota is highly concerned with promoting international cross-cultural communication between children and is co-founder of Inter-play, an organization which runs collaborative workshops and projects between children in Japan and other countries around the world.

Other projects have included ‘The Moon’, a groundbreaking contemporary art exhibition of Japanese and UK artists held in the historic gardens of Kodaiji Temple, Kyoto, and ‘A Gift to Those who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling’, an artist in residency exchange project with participant artists Erika Tan (UK) and Mio Shirai (Japan).

As a researcher Ota is investigating the development of media arts in Asia and its relation to specific social and cultural contexts, in particular ideas of place, these investigations have led her to China, Korea, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. For more information please see www.dis-locate.net and www.eonsbetween.net.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/technology-and-the-mediation-of-place

Open Access to Science Publications--Policy Perspective, Opportunities and Challenges

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:39:39Z

One-day conference on Open Access

Open Access to scientific literature means the removal of barriers, including price and legal barriers, from accessing scholarly work. With the advent of the internet, widespread and easy access to scientific information is facilitating research and innovation, crucial in today‘s knowledge based society. Open Access is not only changing the nature of scholarly communication but even that of scientific work.

To take stock of the current developments as regards Open Access and to highlight some of the issues that would need to be addressed to enable a wider access to scientific information, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is organizing a Conference on 'Open Access to Science Publications: Policy Perspective, Opportunities and Challenges' on 24 March 2009 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The conference will cover the emerging global trends in Open Access and focus on what needs to be done in India. This event would be of interest to scientists, social scientists, policy makers, funding agencies, heads and senior managers of academic and research institutions, editors of research journals, etc.

The Conference will have sessions focused on:

Open source and changing research
Research Impact through Open Access
Open Access around the World
The Economics of Open Access

Date and Time

24 March 2009; 9.00 am - 5.30 pm

Venue

India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003

Speakers

Speakers at the event include:

Leslie Chan, University of Toronto and Bioline International http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~chan/
John Willinsky, Stanford University and Public Knowledge Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Willinsky
Samir K Brahmachari, CSIR http://www.csir.res.in/External/Heads/aboutcsir/leaders/DG/igib/bio1.pdf
Subbiah Arunachalam, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore http://cis-india.org/about-us/people/distinguished-fellows

Please see the programme below for names of the other speakers.

Contact

Dr Naresh Kumar

Head, R&D Planning Division

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research

2 Rafi Marg, New Delhi - 110 001

Fax: (+91) 11 23710340, 23713011

Phone: (+91) 11 23710453, 23713011

Email: headrdpd@csir.res.in

Programme

0900 – 1000	Registration
1000 - 1100	Inaugural Session
1000 – 1005	Lighting of Lamp
1005 - 1010	Welcome: Naresh Kumar
1010 - 1025	Inaugural address: Open Source & changing research Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari, DG,CSIR and Secretary DSIR
1025 - 1100	Keynote address 1: Global and Local Support for Making Research and Scholarship Publicly Available: Prof. John Willinsky, Stanford University, USA
1100 - 1130	Tea

1130 - 1300	Plenary Session I :
	Chair: Prof. Surendra Prasad
1130 - 1205	Keynote address 2: From Institutional Repositories to a Global Knowledge Commons: Prof. Leslie Chan, University of Toronto, Canada
	Presentations:
1205 - 1225	Eight facts and myths about open access journals: An experience of eight years and eighty journals: Dr. D. K. Sahu, Medknow Publications
1225 - 1240	Prof. Sunil Kumar Sarangi, Director, National Institute Technology-Rourkela :
1240 - 1300	Chair & Q&A

1300 – 1400	Lunch

1400 – 1530	Plenary Session II :
	Chair: Dr. Gangan Prathap
	Presentations:
1400 - 1420	Prof. V. N. Rajasekaran Pillai, VC , IGNOU
1420 - 1440	Prof. Mangala Sunder Krishnan, (NPTEL), IITM
1440 - 1500	S. Arunachalam:
1500 - 1530	Chair & Q&A

1530 – 1600	Tea

1600 - 1700	Panel Discussion on “Open Access to Science and Scholarship”
	Moderator: Prof. Leslie Chan
	Prof. John Willinsky
	Prof. K L Chopra
	Prof. A S Kolaskar
	Dr. RR Hirwani
1700 – 1730	Valedictory : Dr. Naresh Kumar / Dr. R. R. Hirwani

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/oasp

Report on National Workshop on Web Accessibility

sachia — 2011-08-17T08:50:36Z

This entry contains links to download a report on a workshop on web accessibility organised by CIS for web developers (16-18 February 2009).

The first National Workshop on web accessibility for web developers from different sectors around the country was held at the CSIR premises in Ghaziabad from 16-18February 2009. The workshop was organized by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore, and the UN Solution Exchange, and sponsored by NIXI. 29 participants attended the workshop on all the three days.

Please use the relevant links below to read a report on the workshop in the format you prefer.

PDF format: click here to download.

MS Word format: click here to download.

Open Document format: click here to download.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-national-workshop-on-web-accessibility

Scholarly Communication in the Age of the Commons

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:37:37Z

One-day conference on Open Access Organised by National Aerospace Laboratories (as a part of their Golden Jubilee celebrations), Indian Academy of Sciences and Centre for Internet and Society

Background

Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. OA removes price barriers (subscriptions, licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and permission barriers (most copyright and licensing restrictions) and ensures free availability and unrestricted use.

In today’s knowledge-based society, the advent of the Internet and widespread and easy access to scientific information are facilitating research and innovation. Open Access is not only changing the nature of scholarly communication but even the way research is carried out. Indeed Open Access is the bedrock on which the emerging Global Research Library initiative is being built.

Scientists and scientific institutions in India - some of them, to be precise - have moved up in the value chain in that they access information and disseminate their findings often through barrier-free electronic channels. Out of about 3,900 open access journals, India accounts for 108 titles as seen from the Directory of Open Access Journals. The major Indian publishers of OA journals are Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, MedKnow Publications and National Informatics Centre. According to the Registry of Open Access Repositories there are 40 open access repositories in India including those at Indian Institute of Science, National Aerospace Laboratories, National Institute of Oceanography, Raman Research Institute, National Institute of Technology - Rourkela, and Indian Institutes of Technology. Prof. Samir Brahmachari, Director General of CSIR, has initiated the Open Source Drug Discovery programme as an alternative to the traditional patent-driven model of drug research. Recently CSIR has adopted an open access policy. Indian National Science Academy is one of the early signatories to the Berlin Declaration.

Thus Open Access - both for accessing worldwide information and for making our own research more visible - is not new to India. But one must admit that considering the size of India's research and higher education enterprise what we have achieved so far is utterly inadequate and incommensurate with our ambition to become a knowledge power. We have a long way to go. And the first step is to adopt open access nationwide.

This one-day “Conference on Scholarly Communication in India in the Age of the Commons” is organized to take stock of the current developments in Open Access and to highlight the issues that would need to be addressed to enable a wider access to scientific knowledge and to enhance the visibility of research performed in India.

Date and Time

26 March 2009; 9.30 am - 5.00 pm

Venue

S R Valluri Auditorium, National Aerospace Laboratories, (Old) Airport Road, Bangalore

Speakers

Speakers at the event include:

Prof Leslie Chan, University of Toronto and Bioline International http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~chan/

Prof John Willinsky, Stanford University and Public Knowledge Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Willinsky

Please see the programme below for names of the other speakers.

Contact

Dr I R N Goudar

Scientist ‘G’ and Head, ICAST

National Aerospace Laboratories

Airport Road, Bangalore-560017

Telephone: (+91) 80 2508 6080

Fax: (+91) 80 2526 0862

Email: goudar@nal.res.in

While you can register on the spot, we encourage you to kindly register through e-mail. Please provide name, designation, address, contact telephone number and e-mail address. Participants may make their own arrangements for travel and accommodation.

Programme

9.30 am-10.15 am -- Inaugural session

Welcome by Dr I R N Goudar

About the conference: Prof Subbiah Arunachalam

Talk by Prof D Balasubramanian

Remarks by Dr A R Upadhya

10.15 am-10.45 am -- Tea

10.45 am-11.35 am -- Prof Leslie Chan, University of Toronto and Bioline International

11.35 am-12.25 pm -- Prof John Willinsky, Stanford University and Public Knowledge Project

12.25 pm-1.15 pm -- Dr D K Sahu, MedKnow Publications

1.15 pm-2.15 pm -- Lunch

2.15 pm-2.45 pm -- Mr Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet and Society

2.45 pm-4.15 pm -- Panel discussion

Moderator: Prof P Balaram

Panelists: Subbiah Arunachalam, Leslie Chan, N V Sathyanarayana, A R Upadhya, and John Willinsky

4.15 pm -- Tea

VIDEOS

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/scholarly-communication-in-the-age-of-the-commons

Bloggers battle India's supreme court over prosecution for internet threats

sachia — 2011-04-02T16:17:48Z

Article by Randeep Ramesh in the Guardian, 26 February 2009

India's supreme court is facing the wrath of the country's bloggers over the prosecution of a student because of anonymous comments published on a social networking group he created.

The computer science student, named as Ajith D, was arrested over allegations that death threats had been posted on his "anti-Shiv Sena" group on Google's networking site, Orkut. The 20-year-old also faces charges of criminal intimidation and hurting religious sentiments.

The Shiv Sena (Army of Shiv) is a political party that made its name in the 1990s for populist policies that were anti-Muslim and favoured locals over outsiders. Its leader, Bal Thackeray, has been quoted as admiring Hitler.

Mumbai police had been monitoring the site since the Sena staged violent protests against Orkut for carrying anti-party statements, vandalising cybercafes across Mumbai. Officers contacted federal authorities in Delhi before bringing charges.

In response, the lawyer representing the student asked the supreme court to quash the case, saying his client had published nothing provocative. However India's chief justice, KG Balakrishnan, refused the application saying: "We will not do that. Anything that is posted on the internet goes to the public. The internet is open to the world."

The case highlights how India, the world's largest democracy, deals with the thorny issue of freedom of speech on the internet. A law about to arrive on the statute books places the onus for publishing material on the web, not on hosts of the material, such as Google's Orkut service, but on individuals who create blogs and websites.

"The difficulty here is that my client did not make the threats. He simply set up a community group and left it unmoderated," Jogy Scaria, Ajith's lawyer, said. "He only created the anti-Shiv Sena site."

Orkut is one of India's most popular social networking sites and many bloggers vented their fury online. "I am not able to gather how it is possible that bloggers can be hit with libel and criminal suits on the basis of anonymous postings on their websites," wrote one on Ekawaaz-One Voice.

Lawrence Liang, India's foremost authority on freedom of speech on the internet, wrote about the case on Kafila.org.

"When organisations like the Shiv Sena start using defamation laws, it smacks of chutzpah to me … What other way can we describe the bizarre situation of the violence-prone macho men, who suddenly run around screaming about the violation of their legal rights and the slurring of their reputation?"

India's constitution guarantees freedom of expression as long as this does not extend to libel, national security, contempt and a broad category of public morality – which includes "hurting religious sentiments".

Pranesh Prakash of Bangalore's Centre for Internet and Society, a thinktank specialising in web civil rights, said the internet had allowed "everyone to become a publisher but not the awareness of what responsibilities of a publisher. The way the law is dealing with it is highly problematic."

-----

To read the article at the Guardian website, click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/bloggers-battle-indias-supreme-court-over-prosecution-for-internet-threats

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sachia — 2009-03-02T06:26:52Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/the-cyborgs/uploads/vhg4.jpg

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sachia — 2009-03-02T06:25:48Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/the-cyborgs/uploads/vhg3.jpg

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sachia — 2009-02-23T11:41:36Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/the-cyborgs/uploads/vhg2.jpg

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sachia — 2009-02-23T11:40:33Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/the-cyborgs/uploads/vhg1.jpg

Art and Science from the Tiniverse--An Artist's Perspective on Nanotechnology

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:39:51Z

Talk by Julie Freeman

The Centre for Internet and Society invites you to a talk by Julie Freeman, Wellcome Trust Artist in Residence at the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Centre, Cranfield University.

Abstract

How many people know that, on a fairly prosaic level, nanoparticles are already in everyday use, enhancing the functionality of (for example) sun creams and sticking plasters? In tandem, rumours abound in the media of much more revolutionary advances, such as tiny machines that can zip around our bloodstream killing viruses, but these are still far from being realised. So what is nanotechnology about, and why do we need to know about it?

Sharing a desire to convey scientific information in a non-traditional and non-scientific way, Julie Freeman, artist, has collaborated with Jeremy Ramsden, Professor of Nanotechnology, to develop creative works to advance the understanding of fundamental processes, issues and techniques within and surrounding nanotechnology. The artist’s fascination with biology and technology has steered her toward his subject, where these worlds seem to collide.

In this talk Freeman will discuss her experiences of working with scientists in the nanotechnology world, how science and it's methodologies impact her artwork and will display the Nano Novels – sets of stereo literature and imagery – which help to contextualise nanotechnology.

Speaker

Julie Freeman's work spans visual, audio and digital art forms and explores the relationship between science, nature and how humans interact with it. For the past 12 years her work has focused on using electronic technologies to ‘translate nature’ – whether it is through the sound of torrential rain dripping on a giant rhubarb leaf; a pair of mobile concrete speakers who lurk in galleries haranguing passersby with fractured sonic samples or by providing an interactive platform from which to view the flap, twitch and prick of dogs’ ears.

In 2005 she launched her most known digital artwork The Lake, which used hydrophones, custom software and advanced technology to track electronically tagged fish and translate their movement into an audio-visual experience. The work was developed over three years and supported by Tingrith Coarse Fishery and a two year fellowship from NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts).

She is currently artist-in-residence at the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Centre at Cranfield University where she is creating works that aim to increase public understanding of self-assembly and organising processes at the nanoscale and their potential social impacts and consequences.

Julie is a graduate of the MA in Digital Arts at the Centre for Electronic Arts, Middlesex University, London, and Steering Group Chair of FreqOUT! an innovative London based community arts programme, enabling young people to work with wireless technologies.

Time and Date

Monday, 9 March, 2009; 4.00-5.30 pm

Venue

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

Map

For a map, please click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/art-and-science-from-the-tiniverse-an-artists-perspective-on-nanotechnology

DigiActive Meetup

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:40:21Z

Chilling for Digital Activism--Meeting with Mary Joyce

Are you interested in using the Internet and mobile phones as part of a campaign for political and social change? Do you have a story to share about your own experience using these tools? CIS invites you to an informal interaction with Mary Joyce, co-founder of DigiActive.org, an organization dedicated to promoting digital activism around the world.

Mary Joyce is the co-founder of DigiActive.org, was also New Media Operations Manager for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and has been a master's student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Research Assistant for the Internet and Democracy Project at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Mary also works as a consultant in the field of technology and social change.

Time and Date

Thursday, 26 February, 2009; 4.00-5.30 pm

Venue

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

Map

For a map, please click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/technology-for-activism

The Internet and Illusions of Space and Liberty

sachia — 2011-04-05T04:40:05Z

Talk by Kiran Sahi

The Centre for Internet and Society invites you to a talk by Kiran Sahi on 'The Internet and Illusions of Space and Liberty'. Kiran will use this talk as an opportunity to look at the parallels that can be drawn between the spatial elements of the mind, corporal physical space, and the virtual domains of the internet. Reflecting on the roles of these parallel domains, we can discuss how dissident elements within society, traditionally found in geographical wildernesses, have found new opportunities for freedom in the realms of the internet. The talk will also explore the idea of the internet as a heterotopia, a safe space for displaced realities, and the pressures which make it adopt a panoptic structure.

Speaker

Kiran Sahi is is a designer and educator working from his home in a village north of Bangalore. His work involves presenting and interpreting the changing socio-political geography of his locality for teachers and students visiting from international academic institutions and education authorities. He also advises on local education development projects. Kiran works as a consultant design faculty, teaching materials and sculptural design, and runs a ceramic studio that produces large scale ceramic murals for public spaces. His previous work has involved exploring cultural narratives and their visual representations. He has been interested in exploring the possibilities of a collaborative community based business involving professional designers and local craftsmen.

Time and Date

Saturday, 7 March, 2009; 5.00-6.30 pm

Venue

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

Map

For a map, please click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/the-internet-and-illusions-of-space-and-liberty

Meeting for FOSS Advocacy Coalition

sachia — 2009-02-18T13:33:05Z

A half-day meeting to discuss a FOSS advocacy coalition and items for immediate action

The Centre for Internet and Society, on behalf of Anivar Aravind, Gurumurthy K, Renuka Prasad, Sunil Abraham, and Vinay Sreenivasa, invites you to a half-day meeting to discuss a FOSS advocacy coalition and items for immediate action by such a coalition.

Many of us have been advocating for several years the adoption of FOSS applications and platforms, and FOSS related advocacy has been gathering momentum. Last year, we had advocacy processes relating to software patents and the OOXML debate, apart from RMS and Eben Moglen visiting various places in India sharing their views on FOSS.

Yet we do have a long way to go before FOSS is widely used in India. We believe that bringing together different groups of actors (who believe in the principles of Free Software), including academic institutions, NGOs and CBOs, research and advocacy groups, professional associations, and FOSS enterprises providing services in different areas as development, training, support and maintenance, will help in supporting and cohering a positive discourse in favour of FOSS.

Some of us feel that a loose national coalition of such individuals/organisations and associations should be formed to work towards the widespread adoption and promotion of FOSS. Such a network of organisations working along a broad consensus on promoting FOSS will provide stronger and more effective responses to events relating to FOSS and initiate more proactive actions than individuals or institutions acting in isolation.

Agenda

The proposed agenda for the meeting is a discussion as follows:

Formation of a national coalition of organisations advocating for FOSS

The goals, scope, priorities, approaches, structures, issues/risks, alternatives, resources for such a coalition, name of the coalition, etc, will be discussed.

Working with government departments and public sector units advocating them to adopt and promote FOSS

When we speak individually to any of our contacts/departments in the government, the impact may not be significant. However, if we send collective representations to departments such as the e-Governance, IT, Education, and RDPR departments, and seek meetings to explain the issue and the advantages of FOSS, it would help and motivate them to look at the issue in depth.

FOSS initiatives in the country, including the Gujarat ICT in schools program

Many state governments across India are in different stages of adoptiong FOSS, and we can share our understanding and views on the current situation. The Gujarat government, for instance, is implementing a 500-crore ICT plan in school education program but have not yet taken a final decision on whether to use FOSS. There are also plans for a FOSS workshop in Delhi, to which different groups, including political parties and government officials could be exposed to discussions of the advantages of adopting and promoting FOSS.

FOSS initiatives in Karnataka

There are also some initiatives in Karnataka for which we can work together to help in the adoption of FOSS. We have an informal request for a proposal for a pilot project to train government staff and vendor staff in Bangalore on the GNU/Linux platform that has been chosen for the ICT in schools program. We also need to work on the issue of using Nudi on FOSS. A serious impediment to getting the government to use FOSS is that Nudi works only on MS Windows and not on FOSS distributions. Lastly, we should explore what could be done to help VTU adopt FOSS over proprietary technologies. Engineering colleges adopting FOSS will have a significant impact on the creation of the FOSS ecosystem in the state.

We can also discuss other means and methods for the promotion of FOSS.

Please email in your suggestions and ideas on the agenda for the meeting. If you are interested in participating in the coalition, but are unable to attend the meeting, please do let us know.

Date and Time

Sunday, 22 February, 2009; 3.00-6.00 pm

Venue

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

Map

For a map, please click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/meeting-for-foss-advocacy-coalition

Inclusive Planet

sachia — 2009-07-09T08:51:28Z

Context

There are approximately 75 million differently-abled persons in India. This community is largely excluded from civil society and persons with disability continue to have to depend on family members or others to meet their basic needs and wants. Neither the Government nor private enterprise has had significant success in including this community in mainstream society.

Vision

Inclusive Planet (“IncP”) aims to create India’s largest cross disability community for the 75 million differently-abled people in India and their support groups. IncP will also thereby become the largest provider of products and services to this community.

InclusivePlanet.com

The primary delivery platform for IncP will be www.inclusiveplanet.com (not yet operational), a Web 2.0 portal. Supplementary delivery platforms will be channel partner web sites, vendor websites, Inclusive Planet franchisee stores (brick and mortar), partner stores and mobile phones. The portal will be a ‘one-stop shop’ for the specific requirements of people with disabilities. The portal will also comprehensively address the daily needs of persons with disabilities, including specific requirements for information, everyday requirements of life, employment, entertainment and assistance. In short, the portal will assist persons with disabilities with obtaining access to facilities available to the public at large.

The portal will have channels that specially cater to the disabled and their support group, for the following: medical information, legal information, policy information, news, shopping, service provider listings, career listings, career guidance, medical expert panel, social networking (blogs, forums and chat), and entertainment. IncP is working with several of India’s largest NGOs to provide the back-end for several of the features of the portal.

The Entertainment Channel

This channel of the portal is aimed primarily at the visually-impaired community. Visually impaired persons cannot enjoy the same content in the same format as sighted persons and have to rely on audio content such as audio books and content in specific computer readable formats. The entertainment channel is loosely based on the YouTube model and provides for users to upload and share audio books and other content with each other. This channel will also have a feature allowing users to request any specific item of content; this content can be uploaded by other users or volunteers. This channel will be an integral part of the community building aspect of IncP.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/research/grants/inclusive-planet/inclusive-planet