Privacy International (PI), alongside with Statewatch and European Digital Rights, called to endorse an open letter to the European Parliament. The submission will be made on Tuesday 30 November and PI are accepting signatures until Monday 29 November. The European Parliament will most likely vote on Wednesday 1st. December.

D3 – a prototype public multimedia interactive created by APC member in Melbourne, c2o- is a storytelling engine which explores a sense of place by mapping trails through a city.

A project using wireless technology to link small-scale farmers in a desert valley in Peru is helping farmers by providing and generating local information online. The living conditions of more than 6,000 rural workers is being directly affected. APC member in Lima, CEPES, is providing technical support for the project and the content exchange software used is APC ActionApps.

London-based NGO and APC member, Computer Aid International recenlty launched a new partnership with APC member ALIN in Nairobi. “Computer Aid has already provided over 2,500 quality refurbished PC to non-profit organisations in Kenya”, commented Tony Roberts, Computer Aid Founder and Chief Executive. “However with the help of the Baobab initiative we plan to provide 5,000 more computers in the next few years”.

“People won’t benefit from improved access to digital networks, if the necessary capabilities to select, apply and interpret the available information are not better developed”, says Arnold Pietersen of CECS. With oversight from ICT NGOs from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia, CECS designed an ‘ICT Literacy’ programme.

The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), together with key free and open source software (FOSS) advocates in the country organized a training-workshop for Philippine non-government organizations (NGOs). Held on 28-29 October 2004 and attended by 30 participants from 18 organizations, the learning activity sought to impart not only with the necessary skills and knowledge of FOSS but more importantly, to provide the trainees with the confidence in using FOSS-based applications.

APCmember SANGONeT launched a new joint venture, called NGO.ZA. The overall aim of NGO.ZA is to meet and respond to the South African NGO sector’s connectivity, hardware and e-business infrastructure requirements, and as a result, transform the information and communication technologies (ICT) usage, capacity and infrastructure levels of the sector.

APC member in Canada, Web Networks, has integrated APC’s free software ActionApps with a number of other applications to come up with a first – the ability to easily view Inukititut (a Canadian Aboriginal language) online, as well as giving Inuit abilities to easily publish online in their native language.

What we want is an information society based on social justice and human rights. That’s only going to happen if the people affected by the policies get involved in their development. Collecting indispensable documentation since 2001, the new look ‘Africa Monitor’ just launched on October 28 has a new design and structure including powerful cross-referencing which let’s you search by theme and by country at the same time. For the first time, there’s a ‘Getting started’ section for people new to ICT policy and advocacy which collects information specially selected by our editors. Go and take a look!