In collaboration with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), APC is releasing a series of reports discussing opportunities for information and communication technology (ICT) to help individuals and communities adapt to water scarcity as a result of climate change.

Digital Rights Watch, Montreal, Canada
In Focus: The Association For Progressive Communications and their Evolving Digital Rights Mission
20 March 2012

How internet helps to shape a global civil society

The future socio economic development in African countries depends grossly on our African states to be able to enhance fully the strength and capacities of existing ICT infrastructure especially the Internet which over the last decade in Africa has stimulated economic growth, social awareness and above all more transparency and accountability that has aided a number of best practices around Af

Rebecca Mackinnon,
Consent of the Networked, the Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom
13 March 2012

[…] A growing number of nongovernmental organizations are also dedicating themselves to Internet policy advocacy: informing the public about complicated issues that the news media often doesn’t cover well and lobbying governments to change or improve laws so the Internet can remain as open and free as possible. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology are just two of many such groups in the United States. Counterparts exist all over the world: the Open Rights Group in the UK, Bit of Freedom in the Netherlands, Netzpolitik in Germany, La Quadrature du Net in France, Jinbonet in South Korea, and many others. Other more globally focused organizations such as the South Africa-based Associated for Progressive Communications are working to coordinate policy strategy on a global level lobbying the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Internet Governance Forum, ICANN, the OECD, and other regional and international organizations.

United States Institute of Peace’s Social Networking Resource Center.,
New Media and Peacebuilding Resource Center
13 March 2012

[…] USIP’s New Media and Peacebuilding Resource Center provides peacebuilders with various tools that will help them integrate new media tools – mobile phones, social networking websites, and crisis mapping tools – into their work more effectively. New media tools change the way peacebuilders do their work in country, but they also bring with them a growing body of knowledge around security concerns, infrastructure needs, and best practices. This Resource Center aggregates this body of knowledge in one place, making it an ideal, one-stop-shop for NGOs, trainers, and peacebuilding professionals who are trying to expand their toolset to include new technology innovations.

Thematic Social ForumAs part of the People’s Summit, the Thematic Social Forum released a working paper this week, entitled ‘Another Future is Possible’ discussing key themes for Rio+20.