Web 2.0
Impact 2.0: New mechanisms for linking research and policy
This publication is the result of the work done in the project Impact 2.0 between 2010 and 2011, coordinated by Fundación Comunica, supported by APC and financed by IDRC. From the participant projects, it can be concluded that the most successful uses of web 2.0 and online social networking to connect research and policy were those that involved the public in campaigns and consultations.
Impact 2.0: New mechanisms for linking research and policy - Technical Guidelines
This guide was developed by The Association for Progressive Communications APC for the project Impact 2.0 – New mechanisms for linking research and policy. The development was supported by Fundación Comunica2. The guide is aimed towards providing the national focal points in Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador with guidelines for how Web 2.0 tools can be used to facilitate participatory policy making process.
The main issues that the guide addresses are:
- How researchers can effectively and strategically use new information and communication technologies (ICTs), specifically Web 2.0 tools, to publish and publicise their research processes and findings so that they can reach policy makers and activists.
- How researchers can use Web 2.0 tools to establish links with policy makers and other stakeholders involved in their issues.
- How researchers can use Web 2.0 tools to encourage discussion and / or debate on issues based on their research findings.
The document is available in hybrid pdf format – you can view it in pdf viewer or open and edit in OpenOffice if you have this OpenOffice plug-in installed (one click install after clicking on “Get It!”).
Impact 2.0? Experimenting with social networking for policy change in Latin America
Politicians aren’t always aware that sound research that could help them make better policy decisions is out there waiting to be used. On the other hand, social networking websites are experiencing an explosive growth worldwide and Latin America is no exception. This new initiative from APC and Latin American telecomms research network DIRSI will bring together researchers and activists to see if it is possible to influence policy debate using blogs, wikis, Facebook, Twitter and more in Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.
Circling the point: From ICT4D to Web 2.0 and back again
Can social networking give a leg-up to the poor?
Can Facebook and YouTube help the poor tackle their pressing problems? Or is this promise just hype? One is faced with tough questions: Can “Web 2.0 tools” directly influence the poor themselves? Can those interested in poverty work do better to start with the “situation” rather than the “technology”? Or should one think big and dream of a network of networks encompassing a billion children and their teachers, families and friends — nearly all of the poor people in the world, and most of the rich? BytesForAll co-founder and journalist Frederick Noronha takes a look at the issue.
Costa Rican cooperative joins APC
APC’s new member Sulá Batsu is a cooperative operating in Costa Rica since 2005. It sees itself as a collective workspace for social change. It’s experience spans over the sharing of knowledge, social economy and information and communication technologies. APCNews interviewed Margarita Salas of Sulá Batsú in order to grasp the challenges associated with the cooperative model, the opportunities and challenges that the internet represents in the Costa Rican context, the link between gender and technology and her perspective on what is referred to as social economy.
APC at the Web2forDev conference and training Web2.0 practitioners in Kampala
For the first time, in September 2007, a large group of people involved in one way or another with development work met to discuss the possibilities and drawbacks of sophisticated web-based applications in situations of low bandwidth and limited access to powerful hardware. Many of them had the chance to experiment with the tools in a workshop APC co-organised at a conference called Web2forDev. The interest of this community, gradually expanding under the ‘Web2forDev’ label, focuses on how cutting-edge technology can help to close the gap in access to ICTs, as opposed to widening it further.
