Telecentres in rural Croatia run by APC member ZaMirNET don’t just provide training facilities. They’re also bringing together neighbours of different ethnicities. “During the computer course, we were socialising with other nationalities. We were all in the same position of learning new things and sharing what we know,” recounted a Croat woman. “Now we greet each other in the street.”

Using RSS technology, it’s now possible to get news headlines from APC and APC member websites direct to your desktop. News feeds available cover a rich variety of civil society concerns –from the environment in Bulgaria, to human rights in Spain, to peace campaigning in the USA, to monitoring aid agencies in Australia. Find out more about the news feeds.

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!

South Asia has 23% of the world’s population but less than 1% of the internet users. Bytes for All a Southern Asian network promoting ICT for development has just become APC’s newest member. Bytes for All is active throughout South Asia with volunteers from numerous countries including India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Highway Africa is the world’s largest conference for African journalists. This year’s three-day meeting called "Media making the information society" is attended by more than 350 people. The information and communication technology (ICT) focus will provide a platform for journalists to learn and report on information society issues. APC is running workshops on secure online communication workshops and ICT policy. Read news coming out of Highway Africa by visiting the site and clicking on the news box on the left.

This advocacy document produced by APC member in Senegal, ENDA, presents the major issues faced by African countries in relation to their inclusion in the information society, as perceived by women. It’s a tool for public, private and civil society stakeholders and decision-makers for integrating gender into ICT policies to contribute to a fair, plural and inclusive African information society. The foreword is written by APC.

A major change for APC programmes occurred in July. Karen Banks has moved over to become APC’s Networking and Advocacy Coordinator and her former role of manager of the APC women’s programme (APC WNSP) will be taken on by well-known Philippine gender and technology advocate, Chat Garcia Ramilo.

The SisBIM helps decision-makers in local governments make informed decisions regarding planning for development by providing a series of key indicators and essential geo-information. It also serves as a ‘sustainable development observatory’ where citizens can find basic development information and importantly hold government accountable. The system has been developed by APC member Colnodo and coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Development.