Global

Tiring, long walk around the exhibition area. Given the crazy schedules here, it is very difficult to spare time and get a comprehensive outlook of the exhibition, however, am posting few links which may be of interest to some of you. Apologies for not putting these in some order. But there are some potentially useful links below…

Looking back at the roots of the Digital Solidarity Fund, the responses it evoked, and the linked story of missed opportunities and promises that can still be worked out.

This article argues that there were at least four factors at play — the US’s “very strong hand” played well; the lack of EU commitment to change; finding a diplomatic way to leave this issue for a future fight; and the fact that the “deal may not be as great for the U.S. as the current spin suggests”.

She’s a Peruvian heading towards The Mountain Forum in Nepal. The forum is particularly created as a medium of alternative communication for mountainous areas, which is why, since its conception, it has specifically used the internet as a communication tool between the participating people and communities that constitute the different nodes.

Am sitting in Goa, at one of those fast cybercafes scattered across India, that charge about US 50 cents per hour, an am accessing a set of links sent across by the Unesco about their webcasts on events held in the WSIS at Tunis. It’s very slow in downloading, and the speech is jerky, but it works. See the links below….The links are to a Workshop on ICT and persons with disabilities...

Only 11% of African people have a fixed line telephone, 12% of African people questioned have a mobile telephone, less than 3% have an email address…So says a new study conducted by RIA. Although one of the WSIS’s main objectives is to decrease the digital divide, 80% of African people today do not have access to any form of communication service. A shocking statistic is that 15% of...

I was quite impressed by the many side events women participated in, on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m particulary impressed by the Tanzanian women forum held in the afternoon with a highly led delegation of women in leading ICT and government position in the country. Of particular importance are the women-led event at the APC stand and APC-related talks. Keep it up!

WSIS: "good discussion, people were given a chance to speak out from all kinds of minority positions and it showed well what a powerful tool the internet is, from the perspective of independent journalism."