text:
How can mobile communication help
improve the quality of education? A Nokia smartphone will go to the
owner of the best idea submitted to the fifth phase of the Education
for All (EFA) Crowdsourcing Challenge organized by UNESCO, Nokia and
the Pearson Foundation.
Starting on 12 March, and for a month
thereafter, education and mobile learning stakeholders are all
invited to participate by submitting mobile communication ideas for
helping achieve EFA Goal n°5 that calls for the elimination of
gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and
the achievement of gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus
on ensuring girls full and equal access to and achievement in
basic education of good quality. Participants will also be invited to
vote or comment on other ideas.
Several hundred proposals were
generated during the first four phases of the EFA Crowdsourcing
Challenge, which explored ways of using mobile communication to
potentially help attain literacy, to contribute to achieving
universal primary education, to address youth and adult learning
needs, and to improve the quality of education.
To submit an idea, participants only
need to click on the Create an Idea link to the right of the gender
challenge introductory paragraph.
The winner of the fifth
phase, who will be chosen by an expert panel of judges, will receive
a Nokia smartphone. She or he will also get a chance to win a US$
3,000 prize as well as a library of childrens books worth US$
3,000, which will be donated to a non-profit organisation of the
winners choice. Moreover, the best ideas from the EFA
Crowdsourcing Challenge will be developed into concrete projects by
Nokia and other project partners.
(Source: UNESCO)Further details
"ConnectaRSE para crecer seeks to identify and recognize the best initiatives in rural areas of the country, who have had social and economic impact on its residents and / or communities, using telecommunications as a basis.
In this context Telefónica recognized
the PNP Division of Acomayo in Cusco, third place winners in the "Grand Prize" category, for its training in the use of information systems to improve management of the police stations of Acomayo , Acopia, and Sagarará Pomacanchi.
Acomayo Police Division implemented
the system of requisitions
of people and vehicles DATAPOL in each of the stations that what they are responsible for.
The contribution which was handed over by Telefonica was S/. 10, 000 which serve to ensure the sustainability of this initiative and continue the training in the basic use of office tools, Internet and installed systems that gives us the program.
The initiative
launched by Major Wilbert Callapiña Durand was selected from 74 initiatives, as the
third best approach to rural development through ICTs for the
benefit of residents of rural communities.
(Source: Telefónica)
All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) is deploying a suite of cloud-based applications to
more than 7 million students and nearly 500.000 faculty members in
more than 10.000 technical colleges and institutes throughout the
Part of the Ministry of Human Resource
Development AICTE is the governing body for technical education in
India, certifying and managing technical colleges and institutes.
While the demand for technical school graduates are rapidly picking
up, AICTE has faced the challenge of how to ensure consistent and
timely communications with its colleges in order to evaluate the
curriculum and quality of education. With more than 10.000 colleges
and institutes, some of which located in the most remote part of the
country, AICTE needed a solution that was scalable and not too
The Microsoft Live@edu suite of
web-based applications includes email, web-based productivity
applications and instant messaging. Each user will get 10GB of online
space for email and additional 25 GB for online storage. AICTE expects
this cloud deployment to expand students" access to high-quality
technical education and collaboration.
AICTE also plans to deploy Microsoft
Office 365, a more comprehensive suite of cloud-based productivity
tools, when it becomes available later this year.
Dr S. S. Mantha, chairman of AICTE says
that cloud implementation will "make for a truly progressive
ecosystem and contribute to the countrys technical education by
providing a better communication and collaboration platform for
institutes and students.
Deployment is underway and is expected
to complete over the next three months.
(Source: FutureGov)Further details
Deal starts with Uganda, and
will be rolled out to 20 more countries. Western Union and MTN Group,
Africa's largest mobile phone company, Wednesday unveiled an
international mobile money transfer service in Uganda that will be
rolled out to all of telecom provider's 16 operations on the
continent as well as five in other regions.
In October 2010, the two companies announced
they had signed an agreement to offer international mobile remittance
services in the 21 countries in which MTN operates. The five
countries which this agreement covers but are not on the African
content include Afghanistan, Cyprus, Syria, Iran and Yemen.
The service, announced at a press conference in
Kampala, marks the debut of an offering from Western Union that
allows the more than 2 million customers of MTN's mobile money
transfer service in Uganda to add funds to their accounts that were
sent through Western Union's system.
"We are indeed excited about this new
collaboration with Western Union as it extends the reach of our
innovative solutions beyond Uganda's borders", Charles Mbire,
the MTN Uganda chairman of the board of directors said. "MTN
Mobile Money has been successful in increasing financial inclusion in
Uganda. MTN will continue to offer Ugandans life enriching services".
A press statement said that senders can
transfer funds as they normally would -- either in person at 450,000
Western Union Agent locations in 200 countries and territories, from
the Western Union website in 22 countries or directly from a bank
account in selected countries.
The receiver of the funds simply chooses to
"pull" the transaction into a MTN Mobile Money account. The
new service also enables MTN customers to send money internationally
with Western Union directly from their Mobile Money accounts for cash
payout at Western Union Agent locations worldwide or to subscribers
of mobile phone companies with which Western Union has agreements.
Isaac Nsereko, the MTN Uganda Marketing Officer
performed a demonstration at the announcement, where he received a
remittance of US$ 5 from someone in Colorado.
Western Union has similar agreements with
Safaricom's M-Pesa in Kenya, Vodacom in Tanzania, Telmar Madagascar
and Inova in Burkina Faso, according to Marcus Cudina, Western
Union's senior vice president for strategy "This is the first
operation to launch service in the MTN Group, the others will now be
rolled out", Cudina said.
Western Union and MTN also announced that they
will give away 9,000 branded mobile "Yellow Phones" via
promotions throughout Uganda over the next few months.
MTN customers who receive these phones must
already have an active MTN Mobile Money account or sign up for one in
order to use the new remittance service.
"Our network of nearly half a million
locations, our experience in moving money across borders, and our
relationships with the world's most successful mobile operators such
as MTN, ideally position us to introduce many people to cross-border
financial services," said Nathalie Ferrant, inbound and business
development director, Middle East and Africa, Western Union.
She said Western Union's Mobile Money transfer
service will unlock new economic opportunities for thousands of
underserved consumers in Uganda, whose financial needs are not being
met elsewhere.
(Source: PC Advisor)Further details
With a staff of approximately 6000,
Barwon Health is one of the largest and most comprehensive regional
health services in the Australian State of Victoria. Having
successfully reduced the elective surgery waiting list, improved
Emergency Department wait times and finished last year with a budget
surplus, last November Barwon Health was named regional health
service of the year.
According to CIO Ann
Larkins, Barwon Healths ehealth journey began around 2005, the
success of which she ascribes to their strategy of agile development,
our approach has been about incremental developments rather than a
big bang.
Having started with a basic system that
provided pathology results online, this has been gradually developed
in stages to now provide everything offered by the larger ehealth
software providers including digital medical records, medications
management, electronic messaging to GPs via Health Level Seven. It
has become a complete one stop shop clinical system says Larkins,
not too dissimilar to some of your bigger companies
product that we are using has evolved from a much smaller base but
with much more of our input into it along the way.
The benefit of this
development methodology is that, it is a much more agile way to
respond to the requests of clinicians whereas some of the less
responsive big companies find that difficult and challenging. Weve
achieved a lot in a small time with small agile developments.
This has allowed for
department specific systems be either integrated with or developed
within the main clinical system. We respect the needs of different
departments to have their own system where there is need for them,
but where theres functionality already existing we pull them into
the core.
International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) has developed 35 projects over the past
five years as part of their programme to promote socio-economic development
through the use of ICT in countries like Bolivia,
Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ghana, Mali, Uganda and Zambia.
Most of
their projects focus on promoting food
security and agricultural
economic development.
ICTs can help farmers, workers and entrepreneurs access market information,
improve quality and productivity and strengthen business skills and employment
recently published a
document that summarizes the main lessons they have learned about
the use of ICTs to boost (rural) economic development between 2006 and
Some of the
lessons that stand out are the importance of empowering and connecting
individuals, strengthening and connecting with local organizations and linking
sectors by improving knowledge flows and the policy environment.
"With the right tools, people in developing countries can
considerably improve their livelihoods and quality of life. Better access to
information and communication technology (ICT) is particularly vital in
enabling them to achieve their goals".
(Source: IICD)
Nan Chiau Primary
School in Sengkang, Singapore in collaboration with Qualcomme and
Microsoft will empower its students and teachers through
custom-tailored mobile application enabling 24/7 access to
educational resources.
Under the WE learn
mobile education project, which uses 3G smartphones to create
seamless classroom experience, some 350 third-grade pupils and
teachers will experience the latest wireless technology that will
ease a student-centric model of learning where educational materials
can be accessed anytime and anywhere via smartphones.
The project is being
supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) under the ICT
masterplan in education to designate Nan Chiau Primary School as a
model for primary schools throughout Singapore and Asia.
By equipping
students with learning tools like mobile phones, our students have
24/7 access to educational content, web-based resources, and
collaborative learning tools, said Mr Tan Chun Ming, principal of
Nan Chiau Primary School.
These tools give
students the means to take responsibility for their own learning and
enable teachers to provide individualized mentoring, Chun Ming
All smartphones are equipped with
MyDesk, a mobile learning platform to enable each student to access
his or her assignments, relevant websites that contain podcasts,
textual material and video clips and educational applications, such
as mapping, drawing and animating, to practice both self-directed and
collaborative learning.
Files created by the Nan Chiau students
on their smartphones are backed-up and synchronized to a cloud-based
teaching management system, providing each student an electronic
portfolio that parents can review and teachers can access for grading
and feedback purposes.
The national Institute
of Education of Singapore is assisting teachers with the development
of customised curriculum in English, Science and Chinese, and
co-design technology to enable teachers to enact lessons using
smartphones to support the students personalized learning,
revealed Professor Looi Chee Kit, The National Institute of Education
who is responsible for the WE learning
Nan Chiau Primary
School is Singapores first school to set up the Centre for
Educational Research and Application (CERA),
the research centre for using ICT in teaching
and learning in a primary school.
Kasetsart University, one of Thailands
leading universities opened Mobile Development Centre last month to
empower its students in innovating mobile software skill.
Mobile applications
are the future for developers and we want to be a part to help
encourage more numbers of Thai mobile developers, said Assistant
Professor Dr Putchong Uthayopas, Kasetsart Universitys head of the
Department of Computer Engineering.
The huge growth of mobile devices,
especially smart phones and tablet devices, are expected to create a
lot of room for mobile applications and software and that means great
opportunity for Thai software developers and the software industry,
he added.
The centre is expected to be a role
model for other universities to set up facilities for their students
to develop mobile application and software, according to him.
We invested THB 1
million (US$ 32,460 ) to build the centre, equipped with facilities
like hi-speed internet connection, computer, and mobile devices both
smart phones and tablet across platforms, said Uthayopas.
Project head Anan
Phonphoem said the centre focuses on three mobile platforms IOS,
Android, and Windows Phone. The centres main service is to provide
facilities, including space, computers and mobile devices like smart
phones and tablets, to Kasetsart Universitys computer engineering
We set up this as a
value-added service for our students. We are not including it as a
part of the main curriculum. Almost five hundred of our engineering
students who are interested in mobile development can come to the
centre to use our facilities to develop their ideas into real
applications, he added.
Students skilled in mobile application
can use the centre to be their workshop to develop mobile apps and
then commercialize the app.
According to him, the project aims to
encourage about 70 to 80 per cent of the five hundred students to be
empowered with mobile development skills and be ready to enter the
industry as entrepreneurs. Apart from providing facilities and tools,
the centre will also offer training courses in technology and
business matters.
We will also work with the industry
sector to collaborate in bringing knowledge of technology and
business knowhow to our students, concluded Phonphoem.
The Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) Working Group for the
Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-PhilippinesEast ASEAN
Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)
identified three major projects to be included in the BIMP-EAGA Implementation Blueprint (IB)
for 2012-2016.
According to Attorney Jonalyn
Bagayan from the Mindanao Development Authority, the projects includes the roll
out of the ICT rural outreach program, the
establishment of the BIMP-EAGA
rink (submarine cable), and the implementation of the Intelligence Clearance
Identification (iClid).
The ICT Rural outreach program aims to improve ICT
literacy of rural communities through the construction of e-telecentres
equipped with e-Learning models and mobile applications.
In the
Philippines, the Committee has identified 30 pilot sites in the Autonomous
Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for the roll-out of
the e-telecentres. Each pilot site is expected to have 20 computers.
Trillink Inc. is the private sector lead of the program in the Philippines. The
latter is investing US$33 million for the installation
of around 2,000 telecentres in ARMM. Meanwhile, Brunei
has successfully implemented the programs first phase which includes training
courses on e-commerce and the establishment of e-telecentres equipped with
broadband internet, and other applications.
The BIMP - EAGA Rink project on the other
hand, aims to develop BIMP-EAGA
as a new hub and centre of investment by leveraging a Hybrid Communications
Platform which would make use of sea cable, satellite, or
terrestrial systems.
Lastly, the
iCLid project will use a combination of Radio-frequency Identification and web
technology to facilitate cross-border movement of goods and vehicles within the
BIMP-EAGA region.
Darussalam has already implemented the first phase of the project in Sungai
Tujoh and Kuala Lurah, and will extend it to Sabah and Sarawak checkpoints in
Malaysia for the second phase. Each checkpoint is estimated to cost around US$1.5 million.
When a large company or famous
philanthropist donates computers to children to advance their
learning and give them online access to the world, it makes an
impact. But when the donors are young teenagers who revamped and
renovated the computers themselves, it makes an even bigger impact.
Students and teachers at Forest Park
High School, a public magnet school in Woodbridge, Va., say their
schools computer donation program has become an essential part of
the learning experience. It has also become an essential asset for
the community.
The program combines academic learning
and hands-on lab work with community service. First students learn
about computer systems and networks. Then they rebuild used computers
and give them away to children and other schools needing computers.
It is the act of
giving that solidifies the learning experience, says Brian Hackett,
an instructional technologist at the school and co-coordinator for
the program. It becomes personal. You dont get personal in
learning until the kids see results of what they have learned.
Hackett thinks education in general
should head in the direction of combining schooling with community
service. Applying academic material gives it relevance.
The students seemed
to agree. When we go to events to give the computers away, the
parents and students are overwhelmed with joy. The smiles on their
faces are amazing, said Karl Stallknecht, a student at Forest
Park. You can see the big picture.
As the students worked on restoring
computers to mint condition during class, they spoke about their
coursework with enthusiasm. They seemed to grasp the complexities of
information technology as they discussed network systems, web
hosting, cloud-based solutions, Linux operating systems, and various
software programs. Listening to their high level of discourse, it was
clear they understood as least as much about technology as the
average adult working in the field.
(Source: eschool News)More details
The digital
gap that faced by Quechua-speaking communities of the Andes could be
reduced thanks to two initiatives that create content in this
language and replace the lack of Internet connectivity with off-line
A project
sponsored by One Laptop Per Child Association (OLPC by its acronym in
English), works in an offline version, based on the Wikipedia online
in Quechua language, so that could be used by students who speak that
language and have no Internet connectivity.
wiki page in Quechua is too good and it is wasted because most
Quechua speakers do not have Internet access" told Gonzalo
Odiard to SciDev.Net, from the Association OLPC and Sugar Labs
project, global initiative, which uses a computer learning platform
for children to learn together through the computer.
Odiard had
already successfully completed a similar project in Rwanda, based on
the wiki kinyarwanda.
The project
to provide a viewer for the wikipedia offline on computers using the
XO which use OLPC program was created by Chris Ball in 2008, in
Spanish and English.
Based on
this project, "we developed a set of tools used to process files
of wikipedia dump (a kind of backup of all contents of all pages in
the wiki), select a set of pages, compress and prepare so they can be
deployed locally on computers", said Odiard.
community Somos Azúcar will do the same with wikipedia pages
in Aymara and Guarani. This Projects would be aimed at users of the
highland areas of Peru and Bolivia in the first case, and Paraguay in
the second, where these languages are spoken, and where the
population has not full Internet access.
The most
important thing is that the project has no cost. "For every
wikipedia collaborate volunteers who speak the language and that we
are working, doing quality control and selecting relevant articles",
said Odiard.
initiative, the Mozilla community in Peru, seeks to turn the Quechua
language in one of the Firefox web browser, that is why the community
has invited to all Quechua speaker and who wish, to contribute in the
construction of the project.
SciDev.Net)Further details
The ICT
Ministry and the Ministry of Finance released the draft law Easy
Pay - Digital Pay, which seeks to bring transactional services to
the entire population and expanding demand over the Internet.
The Deputy
Minister for ICT, María Carolina Hoyos Turbay and Technical Deputy
Minister of Finance, Ana Fernanda Maiguashca, presented the draft law
'Easy Pay - Digital Pay' during the Third Congress of Access to
Financial Services, Payment Systems and Tools, organized by
Asobancaria in Cartagena (Colombia).
The project
serves a new digital payments business that will allow Colombians to
make their transactions safely, efficiently and at lower cost. It
also seeks financial inclusion of the population which develops
informal productive activities, and thus tending to the formalization
of the transactions in the economy.
idea is that people can do their financial transactions from their
phones, tablets and other mobile devices, to no longer waste time on
travel and rows. It is a great alternative for people who live in
rural or remote areas of banking areas", said Vice ICT.
Deputy Minister of Finance said that it is important a balance
between protection and access to electronic transactions, as this
project is part of the strategy that seeks that more Colombians are
Now there
are over one million users of mobile transaction, this thanks to the
coordination of different actors in the government and the private
sector, who in a joint, are driving the delivery of government
subsidies through electronic wallets.
mechanism has reduced prices incurred by the national government to
meet the basic needs of vulnerable sections of the country, and also
this social service is going to be provided in an efficient, quick
and transparent way.
banking has grown substantially in recent years. According to the
latest report of the Superintendency of Colombia, the channel used by
financial users in Colombia is the cell phone, with a 26% of
MINTIC Colombia)Further
The world's poorest countries can jump
directly from the pre-electricity era into a new industrial
revolution through an "energy Internet" the uptake of
renewable energy shared through communication technologies, argues
economist Jeremy Rifkin.
"The great
economic revolutions in history occur when new communication
technologies converge with new energy systems", writes Rifkin.
And now with
industrial civilization at a crossroads and the need to transition to
a post-carbon era internet technology and renewable energies are
coming together to create a new infrastructure for a Third Industrial
Revolution, a decentralized system where millions of people can
produce green energy locally and share it with each other.
Rifkin points out that because
developing countries do not have an aging electricity grid, they can
"leapfrog" into a new energy era by building new,
distributed electricity systems. This will significantly reduce the
time and cost of making the transition the European Union needs
to spend US$ 1.3 trillion between 2010 and 2020 to update electricity
grids and keep up with renewable energy.
Economic development
is impossible without reliable and affordable green electricity, says
Rifkin, and this democratization of energy will help raise 40 per
cent of the global population out of poverty. Power and control over
energy will shift from "giant" fossil fuel companies to
millions of small producers, diffusing risk as neighborhoods and
regions pool resources to create local grids.
Establishing this infrastructure to
transition to a Third Industrial Revolution will require setting down
several 'pillars' simultaneously, which include shifting to renewable
energy; building micro-power plants to collect renewable energies;
and using the Internet to create an "energy-sharing intergrid".
(Source:SciDevNet)Further details
On 15 March, was held the Consumer's Day in the world and to celebrate it,
the Superintendency of Industry and Trade in conjunction with the School Cafam,
prepared virtual guides 'Alert and Safety in the Network', by which, children and
young people will get information about the expected behavior on the Internet,
warning of hazards and risks, plus tips and suggestions for browsing the
is framed in the Act 1480 - 2011, through which was issued the Consumer
Protection Statute, which protects the right of all consumers to be educated
about their rights.
Deputy Minister for ICT, María Carolina Hoyos, helped to launch the project,
which intends to continue with the issue of virtual cards in matters of
protection and safety of children as consumers, to allow- through the use of
technological tools-present, disseminate
and educate Colombians about their rights under the law in their role as
the ICT Ministry is a priority to develop strategies for our children, so they
will be better users of ICT, especially Internet and, as such, they should respect
their rights. Committed
to that purpose, under the Digital Living Plan, we developed the strategy
'EnTicConfio', a novel model by which we produce, collect and disclose content to
provide citizens with valuable tools to make better use of ICT ", said Hoyos,
the Deputy Minister.
the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce started to provide to
manufacturers, suppliers and marketers of good services, as well as general
users, the tool called VIRTUAL BOX, by which they can meet the demands that
promote consumer to
the entity, as an efficient and expeditious channel of communication with the
(Source: MINTIC Colombia)
Further details
South Africa is leading the way in
launching mobile health (mHealth) services with some of the most
successful and best known mHealth initiatives having been developed
in this country. This is according to Andrea Monteiro, director of
Mobile Health Africa, which will gather the leading minds in the
industry in Johannesburg in May.
Africa suffers more than 24% of the
global burden of disease, says Andrea, but has an average of
only two doctors per 10,000 people a shocking statistic. It means
that providing the majority of people in Africa with healthcare is a
major challenge. She says the evolution of mHealth services in
Africa is enabling the drastic improvement of the healthcare
infrastructure: In its most basic form it will provide access to
healthcare advice and information even in the most remote parts
According to the Mobile Health Africa
director, South Africa represents the ideal platform for the
deployment and evolution of mHealth services. She explains: The
country has a brilliant telecoms infrastructure, both in terms of
service provisioning and technology and is home to several
entrepreneurial NGOs currently investing in mobile technologies. On a
social level, mobile penetration rates are very high, and other
mobile services such as mobile money/mobile banking are already well
established and used successfully on a day-to-day basis.
The objective is to
evolve pilots to successful live mHealth deployments. Mobile Health
Africa 2012 will provide the perfect platform for the establishment
of the business models and partnerships needed to build sustainable
and scalable mHealth services throughout Africa. The event will
feature presentations from organizations and companies that are
leading the development of mHealth initiatives on the continent.
Mobile Health Africa 2012 is part of
the Connected Africa Forum, which will showcase the evolution of
mobile lifeline services and applications in Africa, and highlight
the evolving intersection between mobile money, mobile health and
mobile agriculture.
More details(Source: PR. Com)
In quarterly tracking studies through
fall 2012, InterMedia is monitoring trends in awareness and use of
mobile money in Tanzania, for the benefit of the financial access
stakeholder community.
This first quarterly report, covering
the period Sept-Nov. 2011, provides a concise view on levels of
awareness and use, triggers and deterrents to use, what alternatives
to mobile money services are being used, and perspectives on
successful marketing of mobile money services.
As Key
Points this report shows:
Ownership of a mobile phone in
Tanzania is high with more than three-quarters (78 percent) of
Tanzanians having household ownership of a mobile phone and 63
percent having personal ownership.
General awareness
of mobile money (MM) services in Tanzania is almost universal with
93 percent of Tanzanians aware of at least one brand of mobile money
services. However, only about a quarter of the population (24
percent) is actually using MM.
Use of mobile money is not even
across demographic characteristics.
Usage of mobile money is
positively associated with ownership of mobile phones.
Income often not a factor in usage
of MM applications.
MM usage still restricted to
sending and receiving money.
Non-MM users are not yet convinced
that MM is reliable, trustworthy, or convenient.
Rural females
living below the $1.25/day PPP poverty line, the population least
likely to use MM currently, express the most interest in the
products safety, security and convenience.
Full Report(Source: InterMedia)
paper makes the case for a National Software and Broadband Policy in
support of the recently published draft National ICT Policy of
January 2012 by the Ministry of Communications Technology's
Ministerial Committee on ICT Policy Harmonization which includes in
its objectives, "To encourage the development of Broadband
services that will enable Nigerians enjoy the benefits of
globalization and convergence".
Specifically, the
paper builds on the Broadband Section of the policy which states that
"It is widely acknowledged that broadband infrastructure is an
enabler for economic and social growth in the digital economy.
Therefore as part
of the universal service obligation, broadband access shall be made
universally available to all citizens." This section of the
policy sets the National Broadband objectives as - To accelerate the
penetration of affordable broadband Internet in the country and - to
foster broadband usage for national development.
The strategies put
forward for achieving these objectives are that the Government shall:
(Source: allAfrica)Further
Survivors of the 2010 devastating
earthquake in Haiti have this week started receiving cash subsidies
through the first-ever mobile money transfer system in support of
post-disaster housing reconstruction, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) reported.
More than 2,000 mobile money transfers
are planned in the next three months to 1,000 low-income families
receiving subsidies totalling $500 to purchase construction materials
such as cement, iron and wood at selected project-certified stores.
The initiative is part of the Community Support Centres for House
Repairs, a partnership between UNDP and the Government of Haiti.
Commissioned by UNDP and developed by
Digicel, one of the countrys largest cell phone service providers,
the mobile telephone cash transfers are helping boost financial
inclusion in Haiti, where nearly two-thirds of the population has
access to mobile phones, but only 10 per cent have bank accounts.
Beneficiaries can also access a mobile
phone checking account, which is a safer method of keeping cash,
reduces financial transaction costs, improves users ability to
save and helps bring more people into the formal financial sector.
Mobile phone vouchers create
additional security and convenience here in Haiti, especially for
women, who might feel more vulnerable when carrying large sums of
money, said Jessica Faieta, Senior UNDP Country Director for
Haiti. She stressed that more than 40 per cent of Haitian households
are led by women.
With safer housing conditions, this
initiative will also encourage the permanent return of camp residents
to their neighbourhoods and repaired homes, she added.
The Support Centres, known locally by
their French acronym as CARMEN, have been empowering quake-affected
communities in Port-au-Prince and the western town of Léogâne to
directly take charge of house repairs, with engineering assessments
and construction training.
Four thousand families have already
registered to participate in the project, benefiting 12,000 people.
Five thousand participants have been trained in construction
techniques and 2,000 damaged houses have already been evaluated,
according to UNDP.(Source: United
Based on the explosive growth in global
mobile phone penetration, a technology revolution is quickly gaining
pace in healthcare. Around the world, healthcare systems are
overburdened, costly and incapable of meeting the needs of a growing
population. According to a new study from The Boston Consulting Group
and Telenor Group, mobile health technology can offer sizeable
benefits to all countries, lead to economic growth and promise a
better life for individuals.
The study "Socio-Economic Impact
of mHealth " - commissioned by Telenor Group and carried out by
The Boston Consulting Group - is a comprehensive survey of the impact
that mHealth initiatives can have in 12 countries. What unites them
all is that mobile health technology can improve the quality, reach
and effectiveness of services while reducing costs and the overall
system burden.
Telenor Group has launched a number of
mobile health initiatives across its markets. In Norway, an assisted
living project helps the elderly stay longer at home through mobile
alarm systems. In Thailand, a mobile text messaging service provides
epidemic surveillance. In Bangladesh and Pakistan, a service called
Healthline provides patients with a simple number to dial for both
serious and non-serious medical needs. In India, mothers can obtain
critical information about prenatal health via their phones. In
Montenegro, a joint project with the EU provides a service for
remotely located elderly people, enabled by one touch on a button on
their mobile handset. In Serbia, mobile health technology is used to
increase the quality of medical registration and reporting for the
Roma community.
Among the key findings:
The necessary infrastructure is
already in everyone's hands: 7.4 billion mobile subscriptions
projected by 2015
The technology richness and
network capacity is sufficient, both on simple feature phones and on
smart devices
Currently, more than 500 mobile
health projects are taking place around the world
Costs in elderly care can be
reduced by 25% with mobile healthcare
Maternal and perinatal mortality
can be reduced by 30%
Twice as many rural patients can
be reached per doctor
Tuberculosis treatment compliance
can be improved by 30-70%
30% of smartphone users are likely
to use "wellness apps" by 2015
Costs related to data collection
can be reduced by 24%
Smartphone is the most popular
technology among doctors since the stethoscope
(Source: Reuters News)Further details
farmers organization in Western Kenya uses mobile phones to access
a digital marketplace and bypass middlemen. Now trading directly with
exporters, the group is seeing dramatic increases in income. New
mobile applications are also being used to provide timely information
about disease outbreaks to farmers in Eastern Africa, so they can
prepare and prevent the pests from affecting their livestock.
Understanding and
addressing global agriculture developments - both positive and
negative - are critical to improving smallholder livelihoods. These
are just two examples of how the use of information and communication
technologies (ICT) can improve smallholder farmers income and
increase agricultural productivity. Expanded and increasingly
affordable connectivity and tools, especially mobile phones, as well
as advances in data storage and open access, have made ICT relevant
to agriculture.
Now, the World
Banks Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) has
teamed up with infoDev to connect smallholder farmers to knowledge,
networks, and institutions.The missing link to achieving
smallholder farmer growth has always been access to timely,
cost-effective, and personally relevant information on improved
practices, markets, prices, inputs, weather - and impending
disasters, said Mark Cackler, sector manager for ARD.
farmers, who still provide a significant portion of the worlds
food, need information to advance their work just as much as
industrial-scale producers, but they often lack access to simple
tools and technologies that can provide essential information on
prices, markets, varieties, production techniques, services, storage,
or processing. As a result, smallholder farmers remain dependent
primarily on word of mouth, previous experience, and local
this is changing as the types of ICT-enabled services useful to
improving the capacity and livelihoods of poor smallholders are
growing quickly. For example, short messaging service (SMS) is now
enabling mobile phones to be used as a platform for agricultural
information exchange.(Source: The World
ICTs and Agricultural
Adaptation to Climate Change
The CAMELTEC project focuses on radio's
contribution to sustainable mountain livelihoods in the Peruvian
Andes. This project aims to address technological, social, political
and institutional issues that affected these communities.
CAMELTEC was broad
ranging in its remit; aiming to address technological, social,
political and institutional issues that affected these communities.
There was a strong informational component based mainly around radio
and offering meteorological warnings but also advice on husbandry to
reduce the impact of climate variability on animal disease and death.
Such advice was provided both in preparations for cold spells or
other weather events, and during those events themselves.
The project also addressed itself to
factors such as markets and market pricing for alpaca wool, and the
organization of the alpaca farmers and the institutional support
provided by local government and others.
Overall, the CAMELTEC project aims to
use radio and other means to achieve three goals:
Strengthen local
organizations such as farmer cooperatives to enable the introduction
of sustainable (including climate sustainable) livestock practices.
Improve the
quality and quantity of alpaca wool being produced, through good
husbandry and reproductive management practices.
Improve income
through changes to wool output and through better market access.
(Source: e-agriculture)Full Report
Choudhary, a former
BBC journalist, with the support from the International Center for
Journalists, with whom he is a Knight International Journalism
Fellow, began an experiment in citizen journalism.
"We understood
it would have to be cheap and that voice would be key -- because
people are not comfortable with reading and writing", he said.
The initial phase of the experiment, which revolved around the
internet and community radio stations, "failed completely",
he admitted. But then he took a different tack, focusing on mobile
phones, which have a 74% penetration rate in India.
"Mobile is the
most democratic tool in India today", said Choudhary. Although
the mobile penetration rate in rural areas was about half the
national level (36%), phones were still a common sight even in the
most remote villages. "When we started working in 2004-5 in the
villages, we did not see mobile phones. But there has been a
sea-change. Mobile phone use has exploded".
The result, CGNet
Swara (roughly, the "voice of Chhattisgarh") is a voice
portal that allows anyone with a mobile phone to record or listen to
news and items of interest. The operation is simple: on dialing the
service's number, users press "1" to record a report, or
"2" to listen to one. Once a report is recorded, it is
verified and edited by a team of moderators before being made
accessible on the service.
The service "did
better than we ever expected", said Choudhary. He added that in
the two years since it began, Swara has had 9,000 users, logged more
than 30,000 phone calls and published 750 news stories, including a
number which have had a big impact. For example, in January last
year, Swara published a citizen journalist interview with Pitbasu
Bhoi, a disabled man who said he had not been paid wages for 100 days
of work on the government's flagship rural job guarantee scheme.
Other stories have shared allegations
including villages being razed in raids by security forces, police
brutality, food programs for poor children going months without
receiving supplies, and resistance to land being taken over for
(Source: CNN News)Further details
Under the auspices
of the Global Research Alliance (GRA), Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS
together with several partners from Europe, Africa and Australia has
launched the GRA ICT4D project on a green and low-cost wireless
communication network for rural Zambia.
In this project the Global Research
Alliance (GRA) has initiated cooperation between major research
institutes worldwide with the objective of challenging the lack of
access to the world-wide communication infrastructure in rural areas
of developing countries.
The GRA ICT4D
project joins the efforts of VTT (Finland), CSIRO (Australia), the
Meraka Institute (South Africa) and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in
Germany and Portugal, to take advantage of each institutes
individual expertise to jointly develop a communication
infrastructure suitable to provide Internet access in rural
Sub-Sahara-Africa. The organization MachaWorks supports the
initiative as a local anchor-point in rural Zambia.
More specifically:
CSIRO provides an efficient
satellite-based infrastructure to reach rural areas;
Fraunhofer Germany provides a
terrestrial wireless infrastructure to bring this satellite
connectivity into the wide area;
Portugal contributes with software solutions for mobile devices
which will address local demands and will be piloted on top of the
developed communication infrastructure;
VTT integrates its network
management concepts to take advantage of the networks context
Meraka contributes with its
experience in wireless mesh concepts, in particular the community
mesh and the wireless backhaul;
MachaWorks will support local
deployment, test and evaluation at a rural area in Zambia.
The GRA ICT4D project is planned to
last until the end of 2013.
(Source: Fraunhofer)Further details
Recent mobile phone initiatives in
Bangladesh are allowing patients to reach a health worker for advice
at no cost 24 hours a day, receive prenatal care reminders and even
send complaints about patient care. It
is difficult to manage doctors for [a national population of] 140
million people. We are using mobile phone service to bridge this
treatment gap, Abul Kalam Azad, a senior official at the
Directorate General of Health Services, told IRIN. Close
to 60 percent of the population - some 85 million people - use mobile
phones in Bangladesh, according to a December 2011 report from the
countrys telecommunications regulatory commission. Cut off
from formal medical care, some patients turn to untrained or fake
doctors, leading to fatal remedies, said Azad, who wants to counter
this trend with sound health advice. Since 2009, the
government has provided cell phones to 482 sub-district and district
government hospitals, which are used as round-the-clock hotlines
staffed by health workers. Nationwide there is one doctor for
every 3,200 residents and one hospital bed for every 1,738 people,
according to government data published in 2011. While this
proportion of doctors to residents exceeds the World Health
Organization (WHO) recommended minimum of one doctor per 10,000
residents to ensure basic health services, the picture in rural areas
is markedly different. There are many
hard-to-reach areas where it is difficult for the people to quickly
rush to the hospitals. These people are getting health advice by the
mobile phone health service, said Azad. The country is in the
bottom 20 countries ranked by NGO Save the Children for health
workers ability to reach patients in need.
(Source: IRIN
News)Furhter details
WARID and Orange Uganda have joined the
Mobile Money network to offer money transfer services to their
clients. MTN's Mobile money and UTL's M-Sente are already in
operation with DSTV, Umeme, NWSC among others using this service for
customers to settle their bills.
At Case Clinic for example, you clearly
see a notice displayed at the payment point that they accept mobile
money payments. This can be helpful in a number of ways, assuming
you are short on cash of course as you did not know the cost of the
drugs coupled with the consultation fee, you could go ahead and call
up a friend to bail you out by sending the money to your phone so
that the medical bills can be settled.
Not so many people might be embracing
it now but it will be a matter of time before this becomes a way of
life though problems like load shedding can easily affect you if you
do not charge your mobile phone.
To access your account which in this
case is your mobile phone, it must be on. To receive money as well,
the phone must be on because unlike SMS that can be delivered when
the phone is switched on, you must use a service centre to retrieve
mobile money messages.(Source: Uganda
The start of the End User Computing
learnership programme which will equip 34 young women in Ekurhuleni
Metropolitan Municipality was celebrated by the Progressive Womens
Movement of South Africa (PWMSA) and Bytes People Solutions (BPS)
This follows the signing of an MoU
between the three primary partners PWMSA, Bytes People Solutions and
the Media, Advertising, Information and Communication Technologies
Sector Training Authority (MICT Seta) to train 180 young women in ICT
in six municipalities. The municipalities are Tshwane, Ekurhuleni,
Metsweding, Sedibeng, Wesrand and Johannesburg Central.
Funding for the programme was provided
by the Media, Advertising, Information and Communication Technologies
Sector Training Authority (MICT Seta). The group of women from the
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality are the second to start the
programme following the commencement of the training in the Tshwane
Metropolitan Municipality in July 2011.
The learners are offered employment
utilizing the workplace networks of the three partners. Learners are
employed for one year, during which they will receive workplace
training and coaching.
Bytes People Solutions, a company in
the Bytes Technology Group, wholly owned by JSE-listed Altron, has a
long-standing track record in ICT training, with more than 800 people
a year passing through its doors, 59% of them female.
Dr. Ramokgopa, who
is also a working committee member of the PWMSA and convener of the
Gauteng Chapter, said that the programme had attracted young women
who strongly believed that it would enhance their employment
prospects. "The most important partners in this programme are
the participants themselves", she said. "There is a high
ICT illiteracy rate among women in the country, and this group of
graduates is helping to address that. Its vital that we continue
to educate females in this industry as they play a key role in
economic development.
(Source: SkillsPortal)Further details
Millions of people in Africa and the
Middle East will be able to benefit from free, unlimited access to
the online encyclopedia Wikipedia through their mobile phone,
starting later this year. The scheme targets the region's 70 million
customers of the mobile network provider Orange, who will be given
free access to Wikipedia on their internet-enabled 'smart' phones.
The deal struck between Orange and the
Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that operates
Wikipedia, will allow Orange customers to read and download
information from Wikipedia without the usual data usage charges.
"Price is a strong barrier to people accessing the Internet,
particularly in Africa", said Vanessa Clarke, spokesperson for
But the project will face several
challenges, according to local experts. Catherine Ngahu, chair of the
Kenya ICT Board, said few people in the region own a 'smart' phone
that can connect to the internet. "Although there is increasing
ownership of smart phones, there is still a large number of people
who cannot afford them", she told SciDev.Net. "In order to
widen reach, Orange should consider marketing lower cost smart
Michael Njuku of the Kenya Revenue
Authority said obstacles will range from low quality mobile handsets
people own to a network provider's ability to handle the increased
Internet traffic as customers try to access Wikipedia, sometimes
millions at a time. "Governments in Africa must also do more to
ensure that poor quality counterfeit gadgets are not imported into
their countries", he said.
Clarke said the scheme will be rolled
out in mid-2012, initially in about eight countries, and by December
some 20 countries will benefit.
She said between seven and 15 per cent
of Orange customers in Africa and the Middle East currently have
phones that access the Internet, but the company plans to increase
the proportion to 50 per cent by 2015.
Kul Wadhwa, Head of Mobile and Business
Development at the Wikimedia Foundation, said he expects the scheme
to encourage more people in Africa to read, contribute and download
information from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is the world's largest online
encyclopedia, maintained by a global community of volunteers. It
contains explanations of many scientific terms and issues, and some
have suggested it could be used to share scientific knowledge.
(Source: SciDev News)Further details
More than 3000 public schools in the
Philippines are now enjoying the learning and teaching benefits
derived from the desktop virtualization technology applied in
many e-Classrooms, as part of the Department of Educations
Computerization Programme.
The Computerization
programme is an initiative by the Government that aims to have public
elementary and secondary schools nationwide use Information
Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching, learning, school
management, and governance.
This technology enables
one host system to power six computers simultaneously. This is in
contrast to an older practice where each desktop is connected to a
Central Processing Unit (CPU).
By using desktop virtualization,
schools can reduce the number of required CPUs in computer
laboratories, thereby also reducing hardware costs by 50 per cent, 75
per cent on support costs, and 90 per cent on energy consumption
In addition, the said
technology has the potential to improve student-to-computer ratios in
many schools nationwide thereby also improving IT literacy of many
The same technology is also being
adopted by many public schools in Asian countries such as India,
Pakistan, and Bhutan.
Malaysia is introducing
a Smart City-Smart Village initiative expected to contribute RM 95
billion (US$30.6 billion) to the national economy by 2020.
The project, to be
implemented through the Global Science and Innovation Academy Council
(GSIAC), aims to balance development in the urban and rural areas,
focusing on the use of green technology and ICT, said GSIAC in a
The goal is to
improve everything from energy use to healthcare, education, traffic
and shopping by doing it smart with the help of ICT and green
Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Abdul Tun Razak, who chairs GSIAC, has endorsed this
programme with a vision to benefit and transform the living standards
of the Rakyat. Smart community projects are expected to empower and
connect communities with an inclusive socio-economic approach to
growth based on the New Economic Model and Vision 2020 agenda.
program Padrino Tecnológico has been introduced in the
University of Alcala de Henares as part of the activities of CAPTA II, organized by
the Chair for the Improvement of Personal Autonomy of Telefonica,
which objective is the research, development, education and outreach to strengthen technologies such as "Internet of Things" and increase personal
autonomy of certain groups (Disabled people, elderly, sick people
initiative has as protagonists to the "sponsors",
volunteers who spend time for designing and developing ICT solutions
for children with motor and / or cognitive high impairment. It also
has the involvement of the University students as potential
entrepreneurs, who could use the existing market niche around
disability, who are nearly 1,000 million people worldwide.
concerning to the accessibility, experts from the National Center of
Accessibility (CENTAC), the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and
Telefónica, which participated in the conference, wanted to
highlight the key issue that services based on Internet of
Things will be viable and accessible for all society: design but
taking into account all people, whatever their capabilities, making
them affordable; paying attention in the security and privacy of
data, taking advantage of them, and promoting digital literacy for
easy using.
Internet of Things is not only key for the inclusion in the
society of people with disabilities, but also constitutes an
industrial sector to develop, which may contribute to the
sustainability of Health, for example, by telecare solutions for the
chronically ill and to seek a healthy aging (keep in mind that at
2050, 30% of the Spanish population will be more than 80 years old).
the meeting, attended by over 100 people, also they stressed the
benefits of smart cities or smartcities. So, Javier Vizcaino, manager
of Public Administrations of Telefónica for the Centre Territory,
explained that these smart cities provide suitable information to
public managers, so they can take better decisions, make easy the
participation of citizens, promote efficiency in the use of energy
resources, and improve accessibility.
Telefonica España)Further
is a blogger, host of the "allied base" in the GNT and
music producer. Nina is a journalist and writes for the magazine
"TPM". Daniela Dantas, writes in the blog "Girls and
girls." Lola is a professor at the Federal University of Ceará
and blogger on "Lola Post Write." Giovana is editor of
"YouPIX" and writer in the blog "Girl Geeks".
Fernanda is an actress, producer and blogger "Fake Doll."
guests, the myth of the "Club of Little Lulu" is still too
prevalent among women. "Women like to talk to each other, not
only because of similar issues, but why this woman understands the
universe", Says Julia. Lola believes that what happens is the
opposite. There are more "boys club that the "Little
Lulu" and those have more prejudice. The teacher said most of
the jokes come from men and you see that kind of attitude as a child.
younger audience, represented by Daniela blogger, says children are
participating in public opinion polls of the blog, and which is
predominantly female. Thinking about the content area, Julia believes
in the feminine nature of talking more and in the issues addressed.
guests believe in the expansion of the public information, what
happens in recent years. With the rise of blogs and the rise of
Internet access, women began to seek more information of interest in
the web. However, this flood of content consumption aggravated the
problem in people. Previously, they knew that they know not so much.
Today, the pressure implied by the corporate media is so great that
people end up buying the pieces before the main product, it is not
necessary. "The lack of filtering of information is one of the
main culprits of this desire to buy en masse", says Giovanna.
At the
end of the talk, the guests were pleased with the progress of women
in technology and fear of lack of knowledge of women, the tools used
for work. And that's why Campus Party always tries to bring together
diverse segments such as robotics and digital arts, for example, for
a week, the participant may have contact with these areas and an open
mind to new content.
Campus Party Brasil)Further details
Thailand decided to buy up to 900,000
tablet computers from China via a government-to-government contract
with payment made in cash and produce for its One Tablet per Child
A memorandum of
understanding on the planned procurement was signed by the two
countries, said Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Minister Anudith Nakorntha yesterday.
We are negotiating
the price and payment options with China, he said. He also
expected the negotiations to conclude this month.
He added that the
negotiation would be based on mutual benefit. The negotiation will
be fair to both sides. China is a big manufacturer. It can offer
tablets at a competitive price.
Nakornthap revealed
that the government had already approved a THB 1.9-billion budget
(US$ 63.3 million) for the procurement of 560,000 tablets to the
Ministry of Education, though the ICT ministry will handle the
However, he said that more funds would
be needed because the Education Ministry plans to distribute the
devices to all 860,000 first graders before the start of the upcoming
semester in May. With some tablets to be given to children in other
grades, the ministry will need up to 900,000 units of them.
In the department of Chocó, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos,
through the Ministry of ICT, delivers mobile classrooms with that seek to
promote quality education, fostering development and reducing poverty through
the use of ICT tools.
The mobile classrooms are a new concept of Computers for Schools, program
from the ICT Ministry, that has given technology to about 7 million children in
the public sector educational institutions in Colombia.
"We are promoting inclusion and educational equity throughout Colombia
because these technological tools must serve all sectors of our country. The
technology gives a child from Quibdó the same opportunities of any other child
from another city", said Minister Molano Vega.
With the mobile classrooms, which are transported by all classrooms of
educational center benefited, the students from different courses may have
access to technology and digital content, which are the main support to improve
the quality of education.
This was demonstrated by a recent study of CEDE from the University of Los
Andes, which showed that education mediated by ICTs improve academic
achievement and encourage students not to leave their classes, among other
positive impacts.
The benefited schools from the new
mobile classrooms in Chocó are the Educational Institute Antonio Ricaurte, which
has over 70 students enrolled, and the Educational Institution Industrial
Carrasquilla, where there is nearly 900 children.
"We hope make the best use of this equipments that come to us because
these are low-income schools and these tools opens up new opportunities",
said the rector of the school Carrasquilla, Lucia Diaz Torres. Meanwhile, the
president of the Institution Antonio Ricaurte, Antonio Ledesma said that access
to technology makes the children from Chocó citizens of the world.
(Source: MINTIC - Colombia)
With internet usage
on the rise, Pakistanis are turning to the blogosphere and citizen journalism
to share their opinions. Hosh Media
epitomizes the growing popularity of locally-based, online portals for citizen
journalism in Pakistan.
According to the Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the number of broadband internet
subscribers rose from 26,611 in 2005 to 1,656,800 in September 2011; an
increase of 1.5 million subscribers. It is also estimated that as of 2011,
Pakistans population stands at approximately 187 million; of this, the
internet penetration is estimated at over 20 million.
Given the
proliferation of internet usage in Pakistan, local citizen journalism portals
have also seen a rise in popularity. SeenReport, Gawaahi, Maati
TV, and other blogs and websites initiated by local media outlets and
independent journalists/bloggers have given Pakistanis with access to the
internet the chance to have their voices heard.
Hosh Media, though, has a specific focus
as a citizen journalism portal. Hosh is an Urdu word that loosely translated
means to awaken, and that is precisely what it hopes to do. By connecting the
blogosphere and traditional reporting in Pakistan, founder and Pakistani
journalist, Sahar Habib Ghazi, wanted to create a fresh way to engage the
public while infusing news with youthful perspectives and voices.
Learning Day is a nationwide celebration of innovative teaching and learning
through digital media and technology that engages students and provides them
with a rich, personalized educational experience. On Digital Learning Day, a
majority of states, hundreds of school districts, thousands of teachers, and
nearly 2 million students will encourage the innovative use of technology by
trying something new, showcasing success, kicking off project-based learning,
or focusing on how digital tools can help improve student outcomes.
any instructional practice that is effectively using technology to strengthen
the student learning experience. Digital learning encompasses a wide spectrum
of tools and practices, including using online and formative assessment,
increasing focus and quality of teaching resources and time, online content and
courses, applications of technology in the classroom and school building,
adaptive software for students with special needs, learning platforms,
participating in professional communities of practice, providing access to
high-level and challenging content and instruction, and many other advancements
technology provides to teaching and learning. In particular, blended
learning is any time a student learns, at least in part, at a
supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and, at least in part,
through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place,
path, and/or pace.
On February
1, 2012, the Alliance for Excellent Education hosted an in-depth webcast
featuring moderated discussion of video footage of innovation in action looking
at leadership, instruction, innovation, every subject area, and effective
Project implemented by Gilat Peru and the
Telecommunications Investment Fund (FITEL) exceeds 85% of the goals for the
first five months of implementation.
For the first time in the history of the
region of Valley of Apurimac and Ene river (VRAE), a total of 167 000
inhabitants have access to fixed telephony and Internet services, services that
since December 2011 - reach 660 locations from 776 locations that are included
in the Project "Broadband for the Development of VRAE and the Communities
between Camisea and Lurin", implemented by Gilat Peru and the Telecommunications
Investment Fund (FITEL).
The project includes the regions of
Huancavelica, Apurimac, Junín, Cusco, Ayacucho, Ica and Lima, and consists to
facilitate the access to public telephony, fixed telephony and Internet
services subscribers for the inhabitants of the valley of VRAE.
Five months after starting work, the
process is advanced by more than 85%. Gilat informed that there are 82 Internet
points installed from 110 total proposed by the project and 588 towns with
operating public phones. To date, a total of 660 rural entrepreneurs have
received training in marketing, promotional services, business management and
leadership, which has given them great benefits. It is expected that all
facilities will be installed on March 2012.
In addition, Gilat has conducted awareness
campaigns using the Internet to more than 7 000 people in 82 towns that already
have this service. This process includes topics such as Computer Basics and
Basic Principles of User Navigation.
© Copyright 2017, International Telecommunication Union
The information presented within this blog comes from various organizations around the world. ITU encourages users to seek more detailed information from the original source through the links provided.
Links to third-party websites are provided for the convenience of all users. The ITU is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content on these third-party websites. ITU does not offer any guarantee in that regard nor does ITU endorse the third-party organizations, their sites or content.


text:
MARK COLBYAffiliation:
Jazz Musician
Artist's BiographyMark Colby was born in Brooklyn, NY to a father who was a professional musician and passed his love for music on to his son. By age 8, Mark was playing the clarinet and by 11 he had switched to saxophone. At age 13, his family moved to Miami and soon, his professional music career began. Through high school and college, Mark worked professionally playing private functions and shows on Miami Beach where he played with Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Bill Cosby and scores of other acts.
While in college, Colby started recording with Dr. John, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett and the Bee Gees. After graduating from the University Of Miami with a Masters degree in Jazz Studies, he got called to join Maynard Ferguson's band in June of 1975. Mark stayed as featured soloist and musical director for three years. After traveling around the world, touring and recording with Maynard, he joined Bob James band and stayed there for the next 6 years. Bob James signed Mark to Columbia Records where he recorded two solo albums.
In 1980, Mark moved to Chicago where he quickly was accepted in the ranks of studio musicians recording albums and jingles. During that time, he appeared with Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Williams and also Jaco Pastorius whom he had played with during the 1970s. Mark has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as the Milwaukee and Miami Symphony Orchestras.
In 1983, Colby received an invitation to join the jazz faculty at Depaul University, and in 1998 also joined the faculty at Elmhurst College. For the past twenty years or so, Mark has also been doing clinics, workshop, and concerts with high school and college bands representing Selmer saxophones and Vandoren reeds.
In 1998, Mark signed with Hallway Records where he has released 3 critically acclaimed solo recordings. His first album titled Reunion featured Mark in duet with pianist Vince Maggio. Mark's second album, Tenor Reference was recorded live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. His latest, "Speaking Of Stan," dedicated to Colby's friend and mentor Stan Getz, reached #3 on the Jazz Radio Charts.
Photo Credit: Sam Schacker

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Brevard, N.C. - After Catawba took game one of the Monday afternoon doubleheader over the Tornados 11-2, Liz Houser came to the mound for Brevard in game two and pitched six innings of no-hit ball on her way to leading the Tornados to their first South Atlantic Conference victory of the season, 4-2.
The Tornados move to 14-10, 1-3 in the SAC for the season, while Catawba moves to 16-12, 3-1 in conference play.
Game 1: Catawba 11, Brevard 2
Jennifer Brown launched a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fourth, but the Tornados were not able to muster much offense other than that in game one as Catawba starter Chelsea Wallace allowed three hits in the game. Jennifer Gift (7-6) suffered the loss for Brevard, allowing 11 runs, while striking out four.
The Lady Indians opened up the scoring in the top of the second as Callie Gordy reached on a one-out single up the middle. Gordy stole second and Kathryn Geouge walked, bringing up Kristyn Funderburke, who delivered a line drive double to left center, scoring Gordy and Geouge to give Catawba the early 2-0 lead.
Catawba doubled the score in the top of the fourth. Jessie Whitesides reached on a two-out single and scored on Ryann Baker's double to right center. The next batter, Carly Sabat, reached on a bloop single to left field and Baker scored as the Tornado left fielder misplayed the ball. Gift retired Allie Marshall on a fly ball to right to end the inning with no further damage.
The Tornados got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Beth Brooker opened the inning with a check swing single back to the pitcher. Kristina Clayton and Chelsi Mallory moved Brooker over to third on grounders, giving way to Jennifer Brown's blast.
However, Brevard was unable to tally any runs the rest of the way as Catawba scored four in the top of the sixth and three more in the top of the seventh to take the 11-2 win.
Offensively, the Tornados were led by Jennifer Brown with her home run, first of the 2009 season, while Catawba was led by Funderburke who went 2-3 with a double and three RBIs.
Game 2: Brevard 4, Catawba 2
Liz Houser (7-4) carried a no-hitter through the first six innings of game two, before a leadoff single by Sabat in the top of the seventh ended the run. Houser allowed three hits, striking out four on the way to her seventh win of the season. Meghan Cobb took the loss for the Lady Indians, allowing nine hits and four runs, while retiring four Tornados on strikes.
After a one-two-three inning to open the game, the Tornados put a run on the board in the bottom of the first. Brooker led off with a single as she dropped a shallow pop-up that died on the infield clay. Clayton followed Brooker with a check swing bunt that went past the glove of the Catawba third baseman to give Brevard runners on first and second. Mallory's bunt back to Cobb scored the first Tornado run of the game as Cobb's throw to first short-hopped the first baseman allowing Brooker to score from third. Cobb retired the next two batters to end the inning.
Houser kept things moving as she faced ten batters in the next three innings without allowing a hit before the Tornados came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth. Brevard loaded the bases as Jennifer Brown reached on a fielder's choice, Katie Brown singled to right center and Becca Curlee dropped a bunt down the third baseline for a base hit. Cobb retired Maddie Fletcher on a fly ball down the right field line but Katie Thornburg drove a soft line drive up the middle to score Jennifer Brown and Sarah Carlos drove a sharp grounder past a diving Catawba shortstop to drive in Katie Brown and Curlee to open up a 4-0 lead.
Sabat gave the Lady Indians their first hit in game two with a single up the middle. Marshall drove a base hit to right center, moving Sabat to third where she scored on Brittany Thornburg's sacrifice fly to right field. Catawba loaded the bases as Cassie Markham reached on an infield single and Erin Witalison made it to first on an error by the Brevard third baseman. Houser caught Geouge looking at a called third strike, and after pinch runner MacKenzie White scored on a wild pitch, Houser sealed the win as Funderburke hit a grounder back to the mound.
Carlos led the Tornados offense in game two with her two-run single, while Sabat's single up the middle to break the no-hitter was the highlight for the Catawba offense in the second game.
Due to the heavy rain this past weekend, the Tornados continue their SAC schedule tomorrow afternoon as they head to Greeneville, Tenn. to take on Tusculum College. First pitch between the Tornados and the Lady Pioneers is set for 2 p.m. Catawba takes a day off before heading to Wingate, N.C. for a conference doubleheader against Wingate, also scheduled for 2 p.m.


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A man notices a stunning older woman at a bar. He thinks, She's beautiful. I wonder if she has a daughter.
The woman approaches him and says, "I saw you staring at me. Were you thinking about a mother-daughter thing?"
Stunned, the man says, "As a matter of fact, I was."
"Is that something you'd be interested in?" she asks.
"Are you kidding!? Absolutely!"
The woman then nods her head, looks over her shoulder, and says, "Hey, Ma!"
About the jokester:
Addison Timlin acquired her joke from Al Pacino on the set of last year's Stand Up Guys. Even though she's busy with this month's release of Best Man Down, she still makes time for the occasional dinner with her new buddy. "He's not Al Pacino to me anymore. He's like Uncle Al. Which is ludicrous." Next, Timlin begins filming Fallen, a teenage-fantasy movie. At 22, she'll be able to pass along the joke to a whole new generation.
—Matt Goulet
*Esquire cannot guarantee that this joke will be funny to everyone.
Published in the December 2013 issue
40 Years of Terrifying Little Girls


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As said light hearted nothing to serious but if you put all the british mma fighters including ireland in a room, Who would be the last man standing. Now Egos aside its just a bit of fun just interested to hear opinions. Mine would be
Mark Potter. I know I once asked why he was ranked so high in mma but he looks one tough dude.
Lets keep it friendly and fun please.
ps this is including Ufc Aas long as there from the following country's
I would be the first to be dropped by 99% of the cage warriors forum lol


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WATCH: Bolts on the water: Young fisherman nearly struck by lightning
A Texas teen had an incredibly close call with a bolt of lightning while boating on Lake Athens this past weekend.
The video uploaded by 16-year-old Tucker Owings shows just how close he came to being one of the unfortunate souls struck by lightning each year.
The clip is only five seconds long, but that's long enough to serve as a reminder to everyone that when a storm hits, get out of the water right quick. No dilly-dallying.
Commenters on Facebook chimed in with amazement, not only at the footage but also at Owings' good luck.
One person posted, "Watch the storm clouds a little closer next time." And another wrote, "Is there a not-so-subtle lesson to be learned here?"


text: 1. Ask your relatives—all of 'em. Even though you may have already bugged Aunt Martha and cousin Joey for family information, go back to them and ask specifically if there is a family Bible somewhere. A relative may be harboring this treasure in an attic without realizing it's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for you. Non-genealogy folks don't immediately think of the family Bible as a source of information.


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Police Report: Portland's Suicide Rate Soars
A shocking number of people are taking their own lives every week in the Rose City. That's the upshot of a new report from the Portland Police Bureau's Behavioral Health Unit.
Police Sergeant Pete Simpson says every four days, someone commits suicide in Portland. Between April of 2011 and June of 2013, a total pf 202 people took their lives. Simpson says that's nearly twice the number of lives lost to traffic accidents and homicide combined, and pushes the city's suicide rate to almost three times the national average.
While they focus on stepping up collaboration with mental health professionals, police are asking your help to save lives. If you know someone who is depressed, they urge you to ask that person if they are suicidal. If they are, there is free help available:
*Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare has a urgent care walk-in clinic. Their number is 503-963-2575.
* The Multnomah County Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day, at 503- 988-4888
* Lines for Life Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK


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tiltbillings wrote:Even if he did, he only taught the Pitaka texts, but clearly not the much later stuff that introduced billions of individual mind moments in an eye's blink.Virgo wrote:Actually the Buddha is the one who taught the Abhidhamma.
If it is from the ancient Commentarial works to the texts, then so be it. It doesn't counteract what is actually in the texts, but explains it. These texts come from a time when there were many, many Arahants in the Buddhist Community.


text:
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this was a god's send- thoughtful, caring and professional. She is great with teenagers. She cuts through the chase and pinpoints the issue. Fantastic!
Very professional, caring, and bright. She took the time to get to know me and the medications I am taking. She made a couple of adjustments that I'm entirely satisfied with. She took the time to explain what each medication was, the side effects, and even the interactions that it might have with my multi-vitamins. She is very sincere. I would recommend this psychiatrist to my friends and family in a heartbeat.
Dr. Duncan is competent and direct, which I appreciate. It took one visit to diagnose my wife's dementia. Unlike the neurologist she's been seeing for 20 years who still can't make a diagnosis. She also followed up readily with a letter stating that my wife is unable to make informed medical decisions for herself when I needed it. Thanks Doc.
Finally, a psychiatrist with insight and empathy. Dr. Duncan impressed me from the very first visit I had with her four years ago. She can tell my mood without me having to speak a word and can cut through my defenses like a superhero. She is great with med's and has gotten me through some tough times. Absolutely the best psychiatrist on the planet!
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White Textured Side Table
- Overview
Refined country. Designed with a clean, modern design, our White Textured Side Table is topped off with a rustic lacquer finish for a perfect blend of functionality and style. Use it indoors or even as a plant pedestal on the porch.
- Solid wood legs.
- 24.6"w x 22"d x 24"h.
- Engineered wood top and shelf.
- White lacquer finish.
- Bottom shelf provides extra storage space.
- Assembly required.
- Wipe clean.
- Made in India.
- Details + Dimensions
- Overall product dimensions: 24.6"w x 22"d x 24"h.
- Clearance from bottom shelf to floor: 5".
- Number of boxes: 1
- Shipping package: 34.75"w x 7"d x 28.5"h.
- Package weight: 43.3 lbs.
Assembly required. View assembly instructions.
Wipe with soft dry cloth. Avoid the use of chemicals and household cleaners as they may damage the finish. Hardware may loosen over time. Periodically check that all connections are tight.
- Shipping + Return Info
These items ship from our Distribution Center by UPS and arrive in your home within 4-5 business days of order receipt.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping options. View Shipping Rates and Options
Next Day Delivery
For an extra charge of $17.50 per address, we can arrange for rush delivery to most destinations.
We happily accept returns on stocked items within the time frames listed below. Products designated as special order (SPO) cannot be cancled or returned. All items on our website and in-store are considered 'stocked' unless expressly identified as 'special order' instead. Prior purchases are not eligible for price adjustments. Please familiarize yourself with our returns policy before placing your order.
Stocked Items: If you are dissatisfied with your purchase of a stocked item, you must exchange or return it within the following time frames for a full refund of the merchandise cost (delivery fees are non-refundable). Outside these time frames, we will replace or refund your purchase against manufacturer's defects ONLY. Please note that we cannot accept returns on gift cards or items damaged through normal wear and tear. We also cannot accept returns of final-sale items, which are identified by a price ending in .99 or .97.
- Quick Ship upholstery items must be returned within 7 days of the order receipt date.
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Special Order Items (SPO): Because they're custom made to your specifications, special order items may not be canceled or returned and are exchangeable against manufacturer's defects ONLY. SPO includes special order upholstery items, monogrammed/personalized items, special order rugs, one-of-a kind rugs and any products being shipped directly from a third-party vendor. Any special order items will be flagged as 'special order' in your shopping cart. NEW JERSEY CUSTOMERS: Special-order upholstered furniture returns are subject to applicable state law and are non-returnable after 24 hours of delivery.
For further assistance please call our customer service department at 1.888.922.4119 or send an email to email@example.com


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LONG BEACH - When Milton Gilder ran out of funds to pay for his final semester at Duke University, the 25-year-old Long Beach native got creative.
Using background music from the international smash-hit "Gangnam Style," Gilder filmed a quirky YouTube video in which he dances across the Duke campus and then talks of his financial struggles and dreams of becoming a high school teacher. He urges people to share his video and donate funds for his last semester, so he can earn his teaching credential.
"One of my greatest dreams is to inspire youth to change their communities, to change their world, to change their families, and that's exactly what I've been doing this semester - pursuing that dream," he says in the video. "I believe that dreams have the possibility of becoming a reality, so I'm coming to you (for help)."
As of Thursday, Gilder had raised $2,200 on the website www.gofundme.com.
Gilder isn't alone in his unconventional pursuit to fund his studies. Faced with mounting debt and ever-increasing tuition costs, some students are using innovative ways to pay for higher education.
They're filming YouTube videos and signing up for donation websites. And in some cases they're turning to more extreme tactics, such as donating eggs or sperm to fertility clinics.
The nonprofit CollegeBoard reports that the average tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year institutions increased 4.8 percent to $8,655 in the 2012-2013 school year. The average cost for out-of-state students rose 4.2 percent to $21,706.
Of college seniors who graduated in 2011, two-thirds had student loan debt, with an average of $26,600 per borrower, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.
Many websites now offer creative ideas on how to earn money for college. The website www.lendingtree.com lists seven unconventional ways to pay for college, while the website www.latinosincollege.com offers several links to social lending websites.
In another solution, a growing number of female colleges students are donating eggs to fertility clinics in return for thousands of dollars, and many fertility clinics now advertise in campus newspapers.
At Cryobank, which has fertility labs in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, New York, and Massachusetts, college students make up nearly half of all donors, said spokesman Scott Brown.
Some students are even turning to websites that offer "discreet arrangements" with older benefactors for companionship or dating.
Brandon Wade, founder & CEO of a website that pairs students with older benefactors, said the website has seen a surge in the number of college students seeking so-called "sugar daddies" to help pay their tuition.
"One in every two sugar babies who join our website today are college students, and college sugar babies now make up 40 percent of our sugar baby population, up from 33 percent in 2010," Wade said in a statement.
The website's top three universities for sugar babies in 2011 included New York University, University of Georgia and University of Phoenix.
While some students may be researching unconventional ways to pay tuition, Lauren Asher, president of the Instituted for College Access and Success, warns against risky plans. Federal student loans are a more secure option, she said.
"A lot of people aren't aware of the ways that federal student loans can be safer than other types of financial solutions," Asher said. "Sometimes students won't take out loans because they don't know that they're eligible, or they're trying to avoid debt."
"But that choice to try to avoid debt can actually harm them," she said. "If they're working or stressed about how they're going to pay for college, they're more at risk of dropping courses or dropping out completely."
Gilder, a graduate of Poly High School in Long Beach, is hoping his fundraising efforts on www.gofundme.com will net the nearly $6,000 he needs by Jan. 15 to pay his tuition and finish his graduate studies this spring. In addition to the $6,000, Gilder also faces about $13,000 in debt from his undergraduate studies at Duke.
Gilder said he plans to work as a student teacher at a nearby high school this spring, in addition to taking a full load of courses.
"All of the work for school takes up about 70 hours a week so it's hard to find a job that works with my schedule," he said. "And I've basically exercised all of my resources."
Gilder said he sees the donations as an important investment in his future.
"I figure why not ask for help," he said. "What have I got to lose?"
To view Gilder's video visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g6HgR8GWIA
firstname.lastname@example.com, 562-714-2181, twitter.com/kellypuentept


text:
Front Line Leader Program
The Center for Frontline Leaders is a comprehensive leadership development program designed especially for nurses who are involved in direct patient care. Based on specific criteria a group of clinical bedside nurses have the opportunity to work to enhance critical leadership skills. These include improving nursing practice by focusing on enhanced critical thinking and problem solving, communication, delegation, mentoring, and other essential skills.


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