Information Policy

Nigeria, Microsoft Sign Agreement On E-Government

The three years agreement valued at over $19.1 million, is expected to avail Nigeria of benefits from the corporation's wealth of knowledge in technology and its capability for social and economic development. In addition to the increased access to top-of-the-range software and related training to be provided as a result of the agreement, Nigeria is also expected to benefit from the technical know-how of Microsoft in e-Government and streamline the government's use of Microsoft's software tools.

http://www.egovnews.org/?p=1460

BY: Grodno internet community contributes to the New Year Eve celebrations at Grodno orphanage

In 24 December 2006, Grodno internet community launched a charitable campaign to raise funds for Grodno orphanage. Activists of three Grodno internet recourses - Grodno blog, Grodno city forum, rpc.grodno.net, and of the Grodno street racers club web site - contacted representatives of Grodno orphanage, other internet communities and representatives of the city business community. According to one of the activists, Sergei Chabotsko, more than 40 activists participated in the campaign. BLR 1,45 mln (520EUR) and goods for BLR 3mln (1080EUR) were raised for 81 inmates of Grodno Children's Home.

http://www.e-belarus.org/news/200612261.html

New EU recommendation includes the right of reply in the online media

The European Parliament adopted on 12 December 2006, at its second reading, a recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and online information services industry.

The right of reply in the online media has been heavily discussed also in the previous years, including a much contested 2004 Council of Europe Recommendation on the right of reply in the new media environment. In practice the recommendation has not been implemented in the member countries, but various human rights groups have expressed their serious concerns regarding its practical effects on the freedom of expression.

The new document proposed by the Council considers again that: It is appropriate for the right of reply or equivalent remedies to apply to on-line media, and to take into account the specific features of the medium and service concerned.

The recommendation adopted by the European Parliament is now vaguer than the initial text discussed in 2005 suggesting that the member states should consider the introduction of measures into their domestic law or practice regarding the right of reply or equivalent remedies in relation to on-line media, with due regard for their domestic and constitutional legislative provisions, and without prejudice to the possibility of adapting the manner in which it is exercised to take into account the particularities of each type of medium. There is no hint on what should be considered as on-line media or how an actual implementation of this recommendation could be done. The right of reply in the new media is also included in the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive recently adopted in its first reading by the Parliament, but the text now refers only to the TV-like services on the web.

On the same occasion the Commission announced its interest for two other activities for the safety of the Internet that have been discussed in the previous EP meetings. The first one regards the possibility of introducing a European free phone number or of extending an existing service to assist Internet users by directing them to available complaint mechanisms and information resources and providing information for parents about the effectiveness of filtering software. The second initiative is related to the possibility of supporting the establishment of a generic second level domain name reserved for monitored sites committed to respect minors and their rights, such as .KID.eu.

Keep children safe while browsing the Internet, Parliament says (12.12.2006)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/040-1377-345-12-50-906-20061207IPR01240-11-12-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and online information services industry (12.12.2006)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?Type=TA&Reference=P6-TA-2006-0537&language=EN

Promotion of open standards in Poland

On 14 December 2006 a Coalition for Open Standards was established by a large group of IT companies and organizations in Poland with a view to promote open technological standards.

The coalition aims at taking measures to ensure freedom of choice for IT solutions for Polish citizens as well as businesses and administration bodies by enforcing open standards for information storage and exchange.

The use of open standards has numerous advantages among which the possibility to freely exchange information, the freedom of choosing the IT tool suppliers, an increased flexibility and interoperability in implementing IT solutions, an increased competitiveness and quality of systems on the Polish market.

The lack of open standards leads to higher costs, closed formats for sharing information requiring the use of specific software.

The Coalition for Open Standards includes companies present on the Polish market, such as Corel, IBM, Macrologic, Novell, Oracle, etc., but also organizations such as Aviary.pl, Internet Society Poland, the Professional Linux Association, the Cities Online Association and the PRO Polish Software Market Association. The new coalition intends to promote open standards through its website, as well as by educational and informational campaigns for the public.

Large interest on open standards has been shown in many EU countries. Thus, on 2 November, the Athens Internet Governance Forum hosted in Athens the Open Standards, Interoperability and Government Procurement event where one recommendation for Governments was to follow the example of countries such as Denmark or Belgium in adopting Open Document Format especially for public records.

During the IGF meeting, a Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards was created. This Dynamic Coalition wants to frame and define the most urgent problems related to open technology standards and application interoperability and suggest straightforward, workable solutions that can be implemented by all stakeholders.

http://www.standardy.org

Breaking Barriers: The Potential of Free and Open Source Software for Development

A Compilation of Case Studies from Across the World

The benefits offered by free and open source software (FOSS) have been extremely useful for developing countries around the world. In particular, the ability to obtain FOSS without licensing fees has proven to be beneficial to users in these regions as this makes information and communications technology (ICT) more affordable for them.

Over the last few years, as FOSS has matured and become more widely accepted, many projects have been carried out that attempt to make use of FOSS to help bring about socio-economic development and empower people in developing countries or regions. Some of these projects are highlighted in this compilation of 14 FOSS case studies from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America. The benefits obtained and challenges encountered, as well as valuable lessons learned are also highlighted.

With the publication of this compilation, it is hoped that there will be greater awareness of the ability of FOSS to empower and help poorer and less developed communities.

This publication is the first in the trilogy of UNDP-APDIP ICT4D Case Studies due out this year. Upcoming titles include:

* Empowering the Poor: Information and Communications Technology for Governance and Poverty Reduction - A Study of Rural Development Projects in India

* Exploring New Modalities: Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region - A Review and Analysis of the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme

For more information on the trilogy, please see brochure at
http://www.apdip.net/about/brochures/images/Trilogy-Brochure-web.pdf