Information Policy

IOC to probe apparent Internet censorship

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will investigate apparent censorship of the Internet service provided for media covering the Beijing Olympics, press chief Kevan Gosper said on Tuesday. China, which has promised media the same freedom to report on the Games as they enjoyed at previous Olympics, loosened its regulations governing foreign media in January last year.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080729/tot-uk-olympics-media-566e283.html

Kenyan Government publishes new communications bill

The Kenyan Government has dropped plans to bar cross-media ownership and to empower the Internal Security Minister to order invasion of broadcasting stations. These clauses that sought to muzzle the media have been taken away from the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill 2008. Information and Communications Minister Samuel Poghisio published the draft law yesterday. Poghisio’s predecessor Mutahi Kagwe was forced to withdraw the Bill last year amid condemnation that it contained controversial clauses aiming to gag the media. It had sought to ensure no broadcasting licensee had a “controlling interest” in another broadcasting licencee or owned or had “controlling interest” in a person licensed to produce a newspaper. Essentially it barred ownership of a newspaper and a broadcasting station at the same time. Also, while last year’s Bill stated that the Internal Security Minister could order a raid on a “rogue” station “on declaration of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety,” the new Bill has no such provision. Before issuing a broadcast license, the commission shall consider diversity and plurality of views to enhance competition.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/kenyan_government_publishes_new_communications_bill/

Portuguese team makes first paper based transistor

Elvira Fortunato and colleagues from the Centro de Investigação de Materiais (Cenimat/I3N), at Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, made the first Field Effect Transistor (FET) with a paper «interstrate» layer. A new device which rivals in electrical performance with the actual state of the art of oxide based thin film transistors (TFTs) produced on glass or crystalline silicon substrates. These results will be published next September in IEEE Electron Device Letters. Nowadays, there is an increased interest in the use of biopolymers for low-cost electronic applications. Since cellulose is the Earth’s major biopolymer, some international teams have reported using paper as the physical support (substrate) of electronic devices. But, until now, no one had ever used paper as an interstrate component of a FET.

In a new approach, scientists from Cenimat/I3N – a research group coordinated by Elvira Fortunato and Rodrigo Martins – used a common sheet of paper as the dielectric layer on oxide FETs.

The research team fabricated the devices on both sides of the paper sheet. This way, the paper acts simultaneously as the electric insulator and as the substrate. «Is a two in one», says Elvira Fortunato.

Furthermore, electric characterization of devices showed that the hybrid FETs’ performance outpace those of amorphous silicon TFTs, and rival with the actual state of the art of oxide thin film transistors.

These results suggest promising new disposable electronics devices, like paper displays, smart labels, smart packaging, bio-applications, RFID tags, among others.

http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=531094

dotDK ready to give the Danish internet community a voice in .DK

COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The IT and Telecom Agency of Denmark has appointed dotDK as the association to handle the Danish internet domain registry in the future. This gives the dotDK Society the opportunity to realize its vision of enhancing the Danish top level domain for the benefit of the Danish community. dotDK will deliver a more secure, available and technologically advanced setup, but especially highlights that the entire Danish internet community in the future will have significantly more influence and a stronger voice.

The dotDK Society today announces its appointment by the IT and Telecom Agency of Denmark to handle the administration of the .dk top level domain.

"We are truly proud of the appointment and eagerly anticipate the task of migrating the system and assuming administration of the .dk registry. Our bid clearly emphasized the critical needs for Denmark which include a more secure, efficient and dependable system with enhanced input from the Danish internet community. The dotDK Society will be a Danish association with representation from the entire Danish internet community and administration located in Denmark, and we invite everyone who wishes to participate to join the dotDK Society," says Mads Thimmer, who also makes it clear that the wholesale price of 45 DKK a year will not be changed.

The Danish internet community will have a more direct influence due to the new organizational structure proposed by dotDK with a governing body made up of representatives from the entire Danish internet community including users, registrars, professionals, etc. The future also holds greater transparency in operations and public access to hearings, which will enable the Danish internet community and users to make their opinion heard and contribute with input on important processes and administrative aspects.

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/dotDK+ready+to+give+the+Danish+internet+community+a+voice+in+.DK/3785148.html

Thailand: Nectec plan to give big boost to ict industry

Agency aims to increase the sector's GDP contribution to 20 per cent

Nectec plan to give big boost to ict industry

Nectec’s plan will encourage about 50 per cent of the population to improve its computer literacy and push people to use ICT in every part of their lives. It will also work toward developing better ICT infrastructure across the country.

The development of information and communication technology in Thailand in the next five years will help the country become "Smart Thailand" equipped with "Smart People" and a "Smart Government".

This is the goal of the country's second ICT master plan - for 2009 to 2013 - drafted by the National Electronic and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec).

The first draft of the plan is complete and Nectec intends to submit it to the National Information Technology Committee for approval on Friday.

ICT Master Plan second phase development team head Chadamas Thuvasethakul said the plan aims to achieve its "Smart Thailand" goal by 2013.

The plan is being developed to achieve three objectives. One, encourage about 50 per cent of the population above 15 years to become more ICT literate and use computers in all spheres of life.

Two, improve the country's ICT readiness so it is better positioned on the world stage.

And three, increase the contribution of the ICT industry to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to 20 per cent, from 13.2 per cent last year.

The plan, Chadamas said, comprises six national strategies. The first strategy - the Information Literacy strategy - will focus on human-resource development.

It aims that by 2013, every year more than 15 per cent of students will graduate from the science and technology stream, while 30 per cent of those in the ICT field will acquire international certification. The plan will also encourage more than 50 local software projects to participate in international forums each year.

The second strategy, the National ICT Governance strategy, will encourage the government to use ICT to aid governance. The plan will set up a new "Policy Coordinating Body" to drive the national ICT policy and oversee the development of ICT legislation.

The third strategy is to improve the country's ICT infrastructure, with a goal of providing Internet speeds of at least 4 megabits per second (Mbps) to every district in the country and of at least 10Mbps to all educational institutes.

Fourth, the e-Governance strategy will develop an e-Government Interoperability Framework. The open-standards technology will enable all government organisations to share and exchange information, thereby creating a one-stop service centre for citizens by 2010.

The fifth strategy is to turn the ICT industry into a major income generator for the country, with special focus on the software industry.

The plan will encourage Thailand's export of niche software, increasing its contribution to about 30 per cent of the total software revenue.

It also aims to increase the software industry's worth to Bt150 billion, of which about 50 per cent would come from local software development.

The plan aims to increase ICT spending in Thailand to over 2 per cent of the GDP and increase ICT research and development budgets in both government and private sectors to more than 3 per cent of the overall value of the ICT industry.

Lastly, the plan will focus on developing ICT for sustainable competitiveness. This strategy will increase Internet penetration in businesses to up to 50 per cent while pushing for a 25-per-cent increase in use of ICT by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Chadamas said that after obtaining approval from NITC, the team would conduct six public hearings before submitting the draft to the Cabinet.

At a glance

The ICT Master Plan 2009 to 2013 intends to increase the country's ICT readiness and global competitiveness.

It aims to develop human resources and aid governance through the use of technology.

It will encourage Thailand's export of niche software, increasing its contribution to about 30 per cent of the total software revenue.

http://www.egovnews.org/?p=4102