IT for Change Bulletin, October 2008

IT for Change - Bulletin, October 2008

In this issue:

New IT for Change Website Launched!
New Publication: The Political Economy of the Information Society
New Publication: Gender Equality through ICT Access and Appropriation: Taking a Rights-Based Approach
Campaign: Privatisation of Public Policymaking
Information Society (IS)-Watch

We are excited to announce the launch of our website with a new look and structure. The site has been redesigned to provide visitors with in-depth information on the thematic areas of IT for Change's work. Through an easy to access design, we present our perspectives on the political economy lens, which guides the breadth of our work, covering engagements in the areas of:

Community Informatics through the Centre for Community Informatics and Development (CCID);
ICTs, Development Theory and Practice, with a focus on gender, governance and education;
ICT Governance and Policy, through advocacy on Internet governance and Open Source software
Gender and the Information Society

All our publications are also available on the site. Do visit us at www.ITforChange.net. We encourage you to send feedback and suggestions to ITfC(at)ITforChange(dot)net

2. New Publication: The Political Economy of the Information Society

This collection of papers is part of IT for Change's 'Information Society for the South' series. The series is an attempt to build a body of critical work that offers analytical and conceptual tools to understand and engage with the structural changes that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are bringing about in society. This collection takes a political economy view, examining the interests that shape the larger techno-social change processes to their advantage; the hegemonies defining relationships on the local-global continuum; and the normative and institutional frameworks that provide viable alternatives to reshape and reclaim the information society for social justice and equity.

3. New Publication: Gender Equality through ICT Access and Appropriation: Taking a Rights-Based Approach

This paper explores the meanings of women's empowerment and gender equality in the information society, looking at the opportunity for progressive change and critically unpacking the ICTD discourse on gender and development. It also seeks to articulate a rights-based framework to policy and action that takes on the specific question of what models of access and connectivity will work for marginalised peoples and countries, in a manner that promotes gender justice. The paper was written for a United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID) report tabled at the GAID meeting on "Global Forum on Access and Connectivity in Least Developed Countries and Small Islands Developing States in Asia/Pacific and Innovative Financing Mechanisms for ICTD", held in Kuala Lumpur in May 2008.

4. Campaign: Privatisation of Public Policymaking

The Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development has initiated policymaking on "ICTs in school education". IT for Change, along with other education organisations is advocating against the policymaking process being conducted in an non-transparent manner with significant role given to private agencies, which have little experience and expertise in Indian education system and are closely associated with big technology corporations. The Indian 'school ICT market' is estimated in excess of 40,000 crores, and serves as an important ground to set default technology standards on which technology monopolies thrive, and hence is vulnerable to severe pressures from big businesses.

5. Information Society (IS)-Watch

IS Watch is IT for Change's online resource portal that attempts to provide an institutionalised critique of dominant information society perspectives and offer alternate visions for an equitable and just information society.

Earlier this year, we launched Information Society Watch - India as part of our online presence for South-centric discourse on development and technological possibilities. Given the ever evolving nature of the information society and the accompanying policy implications that India has been witnessing in recent times, there is a specific need for an India-specific knowledge portal to better understand the imperatives of these changes on Indian society. IS Watch-India intends to cater to the information needs of policymakers, civil society organisations, the media, researchers, educators and others who are trying to understand the complexities of the emerging information society. IS Watch-India consists of multiple categories each catering to emerging information society themes, and an editorial space in the form of blogs/commentaries on information society issues from an Indian view point.