information society

Prepared for a workshop on Open Development organised by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa (Canada) in May 2010, the paper presents a comprehensive critique of the concept of openness, taken from the technology discourse. The paper critically analyses the elements of openness – greater access,…

IT for Change (ITfC) played an important role in campaigning efforts to bring to the Government of India's notice that the use of non-royalty-based open standards in e-governance are basic to ensuring people's right to information in a digital age.

As a part of advocacy efforts, ITfC worked with the National Campaign…

This research paper is part of the collection of essays In search of economic alternatives for gender and social justice: Voices from India which highlights some common guiding principles for alternative economic practice and building blocks for an alternative economic paradigm.
Against the backdrop of the social…

Anita Gurumurthy was part of the panel on “Exploring the relationship between cultural rights and cultural diversity” at the February 2010 Seminar organised by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in partnership with the International Organization of La Francophonie and UNESCO. She made a presentation…

Anita Gurumurthy delivered two lectures on the interface between Gender and the Information Society on 25-26 March 2010 in Malaysia. At the Women's Development Research Centre (Kanita) in the University Sains Malaysia (Penang), she talked about 'Reframing Southern feminism(s) – An information society perspective'.

At…

The lecture, held on 27 July 2010, was hosted by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS),The Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), and IT for Change (ITfC). Lisa McLaughlin, PhD, Associate Professor in Media Studies and Women’s Studies (Miami University-Ohio, USA), addressed the gendered ties that bind the “…

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IT for Change (ITfC), along with the Department of State Research Education and Training (DSERT), and Policy Planning Unit (PPU) and Development Focus (DF) (a local NGO) have designed and implemented a pilot “Teachers Community of Learning” (TCOL) programme in…

On 10 December 2010, IT for Change was part of the panel on 'Logging into (in)security: a seminar on ICT and gender violence' which was held in Chennai (India) and closed Prajnya's 16-day campaign against gender violence. Chloé Zollman spoke about how, beyond narratives of fear, ICTs could be empowering tools to build…

In this article published in International Technology and International Development (Special edition on the Harvard Forum II), Anita Gurumurthy offers a macro-structural critique that derives from an analysis of some policy texts, as well as from the first-hand experience of IT for Change. Read the article here.

Beyond the widespread economic and access-centred approach to ICTs, this think piece addresses the need to think about ICTs as a social phenomenon which impacts each of us, whether we actively use ICTs or not. ICTs have an important emancipatory potential for marginalised populations, and especially for women, as they allow…