Posted November 8th, 2010 by Jasna Matic
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
Also, there is an additional effort to establish international Girls in ICT/Girl's Day to be held on every fourth Thursday of April. This day would be a time when ICT companies, other companies with ICT departments, ICT training facilities, universities, research centers, government bodies, and all ICT-related institutions are invited to organize an open day for girls, where girls could see for themselves what a career in the field might bring, freely ask questions, or have speakers take part in a specially focused "women in ITC career days " at their local schools. These ICT companies could also organize shadow projects (where girls could shadow a woman-leader in ICT for one or several days). I would like to use this opportunity to invite you to join us in our initiative, as well as link in your initiative to the "virtual" network in an effort to create a "real" network for women and girls.
Ms. Jasna Matic is an elected Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society in Serbia. She has more than fifteen years of experience in public service, international organizations, Serbian and international business and political environment.
Posted in WisenetPosted November 1st, 2010 by Phoebe Yang - Senior Advisor to the Chairman on Broadband
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
Consider Chattanooga, Tennessee’s recent announcement that it will offer 1 Gbps service to all 170,000 customers in its service area by the end of this year. Companies are saying that having access to a high-performance fiber network is a significant factor in their decisions to expand in the area, and Chattanooga is already seeing large business expansion and small business relocation.
But doctors, teachers and engineers are also showing that broadband can benefit our ability to achieve national priorities like improving health outcomes, educating our children and making our electric grid smarter. High-speed connectivity is allowing doctors to practice telemedicine, treating patients hundreds of miles away who would otherwise have little access to advanced care. It’s enabling educators to extend learning beyond mere words – from describing historic events like the first women to fly or enter space, to – at the click of a mouse – showing actual video and audio footage of events like Amelia Earhart's flight across the Atlantic or the launch of Challenger. And, it’s helping electric utilities manage energy use and reduce bills for their customers.
In short, broadband is the foundation both for economic opportunity and social prosperity in the 21st century. Like electricity or telephones in prior generations, it is hard to imagine an enabling technology more vital to our future.
Posted October 29th, 2010 by Linda HallerSloan
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
Posted October 18th, 2010 by Serena Romano
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
The prospect of friends suddenly springing up from old times used to thrill me. I was delighted to sign petitions that would guarantee my democratic rights, and basked in the idea of going to an art exhibition. As always with novelties they are delightful only if they are rare enough to continue to be pleasant.
However, today the acceptance level of intrusion has been surpassed, and I only get moderately amused when acquaintances who hardly recognize me at a conference, insist on becoming my “friends” on Facebook.
So, now more than ever we must rethink our personal communications policies towards our parents, friends, and colleagues. Maybe I want to send photos of the latest birthday to parents, but not necessarily start a discussion that would be best fit for Sunday afternoon tea-time. I want to share lots of fun –or even silliness – with friends on Facebook, but that does not replace face-to-face encounters. I may not want all of my colleagues as my friends on Facebook (depending on the above-mentioned level of silliness displayed), but I expect at least an acknowledgment from them on all Emails sent with a professional query.
The Internet is splitting our personalities and recomposing them in accordance with the community networks that we adhere to. Now more than ever we need to keep control of our lives, information, and ideas.
The Internet should be an opportunity for us to make better and faster judgments. It’s so easy to tell that a deal is bad if the photos of the item that you would be buying are taken at a distance. The same principle applies to people, their ideas, and their so-called friendships.
So, let’s remember that the Internet is only a piece of our society and that when the time comes we need to get out of it. A petition will never replace a street demonstration, and a Skype call will never replace a private encounter.
The Internet should be the conduit to improve and diversify our physical, real, and concrete world.
Posted October 15th, 2010 by Ana CristinaNeves
Ana Cristina Neves, from the Knowledge Society Agency, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal summarizes key points from her November 2009 presentation at the Internet Governance Forum.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a unique platform that must continue for the sake of our own and future generations. It fulfills the United Nations’ mandate to convene a forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue. It is unique because of three features. First, it is strong and robust. One of the most powerful outcomes of IGF is the spontaneous creation of flourishing and diversified national and regional IGFs all over the world. Their existence is proof that the IGF process is a great and a powerful idea, because only a powerful idea could deliver such a result. It is possible that these national and regional IGF will become places to ripen ideas. History has shown us that when movements are spontaneous, it is because they are powerful and meaningful for societies and for their citizens. And it’s exactly these movements that can change the paradigm. The second unique feature is that it acts as the global conscience of the Internet and Information Society. This conscience is essential for the development of the economies and for societal improvement all over the globe. Finally, the IGF is sustained by multi-stakeholder cooperation. The IGF set up a remarkable, variable, and wide-ranging dialogue and cooperation geometry between different institutions: public, private and non-profit organizations, and countries. It provides space where the individual, the citizen, the civil society participate on equal footing along with more powerful entities. These 3 features are incompatible with any hierarchical formal structure; no existing structure of this kind has ever produced such deliverables. IGF should be allowed to continue to evolve as creatively as it has been evolving for the past 4 years. The public can visit the IGF website for more information.
Posted in International Bureau , WisenetPosted October 13th, 2010 by Irene Wu
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
Posted October 12th, 2010 by Doreen Bogdan-Martin - Chief, Strategic Planning & Membership Dept., ITU
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
To bridge the digital divide, content and connectivity must go hand in hand. We must ensure that the developing countries get the access, and applications they need to better their lives. The access and applications must be affordable. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) bring great benefits but must be used responsibly. ICT companies, Policy makers, educators, and parents all have a role to play to ensure that our children are protected and understand potentially harmful situations or materials on the Internet. ICTs are transformational and have the power to better our lives. Improved health care delivery, and provision of education are two good examples.
Posted in International Bureau , WisenetPosted October 12th, 2010 by Linda Pintro - Senior Legal Advisor, International Bureau
(Part of the ongoing WISENET Series)
Posted October 8th, 2010 by Meredith Attwell Baker
As the push towards ubiquitous broadband continues in the United States, we must not forget about the digital divide that women in low- and middle-income countries still battle. According to a 2010 study by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), we account for 25 percent or less of Internet users in Africa and Asia. This disparity is even more striking in the Middle East, where only 6 percent of Internet users are women. As a result, women in these countries are generally less literate than the men and are more likely to hold employment with little, if any, job security, wages, or benefits.
Technological innovation provides women with an opportunity to combat these results. Specifically, increased access to broadband technologies in these countries will increase women’s economic independence and efficiency. For example, the Negros Women of Tomorrow Foundation’s (NWTF) Village Phone Program, launched in 2007, has created over 300 phone-operation businesses in low-income countries. Initiatives such as this play a critical role in closing the digital gender divide. In addition to increasing broadband accessibility, it is important to focus on the creation of training programs to ensure that women are effectively utilizing newly introduced technologies.
The study conducted by ICRW can be found at their website.
Posted in WisenetPosted October 8th, 2010 by Veena Rawat - President, Communications Research Centre
Previously we posted a blog noting that Dr. Rawat was the only woman running for a senior post in the ITU. We also began an introduction of Dr. Rawat, and in this blog we continue.
Throughout Dr. Veena Rawat’s career and in her personal life, she has enthusiastically supported women. In 2004 the Canadian Women in Communications organization presented her with the Canadian Woman of the Year in Communications Award. A spokeswoman stated “[Dr. Rawat] has been a tireless role model and supporter of advancement of women and under her leadership, the participation of women in engineering roles at Industry Canada has blossomed.” From 2003 to 2006, Dr. Rawat was a representative for Women in Science & Technology. Since 2007, she has been a member of the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, Women in Technology group. In 2005 Dr. Rawat was included in Canada’s Most Powerful Women, Top 100 by Canada’s Executive Women’s Network, and was awarded Canadian Woman of the Year in Communications by the Canadian Women in Communications in 2004. Dr. Rawat has been a volunteer mentor with The Women’s Executive Network since 2007 and a member of the Heart Truth Leadership Council starting in 2008. The council is part of the Heart Truth campaign to raise awareness of women’s heart disease. During the 1990s, she worked with groups concerned with violence against women, and volunteered with sports teams for high school girls.
Posted in International Bureau , Wisenet
