Information Society Watch

September 30, 2006, Rey A L Taganas & Vijay Kumar Kaul, Economic and Political Weekly

This paper explores the supposed innovative behaviour of firms in the Indian IT sector. Although substantial efforts have been made over the past fifty years by the Indian government in implementing various policy measures, building institutions, and putting strong emphasis on higher education, there has been a systemic failure to promote the emergence of networks of innovation. This, in turn, has impeded the innovation performance of the IT industry.

2007, Association for Progressive Communications & The Third World Institute

The Global Information Society Watch 2007 report - the first in a series of annual reports- looks at state of the field of information and communication technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels and particularly how policy impacts on the lives of people living in developing countries. Studies of the ICT policy situation in twenty-two countries from four regions are featured: Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda); Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Philippines); Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru); and Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania), with one report from a Western European country (Spain).

January 22, 2007, Tectonic

South Africa disallows software patents and according to an academic from South Africa ,Derek Keats, Microsoft has been violating this law by filing software patents over there. He said this during a workshop on software and business method patents where Microsoft officials were present, while Microsoft officials refuted this claim and insisted that Microsoft were operating within the laws of the land.

2006, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh and Phillip Schmidt, United Nations University

This Policy Brief discusses the economic benefits of investing in open source software and points out some key factors that governments should take into account when defining “Open Standards” to govern technology transfer and enhance access to public information for all citizens. There are compelling reasons why technologically advanced and developing countries alike should adopt open source software as part of their ICT policies.

2005, Yuwei Lin

This paper studies the role of gender in free/libre/open source software (F/LOSS) communities especially since an earlier study conducted by the European Union revealed a significant discrepancy in the proportion of men to women. The authors set out to find reasons behind this bias and make recommendations for actions that might improve the ratio of women to men.

August 2006, Lena Zúñiga, Bellanet Internacional

This publication represents the conclusion of a social research process filled with experiences, data, distinct products and diverse voices - controversial, hopeful and sometimes contradictory. The study overviews the conditions for software appropriation in Latin American Countries (LAC).

March 30, 2007, Richard Waters, Financial Times

This news brief explores the implications of the fight between GPL free software and proprietary for the consumer electronics and related technology industries.

2004, Gabriella Coleman, (University of Chicago), SSRC Report

This paper is "an exploration of the unique sectoral conditions underlying FOSS adoption among NGOs, focusing on an account of emerging intermediaries (often NGOs themselves) who promote FOSS and facilitate its adoption in the NGO sector." The paper distinguishes between FOSS evangelism and FOSS adoption - the latter being a nuts and bolts approach to the use of FOSS in the NGO setting.

March 1, 2006, Dawn Nafus, James Leach and Bernhard Krieger, University of Cambridge

This paper studies the role of gender in free/libre/open source software (F/LOSS) communities and compares results to an earlier European Union study that revealed a significant discrepancy in the proportion of men to women. The authors explore reasons behind this bias and make recommendations for actions that might improve the ratio of women to men in F/LOSS development.

2006, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh and Philipp Schmidt

This Policy Brief discusses the economic benefits of investing in open source software and points out some key factors that governments should take into account when defining “Open Standards” to govern technology transfer and enhance access to public information for all citizens. There are compelling reasons why technologically advanced and developing countries alike should adopt open source software as part of their ICT policies.