Information Society Watch

e-Sri Lanka: An Integrated Approach to e-Government Case Study
Shoban Rainford.

The paper explores the roadmap for e-Sri Lanka towards achieving socio economic development across different sectors of the economy through a holistic approach using ICTs for upliftment of rural communities and rural poor.

February 2004, Sustainable Development Networking Programme.

This report is the result of an independent external assessment of the UNDP Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP). The report submits that SDNPs had a significant role to play in helping poorer communities and marginalised groups, including women take advantage of ICTs, with the participation of Community Support Organisations (CSOs) in developing countries.

August 6, 2008, New York Times

Of all the hardware that consume the maximum amount of energy, personal computers are the worst polluters. With an aim to tackle this problem Microsoft, Climate Savers Computing Initiative - which is a non-profit and another organisation have tied up to create a unique software which manages PC power consumption. The new software allows for computers to go into a 'sleep' mode if it not being used for some time which saves upto 95% of the power consumption.

August 28, 2008, The Times

The latest version of Internet Explorer which allows for greater privacy settings while browsing the Internet has potential problems for Google. IE 8 does not allow for websites to collect information about its users - data which is used to target advertising to users by Google.

August 12, 2008, The Industry Standard

The article traces the growing popularity of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) in Pakistan. The non-proprietary and low cost deployment model of the open source world has attracted not only the amateur enthusiast, it has now widespread deployment in large financial enterprises.

May 25, 2008, The Daily Telegraph

The International Telecommunications Union reports that at the end of 2007, the number of mobile phone users in the world was over 3.3 billion, which is equivalent to a penetration rate of roughly 49%. The article notes that developing countries have made significant progress in mobile growth, there is still a 'digital divide' in Internet use and broadband availability.

2006, Maximo Torero & Joachim von Braun.

This article talks about the new book published by Johns Hopkins University Press for IFPRI titled The Potential of Telecommunication. This book, in an attempt to create an understanding about the efficiency and functioning of ICTs and their impacts on low income countries, critically exams five important questions.

May 8, 2008, Stephen Hoare, The Guardian

This report from Education Guardian looks at the findings of a forthcoming study that aims at informing colleges and universities in United Kingdom on ways to make computing environment friendly. The report illustrates several instances of using techniques such as grid computing and virtualisation to avoid wasteful IT practices, thereby reducing carbon footprint. Grid computing can break up a complex research project into lots of little tasks that will run on people's home computers. Virtualisation helps bring several applications onto one server, reducing energy consumption for IT, power and cooling. In the months after the publication of the study several campaigns are planned across the country, with special focus on the education sector, to spread awareness on sustainable IT practices.

December 11, 2007, Bill Thompson, BBC News International

This article dismisses criticisms by some technology journalists of projects such as One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) that aim at providing affordable technology to children in less-developed countries. It discusses the critics' argument that sending food aid to Africa is a better way to solve the continent's problems than supplying laptops.

2001, Cynthia Hewitt de Alcántara, UNRISD

This paper argues that the digital divide is indicative of the deeper development divide that is characteristic of the present world. The author asserts that promoting development must involve shaping the structures of opportunities to further socio-economic progress, and not merely facilitating access to new devices.