Guardian launches Web 2.0 fix for Africa's problems
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15 million readers, one Ugandan village. That'll work... The newspaper editor described (by his own newspaper, at least) as being "at the forefront of the digital revolution" has launched a three year programme that will connect "the ideas, goodwill, resources and expert knowledge of 15 million readers around the world" and focus them on lifting an African village "out of the Middle Ages." Over the next three years, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger wrote in Saturday's edition, the village of Katine in Northern Uganda will be mapped and recorded by teams of Graun hacks observing progress in this "catalyst for change."â¦
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Vodafone is working with the U.N. World Food Program on a telecom system for aid agencies to use in times of disaster.
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Executives at Morgan Stanley and Pfizer explain how their companies are starting to use Web 2.0 tools to improve communication among workers and with customers.
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Through the World Community Grid, your computer could help address the world's health and social problems.
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Facebook took a new step into the mobile realm on Thursday, launching a platform for operators designed to make its social networking application work better on portable devices.Vodafone is the first operator to use the Facebook for Mobile Operators platform and has started services in the U.K. and Germany, said Jed Stremel, Facebook&#39;s director of mobile division. Vodafone will soon expand the program to Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal.The platform involves giving operators a set of technical specifications intended to resolve some of frustrating hang-ups when using Facebook on a mobile phone rather than a PC, such as smoothing out login problems and opening up other features, Stremel said.The move by Facebook, which ranks next to MySpace as one of the most popular social networking sites, is intended to grow its user base, which the company estimates at 64 million users. So far, the company says it has 6 million users of Facebook Mobile, an unsupported mobile version of the Web site that will now get full support, Stremel said.At the moment the mobile site does not have any advertising. Stremel would not reveal the financial details of Facebook&#39;s deal with Vodafone, although he said operators will be able to generate revenue from data services as their subscribers access Facebook.The long-term hope for social networking sites is&#160;rich online advertising revenue. Facebook, which has an&#160;exclusive deal with Microsoft to place ads on the site, also did not say when it would put advertising on the mobile site.The company is hoping to lure more operators by the simplicity with which they can enable Facebook, Stremel said.Facebook has created special Web pages with instructions on how operators can set up their systems, he said. The instructions, for example, let operators add system settings that will let their subscribers send MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) with photos or video to their Facebook profiles, Stremel said.The platform also includes other specifications designed to stop abuse of Facebook, such as spamming, Stremel said. When someone sends their first MMS with a photo to their profile, the user is sent back a confirmation message with a code or a link. That confirmation then links that person&#39;s phone with their Facebook account, Stremel said.&#160;
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(InfoWorld) - A new framework for regulatory and policy issues recently signed by African information and communication technology (ICT) ministers should speed implementation of the continent's biggest broadband networks, they say. At a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, two weeks ago, ICT ministers signed a protocol that hammers together guidelines for new and ongoing projects. The meeting was organized by the e-Africa Commission, part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and brought together ministers from eastern and southern Africa. Zambian Communications and Transport Permanent Secretary Peter Tembo told the IDG News Service that the aim of the new guidelines and infrastructure plans is to integrate Africa's telecommunications by connecting networks across the continent. Rwandan President Paul Kagame after the meeting said the new protocol will enable eastern and Southern African governments to work together to develop the region's telecommunications sector and to bring down the high cost of communication. The e-Africa Commission operates under the aegis of NEPAD, whose broadband infrastructure network seeks to ensure a level playing field and equal access to infrastructure. The e-Africa Commission has two major plans: to integrate existing infrastructure, and to construct new infrastructure. The protocol commits the signatories to the construction and operation of broadband infrastructure networks including the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) project. The other major project is Comtel, a broadband infrastructure project spearheaded by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in conjunction with NEPAD. It is to connect 21 eastern and southern African countries to Europe and Asia. The protocol also calls for African countries to harmonize their national policies and regulations to facilitate the construction and operation of the infrastructure. At the moment, eastern and southern African countries have different policies and regulatory methods and agencies. In addition, the protocol provides for the formation of a so-called special purpose vehicle (SPV), a consortium made up of regional telecommunication companies to own, manage and maintain the EASSY project and terrestrial infrastructure network. "The protocol facilitates provision of ICT broadband infrastructures to support high-speed, high-quality and reliable telecommunication in the eastern and southern African region," said Tembo. The EASSY project will be built by French telecommunication giant Alcatel SA -- soon to merge with the U.S.'s Lucent Technologies Inc. -- at the cost of US$280 million, and is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2007. The company to construct the Comtel project has not yet been named. However, the project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2007 and will cost $30 million, according to Comesa assistant secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya. The Comtel project will be owned and operated by the national telecommunication organizations from the 21 countries.
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The Web challenges the region's authoritarian governments with a freer exchange of information and ideas.
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About 75 percent of African Internet traffic is routed through Britain, or even the United States, making it the least connected region in the world.
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NEW YORK  - A mobile medical information  company is collecting used personal digital assistants (PDAs)  to send to doctors in Africa, and outfitting the devices with  the latest, up-to-date health information.
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OTTAWA (CP) - Law enforcement agencies from three continents have a new website aimed at deterring and preventing online exploitation of children.
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Web 2.0 is moving into your neighborhood, as more companies vie to deliver local content to your cellphone
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An online journal has been followed worldwide by scholars, policy makers and the occasional migrant in distress.
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BBC Click reports on the internet phase, Web 2.0, which is reaching mobile handsets.
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American economist Jeffrey Sachs  has a novel way to tackle African poverty: Shower more aid on  the world's poorest continent.
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Web 2.0 client to back-end content servers will help customers' access digital information, which in 2010 is expected to double every 11 hours.
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Text of report by Ghanaian newspaper The Accra Mail on 19 September  A stakeholder meeting on transforming public media has recommended that newspapers and news agencies, especially in Africa, should stay out of government control in order to impact meaningfully on the citizenry.
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The mobile Linux company Azingo announced a new line of open source software it hopes can satisfy new phone applications developers' needs to offer Web 2.0 technology to mobile phone users.