Pambazuka ICT News (South Africa)

Dramatic changes brought about by ICTs have created new economic and social opportunities the world over. Their use, however, continues to be governed by existing power relations. Amidst this inequality are individuals and organisations that are working tirelessly to use these technologies to further gender equality and social justice. The report argues that far-reaching changes towards gender equality and women's empowerment in the ICT arena are needed at every level ( international, national and programme). Engendering ICTs is not merely about greater use of ICTs by women. It is about transforming the ICT system.

The technical centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) has published its ICT Update October Issue which includes GenARDIS award-winning projects. Some of these include: an NGO in Ghana which is using video equipment to enable women to devise community plans for natural resource management; computer training to women civil servants in rural areas of Benin and how a database system, an online input calculator, and email are helping women farmers in Malawi to improve agricultural production.

With the brand name TITV, African Trumpet Telecommunications Limited (ATTL), will through the use of satellite technology bring to Nigerians world-class television programming that resonates with its African target as well as Internet services through the same channel. At the media presentation of the company last week, Managing Director, Nathan Garner, said the company was established to help West Africans in large numbers unto the Information Technology age, stressing that the company would live up to the promise by offering its services at affordable prices.

A Cape-based project called Cell-Life has developed software and data management systems that enable the health workers at the Hannan Crusaid treatment centre in Cape Town's Guguletu township to monitor patients who are on AIDS drugs and pick up problems before they become life-threatening. Now, thanks to an innovative application of cellphone technology, is on the verge of becoming a paperless operation.

African lobby groups, as well as community and independent media, are using free software and the internet to fight a lack of money and skills. The internet had also helped overcome the problems associated with widely dispersed audiences and, in some countries, government crackdowns on freedom of expression, speakers told the Highway Africa 2004 conference in Grahamstown last week.

Twenty-eight Internet fraudsters have been arrested in Lagos, in joint operations between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the FBI.Also, USD3.5 million (N490 million) was recovered in fraudulent cashier cheques and goods bought over the Internet and shipped to Nigeria by credit card scammers.

Google search engine already supports more than 104 languages or dialects while offering a personalized version of its engine for over 90 countries and it has just added one more country to that list. Google-Kenya available in English and Kiswahili with a Kenya-specific search function is now available at www.google.co.ke

African Govts have been warned on signing MOUs with Microsoft which would actually be illegal in US and Europe. The African governments were also asked not to rush in ratifying patent laws on software at the first day of a UNCTAD's Intergovernmental meeting held in Geneva.

This year's locust invasion is threatening to devastate crops throughout the Sahel and spark a food crisis in West Africa's worst locust plague in 15 years. Keith Cressman explains how the FAO's eLocust sytem - a palmtop computer, GPS device and HF radio equipment that run on a car battery - is helping to minimize the consequences for the region's farmers.

On the weekend of September 2, 2004, a group of Kenyans in Toronto had the chance to meet with the e-government Kenyan delegation that was visiting Canada. Lead by the Hon Raphael Tuju, Minister for Information and Communications, the team was in Canada to explore ways and learn from experiences that would make it possible to implement the e-government strategy, which intends to enhance government efficiency, accountability and transparency.

An Internet crime bill in Zambia, which includes provisions that could see convicted hackers facing sentences of up to 25 years in jail, has caused some controversy in the country's IT community but is expected to become law soon.

As Libya gradually loses its pariah status and slowly but surely returns to the bosom of the family of acceptable nations, changes are also afoot within the state-run Libyan economy. Money is being spent on the country's tired and overstretched telecoms infrastructure and Libya now has a new mobile phone network that has introduced a sort of competition into what was a massively overpriced and moribund sector. However, both the new 'Libyana', and the original 'Al Madar', are owned by the Libyan government.

Creative Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to building a body of creative and educational materials free to share and re-use, unveiled today its Developing Nations copyright license. Like all of Creative Commons' legal tools, the Developing Nations license is free of charge and allows authors and artists to invite certain uses of their work, upon certain conditions -- to declare "some rights reserved" as opposed to the "all rights reserved" of traditional copyright.

A meeting was held on 8 September 2004 among civil society members to discuss the ICT Empowerment Charter and how it would affect each of their organizations. Several South African organizations have recognized the Charter as being essential in their progress towards socio-economic

In response to an appeal by Vice President Aliu Mahama, the World Bank has expressed its commitment to supporting Ghana's efforts to integrate ICT into all sectors of Ghanaian life. This initiative aims to create jobs, increase foreign exchange earnings and promote sustainable development within Ghana.