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Fwd: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities
by Judy Okite 16 Apr '07

16 Apr '07

This really looks good ! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dapo Ladimeji <dapo(a)ladimeji.co.uk> Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:04:08 +0100 Subject: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities To: idlelo2(a)fossfa.net East African universities to gain from web tools deal The deal will give more students access to communication technologies Kimani Chege 26 March 2007 Source: SciDev.Net [NAIROBI] A software deal signed between universities in East Africa and the US-based internet giant Google will improve access to web-based communications for staff and students. Under the deal, Rwanda's government ministries and three Rwandan universities — the National University of Rwanda, the Kigali Institute for Education and the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology — as well as Kenya's University of Nairobi (UoN) will have free access to Google Apps. The applications include email, shared calendars, instant messaging and word processing software, along with the associated support services provided by the corporation. The deal, signed last week (19 March), looks set to improve internal communications at UoN and facilitate research, particularly for studies undertaken in remote areas. The head of information and communication technology at UoN, Elijah Omwenga, says the email application Gmail will be particularly useful in reducing the bandwidth required for internal communications by its 50,000 students and staff. He told SciDev.Net that the institution was facing major challenges in acquiring enough bandwidth. "This means our students and staff can access mail from the campuses as well as from outside. This will facilitate communicating all research, even when it is being done in remote areas," said Omwenga. However, he called for Google to come up with specific details of the offer, so that Google and the UoN can develop research schemes geared towards Africa's needs — such as developing software in local languages and making it more relevant to the local audience. About 20,000 users in Rwanda will have access to Google Apps in the first phase. This will be followed by a broader countrywide introduction. Students at UoN will be the first to use Google Apps in Kenya. Software access will then be extended to 150,000 Kenyan students at universities across the country. A Google spokesperson told the International Data Group News Service, "We are exploring other opportunities in both countries, and throughout the region as well." *Related SciDev.Net articles:* Zambia announces ICT training centre for scientists <http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3453&langua…> Web 2.0 can benefit the world's poor <http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=572…> ICT for development: hope or hype? <http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=537…> *Related links:* University of Nairobi <http://www.uonbi.ac.ke> National University of Rwanda <http://www.nur.ac.rw/> *Photo Credit:* SciDev.Net/Tonks *Dossiers:* Technology Transfer <http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=dossierItem&Dossier=12> Back to news <http://www.scidev.net/news/> To the top <http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3508&langua…> Print Format <http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=printarticle&itemid=3508&la…> Email Article <javascript:emaillink()> Comment <javascript:comments()> Regional Gateways World Map * Latin America <http://www.scidev.net/latinamerica/> * Sub-saharan Africa <http://www.scidev.net/africa/> * Middle-East & North Africa <http://www.scidev.net/middleeast/> * South Asia <http://www.scidev.net/sasia/> * China <http://www.scidev.net/china/> * South-East Asia <http://www.scidev.net/seasia/> Dossiers * Agri-Biotech <http://www.scidev.net/agribiotech/> * Biodiversity <http://www.scidev.net/biodiversity/> * Bird Flu <http://www.scidev.net/birdflu/> * Brain Drain <http://www.scidev.net/braindrain/> * Climate Change <http://www.scidev.net/climate/> * Desert Science <http://www.scidev.net/desertscience/> * Ethics of Research <http://www.scidev.net/ethics/> * HIV/AIDS <http://www.scidev.net/hiv/> * Indigenous Knowledge <http://www.scidev.net/indigenous/> * Intellectual Property <http://www.scidev.net/ipr/> * Malaria <http://www.scidev.net/malaria/> * Research and Development <http://www.scidev.net/randd/> * Technology Transfer <http://www.scidev.net/techtransfer/> Quick Guides * Genomics <http://www.scidev.net/genomics/> * Nanotechnology <http://www.scidev.net/nanotechnology/> * Science Publishing <http://www.scidev.net/sciencepublishing/> FREE SciDev.Net Newsfeed *Would you like to carry SciDev.Net stories on your website? We offer a constantly-updated 'newsfeed' featuring our top three news items. To find out more, click **here* <http://www.scidev.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=subpages&root=aboutthissite&page…> Book Reviews Read SciDev.Net's selection of book reviews <http://www.scidev.net/bookreviews/> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This e-mail including any attachments may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you should not use the contents or disclose them to any other person. Unauthorised recipients are requested to preserve this confidentiality and to advise the sender immediately of any error in transmission. Ladimeji & Co, Chartered Accountants & Chartered Tax Advisers, Springfield House, 23 Oatlands Drive Weybridge KT13 9LZ TEL; +44-207-096-1811 FAX: +44 207-900-3574 -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there."

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CCK Internet Market Study - Looking for PDF copy.
by John Walubengo 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

I note the above has now been uploaded at http://www.cck.go.ke/internet_market_study/ However, am looking for a PDF copy for the same. I realise that my mind is hard-wired to read 'offline' rather than 'online' when i get into serious analysis. walu. nb: maybe CCK could upload a PDF version as well? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 26, Issue 24
by Joan Walumbe 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

Thanks Simret. Joan ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request(a)kictanet.or.ke> To: "Joan" <jwalumbe(a)globalnetcorps.org> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 11:19 AM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 26, Issue 24 > Send kictanet mailing list submissions to > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > kictanet-request(a)kictanet.or.ke > > You can reach the person managing the list at > kictanet-owner(a)kictanet.or.ke > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: CCK Internet Market Study - Looking for PDF copy. > (Alex Gakuru) > 2. Re: CCK Internet Market Study - Looking for PDF copy. > (Odhiambo WASHINGTON) > 3. Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) > Compromised (Alex Gakuru) > 4. Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) > Compromised (Alex Gakuru) > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >

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Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised
by Alex Gakuru 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

I need user opinion on this issue. Could you kindly spare some time and comment either on or off line? TIA Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> wrote: Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:27:47 +0300 From: "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru(a)gmail.com> To: ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net Subject: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised *** Any comments*** Identity Management Systems invade individual's privacy. Interception of communication, lawful or otherwise, is primarily used to gain "informed advantage" and fore-warn law enforcement agencies to protect everyone, commercial espionage, Intellectual property thefts, or sheer mischief, such as embarrassing an online user, among others. "Private censorship" is a far bigger and real problem that government censorship considering technology users served by state-owned Telkom. Privacy has never been a bigger issue that it is today. For example, with 8 million subscribers but only 2.7 million internet users in Kenya, how, if, when, and where did 7 million pre-paid subscribers ever read website-posted terms of service? These terms are repeated in broadcast advertisements as "terms and conditions apply" Celtel appears not to bother posting their terms of service but several interesting clauses can be read at Safaricom's pre-paid "contract" at . [Safaricom Pre-paid users "contract"] f) Please note that the confidentiality of your communications via our Network is not guaranteed. You are advised that for reasons beyond our control, there is a risk that your communications may be unlawfully intercepted or accessed by those other than the intended recipient. We cannot accept any liability for any loss, injury or damage whether direct or consequential arising out of any such compromise of confidentiality; g) You accept that we may disclose and/or receive and/or record any details of your use of the Services including but not limited to your calls, emails, SMS's, data, your personal information or documents obtained from you for the purposes below: i. Fraud prevention and law enforcement; ii. For reasonable commercial purposes connected to your use of the mobile service, such as marketing and research related activities; iii. Use in our telephone directory enquiry service in printed or electronic format; iv. To comply with any legal, governmental or regulatory requirement; v. Our lawyers in connection with any legal proceedings; vi. In business practices including but not limited to quality control, training and ensuring effective systems operation. h) You must comply with any instructions that we may give you from time to time about the use of the Services; i) The maximum call duration for any one single call made using the Services is approximately sixty (60) minutes. j) With the exception of calls made to our Customer Service Hotline numbers and to any other designated toll free numbers, a variable minimum network access credit requirement shall be applied and shall depend on the Tariff used by the Customer. 2 . 3. ACCEPTANCE AND COMMENCEMENT OF CONDITIONS OF USE You are deemed to have accepted these Conditions of Use as amended from time to time and which take effect:- (a) Upon the Re-charge of your account at any time with any amount using the designated recharge voucher or using any other approved means of Re-charge ; or (b) Upon your use of our Services or upon you accessing our Network at any time; or (c) Upon the initial activation of your SIM Card.3 The EU has perhaps more protection for privacy than in the U.S. The Data Protection Directive of 1995 prohibits sharing of information with any nation that does provide adequate protection for personal data. In 1999 the U.S. Dept. of Commerce worked out a safe harbor regulation that has so far satisfied the EU. FTC (US) has led govt. action to protect consumer privacy. FTC thinks that web sites should adhere to the Five Fair Information Principles: 1. Notice/Awarenessright to be notified if someone is collecting information about you 2. Choice/Consentright to opt out of having information about you collected 3. Access/Participationright to see files collected about you and right to offer corrections 4. Integrity/Securityright to have personal files collected about you be secure 5. Enforcement/Redressright to sue if any of the first four FIPs are violated ------- [How Stuff Works] by Jeff Tyson Carnivorous Evolution Carnivore was the third generation of online-detection software used by the FBI. While information about the first version has never been disclosed, many believe that it was actually a readily available commercial program called Etherpeek. In 1997, the FBI deployed the second generation program, Omnivore. According to information released by the FBI, Omnivore was designed to look through e-mail traffic travelling over a specific Internet service provider (ISP) and capture the e-mail from a targeted source, saving it to a tape-backup drive or printing it in real-time. Omnivore was retired in late 1999 in favor of a more comprehensive system, the DragonWare Suite, which allowed the FBI to reconstruct e-mail messages, downloaded files or even Web pages. DragonWare contained three parts: * Carnivore - A Windows NT/2000-based system that captures the information * Packeteer - No official information released, but presumably an application for reassembling packets into cohesive messages or Web pages * Coolminer - No official information released, but presumably an application for extrapolating and analyzing data found in the messages As you can see, officials never released much information about the DragonWare Suite, nothing about Packeteer and Coolminer and very little detailed information about Carnivore. But we do know that Carnivore was basically a packet sniffer, a technology that is quite common and has been around for a while. Packet Sniffing Computer network administrators have used packet sniffers for years to monitor their networks and perform diagnostic tests or troubleshoot problems. Essentially, a packet sniffer is a program that can see all of the information passing over the network it is connected to. As data streams back and forth on the network, the program looks at, or "sniffs," each packet. Normally, a computer only looks at packets addressed to it and ignores the rest of the traffic on the network. When a packet sniffer is set up on a computer, the sniffer's network interface is set to promiscuous mode. This means that it is looking at everything that comes through. The amount of traffic largely depends on the location of the computer in the network. A client system out on an isolated branch of the network sees only a small segment of the network traffic, while the main domain server sees almost all of it. A packet sniffer can usually be set up in one of two ways: * Unfiltered - Captures all of the packets * Filtered - Captures only those packets containing specific data elements Packets that contain targeted data are copied as they pass through. The program stores the copies in memory or on a hard drive, depending on the program's configuration. These copies can then be analyzed carefully for specific information or patterns. When you connect to the Internet, you are joining a network maintained by your ISP. The ISP's network communicates with other networks maintained by other ISPs to form the foundation of the Internet. A packet sniffer located at one of the servers of your ISP would potentially be able to monitor all of your online activities, such as: * Which Web sites you visit * What you look at on the site * Whom you send e-mail to * What's in the e-mail you send * What you download from a site * What streaming events you use, such as audio, video and Internet telephony * Who visits your site (if you have a Web site) In fact, many ISPs use packet sniffers as diagnostic tools. Also, a lot of ISPs maintain copies of data, such as e-mail, as part of their back-up systems. Carnivore and its sister programs were a controversial step forward for the FBI, but they were not new technology. ---- Alex Gakuru _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.

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Fwd: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised
by Alex Gakuru 13 Apr '07

13 Apr '07

I need user opinion on this issue. Could you kindly spare some time and comment either on or off line? TIA Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> wrote: Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:27:47 +0300 From: "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru(a)gmail.com> To: ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net Subject: [ke-internetusers] User Privacy (deliberately?) Compromised *** Any comments*** Identity Management Systems invade individual's privacy. Interception of communication, lawful or otherwise, is primarily used to gain "informed advantage" and fore-warn law enforcement agencies to protect everyone, commercial espionage, Intellectual property thefts, or sheer mischief, such as embarrassing an online user, among others. "Private censorship" is a far bigger and real problem that government censorship considering technology users served by state-owned Telkom. Privacy has never been a bigger issue that it is today. For example, with 8 million subscribers but only 2.7 million internet users in Kenya, how, if, when, and where did 7 million pre-paid subscribers ever read website-posted terms of service? These terms are repeated in broadcast advertisements as "terms and conditions apply" Celtel appears not to bother posting their terms of service but several interesting clauses can be read at Safaricom's pre-paid "contract" at . [Safaricom Pre-paid users "contract"] f) Please note that the confidentiality of your communications via our Network is not guaranteed. You are advised that for reasons beyond our control, there is a risk that your communications may be unlawfully intercepted or accessed by those other than the intended recipient. We cannot accept any liability for any loss, injury or damage whether direct or consequential arising out of any such compromise of confidentiality; g) You accept that we may disclose and/or receive and/or record any details of your use of the Services including but not limited to your calls, emails, SMS's, data, your personal information or documents obtained from you for the purposes below: i. Fraud prevention and law enforcement; ii. For reasonable commercial purposes connected to your use of the mobile service, such as marketing and research related activities; iii. Use in our telephone directory enquiry service in printed or electronic format; iv. To comply with any legal, governmental or regulatory requirement; v. Our lawyers in connection with any legal proceedings; vi. In business practices including but not limited to quality control, training and ensuring effective systems operation. h) You must comply with any instructions that we may give you from time to time about the use of the Services; i) The maximum call duration for any one single call made using the Services is approximately sixty (60) minutes. j) With the exception of calls made to our Customer Service Hotline numbers and to any other designated toll free numbers, a variable minimum network access credit requirement shall be applied and shall depend on the Tariff used by the Customer. 2 . 3. ACCEPTANCE AND COMMENCEMENT OF CONDITIONS OF USE You are deemed to have accepted these Conditions of Use as amended from time to time and which take effect:- (a) Upon the Re-charge of your account at any time with any amount using the designated recharge voucher or using any other approved means of Re-charge ; or (b) Upon your use of our Services or upon you accessing our Network at any time; or (c) Upon the initial activation of your SIM Card.3 The EU has perhaps more protection for privacy than in the U.S. The Data Protection Directive of 1995 prohibits sharing of information with any nation that does provide adequate protection for personal data. In 1999 the U.S. Dept. of Commerce worked out a safe harbor regulation that has so far satisfied the EU. FTC (US) has led govt. action to protect consumer privacy. FTC thinks that web sites should adhere to the Five Fair Information Principles: 1. Notice/Awarenessright to be notified if someone is collecting information about you 2. Choice/Consentright to opt out of having information about you collected 3. Access/Participationright to see files collected about you and right to offer corrections 4. Integrity/Securityright to have personal files collected about you be secure 5. Enforcement/Redressright to sue if any of the first four FIPs are violated ------- [How Stuff Works] by Jeff Tyson Carnivorous Evolution Carnivore was the third generation of online-detection software used by the FBI. While information about the first version has never been disclosed, many believe that it was actually a readily available commercial program called Etherpeek. In 1997, the FBI deployed the second generation program, Omnivore. According to information released by the FBI, Omnivore was designed to look through e-mail traffic travelling over a specific Internet service provider (ISP) and capture the e-mail from a targeted source, saving it to a tape-backup drive or printing it in real-time. Omnivore was retired in late 1999 in favor of a more comprehensive system, the DragonWare Suite, which allowed the FBI to reconstruct e-mail messages, downloaded files or even Web pages. DragonWare contained three parts: * Carnivore - A Windows NT/2000-based system that captures the information * Packeteer - No official information released, but presumably an application for reassembling packets into cohesive messages or Web pages * Coolminer - No official information released, but presumably an application for extrapolating and analyzing data found in the messages As you can see, officials never released much information about the DragonWare Suite, nothing about Packeteer and Coolminer and very little detailed information about Carnivore. But we do know that Carnivore was basically a packet sniffer, a technology that is quite common and has been around for a while. Packet Sniffing Computer network administrators have used packet sniffers for years to monitor their networks and perform diagnostic tests or troubleshoot problems. Essentially, a packet sniffer is a program that can see all of the information passing over the network it is connected to. As data streams back and forth on the network, the program looks at, or "sniffs," each packet. Normally, a computer only looks at packets addressed to it and ignores the rest of the traffic on the network. When a packet sniffer is set up on a computer, the sniffer's network interface is set to promiscuous mode. This means that it is looking at everything that comes through. The amount of traffic largely depends on the location of the computer in the network. A client system out on an isolated branch of the network sees only a small segment of the network traffic, while the main domain server sees almost all of it. A packet sniffer can usually be set up in one of two ways: * Unfiltered - Captures all of the packets * Filtered - Captures only those packets containing specific data elements Packets that contain targeted data are copied as they pass through. The program stores the copies in memory or on a hard drive, depending on the program's configuration. These copies can then be analyzed carefully for specific information or patterns. When you connect to the Internet, you are joining a network maintained by your ISP. The ISP's network communicates with other networks maintained by other ISPs to form the foundation of the Internet. A packet sniffer located at one of the servers of your ISP would potentially be able to monitor all of your online activities, such as: * Which Web sites you visit * What you look at on the site * Whom you send e-mail to * What's in the e-mail you send * What you download from a site * What streaming events you use, such as audio, video and Internet telephony * Who visits your site (if you have a Web site) In fact, many ISPs use packet sniffers as diagnostic tools. Also, a lot of ISPs maintain copies of data, such as e-mail, as part of their back-up systems. Carnivore and its sister programs were a controversial step forward for the FBI, but they were not new technology. ---- Alex Gakuru _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.

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Anita Borg Award for Social Impact: Call for Nominations
by alice 11 Apr '07

11 Apr '07

Anita Borg Award for Social Impact Call for Nominations - Submission deadline: April 16, 2007 *Submission Guidelines - ONLINE SUBMISSIONS <https://ssl.linklings.net/organizations/abi/>NOW BEING ACCEPTED * The third Anita Borg Social Impact Award <http://www.anitaborg.org/about/history.php#anita>, an international prize, will honor an individual or team who has caused technology to have a positive impact on the lives of women and society or who has caused women to have a significant impact on the design and use of technology. The recipient of the 2006 Anita Borg Social Impact Award will receive a $10,000 award and will be honored at the 2007 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/ghc/> conference Awards Banquet to be held in Orlando, Florida, October 18, 2007. The inaugural Social Impact Award was presented to Karen Banks <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/kbanks.php>, Global Coordinator, APC Women's Networking Support Programme, located in London, England. Working with programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America for 15 years, she brought information and communication technologies (ICTs -eg. internet, radio, video, cell phones) to underserved women and communities as a vital tool for empowerment and positive social change. Their network numbers over 100 women from more than 35 countries. Their network includes individual women and women's groups and organizations working in the field of gender and ICT and actively supporting women's networking. Their members have formed themselves into regional networks in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Africa and they are building an emerging network in Europe. In 2006, the award was given to Dr. Carol Muller <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/cmuller.php>, the Founder and CEO of MentorNet, The E-Mentoring Network for Diversity in Engineering and Science. MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net <http://www.mentornet.net/>) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in San Jose, CA. Founded in 1997, its mission is to further the progress of women and others underrepresented in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring program; and to advance individuals and society, and enhance engineering and related sciences, by promoting a diversified, expanded and talented global workforce. Mentornet began by matching 539 mentoring pairs representing students at 27 universities and 261 individuals at companies in 1999. In 2006 Mentornet matched over 2,500 pairs at 111 universities and 1045 companies. In 2006 students from 97 countries and mentors from 67 countries were represented in the program. *Selection Criteria* * Impact will be measured by 1) the degree and type of social change, 2) the amount of women's increased empowerment through the technology or increased influence over technology and 3) its sustainability and scalability. * The award recipient may have developed the technology, motivated social change and empowerment through that technology, or increased women's influence over and decision-making about technology. * The award recipient must be available to participate in the 2007 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference"s Awards Banquet on October 18, 2007 in Orlando, Florida. Your nomination may be for a colleague or you may nominate yourself. Only completed submissions will be considered by the jury. *Required Materials* (Online Submission Only) <https://ssl.linklings.net/organizations/abi/> 1. Title of nominated achievement* 2. Name(s) of nominee(s)* 3. 30 word (maximum) summary of the person and project, for the selection committee to use for identification purposes* 4. Expanded statement of merit with examples (2-3pages). This must include short bio(s) of the nominated person(s) and address the following issues: Describe the impact and how it was measured. Was the action taken with respect to a specific situation? What motivated the nominee(s) to take action? Did he/she/they encounter any significant challenges?** 5. Resume or curriculum vitae** 6. Letters of reference (2-3)** 7. Nominator's name, e-mail address, phone number and relationship to nominee* *You will submit the nomination title, nominee(s) name(s), summary statement and your contact information via web forms at https://ssl.linklings.net/organizations/abi/. For more information about the Awards, please visit: http://anitaborg.org/programs/awards/ <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/>. **The expanded statement of merit, resume or curriculum vitae, and letters of reference must be in separate Microsoft Word or text documents. Additional information about this award may be found at http://anitaborg.org/programs/awards/ <http://www.anitaborg.org/programs/awards/>.Questions may be emailed to the Chair of the Anita Borg Social Impact Award Committee, Amy Pearl at socialaward_2007(a)anitaborg.org <mailto:[email protected]> *Schedule* Nomination packages due April 16, 2007 Finalists selected May 14, 2007 Award recipient notified July 9, 2007 Awards ceremony in Orlando, Florida October 18, 2007 Selection Committee The 2007 Anita Borg Award for Social Impact is chaired by Amy Pearl.

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[Fwd: [At-Large] NomCom: seeking candidates for ICANN leadership positions]
by alice 11 Apr '07

11 Apr '07

Hi, ICANN's NomCom is recruiting candidates, we are selecting: * 3 seats on the ICANN Board of Directors. * 3 members of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), from Africa, Latin America and Caribbean and Asia/Australia/Pacific regions. * 2 members to Generic Names Supporting Organization Council (GNSO). * 1 Country Code Names Support Organization Council (ccNSO) member. NomCom website <http://nomcom.icann.org> has information about the process and more information about the positions. You can nominate yourself. You can suggest someone you think would be a good candidate (details of how to do that here <http://nomcom.icann.org/formal-call-2007.html#H>). Or just send me the names of anyone you think would be a good candidate for any of the positions. Please pass on this information to your ALS or any other groups and individuals you think may be interested. I would be happy to help anyone with questions, please forward my email address <ajp(a)glocom.ac.jp>. Deadline for applications in 1 May 2007. I should have asked this list long ago for advice, ALAC --the RALOs and ALS-- is the strongest link to the ICANN user community and potential source of candidates. Apologies. Many thanks, Adam (2007 NomCom Associate Chair) _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org www.alac.icann.org www.icannalac.org

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[Fwd: [DigAfrica] High Phone Charges Hamper Region's Growth, Says W Bank]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

Our never ending connectivity problems and the prices we pay..... The East African Standard (Nairobi) NEWS April 10, 2007 Posted to the web April 10, 2007 By Benson Kathuri and Robert Nyasato Nairobi International phone call and high-speed Internet connection charges are beyond the reach of average classes in 25 East and Southern African countries. A report by the World Bank says the region is the only one not connected to the global optical fibre broadband infrastructure. "The 'missing link' explains why the region accounts for less than one per cent of the world's international bandwidth capacity," says the report released in Washington last week. These countries lack direct terrestrial access to global information and communications infrastructure, relying on expensive satellite connectivity to link up with the rest of the world. As a result, telecommunication users face some of the highest costs in the world, says the study: African Region Communications Infrastructure Programme Report. The countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya. The rest are Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. "International wholesale bandwidth prices are 20 to 40 times higher than in the United States, and international calls are on average 10 to 20 times more than in other developing countries," says the report. This, according to the report, has limited regional and international trade, job creation, use of information and communication technology in learning, good governance, and transparency. "The region's growth and development is being held back by this lack of access to low price and high quality telecommunications services." However, the World Bank has initiated a multi-billion shilling project, the Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (RCIP) to address the 'missing link'. By the end of the programme, it is expected that all capitals and major cities in East and Southern Africa would be linked to competitively priced high-bandwidth connectivity. "To put 25 agents on the phone, it will cost us close to US$17,000 (Sh1.2 million) a month while elsewhere, it will only cost US$600-900 (Sh42, 000 -Sh56, 000) a month," said Nicholas Nesbitt, CEO of KenCall. Meanwhile, in Kisii town, Internet service charges have doubled in the past two months due to power failure. Many cyber cafes now charge Sh2 a minute up from one shilling. "Whenever there is a power outage, we have to increase the cost of browsing because we use a generator, which is more expensive," said Ms Josephine Kerubo, a worker at one of the Internet shops in the town. Other sops have closed down due to the unreliable supply. 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[Fwd: Kenya and EASSy?]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

I'm confused: I was under the impression, not the least from Bitange Ndemo's* *comments on the KICTANeT list, that Kenya had pulled out of EASSy? Any clarifications welcome. Alan EASSY winner of fibre-optic cable race By A STAFF WRITER The EastAfrican, April 9 2007 Which of the upcoming submarine cable projects out of Mombasa will rollout first? That is the big question in Kenya where the government is investing in two parallel projects at the same time — namely. The East African Marine System (TEAMS) and the East Africa SubMarine Cable System (EASSy). Although the government has justified the investment in TEAMS on the grounds that the EASSy project will take too long to roll out, the indications so far is that EASSy which has already received the support and commitment of 22 telecom operators representing 20 countries, — 90 per cent of which are African operators, both private and public — is likely to move much faster. So far, the project has secured all its funding targets and committed leading development financial institutions to the project. Its funding arrangement is structured to allow equity partners to either participate through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) or come in as direct investors. The SPV, consisting mainly of regional operators, has already been incorporated in Mauritius under the name West Indian Ocean Cable Company Ltd. Financial instruments for the SPV are in process and have been finalised in partnership with the development funding institutions comprising the World Bank, IFC Group, European Investment Bank, KFW of Germany, AFD Prop Arco of France, the African Development Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa. On March 9, nine EASSy members formally signed the supply contract with Alcatel-Lucent, who will be implementing the EASSy fibre-optic cable project on a full turnkey basis. The process of manufacturing the necessary equipment is going on and the approximation is that the project will be concluded by the end of 2008. The overall project cost will be in excess of $200 million. In compliance with international and national regulatory requirements, all operators having been conducting environment and social impact analyses studies which are expected to conclude this month. The EASSy submarine network will span nearly 10,000km linking eight countries from Sudan to South Africa via Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique. The initial capacity will be 20 gigabits per second with ultimate capacity of 320 gbits/s per fibre pair. Last week, the EASSY project received a major boost when the World Bank announced that it has approved $164.5 million for high speed connectivity for Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar. East and Southern Africa is the only region in the world that is not connected to the global broadband infrastructure and accounts for less than one per cent of the world’s international bandwidth capacity. As a result of this “missing link,” the region relies on satellite connectivity, with costs among the highest in the world. One Kenyan call-centre entrepreneur told the World Bank board of directors that the region simply cannot compete with others. “To put 25 agents on the phone will cost us close to $17,000 a month. Elsewhere, it will only cost $600-$900 a month,” said Nicholas Nesbitt, chief executive of KenCall. “It is absolutely imperative that something be done right now to make bandwidth affordable. Otherwise, we’re going to miss a huge opportunity and people are simply going to say that Africa is not ready for these kinds of jobs, is not ready for business.” By the end of the programme, it is expected that all capitals and major cities in East and Southern Africa will be linked to competitively priced high-bandwidth connectivity

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] SA considering second, cheaper undersea cable]
by alice 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

SA considering second, cheaper undersea cable By Lesley Stones, Financial Mail, April 4 2007 ARGUMENTS about the cost of bandwidth on a telecommunications cable to be laid around Africas east coast could see more money pumped into a duplicate cable laid in direct competition to the original R300m project. A second multimillion-dollar cable to replicate the planned East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) may be laid because of a clash between private investors wanting to profiteer and governments demanding cheaper bandwidth to reduce the cost of doing business and stimulate economic growth. Partners in the long-awaited EASSy cable include Telkom, which is 38% government owned. But yesterday the communications departments director-general, Lyndall Shope-Mafole, confirmed that SA might lead a rival cable-building project because of the EASSy consortiums intransigence. Ideally, the EASSy cable will be a key component in a project to increase Africas bandwidth launched by the New Partnership for Africas Development (Nepad). But private investors in the EASSy consortium were more interested in profits than in providing affordable bandwidth, Shope-Mafole said. Telkom CEO Papi Molotsane has repeatedly said Telkom will only invest in EASSy if it can make a decent return on its investment. The EASSy consortium members have complained that African governments are trying to hijack the project, with its finance committee chairman, Donald Nyakairu, recently telling the Ugandan newspaper The Monitor that the politicians are making unreasonable demands. If a compromise is not reached, Nepad will lay a rival undersea connection. We hope it will be the same cable. There is no cable right now but we could absolutely build another one, he said. Twelve African governments have signed an agreement pledging that access to a cable linking SA to Sudan must not be monopolised by a private cabal. International bandwidth is so crucial that Africa can no longer be held to ransom by private companies looking to profiteer, the governments believe. Their policy for international connectivity is dubbed the Nepad Network, based on a submarine cable and a terrestrial network covering landlocked countries. The policy insists that all telecoms operators, internet service providers and other bandwidth-hungry businesses will be able to use the cable for the same price as the companies that invested in the infrastructure. That is a direct attempt to prevent companies from capitalising on Africas lack of bandwidth by charging exorbitant fees, much as Telkom charges punishing fees for access to bandwidth on the Sat-3 cable around Africas west coast. In an interview with the Financial Times this week, President Thabo Mbeki blasted Telkom for charging absolutely phenomenal rates for access to Sat-3 and said the government was applying pressure on Telkom to cut its fees. About 10 companies in SA will be invited to invest up to $2m each to fund the Nepad Network, whether it is based on the EASSy cable or on a rival venture. Technology and telecommunications companies, internet service providers and bandwidth-intensive banks and other businesses would be asked to invest, Shope-Mafole said. Another investor could be InfraCo, a new state-owned entity created with a budget of R647m to supply wholesale bandwidth. Shope-Mafole also said the department would give Mbeki the telecoms price cuts he was demanding when Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri made some policy announcements on May 24. _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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