TechPlus+ | Technology & Development Redux
-
Sansho the Bailiff
Read more: Sansho the BailiffKenji Mizoguchi’s (1898-1956) films are in deep sharp contrast with those of the better know and more popular of his contemporaries, Akira Kurosawa. Some critics argue (like Bazin) that some of the films of the latter were heavily influenced by the films of John Ford et. al. and the Western genre, masterfully adapted to Japan’s…
-
Film Review: Sansho the Bailiff
Read more: Film Review: Sansho the BailiffKenji Mizoguchi’s (1898-1956) films are in deep sharp contrast with those of the better know and more popular of his contemporaries, Akira Kurosawa. Some critics argue (like Bazin) that some of the films of the latter were heavily influenced by the films of John Ford et. al. and the Western genre, masterfully adapted to Japan’s…
-
Open Source and the NY Times
Read more: Open Source and the NY TimesI was interviewed for a NY Times on the Open Source vs. MS Windows “war.” The article was published yesterday. It is here. The article’s title, however, seems to mix so-called shareware with Open Source. Those are two very different animals. And, as expected, my first name is misspelled. So what else is new? Cheers,…
-
South Africa BTOR
Read more: South Africa BTOR1. The two day mission to Johannesburg/Pretoria on 14/16 May had two objectives: 1) To participate in the ICTD Strategy Task Force meeting that the Department of Communications (DoC) is leading with support from the Markle Foundation; 2) continued dialogue on the OS Resource Center with representatives of CSIR 2. The Task Force meeting took…
-
Mozambique BTOR
Read more: Mozambique BTORMozambique BTOR 1. The two day mission to Maputo on 12-14 May had three objectives: 1) assess the status of the ICTD programmes; 2) assist the CO in the ongoing ICTD mainstreaming efforts; and 3) discuss with GoM and the CO the planning of the ICTD Strategies workshop 2. The ICTD programme has been advancing…
-
Out of (South) Africa
Read more: Out of (South) AfricaFlying from Maputo to Johannesburg, which takes 45 minutes, is an efficient gateway to easily notice the huge gap between the two countries. The same goes for most of the sub-Saharan African nations. It is almost like flying from Mozambique to a Latin American country at the speed of sound. The first time I visited…
-
Maputo in May, again
Read more: Maputo in May, againSix months is probably not a long time to expect and run into major changes in most countries. Mozambique is, of course, no exception. Maputo is still an intriguing city with its beautiful geographical surroundings and coastline that hosts the grayish Indian Ocean. Unlike New York City, time in Maputo is less expensive and much…
-
Africa ICTD Strategies Workshop
Read more: Africa ICTD Strategies WorkshopToday we had a lunch meeting with Salomao Manica (ICT Policy Commission), Laureno Chemane (ICT Policy Commission), Aeneas Chuma (DRR) and Violet Kakyomya (PO). Salomao started by explaining the reasons as to why they would rather not hold a meeting with 8 countries (one powerful being the issue of country selection, the second the issue…
-
Meeting with the Advisory Board of Ireland Aid
Read more: Meeting with the Advisory Board of Ireland AidStephen, Radhika and I met with the Advisory Board. Yuri Afanasiev from RBEC was also present. After the presentation by Stephen, members of the delegation raised serious concerns about the relevance of ICT vis-�-vis other development priorities. They saw huge obstacles in practical terms for Africa in relation to infrastructure, basic education and capacity commitment…
-
SDNP Malawi
Read more: SDNP MalawiMalawi SDNP Meeting with Azusa Kuwota, PO Malawi CO. The future of SDNP is at stake and after 7 years of supporting the programme the CO is eager to make it an independent entity. For this purpose, a national consultant was recruited earlier this year to assess the situation and issue recommendations. The consultant was…
-
Dominican Republic BTOR
Read more: Dominican Republic BTORBack to Office Report Mission to Dominican Republic 21-25 April 2003 Garry Garriott, SURF Panam�, and I visited the country at the request of the CO who recently signed an MoU with INDOTEL, the Dominican telecom regulator. The main purpose of the mission was to kick start the process for the elaboration and finalisation of…
-
Dominican Republic
Read more: Dominican RepublicThis was my first time back in Santo Domingo since 1999. I must admit the city has changed quite a bit. The first thing one notices is the development of physical infrastructure, buildings and roads specially. The long and beautiful ride from the airport to Santo Domingo has now been transformed into a 6 lane…
-
TTF Working Group Meeting
Read more: TTF Working Group MeetingBDP organised a TTF manager discussion to address the issues that have emerged regarding the management and allocation processes for TTFs. The first item for discussion was the presentation of the TTF report to the EB in the summer. BRSP informed us that a special session of the EB will be held in September to…
-
Meeting with UNF – Conectas Project
Read more: Meeting with UNF – Conectas ProjectI met with Malak Poppovic (UNF Senior Advisor, Sao Paolo) and Lena Sinha (BRSP) to discuss the above project and identify potential for collaboration. Conectas (http://www.conectas.org) is a non-gov, non-profit network working on human rights on a global scale. One of their priorities is to use of ICT to enhance collaboration and information exchange (I…
-
OSS Follow-up IDRC/Bellanet
Read more: OSS Follow-up IDRC/BellanetI spoke to Mark Faul from Bellanet on the above. We agreed to: – organise a conference call next week with UNESCO, UNDP, USAID & Bellanet to see if we can coordinate our efforts. – support the workshops in Peru (August), Paris (November) and others is available – discuss the Open Source Resource Centres in…