TechPlus+ | Technology & Development Redux
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Donor Interest in OLPC
Read more: Donor Interest in OLPCLast Friday I received a call from the Mission of Spain to the UN requesting a meeting to discuss possible support for OLPC. So I had to wear a nice tie and shirt for the ensuing meeting which took place today. The meeting with the Mission’s Deputy went quite well. I presented UNDP’s take on…
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Meeting with MOFA on Non-Core Funding
Read more: Meeting with MOFA on Non-Core FundingThis morning BDP and BRSP met with Mr. Nobuaki Ito, Director of Multilateral Cooperation Division, Economic Cooperation Bureau, MOFA at the Japan Mission to the UN. Minutes of the meeting were prepared by MOFA and are available. The big idea here is the “unification” of all non-core contributions to a single source of funding. It…
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Beta Laptop
Read more: Beta LaptopI received a message from the OLPC team informing me that I will be receiving a B laptop early this week for testing purposes. The unit is being FEDEX to my office. I saw a similar machine a couple of weeks ago when a rep from OLPC based in NYC came to my office and…
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On Leave In Bogotá
Read more: On Leave In BogotáI am back in Bogotá for the first time in two years. And once again, I must admit the city has changed for the best. Before, when I left twenty or so years ago, it was a small, gray and cold city, in addition to dirty and a tiny bit on the boring side. Today…
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In the press but…
Read more: In the press but…Early this morning, I got a call from a UN colleague who told me that I had made an article in a local press web service. The article is here: http://www.innercitypress.com/undp121306.html. Inner City Press has been running for a few days an exposé on UNDP. It is clear that inside information is being furnished to…
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e-voting Selected Papers
Read more: e-voting Selected PapersFound this uselful site (http://www.social-informatics.net/evoting.htm) that is being maintained on a continuous basis by the Department of Science System Assessment at the Rathenau Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…