The Centre for Internet and Society
http://editors.cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 1 to 15.
Wikipedia Meet-up in TERI
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-meet-up-bangalore
<b>The Wikipedia Bangalore meet-up is a monthly get-together of Wikipedians (contributors and users) to meet, discuss, share experiences, reach out and advocate for Wikipedia and Wikimedia. Danese Cooper, Chief Technical Officer, Wikimedia Foundation, Alolita Sharma, Engineering Programs Manager, Wikimedia Foundation, Erik Möller, Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation and Achal Prabhala, Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board Member attended the meeting. The Centre for Internet and Society made arrangements for this event.</b>
<p>The Indian wiki community is dedicated to mainly improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to the Republic of India and the history and culture of the Indian subcontinent.The efforts of Indian Wikipedians in English wikipedia is coordinated through Wikiproject India.</p>
<p>This meeting was held at <a class="external-link" href="http://www.teriin.org/index.php">The Energy & Resources Institute</a> (TERI),
near to Domlur Club in Bangalore on Saturday, 18 December 2010 and was
attended by about 41 participants. There was good attendance from
various professional fields – wildlife photographers, journalists,
techies, students from Rajasthan (who were in Bangalore to attend <a class="external-link" href="http://foss.in/">FOSS.in</a>) and many who were interested in Indic versions of Wikipedia. </p>
<p>Wikipedia has 250 language versions. Their main data center is in Tampa (Florida). Most surfers from India would be hitting their caching servers in Amsterdam. The primary data however, will always reside in the United States of America as Wikipedia appreciates the freedom of speech provided by the US govt.</p>
<p>Wikimedia Foundation officials have met many important government departments in Delhi for promoting the <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indic_scripts">Indic versions</a> of Wiki. But the Government of India is not willing to open-source the fonts that are developed by the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.cdac.in/">Centre for Development of Advanced Computing</a>. There are <a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias">278 wikipedias</a> including one wikipedia each for English and Simple English and there are more than 79,000 articles related to India on English Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation wants to promote Indic versions on mobile in a big way and is keen to work with Indian mobile handset makers to have the offline version of Wikipedia shipped with handsets. English has about 3.5 million articles. Indic has far lesser but can catch up with English provided people start contributing content. Indic editors can set up their own rules for content contribution and it need not be as tight as they have for English. Examples were cited from other countries. For example, Russia has been doing exceptionally well in adding Russian content and nobody in the world can beat the Germans for perfection. They pay a lot of attention to quality. Indians should also do so, it was felt.</p>
<p>Also see</p>
<ul><li>The <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Bangalore/Bangalore23#Summary">Wikipedia</a> page</li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.mahesh.com/2010/12/18/wikipedia-meetup-in-bangalore-my-first-one">Mahesh's Blog Post</a></li></ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-meet-up-bangalore'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-meet-up-bangalore</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessMeeting2011-09-22T12:21:53ZBlog EntryUID Booklet
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/uid-booklet-aug25
<b>The UID booklet from the Public Meeting held on the 25th of August</b>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/uid-booklet-aug25'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/uid-booklet-aug25</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaConferenceMeeting2011-08-23T03:18:46ZFileThomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson to lecture at Development Café meet-up
http://editors.cis-india.org/events/pettersson-talk
<b>Development Café (DC) is hosting its second meet-up at the Centre for Internet and Society on Friday, 3 December 2010. Mr. Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson, serial entrepreneur and founder of Akvo, a non-profit foundation with focus on water and sanitation, will give a lecture.</b>
<p>In Akvo’s newest attempt at breaking ground on transparency, and setting an innovative standard on open governance in the capital intensive field of water, Thomas and his team have harnessed the use of mobile technology – the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.akvo.org/blog/?p=1745">Akvo Phone</a> – a new, neat tool to break barriers and establish fresh standards of reporting.</p>
<h3>Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson</h3>
<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/thomas_240.jpg/image_preview" alt="Thomas" class="image-inline" title="Thomas" /></p>
<p>Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson is the founder, managing director and acting chief technical officer of Akvo which he founded with the mission to inspire a global open source knowledge and collaboration platform for the water sector. A serial entrepreneur, Thomas is a computer software and environmental scientist who began developing software ventures in the UK and California in the mid-1990s. Thomas is acting chief technology officer and steers the team to harness the maximum potential from open source methods. He refines our methodologies and tools to meet the needs of financiers, field-based NGOs and global development institutions.</p>
<p>Follow Thomas on Twitter <a class="external-link" href="http://twitter.com/bjelkeman">@bjelkeman</a>.</p>
<p><strong>VIDEOS</strong></p>
<embed height="250" width="250" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKorWQA"></embed>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/events/pettersson-talk'>http://editors.cis-india.org/events/pettersson-talk</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaLectureMeeting2011-03-07T11:11:25ZEventThe National Public Meeting on Software Patents
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/the-national-public-meeting-on-software-patents
<b>On Saturday, October 4, 2008, the Centre for Internet and Society, with the support of eighteen other organization, held a meeting on the National Public Meeting on Software Patents in the United Theological College campus. The aim of the event was to explore various issues surrounding software patents, especially from the perspective of the draft Patent Manual.</b>
<p>After introductions by <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/../../about-us/people/staff/staff#sunil-abraham" class="external-link">Sunil Abraham</a> of CIS, the discussions were kicked off by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.nls.ac.in/faculty_sudhir.html">Sudhir Krishnaswamy</a> (an Assistant Professor at National Law School), who spoke about typology of laws; principle-based arguments for excluding software from patenting; policy-based arguments for the same; and lastly, strategies for combating the patent manual. About the rationale behind excepting software ("computer programmes <em>per se</em>") from patentability, he theorised that given the location of "computer programmes <em>per se</em>" in section 3(k) of the Act, surrounded as it is by "mathematical or business method" and "algorithms", the exception seems to be a principle-based one and not a policy-based one. He also talked about what he saw as the practical realities of the Patent Office, and questioned the role the Draft Manual would actually play in the decisions of Patent Examiners.<br /><br />He listed out economic arguments as:</p>
<ol><li>Inapplicability of the incentive arguments. The software industry does not need patents since copyright covers software, and even if incentives are required, that is incentive enough;</li><li>Return on investment. Short shelf-life, and hence 17-year patent terms are irrelevant when the shelf-life is so small;</li><li>New intermediaries are created, who are neither producers nor consumers of software. These intermediaries who help in price-discovery. They discover value in patents which were previously thought neglected by the process known as patent trolling. </li></ol>
<p><br />Apart from these, he also briefly talked of the legal arguments around software patents, and argued that the question is not only about copyright vs. patent, but also about property vs. contract. He asked questions such as: "What role does copyright play in the software industry, or is contract more important?", and pointed out that while this might have been addressed around a decade ago, those questions need to be revisited given the current scenario. Further, he proposed that the strategies should not revolve solely around the Patent Act and Draft Manual, but around pre- and post-grant oppositions as well.<br /><br /><img class="image-right" src="../NMoSP%20005.jpg/image_mini" alt="Prabir Purkayastha" />Prabir Purkayastha of the Delhi Science Forum and Knowledge Commons spoke next, giving a quick run-through of the history, both legal and philosophical, surrounding software patents in India and in the U.S. and Europe (pointing out that most of the wordings of Draft Manual on this point are borrowed from a similar document in the U.K.). He asked the question of why people are opposing software patents. Is it because it is damaging to 'public interest', because it bad for Indian domestic software industry, or because it is an abstract idea which is sought to be patented in the guise of something else? He concluded that ultimately it is not the manual that groups are opposing, but the notion of software patents themselves. Thus, he focussed on how the phrase <em>"per se</em>" used in the Act ought to be interpreted by the Patent Office so as to give credence to the Indian Parliament's rejection (in 2005) of the 2004 patent ordinance (in which section 3(k) read: "a computer programme <em>per se</em> other than its technical application to industry or a combination with hardware"). Lastly, he talked about the various strategies to be employed in the fight against software patents, including pre- and post-grant oppositions.<br /><br /><a class="external-link" href="http://www.gnu.org.in/about-fsf-india/whos-who">Dr. Nagarjuna G.</a> of the Free Software Foundation of India focussed on what he termed "the absurdity of software patents". He emphasised how software requires an interpreter or hardware, and hence talk of "software <em>per se</em>" often becomes meaningless. Further, he underlined how embedding software in hardware was not innovation in itself, and stressed ont he changing notions of software and hardware as we evolve technologically. His equation of software with abstract ideas gives us a glimpse into the foundation of his objection to software patents.<br /><br /><img class="image-left" src="../PrashantIyengar.jpg/image_mini" alt="Prashant Iyengar" />First up in the second session (which was more focussed on the manual, and the law in India) was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.altlawforum.org/OUR_TEAM/profile">Prashant Iyengar</a> of the Bangalore-based Alternative Law Forum. He first listed out the different kinds of objections to software patents, including the point that there are only limited ways of thinking about programming, as Donald Knuth's <em><a class="external-link" href="http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/taocp.html">The Art of Computer Programming</a> </em>shows. Then he went on to go through the history of software patents in India, from the first software patent, granted in 1996, through the 2002 Amendment, the 2004 Ordinance, the 2005 Amendment, and the 2005 and 2008 Draft Manuals. He looked at the vocabulary surrounding software patents, including the words "<em>per se</em>" and "as such", and the cases and legislations from which the language used in the Draft Manual might have been borrowed. He also started a fruitful debate on the different ways to attack the implicit inclusion of that which is not "computer programmes <em>per se</em>" within the scope of patentable subject matter.<br /><br />After Prashant was Venkatesh Hariharan of Red Hat. He spoke on the practical benefits and harms of software patents, and spoke at length about the difference between legal protection of software in the form of patents and via copyright. He pointed to data showing that lawyers are the ones who benefit most from software patents, and that software developers were the ones who suffered most. Pointing to such practical issues such as how does one go about coding a simple e-commerce transaction when more than 4000 patents have already been granted in that area, he brought down the level of discussion from abstract notions of laws and legalities to practical experiences of software programmers.<br /><br />Next, Pranesh Prakash of the Centre for Internet and Society made a presentation on a small sample of software patents that have been applied for in India, and pointed out the infirmities in both the patents that have been applied for, as well as the problems in uncovering these patents because of various errors on the Indian Patent Office website. Going through a few of the patent applications, he showed how a great number applications have very badly worded abstracts, filled with weasel words, whose sole purpose is obfuscating the fact that what is being applied for is a software patent. This, he pointed out, made it difficult to both determine the scope of the applications (subject matter) as well as the innovations contained in the invention (novelty and non-obviousness), and thus difficult to examine from the perspective of pre-grant oppositions.<br /><br />After these presentations, the meeting continued with the Open House session which had many people making presentations, including Abhas Abhinav of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.deeproot.co.in/">DeepRoot Linux</a>, Arun M. of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.gnu.org.in">FSF India</a>, and Joseph C. Matthew, who is the IT Adviser to the Chief Minister, Kerala. With the wrapping up of this session, the proceedings for the day came to a close.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Coverage in the press<br /></h3>
<ul><li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/world-day-against-software-patents" class="internal-link" title="World Day Against Software Patents">The Hindu (September 25, 2008) - World Day Against Software Patents</a></li><li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/time-out-bengaluru-software-patenting" class="internal-link" title="Time Out Bengaluru - Software Patenting">Time Out Bengaluru (October 3, 2008) - Software Patenting</a></li><li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/software-patenting-will-harm-industry-consumer" class="internal-link" title="Software patenting will harm industry, consumer">The Hindu (October 5, 2008) - Software patenting will harm industry, consumer</a><br /></li></ul>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<h3>Audio Recordings and Slides<br /></h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents</li>
<ul><li>Sudhir Krishnaswamy (National Law School) | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/02.%20Sudhir%20Krishnaswamy.mp3" class="internal-link" title="The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/02.%20Sudhir%20Krishnaswamy.ogg" class="internal-link" title="The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents">ogg</a></li><li>Prabir Purkayastha(Delhi Sience Forum) (Knowledge Commons) |<a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/03.%20Prabir%20Purkayastha.mp3" class="internal-link" title="The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/03.%20Prabir%20Purkayastha.ogg" class="internal-link" title="The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents">ogg</a></li><li>Nagarjuna G.(Free Software Foundation of India) | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/04.%20Nagarjuna%20G..mp3" class="internal-link" title="The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/04.%20Nagarjuna%20G..ogg" class="internal-link" title="The Principles of Patent Law and Introduction to Software Patents">ogg</a></li></ul>
<li>Software Patents in India: The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual</li>
<ul><li>Prashant Iyengar(Alternative Law Forum) | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/05.%20Prashant%20Iyengar.mp3" class="internal-link" title="Software Patents in India - The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/05.%20Prashant%20Iyengar.ogg" class="internal-link" title="Software Patents in India - The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual">ogg</a></li><li style="text-align: left;">Venkatesh Hariharan(Red Hat) | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/06.%20Venkatesh%20Hariharan.mp3" class="internal-link" title="Software Patents in India - The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/06.%20Venkatesh%20Hariharan.ogg" class="internal-link" title="Software Patents in India - The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual">ogg</a></li></ul>
<li>Software Patent Applications in India</li>
<ul><li>Pranesh Prakash (Centre for Internet and Society) | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/07.%20Pranesh%20Prakash.mp3" class="internal-link" title="Presentation on Software Patents Applied for in India">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/07.%20Pranesh%20Prakash.ogg" class="internal-link" title="Presentation on Software Patents Applied for in India">ogg</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/pranesh-software-patents-draft.ppt" class="internal-link" title="software patent draft pranesh">ppt</a><br /></li></ul>
<li>Open House <br /></li>
<ul><li>Abhas Abhinav (DeepRoot Linux) | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/08.%20Abhas%20Abhinav.mp3" class="internal-link" title="Open House">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/09.%20Arun%20M..mp3" class="internal-link" title="Open House">ogg</a></li></ul>
<ul><li>Arun M.(Free Software Foundation of India)| <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/09.%20Arun%20M..mp3" class="internal-link" title="Open House">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/09.%20Arun%20M..ogg" class="internal-link" title="Open House">ogg</a></li><li>Joseph Mathew (IT Adviser to the Chief Minister, Kerala)| <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/10.%20Joseph%20Mathew.mp3" class="internal-link" title="Open House">mp3</a> | <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/uploads/10.%20Joseph%20Mathew.ogg" class="internal-link" title="Open House">ogg</a></li></ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/the-national-public-meeting-on-software-patents'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/the-national-public-meeting-on-software-patents</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshConferenceCampaignSoftware PatentsFLOSSOpennessMeeting2011-08-23T03:02:56ZBlog EntryStakeholders Meeting of the USOF on Facilitating ICT Access to Persons with Disabilities in Rural Areas
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/usof-meeting
<b>The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), a fund set up to provide universal access to telegraph services to rural and remote areas in India organized a stakeholders meeting on 7th September in New Delhi to launch a new scheme for supporting pilot projects for facilitating access to persons with disabilities in rural areas. Nirmita Narasimhan participated in this meeting and made a presentation.</b>
<p>The meeting was attended by representatives of the associations of service providers and manufacturers like Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA) and Sasken Communication Technologies, civil society organizations working for the disabled like Accenture on "ICT Initiatives for Connecting Persons with Disabilities" (AICB), Saksham, Equal Opportunities Cell from Delhi University, technology companies like Intel, educational institutions like NIOS and representatives from other ministries and departments such as MHRD.</p>
<p>The meeting began with a key note from the Administrator, USOF and a presentation from the Joint Administrator (Finance), USOF, introducing the scheme. This was followed by presentations from various stakeholders. It was agreed that the first step towards inviting projects would be the identification of problems by disability organizations to ensure that project ideas would be in line with the needs of persons with disabilities. Importantly, the Joint Administrator stressed that although projects could only be submitted by service providers, it would be important for each project to have a strong partnership of service providers, content developers and disability organizations to ensure that the solutions sought to be achieved through the projects would be a holistic one. The USOF has not yet settled on any upper ceiling for the projects: this will be determined once the projects start coming in. Projects will be evaluated by a select committee on a qualitative basis. The size of the pilot projects is to be small, possibly at a district level. Based on the success of the projects, these would then be considered for scaling up.</p>
<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/uso.jpg/image_preview" alt="USOF Meet in New Delhi" class="image-inline image-inline" title="USOF Meet in New Delhi" /></p>
<ul><li>Download <strong>Nirmita's presentation</strong> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/usof-stakeholders-meeting.ppt" class="internal-link" title="Stakeholders' Meeting of USOF - Presentation by Nirmita Narasimhan">here</a> [Powerpoint file, 227 kb]</li><li>For agenda, click <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/usof-meeting-agenda.doc/view" class="external-link">here</a></li><li>For more info about the event, see the <a class="external-link" href="http://usof.gov.in/usof-cms/disabled.htm">USOF website</a></li></ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/usof-meeting'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/usof-meeting</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaMeetingAccessibility2011-11-08T05:55:39ZBlog EntrySixth Meeting of the two Sub-Groups on Privacy Issues under the Chairmanship of Justice AP Shah
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/sixth-meeting-of-sub-groups-on-privacy-issues
<b>The sixth meeting of the two sub-groups on privacy issues will be held on August 31, 2012 at 10.00 a.m. in Committee Room No. 228, Yojana Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah, former chief justice of Delhi High Court. </b>
<p style="text-align: center; ">No. M-13040/43/2012-CIT&I (Pt. File)<br />Government of India<br />Planning Commission<br />(CIT&I Division)</p>
<p style="text-align: right; ">Yojana Bhawan, Sansad Marg,<br />New Delhi, dated the 23rd August, 2012</p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Meeting Notice</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Subject: Meeting of the Group of Experts on Privacy Issues to be held on 31st August, 2012 under the Chairmanship of Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The meeting of the Group of Experts on Privacy Issues under the Chairmanship of Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court is scheduled to be held on <b>31st August, 2012, at 10.00 AM in the Committee Room No. 228, Yojana Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110001</b>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The agenda of the meeting is to discuss and finalize the draft report prepared on the basis of the recommendations of the two Sub-Groups of the Expert Group (Copy enclosed).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">You are requested to kindly make it convenient to attend the meeting.</p>
<p><img height="34" id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://mail.cis-india.org/?_task=mail&_action=get&_uid=10539&_mbox=INBOX&_part=1.1.2.3" style="float: right; " width="83" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: right; "><br />(S. Bose)<br />Deputy Secretary (CIT&I)</p>
<p style="text-align: left; "><span>Through e-mail to:<br /></span></p>
<ol>
<li>Justice A.P. Shah, Chairman</li>
<li>Shri R. S. Sharma, D.G., UIDAI</li>
<li>Dr. Gulshan Rai, D.G. CERT-In, DeITy</li>
<li>Shri Manoj Joshi, J.S. DOPT</li>
<li>Shri R. Ragupathi,Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs</li>
<li>Shri Som Mittal, Nasscom</li>
<li>Ms. Barkha Dutt, NDTV</li>
<li>Ms. Usha Ramanathan</li>
<li>Shri Sunil Abraham, CIS</li>
<li>Dr. Kamlesh Bajaj</li>
<li>Ms. Mala Dutt</li>
<li>Shri R.K. Gupta</li>
</ol>
<p><span>Copy for information to: <br /></span>Dr. C.M. Kumar, Sr. Adviser (CIT&I) <br />PS to MOS (Planning, S&T and Earth Sciences)</p>
<p><img height="34" id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://mail.cis-india.org/?_task=mail&_action=get&_uid=10539&_mbox=INBOX&_part=1.1.2.3" style="float: right; " width="83" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: right; "><br />(S. Bose)<br /> Deputy Secretary (CIT&I)</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/sixth-meeting-of-sub-groups-on-privacy-issues'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/sixth-meeting-of-sub-groups-on-privacy-issues</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaMeetingInternet GovernancePrivacy2012-08-23T09:48:55ZNews ItemPanel Discussion on UID – Its Feasibility, Utility and Legality
http://editors.cis-india.org/events/uid-panel-discussion
<b>A panel discussion on "UID, its feasibility, utility and legality" is being organised by Citizen’s Action Forum, Grahak Shakti and the Centre for Internet and Society. It would be held at The Energy and Resources Institute (at TERI auditorium) in Domlur, Bangalore (near Domlur Club) on Thursday, May 26, 2011. The program commences with lunch at 1 p.m. and ends at 5.30 p.m. You are cordially invited to attend this program.</b>
<p>The panel members would include Mr. Rama Jois (former Chief Justice of Chattisgarh High Court and present Member of Parliament), Mr. Moinul Hassan (Member of Parliament), Mr. Narendra Babu (Member, Legislative Assembly, Karnataka), Mr. V P Sudarshan (former Chairman, Legislative Council of Karnataka and present speaker of Congress party) and Mr. Venkatesh Baberjung, Advocate, High Court of Karnataka. </p>
<p>The <a class="external-link" href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/NIA%20Draft%20Bill.pdf">National Identity Authority of India Bill, 2010</a> has been placed before the Parliament by the Government. This Bill has been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. Mr. Moinul Hassan is a member of this committee. The committee has held one sitting where the Chairman, UIDAI, Mr. Nandan Nilenkani was asked for certain clarifications on the Bill.</p>
<p>The UID project is now under implementation at Mysore. It is scheduled to be launched in Bangalore in June 2011. The Central Government has decided to include caste and religious data in the census. The linkages between UID and the census could come up for discussion among panel members. </p>
<p>UIDAI officials and government officials from the Department of E-Governance, Government of Karnataka have been invited as panel members. </p>
<p>The subject of the discussion is thus topical and of high public interest and importance. We cordially invite you to the lunch and to cover the event so that the public could become aware of issues concerning the same.</p>
<p>The programme schedule is as follows:</p>
<ul><li> 1.00 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. - Lunch</li><li> 2.00 p.m. to 2. 15 p.m. - Welcome and introduction by sponsoring organisations and moderator</li><li> 2.15 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. - Opening statements by panel members</li><li> 3.00 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Panel discussions</li><li> 4.00 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. - Tea</li><li> 4.15 p.m. to 4.45 p.m. - Panel discussions and questions to panel from audience</li><li> 4.45 p.m. to 5.15 p.m. - Open House for Audience views</li><li> 5.15 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. - Concluding remarks by panel members</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/events/uid-panel-discussion'>http://editors.cis-india.org/events/uid-panel-discussion</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaMeetingInternet Governance2011-05-25T04:11:48ZEventOpenness, Videos, Impressions
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/OVSreport
<b>The one day Open Video Summit organised by the Centre for Internet & Society, iCommons, Open Video Alliance, and Magic Lantern, to bring together a range of stakeholders to discuss the possibilities, potentials, mechanics and politics of Open Video. Nishant Shah, who participated in the conversations, was invited to summarise the impressions and ideas that ensued in the day.</b>
<p></p>
<p>The notion of free and open is under great debate even under
that, and I think even when you side with a camp, there are going to be further
splinters. There are many ways of defining the free and open, and I think that the
tension, rather than being resolved, needs to be sustained and creatively
perpetrated to keep an internal checks and balances on not getting carried away
with it. All the groups did indeed circle around this in different,
often tangential ways – that there is need to define, variously and almost
endlessly, in defining the context of the free that we are dealing with.</p>
<p>Open video, in that matter, has gone through different
iterations, and I think it is nice that different stakeholders have defined it
variously, and also looked at the problems that it might lead to. However, for
the sake of synthesis, I am going to let you have your own idea of free and
open but instead look at five key words which have emerged, in my selective
hearing, through the day: <strong>Access, Archive,
Share, Remix, Repurpose</strong>. And it is these five that we need to now
imbricate these concepts across different thematic that emerged in the groups
today.</p>
<p><strong>Access</strong> has been one primary question that almost everybody
dealt with; Access has its legacies in the Open and Free culture movements,
where technological access, dealing with questions of open standards and
content, of bandwidth and infrastructure. More interestingly, in an emerging
information society like India, there are other concerns of language, access,
privilege, bandwidth, education etc. To
contextualise access and to put it into different perspectives is something
that different participants have voiced the need for.</p>
<p><strong>Archive</strong> is a preoccupation with most people because
archiving has close relationships with knowledge and subsequently retrieval and
usage. If knowledge is being digitised so that it is made accessible to
different people, there are older questions of representation, voice,
empowerment, participation, ethics, privacy, ownership etc. Crop up. In
education archiving has to do with the curricula building and knowledge
production. In networking, collaboration and film making, it is the kind of
issues that pad.ma is trying to tackle with. It also leads to notions of
access, distribution etc.</p>
<p><strong>Sharing </strong>is what is almost defining the spirit of the Open
and Free culture movements. There is a need to understand and explore what
sharing means. When does it infringe laws and what kind of regulation needs to
be advocated so that sharing becomes possible. How does one overcome questions
of piracy, stealing, IPR etc? More interestingly, what do we share and who do
we share it with? Tools by which sharing
leads to innovation? How does it lead to new participation and learning
practices and pedagogies? What kind of open distribution models and networks
can be built up?</p>
<p><strong>Remix</strong> has been of great value because it means that you are
being converted into some sort of a stakeholder or a contributor to the
process. Networking and nodes, network-actor, collaborator , peer 2 peer – the
possibility of looking at questions of internet and digital traces is
interesting. Or imagine that the act of sharing is also a remix. Sometimes just
putting it into new contexts, making it available to newer constituencies, etc.
can also be looked upon as remixing. Remix as a knowledge production aesthetic
and mechanics seems to have emerged.</p>
<p><strong>Repurpose </strong>is my additional reading of something that perhaps
needs no mention to this group, but nonetheless needs flagging. The fact
remains, that the technology is not a solution in itself. It is a tool that
enables the solutions which one is seeking for. The processes, paradigms,
protocols and practices are indeed shaped and mediated by technologies and
there are new solution possibilities which are produced. However, there still
seem to be anxieties, concerns, questions and problems which are cropping up
and need to be addressed outside of technology but within technology ecologies.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/OVSreport'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/OVSreport</a>
</p>
No publishernishantConferenceOpen StandardsArtWorkshopDigital AccessFLOSSOpen ContentArchivesOpennessOpen InnovationMeetingOpen Access2011-09-22T12:23:13ZBlog EntryNational Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-policy-on-universal-electronic-accessibility
<b>Minutes of the meeting on draft National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility held on August 17, 2009 in E-Governance Hall, 1st Floor, Electronics Niketan, CGO Complex,
New Delhi.
</b>
<p>Minutes of the meeting on draft National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility held on August 17, 2009 in E-Governance Hall, 1st Floor, Electronics Niketan, CGO Complex, New Delhi.</p>
<ol><li>The following participated:</li></ol>
<p>DIT</p>
<ol><li>Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT</li><li>Dr. Govind, Sr. Director, DIT</li><li>Dr. S.K. Aggarwal, Director, DIT</li><li>Ms. Tulika Pandey, Addl. Director, DIT (Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment)</li><li>Shri T.D. Dhariyal, Dy. Chief Commisioner (M&C), Min. Of Social Justice & Empowerment</li></ol>
<p>NGOs</p>
<ol><li>Shri Javed Abidi, Director, NCPEDP</li><li>Ms. Muthamma B. Devaya, NCPEDP</li><li>Ms. Shilpa Sawant, NCPEDP</li><li>Ms. Dorodi Sharma, NCPEDP</li><li>Shri Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet & Society</li><li>Ms. Nirmita, Centre for Internet & Society</li><li>Shri Rahul Gonsalves, Web Accessibility Consultant</li></ol>
<p>MNCs</p>
<ol><li>Shri Deepak Maheshwari, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt.Ltd.</li><li>Shri Ibrahim Ahmad, Cyber Media India Ltd.</li><li>Ms. Ritu Ghosh, Sun Microsystems</li><li>Ms. Vikas Goswami, Microsoft</li><li>Shri Vijay Kapur, Microsoft</li><li>Miss Gitanjali, UN Solution Exchange</li><li>Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Barrier Break Technologies </li></ol>
<p>ERNET</p>
<ol><li>Shri B.B. Tiwari, ERNET India</li><li>Ms. Tejal Tiwari, ERNET India</li></ol>
<p>NIC</p>
<ol><li>Shri D.P. Misra, NIC</li><li>Shri Lokesh Joshi, NIC </li></ol>
<p>CDAC</p>
<ol><li>Shri Amit Srivastava, CDAC</li></ol>
<p>2. Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT chaired the meeting and welcomed all the participants and requested Shri Javed Abidi, Honorary Director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) to give an insight on how the draft policy got prepared. He also mentioned that the Department has nominated Dr. Govind, Sr. Director in a committee constituted by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for reviewing the work of development of Disabled Friendly websites. </p>
<p>3.1 Shri Abidi thanked the Ministry officials for their co-operation. He elaborated on how India has seen a paradigm shift from charity and welfare to rights and development in the past one decade. This is reflected in the Disability Act, 1995, the United Nations Convention for the Rights of UNCRPD and the XIth Five Year Plan. In fact, India was the 7th and the first most prominent country, to have ratified UNCRPD. It truly reflects the commitment that the present Government has towards disability. The XIth Five Year Plan has a full chapter on disability which mandates accessibility to information and communication. The Plan has the approval of the Prime Minister and Planning Commission.</p>
<p>3.2 Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Director, Barrier Break Technologies presented the draft policy. She began by saying that the basic premise on which the policy was drafted were:</p>
<ul><li>The Constitution of India</li><li>United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD)</li><li>The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 </li></ul>
<p>She mentioned that the draft policy takes into consideration accessibility to hardware and accessibility to user interface (websites and software). As far as content is concerned, it considers only the delivery of the content and not the content itself. </p>
<p>3.3 Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan of Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) elaborated on the available policies on web and electronic accessibility in other countries. Countries like UK and Italy have made it mandatory for providers of public information and services to be accessible to persons with disabilities. Other countries such as US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan have made the policies mandatory for Government and advisory for the private sector.</p>
<p>3.4 Dr. S.K. Aggarwal, Director, DIT raised a query in respect of coverage of the following 3 issues:</p>
<ul><li>How could the policy be made mandatory for private sector?</li><li>Whether the policy making function in this regard is under the jurisdiction of the IT Ministry alone?</li><li>What is the kind of model envisaged for R&D funding under the proposed policy?</li></ul>
<p>He also opined that the draft of the policy needs to be refined, properly worded, made more crisp and coherent, repetitions to be deleted and paragraphs to be numbered. </p>
<p>3.5 Shri Abidi responded by saying that all services available in the public domain should follow the policy and India should not look at the West anymore and should be a pioneer in this effort and policy should cover all sectors. As far as jurisdiction is concerned, the XIth Five Year Plan clearly mandates that all Departments / Ministries must formulate detailed rules and guidelines / policies in their respective domain areas and ensure that not less than 3% of their funds are reserved for disability issues which can take care of funds required for R&D also. </p>
<p>3.6 Shri Sunil Abraham of CIS said that maybe instead of saying ‘private companies’, we could say ‘essential service providers and utilities services’. He further suggested that in order to make the policy more acceptable to a broader set of stakeholders, the phrase ‘open source’ could be deleted since the accessibility policy endorsed specific open standards like WCAG which would level the playing ground for bother proprietary and Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) vendors. Alternatively, he suggested that both proprietary and Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) could be mentioned.</p>
<p>3.7 Members said that there is a need to define clearly the hardware, software and user interfaces covered under the policy. Ms. Shilpi Kapoor and Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan gave examples of ATMs, mobile phones and even Set Top Boxes which would fall under hardware. Ms. Shilpi Kapoor also emphasized on making the issue of Universal Electronic Accessibility mandatory in the procurement process by various Ministries. She stated that most of these service providers have products which are compliant to accessible norms which they sell in Europe or America. </p>
<p>3.8 Shri T.D. Dhariyal, Dy. Chief Commissioner, Dept. Of Disability, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment expressed his concern about how to make the technology accessible to all, including the poor.</p>
<p>3.9 Shri Vijay Kapur of Microsoft said that in order to have a comprehensive policy covering entire range of hardware products, representation of the electronics industry would be appropriate. It was felf that representation from Industry Association such as MAIT, TEMA, NASSCOM etc. may be obtained. Further he mentioned about inviting industry associations such as CII, FICCI, Asocham etc.</p>
<p>4. As a next step towards finalising the policy, following committee was constituted: </p>
<ol><li>Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT</li><li>Representative from Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment</li><li>Shri Javed Abidi, Director, NCPEDP</li><li>Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Barrier Break Technologies</li><li>Smt. Neeta Verma, Sr. Technical Director, NIC</li><li>Shri Deepak Maheshwari, Director, Microsoft</li><li>Shri Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet and Society</li><li>Representative from MAIT / NASSCOM / CII / FICCI / Asocham</li><li>Officer from E-Infrastructure Division, DIT - Convenor</li></ol>
<p><br />It was proposed that the draft policy be finalised at the earliest for its approval by Government of India.</p>
<p>The meeting ended with vote of thanks to the Chair.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-policy-on-universal-electronic-accessibility'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-policy-on-universal-electronic-accessibility</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaMeetingAccessibility2011-08-24T06:02:07ZBlog EntryMy First Wikipedia Training Workshop – Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop
<b>On March 8, 2013, a day-long Telugu Wikipedia training workshop was organized by the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team at the Golden Threshold, Nampally, Hyderabad in collaboration with Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad. This blog post gives a concise account of the event.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b><a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge">CIS-A2K</a></b> had planned a day long <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org">Telugu Wikipedia</a> training workshop in collaboration with Telugu Wikipedians at the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.efluniversity.ac.in/">English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU)</a>, Hyderabad on March 8, 2013. The intention was to target research students at EFLU who are using Telugu material or working on topics related to Telugu and Andhra Pradesh. This event was also to be part of the Wiki Women’s month events across India. However, this event had to be cancelled in the last minute as a Research Student of EFLU committed suicide on the campus and there was major unrest. The faculty from EFLU though had informed of the possible cancellation of the event earlier, had only confirmed it on March 7, 2013. <b><a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%95%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BF:%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%B9%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%A6%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A6%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%8D">Rahmanuddin Shaik</a></b> (Telugu SIG, <a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India_chapter">Wikimedia India Chapter</a>) and <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%95%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BF:Rajasekhar1961"><b>Dr. Rajasekhar</b> </a>(Telugu Wikipedia Administrator) had already blocked an entire day for this training workshop. In fact a lot of background work was already done for the EFLU event.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When I got the news of cancellation of the workshop, initially I was very dejected at the thought of informing the two active Telugu Wikipedians about it, which I had to do. As my tickets were anyhow booked to Hyderabad and there was no point cancelling them, as I was already on my way to catch the flight, I decided to go ahead with my journey. I made some couple of quick calls and with some effort managed to organize a Wikipedia Training Workshop in collaboration with the <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%A5%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%9F%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%8D_%E0%B0%94%E0%B0%9F%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%9A%E0%B1%8D_%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%82%E0%B0%A8%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%9F%E0%B1%8D_%28%E0%B0%9F%E0%B0%BF.%E0%B0%93.%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%81%29">Theatre Outreach Unit (TOU)</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.uohyd.ac.in/">University of Hyderabad (UoH)</a>. I was anyhow planning on visiting them to explore an institutional collaboration. The Project Director of TOU Dr. Peddi Ramarao, though agreed to spread the word about the workshop, yet was not sure how many would turn up at such a short notice of one night.</p>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/TOUphoto2forCIS.png" title="TOU Training photo 2" height="364" width="486" alt="null" class="image-inline" /></th> <th>
<p>Rahmanuddin and Dr. Rajasekhar giving hands-on training to edit Telugu Wikipedia at Golden Threshold, Hyderabad</p>
</th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So on March 8, 2013 Rahmanuddin, Dr. Rajasekhar and I landed at the <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%97%E0%B1%8B%E0%B0%B2%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%86%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%8D_%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%86%E0%B0%B7%E0%B1%8B%E0%B0%B2%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%8D">Golden Threshold</a> hoping against hope to see at least 3 or 4 participants. But alas there were only 2 people when we reached the venue by 10 a.m.. By 10.25 a.m. we had 9 participants, which excited us all. The training workshop began with an introduction of all the participants. Following this a presentation was made on the significance of Wikipedia in the digital era and how Indian language-Wikipedias are pivotal in preserving the vernacular language and culture. This session was interactive with participants asking many questions. Dr. Peddi Ramarao, later, spoke about his experience of using Wikipedia as a reference tool and how he got introduced to contributing Wikipedia. Further, the discussion went on to the poor quality of articles on Telugu Wikipedia and how the participants can take part in improving the existing articles and contribute new articles. Rahmanuddin and Rajasekhar practically demonstrated the process of editing on <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org">Telugu Wikipedia</a>. This was followed by a hands-on session where the participants actively participated in creating their Wikipedia User name on Telugu Wikipedia and did editing of few articles. The training programme was to officially end at Lunch time but even post lunch some of the participants were enthusiastic about learning more nuances of contributing on Telugu Wikipedia. The hands-on session thus continued until 4 p.m.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Post the Wikipedia training programme, I have had interactions with the Project Director of TOU to explore possible future collaborations. TOU, UoH agreed to offer space to host all Telugu Wikipedia meet-ups. As the Golden Threshold space was in the central part of the city, having this infrastructure accessible was a major boost for the Telugu Wikipedia community in Hyderabad. Further, in the discussions we have agreed to collaborate with TOU, UoH in hosting the first mega Telugu Wikipedia community event <i>Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</i>.</p>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/TOUphoto3forCIS.png" title="TOU Training photo 3" height="261" width="348" alt="null" class="image-inline" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Telugu Wikipedia Orientation in progress</b></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3><b>Outcomes and Impact:</b></h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Out of the 9 new Users, who were trained during this workshop, 5 people have done more than 5 edits.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">One person has become a very active editor on Telugu Wikipedia with more than 1000 edits in 3 months. A detailed account of this event was put up by this user on Telugu Wikipedia here <a href="#fn*" name="fr*">[*]</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Because of CIS-A2K’s efforts, Telugu Wikipedians in Hyderabad now have a good meeting space.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The availability of this space has also encouraged the Telugu Wikipedians to meet more often than before. Since March 8, 2013 Telugu Wikipedians had a total of 6 meet-ups, and all these were held at Golden Threshold.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Golden Threshold also became a venue for hosting <i>Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</i>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">This visit to Hyderabad triggered a discussion about organizing <i>Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam</i>, which was successfully organized in a month’s time.</li>
</ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Looking back, though this event was done as a last minute measure without many expectations, yet it turned out to be a lucky break! Especially, because this was my first ever event as the CIS-A2K Programme Director. It will remain a very memorable one. More so because it was done in collaboration with two of the active Telugu Wikipedians. Even more so because it has created some positive energy for the Telugu Wikipedia community, which has since then become a home turf.</p>
<hr />
<p>[<a href="#fr*" name="fn*">*</a>]. <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/17WYq7X">http://bit.ly/17WYq7X</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop</a>
</p>
No publishervishnuDigital ActivismArtAccess to KnowledgeDigital AccessWikimediaWikipediaCyberculturesTelugu WikipediaOpen ContentCommunitiesOpennessMeetingEvent2013-08-19T06:51:16ZBlog EntryMeeting on the Refreshable Braille Displays and Copyright Frameworks for Open Hardware Development
http://editors.cis-india.org/notices/meeting-on-the-refreshable-braille-displays-and-copyright-frameworks-for-open-hardware-development
<b>A meeting on Refreshable Braille Displays and Copyright Frameworks for Open Hardware Development will be held in the office of the Centre for Internet and Society on 4 December 2010.</b>
<p>This meeting in Bangalore will bring together three inventors who have concurrently been working on different ways of building refreshable braille displays to collaborate, share their knowledge, skills and abilities. Representatives from the disability sector will be present to articulate the needs of the disability community and provide feedback on the designs and concepts.</p>
<p>We will also be examining a copyright framework based on the GNU General Public License and will attempt to evolve a similar license for all future Open Hardware development.</p>
<p>The Centre for Social Innovation is a project by Braille Without Borders which aims to build ultra low-cost products for the developing world. Collective ownership, development and a high social-impact are the core tenets of this centre.</p>
<p><strong>Keyword</strong>: <em>accessibility</em></p>
<p>For more information on the programme, please contact:</p>
<p class="callout">Rahul Gonsalves<br />Administrative Director<br />Centre for Social Innovation, Braille without Borders <br />e: rahul@iiseconnect.org<br />m: +91 94 00 33 22 51</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/notices/meeting-on-the-refreshable-braille-displays-and-copyright-frameworks-for-open-hardware-development'>http://editors.cis-india.org/notices/meeting-on-the-refreshable-braille-displays-and-copyright-frameworks-for-open-hardware-development</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaMeeting2011-08-23T04:49:49ZNews ItemMeeting on National Policy for e-Access for All
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/meeting-on-national-policy-for-e-access-for-all
<b>The world over, there is a move towards making the internet more accessible for persons with visual and print disabilities and for elderly persons. Many countries like the USA and UK have adopted legislation to make adherence to web accessibility standards mandatory. In India we are still relatively unaware of the importance of web accessibility. On Nov 7, 2008 at 11:00 am, the Centre for Internet and Society will host a meeting at the CIS office to discuss strategies and a plan of action to launch a campaign for making web content accessibility standards mandatory in India.</b>
<p>The internet has has breathed fresh life and energy into the situations of disabled persons throughout the world. It has enabled and liberated them in the most complete sense of the word and succeeded in elevating levels of independence, competence and confidence. Like any other technology however this comes with its share of problems, related to accessibility. Thankfully, many of these problems can be solved by merely setting some minimum standards in place at no extra cost or effort.</p>
<p>For any technology to be completely useful, it has to meet the criteria of utility, usability, affordability, acceptance and accessibility. Unfortunately, while the internet can surmount most of obstacles that are faced by disabled persons in relation to access to information, navigation or comprehension problems are equally severe barriers to visually and print disabled persons effectively using it. To help better understand the issue, explained below are some features which are quite problematic for persons with visual and reading disabilities. They are accompanied by some simple solutions which can be easily incorporated by web page creators.</p>
<p>Web pages often contain images and graphics which cannot be discerned by screen readers; text descriptions and explanations can be provided for these. Creation of links to skip to content can provide a huge relief for persons using screen readers, instead of them having to listen to unrelated or confusing content. There should be keyboard alternatives for every function that has to be executed with a mouse. Links without references such as “click here” or links without any specific destination should be avoided. Creators of web pages should not rely upon colours to convey meanings. Finally, since screen readers read content as it is in the code, web page creators should ensure that content is read correctly on the page as well as in the code.</p>
<p>Adherence to web accessibility standards can help avoid these problems. Countries like the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia have enacted legislations to make it mandatory for creators of web pages to follow their minimum standards for web page accessibility. India has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in October 2007. Unfortunately however, no move, has been made till date to adopt web accessibility guidelines or make such guidelines mandatory in our country. Consequently, a lot of government and private web sites are inaccessible for persons with disabilities, defeating the very purpose of ICT for development.</p>
<p>Considering these factors, we think it is time we make a concerted effort towards enabling a more inclusive online environment for all. Adopting a web accessibility standard does not merely make the web more accessible to disabled persons, it makes navigation and operation easier for everyone. The W3C has come out with a web accessibility standard called the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) which has been adopted by many countries. This makes the tasks of the countries easier in the sense that they already have a ready framework and guidelines available to work with.</p>
<p>We solicit your active support and presence in this movement for enabling mandatory adherence to web accessibility standards in India. You are invited to join the Google group for a national policy for e-Access (http://groups.google.com/group/e-access). We are planning to have a meeting of all interested parties and organizations who are committed to supporting this cause on the date and venue given below. We request you to attend along with other supporters. </p>
<h3>Meeting Details<br /></h3>
<p>Date: 7th Nov, 2008 (Friday)<br />Time: 11:00 am<br />Venue:<br />Centre for Internet and Society<br />No. D2, 3rd Floor, Shariff Chambers<br />14 Cunningham Road,<br />Bangalore - 560 052</p>
<p>Map: http://bit.ly/cis-map<br />Phone: +91 80 4092 6283</p>
<p>Please communicate your participation to us, by sending an email to<br />nirmita AT cis-india DOT org <br />M: +91 9845868078</p>
<p><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/agenda for Nov 7th meeting.doc.htm" class="internal-link" title="Agenda for e-Access Meeting">Download meeting agenda</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/meeting-on-national-policy-for-e-access-for-all'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/meeting-on-national-policy-for-e-access-for-all</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaConferenceMeetingAccessibility2011-08-26T05:13:44ZBlog EntryFirst Meeting on a National Policy for Web Accessibility
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/first-meeting-on-a-national-policy-for-web-access-for-all
<b>The first meeting to discuss having a national policy for web accessibility to ensure universal and inclusive participation was held at the Centre for Internet and Society's office on 7 November 2008. It was aimed at formulating an action plan to work with the government and other private and public bodies to ensure conformity to accessibility standards for web sites.</b>
<p>The first meeting to discuss making compliance with web accessibility standards a part of the national policy agenda was held today (7 November 2008) at the CIS office. Fifteen participants representing organizations from the disability sector, media and law firms came together to discuss the why, what and how of mandatory compliance with web accessibility standards for Indian government web sites.</p>
<p>The meeting started off with brief introductions of the participants, followed by a presentation by Rahul Gonsalves introducing the concept of and need for web accessibility standards amongst web developers. In his presentation, Rahul gave some examples of the kinds of problems faced by different users of the net and simple solutions to solve these problems. Speaking from the perspective of a web designer, he pointed out that while the total cost of creating an accessible web site is merely about 2-3% more than a normal web site, revamping an existing web site to make it conform to accessibility standards is a more complicated and expensive task. He further clarified that for a website to be accessible, it is not merely enough that it is created in accordance with accessibility standards; all future additions and modifications must be made with accessibility in mind. Hence, persons working on the web site should be initiated into creating accessible web pages.</p>
<p>The second presentation of the day was by Jayna Kothari of Ashira Law Services. Jayna, a lawyer who is well known for taking up disability related cases in Bangalore, talked about the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 (PWD Act) and highlighted provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which came into force in May 2008. She began by talking about the right to access information being a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 19 of our constitution and gave references to various sections in the PWD Act. The Act calls for the setting up of Central and State Co-ordination Committees to ensure that action is taken to give effect to the provisions of the PWD Act and that an accessible, barrier free and inclusive environment is created for persons with disabilities in all spheres such as health, education, employment, transportation, etc. Jayna also highlighted that article 9 of the UNCRPD called for persons with disabilities to have an equal right to access to information and communication. Hence the mandate was not restricted to government web sites only. She opined that we could potentially work with the State and Central Co-ordination Committees to include web accessibility on their agenda of urgent requirements.</p>
<p>Mr Ganesh of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled talked about intervention at the level of educational organizations and training institutes. He said that instead of merely discussing strategies which are designed to target the Government and get its attention, we also need to work on building awareness amongst the coming generation of web site developers and appeal to schools, training institutes like the NIIT and other educational organizations and centres of learning to disseminate awareness about accessibility right from the beginning. The approach, in other words, has to be both top-down and bottom-up. Ushajee Peri from the Alternative Law Forum (ALF) talked briefly about the Right to Information Act (2005) and said that since the right to information is a fundamental right, we need to carefully analyse provisions of the Act under which we could push for web accessibility.</p>
<p>Mr. L. Subramani from the Deccan Herald talked in brief about media strategy and about how publications could help in creating awareness and pressure. Finally, Meenu Bambani from MPhasiS talked about the 11th Five Year Plan and cited various provisions from it which called for specific measures for disabled persons. After an entire chapter devoted to disability, nothing has as yet been achieved in the year since the plan came into force, even though India has ratified the UNCRPD. Meenu called for immediate action to push the Government for implementation of the chapter on disability in the 11th Five Year Plan. As per the plan, each Government department was to allocate 3% of its funds for supporting disabled persons; this has not been done so far. Meenu believes that 3 December, which is usually celebrated as the World Disabilities Day, should this year be spent in introspection on what we have not achieved and on how we can push the state and government authorities to take their international and national commitments with respect to disabled persons seriously.</p>
<p>There was also a brief discussion on how laws in different countries accommodated web accessibility. For instance in the USA, Section 508 requires web sites of all federal agencies to comply with web accessibility guidelines. In the UK, the Code of Conduct which was brought out by the Disabilities Rights Commission (DRC) under the Disabilities Discrimination Act 2002 (DDA) mandates that persons with disabilities should have the right to access goods, services, facilities and premises on an equal basis as others. Section 2.14 lists the different kinds of services and 2.17 specifically says that a website is a provision of service and hence should be accessible. PAS 78 lays down guidelines for web developers for creating accessible web sites. While some participants expressed curiosity about the actual number of disabled persons using the internet in India, it was generally understood that only by making web sites more accessible could we widen the net of disabled users and enhance universal access and participation.</p>
<p>Another area for intervention was presented by Sunil Abraham in the form of a discussion on the national policy for Open Standards. Sunil said that CIS had given an addendum to the response to the draft national policy on open standards which specifically dealt with web accessibility for disabled and elderly persons. By ensuring that WCAG compliance is inserted in the presentation layer of the Government Interoperability Framework (GIF), which the Government is shortly expected to release, we could make a definite and substantial intervention.</p>
<p>The final conclusions of the meeting were that there were different areas and scopes for intervention and they all had to be simultaneously pursued by different groups. Everyone agreed that we should try and work with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to make all government web sites accessible. Almost all participants felt that while it was not possible to impose web accessibility standards on private entities, we need not restrict ourselves to government web sites in our recommendations and should include at least public listed companies as well. Mr. Subramani felt that working with NASSCOM might be useful for that. Finally it was also decided that an appeal for web accessibility would be put out by CIS at the Walkathon to be organized by Samarthanam on 6 December, since it would be a good platform for spreading awareness and gaining support amongst disabled users, public authorities, organizations and the public at large.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/first-meeting-on-a-national-policy-for-web-access-for-all'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/first-meeting-on-a-national-policy-for-web-access-for-all</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaConferenceMeetingAccessibility2011-08-25T08:38:03ZBlog EntryFifth Meeting of the two Sub-Groups on Privacy Issues under the Chairmanship of Justice AP Shah
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/fifth-meeting-of-two-sub-groups-on-privacy
<b>The fifth meeting of the two sub-groups on privacy issues will be held on July 22, 2012 under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah, former chief justice of Delhi High Court.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The next meeting of the two Sub-Groups (5th Meeting) on privacy issues under the Chairmanship of Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court is scheduled to be held on July 22, 2012 at 11.00 a.m. This was announced vide notice No. M-13040/47/2011-CIT&I, dated the 10th June, 2012.</p>
<p>A copy of the notice was sent to the following individuals:</p>
<ol>
<li>Justice AP Shah, Chairman</li>
<li>Dr. Kamlesh Bajaj</li>
<li>Usha Ramanathan</li>
<li>Sunil Abraham</li>
<li>Prashant Reddy</li>
<li>Prof. Arghya Sengupta</li>
<li>Shri Som Mittal</li>
<li>Shri Gulshan Rai</li>
<li>Mala Dutt</li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/fifth-meeting-of-two-sub-groups-on-privacy'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/fifth-meeting-of-two-sub-groups-on-privacy</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaMeetingInternet GovernancePrivacy2012-08-07T10:11:25ZNews ItemDepartment of Information Technology Meeting on a National Policy on E-Accessibility
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/meeting-by-the-dit-on-a-national-policy-on-e-accessibility-at-delhi-on-jan-30th-2009
<b>On 30 January 2009, the Department of Information Technology hosted a meeting in New Delhi bringing together important stakeholders to discuss the issue of electronic accessibility for the disabled and persons with special needs in India.</b>
<p>Creating a barrier free internet is vital to creating a pluralistic and
democratic virtual environment, where all groups irrespective of
disability or levels of literacy are able to access culture and
knowledge goods and services which are available on the internet today. Since its inception last year, CIS has been campaigning for legislative, administrative and legal interventions in the area of web accessibility for the print disabled and working with different groups towards the common goal of having a National Policy on Electronic Accessibility in India.</p>
<p>On 30 January, the Department of Information Technology (DIT) called a meeting of all stakeholders to discuss the issue of web accessibility for disabled persons and persons with special needs. The meeting was attended by 34 key persons from the Government and private organisations around India. Sunil Abraham (Director--Advocacy, CIS) and Nirmita Narasimhan (Programme Manager, CIS) were amongst the attendees (a complete list of attendees is given below).</p>
<p>The meeting was chaired by N. Ravi Shankar, Joint Secretary, DIT, who in his opening remarks briefed the gathering about the initiatives of the Government in this area. He talked about the Government’s goal of providing Universal Accessibility and Internet for all. He informed the gathering that the DIT had already initiated schemes for ICT empowerment of visually impaired/hearing impaired children; under these schemes, 21 ICT Vocational Centers had already been set up and 100 additional ICT vocational centers would be set up in phase II. Additionally, he explained that the issue of Universal Accessibility had been internationally addressed at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2008 held in December 2008 in Hyderabad. He stressed the need for initiating inclusive developmental activities in the e-governance programme of DIT and language initiatives of TDIL (Technology Development for Indian Languages), in order to increase coverage and diversity, culminating in education for all alongside Internet for all.</p>
<p>Dr. Govind, Senior Director and Head of Department, E-Infrastructure and Internet Governance Division in the Ministry, highlighted the issue of web accessibility for visually impaired and other differently able persons and the need for initiating a concrete action plan for the same.</p>
<p>Javed Abidi, Director, National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People talked at length about the need for web accessibility and proposed that the government should set a time line within which all existing government web sites should be made standards compliant. All new web sites should be created keeping compliance with WCAG 2.0 in mind right from the start and proposed that for existing web sites, we should adopt a staged approach and aim at ensuring complete compliance at least by 2010-2012.</p>
<p>Ms. Neeta Verma, Sr. Technical Director, NIC gave a presentation on the issues related with making web accessibility universal. She said that NIC has formulated guidelines for government websites, in association with DIT and DARPG. Compliance to these guidelines shall make Indian government websites Usable, User Centric and Universally Accessible. She proposed that even the Manual of Procedures (MoP) used in the Govt. should mandate Universal Web Access for Government business and day to day activities. Websites should not only be designed once for accessibility but also need to be sustainable in the long run.</p>
<p>All attendees gave their inputs on the issue of web accessibility. Shri Jaijit from Sun Microsystems stressed the fact that the need for standards was not essential for disabled persons alone, but was necessary for other groups as well, such as illiterate persons. Ms.Shilpi Kapoor from Barrier Break Technologies mentioned that most government web sites had to firstbe be made html compliant in order to be standards compliant and stressed the need for training, resource generation and sensitization. Shri Minocha, Director, NAB felt that a law similar to the one in USA should be implemented which mandates that any web site developed had to be Universally Accessible. He asked the Government. to look at daisy guidelines, digital library and procurement policy for differently abled persons. He strongly urged the Government to take into account not merely standards of website accessibility, but also brouser standards, document standards etc, since an accessible web site was not of much use if the content posted on it was in an inaccessible format. He also appreciated the efforts of NIC and C-DAC towards working for open source and cited the example of the Venezualian Government. He proposed that DIT should initiate a technology development or customization project in this area. Shri Vijaiy Krishnamani from Infosys stressed on the need for creating a common simple usable interface rather than multiple types. </p>
<p>Shri Vijay Kapur from Microsoft proposed for implementation of WCAG1.0 & 2.0 standards to bring out interactivity in web content like Arya and the Clint side document accessibility through the daisy consortium. </p>
<p>Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, CEO, NIXI offered complete support for all initiatives in the area of web accessibility and voiced the opinion that all software produced out of public funds should be made available in the public domain so as to encourage research and innovation. In addition to policy advocacy, he was also supporting a capacity building and awareness workshop on web accessibility for web developers from all over the country which was being organized by CIS in Ghaziabad from Feb 16th-18th. Smt.Jayalakshmi Chittor of CSDMS proposed that an audit process should be evolved to check government web sites for WCAG 2.0 compliance and cited the example of Malta for policy in this area. Some other issues which were stressed time and again by other attendees were the legal mandating of adherence to standards within a fixed time period, adequate representation of Indian language in Unicode format, adherence to WCAG 2.0 and not merely 1.0, supporting voice enabled web sites etc. Sunil Abraham Director Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) lauded the DIT/MCIT for the timely and critical accessibility initiative and strongly endorsed the suggestion to create a national policy document mandating accessibility for all publicly funded electronic infrastructure. CIS offered to provide a comparative analysis of national electronic accessibility policies from developed and developing countries and also prepare a draft policy for DIT/MCIT. Further, he urged DIT/MCIT to advocate for the adoption of the proposed WIPO Treaty for improved access for the blind, visually impaired and other reading disabled put forward by the World Blind Union and knowledge Ecology International.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After the round of discussions the following recommendations were made to the DIT/MCIT:</p>
<p>i) The Government should formulate a national policy to mandate necessary guidelines so that the web sites are standards compliant for universal web accessibility.</p>
<p>ii) Steps should be taken for sensitization and awareness generation towards this issue through trainings, publicity, workshops, conferences.</p>
<p>iii) R&D projects should be initiated for development of screen readers in Indian languages and other tools for universal web access.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Attendees</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT, New Delhi - Chairman <br />Dr. Govind, Sr. Director, DIT, New Delhi<br />Shri Mohan Ram, ED, ERNET India, New Delhi <br />Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Additional CEO, NIXI, New Delhi<br />Shri Javed Abidi, Director, National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP, New Delhi<br />Shri Dipender Minocha, Director, NAB, R.K. Puram, New Delhi<br />Ms. Neeta Verma, Sr. Technical Director, NIC, New Delhi<br />Shri A. Bandopadhyay, GM, Webel Mediatronics Ltd., Kolkata<br />Mr. Sunil Abraham, Director – Policy, Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore<br />Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Founder and Managing Director, Net Systems Informatics (I) Pvt. Ltd. and Barrier Break Technologies, Mumbai<br />Shri Vijay Kapur, Microsoft India, New Delhi<br />Mr. Rahul Gonsalves, Web Accessibility Consultant, Bangalore<br />Jyotindra V.Mehta, Advisory Systems Consultant, IBM Global Services India<br />Mr. Zamir Dhale, Sense International India Office, Ahmedabad Gujarat<br />Shri Jaijit Bhattacharya, M/s Sun Microsystems, New Delhi<br />Ms. Jayalakshmi Chittor, CSDMS, Noida, U.P<br />Shri Manoj Jain, TDIL, DIT, New Delhi<br />Ms. Gitanjali Sah, UN Solution Exchange, New Delhi<br />Shri Pradeep Gupta, Managing Director, Cyber Media India Ltd., Gurgaon, Haryana<br />Shri Vijay Krishnamani, Infosys, New Delhi<br />Shri Ajai Kumar, C-DAC, Pune<br />Shri Indranil Das Roy, M/s Webel, Kolkata<br />Shri Deepak Maheshwari, Microsoft India , New Delhi<br />Shri Vikas Goswami, Microsoft India, New Delhi<br />Ms. Helen Mahtani, Programmer, NCPEDP, New Delhi<br />Shri Muthamma B. Devaya, Senior Program officer, NCPEDP, New Delhi<br />Ms. Nirmitha Naresimhan, Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore<br />Ms. Tejal Tiwari, ERNET India, New Delhi<br />Shri D.P. Misra, NIC, New Delhi<br />Shri Sachin Rizal, Sense International (India) Ltd., Ahmedabad Gujarat<br />Ms. Ritu Srivastava, CSDMS, Noida<br />Shri Santosh Kumar Gupta, CSDMS, Noida, UP<br />Shri Rajan Varada, UN Solution Exchange, New Delhi<br />Shri S.K. Aggarwal, Scientist ‘F’, DIT, New Delhi - Convenor<br /> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/meeting-by-the-dit-on-a-national-policy-on-e-accessibility-at-delhi-on-jan-30th-2009'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/meeting-by-the-dit-on-a-national-policy-on-e-accessibility-at-delhi-on-jan-30th-2009</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaMeetingAccessibility2011-09-22T12:32:54ZBlog Entry