The Centre for Internet and Society
http://editors.cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 721 to 735.
Research papers will be available in public domain
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/research-papers-in-public-domain
<b>IIT-Madras intends to make circle of knowledge complete, writes Vasudha Venugopal in this article published in the Hindu on 15 February 2012. Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam is quoted in the article.</b>
<p>2012-13 was declared the year of science by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, and there is a lot of effort being made all over the country to not only intensify the quantity and quality of research but also ensure greater access for all. For instance, IIT-Madras plans to make available its research papers in all disciplines online, in the public domain. The institute already provides e-learning through online web and video courses in engineering, science and humanities streams through NPTEL.</p>
<p>The attempt now is to convince faculty members to upload their research papers into the institution's repository, says Mangala Sunder Krishnan, Web Coordinator (NPTEL). The move will not only benefit students and faculty members but will also help the circle of knowledge to be complete, he says.</p>
<p>What IIT- Madras plans to do is follow an Open Access policy that would make the access of journals and scientific research public and many other educational organisations plan to follow suite. “Most research publications stay locked up in commercial journals and are inaccessible to many. Open Access is the best way to ensure that research produced in the developing world gets wider visibility,” says Francis Jayakanth, a library-trained scientific assistant based at the National Centre for Science Information, the information centre of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Mr. Jayakanth has been instrumental in creating an institutional repository ePrints@IISc that has over 32,000 publications by researchers.</p>
<p>Subbiah Arunachalam, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society explains: “A research produced by the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai which would be of great relevance to researchers, say in a university in Maharashtra, may not be even noticed by the scientists there. Both groups receive funds from the same source - Government of India - and yet what one does is not easily accessible to the other. “Open Access would bridge that gap and make information available to everyone,” he says.</p>
<p>Open Access repositories would help authors place their papers in an interoperable institutional open access archive and anyone with an Internet connection can access it. Researchers say that in most reputed journals, it takes almost six months to get a paper published, and most insist that the paper is removed from the internal repository of the author's institution once it is published. “But 70 per cent of the publishers are now fine with the authors taking the pre-print of their paper uploaded in the repository. And since in open access, every thing is peer reviewed, the quality is never compromised,” says Mr. Jayakanth.</p>
<p>While institutions such as IIT- Madras subscribe to over 2,000 journals, many colleges under Anna University and University of Madras have access to just about 1,500 journals. “There is almost Rs.10 -12 lakh that the institution spends on journal subscriptions so unless there is funding, many self-financed colleges prefer not to subscribe to journals and go for a few mandatory ones prescribed by AICTE. Students and researchers have no way to acquaint themselves with recent updates,” says D. Krishnan, professor, Anna University.</p>
<p>Even if you go through consortiums, you have to spend Rs.20 lakh which many smaller R&D organisations cannot afford to, adds P. Ramamoorthy, librarian at Sameer- Centre for Electromagnetics, a government-funded research agency. “The restrictions imposed by many commercial publishers do not allow one to legally share the published output of his result with his colleague. Open access will relive authors of such hassles,” he says. </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article2893901.ece">The original article was published in the Hindu</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/research-papers-in-public-domain'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/research-papers-in-public-domain</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessOpen Access2012-02-17T05:38:36ZNews ItemFree Arduino Workshop (For Beginners)
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/free-arduino-workshop
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore invites you to a hands-on-free Arduino workshop in its office on 3 March 2012. The workshop will be held from 11.00 a.m. to 3 p.m.</b>
<h2>What is Arduino?</h2>
<p>Arduino, an Italian name meaning "strong friend", is a popular "open-source electronics prototyping platform based around a microcontroller. It accepts inputs, such as signals from sensors (light, temperature, moisture, etc.) or data from the Internet or wireless devices, and sends output signals to devices, such as LEDS, motors, speakers, MIDI sequencers, computers, and so on."</p>
<p>In simpler terms: It is a ready-to-use creative platform, designed to provide interactivity between humans, smartphones, PCs, sensors and the physical world. It is especially a boon for creative people who don't have a technical background and want to translate their wildest techno-ideas to reality in a snap.</p>
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<p> </p>
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<p><a class="external-link" href="http://goo.gl/YrflS">A comic by Jody Culkin, introducing Arduino</a></p>
<h2>What can Arduino Do?</h2>
<p>Applications of Arduino could include anything under the sun, from making your LED lights glow in reaction to the weather to interactive punching bags: your imagination is the limit (besides the sensors).</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://goo.gl/lF1s8">Check what some folk did with a bunch of cameras for an amazing music video all in one day</a></p>
<p>For other examples, <a class="external-link" href="http://goo.gl/tkvJz">check out the Boing Boing listing</a></p>
<h2>Who can Attend?</h2>
<p>The workshop is especially meant for interaction designers, artists or anyone else enthusiastic to get started with creative projects and don't have prior experience with electronics, interfacing and all that hack talk. It would help to have a general understanding of instructional programming languages, but this shouldn't be a problem for starts as you will pick it up as we go along. Besides, we are super-friendly and patient folk who will assist participants to demystify geek code.</p>
<h2>Apply Now</h2>
<p>We have only 20 seats for this free workshop. Participants will work in groups of two. The workshop will last 4 hours, over a lunch break. All materials will be provided, and it would be great if you could get your laptop. </p>
<p>To apply please send a brief intro about yourself and why you think you will benefit from this to yelena@cis-india.org. Selected participants will be notified shortly.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://goo.gl/2DM2j">A map, showing the location of CIS</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://goo.gl/2DM2j"><strong>VIDEOS</strong><br /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLwqQUA.html?p=1" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe><embed style="display:none" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLwqQUA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
<iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLxohcA.html?p=1" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe><embed style="display:none" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLxohcA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/free-arduino-workshop'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/free-arduino-workshop</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessEvent TypeWorkshopVideo2012-04-28T04:07:50ZEventInaugural EPT Award for Dr. Francis Jayakanth
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/inaugural-ept-award-for-dr.-francis-jayakanth
<b></b>
<h2>Programme</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>16.00</td>
<td>Welcome and introduction to the award<br /><strong>Subbiah Arunachalam</strong><br /></td>
</tr>
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<td>16.05</td>
<td>Presenting the award and felicitation<br /> <strong>Prof. M S Swaminathan</strong><br /></td>
</tr>
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<td>16.15</td>
<td>Acceptance speech<br /> <strong>Dr Francis Jayakanth</strong> <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16.25</td>
<td>Felicitation by eminent scientists<br /><strong>Prof. G Baskaran</strong><br /><strong>Prof. K Mangala Sunder</strong><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16.35</td>
<td>Vote of thanks</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16.40</td>
<td>Tea</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Video
<iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLtr00A.html?p=1" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe><embed style="display:none" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLtr00A" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/inaugural-ept-award-for-dr.-francis-jayakanth'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/inaugural-ept-award-for-dr.-francis-jayakanth</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessOpen Access2012-02-27T12:24:25ZEventSummary of the Minutes of the Workshop on Biodiversity Informatics
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/summary-of-the-minutes-of-the-workshop-on-biodiversity-informatics
<b>The Western Ghats Portal team had organized a one-day workshop to explore the contemporary state of biodiversity informatics as expressed in three spheres: technology behind biodiversity informatics, scientific commons and policy and biodiversity portals in India. It hoped to provide an opportunity to interact and learn from similar endeavors in this emerging discipline. The workshop was held at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bangalore on 25 November 2011.</b>
<p>There were 5 speakers and 10 panelists representing as many portal
initiatives, participating at the venue or via WebEx, addressing an
audience of 75 comprising of students, researchers, representatives from
governmental bodies and technological platforms.The entire day’s
sessions were peppered with questions and discussions, directed to the
presenters as also within the members of the audience.</p>
<p>The technology session presented an Indian initiative, Bhuvan, a
geospatial data alternative to GoogleEarth that was pertinent to the
India centric audience. The second presentation was the Atlas of Living
Australia, an international endeavor that was able to give a broad
overview of how government funding for the sharing of government data on
a public platform was able to source large information and present it
for open access on a portal. The project aims to serve a variety of
users from scientists, citizen scientists to policy makers and activists
in biodiversity and conservation. The WGP was presented by a discussion
of architecture and design of participation interface for recording and
accumulating biodiversity observation data. The scientific commons and
policy session covered a wide range of topics: the interpretation of the
Indian laws for portal developments across disciplines, the
governmental policies that may hinder the development of Open source
platforms, the creative commons licenses and how they work for
scientific data, and whether developing a biodiversity commons would
help the community at large.</p>
<p>Global initiatives in the area of scientific commons were presented.
Views from the participants on various aspects and the practicality of a
legal framework were discussed. There are plans to discuss and evolve a
draft of a charter for scientific commons that would be relevant for
biodiversity and conservation. A clearly articulated and agreed data
policy is also one of the deliverables of the project.</p>
<p>The third session centred on the experience of India-centric
biodiversity portals. Two of the panelists presented their portals and
attended the session over WebEx from the United States. A spectrum of
portals was presented. Some of them were focused on single taxa, or a
theme focus from medicinal plants to thematic citizen science
initiatives. The IBP and WGP were presented as broad based with large
collections of spatial data and species data. Perspective plans of large
biodiversity portal initiatives, like the GBIF node for India, INBIF,
were outlines to showing the things that may come in the next few years.</p>
<p>The discussions revolved around scientific rigor versus citizen
participation, large-scale projects v/s small-scale focused portals, and
maintaining quality with crowd sourced data. Ideas about how peer
recognition and scientific status could be achieved were discussed.
Focused portals closely managed by experts to provide valuate
biodiversity and species data were discussed, with methods of
maintaining quality and curating data. The event concluded by
discussions of how each portal can maintain its identity and focus but
at the same time evolve mechanisms for interoperability and exchange of
information. There were open discussions on whether we can network and
provide easy toolkits for building focused participation sites.</p>
<h2>Minutes of the Workshop on Biodiversity Informatics</h2>
<h3>Objectives of the Workshop</h3>
<p>Over the last few years, Biodiversity Informatics has emerged as a
field to aggregate and consolidate biodiversity information across the
world. With the increased penetration of the Internet into developing
economies, and the widespread adoption of web technologies, biodiversity
informatics has spawned an impressive variety of initiatives. These
initiatives range from global knowledge bases and networks, national
initiatives, eco-region based initiatives, as well as sharply focused
initiatives which address a single species or event. There have been
tangible advantages for stakeholders from these initiatives which has
inspired many other endeavors. Success stories exist at both global and
local level, and learning from these experiences can help one understand
the multi-faceted nature of this discipline.</p>
<p>The Western Ghats Portal team organized a one-day workshop to explore
the contemporary state of biodiversity informatics as expressed in
three spheres: i) technology behind biodiversity informatics, ii)
scientific commons and policy and iii) biodiversity portals in India.
The workshop was intended to bring together technologists, open data
policy experts, leaders of portal initiatives and user groups and
stakeholders to meet and discuss experiences and approaches to
Biodiversity Informatics.</p>
<p>Seventy five participants attended the workshop covering governmental
agencies, NGO’s, academic institutes, student groups, CEPF grantees and
other relevant stakeholders. There were 5 speakers and 10 panelists
representing as many portal initiatives, participating at the venue or
via WebEx from the continents of Australia and North America.</p>
<h3>Plenary I: Technology behind biodiversity informatics - 0930 - 1115 hrs</h3>
<p>This session was introduced by Dr.B.Ramesh of the French Institute of
Pondicherry, who welcomed the participants of the workshop. He
highlighted the growth of Biodiversity Informatics leveraging the
Internet. In this emerging discipline, stressed the need to take stock
of the latest developments in the area.</p>
<p><strong>Development of Information System, Open Data standards, Archive and Geospatial solutions, Visualization in Bhuvan - M. Arulraj</strong>, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).</p>
<p>Arulraj gave an overview of the Bhuvan project, ISRO’s geo-portal
serving as a rich geteway to Indian earth observations. The project was
launched in August 2009 and has made rapid strides since then to expose
earth observation images and thematic maps on the Indian sub-continent.
The Bhuvan project has multiple modules, which include 3-D and 2-D
visualizations; a data archive and data download; thematic land use and
land cover maps; a mobile application; and a discussion forum. The
project is in active development and in beta, but is adding many
features and data to the portal. In addition to data dissemination it
provides a webGIS platform with the ability to do analyses and create
geographical layers by users. The Bhuvan portal conforms to the national
map policy while exposing spatial information and imagery through its
evolving portal.</p>
<p>Arulraj explained the architecture of the portal and surveyed the
webGIS and open source technologies that were available. A demo terminal
of Bhuvan was exposed during the lunch session. During the discussions
on map policy, Arulraj quoted that as per Remote Sensing Data Policy
(RSDP)-2011, all satellite data of resolutions up to 1 m shall be
distributed on a nondiscriminatory basis and on “as requested basis” by
NRSC/ISRO.</p>
<p><strong>Architecture and design of participation interfaces - Anand Janakiraman</strong>, Western Ghats Portal</p>
<p>Anand Janakiram spoke about the design of participation interfaces
for the Western Ghats portal. The intent was to engage with user groups
on the user interfaces and usability of an observation interface, where
users will be able to upload a multi-media object; provide a location
for the observation; make a species call with a certain level of
confidence; and provide notes and comments on the observation. The
observation will be rated by the crowd. Species calls could be changed
if necessary and agreed or disagreed upon.</p>
<p>Various rating systems were discussed. These included a 5 or ten star
rating system, like movie rating systems; a multi-dimensional rating
system like in Wikipedia; a “like” rating system that is used in many
sites; and an expert based rating system. There was a lot of discussion
on rating systems among the participants concerning the necessity of an
expert based system; the wisdom of the public in identifications; a
simple and easy to use rating system on the portal.</p>
<p><strong>Challenges on the emerging discipline of Biodiversity Informatics - Donald Hobern</strong>, Atlas of Living Australia - Web participation.</p>
<p>Donald Hobern participated in the session from Australia over the
Internet. His talk and presentation was viewed by the participants via
two-way WebEx where he answered questions and interacted with the
audience.</p>
<p>Donald presented the Australian Government supported
multi-institutional project called the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA).
The ALA is a multi-institutional project with large funding to build a
comprehensive biodiversity site focused on Australia. The conceptual
model for the portal is to build a platform that will aggregate
biodiversity information resources from specimen records, field
observations, literature, images, experts and amateurs. The information
will be integrated as species pages, distributions, regional atlases,
and nomenclature. Through this, the portal aims to serve a whole range
of users ranging from researchers, taxonomists, land-use planners, and
conservation and park managers.</p>
<p>Donald explained the typical specimen, field occurrence and
occurrence data and how it is the data is presented via collections. He
also explained the services to manage sensitive data and name services
available to the public through APIs. The ALA also has rich mapping
tools that help relate biodiversity to spatial parameters like rainfall,
temperature and other abiotic and biotic factors.</p>
<p>ALA also develops user communities among various stakeholders that
include resource management groups, conservation groups, ecological
researchers, environmental agencies, field naturalists and taxonomy
researchers. They also develop specific use cases and applications for
each of these groups.</p>
<p>The questions and interaction session was animated, even though it
was on the Internet. One of the issues raised was that the ALA seems to
be building an all encompassing and comprehensive portal, without any
particular focus theme or focus group. How was the planning of features
and functions being done? Donald’s response was the portal team would
build functions that they thought would be useful and then engage with
user groups to better and fine-tune the application. They engage with
user groups about functions on the portal.</p>
<p>The Western Ghats Portal team would like to thank Donald Hobern for
his active participation in the workshop with a valued presentation on
the state-of-the-art of a comprehensive biodiversity portal.</p>
<h3>Plenary II: Scientific commons and policy - 1130 - 1300 hrs</h3>
<p>The session was chaired by Dr. Ravi Chellam of the Madras Crocodile
Bank Trust. Ravi introduced the session and the speakers. The idea was
to generate discussions on data sharing policy among the participants in
the context of the Indian legal framework of map policy, biodiversity
act, intellectual property, scientific creative commons, and the culture
and attitude of Indian scientists. Ravi suggested that the session
should lead to further discussions to evolve a policy for data sharing
among biodiversity and conservation researchers and to evolve a charter
for the best practices among the community.</p>
<p><strong>Commons in the context of Biodiversity Information - Danish Sheikh</strong>, Alternative Law Forum</p>
<p>Danish Sheikh from the Alternate Law Forum (ALF) discussed the
creative commons and stressed that it maintains the copyright of the
contributor. Creative Commons only specifies the terms of sharing the
information and in today’s Internet driven world open access to
information was essential. With a complex legal framework of creative
commons, map policy, biodiversity act, and research interests of
individuals, for sharing biodiversity data we must consider property
versus propriety. The sharing of information on the portal must be seen
from the non-commercial and academic nature of the information as well
as the use of data for social good of conservation. Government data in
the form of maps and reports should be sharable on an artistic license
and they could be deployed on the portal. In the sharing of biodiversity
information, there are no concrete cases of violations of laws and thus
there are no examples to learn from.</p>
<p>Danish Sheikh had prepared a draft of declaration to be discussed and
agreed upon by the community. This was to be circulated to the
participants, comments solicited and a broad consensus evolved on the
best practices for sharing biodiversity information. The discussions
centered on the map policy and the need to carefully study the map
policy and the biodiversity act from a legal perspective and arrive at a
policy for the portal that will conform to the laws and acts in India.</p>
<p><strong>Open data in the scientific realm - Sunil Abraham</strong>, Centre for Internet and Society</p>
<p>Sunil Abraham from the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) spoke on
various national and international initiatives on open data in the
scientific realm. National consultations and discussions have been going
on towards evolving a National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy
(NDSAP) among scientists and researchers in the country. The principle
of the policy is based on openness, flexibility, transparency, legal
conformity, protection of intellectual property, formal responsibility,
and professionalism. Based on these principles, various definitions have
evolved. He stressed upon a clear articulation of non-sharable data in
the negative list based upon the legal framework and Right to
Information Act; restricted access data and open access data.</p>
<p>Sunil Abraham also discussed various international initiatives on
scientific data sharing especially in the ecology and biodiversity
realm. He spoke of the Eye on Earth initiative for evolving a sharing
policy, the framework of the Shared European Environment Information
System (SEIS) and various standards for data sharing.</p>
<p>Discussions were around the issues of motivations for data sharing
and building social networks and peer encouragement for data sharing. He
opined that there was no recipe for engaging the crowd towards building
and participating on social networks and sharing information.</p>
<p>Sunil also suggested that the community should evolve a best
practices policy document by discussions and debates among themselves.
CIS should be seen as a service provider and advocate for evolving a
shared policy and lobbying with government if necessary. But the
biodiversity community should provide the lead in this effort and the
CIS would only be advisory.</p>
<h3>Plenary III - Biodiversity portals in India - 1400 - 1700 hrs</h3>
<p>The session was moderated by MD Madhusudan of the Nature Conservation
Foundation, Mysore. Over the last few years there has been a multitude
of portals focused on aggregating and publishing biodiversity
information of the Indian sub-continent. Some of these portals are
focused upon a region or taxa or subject of interest and some portals
address a wider canvas of issues on biodiversity and conservation. The
session was focused on presentations by each of the portals, presenting
the key features and focus of their portals; the experience of building
and running the portals; key lessons learnt and future plans for the
portal.</p>
<p>The response for the sessions on biodiversity was enthusiastic. Over
12 portal initiatives were presented. Some of the presentations were by
participants in the United States, who run portals on India. The
presentations and participation was done over WebEx sessions overcoming
the challenge of different time zones.</p>
<p>Madhusudhan moderated the session, keeping focus, and allowing time for discussions and debates.</p>
<p><strong>V.B Mathur</strong>, Indian Biodiversity Information Facility (InBIF)</p>
<p>VB Mathur presented plans for a GBIF node to be set up in India at
the Wildlife Institute of India called Indian Biodiversity Facility
(InBIF). The project is just being initiated and is conceived as a broad
and participative initiative to address the challenges to conservation
in the 21st century India. With a growing economy, the objective is to
provide biodiversity information to build sustainable development for
larger and inclusive populations of India. The InBIF has developed a
vision and mission statement and will produce a concept paper by a
consultative process by next year 2012. InBIF recognizes that such an
inclusive biodiversity portal will require significant funding and the
involvement of already present biodiversity portals. InBIF proposes to
seek substantial funding based on the concept paper via the 12th
Five-Year-Plan period starting 2012-2013.</p>
<p><strong>Suhel Quader</strong>, Season Watch (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.seasonwatch.in/">http://www.seasonwatch.in</a>), Migrant Watch (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.migrantwatch.in/">http://www.migrantwatch.in</a>)</p>
<p>Suhel Quader presented two portals Seasons Watch and Migrant Watch
focused on citizen science initiatives. The Seasons Watch portal is
focused on the observation and recording of seasons as revealed by
trees, by their fruiting, flowering and leaf fall patterns. About 100
species are observed all over the country. Migrant Watch observes the
arrival and departure of migrant bird species across the sub-continent.
Both these large citizen science efforts are focused on the recording
and understanding of seasons to create a base-line of data on seasons
and their variations. These sites are driven by questions and
hypotheses. The sites have an active citizen participation. The portals
are planning to expand significantly into school networks. The data
generated by citizens are freely available on the portals and it
encourages others to download, explore, analyze and publish analysis on
the data accumulated on the portal.</p>
<p>Sanjay Molur, Pterocount (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.pterocount.org/">http://www.pterocount.org/</a>)</p>
<p>Sanjay Molur presented Pterocount a South Asian bat monitoring
program. The project is aimed at creating awareness about bat
conservation issues and developing data on the status of South Asian bat
populations. There are about 3500 species of bats and data on the bat
roosts and their populations is collected through online portals as well
as offline forms. The information from all these sites will be compiled
and analyzed for trends in the population of bats, to identify key
threats to roosts and to provide recommendations for their conservation.
The data collected is contributed to the IUCN and is shared with other
researchers under creative commons licenses. The study is currently
focused on a single bat species Pteropus giganteus, but plans to expand
to other bat species as well.</p>
<p><strong>Suma Tagadur</strong>, Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (<a class="external-link" href="http://envis.frlht.org/">http://envis.frlht.org</a>)</p>
<p>Sathya Sangeetha presented the medicinal plants’ envis site
maintained by the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health
Traditions. The site is focused on the development of a database for
medicinal plants with details of taxonomy, local names, status,
distribution and trade. The site undertakes a systematic update for 12
medicinal plants per year. They also study the conservation status of
medicinal plants and help in the identification of a plant red list.
They have plans to develop a children’s portal for increasing awareness
of medicinal plants among children. With a focused agenda, the site has a
specific and valuable role in biodiversity and conservation of India.</p>
<p><strong>Ramesh BR</strong> - Western Ghats Portal (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.thewesternghats.in/">http://www.thewesternghats.in/</a>)</p>
<p>BR Ramesh presented the Western Ghats Portal. This is a relatively
young initiative launched about six months ago building on the India
Biodiversity Portal. The focus of the portal is to collect biodiversity
and conservation information on the Western Ghats, a biodiversity
hotspot. The portal has a map module, a species pages module, a
collaborative module and integrative theme pages. The portal has
aggregated significant available data on the Western Ghats and deployed
it on the portal. The portal plans to add an observation recording
interface and campaign for large scale participation on the portal, and
species identification keys.</p>
<p><strong>Shwetank Verma</strong>, Biodiversity of India, formerly Project Brahma (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.biodiversityofindia.org/">http://www.biodiversityofindia.org</a>)</p>
<p>Shwetank Verma presented the Biodiversity of India Portal. The portal
is developed and managed completely by voluntary effort, and is aimed
at being a wiki resource on the biodiversity of India. The site
aggregates data on Indian biodiversity from various public sites and
presents it attractively on the portal. It has an effective search
engine LigerCat that helps index all information on the portal. It aims
to add and enrich information on the human and cultural aspects of
species and their uses. The portal is keen on networking and sharing
information with other biodiversity sites by building necessary APIs for
interactions between various biodiversity sites.</p>
<p><strong>Krushnamegh Kunte</strong>, ifoundbutterflies (<a class="external-link" href="http://ifoundbutterflies.org/">http://ifoundbutterflies.org/</a>) web participation</p>
<p>Krushnamegh Kunte presented the ifoundbutterfiles portal over a WebEx
session from the United States. ifoundbutterflies is a community site
on the butterflies of India. It contains information on species pages,
life cycle pages, photographs, and identification keys of over 600
species of butterflies in India. All information is carefully peer
review and curated a team of biologists studying and researching
butterflies. The data is assuredly authenticated and verified and will
form a reliable source of butterfly information on India. </p>
<p><strong>Vijay Barve</strong>, DiversityIndia (<a class="external-link" href="http://diversityindia.org/">http://diversityindia.org/</a>) web participation</p>
<p>Vijay Barve presented the DiversityIndia, a social network group over
a WebEx session from the United States. The effort started off as a
yahoo group and then moved to facebook as a more convenient platform to
share information on the biodiversity of India. It plans to aggregate
the information posted in these groups into a site that will maintain
and develop biodiversity databases. The group is open to sharing
information and resources with other portals working on the biodiversity
of India.</p>
<p><strong>Deepak Menon</strong>, India Water Portal (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.indiawaterportal.org/">http://www.indiawaterportal.org/</a>)</p>
<p>Samuel Rajkumar presented the India Water Portal. Their portal is
supported by campaigning for participation and awareness among various
fora on water resources. The features include a question bank and an
interaction with experts on water; a data repository on water; and a
children’s section. The portal is currently working on a data project
aimed at accumulating a large repository of water related data on the
portal for open access. The portal intends on expanding with a map
component and a data visualization module.</p>
<p><strong>Chitra Ravi</strong>, India Biodiversity Portal (<a class="external-link" href="http://indiabiodiversity.org/">http://indiabiodiversity.org/</a>)</p>
<p>Chitra Ravi presented the India Biodiversity Portal. The portal was
started in 2008 after the first phase of portal development. Over the
past year, the portal has been enriched with checklists and species
pages. The portal is closely integrated with the Western Ghats Portal
sharing the platform, its features and the data. A comparison of the
availability of data in EOL showed that for the lesser known flora and
fauna, there is very little information publicly available. The portal
expects to fill this gap, by generating rich species and distribution
content for Indian species.</p>
<p><strong>M.D. Madhusudhan</strong>, Status of Golden Jackals in India</p>
<p>MD Madhusudhan presented a focused and time-based project on the
Golden Jackals on India. The site campaigned and crowd sourced on the
current and historical occurrence of the golden jackal in India. The
enthusiasm for participation was evident with large data collection. The
data was analyzed and made available publicly and freely to whoever
wanted to use the data. There was a need felt for a generic portal to
support such focused time-based crowd sourcing and citizen science
efforts.</p>
<p><strong>K.Sankara Rao</strong>, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc</p>
<p>K Sankara Rao, presented the Center for Ecological Sciences’ creation
of a virtual herbarium database from the rich herbarium available at
the Institute. The herbarium is Father Saldhana’s collection on the
flora of Karnataka and has the best representation of plant specimens of
Karnataka. The effort to digitize the herbarium is a passionate project
that will make the herbarium resources to be more widely available.
Sankara Rao requested volunteers to come forward and work on the
project.</p>
<p><strong>Discussions and summary of the day:</strong></p>
<p>The discussions centered on a range of topics and concerns for
Biodiversity Informatics in India. They focused on the following themes:</p>
<p>Large and comprehensive portals versus narrow and focused portals.
While focused portals seem efficient in achieving their objectives,
large portals are trying to explore different mechanisms of harnessing
and disseminating information. While such large and comprehensive
portals are necessary, they will require larger efforts, longer periods
and significant funding to deliver useful content in biodiversity.</p>
<p>Participation and Quality. There were different views on crowd
sourcing information and validation mechanisms. The importance of
expert-driven efforts on ensuring quality was appreciated, while there
was recognition that amateur naturalists and hobbyists could be very
knowledgeable and reliable.</p>
<p>The scientific status of a portal can be enhanced with careful expert
driven peer review mechanism. Portals could also serve as repositories
for data papers publications and citations that would be valued by the
scientific community. Target users for the portal. Discussions on target
users for the portal covered the whole spectrum from specialists and
scientists to activists and concerned citizens. A biodiversity portal
was expected to provide information to a variety of users and
stakeholders, including managers and policy makers.</p>
<p>Data exchange between portals: There was a general consensus on the
interaction and exchange of data among portals. This was heartening to
note, but since all the portals are new and evolving, mechanisms of
exchange and building APIs for exchange was lower in priority for most
portals. However, all portals were open to sharing information. Many of
the citizen science portals have made their data public and
downloadable.</p>
<p>There were discussions on larger projects like the WGP to engage in
technology facilitation for various citizen science projects. This was
discussed and opportunities for such technology facilitation need to be
explored.</p>
<p>Various mechanisms, such as quiz competitions, interaction with
experts, bio-blitzes, campaigns and road shows; to involve and engage
citizens on the portal were discussed. There were open-ended discussions
on how each portal can maintain its identity and focus, but at the same
time evolve mechanisms for interoperability and exchange of
information, and on whether we can network and provide easy tool kits
for building focused participation sites.</p>
<p>Dr. Prabhakar, concluded the event with a thank you note and by
expressing hope that the biodiversity conservation community can build
together on the momentum the workshop has created.</p>
<h2>List of participants present at the Workshop on Biodiversity Informatics, 25th November, 2011, ATREE, Bangalore</h2>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Sr.No</th>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Affiliation</th>
<th>Role</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>1<br /></td>
<td>Abhisheka</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 2</td>
<td>Ajith Ashokan</td>
<td>Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Tiruvalla<br />(MACFAST), Kerala</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 3</td>
<td>Amruta</td>
<td>Research and Action in Natural Wealth<br />Administration (RANWA)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 4</td>
<td>Anand Janakiraman</td>
<td>Western Ghats Portal</td>
<td>Speaker</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 5</td>
<td>Aneesh A</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research<br />in Ecology and the<br />Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 6</td>
<td>Anup Prasad K S</td>
<td>TCS, Bangalore</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 7</td>
<td>Anuradha S</td>
<td>University of Maryland,<br />College Park</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 8</td>
<td>Aravind N A</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the<br />Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 9</td>
<td>Asha.A</td>
<td>Centre for Ecological<br />Sciences - Indian Institute of<br />Science (IISc)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 10</td>
<td>Ashwini H S</td>
<td>Kuvempu University</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 11</td>
<td>Avinash K S</td>
<td>Kuvempu University</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 12</td>
<td>Baiju Raj</td>
<td>Agra bear rescue facility</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 13</td>
<td>Balasubramanian D</td>
<td>French Institute of Pondicherry</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 14</td>
<td>Baranidharan.K</td>
<td>Forest College and<br />Research Institute</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 15</td>
<td>Chitra Ravi</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the<br />Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Panelist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 16</td>
<td>Danish Sheikh</td>
<td>Alternate Law Forum</td>
<td>Speaker</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 17</td>
<td>Deepak Menon<br /></td>
<td>ARGHYAM<br /></td>
<td>Panelist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 18</td>
<td>Devayani Khare</td>
<td>French Institute of Pondicherry</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 19</td>
<td>Dharnidharan</td>
<td>French Institute of Pondicherry</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 20</td>
<td>Dinesh T B</td>
<td>Servelots Infotech Pvt. ltd</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 21</td>
<td>Dr. B R Ramesh</td>
<td>French Institute of Pondicherry</td>
<td>Panelist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 22</td>
<td>Dr. Bhaskar Acharya</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 23</td>
<td>Dr. Chikkaswamy</td>
<td>Om Bioscience Research</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 24</td>
<td>Dr. Easa</td>
<td>Asia Biodiversity Conservation Trust (ABCT)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 25</td>
<td>Dr. Gautam Talukdar</td>
<td>Wildlife Institute of India</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 26</td>
<td>Dr. Gladwin Joseph</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 27</td>
<td>Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 28</td>
<td>Dr. K N Ganeshaiah</td>
<td>University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore</td>
<td>Panelist<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 29</td>
<td>Dr. Karthikeyan Vasudevan</td>
<td>Wildlife Institute of India</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 30</td>
<td>Dr. L Shashikumar</td>
<td>Jnana Bharathi, Bangalore University</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 31</td>
<td>Dr. M H Swaminath</td>
<td>Addl. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildife)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 32</td>
<td>Dr. M Sanjappa</td>
<td>Botanical Survey of India(BSI)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 33</td>
<td>Dr. N S Hallikhed</td>
<td>BISB</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 34</td>
<td>Dr. R Sukumar</td>
<td>Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), IISc</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 35</td>
<td>Dr. Ravi Chellam</td>
<td>Madras Crocodile Bank Trust</td>
<td>Speaker</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 36</td>
<td>Dr. V B Mathur</td>
<td>Wildlife Institute of India</td>
<td>Panelist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 37</td>
<td>G Areendran</td>
<td>Wildlife Institute of India</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 38</td>
<td>G Muthu Sankar</td>
<td>French Institute of Pondicherry</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 39</td>
<td>Harinandanan P V</td>
<td>Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Tiruvalla (MACFAST), Kerala</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 40</td>
<td>Jagadish</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 41</td>
<td> Jyotish M S</td>
<td>Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Tiruvalla (MACFAST), Kerala</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 42</td>
<td> Kavitha A</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 43</td>
<td> Kiran M C</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 44</td>
<td> Krushnamegh Kunte</td>
<td> Harvard University</td>
<td>Panelist <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 45</td>
<td> M Arulraj</td>
<td>National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad</td>
<td> Speaker</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 46</td>
<td> M D Madhusudan</td>
<td> Nature Conservation Foundation</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 47</td>
<td> M Sathya Sangeetha</td>
<td>Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 48</td>
<td> Madhura Niphadkar</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 49</td>
<td> Meganath V</td>
<td>Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Tiruvalla (MACFAST), Kerala</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 50</td>
<td> Naveena N L</td>
<td>University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 51</td>
<td> Nishadh</td>
<td>Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 52</td>
<td> Prashanth M B</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 53</td>
<td> Priti Gururaj</td>
<td> Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 54</td>
<td> Prof. K Sankara Rao</td>
<td>Centre for Ecological Sciences - Indian Institute of Science (IISc)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 55</td>
<td> R C Prasad</td>
<td> Spatial Informatics Lab, IIITHyderabad</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 56</td>
<td> Radhika Santhanam</td>
<td> Śramani</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 57</td>
<td> Rahul Yadava</td>
<td>Strand Life Sciences<br /></td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 58</td>
<td> Rajan Pilakandy</td>
<td> Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>59</td>
<td> Rakesh K N</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 60</td>
<td> Ramesh Kannan</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 61</td>
<td> Ravikanth</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 62</td>
<td> Sabah Rubina</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 63</td>
<td> Samuel Rajkumar</td>
<td> Independent web-developer</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 64</td>
<td> Sangeetha Sathya</td>
<td> FRLTH-IAIM</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 65</td>
<td> Santosh S Gaikwad</td>
<td>Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 66</td>
<td> Seena Narayanan K</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 67</td>
<td>Senthilkumar Umapathy</td>
<td> Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 68</td>
<td> Shashank P R</td>
<td> University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 69</td>
<td> Shrinivas K R</td>
<td> Kuvempu University</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 70</td>
<td> Shwetank Verma</td>
<td> Indian Institute of Science (IISc)</td>
<td> Panelist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 71</td>
<td> Sivarajan</td>
<td> French Institute of Pondicherry</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 72</td>
<td> Sreerupa Sen</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 73</td>
<td> Suhel Quader</td>
<td> National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 74</td>
<td> Suma Tagadur</td>
<td> Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions</td>
<td> Panelist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 75</td>
<td> Sunil Abraham</td>
<td> Centre for Internet and Society</td>
<td> Speaker</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 76</td>
<td> Supriya K S</td>
<td>National Center for Biological Sciences</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 77</td>
<td> T Bala</td>
<td> Keystone Foundation - Flora of Nilgiri</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 78</td>
<td> Veeranagappa P</td>
<td>University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore</td>
<td> Audience</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 79</td>
<td> Vidyadhar Atkore</td>
<td>Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)</td>
<td>Audience <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> 80</td>
<td> Vijay Barve</td>
<td> Diversity India</td>
<td> Panelist</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Also see <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/bio-diversity-informatics-workshop" class="external-link">Western Ghats Portal: Workshop on Biodiversity Informatics </a>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/summary-of-the-minutes-of-the-workshop-on-biodiversity-informatics'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/summary-of-the-minutes-of-the-workshop-on-biodiversity-informatics</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataOpenness2012-01-30T16:24:40ZBlog EntryGeekup on Open Data in Bangalore
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/geekup-bangalore
<b>HasGeek in partnership with the Centre for Internet and Society invite you to a talk by Hapee de Groot on 25 January 2012 at CIS office in Bangalore.</b>
<h2>Hapee de Groot</h2>
<p>Hapee de Groot has worked on a wide range of issues around Open Source Data, ICT and Media Development, Access, Security, ICT for Development (ICT4D) and Localisation of Content, for a global stage towards greater transparency and accountability with the Dutch NGO Hivos since 2001. Before that, in the nineties, he was an advocate for free public internet access, working with xs4all and the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0101/msg00085.html">digital city Amsterdam</a> (DDS). He has also served as an editor for OneWorld International and ran the Digital Divide Campaign which turned into a still ongoing digital channel at <a class="external-link" href="http://www.digitalopportunity.org/">DigitalOpportunity.org</a>.</p>
<p>Hapee is one of the earliest generations of hackers and is highly influential on the subjects of ICT and Technology, Open Source, Social Media, and Technology in Africa, according to the influence measures on Klout. This is his 5th visit to India where he has worked previously on Mission 2009 and setting up access for remote areas in India, in collaboration with Toxic Links and Sarai, Delhi. He was a participant at the InfoActivism Camp in Bangalore, 2008.</p>
<p>His current interest is in the field of Open Government Data and he partners with six international donor agencies to run the Transparency and Accountability Initiative. He brings together his technical skills, policy experience and development research to train people in understanding the politics, responsibilities and risks associated with open data platforms and helps NGOs and governments in producing secure and citizen friendly platforms of data collection, distribution and dissemination.</p>
<h2>Open Data</h2>
<p>From his background working for a development organisation (HIVOS) Hapee will talk about Open Data and its use for citizen engagement. This is a twofold process. On the one side there is the history of the traditional NGO and their limited impact on the system. On the other side there are the Open Government Data initiatives pushed from within administrations, including by the Obama administration. The question is of how both can benefit from each other.</p>
<p>Hapee has some examples of citizen driven projects in Africa that HIVOS supports. He will present on these projects, including on data visualization and technical platforms. He would like to hear from the audience (that's you!) on similar projects in India.</p>
<p>The other side of the coin is privacy which is a bigger issue in India than in Africa. How can we be open while still protecting privacy? Hapee will lead a discussion on this.</p>
<p><strong>Registrations are closed<br /></strong></p>
<p>Wednesday, 25 January 2012, Bangalore</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Welcome with tea, coffee and snacks</td>
<td>6.00 p.m. - 6.15 p.m.<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Lightning Talks</td>
<td>6.15 p.m - 7.00 p.m.<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Open Data<br /></td>
<td>7.00 p.m. - 8.00 p.m.<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/geekup-bangalore'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/geekup-bangalore</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataOpenness2012-01-31T03:38:25ZEventWikipedia turns 11 today
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-turns-11-today
<b>The world's largest free encyclopaedia turns 11 on Sunday. To mark the occasion, the Wikipedia community will host events in seven cities across the country. The community is also celebrating the first anniversary of the Wikimedia India chapter. </b>
<p>On this occasion, the India chapter will launch a new portal (www.wikimedia.in) for easy access to Wikimedia sites in the Indian languages. Wikipedia is currently available in 21 Indian languages.</p>
<p>The India chapter is focussed on creating greater awareness of Wikipedia in Indian languages and to increase the volunteer editor base and Indian content through its initiatives. “The portal will make it easier to locate Indian language Wikipedias and other projects,” said Arun Ram, executive committee member of Wikimedia India.</p>
<p>The Bangalore event, open to all Wikipedia users, contributors and enthusiasts, is being held at the Centre for Internet and Society at Domlur (Bangalore).</p>
<p>Besides Bangalore, events are being held in Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, all centres where Wikipedia editors or contributors are present in sizeable numbers.</p>
<p>‘Deepen engagement with students'</p>
<p>In order to address the complaint raised by the industry about students' “poor employability”, the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce organised a seminar in Bangalore on Wednesday.</p>
<p>A recent survey by the World Bank indicated that there was a “severe mismatch” between the skill sets required by the IT-ITES industry and what was available in graduates from Indian institutions.</p>
<p>S. Sadagopan, director, Indian Institute of Information Technology, said the level of engagement of the academic institutions with the students needed to be “reoriented and deepened”. “Equally important is the responsibility of the recruiters in changing their recruitment processes,” said Prof. Sadagopan. He added, “The question is, are you giving the recruits a challenging job?”</p>
<h3>Award for networking major</h3>
<p>Cisco announced that its Networking Academy has won the prestigious eINDIA 2011 jury choice award for the ‘Best ICT Enabled Skills Development Initiative'.</p>
<p>The award was conferred on Cisco Networking Academy in recognition of its efforts toward enabling students to develop valuable information, communications and technology skills for increased access to opportunities in the global economy, a release from the networking major said.</p>
<p>Speaking on the occasion, Bina Raj-Debur, regional head, Social Innovation Group, India and South Asia, said: “We are proud to receive this prestigious award. It is testimony to the continued efforts of the Networking Academy programme to make a positive difference to the skills-building efforts of the nation and the communities in which we live and operate. At Cisco, we aim to enhance the employability of youth through technology, enabling them to harness the enormous opportunities in the ICT domain. We are very pleased that our efforts have been recognised by industry and society alike.” </p>
<h3>Help with transition to IPv6 <br /></h3>
<p>Global IT major Hewlett Packard (HP) has signed a partnership agreement with the Government of Karnataka and the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, to conduct a pilot project that will help organisations in Karnataka through a smooth transition to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).</p>
<p>The current version of IP addressing, IPv4, is reaching its theoretical maximum of about four billion Internet addresses. IPv6 is the new Internet addressing protocol with the capacity to support 340 trillion addresses, a press release from HP said. This allows for the dramatic expansion of connected devices from computers and smart phones, to household electronics, industrial appliances, vehicles and commercial systems.</p>
<p>IPv6 also provides for improved quality and new applications like IP TV, telephony and ecommerce. The pilot project aims at identifying major challenges in IPV6 adoption, developing solutions to meet these challenges and actively promoting IPV6 adoption. </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/article2801684.ece">The news was published in the Hindu on 15 January 2012</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-turns-11-today'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-turns-11-today</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2012-01-16T09:41:30ZNews ItemDesign!PubliC — Innovation and the Public Interest
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/design-public-2014-innovation-and-the-public-interest
<b>On the 14th of October, 2011, the Center for Knowledge Societies organized the second edition of the Design Public Conclave, a conversation on how innovation can serve the Public Interest. The conclave was held at the lovely premises of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore.</b>
<p>The conclave was highly interactive and brought together representatives from technology houses like Intel, GE, TCS, Infosys, and Seimens, with social sector organizations like Arghyam and funding agencies like the Gates Foundation and HIVOS. Officials from the National Planning Commission and Karnataka State Innovation Council were also involved. Speakers included the philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, interaction design expert Reto Wettach, policy advisor Ashwin Mahesh, design thinker M.P. Ranjan, among other experts from India, Sri Lanka, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the UK and the US.</p>
<p>The Conclave began with three panel discussions, each of which focused
on the relationship between innovation and a specific sector of society:
the private/corporate sector, the social sector, and the
public/government sector. Each panel consisted of a moderator and four
to six domain experts, but the audience was asked an encouraged to
participate freely along with the discussants.</p>
<p> </p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><em>"When designing public and social initiatives, both structure and intuition are invaluable, and neither should be ignored in favor of the other."</em><br /><strong>Sunil Abraham</strong><br />Centre for Internet and Society<br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP1.jpg/image_preview" alt="Sunil Abraham" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Sunil Abraham" /></td>
<td><em>"Where there is no trust, there will be no creativity, and therefore no innovation."</em><br /><strong>Aditya Dev Sood</strong><br />Center for Knowledge Societies<br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP2.jpg/image_preview" alt="Aditya Dev Sood" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Aditya Dev Sood" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>"In startups, people are free to experiment without always being bogged down by commercialism, like in large corporations."</em><br /><strong>Aditya Mishra</strong><br />Headstart Foundation<br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP3.jpg/image_preview" alt="Aditya Mishra" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Aditya Mishra" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP4.jpg/image_preview" alt="Harsh Srivastava" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Harsh Srivastava" /><br /></td>
<td><em>"When discussing the public interest, it is important to think about which public we’re talking about, and to specify whose interest we are working towards."</em><br /><strong>Harsh Srivastava</strong><br />National Planning Commission<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><br /></td>
<td><em>"There is a general perception that the government doesn’t listen to us, but my perception is that not enough of us are trying to be heard."</em><br /><strong>Ashwin Mahesh</strong><br />Mapunity<br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP5.jpg/image_preview" alt="Ashwini Mahesh" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Ashwini Mahesh" /></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>"There are many interest groups and each one believes that only their interests matter. We have to be able to compromise and collaborate."</em><br />Rohini Nilekani<br />Arghyam <br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP6.jpg/image_preview" alt="Rohini Nilekani" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Rohini Nilekani" /></td>
<td><em>"Design is like dancing while wearing handcuffs; you have to work with constraints and<br />try and create the best possible solutions."</em><br /><strong>Reto Wettach</strong><br />Interaction Design Studios<br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP7.jpg/image_preview" alt="Reto Wattach" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Reto Wattach" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>"Innovation is about designing<br />something radically new, which transforms our experience of the world."</em><br /><strong>M.P. Ranjan</strong><br />Design for India<br /></td>
<td><em></em><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP8.jpg/image_preview" alt="MP Rajan" class="image-inline image-inline" title="MP Rajan" /><br /></td>
<td><em>"Public-private partnerships are often the best way to ensure that innovation happens in the public interest."</em><br /><strong>Sneha Raman</strong><br />Center for Knowledge Societies<br /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/DP9.jpg/image_preview" alt="Sneha Raman" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Sneha Raman" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>PANEL 1 Innovation and the Indian Corporation</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy2_of_copy_of_Design.jpg/image_preview" alt="Panel 1" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Panel 1" /></td>
<td>
<p>This discussion focused on whether Indian corporations and how they
can help bring about a culture of innovation. Panelists agreed that
while Indian society is highly innovative, large Indian corporations are
usually not.</p>
<p>The successes of large corporations often render them less willing to
take risks. Also, the hierarchical decision-making structure of
corporations can inhibit innovation, leaving little incentive or
opportunity for subordinates to be creative.</p>
<p>Large corporations can play a substantial role, though, by
collaborating with small entrepreneurs and working on social issues.
This way, the technological expertise and infrastructural capabilities
of large companies can be married with the empathetic, lived knowledge
of grassroots innovators.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>PANEL 2 Is Innovation in the Public and Social Sectors Possible?</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p>This discussion focused on whether the public and social sectors can
innovate. Panelists agreed that collaboration and participation are the
key ingredients when innovating for the public interest. This also makes
the entire process more transparent and hence keep power imbalances and
misuse in check.</p>
<p>Private-public partnerships are the best means for innovation to
happen, where governments can provide the policies and structures that
support innovation, and private firms provide their expertise in
developing solutions.</p>
<p>Another major concern that was brought up is the challenge of trust,
the lack of willingness to take risks, and the fear of failure. These
are all institutional challenges that need to be overcome before the
social and public sectors can become capable of innovation.</p>
</td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Panel2.jpg/image_preview" alt="Panel 2" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Panel 2" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>PANEL 3 The Challenge of Startup Innovation</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Panel3.jpg/image_preview" alt="Panel 3" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Panel 3" /></td>
<td>
<p>The panelists talked about startups in India and how people’s
conception of them is often limited to technological products and
services, largely because people are unaware that there can be startups
for governance, for the social sector, for public services, and more.</p>
<p>They spoke about the need for a more robust and supportive startup
ecology, for which the biggest problem now is no longer a lack of
funding, but rather a lack of consumer belief and trust in startups.
Additionally, cultural factors can contribute to the success or failure
of this startup ecology: Indian society, for example, is too risk-averse
and unforgiving of failure. There is, therefore, the need for an
‘innovation incubator,’ with the right architecture, guidance,
mentorship, financial support and other necessary resources, to help
make socially valuable startups happen.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> </p>
<h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_P1.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participants 1" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participants 1" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/P2.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participants 2" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participants 2" /></td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/P3.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participants 3" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participants 3" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/P4.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participants 4" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participants 4" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy2_of_copy_of_P1.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participants " class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participants " /><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
PANEL 4 The Theory and Practice of Innovation</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Panel4.jpg/image_preview" alt="Panel 4" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Panel 4" /></td>
<td>After lunch, panelists grappled with the question of whether innovation can be routinized, and if design is the means to do so. They talked about how good innovation necessarily stems from good design, which means adding meaningful value to a product or service. <br /><br />Design can be seen as any expression of intentionality, rather than being relegated to the realm of the purely visual. All human beings, not only trained designers, are capable of designing, and erroneously think of ourselves as non-designers. This is especially true in social redesign, where citizens from any walk of life can contribute meaningful information and ideas. Hence the need for active community participation in service and policy design, as participation during the solutioneering process will mean fewer problems with implementation and realization.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
In the afternoon, participants broke out into groups to brainstorm how innovation can help solve three grand challenges of Indian society. CKS researchers first presented information collected from field visits prior to the conclave in order to focus the session.</p>
<p> </p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>INCLUSIVE HIGHER EDUCATION<br /></th>
<th>QUALITY MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTHCARE</th>
<th>INDIA’S TOILET PROBLEM</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/inclusivehighereducation.jpg/image_preview" alt="Inclusive Higher Education" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Inclusive Higher Education" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Quality.jpg/image_preview" alt="Quality Maternal and Child Healthcare" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Quality Maternal and Child Healthcare" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/toiletproblem.jpg/image_preview" alt="India's Toilet Problem" class="image-inline image-inline" title="India's Toilet Problem" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Despite many government efforts, the number of students pursuing higher education in India is still dismally low. Reasons for this lie in a lack of access to institutes of higher education, insufficient finances and restrictive cultural practices and attitudes.<br /><br />In order to understand the challenge, CKS researchers and domain experts visited an alternative education center that utilizes omputers and online platforms to teach.<br /><br /><strong>Possible Solutions</strong><br />
<ol><li>The success of online higher education lies in locally relevant solutions </li><li>Human interaction is necessary to complement the technological interface.</li><li>Create shared learning platforms to encourage collaborative learning. <br /></li></ol>
<p><strong>Insights</strong><br />Financial and cultural factors are the greatest barriers to education, especially for girls.<br />Lack of awareness about opportunities, and an absence of local mentors.<br />Language is the key barrier to using computers and the internet for education.</p>
</td>
<td>Maternal and child health in India is amongst the poorest in the world. This grim situation is preventable, however, with good health services, better dissemination of information, and by ensuring proper nutrition and care through pregnancy.<br /><br />CKS researchers conducted research on ante-natal healthcare in rural areas, in order to understand the the gaps in the delivery of these services.<br /><br /><strong>Possible Solutions</strong><br />
<ol><li>More campaigns to make beneficiaries aware about the services they can avail. </li><li>Offer incentives to healthworkers for providing better care to patients.</li><li>Local government should be made stronger and more accountable.</li></ol>
<strong>Insights</strong><br />Healthcare providers are three-fold: field healthworkers, public (government) clinics,and private clinics.<br />Public clinics are cheaper but lower quality, while private clinics are expensive but are better equipped and offer better services. <br />Field healthworkers are usually more trusted though they may be less knowledgeable.<br /><br /></td>
<td>74 percent of rural India still does not use toilets, which has wide-ranging implications on health, hygiene, safety, convenience, and privacy. The government introduced the Total Sanitation Campaign to bring toilets to all of rural India, but huge gaps in implementation still remain.<br /><br />CKS researchers and domain experts from Arghyam spent a day in the village of Dandi Kanahalli to understand toilet usage patterns from different respondents.<br /><br /><strong>Possible Solutions</strong><br />
<ol><li>Support more NGOs working in this area.</li><li>Create communal toilets that target women</li><li>Build stronger local government</li></ol>
<strong>Insights</strong><br />Most respondents did not construct toilets until it became compulsory to do so. <br />The main challenge to toilet construction is the lack of financial resources. <br />Despite financial constraints, communal toilets are nonexistent.<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>Quo Vadis</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Quo.jpg/image_preview" alt="Quo Vadis" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Quo Vadis" /></td>
<td>This edition of Design Public made it clear that innovation was a high priority for different stakeholders in society, but also that many players lack a clear understanding of how to actually go about the process of creating a new product or service. This would suggest that what is really required in India today is training around the fundamentals of innovation, including the process of understanding needs, developing concepts, protyping a solution and then further enhancing the new and innovative solution. In addition, we realized that many of the large scale challenges being faced by Indian society have to do with deficiencies of trust, inadequate avenues and channels for people to participate in decision making processes and that these are the more fundamental barriers to broadbasing a culture and associated practices of innovation in this society. These are the themes that we have resolved to work on further in future editions of Design Public.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> </p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/cks.jpg/image_preview" alt="Design Public Event" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Design Public Event" /></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Participant1.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participant 1" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participant 1" /><br /><br />A participant questions the panelists during a discussion on startup innovations<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div align="center"><br />
<h3 align="left">Opportunities for Sponsorship and Partnership</h3>
<div align="left">The Design Public consortium is now soliciting support and sponsorship from organizations, agencies and corporations that are particularly interested in these topics. Sponsorships follow the following tiered structure:<br /><br />Institutional Sponsor US $10,000/-<br />Dinner Sponsor US $5,000/-<br />Event Partner US $3,000/-<br /><br />We also welcome contributions of content and other kinds of support in kind that might allow the event to proceed to greater effect. These may include travel support for speakers, accommodation bursaries for worthy cases, student scholarships, sponsored dinners, paid breakfast tables and special expert and media access by arrangement.<br /><br />To find out how to become part of the Design Public Consortium, please contact CKS team members in New Delhi and Bangalore as below:<br />New Delhi: Khushboo Hasija | khushboo.hasija@cks.in | +91 97115 18587<br />Bangalore: Anand Vijayan | anand.vijayan@cks.in | +91 93437 87505</div>
<div align="left"><br /><br /><br />December 2011 | Published by Center for Knowledge Societies</div>
</div>
</td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Participant2.jpg/image_preview" alt="Jamuna Ramakrishna" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Jamuna Ramakrishna" /><br />Jamuna Ramakrishna (HIVOS) in conversation with Dilini Wijeweera (Lirneasia)<br /><br /><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Participants3.jpg/image_preview" alt="Participants from the audience" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Participants from the audience" /><br /><br />Participants from the audience contribute to the discussion on policies and programs for innovation<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/design-public-2014-innovation-and-the-public-interest'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/design-public-2014-innovation-and-the-public-interest</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2012-01-16T08:48:25ZBlog EntryKnow your Users, Match their Needs!
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/know-your-users
<b>As Free Access to Law initiatives in the Global South enter into a new stage of maturity, they must be certain not to lose sight of their users’ needs. The following post gives a summary of the “Good Practices Handbook”, a research output of the collaborative project Free Access to Law — Is it Here to Stay? undertaken by LexUM (Canada) and the South African Legal Institute in partnership with the Centre for Internet and Society.</b>
<p></p>
<p>Almost ten years have passed since the Montreal Declaration on
Free Access to Law (FAL) was signed by eight legal information institutes and other
FAL initiatives. Today, the Free Access to Law Movement (FALM) is growing with over 30 initiatives having signed onto the Declaration and providing free, online
access to legal information. While the movement continues to gain momentum, the
big question no longer remains <em>why</em> we need
free access to law, but instead <em>how</em> FAL initiatives can continue to do so sustainably in the long-term. The principles of access
and justice underpinning the FALM have been well-argued and few would dispute the
notion that citizens ought to have access to the laws under which they are
governed. As the Montreal Declaration states: "Public legal information from
all countries and international institutions is part of the common heritage of
humanity…Maximizing access to his information promotes justice and the rule of
law" (2002).</p>
<p>Regardless of legal system or political context, the
importance of securing free online access to the law has been recognized from a
variety of perspectives. Whether FAL is considered a critical democratic
function or simply an essential efficiency within any legal system, it is
difficult to contest that the internet has increased the accessibility of and
ease with which legal information is being published and shared online. Setting
the ideological and practical foundations of the movement aside, effectively
demonstrating the impact of FAL initiatives and to secure their sustainability in
the long-term remains the next big challenge for the FALM. Today, there is a
growing necessity for grounded and realistic indicators that can validate some
of the long-held assumptions around the impacts and outcomes of FAL initiatives.
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, there is also a need for a more
nuanced understanding of the factors that influence the sustainability of FAL
initiatives— particularly in resource-scarce and often nebulous legal systems of
the Global South.</p>
<p>This blog post provides some insight into the questions
above through a brief summary of the results of the study <a class="external-link" href="http://crdi.org/ar/ev-139395-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html">Free Access to Law—Is
it Here to Stay?</a> This global comparative study was carried out by LexUM (Canada)
and the South African Legal Institute in partnership with the Centre for
Internet and Society. The project set out to begin providing answers to some of
these critical questions around the impacts and sustainability of the FALM. It
was initially hypothesized in the study that the sustainability of a FAL
initiative rests upon a particular string of contingent factors. To begin, a particular
condition would incentivize the creation of the FAL initiative — more often than
not meeting the unmet needs of those requiring access to legal information. Next, if the FAL initiative is able to provide
the service within a favourable context, it was suspected that it would produce
favourable outcomes for both users and society at large. In turn, if the FAL
initiative was able to provide benefits to users, it was theorized that these benefits
would then stimulate reinvestment into the FAL initiative — forming a positive
and sustainable feedback loop. </p>
<p>As the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.informationjuridique.ca/docs/a2k/Best%20Practices%20Hand%20Book_03sept11.pdf">Good Practices Handbook</a> highlights, the research
hypothesis provided an accurate reading of what the sustainability chain of a
FAL initiative might look like in<em> practice</em>.
If unable to keep up with the evolving information requirements of their users,
this study suggests that FAL initiatives run the risk of FAL becoming outdated
and even outperformed by either government-based or private sector
initiatives. This is why FAL initiatives
must continue to be innovative and find new ways to meet users’ needs. Approaches take my include keeping their
collections up to date, fine-tuning their services or even reinventing
themselves through the provision of value-added services. Gathered from the
experiences of the eleven countries across Africa and Asia examined in this
study, the following is a brief summary of the nine “Good Practices” that emerging
FAL initiatives can consider:</p>
<ol><li><strong>The FAL initiative
should establish clear objectives</strong>: Before doing anything, the FAL initiative
should decide what exactly it’s setting out to do…critical components such as
content selection, targeted audience, expected reach, search functionalities
and other website features help determine priorities and evaluate capacity to
achieve these objectives.</li><li><strong>How to be small and
do big things</strong>: Most of the FAL initiatives studied as part of this project
were formed of small teams (often less than five individuals). Initially, this may
appear to pose a risk for sustainability. However, we saw a number of ways in
which small teams have proven to be innovative, flexible, and able to thrive in
environments of scarcity. However, as much as small teams can be seen as a
source of innovation, they may also pose a risk in the medium to long-term. </li><li><strong>FAL initiatives
require expertise in both IT and legal information</strong>: Legal information management
experts understand how the law is applied, how different texts and parts of
texts speak to one another, and how these documents are used. IT experts can
imagine a variety of ways to address these needs. If both forms of expertise is
not available within the team of a FAL initiative, institutional partnerships
provide promising sites for collaborative support. For example, the FALM
constitutes a rich source of expertise and has proven to be a site of
collaboration between established and emerging FAL initiatives. Further,
universities have proven to be a significant source of human and financial
resources for several FAL initiatives.</li><li><strong>FAL initiatives
should look to where they are headed (but not too far ahead)</strong>: Because the
purpose of a FAL initiative is to provide free online access to the law, it
must secure access to this data for regular publication. How will legal
information be received and organized by the initiative? In what format will it
be published in? Early on, FAL initiatives need to develop both internal and
external workflow processes to ensure that the initiative is able to provide regular
access to updated information. Furthermore, an important finding of the study
suggests that context plays a much larger role in a project’s sustainability. Consideration
should be given to a country’s ICT infrastructure, the transparency of a
government and their access to information regimes, and the nature of the legal
information market when designing the workflows of an FAL initiative.</li><li><strong>FAL initiatives
should work with the ICT infrastructure in place</strong>: The quality and
consistency of internet access varies across countries in the Global South. FAL
initiatives should remain aware of how stakeholders and users are accessing the
internet and develop their service accordingly. Considering the often
intermittent nature of internet connectivity in the Global South, providing
users with offline access to databases is a practical alternative.</li><li><strong>FAL initiatives
should use Free and Open Source Software</strong>: FAL initiatives should maximise
their use of FLOSS. All FAL initiatives use FLOSS to some extent and without
these flexible and cost-effective alternatives, it would be safe to infer that
the FALM would have grown as quickly as it has.</li><li><strong>FAL initiatives
should be sensitive to culture</strong>: FAL initiatives rely on stakeholders and
communities of users. Staying mindful of the professional and organizational
cultures within a country may provide the initiative with a source of community
support which may become a sustainability strategy. Further, integrated or parallel social
networking platforms can play an essential role in community-building around
the FAL initiatives and can also serve as another source of content in
resource-scarce environments.</li><li><strong>Find your users,
match their needs</strong>: Project goals and appropriate strategies should be based
on an in-depth understanding of the needs of those using the FAL initiative. As
the sustainability chain suggests, when FAL initiatives produce positive
outputs and outcomes, stakeholders will reinvest in the initiative to ensure
its sustainability. If a user’s needs are effectively met by an FAL initiative,
this group can provide either the resources or impetus for its continued
success. Identifying who your users are and staying aware of their needs is a
good way to secure reinvestment into the project.</li><li><strong>FAL initiatives
should diversify funding sources</strong>: This may be easier said than
done — reinvestment can be the most challenging aspect of sustaining a FAL
initiative. Early on, initiatives that receive donor-based funding benefit
substantially upon investment. However, these initiatives are put at
significant risk once initial seed funding has been depleted. Similarly, FAL
initiatives that partnerships with other during their start up phase face
similar fates as securing long-term service delivery can become a challenge.
Possible funding sources included throughout the study include, among others:
government, international development agencies or NGOs, the judiciary, law
societies and the sale of value-added services.</li></ol>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition to these good practices, this study has emphasized
the role the that the FALM has played in helping redefine online legal information as a public good. Each
of the case studies demonstrates in a unique way the value openness plays in a
legal information ecosystem, and how a robust digital legal information commons can be of
benefit to users. Traditionally, the legal information market has been dominated by a select
number of commercial players. In response, the FALM has created an important
transnational space within which conversations around the provision of and
access to legal information as a political right <em>rather</em> than a commodity to be bought and sold
can take place. Encouragingly, governments in the Global South are catching and FAL initiatives from the South have proven to be immense sources of innovation in their own right. In Indonesia, for example, FAL initiatives have laid the
groundwork for emerging government initiatives that are now prioritizing the provision of free, online access to legal and other government information. Today, I believe that we are witnessing an important paradigm
shift as governments are beginning to recognize that “access” to legal information is a
right to be held by the public.</p>
<p>Despite such headway, it is needless to say that FAL initiatives in the Global South
continue to face immense sustainability challenges. However, it is hoped that this
study can provide some practical insights for emerging initiatives
and partnerships. However, as more FAL initiatives begin entering into the next
stage of maturity and growth, it is more important than ever that they are
able to adapt to adverse environmental changes and form
long-lasting partnerships with information sources within government. Most
importantly, FAL initiatives must remain dynamic and responsive to users’
needs. To do so, they must be able to tailor and expand their services, offerings
and user-base. To secure their sustainability and relevance in the long term, they must also be continuously strengthening their ties and maintain open communication flows with
users. If FAL initiatives are able to successfully make the
transition from being supply side initiatives to becoming demand driven services,
the FALM will be well-positioned for another decade of sustainable growth. </p>
<p>Download the collection below:</p>
<p><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/publications/Links%20in%20the%20Chain%20-%20Volume%20I%20issue%20I.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Links in The Chain - Volume I"><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/pdf.png" title="Know your Users, Match their Needs!" height="16" width="16" alt="" class="subMenuTitle" /></a><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/good-practices.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Good Practices Handbook">Good Practices
Handbook </a>(426 kb)<br /><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/publications/Links%20in%20the%20Chain%20-%20Volume%20I%20issue%20I.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Links in The Chain - Volume I"><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/pdf.png" title="Know your Users, Match their Needs!" height="16" width="16" alt="" class="subMenuTitle" /></a><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/environmental-scan.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Environmental Scan Report">Environmental Scan Report</a> (860 kb)<br /><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/publications/Links%20in%20the%20Chain%20-%20Volume%20I%20issue%20I.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Links in The Chain - Volume I"><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/pdf.png" title="Know your Users, Match their Needs!" height="16" width="16" alt="" class="subMenuTitle" /></a><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/local-researchers-methodology-guide.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Local Researcher's Methodology Guide">Local Researcher's Methodology Guide</a> (1225 kb)</p>
<p>The full collection of case studies and the Good Practices
Handbook was originally published on the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.informationjuridique.ca/cij/acces-libre-au-droit/resultats">Project Website</a>. The Centre for Internet and Society oversaw the following case studies: <a class="external-link" href="http://www.informationjuridique.ca/docs/a2k/resultats/indiafinaljul11.pdf">India</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.informationjuridique.ca/docs/a2k/resultats/hongkongfinaljul11.pdf">Hong Kong</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.informationjuridique.ca/docs/a2k/resultats/indonesiafinaljul11.pdf">Indonesia</a> and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.informationjuridique.ca/docs/a2k/resultats/Berne_Final_2011_July.pdf">Philippines</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/know-your-users'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/know-your-users</a>
</p>
No publisherrebeccaResearchFeaturedOpen AccessOpennessPublications2012-02-27T15:06:14ZBlog EntryThe Wikimedia India Program Trust
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/announcement-of-wikimedia-india-program-trust
<b>A new entity, the “Wikimedia India Program Trust”, has now been formed and registered (in Delhi.) This will be the organization that will eventually drive India programs and house the team in India.</b>
<p>For some time, efforts have gone into creating an organization that would provide an appropriate structure to support Wikimedia program activities in India. Aspects such as the current regulatory framework (regarding funding, taxation, etc.) as well as the legal protection for the India team have been considered to determine this structure. In this context, a host of options (e.g. subsidiary, branch, Section 25) were evaluated and a determination was made towards an independent non-profit public trust. Legal advice has been taken at every stage in this decision. </p>
<h3>Why an Independent Public Trust?</h3>
<p>The Trust will provide an effective vehicle within India to marshal resources to support programs and partner with local institutions. The objective of the Trust is to promote the objectives of the Wikimedia movement and work closely with the Wikimedia community on various projects with an India focus. It is important to understand that the Trust will not have any editorial control over content on any of the Wikimedia projects. The Trust is a not for profit organization.</p>
<h3>Introduction of Trustees</h3>
<p>Trustees have been identified based upon their support for Wikimedia movement's principles and plans in addition to having reputations for good governance and management. Sunil Abraham and Rahul Matthan have been requested to be the initial Trustees. Both are friends of Wikipedia and have extensive experience.</p>
<p>Sunil is Executive Director of the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), is a long term advocate of free software and IP reform and has been supporting the Wikimedia community and movement for some time now.</p>
<p>Rahul is a partner and heads the technology practice at Trilegal. He brings deep expertise and relationships that will be valuable for the Trust.</p>
<p>These initial Trustees will serve for a term of three years at the maximum. All additional or subsequent Trustees will serve on rotation in accordance with a trustee selection plan that will be prepared.</p>
<p>Trustees will not be compensated for their services. Governance, Funding, Financial Standards & Communications of the Trust. The Trust will be governed by Trustees who will provide oversight and guidance regarding the operations and governance of the Trust. Since the Trust is an independent organization, it will require funding for its operations which is in compliance with the legal and regulatory framework in India. It will seek funding from private donors within India as well as external sources.</p>
<p>The Trust has the support of the Wikimedia Foundation which is a United States based non-profit foundation. However, in India all non-profit organizations need to be in existence for 3 years before they can receive funding from sources outside India. In the interim, they can apply for prior-permission under the FCRA regulations to help expedite the process. As a result, the Trust will shortly be applying for approval to receive funds from the Wikimedia Foundation in the future.</p>
<p>As a Trust, we are required to have an independent external auditor. We have appointed KPMG. KPMG is experienced in auditing non-profit companies and are also auditors for the Wikimedia Foundation. Annually, the Trust will publicly disclose it's independently audited financial statements.</p>
<p>The Trust will publish a monthly newsletter outlining its current activities and future plans. This will commence in December 2011.</p>
<h3>Operations of the Trust</h3>
<p>The trust deed under which the Trust must operate clearly states that the purpose of the Trust is to independently promote the growth of volunteer activities within India in support of effective and unrestricted dissemination of free knowledge to the public. Hisham will serve as the Executive Director of the Trust. Once it is possible, additional employees will be brought on to the Trust. The Trust will eventually have an office in Delhi. In the interim, a temporary office space has been set up to facilitate establishing the Trust and its mission. It is located at Top Floor, G-15, Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016. It's a couple of minutes walk away from IIT Flyover and Hauz Khas Metro. Do drop in! It's a small but cozy place and we'd love to have you over!</p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>We continue to make progress in setting up program activities to support the growth of Wikimedia in India. We have a long way to go, but are glad that we are starting to build a solid foundation. The following link is for FAQs on this (and related) topics: <br /><a class="external-link" href="http://goo.gl/8Rdr2">http://goo.gl/8Rdr2</a></p>
<p>As always, do reach out if you have any comments or questions.</p>
<div> </div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/announcement-of-wikimedia-india-program-trust'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/announcement-of-wikimedia-india-program-trust</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-11-13T07:58:38ZNews ItemWestern Ghats Portal: Workshop on Biodiversity Informatics
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/bio-diversity-informatics-workshop
<b>The Western Ghats portal team is organising a one-day workshop to explore the contemporary state on biodiversity informatics on 25 November 2011 at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bangalore.</b>
<h2>Schedule</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">09:00 – 09:20</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Registration of participants</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">09:20 – 09:30</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Welcome / Introduction</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">09:30 – 11:15</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Plenary talks - Technology behind biodiversity informatics (3 talks)</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">11:15 – 11:30</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Tea break</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">11:30 – 12:30</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Plenary talks - Scientific commons and policy (2 talks)</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">12:30 – 13:00</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Discussion</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">13:00 – 14:00</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span"> Lunch break</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">14:00 – 16:00</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Biodiversity portals in India - Presentations by different teams/panel discussion</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">16:00 – 16:15</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Tea break</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">16:15 – 17:00</span></td>
<td><span class="Apple-style-span">Discussions and networking</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>Spheres of the Workshop:</h2>
<h3>Plenary I: Technology behind biodiversity informatics - 0930 - 1115 hrs</h3>
<div>
<div><strong>Development of Information System, Open Data standards, Archive and Geospatial solutions, Visualization in Bhuvan - Arul Raj</strong>, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) - 20 mins + 10 mins discussion</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div><strong>Exploring the semantic web for species pages - M. Sravanthi</strong>, Western Ghats Portal - 20 mins + 10 mins discussion</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div><strong>Challenges on the emerging discipline of Biodiversity Informatics - Donald Hobern</strong>, Atlas of Living Australia - 30mins + 10 mins discussion</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Focus</strong>:</div>
<div>
<div>The objective of this session is to understand the global developments in biodiversity informatics in relation with developments in India. The session will focus on:</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul><li> the evolution of the discipline of biodiversity informatics and its current status</li><li>the development of standards in Indian context</li><li>the technologies for biodiversity informatics</li><li>the challenges in biodiversity informatics<br /><br /></li></ul>
<h3><strong>Plenary II: Scientific commons and policy - 1130 - 1300 hrs</strong></h3>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div><strong>Commons in the context of Biodiversity Information - Danish Sheikh</strong>, Alternative Law Forum - 20 mins + 10 mins</div>
</div>
<div>
<div><strong>Open data in the scientific realm - Sunil Abraham</strong>, Centre for Internet and Society - 20 mins + 10 mins</div>
</div>
<div>Discussion on Scientific commons and Policy - 30 mins</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Focus</strong>:<br />
<div>The objective of the session is to understand the commons principle and its implications for scientific research. The session will focus on:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul><li>the experience of developing a creative commons policy in Indian scenario and the resulting impacts for scientific collaboration, open data and open access</li><li>policy and social implications of open data sharing</li></ul>
<div> </div>
</div>
<h3>Plenary III - Biodiversity portals in India - 1400 - 1700 hrs</h3>
<div><strong>Moderation</strong>: R. Prabhakar/ MD Madhusudhan<br /><strong>Panelists</strong>: (Introductory note by each of the panelists - 10 minutes each)</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Suhel Quader</strong>, Season Watch (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.seasonwatch.in">www.seasonwatch.in</a>), Migrant Watch (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.migrantwatch.in">www.migrantwatch.in</a>)</div>
<div><strong>Sanjay Molur</strong>, Pterocount (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.pterocount.org/">www.pterocount.org/</a>)</div>
<div><strong>K.N.Ganeshaiah</strong> - Indian Bioresource Information Network (www.ibin.co.in)</div>
<div><strong>Ramesh BR</strong> - Western Ghats Portal (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.thewesternghats.in/">www.thewesternghats.in/</a>)</div>
<div><strong>Shwetank Verma</strong>, Biodiversity of India, formerly Project Brahma (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.biodiversityofindia.org">http://www.biodiversityofindia.org</a>)</div>
<div><strong>Krishnamegh Kunte</strong>, ifoundbutterflies <a class="external-link" href="http://ifoundbutterflies.org/">(http://ifoundbutterflies.org/</a>)<br /><strong>Vijay Barve</strong>, DiversityIndia (<a class="external-link" href="http://diversityindia.org/">http://diversityindia.org/</a>)<br /><strong>Deepak Menon</strong>, India Water Portal (<a class="external-link" href="http://www.indiawaterportal.org/">http://www.indiawaterportal.org/</a>)<br /><strong>Chitra Ravi</strong>, India Biodiversity Portal (<a class="external-link" href="http://indiabiodiversity.org/">http://indiabiodiversity.org/</a>)<br /><strong>Mr D.K Ved</strong>, Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (<a class="external-link" href="http://envis.frlht.org">http://envis.frlht.org</a>)</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Focus</strong>:<br />
<div>The objective of the session is to learn from each other’s experience and develop a combined vision for the future of biodiversity informatics in India. The panelists will present a focused summary of the</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul><li>key features available on their portals</li><li>the experience of building the portal</li><li>the key lessons learnt</li><li>future plans</li></ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>We believe these four aspects will be of common interest to all participants and the presentations are expected to stimulate discussion around these four aspects.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Summary of the Day</strong>: R Prabhakar - Call for synergy/collaboration/Thank you!!</div>
<div> </div>
<h2>Concept Note</h2>
<div>
<div>Rapid advancements in the domains of computer Science and information technologies have allowed integration of biodiversity information and analytical capabilities to collaborate on social networks, leading to the emergence of a new discipline, Biodiversity Informatics. The dynamics in this discipline are defined by integrating multiplicity with the semantic web and enabling of democratic social networks focused on biodiversity. We are bound to see tremendous diversification in the scope of biodiversity informatics globally and in India.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>Harnessing technology for aggregating, storing, querying and analyzing biodiversity data has seen major developments over the last decade. There has been a plethora of biodiversity information resources that include mailing lists and discussions groups, occurrence records, geographical databases, biodiversity image libraries, institutional databases, species description pages, specimen records of herbaria and museum databases, and biodiversity focused Internet sites. The challenges on the biodiversity informatics landscape are on two fronts: (1) A semantic web framework to link these biodiversity information islands; and (2) Effective and flexible data exchange standards for seamless information sharing among these sites.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>The evolution of social networks and communities around biodiversity information systems has been a unique factor in influencing the ways in which these information systems have developed. The assimilation and aggregation of user-generated biodiversity data and dissemination under the 'commons' principle has gained momentum globally. It has changed the way scientific collaborations are being made, and created possibilities for effective citizen-science initiatives. It is now possible to ask fresh questions, with more data, newer methods, better tools and for citizens to participate and report data from different geographies. With this, local-level data can be integrated with large-scale data leading to a better understanding of biodiversity.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>With the increased penetration of the Internet into developing economies, and the widespread adoption of web technologies, biodiversity informatics has spawned an impressive variety of initiatives. These initiatives range from global knowledge bases and networks, national initiatives, eco-region based initiatives, as well as sharply focused initiatives which address a single species or event. There have been tangible advantages for stakeholders from these initiatives which has inspired many other endeavours. Success stories exist at both global and local level, and learning from these experiences can help one understand the multi-faceted nature of this discipline.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>The Western Ghats Portal team is organising a one-day workshop to explore the contemporary state of biodiversity informatics as expressed in three spheres: i) technology behind biodiversity informatics, ii) scientific commons and policy and iii) biodiversity portals in India. With these objectives in mind, we welcome your active participation during the workshop. It could provide an opportunity for us to interact and learn from similar endeavors in this discipline.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Download the agenda <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/wgp-agenda.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Western Ghats Portal Workshop in Bangalore">here</a> [PDF, 124 kb]</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/bio-diversity-informatics-workshop'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/bio-diversity-informatics-workshop</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataOpenness2011-11-08T05:01:14ZNews ItemOpen Access Week begins in Bangalore
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/lecture-at-nal
<b>On Monday 24 October, the National Aerospace Laboratories in Bangalore held an event to mark the beginning of Open Access Week 2011</b>
<p>During the event, <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhan_Balaram">Professor Balaram</a> spoke on<strong> 'Issues of Access in Science Publishing'</strong>, and <a class="external-link" href="http://nal-ir.nal.res.in/view/creators/Venkatakrishnan=3AL=3A=3A.html">Dr. L Venkatakrishnan</a> gave a talk '<strong>Open Access: Promised Utopia or Eventual Reality?'</strong></p>
<div>Before the speakers, Shyam Chetty framed the discussion by suggesting that India currently lags behind other nations in the adoption of Open Access. He said that the Indian <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Scientific_and_Industrial_Research">Council of Scientific and Industrial Research </a>should lead an initiative to promote India's <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/OAworkshop2006/pdfs/NationalOAPolicyDCs.pdf">National Open Access Policy</a> and perhaps bring it into law. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Prof. Balaram spoke next, and brought some refreshing realism and complexity to the Open Access discussion. He noted that both as a reader and as an author he supports Open Access, but there are costs involved in making research available, and these will have to be covered in some way. He shared first-hand experience of expensive subscriptions for Indian institutions, and how even the IISc has cancelled many journal purchases.
In a <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/about/openness/professor-balaram-talks-open-access" class="external-link">later interview, Professor Balaram</a> discusses some solutions to these problems.
<div> </div>
<div>Prof. Balaram highlighted that Closed Access journals do add value to scholarship ― in terms of peer review, editing, and aggregation (the collection of related articles in useful ways). While Open Access journals may offer these services too, Prof. Balaram suggested that some of the strongest supporters of Closed Access journals are working academics who value the increased reputation and status they can offer. This lead him to expressing an opposition to institutional Open Access mandates. Instead, he encouraged an approach where academics are motivated to open their work for self-interest, rather than by obligation. </div>
<div>
<div> </div>
<div>Prof. Balaram also said that India must take an independent approach to Open Access and not expect western nations to lead the way. Increasingly India and China are seen as real competitors in the international field, and in the future may not receive concessions in journal subscriptions or other help currently offered to developing nations.
<div>
<div> </div>
<div>Dr Venkatakrishnan was more skeptical towards Open Access. He emphasized that the price to make an article freely available in a Closed Access journal could be over USD $3000. From this he suggested that the <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access_journal">Gold Route</a> to Open Access lacked potential because the costs involved are prohibitive. This does leave out <a class="external-link" href="http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_journal_business_models">alternative ways of financing</a> Open Access journals that do not involve the author paying for submission. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Dr. Venkatakrishnan<span class="Apple-style-span"> echoed Prof. Balaram in saying that a strong motivation to publish in top-tier Closed Access journals is the increased reputation or funding it can bring. </span>While it is true that academics can usually still upload their work to Open Access databases, <span class="Apple-style-span">Dr. </span>Venkatakrishnan<span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">concluded that he did not know if Open Access was an 'open door' or a 'blind corner'. </span></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span">This could be taken as a strange end to an Open Access celebration, but the implication seemed to be this: in order for more Indian academics to support Open Access, they must be convinced of the real benefits it can bring to their own reputation and career success.</span></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul><li>For the event flier<a class="external-link" href="http://www.icast.org.in/events/oad2011.html"> click here</a></li><li>For details of Open Access Week, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/">click here</a></li></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/lecture-at-nal'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/lecture-at-nal</a>
</p>
No publisherTom DaneOpennessOpen Access2012-08-03T23:04:06ZBlog EntryCan Innovation Solve the Grand Challenges of Indian Society?
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/innovation-and-public-interest
<b>It’s nearly time again for Design Public the event, a high-level conclave on design, innovation, and the public interest. Our up-coming event will be in Bangalore on the 14th of October, and will be held at the National Gallery of Modern Art, which is housed in a century-old Manikyavelu mansion, which was once the property of the Mysore royal family.</b>
<ul><li>Aditya Dev Sood (Center for Knowledge Societies )</li><li>Sunil Abraham (Center for Internet and Society)</li><li>Harsh Shrivastava (National Planning Commission) </li><li>Zackery Denfield (Pacific Northwest College of Art)</li><li>Aditya Mishra (Headstart Foundation)</li><li>Sudhir Krishnaswamy (CLPR)</li><li>Naresh Narasimhan (VA Group)</li><li>Amit Garg (MXV Consulting)</li><li>Samar Halankar (MINT)</li><li>Rajeev Chandrashekhar (Member of Parliament)</li><li>Mahesh Murthy (Pinstorm)</li><li>Rohini Nilekani (Arghyam Foundation)</li><li>Ramesh Ramanathan (Janaagraha)</li><li>Reto Wettach (Interaction Design Studios Berlin)</li><li>Shiv Vishwanathan (Sociologist of Science)</li><li>Rishekesha T. Krishnan (IIM, Bangalore)</li><li>M. P. Ranjan (Design for India)</li><li>H. P. Khincha (Karnataka State Innovation Council)</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div>Participation by arrangement only. Interested? designpublic@cks.in +91.9343787505</div>
<div>For more information, <a class="external-link" href="http://designpublic.in/blog/">click here</a></div>
<div>Download the brochure <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/innovation-and-public-interest.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Innovation and Public Interest">here</a> [PDF, 388 kb]</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/innovation-and-public-interest'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/innovation-and-public-interest</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-10-07T12:45:10ZNews ItemDesign!publiC - II
http://editors.cis-india.org/events/design-public-in-bangalore
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society in partnership with the Center for Knowledge Societies, Venkataramanan Associates, Center for Law and Policy Research, Headstart Foundation, Chaia Innovation Accelerator, MXV Consulting, Mint Newspaper and Confederation of Indian Industry is organising the second edition of Design Public on October 14, 2011 at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore. There will be a series of pre-conference research outings on October 13, for which participants may register in advance.</b>
<h3>Innovation and the Public Interest</h3>
<p>Design Public is a series of conversations about whether and how Innovation can serve the Public Interest. </p>
<p>At our inaugural event, in New Delhi on March 18th earlier this year, we focused on the question of whether innovation in governance is needed and how it can be achieved. An excellent overview of the event can be found in a Mint Newspaper <a class="external-link" href="http://www.livemint.com/2011/03/24204727/Using-design-principles-for-go.html">article</a> by Aparna Piramal Raje. While we discovered wide agreement in principle as to the need for innovation in India, there was much uncertainty about how government systems relate to innovation, and some doubt as to whether governments are in fact capable of innovation. At our upcoming event, we aim to widen the ambit of the discussion, to ask how innovation serves the public interest, thereby opening up the question of innovation to the social sector, to corporations, to venture capitalists, designers, students, academics and more.</p>
<p>Following Schumpeter, we understand
innovation to be a fundamental part of modern economic and social life -- in
fact the very source of the momentum that drives us forward into the future.
However, we have also found that innovation need not be limited to entrepreneurs in
the private sector, but can also be accomplished, in various ways, in
government, in the public sector, and by social and developmental agencies.
Moreover, if the specific components of innovation can be identified and
learned, it would be possible for many more organizations and individuals to successfully drive beneficial social and technical change.</p>
<p>If the term Innovation describes the business or economic dimension of the forward movement of society under capitalism, then the immanent, cognitive or mental aspect of this forward movement can be captured by the term Design. It is the multivariate, parallel, sometimes collaborative process of finding solutions to problems that have no obvious and available answer. Whereas the language of design gained prominence in the Industrial Age as a means for the rendering of surfaces and finishes for the more effective marketing of consumer products (posters and toasters), the concept has far wider application in the present. Design and Innovation are by definition the strategies through which the most intractable, complex, and multivariate challenges encountered by individuals or groups.</p>
<p>At our event, therefore, we seek to articulate exactly how these strategies can be brought to bear on the Grand Challenges facing our society, in areas such as:</p>
<ul><li>Complete and Effective Healthcare for Mothers and Children</li><li>Increased Use and Acceptance for Toilets</li><li>Broad-based Higher Education</li><li>Participatory and Responsive Civic Administration</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div>Over the course of the day-long event, we will consider different approaches and paradigms of innovation and how they may be applicable to these grand challenges. We will break out into sessions in order to apply these perspectives and approaches to specific challenge areas. At the end of the day we will seek to expand the circle of innovation in order establish new ways of collaborating and sharing knowledge such that we are able to accelerate and intensify the application of innovation to addressing these and other grand challenges facing the public.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/panchayatmeeting.jpg/image_preview" alt="Panchayat Meeting" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Panchayat Meeting" /></div>
<div>Panchayat meeting on Village Sanitation in Khera village, Budaun District, UP</div>
<div> </div>
<h2><span class="Apple-style-span">Agenda</span></h2>
<div> </div>
<div>
<ul><li>09.00 <strong>Word of Welcome and Mutual Introductions</strong></li><li>10.00 <strong>Innovation and the Indian Corporation</strong></li></ul>
<div> - Samar Halankar, <em>Hindustan Times</em> (moderator)</div>
<div> - Anil Narayan Sondur, <em>TATA Elxsi</em></div>
<div> - Harish Bijoor, <em>HB Consults</em></div>
<div> - Ekta Ohri, Center for Knowledge Societies (respondent)</div>
<ul><li>11.00 <strong>Is Innovation in the Public and Social Sectors Possible?</strong></li></ul>
<div> - Sunil Abraham, <em>Center for Internet and Society</em> (moderator)</div>
<div> - Rohini Nilekani, <em>Arghyam Foundation</em></div>
<div> - Ramesh Ramanathan, <em>Janaagraha</em></div>
<div> - Ashwin Mahesh, <em>Mapunity</em></div>
<div> - Sneha Raman, <em>Center for Knowledge Societies</em> (respondent)</div>
<ul><li><strong>12.00 The Challenge of Start Up Innovation</strong></li></ul>
<div> - Amit Garg, <em>MXV Consulting</em> (moderator)</div>
<div> - Mahesh Murthy, <em>Pinstorm</em></div>
<div> - Zackery Denfeld, <em>Pacific Northwest College of Art</em></div>
<div> - Naresh Narasimhan, <em>VA Group</em></div>
<div> - Aditya Dev Sood, <em>Center for Knowledge Societies </em>(respondent)</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul><li>13.00 <strong>Lunch: Regional Cuisines of Karnataka prepared with Local Ingredients</strong></li><li>14.00 <strong>The Theory and Practice of Innovation<br /></strong>- Aditya Dev Sood, <em>Center for Knowledge Societies</em> (moderator)<br />- Reto Wettach, <em>Interaction Design Studios</em> Berlin<br />- Shiv Vishwanathan, <em>Sociologist of Science</em><br />- M. P. Ranjan, <em>Design for India</em></li><li>15.00 <strong>Grand Challenge Breakout Sessions<br /><span class="Apple-style-span">A: Online Higher Education<br /></span></strong>Moderator: Sunil Abraham, <em>Center for Internet and Society</em><br />Innovation Expert: Sneha Raman, <em>Center for Knowledge Societies</em><br />Domain Expert: Udhay Shankar, <em>Intel</em><br /><strong>B: Quality Maternal and Child Healthcare</strong><br />Moderator: Jayna Kothari, <em>Center for Law and Policy Research</em><br />Innovation Expert: Shehla Hussain, <em>Center for Knowledge<br />Societies</em><br />Domain Expert: Lakshmi Menon, <em>G.E. Healthcare</em><br /><strong>C: Toilet-training for All!</strong><br />Moderator: Sudhir Krishnaswamy, <em>Center for Law and Policy Research</em><br />Innovation Expert: Namrata Mehta, <em>Center for Knowledge Societies</em><br />Domain Expert: Sunita Nadhamuni, <em>Arghyam</em><br /></li><li><strong>Tea Served During Breakout Sessions</strong></li><li>16.30 <strong>Reports Back from Breakouts</strong></li><li>17.30 <strong>Conclusion: Planning and Policy for Innovation and the Grand Challenges of Society<br /></strong>- Sudhir Krishnaswamy, <em>Center for Law and Policy Research</em> (moderator)<br />- Harsh Shrivastava, <em>National Planning Commission </em><br />- Anant Shah, <em>Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation</em><br />- Jamuna Ramakrishna, <em>Hivos Foundation</em><br />- Dilini Wijeweera, <em>LIRNEasia</em><br />- Gaurav Gupta, <em>Dalberg</em><br />- Riku Mäkelä, <em>Finnode</em></li></ul>
</div>
<div> </div>
<h3>
<p>Individual Participation</p>
</h3>
<div>
<div>In order to make each voice count, entry to the conclave will be by arrangement only. Others who are truly interested, should please drop us a few lines on how they would like to contribute and we will be glad to get back in touch. There are no registration fees. However, we would like to see participants take their own initiative in covering their own travel costs and making their own arrangements for stay so far as possible. If specific needs are perceived, please communicate them to the organizers. If you are interested in participating in this conversation on innovation, design thinking, and the public interest please contact Anand Vijayan at <a class="external-link" href="mailto:anand@cks.in">anand@cks.in</a>.</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<h3>Institutional Participation</h3>
<div>
<div>Confederations of industry, associations of management, departments of government and diverse development sector and civil society organizations are invited to express their interest in supporting this event.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<h3>Organizers</h3>
<div>
<div>
<ol><li>Center for Knowledge Societies (CKS)</li><li>Center for Internet and Society (CIS)</li><li>Venkatramanan Associates (VA) </li><li>Center for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) </li><li>Headstart Foundation (HF) </li><li>Chaia Innovation Accelerator (ChIA) </li><li>MXV Consulting (MXV) </li><li>Mint Newspaper (MN)</li><li>Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)</li></ol>
<div> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul><li>For participation: contact Anand Vijayan, Innovation Planning, CKS</li><li>For media: contact Ayesha Vemuri, Innovation Research, CKS (<a class="external-link" href="mailto:ayesha@cks.in">ayesha@cks.in</a>)</li></ul>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>For more info, <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/design-public-bangalore.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Design!publiC - II - Event in Bangalore">click here</a> [PDF, 496 kb]</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/events/design-public-in-bangalore'>http://editors.cis-india.org/events/design-public-in-bangalore</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaConferenceOpennessEvent Type2011-10-13T07:00:43ZEventThe Impact of Regulation: FOSS and Enterprise
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/foss-instrument-for-accessible-development
<b></b>
<p>The workshop seeks to elaborate the impact of regulation, between Free and Open Source Software and Enterprise. It will look at the following key areas:</p>
<ul><li>Education, </li><li>Software development,</li><li>Digital Content, </li><li>Empowering persons with disability, </li><li>FOSS for disaster preparedness etc.</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div>If time allows, we will explore, if cloud computing is an open Source adjacent?</div>
<div><br />This lively discussion, is meant to bring into perspective the real picture in the market and broaden the minds of participants to realize the options available and come up with recommendations on what needs to be considered to have a fair playing ground, more especially for the developing countries. </div>
<div><br /><strong>Which of the five broad IGF Themes or the Cross-Cutting Priorities does your workshop fall under?</strong></div>
<div>Access and Diversity</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div><strong>Have you organized an IGF workshop before?</strong> Yes</div>
<div><strong>If so, please provide the link to the report</strong>:</div>
</div>
<div><a class="external-link" href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/component/chronocontact/?%20chronoformname=Workshopsreports2009View&curr=1&wr=43">http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/component/chronocontact/?%20chronoformname=Workshopsreports2009View&curr=1&wr=43</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Provide the names and affiliations of the panellists you are planning to invite:</div>
<div>
<div>
<ol><li>Mr.Samer Azmy- ICT Manager / Solution Integration Consultant, Huawei(Moderator)</li><li>Mr. Satish Babu -ICFOSS,India </li><li>Mr. Yves Miezan Ezo- Smile Training, Manager, (France)</li><li>Mr. Sunil Abraham,Executive Director, Center for Internet and Society, Bangalore, India</li><li>Mr. Evans Ikua- FOSS Certification Manager in the ict@innovation program</li><li>Dorothy Gordon- Director General, AITI-KACE</li><li>Ms. Judy Okite (Remote Moderator)</li></ol>
<div> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div>Provide the name of the organizer(s) of the workshop and their affiliation to various stakeholder groups:</div>
<div>
<ul><li>Mr. Samer Azmy- FOSSFA(Pan-African)</li><li>Mr. Satish Babu -ICFOSS,(India)</li><li>Mr. Yves Miezan Ezo - Smile Training Centre(France)</li></ul>
<div><br /><strong>Organization</strong>: FOSSFA, ICFOSS</div>
</div>
<div><br /><strong>Contact Person</strong>: Mr. Samer Azmy, Mr. Satish Babu</div>
<div><br />Workshop Number: 211</div>
<div>See the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposals2011View&wspid=211">event details</a> on the IGF website</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/foss-instrument-for-accessible-development'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/foss-instrument-for-accessible-development</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2011-09-22T10:53:49ZNews ItemAugust 2011 Bulletin
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/august-2011-bulletin
<b>Greetings from the Centre for Internet and Society! In this issue we are pleased to present you the latest updates about our research, upcoming events, and news and media coverage:</b>
<h2><b>Researchers@Work</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">RAW is a multidisciplinary research initiative. To build original research knowledge base, the RAW programme has been collaborating with different organisations and individuals to focus on its three year thematic of Histories of the Internets in India. Five monographs: <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/rewiring-bodies/rewiring-call-for-review" target="_blank">Re: Wiring Bodies</a> by Asha Achuthan, <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/archives-and-access/archive-and-access" target="_blank">Archive and Access</a> by Aparna Balachandran and Rochelle Pinto, <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/pleasure-and-pornography/pornography-and-law" target="_blank">Porn: Law, Video, Technology</a> by Namita Malhotra, <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/rethinking-the-last-mile-problem/last-mile-problem" target="_blank">The Last Cultural Mile</a> by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/internet-society-and-space-in-indian-cities/city-and-space" target="_blank">Internet, Society and Space in Indian Cities</a> by Pratyush Shankar were officially launched at the Locating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop in Ahmedabad.</p>
<h3>Workshop organised in CEPT, Ahmedabad</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/workshop" target="_blank">Locating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop: Call for Participation</a> [19 to 22 August 2011]</li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Digital Natives with a Cause?</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Digital Natives with a Cause? is a knowledge programme initiated by CIS and Hivos, Netherlands. It is a research inquiry that seeks to look at the changing landscape of social change and political participation and the role that young people play through digital and Internet technologies, in emerging information societies. Consolidating knowledge from Asia, Africa and Latin America, it builds a global network of knowledge partners who want to critically engage with the dominant discourse on youth, technology and social change, in order to look at the alternative practices and ideas in the Global South. It also aims at building new ecologies that amplify and augment the interventions and actions of the digitally young as they shape our futures.</p>
<h3>Featured Research</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/stirrup-and-the-ground" target="_blank">Between the Stirrup and the Ground: Relocating Digital Activism</a> (This paper by Nishant Shah and Fieke Jansen was published in Democracy & Society, a publication of the Center for Democracy and Civil Society, Volume 8, Issue 2, Summer 2011).</li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Accessibility</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Estimates of the percentage of the world's population that is disabled vary considerably. But what is certain is that if we count functional disability, then a large proportion of the world's population is disabled in one way or another. At CIS we work to ensure that the digital technologies, which empower disabled people and provide them with independence, are allowed to do so in practice and by the law. To this end, we support web accessibility guidelines, and change in copyright laws that currently disempower the persons with disabilities.</p>
<h3>Interview</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/interview-mada">An Interview with David Baines</a> (Maureen Agena interviewed David Baines of Mada Centre for Assistive Technology in Khattar).</li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Access to Knowledge</b></h2>
<h3>New Blog Entry</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blog/govt-legalising-parallel-import-of-copyright-work" class="external-link">Govt for Legalising Parallel Import of Copyright Works; Publishers Oppose</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Openness</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS believes that innovation and creativity should be fostered through openness and collaboration and is committed towards promotion of open standards, open access, and free/libre/open source software.</p>
<h3>Featured Research</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/ogd-draft-v2-call-for-comments" target="_blank">Call for Comments on Draft Report on Open Government Data in India (v2)</a> (Nisha Thompson has updated the Open Government Data Report prepared by CIS last year including additional case studies and the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/open-access-to-scholarly-literature" target="_blank">Open Access to Scholarly Literature in India: A Status Report: Call for Comments</a> (The report has been prepared by Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam and Madhan Muthu. It surveys the field of scholarly and scientific publication in India and provides a detailed history of the open access movement in India).</li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Internet Governance</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Although there may not be one centralized authority that rules the Internet, the Internet does not just run by its own volition: for it to operate in a stable and reliable manner, there needs to be in place infrastructure, a functional domain name system, ways to curtail cyber crime across borders, etc. The Tunis Agenda of the second World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), paragraph 34 defined Internet governance as “the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.” Its latest endeavour has resulted into these:</p>
<h3>New Blog Post</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/bye-bye-email" target="_blank">Bye Bye email?</a> (Email might be the default method of communication for most of us, but could it be going the telegram way, writes Nishant Shah. The article was published in the Indian Express on August 21, 2011).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Public Lecture</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/mirror-in-the-enigma" target="_blank">The Mirror in the Enigma: How Germany lost World War II to a Mathematical Theorem</a> (Rohit Gupta gave a lecture at CIS on August 12, 2011).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is doing a project, ‘Privacy in Asia’. <i>It is funded by Privacy International (PI), UK and the International Development Research Centre, Canada and is being administered in collaboration with the Society and Action Group, Gurgaon</i>. The two-year project commenced on 24 March 2010 and will be completed as agreed to by the stakeholders. It was set up with the objective of raising awareness, sparking civil action and promoting democratic dialogue around challenges and violations of privacy in India. In furtherance of these goals it aims to draft and promote over-arching privacy legislation in India by drawing upon legal and academic resources and consultations with the public.</p>
<h3>Featured Research</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/ip-addresses-and-identity-disclosures" target="_blank">IP Addresses and Expeditious Disclosure of Identity in India</a> (Prashant Iyengar reviews the statutory mechanism regulating the retention and disclosure of IP addresses by Internet companies in India and provides a compilation of anecdotes on how law enforcement authorities in India have used IP address information to trace individuals responsible for particular crimes).</li>
</ul>
<h3>New Blog Entries<b> </b></h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy_wholebodyimagingcomparison" target="_blank">Whole Body Imaging and Privacy Concerns that Follow</a> (by Elonnai Hickok)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/privacy_uidfinancialinclusion" target="_blank">Financial Inclusion and the UID</a> (by Elonnai Hickok) </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy/cctv-in-universities" target="_blank">CCTV in Universities</a> (by Merlin Oommen)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy/key-escrow" target="_blank">Re-thinking Key Escrow</a> (by Natasha Vaz) </li>
</ul>
<h3>Event Report</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/privacy-chennai-report.pdf/view?searchterm=Privacy%20Matters%20Chennai" target="_blank">Privacy Matters, Chennai</a> – the event was organised by IDRC, Society in Action Group, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Consumer and Civic Action Group, Privacy India and CIS on August 6, 2011. </li>
</ul>
<h2><b>News & Media Coverage</b></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/net-gain" target="_blank">Net Gain</a> [The Telegraph, 24 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/iisc-students-boycott-uid" target="_blank">IISc students boycott UID, don’t want Big Brother to keep watch</a> [Bangalore Mirror, 23 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/right-circle" target="_blank">In the Right Circle</a> [Indian Express, 24 July 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/siege-of-android/?searchterm=%EF%82%A7The%20Siege%20of%20Android" target="_blank">The Siege of Android: How Google Lost The OS War</a> [Business.in, 17 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/unsocial-network" target="_blank">The Unsocial Network</a> [Mail Today, 14 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hazare-clicks" target="_blank">Hazare 'clicks' with city techies</a> [India, 18 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/govt-to-monitor-facebook-twitter" target="_blank">Govt wants to monitor Facebook, Twitter</a> [Times of India, 8 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/nothing-unique-about-identity" target="_blank">Nothing unique about this identity</a> [Deccan Chronicle, 5 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/tired-of-tele-marketing-calls" target="_blank">Tired of tele-marketing calls? Act on privacy right: Experts</a> [Times of India, 7 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/knowledge-isnt-written" target="_blank">When Knowledge Isn’t Written, Does It Still Count?</a> [New York Times, 7 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/indian-super-cops-patrol-www-highway" target="_blank">Indian super-cops now patrol the www highway</a> [Hindustan Times, 6 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/better-understanding-of-privacy" target="_blank">Better Understanding of the Idea of Privacy Sought</a> [Hindu, 7 August 2011]</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/news/converting-indian-slacktivists" target="_blank">Converting Indian Slacktivists Takes (Offline) Time</a> [Wall Street Journal, 2 August 2011]</li>
</ul>
<h2>Follow us elsewhere</h2>
<ul>
<li>Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>
<li>Follow CIS on <a href="http://identi.ca/main/remote?nickname=cis" target="_blank">identi.ca</a></li>
<li>Join the CIS group on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28535315687" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
<li>Visit us at <a href="http://www.cis-india.org/" target="_blank">www.cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>CIS is grateful to Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.</i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/august-2011-bulletin'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/august-2011-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceCISRAWOpenness2012-08-13T05:13:23ZPage