The Centre for Internet and Society
http://editors.cis-india.org
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Digital Natives with a Cause? Report
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/publications/dn-report
<b>Youth are often seen as potential agents of change for reshaping their own societies. By 2010, the global youth population is expected reach almost 1.2 billion of which 85% reside in developing countries. Unleashing the potential of even a part of this group in developing countries promises a substantially impact on societies. Especially now when youths thriving on digital technologies flood universities, work forces, and governments and could facilitate radical restructuring of the world we live in. So, it’s time we start listening to them. </b>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/publications/dn-report'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/publications/dn-report</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaRAW PublicationsResearchers at WorkPublicationsDigital Natives2015-04-17T11:04:51ZFileCall for Essays: Studying Internet in India
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/call-for-essays-studying-internet-in-india
<b>As Internet makes itself comfortable amidst everyday lives in India, it becomes everywhere and everyware, it comes in 40 MBPS Unlimited and in chhota recharges – and even in zero flavour – the Researchers at Work (RAW) programme at the Centre for Internet and Society invites abstracts for essays that explore what it means to study Internet(s) in India today.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>We are interested in the many experiences of Internet(s) in India; its histories and archaeologies; how we use it to read, write, create, relate, learn, and share; the data that is produced, and the data that is consumed; the spaces that are created, and the spaces that are inhabited; the forms that political expressions take on the Web; and of course, where and how should one be studying Internet(s) in India?</p>
<p>This call is for researchers, workers, and others interested in closely – or from a distance – commenting on these topics and questions.</p>
<p>Please send abstracts (200 words) to <a href="mailto:raw@cis-india.org">raw@cis-india.org</a> by <strong>Sunday, April 26, 2015</strong>. The subject of the email should be 'Studying Internet in India.'</p>
<p>We will select up to 10 abstracts and announce them on <strong>Friday, May 01, 2015</strong>.</p>
<p>The selected authors will be asked to submit the final longform essay (2,500-3,000 words) by <strong>Sunday, May 31, 2015</strong>. The final essays will be published on the RAW Blog. The authors will be offered an honourarium of Rs. 5,000.</p>
<p>We understand that not all essays can be measured in words. The authors are very much welcome to work with text, images, sounds, videos, code, and other mediatic forms that the Internet offers. We will not be running a Word Count on the final 'essay.' The basic requirement is that the 'essay' must offer an <em>argument</em> – through text, or otherwise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/call-for-essays-studying-internet-in-india'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/call-for-essays-studying-internet-in-india</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroInternet StudiesRAW BlogFeaturedNoticesResearchers at Work2015-08-28T07:09:39ZBlog EntryAnnouncing Silicon Plateau #01
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01
<b>We are very pleased to announce that the RAW programme is supporting a new collaborative publishing project led by T.A.J. Residency / SKE Projects and or-bits.com. The first volume of the series titled 'Silicon Plateau' will feature contributions by a group of artists, researchers, and writers, including IOCOSE, Tara Kelton, Anil Menon, Sunita Prasad, Achal Prabhala and Sreshta Rit Premnath, along with contextual writing and documentation material. Here is an excerpt from the editorial note written by Marialaura Ghidini, the co-editor of the volume.</b>
<p> </p>
<img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01/image" alt="Sreshta Rit Premnath - New York Living in Bangalore" title="Announcing Silicon Plateau #01" />
<p> </p>
<p>The scope of the series is to explore the contemporary interaction between the arts and technology as informed by experiences of Bangalore (the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India). Such exploration will be guided by the
perspectives of contemporary artists, writers and thinkers, national and international, who have either spent a period of time in the city or crossed paths with its communities whose work and interests — from
the creative industry to law and historical research — lie at the intersection between the arts and technology. The approach we have adopted to explore how technology informs the arts and the socio-cultural environment, and how the latter affects usages and understandings of technological tools, is multidisciplinary and hybrid, and uses the city of Bangalore as the starting point for broader reflections and actions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Advocating for the importance of thinking about digital and web technologies in their specificity rather than their universality, the series will propose across-disciplines narratives about the encounters — fortuitous, anticipated or even inconvenient — that artists, writers, technologists, lawyers, economists and more have had with the city. The nickname of Bangalore, <em>Silicon Plateau</em>, which derives from its geographical location on the Deccan Plateau in the state of Karnataka, has been used as the title of the series because we think it metaphorically highlights the contradictions inherent to our exploration. Adopting the term <em>plateau</em>, which indicates the reaching of a state of little change, to refer to a city that has transformed at rapid speed over the last few decades results in a linguistic combination that reflects the complexities inherent to discussing arts and technology in relation to local histories and occurrences rather than global narratives and popular beliefs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This fist edition of <em>Silicon Plateau #01</em> will focus on the way in which the city is represented in the public realm, from public spaces to those manufactured by the real estate industry. It will look at
representations of Bangalore as a set of phenomena triggered by the ways in which the IT industry is reflected in the city, such as its market-driven narratives, and how passers-by and short term residents
encounter them in the everyday. The contributors have been invited to reflect on how these modes of presenting and representing often lead to the creation of metaphors and cultural signs that might tell us
more about discussing the interaction between the arts and technology.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Silicon Plateau #01 </em>will be about that which lies behind first ‘impressions’ and constructed representations as determined by uses and understanding of technology, the tools and its infrastructures,
existing, imagined, or projected.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Silicon Plateau #01</em> will be released, in print and online, in May 2015 and launched soon after.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Image Credit: <a href="http://sreshtaritpremnath.com/" target="_blank">Sreshta Rit Premnath</a>, Projections (1964/2014), photocopies on corrugated plastic and chroma key paints.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/announcing-silicon-plateau-01</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroSilicon PlateauPracticeResearchers at Work2015-10-05T15:00:59ZBlog EntryWhose Open Data Community is it? - Accepted Abstract
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/whose-open-data-community-is-it-abstract
<b>My paper titled 'Whose Open Data Community is it? Reflections on the Open Data Ecosystem in India' has been accepted for presentation at the Open Data Research Symposium to be held during the 3rd International Open Data Conference <http://opendatacon.org/> in Ottawa, Canada, on May 28-29 2015. The final paper will be shared by second week of May. Here is the accepted abstract.</b>
<p> </p>
<h3>Where are the NGOs?</h3>
<p>On February 04, 2013, several members of the DataMeet group <<a href="http://datameet.org/" target="_blank">http://datameet.org/</a>> were invited by the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy Project Management Unit (NDSAP-PMU) – the nodal agency responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the Open Government Data Platform of India <<a href="https://data.gov.in/" target="_blank">https://data.gov.in/</a>> – to share thoughts on the status of the implementation of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), the open data policy of India, and discuss potentials for collaboration. A key proposal made by the NDSAPPMU team regarding how DataMeet can contribute to the implementation process, involved DataMeet mobilising the developer community connected to the group to build applications that use the opened up data and demonstrate the value of open government data to drive greater contribution by government agencies and greater utilisation by citizen groups. For DataMeet, a network of open data users and advocates, this invitation to collaborate sets up a slightly different problematic than that in most of the cases of free and open source software development project. The task here is to develop projects that use already available data, which may not offer significantly return to investment at present, but will accellerate the process of opening up of more valuable government data.</p>
<p>However, building an application that effectively utilise government data to foreground a compelling argument or story requires more than a team of developers – it also require domain experts with a deep sense of the context from which the data is emanating. With a vibrant scene of nongovernmental organisations involved in monitoring, analysis, and implementation of developmental projects, many of such domain experts in India are located within such organisations, with some being in the academic institutes too. Reporting from an open data community meeting organised by the World Bank at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, on December 10, 2014, Isha Parihar asks: “Where are the NGOs?” She points out that “[t]he discussions around open data [in India] also highlight the absence of nonprofit organisations among the technologyfocused groups, entrepreneurs, and businesses <strong>[1]</strong>.” This observation is especially critical as the meeting was organsied by World Bank not only to gather public responses to be presented to Government of India, but also to take stock of the open data community in India. The absence of NGOs, although, does not indicate at the lack of interest of the nongovernmental research and advocacy organisations in India to work with government data. Such organisations, on the contrary, have a long history of accessing, using, sharing, and communicating government data obtained through both proactive and reactive disclosure mechanism. While surveying such practices in a recent report, Sumandro Chattapadhyay argues <strong>[2]</strong> that the lack of a common understanding of the open data community in India emerges from both the lack of an established forum where commercial and non-commercial reusers of data discuss and articulate their requirements and demands, and the
existence of an established range of actors accessing, using, and resharing government data for commercial and noncommercial purposes who are still uncertain regarding how open government data will exactly transform and augment their existing practices.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Whose Open Data Community is it?</h3>
<p>In the context of the emerging open data ecosystem in India, thus, the notion of the open data community comes forward as both the problem – in terms of the community not yet being there to effectively take forward the open data agenda – and the solution – as the component of the ecosystem that can successfully bridge gaps between interests and capacities of various stakeholders. Given the gap and the stakeholder concerned, the open data community is expected to perform various critical functions. This paper tracks these conceptualisations of open data community in India. Based upon conversations with fourteen organisations working across four cities in India, the question of 'whose open data community is it' is explored in this paper following three pathways – (1) by documenting how the understanding of the open data community, and the location of the organisation concerned in reference to that, changes across these organisations, (2) by describing how the idea of who all are included in the open data community in India changes across these organisations, and (3) by identifying how different organisations formulate the intended audiences of the open data community in India. In doing so, I argue that a range of critical challenges being experienced by the open data ecosystem in India often gets articulated as things that can be resolved by a more active and effective open data community. This distorts the distribution of responsbilities across various kinds of stakeholders for contributing to the open data ecosystem. In conclusion, I note the need to stop using open data community as a solution-for-all-open-data-evils, and for a pragmatic approach to understand the kinds of open data challenges it can address, and those that it cannot.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Endnotes</h3>
<p><strong>[1]</strong> Parihar, Isha. 2015. On the Road to Open Data: Glimpses of the Discourse in India. Akvo. January 14. Accessed on March 02, 2015, from <a href="http://akvo.org/blog/on-the-road-to-open-data-glimpses-of-the-discourse-in-india/" target="_blank">http://akvo.org/blog/on-the-road-to-open-data-glimpses-of-the-discourse-in-india/</a></p>
<p><strong>[2]</strong> Chattapadhyay, Sumandro. 2014. Opening Government Data through Mediation: Exploring Roles, Practices and Strategies of (Potential) Data Intermediary Organisations in India. Accessed on March 02, 2015, from <a href="http://ajantriks.github.io/oddc/report/sumandro_oddc_project_report.pdf" target="_blank">http://ajantriks.github.io/oddc/report/sumandro_oddc_project_report.pdf</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/whose-open-data-community-is-it-abstract'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/whose-open-data-community-is-it-abstract</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroData SystemsOpen DataResearchOpen Data CommunityResearchers at Work2015-11-13T05:41:15ZBlog EntryCivil Society Organisations and Internet Governance in Asia and India – Section Outlines
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/civil-society-organisations-and-internet-governance-in-asia-and-india-outlines
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society has been invited to contribute two sections to the Asia Internet History - Third Decade (2001-2010) book edited by Dr. Kilnam Chon. The sections will discuss the activities and experiences of civil society organisations in Asia and India, respectively, in national, regional, and global Internet governance processes. The draft outlines of the sections are shared here. Comments and suggestions are invited.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>In the (draft) Foreword to the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/internethistoryasia/book3" target="_blank">Asia Internet History – Third Decade (2001-2010)</a>, Prof. David J. Farber <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/annex3asia/home/foreword14629.docx?attredirects=0&d=1" target="_blank">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the early attempts to extend the reach of the Internet to Asia was via the “Johnny Appleseed” approach. That is a set of people responded to queries by people in Asian countries asking how they could connect with the growing Internet by offering to supply tapes to key people in the requesting countries, often by physically going with the tapes, as well as providing access points to the USA Internet. The people that we, I was one of the seeders, worked, with became the leaders in their nation and founded the initial national networks that blossomed with time and often formed the basis of commercial Internets. The traditions that these network frontier pioneers established lead to the eventual spread of the benefits of Internet access to not only their nations but became models for the spread to the rest of Asia…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am honoured to contribute to the pioneering series titled <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/internethistoryasia/home" target="_blank">Asia Internet History</a>, edited by Dr. Kilnam Chon, by foregrounding a range of other individuals and organisations that often worked outside but in engagement with the national governments, and technical and academic institutions that govern <em>the connecting tapes</em> of the Internet, to ensure mass access to and effective usages of Internet in Asia.</p>
<p>The two sections, to be authored me, provides an overview of ‘civil society organisations’ working across Asian countries that have played a critical role in the shaping of policy-making and discourse around Internet governance during 2000-2010, and then undertakes a closer look at the organisations working in India and their interventions at national, regional, and global levels.</p>
<p>Please read the draft outlines of the <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/writings/blob/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_overview_outline.md" target="_blank">overview section</a> and the <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/writings/blob/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_india_outline.md" target="_blank">section on Indian organisations</a>, and share your comments. The comments can be posted on the GitHub page where the outlines are hosted, on this page, or over email: sumandro[at]cis-india[dot]org.</p>
<p>The outlines can also be directly downloaded as markdown files: the <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ajantriks/writings/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_overview_outline.md" target="_blank">overview</a> and the <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ajantriks/writings/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_india_outline.md" target="_blank">India</a> section.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Asian Civil Society Organisations and Internet Governance</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>Here is a tentative list of key civil society organisations from Asia that have participated and intervened in Internet governance processes during 2001-2010. Please suggest organisations missing from the list.</p>
<p> </p>
<strong>Bangladesh</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://bfes.net/" target="_blank">Bangladesh Friendship Education Society (BFES)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bnnrc.net/" target="_blank">Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)</a></li><li>
<a href="http://www.bytesforall.net/" target="_blank">Bytes for All, Bangladesh</a></li><li>
<a href="http://www.isoc.org.bd/dhaka/" target="_blank">Dnet</a></li><li>
<a href="http://www.isoc.org.bd/dhaka/" target="_blank">Internet Society Dhaka Chapter</a></li><li><a href="http://www.voicebd.org/" target="_blank">VOICE</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Cambodia<br /><br /></strong>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ccimcambodia.org/" target="_blank">Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.open.org.kh/en" target="_blank">Open Institute</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>China</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://english.cast.org.cn/" target="_blank">China Association for Science and Technology (CAST)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.hk/" target="_blank">Internet Society Hong Kong</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isc.org.cn/english/" target="_blank">Internet Society of China</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.org.tw/" target="_blank">Internet Society Taiwan Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.org.tw/" target="_blank"></a><br /></li>
<li><a href="http://knowledgedialogues.com/" target="_blank">Knowledge Dialogues, Hong Kong</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Indonesia</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.engagemedia.org/" target="_blank">EngageMedia, Australia and Indonesia</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ilab.or.id/" target="_blank">ICT Laboratory for Social Change (iLab)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://id-config.org/" target="_blank">Indonesian CSOs Network for Internet Governance</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ictwatch.id/" target="_blank">Indonesian ICT Partnership Association (ICT Watch)</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.or.id/" target="_blank">Internet Society Indonesia Chapter</a> [website is under construction]</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>India</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://censorship.wikia.com/wiki/Bloggers_Collective_group" target="_blank">Bloggers Collective</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/" target="_blank">Centre for Internet and Society (CIS)</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.csdms.in/" target="_blank">Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://defindia.org/" target="_blank">Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fsf.org.in/" target="_blank">Free Software Foundation India (FSFI)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fsmi.in/" target="_blank">Free Software Movement of India (FSMI)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://internetdemocracy.in/" target="_blank">Internet Democracy Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isocbangalore.org/" target="_blank">Internet Society Bangalore Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://isocindiachennai.org/" target="_blank">Internet Society Chennai Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isocdelhi.in/" target="_blank">Internet Society Delhi Chapter</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isocindiakolkata.in/" target="_blank">Internet Society Kolkata Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.itforchange.net/" target="_blank">IT for Change</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.itu-apt.org/" target="_blank">ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI)</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.orfonline.org/" target="_blank">Observer Research Foundation (ORF)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.knowledgecommons.in/" target="_blank">Society for Knowledge Commons (Knowledge Commons)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sflc.in/" target="_blank">Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Iran</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ictgroup.org/" target="_blank">Iranian Civil Society Organizations Training and Research Centre (ICTRC)</a> [URL is not working]</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Japan</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.glocom.ac.jp/e/" target="_blank">Centre for Global Communications (GLOCOM)</a> [Academia?]</li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.jp/" target="_blank">Internet Society Japan Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.jcafe.net/" target="_blank">Japan Computer Access for Empowerment (JCAFE)</a> [URL is not working]</li>
<li><a href="http://www.jca.apc.org/" target="_blank">Japan Computer Access Network (JCA-NET)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Kuwait</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ijma3.org/" target="_blank">iJMA3 - Kuwait Information Technology Society (KITS)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Lebanon</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.lccelebanon.org/" target="_blank">Lebanese Center for Civic Education (LCCE)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Malaysia</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.isoc.my/" target="_blank">Internet Society Malaysia Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Myanmar</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://myanmarido.org/en" target="_blank">Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Nepal</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.internetsociety.org.np/" target="_blank">Internet Society Nepal Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Pakistan</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="https://content.bytesforall.pk/" target="_blank">Bytes for All, Pakistan</a></li>
<li><a href="http://isocibd.org.pk/" target="_blank">Internet Society Islamabad Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Philippines</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://democracy.net.ph/" target="_blank">Democracy.Net.PH</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.fma.ph/" target="_blank">Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA)</a> [URL not working</li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/isoc.ph" target="_blank">Internet Society Philippines Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Regional</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.forum-asia.org/" target="_blank">Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://discfoundation.com/" target="_blank">Developing Internet Safe Community (DISC) Foundation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lirneasia.net/" target="_blank">LIRNEasia</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Singapore</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://isoc.sg/" target="_blank">Internet Society Singapore Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>South Korea</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.jinbo.net/" target="_blank">Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet</a></li>
<li><a href="http://opennet.or.kr/" target="_blank">OpenNet</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Sri Lanka</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://isoc.lk/?lang=en" target="_blank">Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Thailand</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.isoc-th.org/" target="_blank">Internet Society Thailand Chapter</a> <br /></li><li><a href="https://thainetizen.org/" target="_blank">Thai Netizen Network</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/civil-society-organisations-and-internet-governance-in-asia-and-india-outlines'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/civil-society-organisations-and-internet-governance-in-asia-and-india-outlines</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroInternet StudiesResearchFeaturedInternet HistoriesResearchers at Work2015-11-13T05:40:49ZBlog EntryFigures of Learning: The Reader
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-reader
<b>As part of its Making Methods for Digital Humanities project, CIS-RAW organized two consultations on new figures of learning in the digital context. For a proposed journal issue on the theme of ‘bodies of knowledge’ which draws upon these conversations, participants were invited to write short sketches on these figures of learning. This abstract by P.P Sneha examines the figure of the reader, and the manner in which it is redefined in as text and practices of reading are reconstituted in the digital context.</b>
<p> </p>
<h2>The Reader</h2>
<h3>P.P. Sneha</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>The reader is a common figure of learning; we are all readers of one kind or another in an abstract sense. But practices of reading and writing have changed with the advent and proliferation of the internet and digital technologies. Be it your Kindle or updates on your Twitter feed or FB page, reading and writing have both been rendered as extremely technologised processes, more so than they already were, because of the mediation of the machine at different levels. At one level it is the encounter with the screen in our daily lives, the changing materiality of the text and how that determines the practices of meaning-making. At another, we can also connect this to larger questions of textuality itself, and the nature of the ‘digital text’. So is there a new kind of reader being constructed through these changing technologies of reading and writing? Within the varied and multi-layered space that is the ‘digital’, we can revisit the understanding of reading and writing as technologised processes through an exploration of the reader as a figure of learning. This brief sketch will examine the reader as a figure of learning, and her transition to the machine reader in the digital context.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Particularly in the age of big data and excess information, and with the introduction of methods such as speed reading, machine reading, distant reading, and not reading, we are in essence being taught or forced to read a certain way. An immediate concern for a lot of traditional humanists is the loss of criticality, as they see the sudden influx of new technologies as taking away from more accepted and conventional methods of reading, such as close reading for example. But what are the practices of reading engendered by the digital? The little variations in text, tagging, marginalia, errata or the glitch that now take precedence in the way one interprets or reads a text; do they add on, fundamentally change or produce a shift in the process of meaning-making is a question to contend with. Reading as a social or collective process is one prominent aspect of this change. The sociality of reading is more pronounced in the digital context; but at the same time it also strangely obscures this with the increasing portability and customisation of devices to suit different kinds of reading needs. The role of affect in the process of reading then becomes prominent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Questions about authorship and authority over meaning would be more than relevant in this instance too, as the individual reader slowly gets replaced by more collective methods of reading and knowledge production. Online knowledge repositories such as the Wikipedia and a several dynamic archives have fostered and actively encouraged processes of collaborative knowledge production. In a reiteration of the classic debate on the death of the author, one now finds the role of reader in the traditional sense becoming more diminished, as the text itself takes precedence in the determination of meaning, and calls for a different kind of competence from the reader. Most importantly, it also suggests a change in the understanding of text and textuality in the digital space, with the possibility of innumerable readings with the help of algorithms emerging as a new textual practice. The possibility of reading data as text also hints towards a new kind of ‘machine reader’, or reading practice completely mediated by or reliant on the machine and unverifiable by the human subject. The emergence of new fields of scholarship such as the Digital Humanities also suggest these changes, and it may be worthwhile to examine how the text and practices of reading are constituted or reconstituted in such a space.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-reader'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-reader</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppResearchResearchers at WorkDigital KnowledgeFigures of Learning2015-11-13T05:48:57ZBlog EntryDigital Activism in Asia Reader: Announcement
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/digital-activism-in-asia-reader-announcement
<b>The CIS-RAW programme organized an editorial workshop on March 6-7, 2015, as part of its project on a Digital Activism in Asia Reader. The project is a collaborative effort of the Centre for Internet and Society and the Centre for Digital Cultures, Leuphana University, Germany, which aims to bring together local knowledge, debates and conversations around Digital Activism in Asia.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>The proposed reader on Digital Activism in Asia will combine stories in multiple forms, including academic essays, case-studies to grey literature from public discourse that reveals and points to the debates around digital activism that have emerged in this particular context. Most of the audience will consist of academics, practitioners and policy actors internationally.</p>
<p>One of the main goals of this reader will be to challenge the prevalent notion in the discourse of Digital Activism of universality and uniformity across contexts and cultures. The focus is on new actors (like digital natives), processes, movements, and networks that such digital activism has engendered.</p>
<p>The editorial workshop was conducted towards completion of the Reader, to better contextualize the material through peer annotations and supporting information. Over the course of two days, a total of six participants worked on two articles each, which had been circulated beforehand, to annotate those using different kinds of material and close reading the texts.</p>
<p>The workshop was structured in the form of presentations and discussion sessions in the morning, followed by a writing sprint in the afternoon. Apart from a larger discussion around digital activism itself, its modes, approaches and forms, the materials were also categorized along four axes – activists using digital tools, activism around the digital, digital shaping activism and activism shaping the digital – which helped structure the discussions and the process of writing. The suggested annotations took different forms – from introductory paragraphs to references for further reading. Participants were also expected to bring in and build on their own practices, experiences and contexts in discussing the articles.</p>
<p>The Digital Activism in Asia Reader is expected to be published by the <a href="http://cdc.leuphana.com/structure/hybrid-publishing-lab/" target="_blank">Hybrid Publishing Lab</a> in mid-2015.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/digital-activism-in-asia-reader-announcement'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/digital-activism-in-asia-reader-announcement</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppDigital ActivismDigital Activism in Asia ReaderResearchNet CulturesResearchers at Work2015-10-24T14:22:39ZBlog EntryFigures of Learning: The Pornographer
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-pornographer
<b>As part of its Making Methods for Digital Humanities project, CIS-RAW organized two consultations on new figures of learning in the digital context. For a proposed journal issue on the theme of 'bodies of knowledge' which draws upon these conversations, participants were invited to write short sketches on these figures of learning. This abstract by Namita Malhotra examines the figure of the pornographer, as a mixed media figure entrenched in various networks of knowledge production, circulation and consumption. </b>
<p> </p>
<p>Making Methods for Digital Humanities (2M4DH) project seeks to make specific interventions around methods in the larger debates and practices of Digital Humanities, which includes producing content within the field, building a living repository of knowledge content by developing methods as well as interfaces, platforms and knowledge infrastructure, and bringing together a range of practitioners, performers and researchers from different disciplines who are not necessarily only working on the digital. As part of this project two consultations were held in Bangalore, around figures of learning in the digital context. The following is a series of abstracts for a proposed journal issue, that perform multi-media writing, bringing in artistic practice, video, sound and theoretical concepts to describe a particular practice of learning and knowledge in India and focus on a specific body, figure or person that is at the centre of that knowledge practice.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>The Pornographer</h2>
<h3>Namita A. Malhotra</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>The figure of the pornographer is deeply embedded in a network, and this allows for a rhizomatic appearance of other figures. Like the figure within the pornographic video, image or text, which is usually a woman since there is most global circulation of heterosexual pornography (as deduced from statistics from Youporn). This feminized figure in the pornographic video is vulnerable to our intrusive gaze, receptive to our desires, subject of urban legends; s/he is a fictionalized character in a Bollywood film (Devdas, Love Sex Dhoka, Ragini MMS) or a celebrity with a cloud account like Jennifer Lawrence. In the Indian and broadly Asian context where there is wide circulation of amateur porn, s/he could be anybody, an ordinary person whose semi-nudity or nudity is what makes the video extraordinary and watchable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pornographer also inevitably leads us to figure of the police and the judge, those who often invisibilize the pornographer. Pornography is a phenomenon that engulfs and occasionally excuses the particular crime of the pornographer, even as it exposes how treacherously pornographic we all are. The pornographer on the network is a slippery figure, their transactions are unfixable and their actions are often transferred to the next node on the network (Nishant Shah, Subject to Technologies <a name="_ednref1" href="#_edn1">[i]</a>). Other figures also appear around whom the regulation of the internet is configured - such as the child whose innocence must be protected and whose curiosity is the market, or the adulterer whose affairs and online sex addiction threaten the institution of marriage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ontology in the digitalscape is also about the object that is being looked at, whether video or image or text. Can we know what this object looks back at even as it is lusted for by the pornographer, hunted down by the police and examined by the judge? Can we understand the experience of the object since it moves, feels, responds much like we do (Barker, The Tactile Eye <a name="_ednref2" href="#_edn2">[ii]</a>) Other intriguing non-human figures also populate the pornographic scape, like the humanized yet robotic Gif caught in a repetitive loop that regardless of the imagery produces a delight and frisson, like a surprisingly responsive toy. Which perhaps would remind us of similar figures like the Bot that behaves and acts as a human, consumes bandwidth, promotes websites, rollseyes and follows and unfollows. Both figures and objects occupy the field that we want to understand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Returning to the figure of the pornographer, they have the habits of a knowledge seeker though different from that of the scholar in an archive that is looking for history, narrative and depth. The pornographer skim reads, rapidly going from one link to the next, rejecting, choosing, enjoying fragmented pleasures and moving on. The relationship is tactile but brief, a surface encounter. The pornographer is a creator, consumer and distributor; sometimes contributing stories from their personal history to websites like Savita Bhabhi so that they can be inspiration for new comics, making amateur porn videos with cell phones and uploading them, commenting and linking to content, selling phones preloaded with pornography. The pornographer is a pirate, caught in the same discourse of criminalization, and often if the crimes of one are not convincing then one stands in for the other in legal and public discourse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pornographer can also be likened to the parasite as a figure that produces disorder and generates a new order (Michel Serres, The Parasite <a name="_ednref3" href="#_edn3">[iii]</a>), or that it stores (sucks) energy and then redirects it (Matteo Pasquinelli, Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons <a name="_ednref4" href="#_edn4">[iv]</a>). A vivid description of how pornographers are the points of conversion is as follows - "Netporn converts libidinal flows into money and daily siphons a huge bandwidth on a global scale. Netporn transforms libido into pure electricity: exactly as file-sharing networks are reincarnated as an army of MP3 players, Free Software helps to sell more IBM hardware and Second Life avatars consume as much electricity as the average Brazilian." (Pasquinelli)</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The pornographer is self-taught, exiled, ashamed, an inveterate collector, insatiable, a bundle of shame and energy, all wires within lit and chasing. The pornographer is a criminal, a voyeur, a seducer and con artist. The pornographer is a godman caught in the act, a shaman of conversions in the digital, a gluttonous leader of digital consumption.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Figures can offer insight into a social formation, but also do figures dominate the scape and erase the particular and the subjective? The pornographer leads to an array of other figures and these offer insights into networks of illegality and exchange, into legal and technological mechanisms of control. As easily as these pornographic objects float to the surface of the digital scape, the pornographer (and also others like the pirate) are spectral presences who can only be deduced and whose trails can be followed. The pornographer is then a sort of mixed-media figure, an amalgamate of different assumptions and readings in public discourse, in the law, in networks of the circulation of pornography, in movies that are about their imagined back-stories, and in the ways in which children are warned about risks online.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="100%" />
<p> </p>
<div id="edn1">
<p><a name="_edn1" href="#_ednref1">[i]</a> Nishant Shah, 'Subject to Technology: Internet Pornography, Cyber-terrorism and the Indian State', Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 8:3, 2007, pp.349 - 366.</p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p><a name="_edn2" href="#_ednref2">[ii]</a> Jennifer Marilyn Barker, <em>The Tactile Eye: Touch and the Cinematic Experience</em>, University of California Press, 2009.</p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p><a name="_edn3" href="#_ednref3">[iii]</a> Michel Serres, <em>The Parasite: Posthumanities</em>, University of Minnesota Press, 2007.</p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p><a name="_edn4" href="#_ednref4">[iv]</a> Matteo Pasquinelli, <em>Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons</em> (Series Editor: Geert Lovink), NAi Publishers, Institute of Network Cultures, 2008.</p>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-pornographer'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-pornographer</a>
</p>
No publishernamitaResearchResearchers at WorkDigital KnowledgeFigures of Learning2015-11-13T05:32:58ZBlog EntryRAW Lectures #01: Nishant Shah on 'Stories and Histories of Internet in India'
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/raw-lectures-01-nishant-shah
<b>Dr. Nishant Shah will give a talk on 'Stories and Histories of Internet in India' at the Centre for Internet and Society's office in Bangalore on March 6, 2015 at 6 p.m. Please join us for tea and coffee before the lecture at 5.30 p.m.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Update: The video recording of the lecture can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/raw-lecture-01-nishant-shah-video">here</a>.</h4>
<p> </p>
<p>Introducing the first research initiative at the Researchers at Work programme in the Centre for Internet and Society, Professor Nishant Shah wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
“Although many disciplines, organisations and interventions in various areas deal with internet technologies, there has been very little work in documenting the polymorphous growth of internet technologies and their relationship with society in India... We wanted to first propose that the Internet is not a monolithic object that exists in the same way across geographies and social borders. It is necessary to approach the Internets, as plural, available in different forms, practices and experiences to people from different locations and sections of the society... The second proposal was that while the digital and Internet technologies are new, they do not necessarily only produce new things. There is a need to map the histories and pre-histories of Internets.”</blockquote>
<p>The Researchers at Work programme is initiating the RAW Lectures series to take stock, reflect, and chart courses into the studies of Internet in/from India. The lectures will address the experiences and practices of Internet in India as plural and intertwined with longer-duration processes, as foregrounded by Nishant above. The lectures will also critically respond to the questions around the methods of studying Internet in/from India, and the opportunities and challenges of studying Indian society on/through the Internet.</p>
<p>It gives us immense pleasure to invite Nishant to present the first lecture of the series on Friday, March 06, 2015. The title of the lecture is "<strong>Once There was the Internet: Of Stories and Histories of Internet in India</strong>."</p>
<p> </p>
<img src="raw-lectures-01-nishant-shah/leadImage" alt="RAW Lectures #01 - Nishant Shah - Poster" height="400" />
<p> </p>
<h3>Dr. Nishant Shah</h3>
<p>Nishant is the Professor of Culture and Aesthetics of New Media at the Leuphana University Lüneburg, Research Associate at COMMON MEDIA LAB, Affiliate at DIGITAL CULTURES RESEARCH LAB, and International Tandempartner at HYBRID PUBLISHING LAB. He is the co-founder and former-Director-Research at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, India.</p>
<p>In his varied roles, he has been committed to producing infrastructure, frameworks and collaborations in the global south to understand and analyse the ways in which emergence and growth of digital technologies have shaped the contemporary social, political and cultural milieu. He edited a series of monographs on “Histories of Internet(s) in India” that looks at the complicated relationship that technologies have with questions of gender, sexuality, body, city, governance, archiving and gaming in a country like India. He was also the principal researcher for a research programme that produced the four-volume anthology “Digital AlterNatives With a Cause?” that examines the ways in which young people’s relationship with digital technologies produces changes in their immediate environments.</p>
<p>His Ph.D. thesis titled “The Technosocial Subject: Cities, Cyborgs and Cyberspace” builds a framework to examine the technosocial identities that are produced at the intersection of law, digital technologies and everyday cultural practices in emerging information societies like India. Nishant was an Asia Research fellow looking at the cost and infrastructure of building IT Cities like Shanghai. He is the author of a recent thought-piece titled “Whose Change is it Anyway? – Towards a future of digital technologies and citizen action in emerging information societies” that seeks to revisit the debates around digital activism and change in the global context. His current interests are in critically intervening in debates around Digital Humanities and conditions of change mediated by technologies.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://cdc.leuphana.com/people/#nishant-shah" target="_blank">http://cdc.leuphana.com/people/#nishant-shah</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/raw-lectures-01-nishant-shah'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/raw-lectures-01-nishant-shah</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaRAW LecturesResearchers at WorkEventRAW Events2016-01-10T08:05:30ZEventFigures of Learning: The Visual Designer
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-visual-designer
<b>As part of its Making Methods for Digital Humanities project, CIS-RAW organized two consultations on new figures of learning in the digital context. For a proposed journal issue on the theme of ‘bodies of knowledge’ which draws upon these conversations, participants were invited to write short sketches on these figures of learning. This abstract by Tejas Pande examines the figure of the visual designer, and emerging practices of mapmaking. </b>
<p> </p>
<p>Making Methods for Digital Humanities (2M4DH) project seeks to make specific interventions around methods in the larger debates and practices of Digital Humanities, which includes producing content within the field, building a living repository of knowledge content by developing methods as well as interfaces, platforms and knowledge infrastructure, and bringing together a range of practitioners, performers and researchers from different disciplines who are not necessarily only working on the digital. As part of this project two consultations were held in Bangalore, around <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/consultation-new-figures-of-learning-in-digital-context"> figures of learning in the digital context.</a> The following is a series of abstracts for a proposed journal issue, that perform multi-media writing, bringing in artistic practice, video, sound and theoretical concepts to describe a particular practice of learning and knowledge in India and focus on a specific body, figure or person that is at the centre of that knowledge practice.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>The Visual Designer</h2>
<h3>Tejas Pande</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>Mapping is the visual articulation of a living complex system, and locates itself at the nodes that allow for exchanges of knowledge from diverse disciplines. Over the course of history, it has come to represent exchanges of information of a very diverse nature. Commonly associated with representations of physical spaces, maps have since accommodated a growing need to chalk out relationships between spaces (physical, or temporal), ideologies, and institutions. This expanded notion of mapping has affected the way creators of maps regard the practice of mapmaking itself. Armed with a growing arsenal of tools (offline and web-based) to map such networks with, mapmaking has opened up to a host of professionals, amateurs, and anyone else with a desire to express spatial-temporal relationships.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In such contexts, it is worthwhile to ask ourselves what is the role of traditional scientists, cartographers, and visual designers, who have been responsible for assimilating knowledge and making it visually palatable for wider audiences. The role of such mapmakers is further complicated by the expanded view of the craft of designing itself. For instance, graphic designer Aris Venetikidis began appearing on social media feeds in 2012 after his contribution to TEDx Dublin as the mapmaker genius behind the redesigned prototype of the Dublin Bus system. The new visualisation was met with critical praise, but interestingly his design process had steered the original mapmaking effort into that of quasi-transportation planning. Traditional mapmakers are being forced to intimately understand flows that constitute systems they wish to represent for others. Visual studies have historically emphasized decoding information embedded in collectively-generated syntax. Increasingly, multi-disciplinary practices have forced traditional designers to refashion their role in larger processes of production. What if their role was framed in the context of not only the rules of design process and problem definition, but the institutions within whom they operate, as well?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In my opinion, these figures have come to serve as facilitators in a process of knowledge creation and sharing, and use mapmaking as their primary visual tool to form networks of exchanges. Examples drawn from emerging planning practices, especially in the urban sphere, will be used to examine the role of a mapmaker, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-visual-designer'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-visual-designer</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppResearchResearchers at WorkDigital KnowledgeFigures of Learning2015-11-13T05:33:30ZBlog EntryJanuary 2015 Bulletin
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/january-2015-bulletin
<b>Our newsletter for the month of January can be accessed below.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcomes you to the first issue of the newsletter (January 2015). Archives of our newsletters can be accessed at: <a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Highlights </b></p>
<ul>
<li>Forbes India in an article titled “<a href="http://forbesindia.com/article/special/minds-that-%28should%29-matter/39289/2">Minds that (should) matter</a>” names Sunil Abraham as one of the Thinkers who best explain a rapidly-changing India to the world (and the world to India).</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Subhashish Panigrahi <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/opensource-2015-award-winners">won the 2015 Opensource.com Community Awards</a> under the category 'People's Choice Awards'. </li>
<li> Sumandro Chattapadhyay <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/sumandro-chattapadhyay.pdf">has joined CIS team</a> as Research Director. Sumandro has replaces Nishant Shah who stepped down from the position. </li>
<li> Rishika on behalf of CIS <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/disability-exceptions-in-copyright-legislations"> prepared an analysis of the disability exceptions in Copyright Legislations </a> . The blog post provides in detail the country-wise exceptions in copyright legislations. </li>
<li> NVDA team <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-e-speak-malayalam-with-nvda">conducted a training programme</a> on Malayalam eSpeak with NVDA in Thiruvananthapuram on January 24 and 25, 2015. Chakshumathi's main trainer Akhil M. took eSpeak Malayalam classes and Dr. Homiyar took classes on NVDA and accessible equipment.</li>
<li>The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India invited comments on the First Draft of India's National IPR Policy. CIS made its <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-cis-comments-to-the-first-draft-of-the-national-ip-policy">submission</a>.</li>
<li>As part of the Pervasive Technologies project, Nehaa Chaudhari has produced a research methodology document <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/pervasive-technologies-project-working-document-series-document-2-literature-review-on-competition-law-ipr-access-to-100-mobile-devices-1"> which maps the existing literature around questions of competition law intersecting with intellectual property law on the specific issue of enabling access to sub hundred dollar mobile devices </a> .</li>
<li>Maggie Huang, an intern at CIS as part of the Pervasive Technologies project has written <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/beyond-alcohol-and-angel-investors">a blog entry</a> which documents, synthesizes, and analyses learnings from attending various music industry trade conferences.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>CIS-A2K team on December 28, 2014 <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikimedia-hackathon-2014">organized a MediaWiki hackathon event</a> for Telugu Wikimedia community members to enhance their skills and understanding of technical matters related to MediaWiki usage. The theme of the workshop was “Mediawiki, its extensions and tools to work around” and it aimed at allowing Wikipedians to use MediaWiki tools more effectively.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>Subhashish Panigrahi authored an op-ed that highlights the need for taking Odia language to the international fora instead of keeping it confined in the books. The op-ed was <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/op-ed-samaja-jan-2015">published in the Samaja</a> on January 30, 2015. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> A <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/indian-national-academy-journals-december-2014-subbiah-arunachalam-perumal-ramamoorthi-subbiah-gunasekaran-heads-i-win-tails-you-lose"> journal article </a> by Subbiah Arunachalam, Perumal Ramamoorthi and Subbiah Gunasekaran the steps taken by scientists and librarians in the West to reclaim ease of access to research findings with what is happening in India along with a few suggestions was published by the Indian National Science Academy Journals. </li>
<li> The Supreme Court, in <i>Sabu George v. Union of India and Ors</i>. (WP (C) 341/2008), is looking into the presence of material regarding pre-natal sex determination on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo that has been falling foul of section 22 of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 as amended in 2002. Geeta Hariharan and Balaji Subramanian <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/search-engine-and-prenatal-sex-determination">analyse this in their blog post</a>.</li>
<li>As part of its Making Methods for Digital Humanities project, CIS-RAW organized two consultations on new figures of learning in the digital context. For a proposed journal issue on the theme of 'bodies of knowledge' which draws upon these conversations, participants were invited to write short sketches on these figures of learning. Tejas Pande <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-visual-designer2">wrote an abstract which examines</a> the figure of the visual designer, and emerging practices of mapmaking. </li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility and Inclusion</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The publication has been finalised and is being printed. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/national-resource-kit-project">project page</a>. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-text-to-speech-synthesizer">here</a>.</p>
<h3>NVDA and eSpeak</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Monthly Update</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/january-2015-nvda-report.pdf">January 2015 Report</a> (Suman Dogra; January 31, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Event Organized</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-e-speak-malayalam-with-nvda">Training of Malayalam eSpeak with NVDA</a> (Co-organized by CIS, DAISY Forum of India and Chakshumathi Assistive Technology Centre; Thiruvananthapuram; January 24-25, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Other</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Blog Entries</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/disability-exceptions-in-copyright-legislations"> Disability Exceptions in Copyright Legislations </a> (Rishika; January 12, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/response-to-rti-applications-from-different-states-on-accessibility"> Response to RTI Applications from Different States on Accessibility </a> (Anandhi Viswanathan; January 31, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Pervasive Technologies</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the Pervasive Technologies project, Maggie Huang conducted interviews with fabless semiconductor industry professionals in Taiwan. The findings from the samples are highlighted in four part series. The third and fourth parts have been published:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/pervasive-technologies-project-working-document-series-document-2-literature-review-on-competition-law-ipr-access-to-100-mobile-devices-1"> Pervasive Technologies Project Working Document Series: Document 2 Literature Review on Competition Law + IPR + Access to < $100 Mobile Devices </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; January 1, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/relationship-between-app-developers-and-app-platforms-an-intellectual-property-perspective"> Relationship between App Developers and App Platforms: An Intellectual Property Perspective </a> (Anubha Sinha; January 7, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/beyond-alcohol-and-angel-investors"> Beyond Alcohol and Angel Investors: Building Business Models in an Age of Mobile Music Streaming (Conference Learnings) </a> (Maggie Huang; January 20, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-development-of-the-national-ipr-policy"> National IPR Policy Series: The Development of the National IPR Policy </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; January 22, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/rti-responses-mhrd-ip-chairs-details-of-funding-and-expenditure"> RTI Responses - MHRD IP Chairs: Details of Funding & Expenditure </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; January 31, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-cis-comments-to-the-first-draft-of-the-national-ip-policy"> National IPR Policy Series: CIS Comments to the First Draft of the National IP Policy </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; January 31, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/seventh-global-ip-convention">Global Intellectual Property Convention</a> (Organized by ITAG Solutions; Mumbai; January 15 - 17, 2015). Rohini Lakshané attended the event. </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/library-and-information-professionals-summit-2015"> Library and Information Professionals Summit (LIPS) 2015 </a> (Organized by Society for Library Professionals, National Law University Delhi with UN Information Centre for India & Bhutan and Special Library Association (USA), Asian Chapter; January 23 - 24, 2015; New Delhi). Nehaa Chaudhari was on a panel discussing Internet Technology and Challenges for Libraries in IPR Regime. She made a presentation on <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/library-and-information-professionals-summit-2015">Technology (Internet?), Libraries and the Law (?)</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Event</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/announcing-the-institutional-partner-for-the-global-congress-on-intellectual-property-and-the-public-interest-2015"> Announcing the Institutional Partner for the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest 2015 </a> (Organized by the National Law School of India University; New Delhi; December 2015). </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Op-ed</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/op-ed-samaja-jan-2015"> ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଅନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; The Samaja, January 31, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikimedia-hackathon-2014">Telugu Wikimedia Hackathon 2014</a> (Rahmanuddin Shaik; January 31, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikimedia-hackathon-2014">Telugu Wikimedia Hackathon 2014</a> (Rahmanuddin Shaik; January 31, 2015). <i>The event was conducted on December 28, 2014. However, the blog post was published in January 2015</i>.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>News and Media Coverage</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hans-india-december-31-2014-works-of-veerasalingam-pantulu-on-web"> Works of Veerasalingam Pantulu on web </a> (Hans India; January 1, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/zee-news-january-9-2015-centre-should-partner-local-communities-in-digital-india"> Centre should partner local communities in 'Digital India': Expert </a> (IANS and mirrored in Zee News; January 9, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-times-of-india-january-20-2015-sandhya-soman-musician-donates-gwalior-gharana-songs-to-free-e-library"> Musician donates Gwalior Gharana songs to free e-library </a> (Times of India; January 20, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Announcement</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/opensource-2015-award-winners">2015 Opensource.com Community Awards</a> : Every year, Opensource.com awards people from our community who have excelled in contributing and sharing stories about open source. Subhashish Panigrahi from the CIS-A2K team won the award under the category 'People's Choice Awards'. </li>
<li>CIS-A2K team also <a href="http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaTE.htm">published the Telugu Wikipedia Stats tables</a>. Most metrics have been collected from a partial dump (aka stub dump), which contains all revisions of every article, meta data, but no page content.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/citizen-media-summit-2015">Citizen Media Summit 2015</a> (Organized by Global Voices; January 24 - 25, 2015). Subhashish Panigrahi was a speaker. </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Openness</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Journal Article</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/indian-national-academy-journals-december-2014-subbiah-arunachalam-perumal-ramamoorthi-subbiah-gunasekaran-heads-i-win-tails-you-lose"> Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The Intransigenc of STM Publishers </a> (Subbiah Arunachalam, Perumal Ramamoorthi and Subbiah Gunasekaran; Indian National Science Academy Journals, <i>Proc Indian Natn SciAcad</i> 80 No. 5 December 2014 pp. 919-929). </li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Articles and Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/global-voices-december-30-2014-indians-plead-for-net-neutrality-as-aitel-raises-data-charges"> Indians Plead for #NetNeutrality as Airtel Raises Data Charges </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Global Voices; December 30, 2014). <i>The article was published in the month of December but mirrored on CIS website in January</i>. </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-january-6-2015-subhashish-panigrahi-indian-netizens-criticize-online-censorship-of-jihadi-content"> Indian Netizens Criticize Online Censorship of 'Jihadi' Content </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Global Voices; January 6, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/security-and-surveillance-optimizing-security-while-safeguarding-human-rights"> Security and Surveillance - Optimizing Security while Safeguarding Human Rights </a> (Elonnai Hickok; January 19, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/search-engine-and-prenatal-sex-determination"> Search Engine and Prenatal Sex Determination: Walking the Tight Rope of the Law </a> (Geetha Hariharan and Balaji Subramanian; January 29, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Co-organized</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/security-governments-data-technology-policy"> Security, Governments, and Data: Technology and Policy </a> (Organized by CIS and Observer Research Foundation; January 8, 2015, New Delhi). Sunil Abraham, Pranesh Prakash, Elonnai Hickok, Bhairav Acharya and Nehaa Chaudhari participated in this event. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/symposium-on-human-rights-and-internet-in-india"> Symposium on Human Rights and the Internet in India </a> (Organized by the Center for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Communication and Information at the University of Hamburg; New Delhi; January 17, 2015). Bhairav Acharya was a panelist. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/winter-school-on-privacy-surveillance-data-protection"> Winter School on Privacy, Surveillance and Data Protection </a> (Organized by the Centre for Communication Governance (CCG) in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Communication and Information at the University of Hamburg and the Hans Bredow; Delhi; January 19 - 23, 2015). Bhairav Acharya was a facilitator.</li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/assocham-national-council-on-it-ites">ASSOCHAM National Council on IT / ITes</a> (Organized by ASSOCHAM; New Delhi; January 30, 2015). Geetha Hariharan participated in the event. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/overview-constitutional-challenges-on-itact"> Overview of the Constitutional Challenges to the IT Act </a> (Pranesh Prakash; December 15, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/reply-to-rti-filed-with-bsnl-regarding-network-neutrality-and-throttling"> Reply to RTI filed with BSNL regarding Network Neutrality and Throttling </a> (Tarun Krishnakumar; December 22, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h3><a href="http://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-jan-1-2015-kim-arora-government-blocks-32-websites-to-check-isis-propaganda"> Government blocks 32 websites to check ISIS propaganda </a> (Kim Arora; The Times of India; January 1, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mumbai-mirror-jaison-lewis-jan-1-2015-internet-users-fume-as-govt-blocks-32-sites"> Internet users fume as govt blocks 32 sites </a> (Jaison Lewis; Mumbai Mirror; January 1, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bbc-january-2-2015-india-jihadi-web-blocking-causes-anger"> India 'jihadi' web blocking causes anger </a> (BBC; January 2, 2015). This was also mirrored in <a href="http://thepuffington.com/anger-at-india-website-blocking/">Puffington Post</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-today-january-1-2015-govt-cracks-down-on-cyber-jehad-network-blocks-access-to-32-websites"> Govt cracks down on cyber jehad network, blocks access to 32 websites </a> (India Today, January 1, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-assam-january-2-2015-indian-govt-still-blocks-websites-india-censorship-on-internet"> Indian Government still blocks 20+ websites - Indian Censorship on Internet </a> (Times of Assam; January 2, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-january-20-2015-devanik-saha-indiaspend-350-per-cent-surge-in-cyber-crimes-in-last-3-years"> 350% surge in Cyber crimes in last 3 years </a> (Devanik Saha & Indiaspend.org; Hindustan Times; January 20, 2015). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-january-31-2015-toi-literary-kicks-off-today"> TOI literary festival kicks off today </a> (The Times of India; January 31, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities">Digital Humanities</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Staff Movement</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Sumandro Chattapadhyay has joined CIS as Research Director. His academic interests span over topics of history and politics of informatics in India, new media and technology studies, and data infrastructures and economies. He is also keenly interested in questions and techniques of digital humanities. Recently, Sumandro has completed a study on <a href="http://ajantriks.github.io/oddc/">policy and practices of open data in India</a> as part of the Open Data Research Network managed by the World Wide Web Foundation. He is an involved member of DataMeet, a leading community of open data and data science enthusiasts from India. Sumandro studied economics in Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan, and in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has variously worked on topics of urban development, information technology in governance, data visualisation, and early electronic governance in India with <a href="http://www.mod.org.in/">MOD Institute</a>, <a href="http://www.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/index.aspx">Azim Premji University</a> and the <a href="http://sarai.net/">Sarai Programme</a> at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Blog Entry</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/figures-of-learning-the-visual-designer2">Figures of Learning: The Visual Designer</a> (Tejas Pande; January 30, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a> </li>
<li> Facebook group: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k">https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a> </li>
<li> Visit us at:<a href="https://cis-india.org/"> </a> <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge">https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge</a> </li>
<li> E-mail: <a href="mailto:a2k@cis-india.org">a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at <a href="mailto:vishnu@cis-india.org">vishnu@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i> CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects. </i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/january-2015-bulletin'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/january-2015-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeWikipediaAccessibilityInternet GovernanceDigital HumanitiesNVDAOpennessResearchers at Work2015-02-26T17:02:23ZPageDecember 2014 Bulletin
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2014-bulletin
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) wishes you a very happy new year and welcomes you to the twelfth issue of the newsletter (December 2014). </b>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Highlights</h2>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> CIS prepared a <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/availability-and-accessibility-of-government-information-in-public-domain">policy brief</a> that identifies the problem areas with the current work flow being used to publish documents and proposes suitable modifications to make them easy to locate, authentic and accessible.</li>
<li>NVDA team conducted two workshops. The first one was held at the Hyderabad Central University <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/telugu-e-speak-training-with-nvda-december-2014">for reading and writing in Telugu</a>. The second one was held at the Blind Empowerment Foundation in Kolkata <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/bangla-e-speak-training-with-nvda-december-2014">for reading and writing in Bangla</a>. </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Nehaa Chaudhari participated in the 29<sup>th</sup> WIPO-SCCR held in Geneva from December 8 to 12, 2014 and on behalf of CIS gave statements on <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-29-cis-intervention-on-proposed-treaty-for-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations"> the Proposed Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations </a> , <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-statement-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-education-teaching-research-institutions-and-persons-with-disabilities"> Limitations and Exceptions for Education, Teaching, Research Institutions and Persons with Disabilities </a> , made a <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-29-cis-second-brief-intervention-on-broadcast-treaty"> brief pointed intervention on the Broadcast Treaty </a> , and briefly interviewed Prof. Crews on his <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-intervention-questions-to-prof-kenneth-crews-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-libraries-and-archives"> Updated Study on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives </a> . </li>
<li> Nehaa Chaudhari <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-broadening-of-definitions-in-the-proposed-broadcast-treaty-compared-to-other-international-conventions"> analyses the broadening of definitions/concepts in the Proposed Broadcast Treaty </a> versus those in pre-existing international instruments.</li>
<li>Maggie Huang, an intern at CIS as part of the Pervasive Technologies projects conducted interviews with fabless semiconductor industry professionals in Taiwan. The findings are highlighted in two separate blog entries. The first one <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/interviews-with-semi-conductor-industry-part-3"> explores some of their views on the current intellectual property system </a> and the second <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/interviews-with-semiconductor-industry-part-4"> explores the tension between market forces and governmental intervention in providing access to mobile technology </a> .</li>
<li>Tejaswini Niranjana, a distinguished fellow at CIS <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/the-hindu-december-6-2014-tejaswini-niranjana-beyond-the-language-tussle">wrote an op-ed in the Hindu</a> telling readers to see the ongoing Sanskrit versus German controversy as a welcome opportunity to discuss the real and persistent problems of our education system. </li>
<li> Vidushi Marda and Bhairav Acharya have co-authored a <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/identifying-aspects-of-privacy-in-islamic-law">white pape</a>r that seeks to identify aspects of privacy in Islamic Law and demonstrate that the notion of privacy was recognized and protected in traditional Islamic law. </li>
<li> Ashna Ashesh and Bhairav Acharya have <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/loading-constructs-of-privacy-within-classical-hindu-law">produced a white paper</a> seeks to locate privacy in Classical Hindu Law, and by doing so, displace the notion that privacy is an inherently 'Western' concept that is the product of a modernist legal system. </li>
<li> Vipul Kharbanda authored a <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/relationship-between-privacy-and-confidentiality">white paper</a> establishing the relationship between privacy and confidentiality. </li>
<li> Geetha Hariharan in a <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/is-india2019s-website-blocking-law-constitutional-2013-i-law-procedure"> blog entry examines the constitutional validity of Section 69A </a> and the Blocking Rules. </li>
<li> Shyam Ponappa in an <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-december-4-2014-a-roadmap-for-digital-india"> article published by the Business Standard </a> writes that India's current policies for telecommunications don't serve our interests and tells readers what must change. </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility and Inclusion</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The publication has been finalised and is being printed. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/national-resource-kit-project">project page</a>. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-text-to-speech-synthesizer">here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►NVDA and eSpeak</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Monthly Update</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/december-2014-nvda-report.pdf">December 2014 Report</a> (Suman Dogra; December 30, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Organized</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/telugu-e-speak-training-with-nvda-december-2014">Telugu eSpeak Training with NVDA</a> (Organized by NVDA team; Hyderabad Central University, Hyderabad; December 1-2, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/bangla-e-speak-training-with-nvda-december-2014">Bangla eSpeak training with NVDA</a> (Organized by NVDA team; Blind Empowerment Foundation, Kolkata; December 19-20, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Event</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/events/training-in-e-speak-malayalam">Training in Use of eSpeak with Malayalam</a> (Co-organized by CIS, DAISY Forum of India and Chakshumathi Assistive Technology Centre; Trivandrum; January 24 - 25, 2015, Trivandrum). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Other</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/availability-and-accessibility-of-government-information-in-public-domain"> Availability and Accessibility of Government Information in Public Domain </a> (Sunil Abraham, Nirmita Narasimhan, Beliappa, and Anandhi Viswanathan; December 9, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/first-meeting-of-high-level-committee-on-national-policy-on-universal-electronic-accessibility"> First meeting of the high level committee on National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility </a> (Organized by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology; December 30, 2014; New Delhi). Sunil Abraham participated in this meeting. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/e-gov-reach-december-15-2014-geetanjali-minhas-when-technology-is-able-but-mindset-is-not"><b> </b>When technology is able but the mindset is not </a> (Governance Now; December 1-15 issue). Sunil Abraham and Nirmita Narasimhan gave their inputs. </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Pervasive Technologies</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the Pervasive Technologies project, Maggie Huang conducted interviews with fabless semiconductor industry professionals in Taiwan. The findings from the samples are highlighted in four part series. The third and fourth parts have been published:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/interviews-with-semi-conductor-industry-part-3"><b> </b>[Open] Innovation and Expertise > Patent Protection & Trolls in a Broken Patent Regime </a> (Maggie Huang; December 26, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/copyright-management-in-age-of-mobile-music"> "Copyright Management in the Age of Mobile Music" - Living Methodology Document </a> (Maggie Huang; December 26, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Other</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nehaa Chaudhari attended the 29<sup>th</sup> WIPO-SCCR held in Geneva from December 8 to 12. The following are the outputs:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-29-cis-intervention-on-proposed-treaty-for-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations"> 29th Session of the WIPO SCCR: CIS Intervention on the Proposed Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 9, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-29-cis-second-brief-intervention-on-broadcast-treaty"> 29th Session of the WIPO SCCR: CIS- 2nd (brief) Intervention on the Broadcast Treaty </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 11, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-broadening-of-definitions-in-the-proposed-broadcast-treaty-compared-to-other-international-conventions"> The Broadening of Definitions in the Proposed Broadcast Treaty Compared to Other International Conventions </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 11, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-intervention-questions-to-prof-kenneth-crews-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-libraries-and-archives"> 29th Session of the WIPO SCCR: CIS Intervention: Questions to Prof. Kenneth Crews on his Updated Study on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 14, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-statement-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-education-teaching-research-institutions-and-persons-with-disabilities"> 29th Session of the WIPO SCCR: Statement on the Limitations and Exceptions for Education, Teaching, Research Institutions and Persons with Disabilities </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 20, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/protection-of-broadcasting-organisations-under-proposed-broadcast-treaty"> Protection of Broadcasting Organisations under the Proposed Treaty as Compared to Other International Conventions </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 21, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/kei-10-december-2014-the-broadcasting-treaty-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem"><b> </b>Save the Date - 10 December 2014: The Broadcasting Treaty: A Solution in Search of a Problem? </a> (Organized at WIPO; December 10, 2014). Nehaa Chaudhari was a speaker at this side event. The details were originally published by Knowledge Ecology International. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/knowledge-ecology-international-sccr-29-public-interest-organizations-statements-regarding-the-broadcasting-treaty"><b> </b>SCCR 29: Public Interest Organizations Statements regarding the Broadcasting Treaty </a> (Knowledge Ecology International; December 9, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/knowledge-ecology-international-sccr-29-december-11-2014-libraries-archives-public-interest-ngos-q-a-with-dr-crews"> SCCR 29 Libraries, Archives and Public Interest NGOs in Q&A with Dr. Crews </a> (Knowledge Ecology International; December 11, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/ip-watch-catherine-saez-december-18-2014-wipo-study-on-copyright-exceptions-stimulates-broad-discussion-with-author"> At WIPO, Study On Copyright Exceptions Stimulates Broad Discussion With Author </a> (Catherine Saez; December 18, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/ip-watch-catherine-saez-december-19-2014-wipo-delegates-hear-concerns-of-ngos-on-exceptions-for-libraries"> WIPO Delegates Hear Concerns of NGOs on Exceptions for Libraries (Catherine Saez; IP Watch </a> ; December 19, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Wikipedia</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Newspaper Article</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/the-hindu-december-6-2014-tejaswini-niranjana-beyond-the-language-tussle"><b> </b>Beyond the Language Tussle </a> (Tejaswini Niranjana; The Samaja, November 17, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikisource-campus-project-at-kiss"><b> </b>Odia Wikisource campus project at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; December 3, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/publications-under-creative-commons-license"> Several Publications Now Available under Creative Commons License </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; December 28, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikisource-workshop-new-delhi-december-14-2014">Odia Wikisource workshop at New Delhi</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; December 30, 2014). <i>The event was organized by CIS in collaboration with "The Intellects" on December 14</i>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>News and Media Coverage</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/article-in-dhatri">Odia Wikipedia</a> (Dhatri; December 1, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/odiapua-december-1-2014-article-on-odia-wikipedia">Odia Wikipedia</a> (Odiapua; December 1, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/new-indian-express-december-5-2014-diana-sahu-access-to-rare-books-made-easy"> Access to Rare Books Made Easy </a> (Diana Sahu; Indian Express; December 5, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/hindu-businessline-december-13-2014-tulu-wikipedia-gets-some-push"> Tulu Wikipedia gets some push </a> (Hindu Businessline; December 13, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/kannada-prabha-december-14-2014-tulu-wikipedia-presentation">Tulu Wikipedia</a> (Kannada Prabha; December 14, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/tulu-wikipedia-december-15-2014-coverage-in-vijaya-karnataka">Tulu Wikipedia</a> (Vijaya Karnataka; December 15, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/tulu-wikipedia-coverage-in-vijayavani">Tulu Wikipedia</a> (VijayaVani; December 27, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hans-india-december-31-2014-works-of-veerasalingam-pantulu-on-web"> Works of Veerasalingam Pantulu on web </a> (Hans India; December 31, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/sakshi-december-31-2014-wiki-winter-camp">Wiki Winter Camp - Coverage in Sakshi</a> (Sakshi; December 31, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/eenadu-december-31-wiki-winter-camp">Wiki Winter Camp - Coverage in Eenadu</a> (Eenadu; December 31, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Co-organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/odia-wikisource-sabha-2014">Odia Wikisource Sabha 2014</a> (Co-organized by CIS-A2K and Odia Wikimedia Community; November 28, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/ict-for-development">ICT for Development</a> (Organized by Christ University; December 3, 2014). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja was a speaker at this event. </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/swatantra-2014-icfoss-december-18-20-2014-fifth-international-free-software-conference-in-kerala"> Swatantra 2014: Fifth International Free Software Conference, Kerala </a> (Organized by ICFOSS, Govt. of Kerala; Hotel Hycinth by Sparsa, Trivandrum; December 18 - 20, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan chaired a session on Wikimedia and Access to Knowledge in India and Rahimanuddin Shaik co-presented on Making DLI Accessible. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Openness</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/department-of-science-and-technology-department-of-biotechnology-adopt-open-access-policy"><b> </b>Department of Science and Technology & Department of Biotechnology adopt Open Access Policy </a> (Anubha Sinha; December 29, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/omidyar-network-december-11-2014-tech-for-citizen-engagement-2014"><b> </b>Tech for Citizen Engagement 2014 </a> (Organized by Omidyar Network; New Delhi; December 11, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker in the session "Rules of Engagement: Emerging Trends in Citizen Outreach". </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/swatantra-2014-icfoss-december-18-20-2014-fifth-international-free-software-conference-in-kerala"> Swatantra 2014: Fifth International Free Software Conference, Kerala </a> (Organized by ICFOSS, Govt. of Kerala; Hotel Hycinth by Sparsa, Trivandrum; December 18 - 20, 2014). Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam was a speaker and made a presentation on Open Science. </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Privacy</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of our Surveillance and Freedom: Global Understandings and Rights Development (SAFEGUARD) project with Privacy International we are engaged in enhancing respect for the right to privacy in developing countries. During the month we published the following blog entries:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>White Papers</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/loading-constructs-of-privacy-within-classical-hindu-law"><b> </b>Locating Constructs of Privacy within Classical Hindu Law </a> (Ashna Ashesh and Bhairav Acharya; December 29, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/relationship-between-privacy-and-confidentiality"> Relationship between Privacy and Confidentiality </a> (Vipul Kharbanda; December 30, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/identifying-aspects-of-privacy-in-islamic-law"><b> </b>Identifying Aspects of Privacy in Islamic Law </a> (Vidushi Marda and Bhairav Acharya; December 14, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/security-governments-data-technology-policy"><b> </b>Security, Governments, and Data: Technology and Policy </a> (Co-organized by CIS and the Observer Research Foundation; January 8, 2015; New Delhi). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/cpdp-2015">CPDP 2015</a> : The eighth international conference on computers, privacy and data protection will be held in Brussels from January 21 to 23, 2015. CIS is a moral supporter of CPDP. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/security-and-surveillance-optimizing-security-human-rights"><b> </b>Security and Surveillance: A public discussion on Optimizing Security while Safeguarding Human Rights </a> (CIS; December 19, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Free Speech</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Under a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, CIS is doing research on the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government and contribute studies, reports and policy briefs to feed into the ongoing debates at the national as well as international level. As part of the project we bring you the following outputs:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-receives-information-on-icanns-revenues-from-domain-names-fy-2014"><b> </b>ICANN reveals hitherto undisclosed details of domain names revenues </a> (Geetha Hariharan; December 8, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ianas-revolving-door"> Revolving Door Analysis: IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group </a> (Lakshmi Venkataraman; December 10, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/is-india2019s-website-blocking-law-constitutional-2013-i-law-procedure"> Is India's website-blocking law constitutional? - I. Law & procedure </a> (Geetha Hariharan; December 11, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Other</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/national-seminar-cyber-security-and-cyber-laws"><b> </b>National Seminar on Cyber Security & Cyber Laws - Issues and Concerns </a> (Organized by the Advanced Centre for Research, Development & Training in Cyber Laws & Forensics; National Law School of India University, Bangalore; December 27 - 28, 2014). Sharath Chandra Ram was part of a plenary session on "Multi-Disciplinary Challenges in Ensuring Cyber Security". </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/overview-constitutional-challenges-on-itact"><b> </b>Overview of the Constitutional Challenges to the IT Act </a> (Pranesh Prakash; December 15, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/reply-to-rti-filed-with-bsnl-regarding-network-neutrality-and-throttling"> Reply to RTI filed with BSNL regarding Network Neutrality and Throttling </a> (Tarun Krishnakumar; December 22, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">--------------------------------- <br /> <b><a href="http://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a> </b><br /> --------------------------------- <br /> CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-december-5-2014-moulishree-srivastava-india-sees-biggest-improvement-in-internet-freedom"> India sees biggest improvement in Internet freedom, says report </a> (Moulishree Srivastava; Livemint; December 5, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ibn-live-december-8-2014-are-cab-apps-safe">Are Cab Apps safe?</a> (IBN Live; December 8, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-december-10-2014-athira-a-nair-frndineed-an-app-for-passenger-safety"> FrndiNeed; an app for passengers' safety </a> (Athira A. Nair; Economic Times; December 10, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/medianama-december-22-2014-thank-you-to-our-2014-sponsors"> Thank You To Our 2014 Sponsors </a> (Medianama; December 22, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-december-26-2014-anita-babu-why-india-failed-to-discover-the-isis-twitter-handle"> Why did India fail to discover the ISIS Twitter handle? </a> (Anita Babu; Business Standard; December 26, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-december-28-2014-ajai-sreevatsan-targeting-surveillance"> Targeting surveillance </a> (Ajai Sreevatsan; The Hindu; December 28, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-businessline-december-31-2015-s-ronendra-singh-"> Centre blocks 32 websites for security reasons, restores some later </a> (S. Ronendra Singh; Hindu Businessline; December 31, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ndtv-december-31-2014-dot-reportedly-orders-blocking-of-32-websites-including-github-archiveorg-sourceforge"> DoT Reportedly Orders Blocking of 32 Websites Including GitHub, Archive.org, SourceForge </a> (NDTV; December 31, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-december-31-2014-moulishree-srivastava-govt-blocks-32-websites"> Govt blocks 32 websites, including Vimeo and Github </a> (Moulishree Srivastava; Livemint; December 31, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ib-times-jeff-stone-december-31-2014-sites-blocked-in-india-for-anti-india-content-from-isis"> Vimeo, DailyMotion, Pastebin Among Sites Blocked In India For 'Anti-India' Content From ISIS </a> (Jeff Stone; IB Times; December 31, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-anupam-saxena-december-31-2014-pastein-dailymotion-github-blocked-after-dot-order"> Pastebin, Dailymotion, Github blocked after DoT order: Report </a> (Anupam Saxena; The Times of India; December 31, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h3><a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Newspaper Column</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-december-4-2014-a-roadmap-for-digital-india"><b> </b>A Road Map for Digital India </a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; December 3, 2014 and Organizing India Blogspot; December 4, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h3><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities">Digital Humanities</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-spaces-of-digital">The Spaces of Digital</a> (P.P.Sneha; December 30, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
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</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at <a href="mailto:vishnu@cis-india.org">vishnu@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i> CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects. </i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2014-bulletin'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2014-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceOpennessResearchers at Work2015-01-12T16:56:54ZPageThe Spaces of Digital
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-spaces-of-digital
<b>'The Spaces of Digital’ continues from the work done on the CIS-RAW monograph on the Internet, Society and Space in Indian Cities, by Pratyush Shankar at Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University, Ahmedabad. The premise of this monograph was the debates around making of IT Cities and public planning policies that regulate and restructure the city spaces in India with the emergence of internet technologies. </b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Spaces of Digital begins from here to further explore the city as a unit of global development. The rise of digital technologies and the ways in which they produce new metaphors for the domains of life, labour and language, result in the city being reconfigured, reimagined and remapped through the techno-spatial narratives produced by information and network webs. The project will explore this in four stages, namely:</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Stage 1: Knowledge Maps</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The first phase of the project seeks to build a knowledge network that maps the different actors interested in questions of techno-social cities, generating a dialogue between them and building a knowledge repository that brings in different modes, formats and forms of knowledge to intersect with each other.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Stage 2: Spatial Patterns - Digital Project</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The monograph “Internet, Society and Space in Indian Cities” refers to the spatial reconfiguration of many Indian cities that has occurred in the past two decades. An exercise to extract the key spatial patterns will be carried out in form of graphical representation using existing information from the monograph.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Stage 3: Knowledge Networking Building</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The mapping and demonstration project will be followed by a curated workshop that invites a dialogue between the identified knowledge partners.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Stage 4: Knowledge Exhibition / Publication</h3>
<p>The Knowledge Exhibition will be a hybrid space of online and offline curation and knowledge consolidation, and will be the final product of the project.</p>
<p>Some of the updates on this project may be <a class="external-link" href="http://spacesofdigital.wordpress.com/">accessed here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-spaces-of-digital'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/the-spaces-of-digital</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppThe Spaces of DigitalNet CulturesResearchers at WorkResearch2015-10-24T13:41:25ZBlog EntryMapping Digital Humanities in India - Concluding Thoughts
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/mapping-digital-humanities-in-india-concluding-thoughts
<b>This final blog post on the mapping exercise undertaken by CIS-RAW summarises some of the key concepts and terms that have emerged as significant in the discourse around Digital Humanities in India. </b>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The present exercise in mapping Digital Humanities (henceforth DH) in India has brought to the fore several learnings, and challenges in trying to locate the domain of enquiry even as our understanding of what constitutes new objects, methods and forms of research and pedagogy constantly undergo change and redefinition. Even as we wrap up this study, some of the key questions or problems of definition, ontology and method remain with us, as the 'field' as such is incipient in India, as with other parts of the world and the term itself is yet to find a resonance in many quarters, other than a few institutions and a number of individuals. However, what it does do for us immediately, is throw open several questions about how we understand the idea of the 'digital', and what may be the new areas of enquiry for the humanities at large.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We began with the understanding that DH is a new space of interdisciplinary research, scholarship and practice with several possibilities for thinking about the nature of the intersection of the humanities and technology. The term was a little more than a found name of sorts, which since then has taken on various meanings and undergone some form of creative re-appropriation. The ubiquitous history of the term in humanities computing in the Anglo-American context has helped in locating and defining the field globally within the ambit of certain kinds of practices and scholarship in the contemporary moment. As most of the literature around DH even globally has pointed out, the problem with arriving at a definition is ontological, more than epistemological. The conditions of its emergence and existence are yet to be completely understood, although if one is to take into account the larger history of science and technology studies or even cyber/digital culture studies, these 'epistemic shifts' have been in the making for some time now. In India particularly, where a clear picture of the 'field' as such is still to emerge in the form of a theorisation of its key concerns, areas of focus or object of enquiry, it is only through a practice-mapping that one may locate what are at best certain discursive shifts in the way we understand content, structures and methods in the humanities, within the context of the digital. The fundamental premise of the nature of the digital and its relation to the human subject still lacks adequate exploration which would be required to define the contours of the field. The inherited separation of humanities and technology further makes this a complex space to negotiate, when the term may now actually indicate the need to decode the rather tenuous relationship between the two supposedly separate domains.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The question of methodology then comes in as the next most important aspect here, as the method of DH is yet to be clearly defined. At present it looks like a combination and creative appropriation of methodologies drawn from different disciplines and creative practices. The change in the methodology of the humanities and social sciences itself as now longer remaining discipline-specific has been a contributory factor to the evolving methodology of DH. The practice itself is still evolving, and while DH in the Anglo-American context can trace a history in humanities computing, with now an active interest in other spaces where the digital is an inherent part of the discourse, in India there has been little work in mainstream academic spaces such as universities or research centres, and some interest from the information and technology sector. As such the skills and infrastructure needed to work with large data sets and new technologised processes of interpretation and visualisation still remain outside the ambit of the mainstream humanities. This mapping exercise largely relied on interviews as part of its methodology, without any engagement with the actual practice, mainly because of a lack of consensus on what constitutes DH practice. However, through an exploration of allied fields such as media, archival practice, design and education technology, the study tries to locate how certain practices in these areas inform what we understand of DH today.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The archive, media and now to a certain extent art and design have become the sites for most of the discussions around DH in India, primarily because of the nature of institutions and people who have engaged with the question so far. Archival practice has seen a vast change with the onset of digitisation, and the growth of more public and collaborative archival spaces will also bring forth new questions and concepts around the nature of the archive and its imagination as a dynamic space of knowledge production. At a more abstract level, the nature of the text as an unstable object itself, now increasingly being mediated and negotiated in different ways through digital spaces, tools and methods would be one way of locating an object of enquiry in DH and tracing its connection to the humanities, which are essentially still seen as 'text-based disciplines'. What has been a definite shift is the emphasis on process which has become an important point of enquiry, and one of the many axes around which the discourse around DH is constructed. The rethinking of existing processes of knowledge production, including traditional methods of teaching-learning, and the emergence of new tools and methods such as visualisation, data mapping, distant reading and design-thinking at a larger level would be some of the interesting prospects of enquiry in the field. The method of DH is however, necessarily collaborative and distributed at the same time, as evidenced by its practice in these various areas and disciplines.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">While in the Anglo-American context the predominant narrative or <em>raison d'etre</em> of DH seems to be the so-called 'crisis' in the humanities, it may after all be just one of reasons, and not a primary cause, at least in the Indian context. Moreover, in a paradoxical sense the emergence of DH has been seen as endangering the future of the traditional humanities, in terms of a move away from certain conventional methods and forms of research and pedagogy. While this may be relevant to our understanding of the emergence of DH, understanding the emergence of the field as resolving a crisis also renders the discourse into a uni-dimensional, problem-solving approach, thus making invisible other factors, such as the technologised history of the humanities or several other factors that have contributed to these changes. The complex and somewhere problematic history of science and technology in India and the growth of the IT sector also forms part of this context, and will inform the manner in which DH grows as a concept, area of enquiry or even as a discipline. DH is yet another manifestation of changes that we have seen in the existing objects, processes, spaces and figures of learning, particularly the open, collaborative and participatory nature of knowledge production and dissemination that has come about with the advent of the internet and digital technologies. More importantly, they also point towards the larger changes in what where earlier considered unifying notions for the university, namely that of reason and culture, which have now moved towards an idea of excellence based on a certain techno-bureaucratic impulse, as noted by Bill Readings in his work on the rise of the post-modern university<a name="_ftnref1" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If one may try to locate within this the debates around DH, the subject of this new discourse around the digital is also now rather unclear. One could explore the notion of the digital humanist, or in a more abstract manner the digital subject as one example of this lack of clarity or the distance between the practice and the subject, which is also why it has been of much concern for several scholars. As Prof. Amlan Dasgupta, with English Department at the University of Jadavpur says, it is difficult to identify such a category of scholars, although a person who is able to situate his work in the digital space with the same kind of ease and confidence that people of a different generation could do in manuscripts and books would perhaps fit this description, and he is sure that such a person may be found. For example someone who knows Shakespeare well and can write a programme, and he is sure a day will come when this is a possibility. It is a familiarity in which the inherent distance between these two pursuits becomes lesser - DH is at that moment - a composite of these two approaches rather than the difference.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">While many scholars concur with this explanation, others find the term misleading - humanities scholars do not call themselves 'humanists'. Also, by virtue of being a digital subject, anybody engaged with some form of digital practice is already a digital humanist of some sort. The problem also is in the rather unclear nature of the practice, all of which is not unanimously identified as DH, as a result of which not many scholars would want to identify with the term. As Patrik Svensson (2010) points out "The individual term digital humanist may be problematic because it may seem both too general in not relating to a specific discipline or competence (thus deemphasizing the discipline-specific or professional) and too specific in emphasizing the "digital" part of the scholarly identity (if you are scholar) or giving too much prominence to the humanities part of your professional identity (if you are a digital humanities programmer or a system architect). The more general and non-personal term digital humanities is more inclusive, but somewhat limited because of its lack of specificity and relatively weak disciplinary anchorage. For both variants, there is also a question of whether "the digital" needs to be specified at all, and it is not uncommon <a href="http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/4/1/000080/000080.html#N10309">[9]</a> to encounter the argument that technology and the digital are part or will be part of any academic area, and hence the denotation "digital" is not required" <a name="_ftnref2" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a>. Svensson further points out that since the term, like digital humanities, has proliferated so much in academic spaces, through publishing and funding initiatives that it has become a term of self-identification, but it could be a reference to the digital as 'tool' rather that the object of study itself. However, he also speculates that given digital humanists work across several disciplines, their understanding of humanities as a construct is stronger as the identity is linked to it at large. <a name="_ftnref3" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This debate is importantly, symptomatic of a larger conflict over the authority of knowledge, because of what seems to be a move away from the university to alternate spaces and modes of knowledge production. As Immanuel Wallerstein (1996) suggests, such a conflict of authority has already been documented earlier, in terms of the displacement of theology first and then Newtonian mechanics as dominant sources of knowledge, and the now in the manner in which the separation of disciplines is being challenged. The potential of technology in general and the internet in particular in democratising knowledge has been explored in several cases, with many such online spaces now becoming a suitable 'alternate' to the university mode of teaching and learning. What they have also given rise to are questions about the authenticity of knowledge produced and disseminated and who are the stakeholders in the process. The debates over MOOC's and the Wikipedia, and at some level the criticism that DH and certain methods like distant reading have attracted from traditional humanities scholars are a case in point. However, many of these alternate or liminal spaces have always existed; they are perhaps becoming more visible and acknowledged now. DH, with its emphasis on interdisciplinarity and different kinds of knowledge drawn from a diverse set of practices definitely opens up space for a new mode of questioning; whether all of these different modes of questioning can coalesce as a new discipline or interdisciplinary field in itself will remain to be seen.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Patrik, Svensson, "The Landscape of Digital Humanities". <em>Digital Humanities Quarterly</em>,4:1 <a href="http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/4/1/000080/000080.html">http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/4/1/000080/000080.html</a> 2010.</li>
<li>Readings, Bill, <em>The University in Ruins</em> Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997, pp 1-20.</li>
<li>Wallerstein, Immanuel, "The Structures of Knowledge, or How Many Ways May We Know?" Presentation at "Which Sciences for Tomorrow? Dialogue on the Gulbenkian Report: <em>Open the Social Sciences</em>," Stanford University, June 2-3, 1996 http://www.binghamton.edu/fbc/archive/iwstanfo.htm </li></ol>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em> The author would like to thank the Higher Education Innovation and Research Applications (HEIRA) programme at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), Bangalore for support towards the fieldwork conducted as part of this mapping exercise, and colleagues at CIS and CSCS for their feedback and inputs<strong>. </strong> </em></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Concepts/Glossary of terms </strong></p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Ontology - A lot of the work being done to define DH is in fact to understand its ontological status, the nature of its being and existence. As pointed out in the part of this section, the difficulty in arriving at a consensus on a definition is largely due to a lack of clarity over the ontological basis of such a field, rather than its epistemological stake, which one may already be able to discern in a few years. There is a slippage due to a lack of connection between the history of the term and its practice, particularly in India, where DH is still a 'found term' of sorts. See <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/a-question-of-digital-humanities"> http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/a-question-of-digital-humanities</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Humanities - The predominant discourse in the Anglo-American context on DH seems to have set it up in a conflict with or as a threat to the traditional humanities disciplines, the causal link here being the 'crisis' of the disciplines. While there is such a narrative of crisis in the Indian con text as well, anything 'digital' is understood in terms of a problem-solving approach, and at another level seeks to further existing concerns of the humanities themselves, such as around the text. The important shift that DH may open up here is in terms of thinking about the inherited separation of technology and the humanities, and if it indeed possible now to think of a technologised history of the humanities.See <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/a-question-of-digital-humanities"> http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/a-question-of-digital-humanities</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Digital - the debate around and interest in DH has reinforced the need for a larger and more elaborate exploration of the 'digital' itself, and as mentioned in an earlier post, deciphering the nuances of the current state of digitality we inhabit will be key to understanding the field of DH much better. This is challenging because India is a mutli-layered technological landscape, which is also quite dynamic, ever-changing and in a period of transition to the digital. Taking this back to more fundamental questions of technology and its relation to the subject would also provide more insights into DH.See <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/digital-humanities-problem-of-definition"> http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/digital-humanities-problem-of-definition</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Subject - DH is a manifestation of the relationship between technology and the human subject, and provides different ways to negotiate the same. The 'digital humanist' as the likely subject of this discourse has remained largely undefined in this series of explorations, partly because of the lack of resonance with the term among humanities scholars and the fact that everybody at some level is already a digital subject, and therefore a digital humanist. An exploration of how the digital constitutes or constructs a subject position is likely to reveal better the nuances of this term and the reason for its relation to or distance from the practice.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Method - the methodology of a discipline is the connection between theory and field of practice, and the method of DH is still being developed. Whether it is data mining, distant reading, cultural informatics, sentiment analysis or creative visualisations of data sets drawing from aspects of media, art and design, the methodology and interests of DH are necessarily diverse and interdisciplinary. In many a case the distinction among methods, content and forms do blur as newer modes or approaches to DH come into being. This becomes a particular problem in understanding DH in the context of pedagogy and curricular resources, and would therefore require a rethinking of the understanding of a singular methodology itself.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Archive - A large part of the DH work in India seems to be focussed around the archive - both as a concept and practice. With the digital becoming in a sense the default mode of documentation across the humanities disciplines, and the opening up of the archive due to more public and digital archival efforts, the concept of the archive and archival practice have undergone several changes in terms of becoming now more networked and accessible. As mentioned earlier, we are living in an archival moment where there is a transition from analogue to digital, and it is in this moment of transition that a lot of new questions around data and knowledge will emerge. See http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/living-in-the-archival-moment.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Text - the text has been one of significant aspects of the DH debate, given that the academic discourse on DH in the West and now in India is primarily located in English departments. The understanding of the text as object, method and practice as mediated through digital spaces and tools is an important part of the discourse around DH, and has implications for how we understand changes in the nature of the text, and reading and writing as technologised processes in the digital context. See http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/reading-from-a-distance.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Process: An important point of emphasis in DH has been that of process, perhaps even more than content or outcomes. Given that the method of DH is collaborative and peer-to-peer, the processes of doing, making or teaching-learning etc become increasingly visible and important to understanding the nature of the field and knowledge production itself. More importantly, it also seeks to bring in the practitioner's experience into the realm of research and pedagogy.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Liminal : DH is a good example of a liminal space; which is a space that is on both sides of a threshold or boundary, and is therefore at some level undefined and transitional. The liminal space is often located at the margin of a body of knowledge or discipline, and it is at the margins of disciplines that new knowledge is produced. The discourse and even criticism around DH highlights the difficulties with defining the present nebulous nature of these liminal spaces and what they could transform into in the future. See http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/digital-humanities-and-alt-academy.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Interdisciplinarity - Closely tied to the notion of liminal spaces is the notion of interdisciplinarity. DH by nature is interdisciplinary, given that it draws upon methods and concerns from the other disciplines, but instead of limiting the definition to just this, it also provides a space to understand the challenges of negotiating and using an interdisciplinary approach to the humanities and other disciplines and develop these questions further. See http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/digital-humanities-and-alt-academy. </li></ol>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="100%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<p><a name="_ftn1" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> See Bill Readings, <em>The University in Ruins</em> Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997, pp 1-20.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<p><a name="_ftn2" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> See Patrik Svensson. "The Landscape of Digital Humanities". <em>Digital Humanities Quarterly</em>,4:1 <a href="http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/4/1/000080/000080.html">http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/4/1/000080/000080.html</a></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<p><a name="_ftn3" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> <em> Ibid.</em></p>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/mapping-digital-humanities-in-india-concluding-thoughts'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/mapping-digital-humanities-in-india-concluding-thoughts</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppDigital KnowledgeMapping Digital Humanities in IndiaResearchFeaturedDigital HumanitiesResearchers at Work2015-11-13T05:36:10ZBlog EntryRethinking Conditions of Access
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/lila-inter-actions-october-14-2014-rethinking-conditions-of-access
<b>P. P. Sneha explores the possibilities of redefining the idea of access through the channels of education and learning. </b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The advent and pervasive growth of the internet and digital technologies in the last couple of decades have caused several changes in the way we now imagine education and processes of learning, both within and outside the classroom. The increasing use of digital tools, platforms and methods in classroom pedagogy, and the access for students to resources through online and collaborative repositories such as Wikipedia have led to a change in not just teaching practices, but also in the learning environment, which has now become more open, iterative and participatory in nature. While increased access to the internet may be one factor contributing to this change, the conditions of such access – how it is made available, to whom and for what purpose – still remain contentious. As per recent statistics, India has more than 200 million internet users, but as several studies on online users have illustrated, the numbers are hardly indicative of the nature of online engagement. The problem of the ‘digital divide’, though much debated and addressed, still persists in India, as in several other countries, with lack of infrastructure and low broadband speed being two among several reasons for the slow move in bridging this gap.</p>
<div><a class="hasimg" href="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/digital_inclusion_index_map_thumb.jpg"><img src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/digital_inclusion_index_map_thumb.jpg" alt="null" height="199" width="335" /><img class="himage" src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/digital_inclusion_index_map_thumb-bw.jpg" alt="null" height="199" width="335" /></a></div>
<div>Last year, the Digital Inclusion Index map indicated India as only BRICS country ‘at extreme risk’ on the ‘digital divide’</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The problem of the digital divide itself has largely been understood as one of access to the internet and/or broadly digital technologies, but the conditions of this access, in terms of the nature of its use and adaptability to a dynamic and ever-changing technological landscape is something that needs to be looked at critically, in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of the problem itself, and its inherent conflicts. The technological landscape we inhabit today is quite diverse, and rather multi-layered, as a result of which conditions of access also differ across spaces and in degrees. The problematisation, therefore, will need to be more qualitative and nuanced, to take into account several variables spread over social, cultural and economic categories.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4133" src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/quote-internet-speed-ps-1.png" alt="quote internet speed ps 1" height="580" width="195" /></p>
<div class="hyphenate">
<p style="text-align: justify;">The assumption of the internet, as an open and accessible, therefore neutral space, has also been questioned time and again, with the latest debates around net neutrality being illustrative of this conflict. Though there is a growing interest in exploring and using the democratic potential that the internet offers, as demonstrated by several forms of online social activism and the growth of open access digital knowledge repositories and public archival spaces, there are also pertinent concerns about privacy, accessibility and the quality of online interaction and content. A large part of this uncertainty and the conflicts we see around access and regulation may be attributed to the fact that the nature of the internet, or the digital itself as concept, method or space has not been adequately explored or theorised. As a public sphere, it often reprises certain systemic forms of injustice and marginalisation seen offline, and conflates them with notions pertaining to the personal. As such, social, economic and linguistic barriers mediate the access we have to certain kinds and forms of discourse online, thereby making physical access the first step towards being part of the labyrinthian world that is the internet.</p>
<div><a class="hasimg" href="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/maharashtra_farmers_computers_20060821.jpg"><img src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/maharashtra_farmers_computers_20060821.jpg" alt="null" height="231" width="335" /><img class="himage" src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/maharashtra_farmers_computers_20060821-bw.jpg" alt="null" height="231" width="335" /></a></div>
<div>How can e-learning start, when the general access is very fragmented?</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">These conflicts are present in the classroom and other spaces and processes of learning as well, where traditionally there has been resistance to the use of technology, and particularly the internet as it is seen as a disturbance or a deterrent to learning. But technology has always been a part of the classroom, and now with the mobile phone becoming ubiquitous, it is indeed difficult to imagine that a student who has access to such a device would be disconnected from the internet, or not look toward other digital tools and methods to engage with, for educational or recreational purposes. However, indeed, how much of this engagement is effectively connected to learning is still a bone of contention, and is yet to be explored adequately.</p>
</div>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-4134" src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/quote-internet-speed-ps-2.png" alt="quote internet speed ps 2" height="430" width="195" /></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">What are the changes in the learning environment that the advent of digital technologies has produced? What challenges do they pose for both teachers and students? And what are the possible solutions that these areas of research are opening up? A more integrated and inclusive approach in designing methods and tools for use in the classroom could be one way of making issues and conflicts in this space more transparent. Several efforts in education technology and experiments in digital learning have focused precisely on this aspect. The sheer visibility and vastness of the internet offers several possibilities in terms of access to materials, tools and resources online. Several large-scale efforts in digitisation made by both the state and public organisations are attempts to utilise this potential, and they speak of the growing interest in making material available online for both classroom teaching and research.</p>
<div><a class="hasimg" href="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mooc-vs-University-in-2013-584x1024.jpg"><img src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mooc-vs-University-in-2013-584x1024.jpg" alt="null" height="587" width="335" /><img class="himage" src="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mooc-vs-University-in-2013-584x1024-bw.jpg" alt="null" height="587" width="335" /></a></div>
<div>The MOOCs are slowly challenging the universities<a title="MOOCs vs. Universities" href="http://www.lilainteractions.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mooc-vs-University-in-2013-584x1024.jpg" target="_blank">. See the image full screen</a></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The growth of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is an example of the fervour of online platforms of learning, which provide students across the world with an access to teaching and course material from some of the best institutions. However, there have been, at least in their earlier versions, several critiques of these platforms, as well, precisely because they replicate a certain classroom teaching model that is not accessible to students everywhere. This urges us to revisit the premise of such structures.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The ‘digital turn’ in the last couple of decades has engendered several changes in the way knowledge is now produced, disseminated and consumed by people located in different areas. It has also created a need to constantly rethink existing systems of learning we have in place, to plug the gaps that develop between people, skills and resources. It is only through more attempts to problematise the notion of access qualitatively, and to better understand the role of digital technologies and the internet in terms of changes in learning environments, that we may be able to understand and utilise its potential to the best.</p>
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<div style="text-align: justify;" class="hyphenate"><strong>P.P. Sneha</strong> works with the Researchers at Work (RAW) programme at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore. She has a Master’s degree in English, and has previously worked in the area of higher education. This essay is a reflection on some of the learnings from projects on the quality of access to higher education and a mapping of the digital landscape and the growth of Digital Humanities in India, conducted by the Higher Education Innovation and Research Applications (HEIRA) programme at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (with support from the Ford Foundation), and the CIS. The original post can be <a class="external-link" href="http://www.lilainteractions.in/internet-slowdown-day/">read here</a>.</div>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/lila-inter-actions-october-14-2014-rethinking-conditions-of-access'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/lila-inter-actions-october-14-2014-rethinking-conditions-of-access</a>
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No publishersnehaDigital KnowledgeMapping Digital Humanities in IndiaResearchDigital HumanitiesResearchers at Work2015-11-13T05:35:00ZBlog Entry