Centre for Internet and Society

Transparency and Privacy

praskrishna — 2014-05-06T04:07:57Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/transparency-and-privacy.zip

Transparency and MDGs: the Role of the Media and Technology

praskrishna — 2011-04-02T10:16:21Z

Key quotes from sixth panel

“We are thinking globally, acting locally. We take the bottom-up approach with radio for people in the community to tell their government what they need and to partake in decision making process.”
— Lucy Maathai, Slums Information Development and Resource Centers, Kenya

“For HIV/AIDS in Botswana during the 1990s, we tried creating big billboards saying ‘get tested’, we tried working through NGOs, but it was not until we also got local churches and local tribal leaders together, that things changed. We had to focus on getting buy-in from the political leadership and every local leader. UNDEF was set up to fill the gaps between UN agencies like UNICEF, UNDP, etc. What I have seen in botswana and 30 years of experience, is that if we always add information and communication at the end, we will fail. Rather we need to make sure that it is integrated all along. Furthermore, people in Botswana are aware of technologies, but they do not feel that they can use it or are supported to use it. Instead they use traditional methods, such as churches, in bars, and with local tribal leaders. The UN are mostly used to dealing with formal institutions, but in order to help the bottom billion in the world, we need to engage with the informal institutions, sometimes even with the ‘bad guys’”.
— Bjoern Ferde, UNDP Oslo Center, Norway

“If a transparency system is based on suspicion rather than trust, it breeds corruption. If your demand for transparency and accountability undermines social safety nets, you will undermine your entire argument. Transparency may seem to add to accountability, but we must understand that it oftens undermines privacy (in the Gujarat genocide, muslims were found and killed by rioters using tax and electoral records). In addition, in india, a name alone reveals a lot of information on caste, area and religion, so what is normal in the west – disclosing names – is not always a good idea. Finally, in many places, particularly those in conflict, disclosing your income may lead to groups turning up at your door and demanding a share.”

— Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet and Society, India

“It’s great what ARTICLE 19 is doing. There’s often a lot of discussion within communities, but not so often discussions between communities. I want to connect the media too. So little has been done at the international level on how information and communication help development. We do need to acknowledge that the media has massive advantages as an information and transparency mechanism. If you ask politicians what they are worried about in regards to transparency, they are worried about the media. In peru, a report states that Fujimori bribed media executives 100x the amount that he bribed a judge. Indeed, there are so few people paid within UN organisations to focus on understanding and using communication to effect people’s lives. We are operating in a strategic vaccum. It’s hugely exciting to work out where we can go in the future. This event takes us a long way forward.”
— James Deane, BBC World Trust, UK

“There are simple and creative ways to demonstrate information, such as the ‘stone’ test. In Botswana, each person in a village was asked to place a stone in the middle of the group for every person that died due to HIV/AIDS. It created an immediate and devastating effect when people suddenly visualised the effect on their community and then collectively began to think about what that meant in regards to families and society.”
— Bjoern Ferde, UNDP Oslo Center, Norway

“In the south we call the media the fourth estate – a moral and ethical force to protect democracy and the constitution of our country. In the north however, we have a business model which completely removes any sense of ethics. The Indian Express, for example, will only talk about markets, not about people and their lives in poverty. Furthermore, whilst we want information shared, we do not want the information collected by the state to destroy the people.
— Aruna Roy, MKSS

Read the original

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/transparency-mdgs-key-quotes

Transnational Due Process: A Case Study in Multi-stakeholder Cooperation

praskrishna — 2015-11-07T15:47:41Z

The Internet & Jurisdiction Project is organizing the workshop “Transnational due process: A case study in multi-stakeholder cooperation” at the Internet Governance Forum convened by the United Nations on November 10-13, 2015. Sunil Abraham will be a speaker in this event.

Multi-stakeholder cooperation is necessary to develop and implement operational solutions to Internet Governance challenges. One such challenge is the tension between the cross-border nature of the Internet and diverse national jurisdictions. As a result, direct requests are increasingly addressed by public authorities and courts in one country to Internet platforms and DNS operators in other jurisdictions for domain seizures, content takedowns and user identification.

The roundtable at the Internet Governance Forum 20125 will gather participants in the I&J Project from different stakeholder groups to report on the progress of the Internet & Jurisdiction process and talk about:

the method employed to develop this framework, challenges encountered and solutions found
the potential distribution of roles among the respective stakeholders in the operation of the diverse framework components

Participants

ANNE CARBLANC, Head of Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, OECD
EILEEN DONAHUE, Director Global Affairs, Human Rights Watch
BYRON HOLLAND, President and CEO, CIRA (Canadian ccTLD)
CHRISTOPHER PAINTER, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, US Department of State
SUNIL ABRAHAM, Executive Director, CIS India
ALICE MUNYUA, Lead dotAfrica Initiative and GAC representative, African Union Commission
Speaker tbc, Google
FRANK LaRUE, Former UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
Speaker tbc, German Federal Foreign Office
HARTMUT GLASER, Executive Secretary, Brazilian Internet Steering Committee
MATT PERAULT, Head of Policy Development, Facebook

This was published on the website of Internet & Jurisdiction Also see this on IGF website.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/transnational-due-process-a-case-study-in-multi-stakeholder-cooperation

Transnational Due Process: A Case Study in MS Cooperation

praskrishna — 2015-11-08T03:27:02Z

nternet Governance Forum (IGF) 2015 will be held at Jao Pessoa in Brazil from November 10 to 13, 2015. The theme of IGF 2015 is Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development. Internet & Jurisdiction Project is organizing a workshop on Transnational Due Process on November 13, 2015. Sunil Abraham is a panelist.

Since 2012, the Internet & Jurisdiction Project facilitates a multi-stakeholder dialogue process on this issue. More than 80 entities have collaboratively produced a draft transnational due process framework. Here, the concept of multi-stakeholder cooperation is therefore relevant both as method (the dialogue process) and as outcome (the collaborative framework).

The roundtable will gather participants in the I&J Project from different stakeholder groups to describe:

the method employed to develop this framework, challenges encountered and solutions found
the potential distribution of roles among the respective stakeholders in the operation of the diverse framework components

The expected benefit is to share concrete experiences around innovative approaches for multi-stakeholder cooperation such as issue-based networks, inter-sessional work methods and transnational policy standards.

This session will also present the proposed framework to the IGF community to solicit feedback, reach out to new actors and discuss the way forward. The roundtable will be prepared in 2015 by two dedicated meetings in Germany and Brazil, as well as by a number of other sessions with stakeholders around the world organized by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project.

Click to read the details on IGF website.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/transnational-due-process-a-case-study-in-ms-cooperation

Transforming urbanscapes: ATM in cities

praskrishna — 2012-03-13T10:43:51Z

This is the first in series of posts where I will try and articulate the transformation in the urban landscape that one can attribute either directly or in-directly to information and communication technologies. I am keen in discussing changes that are more fundamental in terms of architectural typology and spatial constructs and all this while looking for things that are specific to an Indian city. And that is where the story becomes rather interesting; Indian cities are unique and so when a shift occurs in its material constructs it must be analyzed with reference to its peculiar context.

Automated Teller Machines (ATM) are an accepted part of the city landscape. They are omnipresent and expected to be near you anytime anywhere. Not surprising the other common interpretation of the acronym ATM has popularly been “Any Time Money”! The functioning of ATM is absolutely dependent on the connection of these machines with the mother server of the bank. Without the networked connection through internet, the ATMs machines are dead and practically cannot do anything. ATMs are dependent on internet and the very presence of thousands of ATM spaces in our cities is perhaps the most reoccurring reminder of the spatial alteration of the urban landscape. This phenomenon needs to be dissected further and I will try and answer the following questions in the process.

What is the nature of the ATM spatial typology and how does it fit with the physical context?
What are the meaning that are attached to the ATM space and what do they now signify?

Occurrence, Repetition and Assurance

ATM’s like the hoardings of a recent advertisement campaign repeats itself at most part of the city. The same banner, color, bright light and the bored security guard at the gate. Absolutely predictable, repetitive and thoroughly efficient. They are suppose to do a simple function of vending currency note at most times. But they are now an important element in the city that repeats and can be easily identified. They are not only doing the function of vending money but also serve as an important advertisement of the bank and announce its presence in the city. ATM’s multiple occurrence in a city surely reinforces the idea of the aspirational middle class of Indian cities.

ATM’s dots the urban landscape while glowing in the night when every other shop and establishments are asleep. A 24 hour petrol pump, the all night coffee shop and of course the railway station tea shop that open all night are the other such night owls that reassure us that the city is not dead and everything will start again tomorrow.

These all night establishment have an important urban function; that of sheltering the lost souls in the night and keeping alive the idea of a city on the move.

The Private in Public: Banking in the City Spaces

The ATMs are extensions of the banks that reach out in the city. They are the point of receiving money (our money) from the bank. Banking has extended to public place and this is a very important phenomenon. Historically of course, informal banking has been taking place in street corners and small shacks in most old areas, but again only in certain parts of the city that are associated with such activities.

The ATM’s extend banking in public domain, but through a rather scared and conditioned spaces of the room where the solitary ATM machines lie. The ATM machines occur everywhere signifying that a lifestyle in a consumer society. But ATMs as extension of banking space, are creating a rather interesting contradiction. Banks were never public places really and privacy was always a very important component of banking. Traditionally customers never did transactions in full public view. Money was collected, counted and snugly inserted in wallet or a non-noticeable bag in the comfort of the high counter and inside a fairly semi-public space of the bank. The space of the bank became the place of transaction in extremely limited public view. Moreover the view was not really of strangers but of fellow customers as worried about privacy as the “viewed” subject themselves.

The ATM’s present a new problem; as at one level it creates a space in many parts of the city where a customer can carry out transaction (mostly withdrawals of currency notes) but in full public view of the market place. This is rather interesting and the situation demands a public display of ones rather private (not necessarily secretive) exercise of doing financial transactions. Not surprising there is always a swiftness of action when people withdraw money from an ATM!

“Why can’t they have more ATM machines in the city? Multinational banks but pathetic service, I tell you. And what the hell is that guy doing. He has already withdrawn twice. Is he talking to the machine”…. An impatient customer in the ATM queue.

It is not surprising that waiting outside an ATM machine is not as comfortable as lets say waiting for our turn to buy vegetables or a boarding pass before a flight. ATM’s spatial typology are still reflective of this fundamental contradiction. It is not clear whether the ATM can be as public as a grain shop or as private as a public toilet! At one level the ATM’s have to be very accessible and visible, making it easier for people to use but at the same time they have to be guarded, controlled and monitored.

That is why perhaps there are two distinct parts of the ATM space; The facade which is formed by the back lit name of the bank written in a particular manner and the window from which one can view the ATM machine lying inside. This together becomes like a two dimensional graphics (visual brand) that announces the presence of the ATM. The second is essentially the conditioned room that keeps the machines, which tries and give some sense of the privacy to the customer and perhaps facilitate the security of the machine. Not to forget the security guard, who sits and practically does nothing!

See below the exploded view of the essential ATM typology

I wish if someone can tell me if a bored security guard always found along with an ATM is essentially an Indian phenomenon?

It is not surprising that the ATM on the wall on public street has practically failed to inspire any confidence and are rather rare to find these days. I do not think it is only the concern of security of the ATM machine. I guess the machines are more secured as embedded objects in a wall rather than being stand alone in a room. It seems it is has to do with discomfort associated with doing financial transaction in full public view and that is why the closed room.

The ATM in its present form has not really integrated with the other elements of the city as it essentially sits in the building typology that is meant for small shops. It does not exist in any particular combination of other shops. One of the reason for vitality in Indian city is the nature of combination of various agglomerated shopping and commerce.

For example Tea shop on street-balloon vendor - Chat wala - Cold drink and Ice-cream shop - Pan Shop - Florists - Newspaper Vendor - Archies Card Gallery - Stationary shop and so on!

ATM machine is surely the black sheep unless of course it can be viewed and designed as a utility urban furniture like a bus stand, parking meter, letter box, public toilets or a telephone booth.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/internet-society-and-space-in-indian-cities/transforming-urbanscapes-atm-in-cities

Transformaking

praskrishna — 2015-10-17T15:23:25Z

Transformaking

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Transformaking.png

Training Programme Structure

praskrishna — 2017-01-20T17:05:16Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/training-programme-structure

Training programme for Chairs, Convenor and Experts for International Standardization Work

praskrishna — 2017-01-20T17:06:09Z

Udbhav Tiwari attended this programme organized by National Institute of Training for Standardization, under the Bureau of India Standards on the 19 and 20 of January, 2017 in Nodia, New Delhi.

Udbhav was invited due to CIS's membership at the LITD 17 at BIS and WG5 under ISO JTC 1 SC 27. For full schedule of the training programme click here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/training-programme-for-chairs-convenor-and-experts-for-international-standardization-work

Training in Use of eSpeak with Malayalam

praskrishna — 2014-11-30T11:50:38Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) in partnership with DAISY Forum of India (DFI) and Chakshumathi Assistive Technology Centre, Trivandrum cordially invites all computer teachers for persons with visual impairment for a two day training in the use of eSpeak Malayalam with NVDA for reading and writing in Malayalam.

Training in the use of eSpeak with NVDA

Training in the use of Open Source Screen readers like NVDA will be a focal element of the event. As NVDA with the help of eSpeak provides support for eight Indian languages it will be promoted as a reading tool. The aim of the training is as follows:

The candidate should be able to read e-text using NVDA and eSpeak in any one of the eight Indian languages currently supported.
The candidate should be able to download accessible content from the various platforms and repositories of accessible material.
The candidate should be able to use computers as a knowledge searching tool.
The candidate should be able to type using either phonetic, In script or traditional keyboards.

The training will be provided by experts from CIS and DFI.

Who will benefit?

The event is targeted at promoting the use of eSpeak with NVDA amongst senior computer teachers for persons with visual impairment.

Facilities

Accommodation: Seperate accommodation will be provided for ladies and gents.
Food: Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided, courtesy Chakshumati.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/events/training-in-e-speak-malayalam

Training for Internet Governance Activists

praskrishna — 2014-11-07T00:38:55Z

Geetha Hariharan attended a training session for Internet rights activists in Cambridge, organised by Global Partners Digital, UK on September 23 and 24, 2014.

Day 1. Final session was on privacy, surveillance and data protection by Mike Rispoli and Alexandrine Pirlot de Corbion from PI. Got caught up in the discussion, so no notes from that. Of interest is session on communication by Mike - a nine-step process he's outlined (in bold at the very end), and the problem tree and stakeholder mapping approach that Alex spoke of.

Day 2. Great session on the ITU and on lobbying by lobbyist Matthew McDermott of Access Partners. The ITU is a complex beast with activity at multiple levels and different levels of effectiveness at different levels. From conversations, I gathered that any effective strategy for any policy change in Internet governance at the ITU will involve lobbying national governments, and then at sub-regional, regional and global levels.

Day 3. Tim Maurer's session on cyber security. Issues of terminology and politicisation discussed. Also info on in what forums cyber security debate is taking place. The Netherlands is hosting the Global Conference on Cyber Space in April 2015.

Resources

Unedited notes from the meeting can be downloaded here (Zip File, 739 Kb)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/training-for-internet-governance-activists

Training 2

praskrishna — 2015-09-03T14:38:16Z

Training 2

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Training1.png

Training 1

praskrishna — 2015-09-03T14:34:34Z

Training 1

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Training1.png

Train, Trainer, Wikipedia

praskrishna — 2013-11-18T08:13:58Z

Train, Trainer, Wikipedia

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/TrainTrainerWikipedia.png

Train the Trainer Wikipedians

praskrishna — 2013-12-31T12:10:53Z

Train the Trainer Wikipedians

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/TraintheTrainerWikipedians.png

Train the Trainer Program

praskrishna — 2015-02-27T02:37:10Z

The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) welcomes you to attend the "Train the Trainer Program" in Bangalore.

Train the Trainer (TTT) is a residential training workshop to groom leadership skills among the Indian Wikimedia community members. CIS-A2K is organizing the Wikipedia Train the Trainer Program 2015 (TTT 2015). This is the second iteration of this program. TTT 2015 will be conducted by CIS-A2K during 26 February to 1 March 2015 in Bangalore, India.

Note: All selected participants will be expected to reach the event venue the previous night (i.e. February 25) and leave by the evening of March 1, 2015. The selected participants are requested to kindly confirm their participation by writing to tanveercis-india.org. Registration for TTT 2015 is closed. Please do not register.. Please note that registration does not confirm participation. Selection by CIS-A2K will be final. Before registering here please go through the selection criterion.

Programme Schedule

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Timing	Session	Topics to be Covered	Coordinator / Resource Person

7:30am - 8:30am	Breakfast
8:30am - 9:00am	Registration
9:00am - 10.30am	Welcome & Introduction	Introductions (activity based) Creating name tags for yourself and your friends Energiser/Activity. Meet and greet Wikimedians	T. Vishnu Vardhan (VV) and Tanveer Hasan (TH)
10:30am - 11 am	Why TTT?	Design and Objectives of the TTT	VV
11 am - 11.30 am	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
☼ 11.30 am - 1 pm	Participant presentations	Individual presentation based on pre-work	TTT Participant
1 pm - 2 pm	Lunch
2 pm - 3.30 pm	Participant presentations	Individual presentation based on pre work	TTT Participant
3.30 pm - 4 pm	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
4 pm - 5 pm	Presenting with impact	Effective Communication Forceful Introduction Organizing your speech (Opening, Body Closing) Get to the point (General purpose and specific purpose) Communicate clearly, accurately and vividly Body Language (Stance, Movement, Gestures, Facial expression and eye contact) Vocal Variety (Volume, Pitch, Rate and Quality)	TH
5.30 pm - 6.30 pm	Break
6.30 pm - 8 pm	Parallel Sessions	Personal coaching on Presentation Skills using video recordings of Presentation or Multilingual Edit-a-thon (theme - Jnanpith_Award)	Sunil Abraham(SA) VV TH Rahmanuddin Shaik (RS) Subhashish Panigrahi (SP) U.B. Pavanaja (UBP)
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Dinner

Friday, February 26, 2015

Timing	Session	Topics to be Covered	Coordinator / Resource Person

☾ 8 pm - 9 pm	Dinner
☼ 10.30 am - 11 am	Internet research techniques (Session 2)	Information literacy and Internet research techniques for Wikipedia editors slides	LS
9.15 am - 10 am	Internet research techniques (Session 1)	Information literacy and Internet research techniques for Wikipedia editors	LS
8:30 am - 9.15 am	Copyright, CC and Wikimedia	Introduction to Copyright and Creative Commons slides Creative Commons Wikimedia Applications	L. Shyamal (LS)
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
7 pm - 8 pm	Parallel sessions	Personal Coaching GLAM Projects Do's and Dont's FOSS Tools Support and Discussion	CIS-A2K Team RL RS
6.30 pm - 7 pm	GLAM Projects in Indic Wikipedia Context	Feasibility, Scalability and Scope	Rohini Lakshane(RL)
6 pm - 6.30 pm	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
5 pm - 6 pm	Essential Foss Tools for Wikimedians	Hands on Session	Rahamanuddin
4.30 pm - 5 pm	Essential FOSS Tools	Demonstration	RS
4 pm - 4.30 pm	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
3.30 pm - 4 pm	Panel Discussion	Importance of NPOV in Indian Languages	Participant Panel (TBD)
2.45 pm - 3.30 pm	Importance of NPOV	NPOV as an essential quality for Wikimedians with English Wikipedia as a case study	NVV Char and Tito Dutta
2 pm - 2.45 pm	Spectogram	Interactive activity to critically discuss the importance of NPOV	SA
11.45 am - 1 pm	DIY	Digitisation Techniques for Wikimedians-Hands on Session	Group Activity
11.30 am - 11.45 am	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
11 am - 11.30 am	DIY	Digitisation Techniques for Wikimedians	Viswa Prabha(VP)
10 am - 10.30 am	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
1 pm - 2 pm	Lunch

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Timing	Session	Topics to be Covered	Coordinator / Resource Person

7 am - 7.30am	Breakfast
7:30am	Departure to Janapada Loka
9 am - 9.30am	Expectations from GLAM Activity	Design,scope and expected outcomes	TH
9.30am - 1 pm	* GLAM Activity	Interviewing Janapada Loka Staff Documentation of Janapada Loka exhibits Resource Collection for Wiki Commons Material collection for GLAM Edit-a-thon	VP RL CIS-A2K
1 pm - 2 pm	Lunch
2 pm - 3.30 pm	Group Activity	GLAM Editathon in Indian Languages	VP and VV
3.30 pm - 4 pm	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
4 pm - 4.30 pm	Panel Discussion	Need and importance of GLAM Activities	TBD
4.30 pm - 5.30 pm	Focused Group Discussion	GLAM Activities to be pursued (Individual and Community)	Participant Groups
5.30 pm - 6.30 pm	Departure to CEO Centre
☾ 8 pm - 9 pm	Dinner at CEO Centre

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Timing	Session	Topics to be Covered	Coordinator / Resource Person

07:30 am - 08:30 am	Breakfast
08:30am - 9.30 am	Media and Social Media Strategies for Wikimedians	Mobilizing mainstream media to cover Wikimedia success stories Best practices of Social Media	Tinu Cherian
9.30am - 10 am	Building Communities for Wikimedia Movement	Introduction to WMIN	Ravishankar Ayyakkannu (RA)and Yohann Thomas (YT)
10am - 10.30 am	Building Communities for Wikimedia Movement	CIS-A2K Trials and Success	VV
☼ 10.30 am - 11:00 am	☕ Tea/Coffee Break
11am - 11.30 am	Group Discussion	Challenges & Opportunities in building an Indian Language Community online	Participant Groups
11.30 pm - 12.30 pm	Participant Presentation	Participant Presentations
12.30 pm - 1 pm	Lunch
1.30 pm - 2 pm	Focused Group Discussion	Road Ahead for GLAM activities in India Languages	Participant Presentations
2.30 pm - 3.30 pm	Participant Presentation	Submission of Outreach and GLAM Draft Plans
3.30 pm - 3.45 pm	Feedback Session
3.45 pm - 4 pm	Closing Remarks
4:00 pm	Departures or Visit to CIS

For any further queries please email—

tanveercis-india.org 09844439247
ajoy cis-india.org 09845492122
vishnucis-india.org 09845207308

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/train-the-trainer-program