The Centre for Internet and Society
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Digital Native: In digiville attention is Currency
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-june-11-2017-digital-native-in-digiville-attention-is-currency
<b>The increased importance on attention and the lack of it on social media gives all the more reason why we need to be discerning about what we invest our attention upon. </b>
<p>The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/digital-native-too-fast-too-furious-4697690/">published in the Indian Express</a> on June 11, 2017.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">We’ve grown to the idea that the digital is dangerously fast. We are now used to instant delivery of services, immediate streaming of programmes, and having a coterie of people available to us at a click and a scroll. The globe has shrunk, the world has flattened, and we live on a planet that is essentially a giant super-computer enveloped in information and data streams. There is much to celebrate about the light-speed traffic of digital networks, where the gap between yesterday and tomorrow is so small, that there is no more today left to live in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our quickly accelerated lives get closer and closer to the science-fiction reality that our fantasies had once imagined. People get connected in ways they had never imagined, and our social and personal lives experience dramatic upheavals that might have filled lifetimes in other epochs. While these transformations are surrounding us, and the digital fulfils the promises it had kept, it is time to realise that not all is well in digiville. Because, sure, the digital circuits give us access to unprecedented information and give us a window into bedrooms far away from home, but they also lead to triggers that were never possible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Last week, for instance, a large part of the world was frantically looking for the meaning of “covfefe”, after the Twitter-happy president of the USA decided that the world was ready for that word. Twitter went berserk, with conspiracy theories of what “covfefe” could mean, and the social web was exploding with much hilarity at the cost of the president. At the same time, the algorithms that govern the empires of Google Search, were being confounded by the fact that all the Indians, who have been quite prominent in their quest for digital porn, had suddenly changed their preferences and were really into “peacock sex”. Following the misguidedly strange proclamations of the judge from Rajasthan who desexualised the peacocks and cast a blemish on their records, hordes of people spent their time talking about the sex lives of peacocks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Both of these incidents, moments of great levity and mirth, are symptomatic of the reactive space that the web has become. The hashtags trended. Memes were created. YouTube suddenly got flooded with peacock-mating videos — don’t just take my word for it, seriously, go and search for them! — and the tweets went viral. If we were to quantify the time that was spent globally and locally, reacting to what can only be seen as the ramblings of ignorant demagogues; while it does reflect the democratic potentials of the digital web, it also shows how trigger-happy we’ve become in our interaction with information.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the digital web, attention is currency. The more time, clicks, scrolls, likes and shares a digital object accrues, the more valuable it becomes. So much so, that completely insignificant items can thus assume dramatic proportions and people who have nothing more to offer than their ability to garner attention, can become celebrities. Incidentally, there is algorithmic science behind it. There is a reason why not all the rubbish that goes online becomes virally distributed. The human actors — the people who follow you — and the influence they create, form a small part of why some things get attention. The real influencers, in this case, are actually networked algorithms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The network is not just a benign connection of nodes. It is a self-sustaining system that is designed for circulation. The network has its meaning and its lifeness only in its capacity to circulate data. The minute algorithms notice some information gathering interest, they start spreading it to even more avenues. As the information spreads and leaks into different spaces, more people like it — and the more people like it, the more it becomes subject to rapid circulation. This avalanche of attention that networks deposit on some information allows for these viral objects to emerge as significant, becoming time sinks where we all spend our time responding to them, without giving us a space of reflection or critical distance.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This same phenomenon creates uncivil, arrogant and boorish media personalities into celebrities. This is why fake news has become a naturalised phenomenon, where what is missing, is not our ability to discern between good and bad information, but the fact that most of this information comes with the endorsement of thousands of likes and millions of views, which gives it credibility even when it has no claims to truth. The rapid nature of our responsive digital lives needs to be questioned. While it is obvious that in the constantly updated data streams, momentary and micro engagements is the only survival mechanism that we have to cope with information overload, it is important that we check ourselves to make sure that the attention that we are spending is bestowed on objects and ideas that might be more worthy than peacocks having covfefes.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-june-11-2017-digital-native-in-digiville-attention-is-currency'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-june-11-2017-digital-native-in-digiville-attention-is-currency</a>
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No publishernishantResearchers at WorkDigital Natives2017-07-05T16:40:52ZBlog EntryMay 2017 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/may-2017-newsletter
<b>Welcome to the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) newsletter for May 2017. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dear readers,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">accessed here</a>.</p>
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<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-or-lack-thereof-a-documentation-of-public-availability-of-aadhaar-numbers-with-sensitive-personal-financial-information-1">compiled a report that highlighted four government projects run by various government departments</a> that have made sensitive personal financial information and Aadhaar numbers public on the project websites.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Article 19 had put out a call for applications for its Internet of Rights Fellowship in February 2017. Vidushi Marda was <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/vidushi-marda-selected-for-internet-of-rights-fellowship">selected for Internet of Rights Fellowship</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-on-the-draft-policy-on-it-accessibility-for-people-with-disabilities">gave inputs on a document on implementing digital accessibility</a> to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on May 2, 2017. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The 34th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) was held in Geneva from May 1 to 5, 2017. Anubha Sinha participated in the event and a summary report is available <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-a-summary-report">here</a>. She made statements on behalf of CIS on the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-discussion-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-libraries-and-archives">Discussion on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives</a> and on the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-proposal-for-analysis-of-copyright-related-to-the-digital-environment">Proposal for Analysis of Copyright Related to the Digital Environment</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K’s widely well-regarded flagship skill building program, Train The Trainer and MediaWiki Training was conducted in Kolkata earlier this year. Tito Dutta <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mini-ttt-and-mwt-held-in-kolkata">captured the developments in a blog post</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Although it has made the topographic maps or the Open Series Maps available to general public, Survey of India’s (SoI) Nakshe portal will have to go through a variety of litmus test, as the initiative fails to implement the mandates of public sharing of government data using open standards and open license as put forward by the NMP 2005 and NDSAP 2012, said Sumandro Chattapadhyay <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/survey-of-india-open-series-maps-fails-to-implement-public-sharing-of-govt-data">in an interview with Geospatial World</a> on May 02, 2017.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In an interview with <a class="external-link" href="https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1705/msg00001.html">nettime.org</a>, Geert Lovink discussed with Ramesh Srinivasan Tech Anthropology Today and "<a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/tech-anthropology-today-collaborate-rather-than-fetishize-from-afar">how can we embrace the realities of communities too-often relegated to the margins"</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In an article <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-may-3-2017-shyam-ponappa-policies-to-sustain-indias-market">published in the Business Standard</a> on May 3, 2017, Shyam Ponappa examined whether policies can be better framed to harness the market potential. Why is so much investment flowing into India's securities markets?</li>
</ul>
</td>
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</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>CIS in the news:</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-wire-may-1-2015-130-million-aadhaar-numbers-were-made-public-says-new-report">130 Million Aadhaar Numbers Were Made Public, Says New Report</a> (The Wire; May 1, 2017 and MensXP.com; May 5, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomberg-quint-may-2-2017-mahima-kapoor-aadhaar-details-of-people-available-on-govt-sites">Aadhaar Details Of 13.5 Crore People Available On Government Sites</a> (Mahima Kapoor; Bloomberg Quint; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/pti-news-may-2-2017-aadhaar-numbers-of-135mn-may-have-leaked-claims-cis-report">Aadhaar numbers of 135 mn may have leaked, claims CIS report</a> (Press Trust of India; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-may-2-2017-details-of-135-million-aadhaar-card-holders-may-have-leaked-claims-cis-report">Details of 135 million Aadhaar card holders may have leaked, claims CIS report</a> (Hindustan Times; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/newslaundry-shruti-menon-may-2-2017-uidai-remains-silent-on-aadhaar-leaks-of-users-through-govt-portals">UIDAI remains silent on #Aadhaarleaks of 13 crore users through government portals</a> (Shruti Menon; Newslaundry; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/amar-bazar-patrika-may-2-2017-13-crore-aadhaar-leaked-due-to-poor-security-in-4-govt-websites">১৩ কোটি আধার তথ্য ফাঁস চার সরকারি পোর্টাল থেকে! বিস্ফোরক দাবি রিপোর্টে</a> (Amar Bazar Patrika; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/new-indian-express-may-2-2017-akram-mohammed-13-crore-aadhaar-numbers-on-four-government-websites-compromised">13 crore Aadhaar numbers on four government websites compromised: Report</a> (Akram Mohammed; New Indian Express; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/dna-may-2-2017-report-aadhaar-numbers-of-135-mn-may-have-leaked-claims-cis-report">Aadhaar numbers of 135 mn may have leaked, claims CIS report</a> (DNA; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/manorama-may-2-2017-jikku-varghese-jacob-biggest-blast-on-aadhaar-leak-so-far-govt-sites-leaked-data-of-13-crore-people">Biggest blast on Aadhaar leak so far: govt sites leaked data of 13 crore people</a> (Jikku Varghese Jacob; Manorama; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/scroll-may-2-2017-around-13-crore-aadhaar-numbers-easily-available-on-government-portals-says-report">Around 13 crore Aadhaar numbers easily available on government portals, says report</a> (Scroll.in; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/one-india-may-2-2017-anusha-ravi-what-privacy-13-crore-aadhaar-numbers-accessible-on-governmental-portals">What privacy? 13 crore Aadhaar numbers accessible on government portals</a> (Anusha Ravi; Oneindia; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-may-2-2017-komal-gupta-govt-may-have-made-135-million-aadhaar-numbers-public-cis-report">Govt may have made 135 million Aadhaar numbers public: CIS report</a> (Komal Gupta; Livemint; May 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-may-5-2017-aadhaar-numbers-of-135-mn-may-have-leaked-claims-cis-report">Aadhaar numbers of 135 mn may have leaked, claims CIS report</a> (The Times of India; May 2, 2017)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindu-krishnadas-rajagopal-may-3-2017-aadhaar-data-leaks-not-from-uidai">Aadhaar data leaks not from UIDAI: Centre</a> (Krishnadas Rajagopal; Hindu; May 3, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-register-richard-chirgwin-may-3-2017-135-million-indian-government-payment-card-details-leaked">135 MEELLION Indian government payment card details leaked</a> (Richard Chirgwin; The Register; May 3, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-may-3-2017-aadhaar-data-of-over-13-crore-people-exposed-new-report">Aadhaar data of over 13 crore people exposed: New report</a> (Indian Express; May 3, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-times-bobin-abraham-may-3-2017-in-the-biggest-data-leak-info-of-13-crore-aadhaar-card-holders-has-been-compromised-and-is-available-online">In The Biggest Data Leak, Info Of 13 Crore Aadhaar Card Holders Has Been Compromised And Is Available Online</a> (Bobins Abraham; The Times of India; May 3, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/medianama-nikhil-pahwa-may-4-2017-around-130-135-m-aadhaar-numbers-published-on-four-sites-alone">Around 130-135M Aadhaar Numbers published on 4 sites alone</a> (Nikhil Pahwa; Medianama; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-rohith-jyothish-may-5-2017-aadhaar-the-largest-biometric-database-globally-but-it-is-leaky-by-design">Aadhaar's the largest biometric database globally but it is leaky by design</a> (Rohith Jyotish; Global Voices; May 2, 2017 and Business Standard; May 5, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-news-minute-rakesh-mehar-may-4-2017-why-aadhaar-leaks-should-worry-you-and-is-biometrics-really-safe">Why Aadhaar leaks should worry you, and is biometrics really safe?</a> (Rakesh Mehar; Newsminute; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/medianama-vivek-pai-may-4-2017-indian-govt-says-it-is-still-drafting-privacy-law">Indian Government says it is still drafting privacy law, but doesn’t give timelines</a> (Vivek Pai; Medianama; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/aaj-tak-may-4-2017-135-million-aadhaar-number-leaked-by-govt-website-cis-report">आधार नंबर, नाम, पता, बैंक अकाउंट और दूसरी संवेदनशील जानकारियां लीक: CIS रिपोर्ट</a> (Aaj Tak; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ndtv-may-4-2017-manas-pratap-singh-government-knew-of-mega-aadhaar-leak-ministries-were-warned">With digitisation at the forefront, government departments need to be cautious about digital security</a> (Manas Pratap Singh; NDTV; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-may-4-2017-aijaz-hussain-kashmir-telecom-firms-struggle-to-block-22-banned-social-media-sites">Kashmir: Telecom firms struggle to block 22 banned social media sites </a>(Aijaz Hussain; Livemint; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-today-may-4-2017-aadhaar-data-of-130-millions-bank-account-details-leaked-from-govt-websites-report">Aadhaar data of 130 millions, bank account details leaked from govt websites: Report</a> (India Today; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bbc-news-soutik-biswas-may-4-2017-aadhaar-are-a-billion-identities-at-risk-on-indias-biometric-database">Aadhaar: Are a billion identities at risk on India's biometric database</a> (Soutik Biswas; BBC News; May 4, 2017 and Rawlson King; Biometric Update.com; May 5, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/counterview-may-5-2017-135-million-aadhaar-details-100-million">135 million aadhaar details, 100 million bank accounts "leaked" from government websites: Researchers</a> (Counterview; May 5, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-kim-arora-may-5-2017-suicide-videos-facebook-beefs-up-team-to-monitor-content">Suicide videos: Facebook beefs up team to monitor content</a> (Kim Arora; The Times of India; May 5, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-may-5-2017-anirban-sen-aadhaar-assurances-fail-to-assuage-privacy-concerns">Aadhaar assurances fail to assuage privacy concerns</a> (Anirban Sen; Livemint; May 5, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/newsminute-may-6-2017-a-13-year-olds-rape-in-tn-highlights-the-major-threat-online-sexual-grooming-poses-to-children">A 13-year-old's rape in TN highlights the major threat online sexual grooming poses to children</a> (Priyanka Thirumurthy; May 6, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/new-indian-express-may-6-2017-experts-stress-on-need-for-enhanced-security">Experts stress on need for enhanced security</a> (New Indian Express; May 6, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-wire-may-10-2017-shreyashi-roy-taking-cognisance-of-the-deeply-flawed-system-that-is-aadhaar">Taking Cognisance of the Deeply Flawed System That Is Aadhaar</a> (Shreyashi Roy; Wire; May 10, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/deccan-herald-may-11-2017-plug-data-leak-before-imposing-aadhaar">Plug data leak before imposing Aadhaar</a> (Deccan Herald; May 11, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-indian-express-may-11-2017-aadhaar-data-leak-take-precautions-while-sharing-info-on-websites-meity-tells-all-depts">Aadhaar data leak: Take precautions while sharing info on websites, MEITy tells all depts</a> (Indian Express; May 11, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-sanjay-kumar-singh-aadhaar-security-here-is-how-your-private-information-can-be-protected">Aadhaar security: Here's how your private information can be protected</a> (Sanjay Kumar Singh; Business Standard; May 11, 2017).</li>
<li> <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-rohith-jyothish-may-31-2017-online-troll-attack-critics-of-indias-aadhaar-state-id-system">Online Trolls Attack Critics of India's Aadhaar State ID System</a> (Rohith Jyothish; Global Voices; May 31, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/los-angeles-times-shashank-bengali-may-12-2017-india-is-building-a-biometric-database-for-1.3-billion-people-and-enrollment-is-mandatory">India is building a biometric database for 1.3 billion people — and enrollment is mandatory</a> (Shashank Bengali; Los Angeles Times; May 12, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-may-13-2017-alnoor-peermohamed-and-raghu-krishnan-aadhaar-has-become-a-whipping-boy-nandan-nilekani">Watch: Aadhaar has become a whipping boy: Nandan Nilekani</a> (Alnoor Peermohamed and Raghu Krishnan; Business Standard; May 13, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/x-conomy-benjamin-romano-may-16-2017-partnership-on-ai-adds-corporate-ngo-members-charts-initial-course">Partnership on AI Adds Corporate, NGO Members, Charts Initial Course</a> (Benjamin Romano; Xconomy; May 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/newsminute-may-16-2017-soumya-chatterjee-wannacry-atms-not-to-shut-down-clarifies-rbi">WannaCry: ATMs not to shut down, clarifies RBI, but how safe are our machines?</a> (Soumya Chatterjee; May 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/axios-may-16-2017-google-and-facebook-artificial-intelligence-group-adds-new-members">Google, Facebook's AI group adds new members</a> (Jens Meyer; Axios; May 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/tech-republic-may-17-2017-22-companies-join-partnership-on-ai">22 companies join Partnership on AI, begin to study AI's impact on work and society</a> (Alison DeNisco; TechRepublic; May 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ciol-may-17-2017-intel-salesforce-ebay-sony-and-others-join-the-grand-ai-partnership-club">Intel, Salesforce, eBay, Sony and others join the grand AI partnership club</a> (CIOL; May 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/new-indian-express-kiran-parashar-km-and-shruthi-hm-it-companies-in-bengaluru-on-high-alert-over-wannacry-ransomware">IT companies in Bengaluru on high alert over WannaCry ransomware</a> (Kiran Parashar K M & Shruthi H M; New Indian Express; May 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/sd-times-may-17-partnership-on-ai-adds-new-organizations-to-its-network">Partnership on AI adds new organizations to its network</a> (Madison Moore; Software Development Times; May 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/silicon-monica-tilves-may-17-2017-intel-ebay-sap-salesforce-sony-collaboration-aritificial-intelligence">Intel, eBay, SAP, Salesforce y Sony colaborarán en inteligencia artificial</a> (Monica Tilves; Silicon; May 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/telecom-paper-may-17-2017-22-nieuwe-leden-voor-partnership-on-ai">22 nieuwe leden voor Partnership on AI </a>(Telecom Paper; May 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-mahendra-singh-may-18-2017-provide-hacker-details-outfit-that-claimed-data-leak-told">Provide hacker details, outfit that claimed data leak told</a> (Mahendra Singh; The Times of India; May 18, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-may-18-2017-mahendra-singh-uidai-asks-centre-for-internet-and-society-to-provide-hacker-details">UIDAI asks Centre for Internet & Society to provide hacker details</a> (Mahendra Singh; Economic Times; May 18, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-alnoor-peermohamed-may-19-2017-hack-exposes-zomatos-weak-protection-of-customer-data-say-cyber-experts">Hack exposes Zomato's weak protection of customer data, say Cyber experts</a> (Alnoor Peermohamed; Business Standard; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomber-quint-may-19-2017-aayush-ailawadi-whats-hard-to-digest-about-the-zomato-hacking">What’s Hard To Digest About The Zomato Hacking</a> (Aayush Ailawadi; Bloomberg Quint; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/financial-express-may-19-2017-pti-uidai-puts-posers-to-cis-over-aadhaar-data-leak-claim">UIDAI puts posers to CIS over Aadhaar data leak claim</a> (Press Trust of India and Financial Express; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-samarth-bansal-faking-it-on-whatsapp-how-india-s-favourite-messaging-app-turned-into-a-rumour-mill">Faking it on WhatsApp: How India's favourite messaging app is turning into a rumour mill</a> (Samarth Bansal; Hindustan Times; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-wire-may-19-2017-ajoy-ashirwad-mahaprahasta-debate-over-aadhaar-turns-nasty-as-critics-accuse-supporters-of-online-trolling">Debate over #Aadhaar Turns Nasty as Critics Accuse Supporters of Online Trolling</a> (Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprahasta; The Wire; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-may-19-2017-kim-arora-and-digbijay-mishra-hacker-steals-17-million-zomato-users-data-briefly-puts-it-on-dark-web">Hacker steals 17 million Zomato users’ data, briefly puts it on dark web</a> (Kim Arora and Digbijay Mishra with inputs from Ranjani Ayyar; The Times of India; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/medianama-nikhil-pahwa-may-19-2017-uidai-cis-india-aadhaar">UIDAI goes after org that disclosed government departments were releasing Aadhaar data</a> (Nikhil Pahwa; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hoyen-tv-may-20-2017-cirilo-laguardia-developer-releases-wanna-cry-key-recovery-tool-for-windows-xp">Developer releases WannaCry key-recovery tool for Windows XP</a> (Cirilo Laguardia; Hoyen TV; May 20, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/scroll-may-20-2017-anumeha-yadav-will-aadhaar-leaks-be-used-as-an-excuse-to-shut-out-scrutiny-of-welfare-schemes">Will Aadhaar leaks be used as an excuse to shut out scrutiny of welfare schemes?</a> (Anumeha Yadav; Scroll.in; May 20, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/journaldu-maghreb-may-20-2017-microsoft-says-wannacry-ransomware-must-be-a-wake-up-call">Microsoft says WannaCry ransomware must be a wake-up call for governments</a> (Journaldu Maghreb; May 20, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-news-journal-juana-mckenzie-may-20-2017-noida-cyber-cell-gives-tips-on-preventing-wannacry-attack">Noida cyber cell gives tips on preventing WannaCry attack</a> (Juana McKenzie; World News Journal; May 20, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/villages-suntimes-may-21-2017-ellis-neal-chinese-state-media-says-us-should-take-some-blame-for-cyber-attack">Chinese state media says U.S. should take some blame for cyber attack</a> (Ellis Neal; Villages Suntimes; May 21, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-sanjay-kumar-singh-may-23-2017-zomato-hack-you-need-to-enhance-online-security-with-a-password-manager">Zomato hack: You need to enhance online security with a password manager</a> (Sanjay Kumar Singh; Business Standard; May 23, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/inc42-may-23-2017-shweta-modgil-sharad-sharma-aplogises-for-trolling-aadhaar-critics">Sharad Sharma Apologises for Trolling Aadhaar Critics; Unmasking Ispirit's Controversial Trolling Program</a> (Shweta Modgil; Inc 42; May 23, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-may-24-2017-shalina-pillai-anand-j-ispirts-sharad-sharma-sorry-i-trolled-aadhaar-critics">iSpirt's Sharad Sharma: Sorry, I trolled Aadhaar critics</a> (Shalina Pillai and Anand J; The Times of India; May 24, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/catch-news-may-25-2017-sharad-sharma-apos-case-shows-how-rampant-troll-culture-has-become-under-modi">Sharad Sharma's case shows how rampant troll culture has become under Modi</a> (Catch News; May 25, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-indiasaga-may-25-2017-aadhaar-card-one-identity-multiple-disorders">Aadhaar Card: One Identity, Multiple Disorders</a> (Gaurav Raj; India Saga; May 25, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/dna-may-28-2017-heena-khandelwal-tweets-from-the-afterlife">Tweets from the afterlife</a> (Heena Khandelwal; DNA; May 28, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-may-29-2017-bharat-joshi-bbmp-faces-ire-for-publishing-pourakarmikas-aadhaar-details-on-website">BBMP faces ire for publishing pourakarmikas' Aadhaar details on website</a> (Bharat Joshi; Economic Times; May 29, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>CIS members wrote the following articles</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-quint-amber-sinha-and-aradhya-sethia-may-1-2017-aadhaar-case-beyond-privacy-an-issue-of-bodily-integrity">Aadhaar Case: Beyond Privacy, An Issue of Bodily Integrity</a> (Amber Sinha and Aradhya Sethia; Quint; May 1, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-14-2017-digital-native-free-speech-you-must-be-joking">Digital native: Free speech? You must be joking!</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; May 14, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-28-2017-digital-native-look-before-you-digitally-leap">Digital native: Look before you (digitally) leap</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; May 28, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-------------------------------------<br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility & Inclusion</a> <br /> ------------------------------------- <br /> India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities, we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. 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; "><b>Submission</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-on-the-draft-policy-on-it-accessibility-for-people-with-disabilities">Comments on the draft Policy on IT Accessibility for People with Disabilities</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; May 19, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>-----------------------------------</b><br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br />Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is 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; ">►Copyright</p>
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-a-summary-report">34th SCCR: A Summary Report</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 15, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-proposal-for-analysis-of-copyright-related-to-the-digital-environment">34th SCCR: CIS Statement on the Proposal for Analysis of Copyright Related to the Digital Environment</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 15, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-discussion-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-libraries-and-archives">34th SCCR: CIS Statement on the Discussion on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 15, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-observer-statements-on-proposal-for-analysis-of-copyright-related-to-the-digital-environment">34th SCCR: Observer Statements on Proposal for Analysis of Copyright related to the Digital Environment</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 30, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-observer-statements-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-educational-and-research-institutions-and-persons-with-other-disabilities">34th SCCR: Observer Statements on Limitations and Exceptions for Educational and Research Institutions</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 30, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/34th-sccr-observer-statements-on-limitations-and-exceptions-for-libraries-and-archives">34th SCCR: Observer Statements on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 30, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/fixing-copyright-for-education-sccr34-side-event">Fixing Copyright for Education</a> (SCCR34 Side Event) (Hosted by Communia, EIFL, Creative Commons, and PIJIP; May 5, 2017). Anubha Sinha was a speaker. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</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>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wiki-loves-mayabazaar">Wiki Loves Mayabazaar</a> (Pavan Santhosh; May 1, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/marathi-wikipedia-symposium-at-gokhale-institute-of-politics-economics">Marathi Wikipedia Symposium at Gokhale Institute Of Politics & Economics</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; May 1, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-wikimedia-commons-and-wikisource-orientation-workshop-at-vigyan-ashram-pabal-pune-district">Digitisation, Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource Orientation Workshop at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, Pune District</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; May 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-j-p-naik-centre-for-education-development-pune">Thematic Edit-a-thon at J.P.Naik Centre for Education & Development, Pune</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; May 10, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/train-the-trainer-2017">Train The Trainer 2017</a> (Manasa Rao; May 10, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/continuing-community-engagement-communities-of-interest-and-quarrying">Continuing community engagement: Communities of interest and Quarrying</a> (Manasa Rao; May 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/preliminary-research-result-on-wikipedia-gender-gap-in-india">Preliminary research result on Wikipedia gender gap in India</a> (Ting-Yi Chang; May 22, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mediawiki-training-2017">MediaWiki Training 2017</a> (Tito Dutta and Ananth Subray; May 23, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mini-ttt-and-mwt-held-in-kolkata">Mini TTT and MWT held in Kolkata</a> (Tito Dutta; May 23, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><i>Note: The workshops for the above blog posts were held earlier but the reports were published during the month of May</i>.</p>
<p>►Openness</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry<br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/survey-of-india-open-series-maps-fails-to-implement-public-sharing-of-govt-data">SoI’s Open Series Maps Fails to Implement Public Sharing of Govt Data</a> (Geospatial World; May 4, 2017). Sumandro Chattapadhyay was interviewed.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
</ul>
<b>----------------------------------- </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /><b> -----------------------------------</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<p>►Freedom of Speech and Expression</p>
<p><b>Submission</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-from-the-centre-for-internet-and-society-on-renewal-of-net-registry-agreement">Comments from the Centre for Internet and Society on Renewal of .NET Registry Agreement</a> (Vidushi Marda with inputs from Pranesh Prakash and Sunil Abraham; May 31, 2017). </li>
</ul>
<p><b>Event Organized</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/communication-design-and-visualising-information">Communication Design and Visualising Information</a> (CIS, Bengaluru; May 5, 2017). Saumyaa conducted a session on the broad principles of communication design and visualising information. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<p><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-press-freedom-day-2017">World Press Freedom Day 2017</a> (UNESCO and the Digital Empowerment Foundation; New Delhi; May 3, 2017). Udbhav Tiwari participated in the event.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/consilience-2017-a-conference-on-artificial-intelligence-law">Consilience 2017 - A Conference on Artificial Intelligence & Law</a> (Organized by National Law School of India University; May 20, 2017). Vidushi Marda was a panelist.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p>►Privacy</p>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><b>Submission</b></p>
<ul>
<li> <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/comments-on-the-statistical-disclosure-control-report">Comments on the Statistical Disclosure Control Report</a> (Srinivs Kodali and Amber Sinha; May 2, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry<br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-or-lack-thereof-a-documentation-of-public-availability-of-aadhaar-numbers-with-sensitive-personal-financial-information-1">(Updated) Information Security Practices of Aadhaar (or lack thereof): A documentation of public availability of Aadhaar Numbers with sensitive personal financial information</a> (Amber Sinha and Srinivas Kodali; May 1, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Organized</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/firstfridayatcis-amutha-arunachalam-stand-shielded-of-digital-rights-may-05">Stand Shielded of Digital Rights</a> (CIS; New Delhi; May 5, 2017). Amutha Arunachalam gave a talk.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/meeting-on-proactive-disclosure-and-personal-data-delhi-may-13">Meeting on Proactive Disclosure and Personal Data</a> (CIS; New Delhi; May 13, 2017).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/4th-national-standards-conclave-evolving-a-comprehensive-national-strategy-for-standards-sectoral-and-regional-inclusiveness">4th National Standards Conclave Evolving a Comprehensive National Strategy for Standards Sectoral and Regional Inclusiveness</a> (Organized by Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry; May 1 - 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/stockholm-internet-forum-2017">Stockholm Internet Forum 2017</a> (Organized by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency; Stockholm; May 15 to 18, 2017). Elonnai Hickok was a panelist in the session, "Private sector and civil society collaboration to advance freedom online".</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/open-house-on-information-breaches">Open house on information breaches</a> (Organized by Has Geek; Bengaluru; May 26, 2017). Udbhav Tiwari was a speaker.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/t20-germany-and-beyond-digital-economy">T20 Germany and Beyond: Digital Economy</a> (Organized by GIZ and EPF; May 29 - 30, 2017). Elonnai Hickok participated in a round-table discussion.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a> <br /> -----------------------------------<b><b> </b><br /> </b>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><b>Newspaper Column</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-may-3-2017-shyam-ponappa-policies-to-sustain-indias-market">Policies to Sustain India's Market</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; May 3, 2017 and Organizing India Blogspot; May 4, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>-----------------------------------</b><br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/tech-anthropology-today-collaborate-rather-than-fetishize-from-afar">Tech Anthropology Today: Collaborate, Rather than Fetishize from Afar</a> (Geert Lovink and Ramesh Srinivasan; nettime.org; May 16, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/consultative-meeting-for-a-digital-archive-lab">Consultative Meeting for a Digital Archive Lab</a> (Organized by Ambedkar University, New Delhi; May 20, 2017). P.P. Sneha participated in the meeting.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Twitter:<a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india"> http://twitter.com/cis_india</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Access to Knowledge: <a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Information Policy: <a href="https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy">https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy</a></li>
<li> Facebook - Access to Knowledge:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k"> https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: <a>a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Researchers at Work: <a>raw@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> List - Researchers at Work: <a href="https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers">https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer and 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.</div>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<div 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>.</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/may-2017-newsletter'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/may-2017-newsletter</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceResearchers at Work2017-06-17T02:46:03ZPageJapleen Pasricha - Gendered Spaces in Digital Rights (Delhi, June 02, 5 pm)
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/firstfridayatcis-japleen-pasricha-gendered-spaces-in-digital-rights-delhi-june-02
<b>It is our priviledge to annouce that Japleen Pasricha will be the speaker for the June #FirstFridayAtCIS event. Japleen smashes the patriarchy for a living, and is Founder & Editor-in-chief of Feminism in India. The talk will focus on her experience of working on gender and digital rights in India, the ways in which "gender" functions as a critical lens in digital rights discourse and practice in India (or not), and the gendered nature of digital rights spaces in India. If you are joining us, please RSVP at the soonest as we have only limited space in our office.</b>
<p> </p>
<h3><strong>Japleen Pasricha</strong></h3>
<h4>Founder & Editor-in-chief, <a href="https://feminisminindia.com/" target="_blank">Feminism in India</a></h4>
<p>Japleen smashes the patriarchy for a living. Founder & Editor-in-chief of Feminism in India, she is a feminist activist based in New Delhi, India. She is a writer, educator, campaigner and researcher. She has vast experience in digital media and online publishing. Her interest lies in women’s studies, global feminism, gender, sexuality, VAW, SRHR, feminist praxis and internet as a space. Currently she is working on online violence against women and media representation of gender and gender-based violence. She’d like to use skills to intersect gender and sexuality with digital & social media and develop safe online spaces for women and marginalized communities.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3><strong>RSVP</strong></h3>
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdp_ZWWOWsQxvM2IctUiQdPJwo9UYNCS-rn038qysmnzxeaIg/viewform?embedded=true" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" height="666" width="600">Loading...</iframe>
<p> </p>
<h3><strong>Location</strong></h3>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d876.157470894426!2d77.20553462919722!3d28.550842498903158!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0x834072df81ffcb39!2sCentre+for+Internet+and+Society!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sin!4v1493818109951" frameborder="0" height="450" width="600"></iframe>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/firstfridayatcis-japleen-pasricha-gendered-spaces-in-digital-rights-delhi-june-02'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/firstfridayatcis-japleen-pasricha-gendered-spaces-in-digital-rights-delhi-june-02</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroGenderResearchers at Work#FirstFridayAtCISDigital Rights2017-05-31T03:49:26ZEventDigital native: Look before you (digitally) leap
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-28-2017-digital-native-look-before-you-digitally-leap
<b>Creating a digital future is great, but there’s a serious need to secure the infrastructure first.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/digital-native-look-before-you-digitally-leap-4676270/">Indian Express</a> on May 28, 2017.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Digital technologies of connectivity have one unrelenting promise — they offer us new ways of doing things, augmenting existing practices, amplifying capacities and affording new possibilities of information and data transactions that accelerate the ways in which we live. This idea of the internet as infrastructure is central to India’s transition into an information technologies future.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nandan Nilekani, almost a decade ago, in his book, Imagining India, had clearly charted how the digital is the basis for shaping the future of our communities, societies and governance. As one of the architects of Aadhaar, Nilekani had argued that the country of the 21st century will have to be one that seriously invests in the digital infrastructure.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In 10 short years, we have reached a point where we no longer question the enormous investment we make in digital systems of governance and functioning, and we appreciate the economic and networked values of projects like #DigitalIndia and #MakeInIndia that shape our markets and cities into becoming the new cyber-hubs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There is no denying that digital offers a new way of consolidating a country as polyphonic, multicultural, expansive and diverse as India. We also have to appreciate that, even if selectively, the digitisation of public records, government services, and state support is clearly producing an administrative momentum that is reforming various practices of corruption and incompetence in the massive state machinery. The role of the digital as infrastructure has been a boon for many developing countries.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This positioning, however, masks the fact that infrastructure needs its own support and care systems. Take roads, for example. Roads allow for connectivity, movement and mobility between different spaces. They are one of the most important of state and public infrastructures and for all our jokes about pot-holes and eroding spaces for pedestrians, roads remain the life-line of our everyday life. A complex mechanism of planning, regulation and maintenance needs to be put into place in order to make roads survive.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The amount of attention we pay to roads — the material quality, the land that it occupies, the lanes for different vehicles, the traffic lights and zebra crossings, blockages and streamlines, authorising specific use of roads and disallowing certain activities to happen there — is staggering. A public planner would tell you that before the road comes into being, the idea of the road has to be formulated. The road needs protection and planning and its own infrastructure of support and creation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When it comes to the information superhighway of the digital web, this remains forgotten. We are so focused on the digital as infrastructure that we seem to pay no attention to its infrastructure. Thus, when we proposed, deployed and now enforced a project like Aadhaar, the focus remained on its unfolding and its operations. Aadhaar as an aspiration of governance has its values and has the capacity to become a system that augments statecraft.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, the infrastructure that is needed to make Aadhaar possible — rules and regulations around privacy, bills and acts about data sharing and ownership, contexts of informed consent and engagement, community awareness and data security protocol — have been missing from the debates. For years now, activists have been advising and warning the state that building this digital infrastructure without building the contexts within which they make sense is not just irresponsible, but downright dangerous.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Different governments have turned a deaf ear to these protests. Now, when the Aadhaar portals are found disclosing massive volumes of public data, making people vulnerable to data and identity theft and fraud, we are realising the massive projects we have started without thinking about the context of security.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With the ongoing controversies around #AadhaarLeaks, the question is not whether the disclosure of this information was a leak, a breach or an ignorant exposure of sensitive information. The response to it cannot be just about fixing the infrastructure and building more robust systems. The question that we need to confront is how do we stop thinking of the internet as infrastructure and start focusing on the infrastructure that needs to be set into place so that these digital systems promise safety, security, and protection for the lives they intersect with.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-28-2017-digital-native-look-before-you-digitally-leap'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-28-2017-digital-native-look-before-you-digitally-leap</a>
</p>
No publishernishantBiometricsResearchers at WorkAadhaar2017-06-08T01:22:54ZBlog Entry Consultative Meeting for a Digital Archive Lab
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/consultative-meeting-for-a-digital-archive-lab
<b>A meeting for a digital archive lab was held at the Centre for Community Knowledge, Ambedkar University in New Delhi on May 20, 2017. P.P. Sneha participated in the meeting. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The proposed Digital Archive initiative at AUD will work as an interdisciplinary archive, working across schools and divisions. There is a need to create a specialized set of skills within AUD for archiving, cataloguing, digitization and conservation. This consultative meeting is envisaged for identifying skills and staff needs, timeframe, direction, outreach and a support network. Outcomes of this consultative meeting will help to finalise the resources required for setting up an online archival platform on the AUD server. <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/consultative-meeting-for-digital-archive-lab.pdf">Click </a>to see the agenda.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/consultative-meeting-for-a-digital-archive-lab'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/consultative-meeting-for-a-digital-archive-lab</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaResearchers at Work2017-06-08T13:07:57ZNews ItemApril 2017 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2017-newsletter
<b>Welcome to the CIS newsletter for April 2017. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dear readers,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">accessed here</a>.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<table class="grid listing" style="text-align: justify; ">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Highlights</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In a <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-or-lack-thereof-a-documentation-of-public-availability-of-aadhaar-numbers-with-sensitive-personal-financial-information-1">report on the information security practices of Aadhaar</a>, Amber Sinha and Srinivas Kodali documented numerous instances of publicly available Aadhaar numbers along with other personally identifiable information of individuals on government websites. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS along with like minded organizations <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/mobile-accessibility-practices">made a submission to the Government of India</a> to frame a feasible accessibility guidelines for mobile apps since there is no single standard in existence at the moment.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/sambad-100-women-edit-a-thon">two-day 100 Women Edit-a-thon</a> was held in March 2017 by CIS-A2K team along with Odisha's biggest newspaper Sambad. The event was inspired by BBC’s 100 Women series and edit-a-thons with the same name in December 2016. More than 20 female journalists participated and registered as new Odia Wikipedians.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">On March 31, 2017, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training released a Circular framing rules under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (“RTI Rules”). The Ministry invited comments on on the RTI Rules. <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-on-the-right-to-information-rules-2017">CIS submitted its comments</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In an article originally published in <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-hindu-businessline-march-31-2017-sunil-abraham-its-the-technology-stupid">Hindu Businessline</a> on March 31, Sunil Abraham lists out 11 reasons why Aadhaar is not just non-smart but also insecure.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Shuttleworth Foundation has announced <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/shuttleworth-foundation-april-19-2017-sunil-abraham-honorary-steward-september-2017">Sunil Abraham as Honorary Steward</a> for its September 2017 fellowship round. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS worked on a three part case study. The first case study on digital protection of traditional knowledge was published by GIS Watch in December 2016. The other two case studies along with the synthesis overview <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/apc-april-23-2017-sunil-abraham-and-vidushi-marda-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india">has also been published</a>. </li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>CIS in the news:</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-april-4-2017-ngos-individuals-urge-state-cms-to-curb-internet-shutdown">NGOs, individuals urge state CMs to curb Internet shutdown</a> (The Times of India; April 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/buzzfeednews-pranav-dixit-april-4-2017-indias-national-id-program-may-be-turning-the-country-into-a-surveillance-state">India’s National ID Program May Be Turning The Country Into A Surveillance State</a> (Pranav Dixit; BuzzFeed News; April 4, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-today-neha-vashishth-april-6-2017-privacy-what-bengaluru-police-leaks-phone-numbers-on-twitter">Privacy, what? Bengaluru police leaks 46,000 phone numbers on Twitter</a> (Neha Vashishth; India Today; April 6, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-april-6-2017-umesh-yadav-bengaluru-cops-twitter-handle-in-ethical-storm">Bengaluru cops' twitter handle in ethical storm</a> (Umesh Yadav; The Times of India; April 6, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-april-12-2017-komal-gupta-opposition-questions-govt-move-to-make-aadhaar-must">Opposition questions govt move to make Aadhaar must</a> (Komal Gupta; Livemint; April 12, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-april-21-2017-komal-gupta-apurva-vishwanath-suranjana-roy-aadhaar-a-widening-net">Aadhaar: A widening net</a> (Komal Gupta, Apurva Vishwanath and Suranjana Roy; Livemint; April 21, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/ians-april-24-2017-chemistry-research-in-india-still-not-in-big-league">Chemistry research in India 'still not in big league'</a> (IANS and India Online News Portal; April 24, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-world-regina-mihindukulasuriya-april-26-2017-stop-the-haphazard-internet-shutdown-says-mp-jay-panda">Stop the Haphazard Internet Shutdown Says MP Jay Panda</a> (Regina Mihindukulasuriya; Businessworld; April 26, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/national-herald-sebastian-pt-april-26-2017-now-aadhaar-details-displayed-in-mizoram-too">Now, Aadhaar details displayed in Mizoram too</a> (Sebastian P.T.; National Herald; April 26, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-news-minute-priyanka-thirumurthy-april-26-2017-after-spb-ilaiyaraaja-sony-music-and-sun-network-lock-horns-over-copyrights">After SPB-Ilaiyaraaja, Sony Music and Sun Network lock horns over copyrights</a> (Priyanka Thirumurthy; Newsminute; April 26, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/inforisk-today-april-26-2017-suparna-goswami-varun-haran-analysis-data-protection-in-india-getting-it-right">Analysis: Data Protection in India - Getting It Right</a> (Suparna Goswami and Varun Haran; Info Risk Today; April 26, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-telegraph-april-27-2017-india-bans-social-media-in-kashmir-for-one-month">India bans social media in Kashmir for one month</a> (Telegraph; April 27, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-april-28-2017-shruti-dhapola-j-k-social-media-ban">J&K social media ban: Use of 132-year-old Act can’t stand judicial scrutiny, say experts</a> (Shruti Dhapola; Indian Express; April 28, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><b><br />CIS members wrote the following articles:</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindu-op-ed-sunil-abraham-march-31-2017-how-aadhaar-compromises-privacy-and-how-to-fix-it">How Aadhaar compromises privacy? And how to fix it?</a> (Sunil Abraham; Hindu; April 1, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-2-2017-digital-native-you-can-check-out-you-can-never-leave">Digital native: You can check out, you can never leave</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; April 2, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindustan-times-pranesh-prakash-april-3-2017-aadhaar-marks-a-fundamental-shift-in-citizen-state-relations">Aadhaar marks a fundamental shift in citizen-state relations: From ‘We the People’ to ‘We the Government’</a> (Pranesh Prakash; Hindustan Times; April 3, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-hindu-businessline-march-31-2017-sunil-abraham-its-the-technology-stupid">It’s the technology, stupid</a> (Sunil Abraham; Hindu Businessline; April 7, 2017). </li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/asian-age-amber-sinha-april-10-2017-privacy-in-the-age-of-big-data">Privacy in the Age of Big Data</a> (Amber Sinha; Asian Age; April 10, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-17-2017-digital-native-are-you-still-having-fun">Digital native: Are You Still Having Fun?</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; April 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-30-2017-digital-native-snap-out-of-outrage-mode">Digital native: Snap out of outrage mode</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; April 30, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-------------------------------------<br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility & Inclusion</a> <br /> ------------------------------------- <br /> India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities, we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. 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; "><b>Submission</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/mobile-accessibility-practices">Mobile Accessibility Practices</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; April 12, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Event</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/events/global-accessibility-awareness-day-2017">Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2017</a> (Organized by Prakat Solutions, Mithra Jyothi and CIS; Bengaluru; May 18, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>----------------------------------- </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br />Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is 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>►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>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Note: All the following events were held earlier but the reports were published in the month of April:</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/womens-day-edit-a-thon-in-pune">Women's Day Edit-a-thon at Jeewan Jyoti Women's Empowerment Centre, Pune</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 10, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-savitribai-phule-mahila-ekatma-samaj-mandal-aurangabad">Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal, Aurangabad</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 13, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/google-translated-telugu-articles-prioritisation-exercise-january-iteration">Google-translated Telugu articles prioritisation exercise: January iteration</a> (Pavan Santhosh; April 15, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikipedia-stall-at-vijayawada-book-festival">Telugu Wikipedia stall at Vijayawada Book Festival</a> (Pavan Santhosh; April 15, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/womens-day-edit-a-thon-at-jnana-prabodhini">Women's Day Edit-a-thon at Jnana Prabodhini</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 15, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/bargarh-manuscript-digitisation-project">Bargarh Manuscript Digitisation Project</a> (Sailesh Patnaik; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/imperial-college-orientation-program-bargarh">Imperial College Orientation Program, Bargarh</a> (Sailesh Patnaik; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/orientation-training-session-for-environmental-activists-in-satara-on-13th-february-2017">Orientation & Training session for Environmental Activists in Satara</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-rajarshi-chhatrapati-shahu-college-kolhapur">Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu College, Kolhapur</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-shivaji-university-kolhapur">Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Shivaji University, Kolhapur</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-sangli-maharashtra">Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Sangli, Maharashtra</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/orientation-training-session-of-jalbiradari-activists">Orientation & Training session of Jalbiradari Activists</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/free-license-wings-to-your-books-in-guntur">"Free-license Wings To Your Books" in Guntur</a> (Pavan Santhosh; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/free-license-wings-to-your-books-in-vijayawada">"Free-license Wings To Your Books" in Vijayawada</a> (Pavan Santhosh; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/adikavi-nannaya-university-telugu-wikipedia-workshop-1">Adikavi Nannaya University Telugu Wikipedia Workshop</a> (Pavan Santhosh; April 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/odia-wikipedia-workshop-in-iimc-dhenkanal">Odia Wikipedia Workshop in IIMC, Dhenkanal</a> (Sailesh Patnaik; April 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/sambad-100-women-edit-a-thon">Sambad 100 Women Edit-a-thon</a> (Ting Yi Chang and Sailesh Patnaik; April 18, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/google-translated-telugu-articles-prioritisation-exercise-february-iteration">Google-translated Telugu articles prioritisation exercise: February iteration</a> (Pavan Santhosh; April 18, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Copyright and Patent</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/national-conference-on-intellectual-property-rights-and-public-interest">National Conference on Intellectual Property Rights and Public Interest</a> (Organized by Indian Law Institute; New Delhi; April 7 - 8, 2017). Maggie Huang took part in the event.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br />►Openness</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Publication<br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/apc-april-23-2017-sunil-abraham-and-vidushi-marda-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india">Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in India: Opportunities for Advocacy in Intellectual Property</a> (Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda; GIS Watch and Association for Progressive Communications; April 23, 2017). Total 4 reports: <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india">Synthesis Overview</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-opportunities-for-advocacy-in-intellectual-property-rights-access-to-mobile-technology">Access to Mobile Technology</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-opportunities-for-advocacy-in-intellectual-property-rights-the-traditional-knowledge-digital-library">Traditional Knowledge Digital Library</a>, and <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-foss/">FOSS and Open Standards</a>. </li>
</ul>
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<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>Submission</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-on-the-right-to-information-rules-2017">Comments on the Right to Information Rules, 2017</a> (Amber Sinha; April 27, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Organized <br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-space-apps-challenge-2017">NASA Space Apps Challenge 2017</a> (CIS, Bengaluru, April 22, 2017).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /><b> -----------------------------------</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<p>►Privacy</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><br /></b></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analysis-of-key-provisions-of-aadhaar-act-regulations">Analysis of Key Provisions of the Aadhaar Act Regulations</a> (Amber Sinha; April 3, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/right-to-be-forgotten-a-tale-of-two-judgments">Right to be Forgotten: A Tale of Two Judgements</a> (Amber Sinha; April 7, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
►Free Speech and Expression</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/yameen-rasheed-human-rights-maldives">Killing of Yameen Rasheed Reveals Worsening Human Rights Situation in the Maldives</a> (Pranesh Prakash; April 25, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/internet-shutdowns-in-2016">Internet Shutdowns in 2016</a> (Japreet Grewal; April 27, 2016).<br /><br /></li>
</ul>
<p>►Miscellaneous</p>
<p><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/regulating-bitcoin-in-india">Regulating Bitcoin in India</a> (Vipul Kharbanda; April 20, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>Event</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/firstfridayatcis-amutha-arunachalam-stand-shielded-of-digital-rights-may-05">Amutha Arunachalam - Stand Shielded of Digital Rights</a> (CIS; New Delhi; May 5, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><br />Participation in Event</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/iso-iec-jtc1-sc-27-meetings">ISO/IEC JTC1/SC 27 Meetings</a> (Organized by Bureau of Indian Standards; University of Waikato and Novotel; New Zealand; April 18 - 25, 2017). Udbhav Tiwari attended the meetings.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<br />
<p>►Cyber Security</p>
<p><b>Event Organized</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/firstfridayatcisindia-dr-madan-oberoi-digital-forensics-april-07">Dr. Madan M. Oberoi - Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigations</a> (CIS; New Delhi; April 7, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<p><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/brainstorming-session-on-the-global-conference-on-cyberspace-gccs-2017">Brainstorming Session on the Global Conference on Cyberspace</a> (GCCS 2017) (Organized by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology; New Delhi; April 12, 2017). Japreet Grewal attended the session.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<b>----------------------------------- </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Twitter:<a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india"> http://twitter.com/cis_india</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Access to Knowledge: <a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Information Policy: <a href="https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy">https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy</a></li>
<li> Facebook - Access to Knowledge:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k"> https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: <a>a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Researchers at Work: <a>raw@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> List - Researchers at Work: <a href="https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers">https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers</a></li>
</ul>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer and 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.</div>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<div 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>.</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2017-newsletter'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2017-newsletter</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceResearchers at Work2017-05-20T12:59:17ZPageTech Anthropology Today: Collaborate, Rather than Fetishize from Afar
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/tech-anthropology-today-collaborate-rather-than-fetishize-from-afar
<b>"That is why the 'offline' if you will is so critical to understanding the 'online'—because they do not exist in isolation and what we have constructed is an illusory binary between the two." In this interview, Geert Lovink discusses with Ramesh Srinivasan: “how can we embrace the realities of communities too-often relegated to the margins?”</b>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Cross-posted from <a href="https://nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-1705/msg00001.html">nettime.org</a>.</em></p>
<hr />
<p><strong>“How can we embrace the realities of communities too-often relegated to the margins?”</strong></p>
<p>In <em>Whose Global Village?</em> (NYUPress, 2017) UCLA scholar Ramesh Srinivasan travels the globe in order to find out much techno-autonomy there’s still left. Now that more than half of the world has moved to urban centres, the rural population is literary a minority and is kindly asked to adjust accordingly. This makes Srinivasan’s work even more urgent when he asks “what the internet, mobile phone or social media platforms may look like when considered from the perspectives of diverse cultures.”</p>
<p>The communities Ramesh Srinivasan visits are on the defensive, in a process of fragmentation. “There is a disconnection not just from one another,” he writes, “but also from the common threads of their history and culture. The tribes and villages experience “placelessness, fragmentation of identity, and dissolution of social bonds.” Throughout the study, which took place between 2004-2013, Srinivasan reports from the rising gap between the proposed technologies (such as videos, websites, databases) and the ‘techno-solutionism’ (as described by Morozov) that he wants to prevent. Ramesh is so honest to present this dilemma as an inner struggle of today’s anthropologist with a technology background. Computers and smart phones are an integral part of the everyday life—no matter where we go—and can no longer be presented as liberating tools. This put the ‘ICT for development’ researcher is an awkward position. Post-colonial theories have widely been read and their influence (from Fanon, Said to Spivak) is having an inevitable impact. This in turn leads to a new attitude that I would describe as ‘radical modesty’ (if not ‘vital pessimism’).</p>
<p>While studying the impact of the Tribal Peace system that he and others installed to connect the different Navajo tribes in San Diego County, Srinivasan realises that he has to work with rather than ignore the networks that exist. “It was neither the technology nor institutions that connected the people I had met. Instead, the very few threads of kinship I noted were related to revered individuals, regarded by most with collective respect and as a source of inspiration.” It is with and through the elders that he starts to draw up information architectures (or ‘ontologies’), listing topics, themes, and values across the native reservations. How can ‘lateral networks’ be supported in a a process of what James Carey calls ‘ritual communication’?</p>
<p>Needless to say this approach takes us light years away from Facebook and other social media. This is only in part a question of translating interfaces to local indigenous languages. The proposed systems require the design of its own visual metaphors, reminding us of 1990s multi-media navigation screens, meant to represent digital storytelling. This is dealt with in closed, or semi-open networks, paying respect to the different experiences of time and space. These ideas are put to the test in the last part of the book that describes the encounter with the Zuni tribe (Arizona/New Mexico), where Ramesh Srinivasan worked together with Robin Boast. It is amongst the Zuni peoples that the researchers encounter the distrust against anthropologists. “Our Zuni friends voiced feelings of misrepresentation and anger at their objectification. They explained that social scientists would visit their community, exoticize their traditions and customs, and extract what they could to benefit their own agendas rather than those of the community.”</p>
<p>The gained detachment aims to put the researcher “at the service of our friends and partners.” Important is no longer the one-way transfer of knowledge but the art of listening. Towards the end of his study Ramesh asks: “What would it mean to step away from top-down understandings of the internet and instead ‘splinter’ the way we think about technologies and the communities they may support?” As an activist in Egypt explained: “We do not need another NGO or a new dialogue.com to solve our problems—we just need you to listen, support our voices, an pay attention to what we we do.” <em>Whose Global Village?</em> adequately describes the moral and methodological crisis in the ‘ICT for Development’ field. The wide condemnation of Facebook’s neo-colonial internet.org balloon campaign to bring access (to Facebook) to hundreds of millions of rural poor in India clearly marks a paradigm shift. Access is no longer a benevolent project. It’s clear that ICT for Development as such does not contribute to a redistribution of wealth and makes global inequality only worse. So much for internet charity.</p>
<p><strong>Ramesh admits:</strong> “Trained as a designer and engineer, I recognize my innate tendency to valorize my power to come up with a set of solutions for any challenge at hand. Yet every project I have described illustrates the valuable insights gained when I put aside my own agenda and bias as much as possible to open myself to experiences that could not have been predicted from afar.” This modesty sounds like a new starting point. But is it also resulting into new concepts and narratives? This might be too much to ask of a single publication (in fact, the first book publication of this author). The ‘tactical distance’, created out of respect for the communities-in-defence, results into rather sparse information about the places we visit. There are no interview fragments included in the book, and the few local leaders that we encounter do not speak to the reader in a direct manner. The chosen way to report creates a vague cloud of secrecy around the research itself. What happens when we listen but do not acknowledge the Other? Were more detailed research results published elsewhere or only accessible for donors (a common practice in NGO land)? What happens when we listen but do not acknowledge the Other? Is it too risky to give them a voice? Might their opinions and desires be too ordinary, too radical, or simply not what we want to hear? What if they do not fit our Western expectations? The Others are humans, after all, and, like us, tend not to live up to expectations. These, and more, are some of the questions we encounter once we give up on the development rhetoric.</p>
<p><strong>Geert Lovink:</strong> You’ve been in a lucky, privileged position to travel so often and witness events and encounter communities in diverse places such as Cairo during the 2011 uprising, with the Zapatistas Chiapas, doing research in the land of your ancestors, South India and on reservations in the South-West of the United States. The offline encounter in-real-life seems to be constitutional for your theory. In the past scholars travelled through the library and many these days do not leave their screens while processing their ‘big data’. Digital ethnography, on the other hand, seems to require direct exchanges with the Other. This assumption pops in all chapters. Is travelling the new luxury? Or should we say that it is rather dedicated time? Once you arrive elsewhere there is suddenly another time regime.</p>
<p><strong>Ramesh Srinivasan:</strong> Indeed, I think all of us as researchers and teachers are nothing if not 'lucky' or 'privileged'. And you're certainly on point to recognize that the root of my scholarship and activism locates technologies within an assemblage of other factors - peoples, places, infrastructures, and environments. Yet it is essential that I do not collaborate with (rather than ‘study of’) any community unless I am invited to do so and where our efforts are focused on initiatives that live and are owned by that group itself.</p>
<p>That is why the 'offline' if you will is so critical to understanding the 'online'—because they do not exist in isolation and what we have constructed is an illusory binary between the two. If we want to be of service and understand the complex relationships between technologies, politics, and cultures—as I attempt to do via the multiple case studies discussed in the book, we need to put our bodies and hearts in places rather than our distant gaze. It's critical for me to not step foot anywhere where I am not invited first, and to critically think about my role and power as I enter different environments. Indeed, the book is full of ethnographies of attempting to listen more than make, and how I eschew the 'study of' any community and instead write about what we create and work on together. My goal is to collaborate rather than study, rather than fetishize from afar.</p>
<p><strong>GL:</strong> <em>Whose Global Village?</em> has an unusual time span of 10-14 years. First research goes back to 2003-2004. Some case study closed in 2005 while most literature dates from 2012-2013. In between, the 2008 global financial crisis occurred, the smart phone was launched and apps became mainstream. How did you deal with these constant changes? Are you proposing a ‘longue durée’ in media studies and internet criticism’? What are the benefits of this approach? How do you see ‘grassroots storytelling’ dealing with the relentless changes of platforms, interfaces and protocols? Do remote communities have a different approach to the latest fashion and the famous ‘fear of missing out’?</p>
<p><strong>RS:</strong> There are some dynamics that don't change no matter what app, gadget or platform has captured the popular imagination. That is—the realities of power over how technologies are designed, owned, and politically or economically appropriated. The book starts with the simple but surprisingly ignored sociotechnical truism - People and societies shape and are shaped by technologies. Yet such a small percentage of Internet users have any power over the design process let alone any sovereignty over what occurs with their data and identities as they are refracted onto digital networks. Those issues are timeless and all the more urgent today. I focus on the political and cultural flashpoints where by users and communities can reign in their blind trust of new digital platforms and instead take power over these in relation to their local concerns and agendas.</p>
<p><strong>GL:</strong> As a media activist you have a background in engineering. However, at UCLA you work inside library science (called ‘information studies’). However, you seem to relate most to the role of anthropologist, in that you deeply desire not make past mistakes in encounters with ‘the Other’. In this context you work with Mary Louise Pratt’s theory of the contact zones and apply this to the design of ‘multiple ontologies’. I never hear IT engineers talking about contact zones. How do you want to carry your insights into the tech world? After all, you live in California. Who else is going to do this? What could be a good strategy? How do you look at the Bay Area and the global geek class they still dominate in terms of its global imaginary?</p>
<p><strong>RS:</strong> I see myself as a scholar who can contribute to fields that tend to remain mostly distinct in the academy—design, engineering, cultural studies, media studies are but a few. If I was ever an IT ‘geek’ that was decades ago!</p>
<p>To engage in the charge of the book, of locating our understandings of digital networks and systems in relation to diverse cultures and users worldwide, all of these fields are useful to invoke and bring into dialogue with one another. I'm fortunate to be in a department that supports this interdisciplinarity and indeed as you stated, coming from California and trained in engineering here, I believe it is all the more important to question the black boxes not just of Silicon Valley hardware and software platform design but to push these incredibly powerful technologies to open up to an engaged, conversational social contract with diverse publics.</p>
<p><strong>GL:</strong> Over the past 10-15 years we’ve seen the closing down of the possibility space of the Web and the rise of the ‘easy to use’ template culture of social media. The technologies that you’ve proposed and built seem to move away from the consumer culture. In South India you’re spread video cameras, elsewhere you’ve developed a dedicated Tribal Peace system interface (as part of a stand-alone website) while for the Zuni communities you’ve utilized the FileMaker Pro Advanced database software. Not Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube (and no wikis either). Can you elaborate on this?</p>
<p><strong>RS:</strong> It's important to not assume that naively putting content online is somehow empowering. Indeed, that which we ‘share’ (eg; sharing economy) asymmetrically builds power and value for the platform holder and all those that can monetize it. As a result, we increasingly know that corporate proprietary platforms such as Facebook or Google are hardly designed to directly support a user's sovereignty or agency. The interest, across each of the book's chapters, is to instead think about how the communities with which I collaborate can have their interests served via technologies either that we design together or appropriate/subvert in various ways. Far too often we see examples where such 'participation' actually does little to shape any cultural or political cause from the grassroots. So we think agnostically and critically about the systems, networks and infrastructures we use in relation to our collaborations.</p>
<p><strong>GL:</strong> Can you tell us what you’ve been doing over the past few years? Did you continue to work in the same direction? The book indicates that your collaboration with Robin Boast and the work with the Zuni Native American Reservation seems to continue.</p>
<p><strong>RS:</strong> My interests lie in that important space between understanding how technologies may aid and support grassroots political movements and diverse user communities. The Zuni collaboration, described in chapter 4, is interested in that cause in relation to the political and cultural sovereignty of a tribe that was not just historically colonized but still faces the objectification and misrepresentation of new forms of coloniality online.</p>
<p>The cases in the book look at both political movements as well as diverse cultures and communities. Currently, I am collaborating with activists and indigenous Zapotec and Mixtec communities in the Oaxaca Mexico region, one of the most biodiverse and culturally/linguistically diverse parts of our world. In this work, I am writing about the Rhizomatica project (invoking Deleuze/Guarttari's rhizome) where these communities are designing their own collectively-owned cell phone networks in cloud forests all around the region. This has massive political and economic effects. What we see here is a rhizome in the making, a set of networks, systems, and infrastructures shaped and produced from the grassroots, by communities and for communities, and not for the major corporations of our world that tend to on the surface exploit and monitor the activities of these people. More on this amazing project, including some videos at www.rhizomatica.org . I believe that as we start to think about this new effort, that Lisa Parks and I describe as 'network sovereignty', we can start to embark on a path I describe in detail in chapter 5 of the book, of getting back the social contract and communitarian potential of technology to serve democratic agendas located in people's politics and cultures.</p>
<p>I am hopeful we can start that conversation now. I attempt to continue it via my soon to be released second book, After the Internet (with Adam Fish, Polity, end 2017) which looks at examples ranging from Iceland’s Pirate Party, hacktivism, the Silk Road, the Arab Spring, and other activist movements that re-imagine new technologies in relation to grassroots power and voice.</p>
<h4>Reference</h4>
<p>Ramesh Srinivasan, <em>Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Shapes Our World</em>, New York University Press, New York, 2017.</p>
<h4>Profiles</h4>
<p><strong>Ramesh Srinivasan</strong> is Associate Professor of Information Studies with a courtesy appointment in Design|Media Arts. Srinivasan, who holds M.S and Doctoral degrees, from the MIT Media Laboratory and Harvard's Design School respectively, has focused his research globally on the development of information systems within the context of culturally-differentiated communities. He is interested in how an information system can function as a cultural artifact, as a repository of knowledge that is commensurable with the ontologies of a community. As a complement, he is also interested in how an information system can engage and re-question the notion of diaspora and how ethnicity and culture function across distance. This research allows one to uncover mechanisms by which indigenously-articulated forms of development can begin to occur, as relating to his current work in pastoral and tribal communities in Southern India. His research therefore involves engaging communities to serve as the designers, authors, and librarians/archivists of their own information systems. His research has spanned such bounds as Native Americans, Somali refugees, Indian villages, Aboriginal Australia, and Maori New Zealand.</p>
<p><strong>Geert Lovink</strong> is a media theorist, internet critic and author of Dark Fiber (2002), Zero Comments (2007), Networks Without a Cause (2012) and Social Media Abyss (2016). Since 2004 he is researcher in the Faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industries at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) where he is the founder of the Institute of Network Cultures. His centre recently organized conferences, publications and research networks such as Video Vortex (the politics and aesthetics of online video), Unlike Us (alternatives in social media), Critical Point of View (Wikipedia), Society of the Query (the culture of search), MoneyLab (internet-based revenue models in the arts) and a project on the future of art criticism. From 2004-2013 he was also associate prof. at Mediastudies (new media), University of Amsterdam. Since 2009 he is professor at the European Graduate School (Saas-Fee/Malta) where he supervises PhD students.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/tech-anthropology-today-collaborate-rather-than-fetishize-from-afar'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/tech-anthropology-today-collaborate-rather-than-fetishize-from-afar</a>
</p>
No publisherGeert Lovink and Ramesh SrinivasanInternet StudiesRAW BlogEthnographyOfflineResearchers at Work2017-05-16T14:51:09ZBlog EntryDigital native: Free speech? You must be joking!
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-14-2017-digital-native-free-speech-you-must-be-joking
<b>India’s digital landscape is dotted with vigilante voices that drown out people’s right to free speech.</b>
<p>The article was published in the <b><a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/digital-native-free-speech-you-must-be-joking-4655464/">Indian Express</a></b> on May 14, 2017.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">Freedom of speech and expression has always been a tricky issue. While all of us are generally in favour of defending our rights to speak what is in our hearts, we are not equally thrilled about the speech of others that we might not enjoy. While we know that free speech and expression are not absolute — there are blurred lines of things that are offensive, might cause harm, and are directed with malice at different individuals or collectives — we also generally accept that this is a freedom that marks the maturity and sustainability of a stable democratic system.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Thus, even when confronted with speech and expression that might be undesirable: a political view that contradicts ours, an expression of blasphemy or profanity, a voice of dissent that questions the status quo, or an unsavoury information tidbit that mocks at somebody we admire, we generally take it in good stride, and learn to deal and engage with these actions. We do this, because we know that trying to curtail somebody else’s rights to free speech, would eventually restrict our own capacity for it, thus reducing the scope of an engaged and critical society. Especially in countries like India, where everybody has an opinion, where people offer critiques over chai and join heated debates over paan, there’s no denying that we are fond of our rights and capacity to speak<br /> our minds.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, within Digital India, these things seem to be changing fast. Every day we wake up to the cacophonous clamour of social media to realise that increasingly we are becoming an intolerant society filled with vigilantes bent on stopping people from saying things that we might just not like. In the ongoing saga of shrinking spaces of free speech, we now add the shameful incident at the Embassy of Sweden in India. On May 8, following mass populist trolling and complaints from the Twitteratti, the Embassy disinvited two women print and TV journalists — Swati Chaturvedi and Barkha Dutt — and cancelled their event, ironically, in the honour of World Press Freedom, on the topic of women’s participation in the online public space, to talk about trolls.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">I shall wait here for the bitter irony to sink in: two of the strongest women voices in Indian public media, were disinvited to speak from an event where they were to talk about their experience of being trolled, harassed, bullied and intimidated in the newly emerging digital media landscape. Instead of giving them a voice, sharing their experiences, and engaging with their stories, the hypermasculine army of right wing vigilantes who object to these women’s history of critique of the current government and its leaders, decided to show their Twitter might, and celebrated as they succeeded in putting one more nail in the coffin of free and fearless speech in the country.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some Twitter users went ahead and tagged their favourite leaders — @Narendramodi and @manekagandhibjp. They demanded, using their freedom of voice, to stop others from speaking. Social media networks have often been celebrated as alternative spaces where new, and unexpected voices can express their opinions without the fear of physical retribution or penalisation. While this has been consistently proven wrong by government authorities who have regularly policed, penalised and punished voices of dissent or disfavour, that at least is something we can notice, challenge and contest through legal redressal. However, with this new mob justice where the volume of voices engineered to amplify their disapproval, coupled with threats of violence and economic downfall (the users this time threatened to make a list of Swedish products and boycott them) is a recurring and disturbingly new phenomenon.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Crowds have always had the power to demand and leverage change of their liking. However, on social media, this can take up more sinister forms, because a handful of people through Twitter bots and chat scripts can create the illusion of a hugely amplified voice that can then be used to threaten and restrict the scope of free speech. The mass bullying effect needs a strong counterpoint in the form of better internet governance policies and regulations that nurture safe spaces for the tinier voices to be heard.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the same time, however, the stifling attempts require another strategy — the need to speak up against such acts of intimidation and silencing, not only from the regular people on the web, but from the officials and leaders who have sworn to protect our constitutional rights. And this is, perhaps, where our leaders are failing us. Because, in an age of hypervisibility, where every step they take is a selfie moment, where every move they make makes it to the headlines, and they take pride in documenting their life in exceedingly boring detail, it creates a deafening silence when the leaders remain mute to the slow dissipation of the rights to free speech and expression by the angry mobs of networked digitality.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-14-2017-digital-native-free-speech-you-must-be-joking'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-14-2017-digital-native-free-speech-you-must-be-joking</a>
</p>
No publishernishantFreedom of Speech and ExpressionResearchers at WorkDigital India2017-06-08T01:16:01ZBlog EntryDigital native: Snap out of outrage mode
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-30-2017-digital-native-snap-out-of-outrage-mode
<b>Rage at the inequality of the digital world is good. But why stop at the Snapchat CEO?</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nishant Shah is a professor of new media and the co-founder of The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore. The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/digital-native-snap-out-of-outrage-mode-4632813/">published in the Indian Express</a> on April 30, 2017.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">If you are reading this right now, let’s just get something out of the way — you are not poor. Just the affordability of English language literacy and access to national news media marks you as belonging to a very small elite group in the country. If you are reading this online, the point is driven home even more. So, when you heard about the CEO of Snapchat (If you are asking SnapWhat, don’t feel crestfallen, you are not “out of it”, you are just not 17) being quoted from a statement he made two years ago, that he is not interested in expanding in poor countries like India, you were obviously riled.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There were many things wrong with the alleged statement that Evan Spiegel made. He betrayed his own ignorance and arrogance, where he was unable to understand the growing consumer base of mobile-based apps in emerging networked countries like India. He also more or less failed to understand that poverty is layered, and while India continues to struggle with poverty, it has a growing population of extremely wealthy and affluent users, who are not only driving global consumption trends but also the key focus of digital growth. His biggest faux pas was to not recognise that in the global information technologies development cycles, there is a huge chance that a large number of his employees and contractors might be located in India, and that Digital India is an undeniable extension of Silicon Valley apps and platforms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Speigel’s cockiness is actually so common in how digital ecosystems are mapped, that you could almost ignore it because “everybody says it”. It is great that he was called out on his neo-colonial viewpoints. Users from India (and around the world) joined in to not only to protest against his bravado, but also to call for an action that hurts private companies in the one way they recognise — revenue. #BoycottSnapchat has been trending this last week, and millions of people using this visual filtered storytelling app are uninstalling it from their devices. People have been making jokes and criticising Snapchat, leading to a huge dip in the user base of Snapchat.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These moments of digital collective action are admirable and we need more instances where we call out such acts of discrimination and exclusion. We do need to make sure that we do not make Snapchat Enemy No. 1, pretending that the rest of the web is all good. Speigel is profoundly wrong, in his comments or in his defence that his app is “free” to download, which shows that he is not excluding India. However, Speigel cannot be singled out in all of this. Across the digital landscape, countries like India are always trapped in a strange dichotomy. On the one hand, Indian engineers and knowledge workers are being harvested as the cheap labour who “steal global jobs” and on the other, India is always seen as poor, underdeveloped, in need of saving.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This distilling of the Indian landscape, in all its complexity, into these two polarised identities, allows for these tech companies to continue unfair practices which affect both the glamorous white-collar techies and the invisible labours of IT cities. It emphasises the idea that the IT worker, upwardly and geographically mobile, is being offered a path to escape either the country or their context, because they are touched by the economic power of the digital corporation. It also justifies the exploited labour conditions of IT industries, where the story of transformation is presented as an excuse for underpaid overworked production environments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the same time, these companies seek to take up state-like responsibilities without the accountability, destroying fundamental media and information rights in the guise of bridging the digital divide. Remember Internet.Org’s attack on #NetNeutrality in their attempt to provide free Internet to the poor. Pay attention to Uber’s continued exploitation of its drivers, refusing to treat them as employees and yet regulating them more than any employer can dare to. Realise that despite our #MakeInIndia campaigns, we have very little investment in creating localised, Indian language digital infrastructure. Notice that the Indian digital scene, far from being start-up friendly, is turning into a monopoly of a handful of telecom companies, which nonchalantly discard the legal apparatus of safeguards. Reflect on how we are building biometric databases like Aadhaar, without any regard for data protection and security, so that millions of people are compromised through data leaks. All of these different phenomena need to be read along with our outrage at Snapchat. All of these are stern reminders that our act of questioning the digital does not stop at uninstalling an app, but at reorganising our policies and politics of the digital in the country.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-30-2017-digital-native-snap-out-of-outrage-mode'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-30-2017-digital-native-snap-out-of-outrage-mode</a>
</p>
No publishernishantResearchers at WorkDigital Natives2017-05-05T01:45:12ZBlog EntryDigital native: Are You Still Having Fun?
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-17-2017-digital-native-are-you-still-having-fun
<b>Before you accept a fun app into your digital ecosystem, prepare yourself for the data you will be giving away.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>Nishant Shah is a professor of new media and the co-founder of The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore. </i>The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/digital-native-are-you-still-having-fun-4614491/">published in the Indian Express</a> on April 17, 2017.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">So, I hope, by now, you have figured out who your celebrity lookalike is. Mine, for her sins, is <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/emma-watson/">Emma Watson</a>. Now, as you scratch your heads and wonder how a “facial recognition algorithm’”decided that my mug matches with the stunning actor who shall always remain imprinted as Hermione Granger to my Harry Potter- fan-boy self, it is worth wondering how on earth I know this.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">If you have been on <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/facebook/">Facebook</a> the last week or two, you will have noticed that almost all of your friends, as if drawn in a zombie apocalypse, taking this quiz and posting their results. It was a simple enough app — you upload a picture, and then using advanced computer morphing, it shows how your face transitions from yours to the stunning celebrities that we love and worship.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nothing better on a Monday morning to know that the barely human face you are wearing — a mixture of grump and where-is-my-coffee — actually looks like the photoshopped avatar of a celeb. In many ways, this was a truly progressive app because it refused to look at gender, race, ethnicity, age or any of the other criteria of biometric representation and no matter what super-grouch face you presented, it always matched you with the celebrity you always secretly wanted to look like anyway.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Now, listen! I know that the earnest value of social media is essentially in apps like these. The point of these apps, which are largely just a continuation of the old trash magazine quizzes about self-determination and expression, is that they continue to enthrall, enchant and make our everyday click-and-scroll lives slightly more memorable and enjoyable. However, unlike those old Cosmo and Vogue quizzes which you secretly took to see if you are more a Miranda or a Carrie (I know that is an old reference, but hey, this is an old quiz!), these apps have a more sinister dimension.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When you clicked on that small app, because your friend did so, you did not count on three things. One, that as you nonchalantly clicked on ‘OK’ giving permission to this app to your Facebook profile, you also gave it consent to access your almost entire social media profile. Most of these apps are able to now look at your friends list, your contact list, your messaging history, your photo-gallery, and can access your microphone and camera, to give an answer that is so fake, it can easily masquerade as an elected official.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Second, that you might have taken the test for a moment of childish fantasy and then decided to move on with your life. Except that even if you did not share that post, the results were saved because you gave that app consent to use your uploaded picture in its own advertisement and also gave it authority to show your friends that you were stupid enough to take this test. This also includes your boss on Facebook, who might see what you were doing at 2.44 that afternoon when you were sitting in a serious meeting that was supposed to engulf you. Just like your friend might not have actively shared the first click-bait post but the app posted on their behalf.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">And third, you gave this app the permission to not only harvest your Facebook profile for data that it is going to sell to third-party consumers who are curious to know about your location, age, eating habits, cultural preferences, friendship networks, and mood representations so that they can customise advertisements to sell you things that you didn’t know you wanted. In the world of Big Data, a single click-based consent can be the beginning of an avalanche of data mining, where, before you know it, all your correlated data across all your apps – sometimes sensitive data that might even betray your financial and physical safety — can easily be harvested, and all because you wanted to check out a fun app.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Apps pretend to be benign and often are so. However, when you accept an app into your digital ecosystem, it is sometimes useful to be slightly more cautious of what the added value of the app is. And before you say yes, it might also be good to just take a little more caution about what permissions you are granting it, and whether you really want to give away that data for a moment of fun. Facebook and other social media networks will continue to warn you about keeping your information private and safe from strangers. However, they will refuse to remind you that when you are online, your private data is more likely to be harmfully abused and used by apps with celebrity pictures and dancing babies, rather than the friend from school who has already probably put you into a block list.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-17-2017-digital-native-are-you-still-having-fun'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-17-2017-digital-native-are-you-still-having-fun</a>
</p>
No publishernishantResearchers at WorkDigital Natives2017-05-05T01:37:40ZBlog EntryDigital native: You can check out, you can never leave
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-2-2017-digital-native-you-can-check-out-you-can-never-leave
<b>Aadhaar is not something you define and opt into, it is something that defines you.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/digital-native-you-can-check-out-you-can-never-leave-4595503/">published in the Indian Express</a> on April 2, 2017. Nishant Shah is a professor of new media and the co-founder of The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ok. I get it. You don’t want yet another piece on the horrors and perils of the surveillance state that has come to the forefront with Aadhaar numbers now being tied to our taxes. I know that you must have already made up your mind about whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. If you believe that the way to streamlining bureaucracy and making our systems more accountable is transparency, then you are ready to welcome the digital ecosystem of Aadhaar, as introducing checks and balances that might help to curb some of the excesses and wastes of our governance systems . If you are of the opinion, however, that the state cannot be trusted with our information, without the oversee of the Parliament and the judiciary, then you want to resist this mandatory implementation of the “voluntary” Aadhaar. And, for once, I am unable to take a side, favouring one set of arguments over the other. This ambiguity does not come from a lack of political conviction. I continue to fear about the future of our lives when these technologies of control and domination fall in the hands of governments which have an authoritarian bend of mind.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Instead, my lack of preference on the good, bad and ugly sides of Aadhaar stems from a completely different concern around network technologies of digital connectivity that has found very little attention in the almost zealous discourse about “yes Aadhaar, no Aadhaar”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This is a concern about the relationship between technological networks and the messy realities that we embody. There has been an easy acceptance of a digital network as a description of our everyday life. If you look at any network that you belong to — from public discussion forums to private WhatsApp groups — you will realise that these networks offer to visualise your connections and transactions with the people, places and things in your circles. Thus, it is possible to say that <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/facebook/">Facebook</a> describes your collection of friends and your social life. Or you could suggest that <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/linkedin/">LinkedIn</a> is a visualisation of your professional landscape. And, in a similar vein, we can also propose that Aadhaar is a representation of the working of our government systems of identification.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Each one of these propositions, seemingly innocent, is blatantly wrong. Facebook, for example, didn’t just connect you with your friends. It has fundamentally changed the idea of what is a friend. For a generation of young people who grew up naturalised in social media, the notion of a friend has lost all its meaning and nuance. Every connection, acquaintance, friend of a friend, a random stranger who likes the same band as you do, is now a friend. And the increasing anxiety we have about people falling prey to predatory friendships is because Facebook has now normalised the idea that if somebody calls you their friend, you don’t have to worry about sharing personal and private information with them. Similarly , for anybody who has spent time on LinkedIn, we know that it is not just a portal that describes our work. It is the space where we stay connected with events and people far removed from us. It is the resource pool that we draw on while looking for new work. It is also the space that we keep an eye on just to see if a better job has opened up. It is a collection of events, links and connections that not only shows what you do but what you aspire for, who you connect with and what are the kinds of professional ambitions you see for yourself.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Just like Facebook and LinkedIn, which don’t just describe a reality but actually simulate, prescribe and shape it, Aadhaar is a digital network that is seeking to change the very foundational reality of our lives. Like most digital networks, it is not merely an explanation of how things are but the context within which who we are and what we do finds meaning and validation. Thus, Aadhaar might propose that it is merely trying to describe your identity but it is actually offering to shape a new one for you. The programme might suggest that it is trying to implement a system already in place, but it is, in reality, creating an entirely new system within which you and I have to now find space, function and identity. The latest announcements of mainstreaming Aadhaar merely betray this fact – that Aadhaar is not something you define and opt into, Aadhaar defines you. And opting out is going to have severe penalties and consequences.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Digital networks have long masqueraded as benign visualisations of the world. But they are, in principle, blueprints that transform the world as we know it. This, in itself, is not bad. However, hiding this transformation is. Because when a transformation happens, especially at systemic levels, it is always the people who are the most vulnerable that suffer the most from it. Think about the older friend who might not be the most tech savvy and how they struggle for inclusion on Facebook and WhatsApp messages. Pay some attention to people who did not understand the public nature of LinkedIn and ended up getting fired because they wrote about their current work conditions and the desire to change them. And, similarly, do think if the people who are being pushed into these digital ecosystems without adequate digital literacy, care and information about the consequences of their actions, are being made vulnerable in their access to resources of life and dignity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Whether you and I like Aadhaar or not is not really the question. The question is not about the right to privacy either. What is at stake in this deployment of Aadhaar is a government that is pushing radical transformations of the life of its citizens without consulting with them and addressing their needs. In the past, when governments have done this, we have developed strong voices of protest and correction asking the state to be responsible towards those affected by the transformation. The reliance on the digital, however, allows these governments to escape this responsibility and, in the guise of description, are making prescriptions of reality which need to be resisted.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-2-2017-digital-native-you-can-check-out-you-can-never-leave'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-april-2-2017-digital-native-you-can-check-out-you-can-never-leave</a>
</p>
No publishernishantResearchers at WorkAadhaarDigital Natives2017-05-05T01:31:46ZBlog EntryMarch 2017 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2017-newsletter
<b>Welcome to March 2017 newsletter of the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS).</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dear readers,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">accessed here</a>.</p>
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<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-on-the-draft-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-rules">submitted comments on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules</a> for the consideration of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Government of India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Anubha Sinha in a blog post has <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/intellectual-property-rights-and-mobile-apps">identified the various kinds of IP in an app</a> and explained the protections available under Indian IPR law. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K is <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikisource-internship-project-at-new-law-college-pune">conducting a Wiki internship project</a> for students of New Law College, Pune under the guidance of Prof.Dr.Mukund Sarda, Dean and Principal of New Law College. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In an <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindu-op-ed-sunil-abraham-march-31-2017-how-aadhaar-compromises-privacy-and-how-to-fix-it">Op-ed published in the Hindu</a>, Sunil Abraham has stated that though biometrics may be appropriate for targeted surveillance by the state, it is wholly inappropriate for everyday transactions between state and law abiding citizens.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS has <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/benefits-harms-rights-and-regulation-survey-of-literature-on-big-data">published a survey</a> that draws upon a range of literature including news articles, academic articles, and presentations and seeks to disaggregate the potential benefits and harms of big data, organising them into several broad categories that reflect the existing scholarly literature.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS submitted comments on the Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules, 2017. The <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-information-technology-security-of-prepaid-payment-instruments-rules-2017">comments were in response to the Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules 2017</a>. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a consultation paper which called for developing a framework for security of digital wallets operating in the country. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Ritam Sengupta, Dr. Richard Heeks, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Dr. Christopher Foster <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/exploring-big-data-for-development-an-electricity-sector-case-study-from-india">have co-authored a paper</a> that presents exploratory research into “data-intensive development” that seeks to inductively identify issues and conceptual frameworks of relevance to big data in developing countries.</li>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>CIS in the news:</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/richa-mishra-hindu-businessline-march-13-2017-the-12-digit-conundrum">The 12-digit conundrum</a> (Richa Mishra; Hindu Businessline; March 13, 2017)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-statesman-smriti-sharma-vasudeva-march-14-2017-evms-how-transparent-is-the-indian-election-process">EVMs: How transparent is the Indian election process?</a> (Smriti Sharma Vasudeva; The Statesman; March 14, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/first-post-march-16-nimish-sawant-nasscom-chief-saying-full-data-protection-isnt-possible-should-wake-us-from-our-digital-slumber">Nasscom chief saying full data protection isn’t possible should wake us from our digital slumber</a> (First Post; March 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/one-world-indentity-kaelyn-lowmaster-march-17-2017-privacy-concerns-multiply-for-aadhaar-indias-national-biometric-identity-registry">Privacy concerns multiply for Aadhaar, India’s national biometric identity registry</a> (One World Identity; March 17, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-guardian-march-21-2017-no-id-no-benefits">No ID, no benefits: thousands could lose lifeline under India’s biometric scheme</a> (Guardian; March 21, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-rimin-dutt-ivan-mehta-march-24-2017-why-we-should-all-worry-about-the-mandatory-imposition-of-aadhaar">Why We Should All Worry About The Mandatory Imposition Of Aadhaar</a> (Rimin Dutt and Ivan Mehta; Huffington Post; March 24, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/financial-times-march-27-2017-amy-kazmin-indias-biometric-id-scans-make-sci-fi-a-reality">India’s biometric ID scans make sci-fi a reality</a> (Amy Kazmin; Financial Times; March 27, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ndtv-march-27-2017-discussion-on-aadhaar">क्या आधार पर जल्दबाज़ी में है सरकार?</a> (NDTV; March 27, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-march-27-2017-priya-nair-and-sanjay-kumar-singh-get-an-aadhaar-card-if-you-dont-have-one">Get an Aadhaar card if you don't have one</a> (Priya Nair and Sanjay Kumar Singh; Business Standard; March 27, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindu-businessline-shriya-mohan-the-aadhaar-of-all-things">The Aadhaar of all things</a> (Shriya Mohan; Hindu Businessline; March 31, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><b><br />CIS members wrote the following articles</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-march-19-2017-digital-native-lie-me-a-river">Digital native: Lie Me a River</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; March 19, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-hindu-businessline-march-31-2017-sunil-abraham-its-the-technology-stupid">It’s the technology, stupid</a> (Sunil Abraham; Hindu Businessline; March 31, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindu-op-ed-sunil-abraham-march-31-2017-how-aadhaar-compromises-privacy-and-how-to-fix-it">How Aadhaar compromises privacy? And how to fix it?</a> (Sunil Abraham; Hindu; March 31, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-------------------------------------<br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility & Inclusion</a> <br /> ------------------------------------- <br /> India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities, we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. 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; ">Submission</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-on-the-draft-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-rules">Comments on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; March 29, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>----------------------------------- </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br />Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is 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><b>Blog Entry<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/intellectual-property-rights-and-mobile-apps">Intellectual Property Rights and Mobile Apps</a> (Anubha Sinha; March 6, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</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>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-bhasha-gaurav-din-celebrations-in-maharashtra">"Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din" celebrations in Maharashtra</a> (Manasa Rao; March 7, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/women2019s-history-month-sambad-collaborates-with-odia-wikipedia-for-a-two-day-edit-a-thon">Women’s History Month: Sambad collaborates with Odia Wikipedia for a Two Day Edit-a-thon</a> (Sailesh Patnaik; March 16, 2017).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikisource-internship-project-at-new-law-college-pune">Wikisource:Internship Project at New Law College, Pune</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; March 28, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>Events Organized</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/womens-day-edit-a-thon-in-pune">Women's Day Edit-a-thon</a> (Co-organized by Sterlite Tech Foundation, Jnana Prabhodhini, and CIS-A2K; Pune; March 10, 2017). Subodh Kulkarni was one of the trainers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-on-environment-management">Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Environment Management</a> (Organized by CSIBER College and CIS-A2K; Kolhapur; March 30, 2017). Subodh Kulkarni was a trainer.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br />►Openness</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/national-consultation-on-oer-for-higher-education">National Consultation on OER for Higher Education</a> (Organized by Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia; New Delhi; March 3, 2017). Anubha Sinha attended the event.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/idrc-open-development-book-authors-workshop">Open Development Book - Authors' Workshop</a> (Organized by International Development Research Centre and Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching; University of Cape Town, South Africa; March 11 - 12, 2017). The workshop gathered the contributers to an upcoming book by IDRC on open development. Elonnai Hickok, Gus Hosein from Privacy International and Sumandro Chattapadhyay are writing a chapter for this book.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/indo-french-perspectives-on-digital-studies">Indo - French Perspectives on Digital Studies</a> (Organized by Digital Studies Group; Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; March 15, 2017). Anubha Sinha was a speaker. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /><b> -----------------------------------</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<p>►Privacy</p>
<p><b>Submission</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-information-technology-security-of-prepaid-payment-instruments-rules-2017">Comments on Information Technology</a> (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules, 2017 (Udbhav Tiwari, Pranesh Prakash, Abhay Rana, Amber Sinha and Sunil Abraham; March 23, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<p><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/wiser-lecture-sumandro-chattapadhyay-on-deregulation-by-code">WISER Lecture : Sumandro Chattapadhyay on Deregulation by Code</a> (Organized by the University of the Witwatersrand; Johannesburg; March 8, 2017). Sumandro Chattapadhyay gave a talk.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/conference-on-safety-against-online-child-sexual-abuse">Conference on Safety Against Online Child Sexual Abuse</a> (Organized by CID, Telangana and the Department for Women Development and Child Welfare, Telangana; March 16 - 17, 2017). Japreet Grewal was a speaker.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/state-of-digital-rights-in-india-delhi-march-24">State of Digital Rights in India</a> (Organized by Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi and the Internet Freedom Foundation, in association with Access Now; India International Centre, New Delhi; March 24, 2017). Japreet Grewal and Sumandro Chattapadhyay took part in panel discussions.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/google-hangout-on-technology-and-jobs">Hangout on Technology and Jobs</a> (Organized by Google; March 24, 2017). Vanya Rakesh was a speaker. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analysis-of-key-provisions-of-aadhaar-act-regulations">Analysis of Key Provisions of the Aadhaar Act Regulations</a> (Amber Sinha and edited by Elonnai Hickok; March 31, 2017).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<p>►Cyber Security</p>
<p><b>Upcoming Event</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/firstfridayatcisindia-dr-madan-oberoi-digital-forensics-april-07">Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigations</a> (CIS; New Delhi; April 7, 2017). IPS officer Dr. Madan M. Oberoi will give a talk. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<br />
<p>►Big Data</p>
<p><b>Blog Entry<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/benefits-harms-rights-and-regulation-survey-of-literature-on-big-data">Benefits, Harms, Rights and Regulation: A Survey of Literature on Big Data</a> (Amber Sinha, Vanya Rakesh, Vidushi Marda and Geethanjali Jujjavarapu; edited by Sunil Abraham, Elonnai Hickok and Leilah Elmokadem; March 23, 2017). </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-fintech-disruption-innovation-regulation-and-transformation">The Fintech Disruption - Innovation, Regulation, and Transformation</a> (Organized by Carnegie India; March 28, 2017). Sumandro Chattapadhyay attended the event. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><br />
<ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">►Freedom of Expression</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Organized</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/essentials-of-building-internet-tools-for-inclusion">Essentials of building internet tools for inclusion </a>(Valencia, Spain; March 6, 2017). A talk jointly proposed by Chinmayi SK and Rohini Lakshané was selected for the Internet Freedom Festival.</li>
</ul>
<b>Participation in Events</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/from-virtual-to-reliable-exploring-freedom-and-facts-in-the-world-of-www-world-wide-web">From Virtual to Reliable: Exploring Freedom and Facts in the World of WWW (World Wide Web)</a> (Organized by Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands and Adaan Foundation; March 21, 2017). Saikat Datta and Amber Sinha were panelists.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/internet-freedom-festival-2017">Internet Freedom Festival 2017</a> (Organized by IFF; Valencia, Spain; March 6 - 10, 2017). Vidushi Marda participated in the event. Vidushi also attended these sessions: <a class="external-link" href="https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Data_Protection_law_and_is_different_manifestations">Data Protection Law and its Different Manifestations</a>;<a class="external-link" href="https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/The_identity_we_can%27t_change:_a_new_wave_of_biometric_policies_around_the_world"> Using the Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index for Advocacy & Research; The identity we can't change: a new wave of biometric policies around the world</a> and <a class="external-link" href="https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Enabling_free_speech_online_by_legal_defence:_the_need_for_skilled_lawyers_to_secure_the_free_flow_of_information_online">Enabling free speech online by legal defence: the need for skilled lawyers to secure the free flow of information online</a>: Vidushi channeled a discussion about Shreya Singhal v. Union of India as an important case study in understanding how legal defence has been used to secure rights online.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><b><b>----------------------------------- <br /></b><a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> </b>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><b>Newspaper Column</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-march-1-2017-shyam-ponappa-organisational-hurdles-in-telecom">Organisational Hurdles in Telecom</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; March 1, 2017 and Organizing India Blogspot; March 2, 2017)</li>
</ul>
<p><b>-----------------------------------</b><br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p><b>Research Paper</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/exploring-big-data-for-development-an-electricity-sector-case-study-from-india">Exploring Big Data for Development: An Electricity Sector Case Study from India</a> (Ritam Sengupta, Dr. Richard Heeks, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Dr. Christopher Foster; Global Development Institute, University of Manchester; March 29, 2017). <br /><br /></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/evaluating-safety-buttons-on-mobile-devices-preview">Evaluating Safety Buttons on Mobile Devices: Preview</a> (Rohini Lakshané and Chinmayi S.K.; March 27, 2017).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /><b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Twitter:<a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india"> http://twitter.com/cis_india</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Access to Knowledge: <a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Information Policy: <a href="https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy">https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy</a></li>
<li> Facebook - Access to Knowledge:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k"> https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: <a>a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Researchers at Work: <a>raw@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> List - Researchers at Work: <a href="https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers">https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer and 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.</div>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<div 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>.</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2017-newsletter'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2017-newsletter</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceResearchers at Work2017-05-20T12:47:11ZPageExploring Big Data for Development: An Electricity Sector Case Study from India
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/exploring-big-data-for-development-an-electricity-sector-case-study-from-india
<b>This working paper by Ritam Sengupta, Dr. Richard Heeks, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Dr. Christopher Foster draws from the field study undertaken by Ritam Sengupta, and is published by the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. The field study was commissioned by the CIS, with support from the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Download the working paper: <a href="http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/di/di_wp66.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a></h4>
<hr />
<h3><strong>Abstract</strong></h3>
<p>This paper presents exploratory research into “data-intensive development” that seeks to inductively identify issues and conceptual frameworks of relevance to big data in developing countries. It presents a case study of big data innovations in “Stelcorp”; a state electricity corporation in India. In an attempt to address losses in electricity distribution, Stelcorp has introduced new digital meters throughout the distribution network to capture big data, and organisation-wide information systems that store and process and disseminate big data.</p>
<p>Emergent issues are identified across three domains: implementation, value and outcome. Implementation of big data has worked relatively well but technical and human challenges remain. The advent of big data has enabled some – albeit constrained – value addition in all areas of organisational operation: customer billing, fault and loss detection, performance measurement, and planning. Yet US$ tens of millions of investment in big data has brought no aggregate improvement in distribution losses or revenue collection. This can be explained by the wider outcome, with big data faltering in the face of external politics; in this case the electoral politics of electrification. Alongside this reproduction of power, the paper also reflects on the way in which big data has enabled shifts in the locus of power: from public to private sector; from labour to management; and from lower to higher levels of management.</p>
<p>A number of conceptual frameworks emerge as having analytical power in studying big data and global development. The information value chain model helps track both implementation and value-creation of big data projects. The design-reality gap model can be used to analyse the nature and extent of barriers facing big data projects in developing countries. And models of power – resource dependency, epistemic models, and wider frameworks – are all shown as helping understand the politics of big data.</p>
<hr />
<em>Cross-posted from <a href="http://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/publications/other-working-papers/di/di-wp66/">University of Manchester</a>.</em>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/exploring-big-data-for-development-an-electricity-sector-case-study-from-india'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/exploring-big-data-for-development-an-electricity-sector-case-study-from-india</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroBig DataData SystemsResearchers at WorkResearchFeaturedPublicationsBig Data for Development2019-03-16T04:33:15ZBlog EntryEvaluating Safety Buttons on Mobile Devices: Preview
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/evaluating-safety-buttons-on-mobile-devices-preview
<b>Much technological innovation for women is aimed at addressing violence against women. One such ubiquitous intervention is mobile device-based safety applications, also known as emergency applications. Several police departments in India, public transport services, and commercial services such as taxi-hailing apps deploy a mobile device-based “panic button” for the safety of citizens or customers, especially women. However, the proliferation of safety apps through both public and private players raises several concerns, which will be studied through this study by Rohini Lakshané of the CIS and Chinmayi S.K. of The Bachchao Project. Research assistance for this report was provided by CIS intern Harish R.S.K. Visualisations by Saumyaa Naidu.</b>
<h4>Download the preview document: <a href="https://github.com/cis-india/website/raw/master/docs/CIS-TBP_SafetyButtonsMobileDevices_Preview_201703.pdf">PDF</a></h4>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">There is currently a deluge of mobile safety apps in India: Apps run or supported by police departments, apps run by public transport services, apps endorsed by celebrities and politicians, an app developed by an entertainment television channel, and apps by NGOs and private developers. Through a public notification made in April 2016, the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India announced that every phone sold in the country from January 2017 should come equipped with a physical panic button and a GPS module 2. An international innovation award for USD 1 million was instituted in late 2016 for innovators to build an emergency alert app.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Preliminary user-testing conducted by us shows that many of these apps lack in technical quality and are prone to failure of one kind or another. There are no defined policies of privacy or terms of use, which could lead to possible data and identity theft and egregious surveillance of users.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This study will evaluate a total of 26 different apps operational in India, the permissions they use, the privacy policies and end user agreements on their websites, and will also undertake qualitative case studies of the use and deployment of some of these apps.</p>
<p>The questions framing this evaluation are:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">What are the technical concerns (including those of accessibility and literacy) with user experience of these safety button applications being developed and deployed by both government and private agencies, especially at a moment of crisis?</li>
<li>How well do the widely used safety button applications in India protect the data shared by the user and the user’s privacy?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">What technical and other solutions can be implemented to ensure more effective, accessible, secure, and responsible modes of communication in such a context?</li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p><img alt="Permissions used by safety applications for mobile devices." src="https://github.com/cis-india/website/raw/master/img/CIS-TBP_SafetyButtonsMobileDevices_Permissions.png" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>We are releasing one of the datasets that logs all the different permissions sought by selected “safety applications” available on the Google Play store in India. It was compiled in November 2016.</b><b><br /> </b><b><br /> </b><b>The dataset has been released under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. All uses of the accompanying data or parts thereof must contain the following attribution: "Data provided by Rohini Lakshané (Centre for Internet and Society) and Chinmayi S K (2018)”. To request a waiver, email rohini [at] cis-india [dot] org. Data are provided AS-IS, without warranty as to accuracy or completeness.</b></p>
<p><b>Zenodo record: </b><b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://zenodo.org/record/3630585">https://zenodo.org/record/3630585</a></b><b><br /> </b></p>
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<p>Click to download:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/files/google-play-safety-app-permissions" class="external-link">List of permissions sought by safety applications on the Google Play Store</a> (Excel File)</li>
<li><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/files/google-play-safety-app-permissions.ods" class="external-link">List of permissions sought by safety applications on the Google Play Store</a> (Open File)</li>
</ul>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/evaluating-safety-buttons-on-mobile-devices-preview'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/evaluating-safety-buttons-on-mobile-devices-preview</a>
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No publisherRohini Lakshané and Chinmayi S.K.Safety ButtonsGenderResearchSafetySafety AppsResearchers at Work2023-03-18T04:40:15ZBlog EntryDigital native: Lie Me a River
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-march-19-2017-digital-native-lie-me-a-river
<b>The sea of social media around us often drowns the truth, exchanging misinformation for facts.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img alt="Social media, Fake news, Fake messages on WhatsApp, Fake news problem, Snopes, Facebook, Google, WhatsApp forwards, technology, tech culture, tech news" class="size-full wp-image-4574844" src="http://images.indianexpress.com/2017/03/fakenews_big_1.jpg" style="float: none; " /><br /><span class="discreet">This basic process of truth telling loses all affordance in social media practices. Let me channel my inner school teacher and present you with a question.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One of the most common methods of testing a student’s knowledge is the multiple choice question template that asks the examinee to identify one of four options as correct solutions to a problem. The pedagogic principle behind these questions is simple enough: We live in a world where truth and accuracy are important. No matter what our subjective feelings, impressions, memories or instincts might be, we need to rely on verifiable facts to make a truth claim. If we fail to do so, there would be negative consequences.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This basic process of truth telling loses all affordance in social media practices. Let me channel my inner school teacher and present you with a question. Drawing on samples of WhatsApp messages on my social media feeds, I invite you to answer this simple question: Which of these statements is not true?</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> Drinking from disposable paper cups lined with wax to keep the liquid from seeping leads to wax deposits in your stomach, resulting in fatal health risks.</li>
<li>Beverages in India have been contaminated by the Ebola virus and are on our shelves right now.</li>
<li>According to Ayurveda, burning camphor and cardamom together kills the swine flu virus in air.</li>
<li>Bollywood actor <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/farida-jalal">Farida Jalal</a> is dead.</li>
</ol>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="260" scrolling="auto" src="http://vidshare.indianexpress.com/players/FrunroOr-xe0BVfqu.html" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Of all of these, the only one you can verify is that Farida Jalal is not dead. The reason we know it for sure is because, she had to come to Twitter, and like Oscar Wilde, announce that the rumours of her death were wildly exaggerated. As Jalal herself pointed out in an interview, she was harassed by a barrage of phone calls, of people calling her up to ask her (oh, the irony!) if she was dead. The other three claims are right now floating in the air, ready to settle down as truth, with continuous repetition. We cannot be sure that they are inaccurate. Especially because they don’t just come as one-line headlines but long narratives of imaginary proofs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Why have we reached this post-truth moment? Why have our social media feeds become minefields of dubious information masquerading as lies? There are many laments lately about how this lack of veracity and fact-checking is becoming the new normal and the blame is always put on either the media that promotes accelerated spread of messages without space for reflection, or gullible people who do not pause to think about the ludicrousness of the message before they spread it to their groups. And, while it is necessary to develop a critical literacy to make sure that we understand the responsibility of our role as information circulators and curators, there is one dimension that needs to be explored more — trust.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In our pre-digital knowledge practices, when information came with a signature, we believed that somebody had done the due diligence needed for the information to be published. An author’s book was supported by the rigour of the publisher behind it. A news report was fact-checked by verifiers who are employed precisely to do that. Information from a friend or somebody we know was credible because of our assessment of the person’s expertise and knowledge. We have always been able to determine the source of information, and our proximity with the source allowed us to trust the information that came through it.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, with social media, this relationship has changed. When somebody sends us a message on WhatsApp, it is still coming from a source that we know, but we have to realise that this source is not producing or verifying this information, but merely circulating it. Messages come with a signature, they seem to emerge from people we know and trust, and, hence, we presume that they have done the due diligence required before passing on the information.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is important to realise that within the social web we don’t really parse, analyse or process information, we merely pass and distribute it. This is how digital media perceives its users — as information circulators. And, this means, that information which mimics facts but is blatantly false, finds easy prey. So, the next time you come across information on these endless message groups, ask a simple question before you pass it along: no matter what the message claims, can you actually locate the source of the information? Is the person who forwards that message producing the information or merely sharing it? If they are sharing it, get back to them and ask how they know what they know. We trust things that are authored, but in our social apps, people are not authors, they are circulators. Making the distinction between the two might be the first step towards developing a critical literacy for fact-telling on the digital web.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>Nishant Shah is a professor of new media and the co-founder of The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore.</i></p>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-march-19-2017-digital-native-lie-me-a-river'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-march-19-2017-digital-native-lie-me-a-river</a>
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No publishernishantResearchers at WorkRAW BlogDigital Natives2017-03-19T14:47:16ZBlog Entry