Women remain second-class citizens in too many countries, deprived of basic rights or legitimate opportunities, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling on universities to help in the fight to overcome discrimination and change perceptions about what women can and should do.

Speaking to the Global Colloquium of University Presidents, held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Mr. Ban said universities can play “a significant role” in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

“They can provide the training in critical thinking that a functional democracy needs,” he said. “They provide a foundation for the economic and medical research that is so essential to society’s well-being. And they supply graduates to the workforce.

“So it is essential that this issue of women’s rights and women’s representation is reflected in your curricula, your appointments, your practices and your partnerships.”

Mr. Ban said it was vital to give girls and young women the inspiration and tools so they have the opportunity to achieve, citing as an example the recent introduction of an all-female unit of Indian police officers to the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia (UNMIL).

“There was an immediate practical benefit – women felt safer and they felt more empowered to complain about the abuse they were enduring. But there was another, unanticipated consequence. Liberian women queued up to join their own police service. Because they saw it, they knew they could be it.”

Earlier this year a new UN entity known as UN Women came into being to replace four separate organizations working to advance the rights of women worldwide.

(Source: UN News Centre)

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The Ministry of Communications of Brazil (minicom) has launched a tool of communication for the society: WikiCom, a kind of virtual encyclopedia. Access to http://wikicom.mc.gov.br.

The new tool will be consulted through the Internet in terms of the most diverse areas of knowledge related to the Ministry of Communications and its services, for example, electronic communication, telecommunication, digital inclusion and postal services. Anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can access the this channel.

The system works like an encyclopedia where entries are added, are consulted and can be modified by users. The contribution of Internet is one of the key differentiators of the mechanism, which is developed from collective constructions.

What is wiki?
Wiki is a collection of many interlinked pages; each of them can be viewed and edited by users, following certain safety measures to prevent the publication of incorrect information. One feature is the ease editing and the possibility of writing in a collective free group, as is done in Wikipedia, one of the most known systems.

(Source: MiniCom - Brazil)
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The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), in partnership with the Attorney General's Office and the General Director of Prisons, has installed more than 20 technology rooms in many correctional centers nationwide.
 
The information was provided by the chairman of the board of Indotel, Dr David Perez Taveras, and the Attorney General of the Republic, Dr. Radhames Jimenez Pena, during the inauguration of a new Computer Training Centre (ITC) in the correctional center of Liberty Bani-Men, located at 1 Kilometer from the road Sánchez in the town of Bani, Peravia province.
 
Perez announced that Indotel will install virtual rooms in all new places of deprivation of freedom that the General Attorney’s Office will build in the near future.
 
Perez Taveras said that in addition to the installation of more than 20 virtual rooms in the prison correctional systems in the country, it was also installed 27 Computer Training Centres (ITC) by Indotel in the province of Peravia, which he said has great value, not only economical for the investment made in the acquisition of these modern equipment, but the message that this institution and the government sent trough the installation of these rooms is social benefits of these projects.
 
"However, I think the greatest satisfaction we will have is when you reap the fruits of intellectual training that can be acquired in this project", said the official.
 
He said that each of the interns will be responsible for the use they give to these technological tools that the Attorney and Indotel put in their hands, so they can be formed, mainly in information technology and communication technology (ICT) a branch of knowledge that the inmates need "at the time of return to society that demands that kind of knowledge in a global world we live".
 
He urged to the interns to take this opportunity to train in the use of this technological tool, and said that it will depend on the success of each intern training.

(Source: Indotel – Dominican Republic)

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UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet together with El Salvador’s President and First Lady on 28 March inaugurated the first “Ciudad Mujer” service centre in Lourdes, Colón.

An El Salvador government initiative with support by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the centre is the first of its kind in the Latin America region to offer comprehensive services to economically and socially empower women. Services include healthcare access, support for survivors of violence, daycare and job training.

The centre will serve the municipalities of Armenia, Maple City, Columbus, Jayaque Sacacoyo, San Juan Opico, Talnique and Tepecoyo, in the west. The IDB is considering a loan proposal to support six additional centers in El Salvador.

(Source: UN News)
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The “One Laptop Per Child” program, which aims to provide modern laptops and internet to public schools, covers already 100 percent of the primary educational institutions nationwide, reported yesterday by the Ministry of Education. Oscar Becerra, director of the Educational Technology sector said that from 2007 up to date they acquired 840 000 laptops for children in state schools. From that total, 300 thousand are already in use and the difference in distribution.

During the international forum “towards a first world education: Education Agenda 2011-2016”, it was noted that public school students can use these machines for at least four hours per week, two in the classroom and two in their free time.

The last purchase of these laptops for school was made in December last year and comprised 500 000 laptops. The investment up to date in this technology exceeds 155 million soles (around US$ 54 millions). "There is possible to get this program including high school, but because lack of time it will be not possible before the end of the current government. At the moment we are loading the software and training teachers in using this technology", said Becerra in the Chamber of Commerce Lima (CCL).

The low-cost computing and technological skills in the classroom help to advance the knowledge of the people, improve the access to information, creating opportunities for students and bridge the digital gap between schools in rural and urban areas of the country, he added.

According to Becerra, lack of electricity in some rural areas is not an impediment to ensure the functioning of these children use laptops, because for this it has solar panels that help generate energy. He added that in the case of areas where there is no chance of internet access, connectivity tools are implemented offline, letting you access and navigate the most important American educational portals through a USB memory.

"We have also acquired and are in the process of delivery, multimedia projectors for each school with more than 100 students, so that more students can access educational content and that all students will be familiar with computers", he said.

The vice president of the Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL), Jorge von Wedemeyer, said that in 2021 the budget allocated to education in Peru could rise 3 to 5.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For this the government needs to increase each year, gradually and continuously, around 0.25 percent of GDP to this education sector. This will allow Peru to achieve high levels of education.

(Source: El Peruano News Paper)

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The technological system that Japan used during the recent earthquake and tsunami will be used in Chile. This system let sends a massive message to cell phones and televisions in a short time, informing the population how to act in case of disaster.

Subtel will award in April to the company that will implement the mass technology alert system, which will be technically operating for mobile phones at the end of 2011. In a second stage, they can use it in televisions gradually, as the deployment of free digital TV reception in the country will be real.

The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, Tetsuo Yamakawa, the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Pedro Pablo Errazuriz, and the subsecretary of Telecommunications, Jorge Atton, highlighted that this platform is one of the potential of Digital Television ISDBT standard adopted by Chile and 11 other countries.

No family is without information in an emergency, is the purpose of massive alert system which is bidding for the Government of Chile, to have a technology platform similar to that is in Japan. Just to show the advantages of early warning system in the Nippon country arrived to Chile the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Tetsuo Yamakawa, to participate in the 4th International Digital Forum on TV ISDBT which brings together the twelve countries that adopted the International Japanese digital television standard.

The Japanese government authority and the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile, Pedro Pablo Errazuriz, and the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Jorge Atton, presented a demo of the technological model of emergencies that Japan used to inform the people during the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck their country.

Both governments highlighted that one of the potential of Digital Television ISDBT standard, adopted by Chile, is implement over this protocol on a mass alert platform that lets the people to send an emergency message to cell phones and televisions, in a short time informing the public how to act in disaster.

"The experience of Japan in the development of digital technologies and their effective use in emergency situations is a reference for us and we see in this multilateral opportunity to continue learning from them", said the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Pedro Pablo Errazuriz.

(Source: Subtel Chile)

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The Provincial Government announced today what will be the Strategic Digital Plan. In the presentation, the Governor considered that this plan should be complemented by an agreement of solidarity between cooperatives and the communication companies with the provincial government for the benefit of all Las Pampas.

In a meeting among mayors, provincial officials, representatives of solidarity organizations and business chambers, the governor said that this is the continuation of a state policy that the Government of La Pampa was drawn and began the investment in infrastructure, specifically 1751 km of optical fiber network to continue with the technological upgrading of the southern provincial network, to obtain a license to provide telecommunications services in Aguas del Colorado, up to now that we are in advanced measures for the development of the province.

Among the measures announced today, include the creation of the Superior Provincial Tecnicatura Computer (tertiary level), the payment of Internet unified for every household in 50 pesos for 1 megabyte, to be offered by providers that adhere to this Call Plan; and Provincial telephone calls between towns in the province will be also free for those under the plan. Expanding on the theme, the governor gave details about the Strategic Digital Plan: "in all those places that you cannot provide the service proposed by a reason of scale or other, the province will develop the home connection service with the necessary technological level, arranging where is possible the cooperative agreements with key strategic local service".

In the context of this plan, they have already been carried out various programs for implementation, other are under way and finally there are those who will be implemented in succession (network, data center connectivity). Also they worked on infrastructure and licensed as a telecommunications service provider, and signed cooperative agreements with Silica and Cordoba digital network comprising the south of the province.

The governor said emphatically that the Provincial Government policy has been defined as the development of Pole Computer. For this and to have a presence in the new global economic environment, the provincial leader said the need to consolidate four new core strengths, adequate connectivity, telecommunications services provided in an efficient and accessible to the community and government agencies, training intensive capital  human, specializing in software and computer services, attracting investors in information technology, computer services and digital content development and advanced e-government, continuing with the digitalization processes and management.

With this objective they have invested heavily, resulting in 1751 km of optical fiber network, connecting 54 towns and thus reaching over 90% of Las Pampas which involves an investment of around 55 million pesos.

In addition, this new plan will bring new benefits for the purposes of the state. For example in education will be improved the ability to access to distance learning tools, video conferencing and the possibility that children who receive the program netbooks "Connect Equality" are guaranteed on access to the Internet, in health may be carried below the digitization of medical records, remote diagnostics, consultations with various advanced health centers (such as the Hospital Garrahan with which agreement has been signed), among others; also it will favored on other hand the development of the economy through the promotion of IT companies. Regarding to security, it will be possible to make video watching and access to online stations and be connected between the province and neighboring provinces.

Finally, the governor said that "La Pampa must incorporate new capabilities in its students and professionals if they want to remain competitive in the challenging world of the future. This will ensure first of all Internet access and telephony, generating the critical mass users to incorporate the Web to its personal and professional development”.

(Source: Government of La Pampa)

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The Auto parts Industry Association (Asopartes) and the Program "Computers for Schools", from the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies, agreed to bring forward a strategic alliance to help with the massive and appropriation of ICT and the use of e-waste.

The popularization and appropriation of ICTs are part of the Plan “Digital Living”, which is promoted by the Minister Diego Molano Vega, and which will contribute with the Plan Quality Education which being conducted by the Ministry of Education.

"As well as all Colombians we support the appropriate use of technology and, above all, help to bring these tools to the most needy, we will contribute to collective prosperity",  said the  President of Asopartes, Tulio Zuloaga.

The strategic partnership was signed between the Executive Director of the Program Computers for Schools, Martha Castellanos, and the group president (Tulio Zuloaga), who committed to get donations of equipment to promote the program among its 1,500 members across the country.

In this year,the program Computers for Schools seeks to provide education to 7,800 offices, libraries and cultural centers with technological terminals. The goal is to bring 89,000 computers (including laptops) for boys and girls, located in different regions of the country.The program, which celebrated 10 years of operation, has reached 6 million school users, and has managed 4,400 tonnes of electronic waste, thus allowing protecting the environment.

"The social content of Computers for Schools is a major concern for us", said Zuloaga, also he said that the sector is committed to corporate social responsibility policies.

 In this year, Computers for Schools has finalized strategic alliances with business groups as Andi, SAC, Acoset, Fenalco, Analdex, and Asopartes, to support the most needy rural school community. This year, the ICT Ministry Program will train 12,000 teachers in educational appropriation of technology, to replicate this knowledge among their students.

(Source: MINTIC - Colombia)
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The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society shared yesterday the experiences of Brazil in the project "Digital City". The presentation was made by Mr. Marcos Biazotto, representative of the company “Trópico”, who explained about the need to walk hand in hand with technology in this digitized world.

The telecommunications market has significant changes, as every day the IP networks is developing, they are the platform or protocol that is currently used to carry information.

This standard of communication, that is independent of the physical connection, such as wire network, to provide services such as broadcast television to consumers, can also be used to send emails, surf the Internet and even to monitor a network camera, sending live images from another part of the world.

Moreover, these features are also available to other physical networks, for example, telephone network, the mobile telephone, the satellite and computer networks, without needing another platform, because it transforms the information and leads to different sectors society, with ease and safety, reducing costs to the state and the user.

It is unthinkable to conceive of the society without an efficient network that converges on the digitalization, which occurs on a global scale and change the way they communicate with both people and devices. It is for this reason that Ecuador is prepared it and runs a macro project "Strategy Digital Ecuador" implemented by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society, which seeks to eradicate the digital illiteracy, including the citizens in this process exchange. The Convergence is here and its benefits are real, said the Minister Jaime Guerrero Ruiz.

(Source: Mintel Ecuador)

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This report uses AudienceScapes data from a nationally representative survey of Tanzania to describe how people of different social groups gather, share and access information through mass media – radio, television and newspapers. They also focus on whether the presence of mobile phones can further augment information dissemination using SMS and mobile radio. Media access and use trends are broken down by region and they profile both national and regional media outlets.

Notably, this report assists development professionals in crafting their communication strategies through mass media conduits. With knowledge of not only how much access to information Tanzanians have, but also what information sources they rely on and trust the most, development practitioners are better equipped to create strategies suited to the local context of their target audience.

The data presented in this report are based on a nationally representative survey conducted in July 2010 among Tanzanian adults age 15 and older. Using the 2002 Tanzanian National Census as the sampling frame and a stratified random sampling design, a nationally representative probability sample of 2,003 respondents was selected. The estimated margin of error is +/-2.2 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The survey was administered through face-to-face personal interviews; the data are weighted by gender and age groups.

(Source: AudienceScapes News)

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Re-establishing communications vital for search and rescue in tsunami-affected areas

ITU has dispatched emergency telecommunications equipment to areas severely affected by the tsunami that struck the coastal areas of Japan following Friday’s devastating earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale.

ITU has deployed 78 Thuraya satellite phones equipped with GPS to facilitate search and rescue efforts along with 13 Iridium satellite phones as well as 37 Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network terminals. An additional 30 Inmarsat terminals are also ready for dispatch. The equipment can be charged by car batteries and are also supplied with solar panels to enable operations during power outages.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré had communicated with the Government of Japan, expressing profound sorrow at the loss of life, injuries and human displacement as well as the extensive damage to property and infrastructure. With the deployment of emergency telecommunications equipment, Dr Touré said, “ITU is prepared to help the Government and people of Japan in every way possible in their hour of need and to deal with the colossal tragedy that has overwhelmed the country with unimaginable loss of life and property. I hope the deployment of emergency telecommunications equipment will assist the Government of Japan in search and rescue operations and re-establish vital communication links”.

Re-establishing communications is a critical tool particularly in the immediate aftermath of disasters to ensure timely intervention and support for the victims and to assist in rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

(Source: ITU – Newsroom)

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This initiative builds on the base that everything depends increasingly on access to information and communication technologies.

Digital inclusion could be inserted in the list of social rights enshrined in the Constitution. The poor Internet access that low-income residents in Brazil have led to members of the Senate to face this reality through a proposed constitutional amendment pending in front of the Committee on Constitution, Citizenship and Justice.

Despite advances in telecommunications networks, in 2008 Brazil ranked 69th position among 193 countries with access to the Internet according the information of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This put Brazil far from countries like Australia, Holland, Sweden and Iceland, where they connect from 70% to 90% of the population world wide web.

While Brazil, with only 17.2% of its population that is inserted into the virtual world, also lost position in relation to neighboring Argentina (17.8%), Uruguay (20.6%) and Chile (28, 9%).

This situation was also supported by the study "Pencil, Eraser & Keyboard ", conducted by the researcher Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz. The survey found that between 10% poorest, only 0.6% had a computer with Internet access, a rate that reached 56.3% among the richest 10%. Deep inequalities are also in the school. It shows, for example, that there is a considerable distance in digital inclusion among public school students (37.3%) and private schools (83.6%).

Senator Rodrigo Rollemberg (PSB-DF), which is who is taking this initiative, argues that this situation could put on risk the future of the country to reduce educational opportunities, social and professional of Brazilian, victims of this digital gap. "The enjoyment of many rights of citizenship, such as information, education, decent work and wages, increasingly dependent on the access to new information and communication technologies. Hence the need for the inclusion of such access as a constitutional right", said Rollemberg.

(Source: Casetel - Venezuela)
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The survey was conducted by Ipsos-Napoleon Franco in the top ten cities in Colombia during the month of December 2010. The questions were about knowledge and use among the general public on the four screens: mobile, computer, Internet and television. Also, the 1,500 respondents were consulted about the on-line governance and regulation, public policy and control of ICT contents.

The survey analyzes the behavior of Colombians over the technologies of information and communications. This information will serve as input for the operations being conducted by the Plan “Digital Living” to build applications and digital content to fit the needs and interests of the Colombian consumers in a converged environment.

 "Knowing the interests of Colombians on information technology and communications will make us able to develop more effective actions to expand the use of the Internet", spoke on the theme the ICT Minister, Diego Molano Vega.

The study reveals that the fixed or mobile phone is the most common way to interact with others, even above personal contact, eight of every ten Colombians have a cell phone and even say they value more than any other medium. The computer is the medium that follows. Respondents say that they prefer those because of their convergence and communication capabilities.

Regarding the use of Internet, the study shows that the massive Internet is a primary concern for Colombians, the vast majority (75%) consider it a public policy priority of President Juan Manuel Santos. Six of every ten Colombians use the Internet between common and occasionally, children and youth are the most common users and the older, greater is the reduction in the use of Internet. Half of the users of Internet, they do it every day and in average of 3 hours a day surfing, the same amount of time that they spend watching television. Nine out of ten Internet users use it to communicate, four out of ten users generated content and three out of ten users made transactions.

The survey also revealed that the main reason why some people still are not Internet users is the ignorance in the use of the tool, but half of them would be very interested in using Internet, and to receive training to learn all about the web.

One of the conclusions of the study is the speed with which they seem to be changing certain trends and attitudes of Colombians face of Information and Communications Technologies. The advance of technology offering is very fast and the data suggest that the appropriation of it by the population is also growing at a significant pace.

Source: (Source: MINTIC - Colombia)

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From early morning, once they known the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the alert to the possible implications in the coastal area of the country, the Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society, Jaime Guerrero Ruiz, made available immediately for increase the Internet capacity (bandwidth) in the main monitoring and control of the National Secretariat of Risk. Similarly, mobile operators modified their ability to give priority to the coastal sector.

Once determined by the President of the Republic, Econ. Rafael Correa, who runs the meeting with the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) in Guayaquil, to monitor, analyze and manage preventive evacuation operations along the coast and the island region, the Minister Guerrero decided to increase the capacity of the bandwidth at the offices of the entity.

This resolution was established in order to take advantage of the technological tools and be witness of the reports and the testimony from the governors and the commanders of the bases of Galapagos, through the technology that allowed reporting inmediatly to the president Correa and to the media about the real situation in coastal areas and the Galapagos Islands.

The efficient use of ICT was innovative because it was crucial to stay calm in the population; as it were instantaneous reports said the Minister of Telecommunications. "It is important to note that the country did not have these tools in the past and that with the presence of the National Government through the Ministry of Telecommunications, day by day we promote the access to information and communication technology tools that allow a radical redefinition of the functioning of society to improve the quality of life across the population", added the Minister.

(Source: Mintel - Ecuador)

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Noting that quality education and women’s full access to and participation in science and technology were imperative for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Commission on the Status of Women today urged Governments and relevant United Nations agencies to take appropriate actions to bolster women’s access to education and to specifically strengthen capacities to ensure that science education policies and curricula were relevant to their needs.  

Those were among the key observations and recommendations at the core of the Commission’s agreed conclusions (document E/CN.6/2011/L.6), reflecting the overall theme of the 45-member body’s fifty-fifth session, “access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work”.  The Commission’s 2011 session, which opened at Headquarters on 22 February, had been originally scheduled to close on 4 March, but protracted negotiations on the agreed conclusions forced it to suspend its work until its closing today.

Among a host of vital priorities identified in the agreed conclusions, the Commission stressed that access to and participation in quality education, including in the science and technology fields, by women and girls of all ages, was an economic necessity and provided them with the skills, knowledge and aptitude necessary for life-long learning, employment, better physical and mental health, and full participation in social, economic and political development.

The agreed conclusions called for action on behalf of women and girls by Governments, United Nations agencies, and human rights and civil society groups, among others, in six key areas, including strengthening national legislation, policies and programmes; expanding access and participation in education; strengthening gender-sensitive education and training, including in the field of science and technology; supporting the transition from education to full employment and decent work; increasing retention and progression of women in science and technology employment; and making science and technology responsive to women.

Before the Commission adopted the text, Commission Vice-Chair Filippo Cinti (Italy) said it had been the result of “extensive and intense negotiations”.  Unfortunately, those talks had not been concluded by the deadline for the session’s final scheduled meeting, but agreement late that Friday night was a testament to the willingness of delegations to reach consensus.

In closing remarks, Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for General Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), said that while the agreed conclusions indeed reflected the commitment of Member States, they were only a “first step” and must be implemented and followed up at the national level.  She called on all Member States to spare no effort to ensure that their aims and objectives were fully addressed, especially in the six key areas of ongoing concern, such as violence against women and the situation of rural women and girls.

(Source:United Nations -Press Releases)
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The 75.8% of women in the Dominican Republic has not used the Internet in the last 12 months, against 24.2% who have used, according the Studies of the Research Center for the female Action (CIPAF) and the National Commission for Information Society and Knowledge (CNSIC), which also highlights a wide digital gap in the female sector of the country (Dominican Republic).

Also, they require that 65% of women have not used the computer in the last 12 months, while yes only 35% had used; while only 38% of households with women heads of households have access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) against 62% of households are headed by men. The research highlights that although women represent 62% of college tuition, they are only 32% of those enrolled in basic sciences and technologies. In contrast men are 68% of those enrolled in these courses.

"Only 7% of women are studying engineering and / or technologies, as opposed to 15% of men", according to those studies that attribute the situation to stereotypes that society has created, in that essence these carriers are not for women.

Data on these investigations were revealed by the director of CIPAF, licensed Magaly Pineda, and Amparo Arango from the Technical Unit of the National Commission for Information Society and Knowledge (CNSIC), in the project presentation "Gender and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)" held last March 6, in the International Women's Day.

The project that is sponsored by the United Nations (UNWomen), seeks to mainstream the gender perspective in the National Strategy for Information Society and Knowledge in Dominican Republic.

Arango and Pineda advocated that the country adopts policies, programs and strategies to change the present reality to move towards a more equal future, reduce the digital gap and facilitate greater female participation in the direction of society. In its recommendations, the experts suggested to adopt plans that help redress the disadvantage of women face in today's society, and in that sense seek to create math clubs, science and technology as e-girls supermaths; make that the ITLA and INDOTEL establish a center of academic excellence with equality and gender equity and feminist club connected.

Also, may the Community Technology Centers (CTC), set up by the Office First Lady, and more than one thousand Computer Training Centres (ITC) of Indotel, are gender sensitive and that a diagnosis is made on public policies and projects information and communication technologies (ICT) from a gender perspective. They decided on a Plan for Equal Opportunities for Women in the Information Society (PIOMSI-SI) from a process of consultation with women's organizations and women throughout the country.

The presentation of the Gender and ICT project, a proposal that was shown to the Fund for Equal Gender United Nations, was one of the 29 proposals selected for funding by the UN, from a total of 540 proposals from around the world presented, was chaired by the Minister of Women, licensed Alejandrina German, the manager of the Development Fund INDOTEL Telecommunications, Neil Checo licensed, and the director of Cipaf, licensed Magaly Pineda.

During the activity the Spanish political scientist and sociologist Maria Angeles Alonso delivered a lecture on "New Technologies and Gender Equality: Lessons and Challenges from the Spanish experience" (ere).

(Source: Indotel Dominican Republic)

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged students to use information technology and the Internet creatively to chart a better future for humanity, saying that the web is a powerful resource and a tool for development.

“The web is integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Online classrooms and e-learning are creating new opportunities for education”, the Secretary-General said in a message to the 35th UN International School-UN Conference, whose theme this year is “The Web: Wiring the World”.

“Web-based data collection is a key to charting our progress and identifying areas requiring extra attention. Mobile phones with broadband technology are helping to identify malnourished children and to connect HIV counsellors with patients”, Mr. Ban told the conference in New York.

He underlined the UN’s commitment to the freedom of information, as proclaimed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to promoting universal access to the information and communications technologies (ICTs) that are central to realizing that right.

“One initiative through which we are pursuing this effort is the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which was launched last year by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO [UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] and which aims to bring broadband technology to everyone, everywhere, so that countries at all stages of development can benefit”, Mr. Ban said.

Emphasizing the power of the Internet to bring about social change, the Secretary-General cited the “dramatic events in North Africa and the Middle East,” where young people have used the web “to help transform societies and turn the tides of history.”

“It is young people like you who are leading this revolution, who are not only finding their voices online but are using the technology to shape a better future for all of us”, said Mr. Ban.

(Source:UN News Centre)

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Young rural females are a priority target population for public health interventions, given that these women typically are (or soon will be) mothers of young children. But development organizations working in Africa say they often face challenges sharing information effectively with these women, for a variety of practical and cultural reasons such as lower access to media and ICTs in rural areas, or social norms preventing women from being active consumers of mass media. For example, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters published a series of studies in 2008 cataloguing experiences from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Ghana, and other countries in which innovative small-scale community radio programs helped to reach and empower an audience that was otherwise difficult to reach.

The projects’ shared hypothesis—that community radio can fill an information gap among women—is in part based on the observation that “without access to information, the poor and marginalized, particularly women, are unaware of their rights and entitlements, are unable to challenge unfare decisions and lack the knowledge to participate as citizens and take effective action to improve their conditions”.

Here we show how the AudienceScapes data on demographic and behavioral characteristics of young rural women in Ghana can provide helpful guidance to development groups (the analysis in this section is based on 307 survey respondents in the “young rural women” category). Few speak English, though most speak languages of the country’s predominant Akan group.

A full quarter of this target group said they had not gotten any information on maternal and infant health in the last year and those respondents were spread throughout the country. Despite the evident lack of information, less than 10 percent expressed any level of dissatisfaction with the information currently available to them about this critical subject.

(Source: AudienceScapes)
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In an attempt to bridge the digital divide, the Sanchar Shakti scheme envisages creating ICT skills among rural women by providing useful information to women about health, social issues and government schemes over their mobile phones. The scheme seeks involvement of women Self Help Groups for its successful implementation.

President Pratibha Patil on Monday launched DoT-USOFs' pilot project Sanchar Shakti, which aims to provide useful information to women, about health, social issues and government schemes over their mobile phones.

The scheme, which is funded by Department of Telecom's (DoT) Universal Service Obligation Funds (USOFs), is for mobile value-added services and information and communication technologies (ICT) related livelihood skills for Women's Self Help Groups.

"The scheme is initiated as a gender budget scheme, it adopts an innovative approach to connect rural women with the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector, by involving women Self Help Groups (SHGs)," Patil told reporters.

It will also serve the purpose of increasing the tele density, as well as broad band connectivity in rural areas, enabling them to join the cyber community and in this way, bridge the digital divide, states the details of the scheme.

With the creation of ICT skills sets in rural areas, over a period of time, these areas can become centres for the consumption and production of various ICT goods and services, including hubs for processing outsourced work, it added.

Patil added, "Real development cannot take root if it bypasses women, who represent the very pivot around which social change takes shape."

(Source:One world South Asia News)

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From 2 to 4 March, it was held the International Educational Innovative Congress 2011, the most important event on education in Mexico, where they discussed the latest trends and innovations in learning and education worldwide, to train teachers in our country with the objective of enabling them to address the "Era of global intelligence," which concluded that it is necessary to rethink the role of teaching and learning for current and future generations of Mexicans.

With the support of TELMEX, more than five thousand people, including teachers, psychologists, teachers, specialists, school administrators and the general public throughout the country, both public and private schools, gathered to attend lectures and workshops where they had the opportunity to discuss problems and solutions for education in Mexico.

 Elementary and high school teachers attended the event; also it was attended by Mrs. Margarita Zavala, who recognized the important work of teachers in building a better country. In addition, the Master Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize in Literature 2010, gave a lecture.

Within the Congress; TELMEX announced the scope of the various educational initiatives offered by the company in Information and Technology, which have been developed by the Technological Institute of TELMEX (INTTELMEX) which is part of the Education and Culture Digital Foundation Telmex and Carlos Slim.

These initiatives that strengthen the Digital Education in our country are provided free of charge through various activities, workshops, programs, refresher courses and masters in suitable places set by the company with the latest digital technology and are more than 3 500 Classrooms - TELMEX Digital Libraries located throughout the country, TELMEX HUB Digital Library of the Historical Center of Mexico City and the INTTELMEX IT, which together provide  an art education offer, ranging from basic education and technical, to the Master of Information and Technology to train highly skilled professionals in technology, without having to go abroad.

 Thus, the International Congress of Educational Innovation 2011 has been a space for exchange of information, ideas and experiences on the latest trends in education, becoming a meeting point for the main stakeholders in education in our country.

(Source: Telmex - Mexico)

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ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré was one of the international leaders to lend his support to the launch of the new Global Network of Women ICT Decision Makers (podcast), which took place at UN headquarters in New York in conjunction with the 55^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

The initiative of Serbia’s Minister of Communications and Information Society, Ms Jasna Matiæ, the network aims to provide support, global information exchange and mentorship for high-placed women in the information and communications (ICT) industry.

Launched by Minister Matiæ and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, the idea for the network emerged during ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, last October. It was subsequently included in Resolution 70 of that conference, garnering overwhelming support from PP-10 delegates.

In a video message to support the launch, Dr Touré said ITU was committed to promoting ICTs as tools to empower women and girls, as well as to encouraging more girls and women into the industry.

“The ICT industry offers many incentives to those looking for abundant career opportunities, engaging, cutting edge work, and substantial remuneration,” Dr Touré said. “In the world today, there are about 850 million young women aged under 24. With the ICT sector now serving as the world’s single biggest growth engine for jobs, we’re going to need their skills, their enthusiasm, and their fresh ideas.”

The ITU Secretary-General went on to express his hope that one of the major achievements of the new Global Network of Women ICT Decision Makers will be to showcase the many talented women working in the ICT field, and to promote these women as inspiring role-models for a new generation of female ICT leaders.

Other high-level leaders supporting the launch included the Ministers of Communication of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Finland, and Qatar, the Secretary-General of the Arab ICT Association, and dignitaries from Senegal and Sweden.

(Source: ITU news)
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As the 55th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) unfolds in New York, FAO urges world leaders to ensure that rural women are fully included in the design, testing and use of agricultural technologies and innovations.

During its annual session to review progress on gender equality and to identify critical areas where challenges remain, CSW invited Member States representatives, United Nations agencies and NGOs from all regions of the world to share experiences and lessons learned on this year’s theme: "Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work".

At the CSW, FAO together with IFAD, WFP and the World Bank, held two side events that focused on the practical steps needed to improve rural women’s access to productive technologies. Together with IFAD and the World Bank, FAO presented research and experiences, carried out jointly with IFAD, on the use of agricultural technologies among small and resource-poor farmers, as well as discussed new farming techniques to help increase food security and enhance the livelihoods of rural women and men.

Eve Crowley - Principal Advisor, Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division - discusses some of the benefits that science and technology brings to rural women, and the obstacles preventing them from taking full advantage of agricultural innovations:

How can science and technology benefit and empower rural women?

Science and technology offers solutions to many challenges faced by rural women: they can contribute to food security by boosting crop yields; reduce women’s domestic and productive work by introducing labour-saving technologies; and increase participation of women in the rural labour market through better communications.

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO)

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The device used in the Massachusetts National Hospital did hit the tumor diagnosis in 96% of patients.

With only a mobile phone, a thin needle and a small molecular magnetic resonance apparatus it is possible to detect cancerous tumors. This was explained by the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in an article published in the journal “Science Translational Medicine”.

Thanks to this innovative system used by doctors could succeed in the diagnosis of cancer in 96% of patients, a figure higher than with the traditional biopsy.

"The system prevents patients undergo to procedures that are painful and potentially dangerous", said Cesar M. Castro from Harvard Medical School, Boston, and a member of the team that developed the procedure.

Through the collection of a portion of tumor tissue, which is subjected to an "immunohistochemistry" (a test that uses a specific procedure that "mark" the existence of cancer cells), is how they do the diagnostic of molecular analysis fast. To this are added biopsies and in some cases, previous surgeries.

The nuclear magnetic resonance micro device used “nanoparticles” as sensors that measure the chemicals in the cells and the device is connected to a phone, so that doctors can measure and read the data next to the patient's bed.

After scanning the tissues from patients to detect the expression of nine key proteins, the doctors correctly identified to 44 patients who had malignant tumors, and each of the diagnoses was confirmed with conventional biopsy.

 

(Source: Peru 21 news paper)

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Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today underscored the importance of education in raising the status of women in society and called for greater investment in measures to ensure gender equality, deploring the fact that two-thirds of illiterate adults across the world are female.
“Investing in women and girls is a force multiplier,” Ms. Migiro told the opening of the two-week session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters. “Not only is education a key driver of economic growth, it is also a catalyst for empowering women,” she added.

Ms. Migiro pointed out that global commitments to achieving universal primary education and gender parity, at all levels of education, have had a beneficial impact on girls’ school enrolment and retention rates in many countries, but the quality of education has not kept pace, particularly in the developing world.

“Many children leave school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Girls and women are under-represented in science and technology, education and employment. They are simply not getting the knowledge and skills they need for today’s competitive and changing job market.

“Your discussions at this session can help connect the dots among those key issues affecting women’s prospects and well-being,” said Ms. Migiro.

She said the launch of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) will galvanize worldwide efforts to realize the rights and opportunities of women and girls.

“UN Women will build on the strong foundation of international norms and policies developed by the United Nations over decades. It will provide a strong and unified voice. It will work throughout the United Nations system to strengthen coherence and to ensure accountability,” said Ms. Migiro.

(Source: UN News Centre)

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In the presence of the Minister of Transport and Communications (MTC) Dr. Enrique Cornejo Ramírez was signed the Project Financing Agreement "Integration of Rural Areas and Social Interest Preferred locations to the Network Service - Forest", which includes the implementation of fixed services and mobile telephony for 199 locations and over 20 thousand households in six regions: Amazonas, Junín, Loreto, Madre de Dios, San Martin and Ucayali; which will benefit to 127.205 people.

The signing of the Financing Agreement was signed between the Technical Secretariat of the Investment in Telecommunications, FITEL, Dr. Pilar Tejada and Mr. Javier Manzanares, Chairman of Telefónica Móviles del Peru SA.

The project, which will require an investment of US$ 14'717,777 from Fitel resource will benefit to 199 forest places in the departments of Amazonas, Junín, Loreto, Madre de Dios, San Martín and Ucayali. Telefonica will provide the entire infrastructure, operate and maintain the networks. Also they will develop further awareness and dissemination activities to inform and encourage the population on the use of telecommunications services.

The financing of the Investment in Telecom (Fitel) will be used to design, equipment acquisition, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of systems that will provide public telecommunications services in the targeted locations.

The installation of telecommunications infrastructure to provide services and mobile telephony as well as dissemination and awareness of the project must be made within 12 months.

(Source: MTC - Peru)

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The Centers benefit communities in Barahona, Azua, San Cristóbal, La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris, Pedro Brand, Villa Altagracia and the National District (DN), where is operating 145 next-generation computers.This are part of openings projects of CCI that Indotel began in 2005 and has allowed this institution to install more than one technology centers, providing access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to hundreds of thousands of children, young people and adults across the country.

The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) opened in recent days, 15 new Computer Training Centres (CCI) in Villa Central and Jaquimeyes de Barahona; El Tablazo de Cambita and El Carril de Los Bajos de Haina, Hato Damas, Los Hoyos and Villa Altagracia in San Cristobal. Also in La Yeguada, in the Ingeniero Porvenir, at the school San Vicente de Paul, from the section Higuamo 1 in San Pedro de Macoris; in the town Villa Hermosa and in the Hogar del Niño, La Romana, in the hospital Taiwan Of Azua, in Pedro Brand and in the Home “Crear del ensanche La Fe“ from the National District.

Openings involved the installation of 145 last generation computers, equipped with wired local area networks, wireless access points to the Internet, batteries, voltage regulators, and furnitures (ten tables and ten chairs each center).

The new technological spaces are endowed, in addition, with software containing Windows 7 operating system, the encyclopedias Encarta and Wilkipedia, the book "How to Study" by Fillmore Swain; a link to the virtual library of the United States Embassy and several online English courses.

Doctors from Taiwan hospital from Azua can access to computers in the digital rooms opened here by the Indotel. The iniciatives are part of the proposed inauguration of digital rooms that Indotel began in 2005 and that has allowed this institution to install more than one thousand of technology centers in diferent communities, providing access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to hundreds of thousands of children, youth and adults nationwide.

In the last week Indotel opened five CCI in communities of San Cristobal, which leads to 50 projects and technology rooms installed by the regulatory agency in the southern province. In this sense, youth, children and adults in Hato Damas and Los Hoyos were benefiting with two new CCI opened by Indotel here as part of the widespread use of ICT in poor communities in the south of the country.

(Source: Indotel - Dominican Republic)
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O3B, a project to cut the digital gap leading by Google and Astra, will extend the web to 3,000 million people that still have lack of access. The first eight devices were launched in 2013.

Google, and Astra, the leading satellite operator in Europe, leading a project called O3B (Other 3 Billions), said the Spanish newspaper “El Pais“. Started from the mind of Greg Wyler, the initiative has as primary goal to bring broadband Internet via satellite to more than 3,000 million people in 150 countries which still can not access the site by its high cost or lack of necessary infrastructure.

With a budget of 1,200 million dollars, O3b is driven by the European Society of Satellites (SES), which provides 30% of the investment, the U.S. giant Google, the bank SHBC and Liberty Global. As a technology partner, SES – the company that operates Astra – will launch 20 satellites into space that will provide broadband coverage globally. The first eight devices will be launched in 2013. A succession of active antennas will be catching the signal from one satellite to another with a network of teleports located in different parts of the world. The bases will be located in Spain, in the Pacific islands, North and South America, East Mediterranean, Middle East and Australia.

(Source: Casetel - Venezuela)
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India has underlined the need for the UN to prioritise its goals on gender equality and empowerment of women so as to prevent efforts becoming diffused at a key meeting of the world body. "Unless there is effective prioritisation, efforts will get diffused", Hardeep Singh Puri, India's ambassador to the UN said yesterday.

At the first executive board meeting UN Women, the newly created entity which will focus on the overall condition of females, Puri said it needs to effectively prioritise its goals if it wants to achieve results.

"Our effort should, therefore, be to prioritise the focus on gender equality, the empowerment of women and gender mainstreaming", the top Indian diplomat said. Setting out a 100-day action plan, former Chilean president and now head of UN women, Michelle Bachelet, laid out five priorities.

These included - ending violence against women; ensuring women's full participation in conflict resolution, enhancing women's economic empowerment as well as expanding leadership and participation.

"I am determined that UN Women will be a catalyst for change, offering new energy, drawing on long-standing ideas and values", she told the board. Puri said that from India's national perspective the priority areas Bachelet mentioned were "extremely important."

"These mirror the priorities of our Government as well as the extremely proactive civil society in India", he underlined. The Indian envoy also stressed that lack of coordination among the various UN actors was a major constraint for reform.

"Multiplicity of UN actors in the field had led to lack of accountability and delays in identifying the right agency for cooperation", he said, adding that the 100-day Action Plan rightly addresses this as one of the core principles for UN Women.

Puri, however, pointed out that last year Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had proposed that the UN Women be created with the initial corpus of USD 1 billion but now the target had been set for USD 500 million. "The lower target of USD 500 million should not make us complacent and limit ourselves", he said.

(Source: Hindustantimes)

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Phones with features that let to control the heart rhythm, diabetes, or to report sexually transmitted diseases, were presented at the World Mobile Congress, the biggest cell exposition in the world that culminated yesterday in Barcelona, Spain.

Many prevention services in the field of health through cell phones, are available through SMS or MMS messages, which work on any type of cell.

The Society “Health Company”, which covers Arabia Saudi and Kuwait, send to around 430,000 customers information in Arabic or in English about diabetes, sex, obesity and child health every month.

For grandparents manufacturers began to simplify smart phones to make them accessible for older people.

The French subsidiary of the Austrian firm Emporia, for example, equips its phones with a mini-flashlight, which allows its owner to have a night light and that glows when the phone rings. One model has a strap with a classic little black book in which you can write with a pen.

(Source: Casetel - Venezuela)
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The Ministry of Environment and the Telecommunications company Claro, have signed an agreement that aims to create a platform for inter-agency collaboration to implement mechanisms for coordination and cooperation, promoting the activities of mutual interest and benefit, for the purpose of disseminating issues linked to environmental management and conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

In this context, CLARO has been developing some time ago its iniciative "I recycle, I'm Claro" initiative that seeks to promote concern for environmental care in the population through responsible disposal of cell phones, batteries and accessories in disuse , nationwide.

In Peru, electronic waste (RAEE) such as cell phones, for example, generate about 250 tons of electronic waste, stored improperly, cause environmental damage and health of people due to the high toxicity of its small components produced based on metals and minerals such as aluminum, copper, iron, zinc, lead, tin, among others.

In this regard, the Ministry of Environment undertakes to support all initiatives and events undertaken in the framework of this strategic alliance for the benefit of a better quality of life and environment for all Peruvians.

 For its part, CLARO, through such actions, seeks to implement the necessary mechanisms to strengthen the culture of recycling in the country, while providing all the Peruvians a sustainable alternative to discard all those teams that are no longer used in a responsible manner, without causing further damage to the environment.

(Source:MINAM - Peru)

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With the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the ICT Ministry and the Government of Cundinamarca, will be implemented in this region, the strategy "Digital Cundinamarca”, which aims to increase access and use Internet in this department. The memorandum was signed on Saturday 12 February by the ministry of ICT Diego Molano Vega, who participated in the twenty second day of the event “Prosperity Agreements” chaired by the President of the Republic Juan Manuel Santos.

The memorandum includes access to 30 municipalities of Cundinamarca to the national draft of fiber optic network that is part of the plan “Vive Digital” which will be implemented by the social program of the Ministry of ICT “Compartel”.

Similarly "Cundinamarca Digital" will implement “Technocenters” in the municipalities of the department to facilitate the access and use of the technology. "We want to bring technology to the people of Cundinamarca and that they can realize that it is useful and benefit. Through “Technocenters”, fiber optics, computers and training to micro entrepreneurs, Cundinamarca will jump on the bus technology through Digital Cundinamarca, "said ICT Minister Diego Molano Vega.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the ICT Minister and the Governor of Cundinamarca, Andrés González, also includes the technology training of 266 entrepreneurs in 24 municipalities in Cundinamarca. Employers will receive courses of Information technology and they will be provided with access to a technology package consisting of a laptop with Windows and Office licenses and one year of mobile Internet. As for training, they will be taught from the use of computers to the management of basic office software and Internet basics, distributed in 60 hours in present and 40 hours virtual.

The memorandum also includes that once the budget of the project is defined, the ICT Ministry will provide up to 50% of the project budget. It is expected that by mid-March, the final document is signed.

(Source: MINTIC -Colombia)
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Investing in rural youth in developing countries is vital to eradicating poverty in those communities and ensuring global food security, the head of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) stressed on Saturday.

IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze told delegates to the Fund's annual meeting, which opened today in Rome, that supporting young women and men is critical to building vibrant rural economies, which in turn is key to overcoming larger challenges such as reducing hunger and poverty, mitigating climate change, achieving energy security and protecting the environment. “Current events show the energy, creativity and power of young people, and also the importance of ensuring that they can see a future for themselves in the societies in which they live”, he said at the opening of the two-day meeting of IFAD's Governing Council.

Mr. Nwanze called for investing in rural youth and helping them become better and more successful farmers and business people.

“These young people are the next generation of farmers, producers and workers”, he said. “Give them the skills and confidence they need to run profitable farms or start businesses, and they will become the upstanding citizens and community leaders of tomorrow”.

“Ignore them, and they will have little option but to leave their homes and families to search for work in the cities, seeking better lives but oftentimes finding only more misery”, he warned.

In most developing countries, agriculture is already the leading provider of employment for people ages 15 to 24, according to IFAD. However, agriculture rarely provides a living wage and the sector is typified by low levels of productivity, dangerous work and lack of social protection.

Rural youth is the main focus of this year's session, which features agricultural and rural development experts, young entrepreneurs from rural areas and youth leaders, and will explore some of the challenges faced by rural young people.

(Source: UN News)

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Taking account the continuous interest of the National Government to ensure that the Colombians know about the shares that have been advanced, as well as those plans in relation to the deployment of wireless broadband infrastructure in the country, and the incidence of electromagnetic fields on health and the environment, the Spectrum Agency (ANE), in coordination with the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MINTIC) - entity that has officially asked the ANE for its support in these issues - and the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), have decided to pool efforts in two strategic issues: a) infrastructure and regulation, b) health and environment.

Therefore, the ANE published the Action Plan between the administration and telecom operators: electromagnetic fields, health and environment ", which is published on the website www.ane.gov.co: “Electromagnetic Fields, Health and Environment”.

(Source: Mintic - Columbia)
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The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society (Mintel) runs one of its flagship projects "INFOCENTROS" to promote social development and inclusive of the population through access to Information Technology.

The Mintel and the Provincial Government of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas inaugurated, officially, the first two Infocentros of the province, in the parish of San Jacinto del Búa and the community Nuevo Israel. Through these Infocenters, parishes will include the provision of equipment, connectivity and training for their residents, who will access to online education, interaction, community involvement with localities receiving the Plan, immediate information of all ministries and the actions of the Government, as well as the most important steps, mainly the ongoing training aimed at eradicating digital illiteracy.

The opening ceremony was held in the Parish of San Jacinto del Bua and was attended by Deputy Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society (Mr. Javier Veliz), the adviser to the Minister of Telecommunications and Infocentros Project Manager, (Engineer Mario Ortega), the Mayor (Mr. Geovanny Benítez), as delegate of the Mayor (Mr. Oswaldo Garzon), the President of the Parish of San Jacinto del Bua (Dr. Nelson Arms) and as a representative of the Community Nuevo Israel Mr. Jorge Jimenez, also the parish authorities and the general public.

Mr. Veliz said that the President of the Republic, Rafael Correa, has placed special emphasis on “Infocentros” and has given a tremendous boost to hundreds of communities nationwide to integrate a large network and get a huge chance to be known in the context, not only national but also international, because they will get connectivity via the Internet, satellite or wireless, which places them on par with the modern world. "It's almost a door opens and we are absolutely confident that they will know to maximize all the resources that we'll provide", said the Deputy Minister.

With the implementation of the Infocenter, rural parishes of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas are integrated to ICT and use these tools as a place for public engagement and technology that enable them to generate appropriate technologies, social interaction and improved quality of personal and community life of the inhabitants. The initiative, with an investment of 14.5 million dollars, seeks to create in each location, a center of information technology that allows effective interface with the world.

The Infocentres are intended to serve as a tool for community development and are available to all citizens. The main services offered include: Internet access, telephony, training in the National Digital enlistment and training of special programs. Also, each Infocentre works in their respective parish or municipality and has the right furniture: five computers with Internet access, a router, a projector, a Video Recorder, a printer, a liquid chalk board, a toner, a voltage regulator and a set of cables.

(Source: Mintel - Ecuador)
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Between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Digital Brigade's of the ICT Ministry will conduct a simulation of earthquake with the participation of the School of Engineering, Militar University of Nueva Granada. This exercise aims to involve communities in digital volunteers in order to use the technology for the relief agencies responsible for dealing with natural disasters in the country.

The idea of bringing an earthquake simulation was born into the mastery of risk management of the Nueva Granada Military University. Once the ICT Ministry met this unique initiative in the country, joined the squad through the “Redsalvavidas de la Brigada Digital”, a volunteer group whose purpose is to demonstrate that ICT also save lives.

The aim is to advance a simulation of an "earthquake" that would fictitious centered in the university area of the city of Manizales. Digital Volunteers, 42 in total, grouped into twitter and mappers in the country, will be connected with the “crisis room” of the Nueva Granada Military University and through its technological tools facilitate the work of institutions responsible for dealing with disasters such phenomena natural.

The fictional exercise intended several reports to advance the public perception of the earthquake through various reports supplied by the twitter notionally exercise participants, who represent the Manizales affected by the earthquake of course.

The event will simulate the actions to be brought forward during the first four days after the earthquake. Between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. will develop the analysis of what is known as “EDAN”, the Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis of the community, allegedly affected during the first day of natural phenomenon, and between 11:00 am and 2:00 p.m. the work will focus on actions to be brought forward in the three remaining days of the phenomenon.

This exercise aims to involve technology in the service of natural phenomena that occur in the country and offer alternatives supported by tools like Twitter and digital maps.

(Source: Mintic - Colombia)

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Under a blue sky, the air is filled with women’s laughter and songs. It is the perfect setting for the opening of "City of Joy", a joint project of UNICEF and the non-governmental organization V-Day, providing a safe haven for survivors of sexual violence.

City of Joy will serve 180 women between the ages of 14 and 35 every year with psychotherapy an extensive training programme comprising literacy, economics and sexuality education. The project is also supported by the Panzi Foundation, which manages a nearby gynaecological hospital.

Congolese women are the driving force behind City of Joy. Their needs and wishes form the basis of this project, which aims to turn the tide in DR Congo – from women as victims to women as leaders. Created from their vision, City of Joy will be operated by women themselves.

City of Joy marks the latest chapter in the ongoing campaign, ‘Stop Raping our Greatest Resource: Power to the Women and Girls of DRC’, which V-Day and UNICEF launched in 2007. The new project will provide a powerful new platform for women’s empowerment.

“The opening of the City of Joy is the moment where women of the Congo turn their pain to power, where they who have suffered so deeply, so invisibly, will claim their rights, their bodies and their future”, said author and V-Day founder Eve Ensler. “It is a huge privilege and honour to be present at this momentous occasion”.

(Source: UNICEF)

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Telefónica announced today the BlueVia developer community, the first platform on which developers participate in revenue generated by the API transactions and operate in all regions in which Telefónica is present.

Telefónica today announced the launch of a community of developers, with the name of BlueVia www.bluevia.com, which will operate in all regions whereTelefónica is.

BlueVia is a step forward from the existing programs for developers and Telefonica (O2 Litmus in the UK, Open MovilForum, and Platform Movistar for Developer in Mexico developers Vivo in Brazil). BlueVia marks the beginning of a new phase in Telefónica's commitment to the community of developers, to consolidate all these activities in order to create an improved offer, coordinated and fully integrated for both web application developers to mobile phones around the world.

With BlueVia, Telefónica becomes the first operator worldwide to provide developers with between 10% and 50% of the generated  revenues by the API transactions, plus they retain 70% of all proceeds from the sale of applications and subscriptions. And all with no friction, highlighting one of the basic principles of BlueVia, which is to share part of the value you create. Over the time, BlueVia will offer developers a huge potential, thanks to Telefónica's international presence and more than 280 million customers worldwide. Developers will be able to share and monetize their ideas in very different ways, and it will be given the tools to do so. BlueVia will connect directly with customers, opening new and exciting market opportunities for developers.

'BlueVia is a truly open and collaborative community that developers are helping to create. The aim of BlueVia is to collect the pool of creative talent that exists in the developer community and provide the tools, infrastructure and platform, including access to the APIs, as well as ideas and data to help identify and meet demand market. For the first time, developers will be able to trade their applications in countries around the world and receive a share of revenue from the traffic created by them through their innovative and creative applications", said Vivek Dev, director of New global Services of Telefónica.

Jose Valles, Director of BlueVia, added: 'Internet and telecommunications operators have changed the way we see the world, but also the way we do business. This new world economy requires more collaborative business models based on openness and transparency. Our desire is to create an interactive global community in which the developer not only earn revenue from the sale of its applications, but also benefit from the traffic generated by the API, thus leading to a mutually beneficial business model for both parties to base on collaboration and interaction between them".

(Source: Telefónica)
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Equipped with ten computers and four mobile telephones the new space provides access to voice and data service. It also promotes the new relations of production and social property in communities.

In the rural area of La Rochelle-Reforma-El Jabillo, sector “La Donata”, Municipality Fernández Feo takes place the new CDC Communal of Tachira, which guarantees access to telephone and Internet services to more than 1700 inhabitants of the community.

It is important to note that the Comunal CDC is an achievement from organized People's and represented by the Technical Committees on Telecommunications (MTT), organization that is driven by CANTV which provides management services for the community.

The consolidation of this project promotes new relations of production and the social property in communities, so the populations can strengthen its popular power organized through exchanges of knowledge driven by CANTV.

The CDC Community of Donata has ten computers equipped to provide Internet services, with free applications, aligned with the sovereignty and integration policies promoted by the Bolivarian Government; and four phones for voice services. Both services work through a wireless networking.

For Aiza Casanova, a professor at the Pre-vocational Education Center “Los Jabillos” was essential to install this CDC Community. He said: "We needed this space to integrate the training of children of the community. Before, to access to the Internet we had to go to El Pinal, and it was difficult for the children. Today we see how it has managed to transform this reality."

"Thanks to the policies of the Government, today children use “the Canaimas” as their first contact with the technologies, and the Communications Center in the community now will be able to reinforce this understanding", said the teacher.

(Source: Cantv)
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"After the program will be fully materialized, Ecuador will be not the same, because they take into account the sites that are distant from urban centers or that for decades have been isolated, and will be connected each other through Internet", said the Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society, Jaime Guerrero Ruiz, by signing the contract for about US$ 13.5 million with the company Telconet.

The signing of the Contract was attended by the Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society (Jaime Guerrero Ruiz), the Vice Minister of Telecommunications (Mr. Javier Veliz), the Vice Coordinator of Strategic Sectors (Dr. Rafael Poveda), the General Manager of the company Telconet (Mr. Marion Tomislav Topic Granados), and National Secretary of Science and Technology (Dr. Magdalena Lopez).

The resources of this contract come from the private operator’s contributions to the Development Fund for Telecommunications (FODETEL). "This is all part of an ambitious plan in which we want people, who have never had the opportunity to access services, forming part of what we call the Technological Revolution or the elimination of digital illiteracy": said the Minister Guerrero while the contract was awarded to the company Telconet through a public competition which began on last December, at the website of National Institute of Public Procurement, INCOP.

The aim is to install and provide the Internet access services, provide telephone technical support and training in the use of the service to 947 and 26 public schools in social development agencies in the following provinces: Bolivar (30), Cañar (27), Chimborazo (31), Cotopaxi ( 72), El Oro (93), Emeraldas (16), Guayas (102), Imbabura (45), Loja (100), Los Rios (82), Manabi (103), Morona Santiago (40), Napo (37), Pastaza (12), Pichincha (11), Santa Elena (86), Santo Domingo (11), Zamora Chinchipe (19), Tungurahua (48), Azuay (2), Orellana (5)and Sucumbíos (1), giving a total of 973 places. It is important to mention that all selected sites are rural and parishes, precincts, and marginal urban communities across the country.

This award is in addition to other contracts already in the place that provide the necessary equipment to schools, which include computers, projectors and digital whiteboards, as well as training teachers in the use of these technological tools that allow students to enter the world of knowledge.

Source: Mintel
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By signing the memorandum of understanding between the ICT Ministry, the Government of Tolima, the mayor of Ibague and the University of Tolima, was implemented in this region, the strategy "Digital Tolima", which aims to increase the use and Internet access in this department. The agreement was signed on Sunday, when the ICT Minister, Diego Molano Vega, sponsor of this department in the rainy season, visited several places of Tolima.

This region is the first to realize this type of agreement, during the administration of the Minister Molano Vega, and seeks to bring the information superhighway for more municipalities and generate profits through the use of Internet.

In his speech, the Minister mentioned the importance of ICT literacy and digital delivery of computer equipment in the country through the ICT Ministry's social program, "Computers for Schools". This strategy is intended that 50 percent of the teachers in the country will be certified digitally this year. As for the delivery of equipment for schools, the Minister Molano said, previously they only reused the equipments, whereas now the Ministry also claims that for each computer donated by the ICT Ministry, other public bodies also will provide more equipments to the program.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development (Beatriz Uribe), and the Governor of Tolima, Oscar Barreto Quiroga and 41 mayors of the municipalities in the department. In what has to do with humanitarian aid and attention to secondary roads affected by the cold wave in the Tolima, the Government announced the delivery of 10 billion dollars to recover them.

According to the Government of Tolima, in this department 1,433 urban and 1,632 rural households were affected by the winter and 1,196 houses are in high risk areas.  The municipalities Ambalema, Amaranth, Flanders, Honda, San Luis, Rioblanco and Ortega are the most affected.

(Source: MINTIC - Colombia)
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The fear of technology and the lack of Internet tools are overwhelmed by the seniors, who are most among young people, in the courses offered by the Municipal Economic Development Agency (Conquito) and the “Guambrateca” of San Marcos.

This experience speaks about the level of immersion of these people on this subject, and that their interest has increased in recent years. In these classrooms, 60% of students are over 45 years old. From these, most are older, they learn to use technology productively and inserted in the global world.

In addition, they can expand their mind and leave paradigms as for example "that old age people cannot learn or that are not able to use a computer", this said the assistant of training of Conquito, Andres Endara. In this way, 95% of people change their mentality.

Older adults have one thing in common: fear of starting the courses and interact with technology in their social environment because they have been classified as 'useless' and 'slow' or had spoken with phrases like "they are going to damage the computer, or that you will fill with viruses and you'll burn it", says Endara.

"It is because this psychological disorder that first it is necessary the motivational work and then teach them, step by step, how to handle different technological resources such as the Internet and Office programs", says Ivan Lovato, director of Guambrateca.

"I started from zero, I knew nothing and I was afraid of not being able to learn, but the facilitator filled me with confidence and motivated me to continue", says Norma Nicolalde, who participated in a workshop.

"I thought this was only for young people" and "I'm learning now at my age", these are some of the phrases that Bolivar Armijos (Conquito facilitator) listens from the participants. This, as a result of his constant work with them and lets them to transform their mind.

"I had a lady who was crying just trying to use the mouse, she had tears and for some time I had to work with her to overcome the fear on the computer", says Endara, who was also a facilitator of 'Don Juan' who received the beginners classes for five times, until he received the certificate.

“After completion of training, people are taken into account and they do not feel undeserved because their lack of technology knowledge”, says Adriana Romero, project coordinator of Conquito.

"Now I feel I no longer need someone else to find information on the Internet or make the procedures required in banks and payroll payments", this says Gonzalo Cevallos, private employee. "Also, knowledge has allowed me to develop myself and be independent", he adds.
Endara also said that “the courses allow older people to be productive after retirement".

(Source: La Hora Nacional Newspaper)
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