Digital Dividend Digest vol. 18 March 12,
2003
CONTENTS
1. Lessons from the Field: ICTs
in Healthcare
2. New Resource Highlights: Information
Sharing Opportunities
3. New in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse:
Mobile Classrooms: IT on Buses in Rural India and Braille
Language Laboratory
4. RSVP: Help Digital Dividends
Redevelop its Project Clearinghouse!
5. Funding Opportunities: Development
Marketplace's DM2003, GenARDIS
1. Lessons from the Field:
ICTs in Healthcare
The majority of the population in developing countries lives
in rural areas, while the majority of the medical community
exists in the cities. In India, for example, 80% of the population
is served by only 20% of doctors. This leaves nearly 11% of
the world's population that resides in the rural India without
access to high quality healthcare. Knowledge transfer to these
areas has traditionally been difficult to achieve. ICTs, however,
are increasingly being used to facilitate two-way information
exchange in healthcare, providing isolated communities with
access to the latest health information and treatment and
informing officials of rural public health issues. Read more
2. New Resource Highlights:
Information Sharing Opportunities
18 new resources have been added to the Resource Marketplace.
Highlights include:
The UNITeS
Knowledge Base for ICT Volunteers in Development has been
prepared to help ICT volunteers working in developing countries.
It contains information on software, hardware, Web design,
community technology centers, and other related resources.
The Sharing
Knowledge Handbook is a handbook for men and women working
in villages, towns, and rural areas who wish to transform
their communities through information sharing.
The World Bank's Indigenous
Knowledge Database provides users with quick access to
a collection of indigenous/traditional practices searchable
by country, activity, and technology.
The OpenCD
is a collection of high-quality open source software. It also
includes a selection of essays about the open source philosophy
and links to other relevant programs.
The Resource
Marketplace highlights sources of funding, free computers
and software, Web development assistance, and other resources
from the Digital Dividend Project Clearinghouse and elsewhere.
If you know of a link that should be added, please e-mail
us
3. New in the Digital Dividend
Clearinghouse: Mobile Classrooms: IT on Buses in Rural India
and Braille Language Laboratory
Eight new projects have been added to the Clearinghouse since
our last edition of the Digest. Among the highlights are:
Mobile
Classrooms: IT on Buses in Rural India Rural school children
in the Pune District in India are benefiting from this new
project's mobile computing classrooms. Approximately 20 converted
buses will house multiple computers, run by the battery on
the bus, traveling from school to school teaching students
computer and Internet skills.
Braille
Language Laboratory: India's first computer lab wholly
dedicated to serving the needs of the blind has been set up
in Ahmedabad. A "talking keyboard" attached to a Braille printer
enables students and users to both hear and read what is being
typed by the teacher.
4. RSVP: Help Digital Dividends
Redevelop its Project Clearinghouse!
The Digital Dividend Team is redeveloping its Project Clearinghouse!
The new platform will be open source, more accessible, and
easier to use. We will be drawing upon nearly two years of
experience with the current platform, as well as the feedback
and suggestions many of you provided through our user survey
last June.
Your input is critical. Didn't have a chance to fill out the
survey, but have some ideas or suggestions for improving the
Clearinghouse platform? Please send
us a quick e-mail
5. Funding Opportunities:
Development Marketplace's DM2003, GenARDIS DM2003
Development
Marketplace Call for Proposals: Development Marketplace,
a grant program that identifies and funds innovative ideas
in development around the world, is now accepting proposals
for its 2003 competition. The theme for this year's competition
is "Making Services Work for Poor People." The competition
is open to all, and proposals must be submitted online by
May 2, 2003.
GenARDIS:
CTA, IDRC, and IICD have launched GenARDIS, a small grants
fund to support work on gender issues in ICTs in agricultural
and rural development. The fund provides non-renewable grants
of up to 5,000 Euros for organizations working in African,
Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. The deadline for receipt
of applications is April 15, 2003.
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