Digital library for rural Thai village
International Datacasting Corp’s SuperFlex DVB satellite datacasting system and Datacast XD content distribution and management software played a key role in the launch of Sat- Ed’s “Room for Life” e-learning centre in the tiny village of Baan Nong Pai in rural Sakhon Nakorn, Northeast Thailand. The “Room for Life” provides email, e-commerce, video conferencing and an educational video-on-demand digital library to the residents and students of this remote area. IDC provided Sat-Ed’s Learning Centres with a state-of-the-art digital library system that offered access to television-based educational material, as well as multimedia content on PCs, via video-on-demand and playout from web servers.
Philippines Govt, ADB to fund project for info sharing
The Philippines government and the Asian Development Bank have signed a grant agreement to fund the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) that will facilitate information sharing and exchange among the civil servants in Philippines. The USD500,000 grant will be funded by the Government of Japan through the ADB-administered Japan Fund for Information and Communication Technology (JFICT), while the government will contribute an additional USD250,000. The project will be used to odernise the country’s ICT to improve the government’s resource development, structures, systems and processes. The project will initially target thirdlevel executives and will develop and operate a shared database, web portal and online products that include a system of learning and skills application modules for management concepts, tools and data commonly used by hird-level executives.
World Bank pilots
Elluminate Live! Elluminate, Inc., a leading provider of live eLearning and web ollaboration ‘ICT market to grow less than 5 percent in 2006; IDC The Taiwan market for information and communications technology (ICT) hardware, software and services will see growth of less than 5 percent in 2006, according to a report released by the International Data Corp. (IDC). While Taiwan’s business application software and business intelligence products posted total sales of US$71 million and US$10.8 million, respectively, in 2005, the market for these products is expected to expand slightly by 1.1 percent in 2006. Educational institutions were the major clients of the personal computer market in 2005 and the government’s measures to stimulate domestic demand also helped encourage businesses to replace and upgrade their computer systems, according to the report. Sales of notebook computers were boosted by promotional packages offered by manufacturers such as Acer, Asus and HP in 2005, with the shipments of notebook computers 30 percent higher than that of personal computers in the third quarter of 2005, according to the report solutions for the real-time organisation in Canada, announced that the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), a worldwide partnership of independent learning centers established by the World Bank, will use Elluminate Live! Academic Edition on an experimental basis for training and collaboration among GDLN Affiliates in selected countries around the world. By applying distance learning tools and services, GDLN Affiliates enable organisations, teams, and individuals around the world to communicate, share knowledge, and learn from each other’s experiences. The GDLN will start using Elluminate Live! to train over 100 affiliates located in 80 countries worldwide on its new Activity Management System, an application used to schedule and coordinate knowledge sharing and learning activities across the network.
Pakistan to have 10 new universities
Ten federal universities will be established across Pakistan during the year 2006-07. Two universities of engineering, sciences and technology, will be established at Lahore in collaboration with Austria and Germany. Two universities of engineering, sciences and technology, will be established in Karachi with the collaboration of France and China. There were 10 federal government universitiesseven in Islamabad and one each in Karachi, Gilgit, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Virtual University of Pakistan at Lahore is still in development phase and no separate recurring funds are being provided.
