Books go digital in the British Library
It is said that approximately 30 terabytes of storage will be required to accommodate the project's output. The first 25 million pages are expected to take two years to complete.
Texts which are hard to get hold of will particularly benefit from the digitisation. The new category of digitised titles will supplement other early historic printed books which the British Library has already made available for viewing online through previous projects. Digitised publications will be accessible in two ways -initially through Microsoft's Live Search Books and then via the Library's website. More than 100,000 old books which were earlier unavailable to the public, will be available online soon because of a mass digitisation programme at the British Library.
Vodafone supplies 5000 laptops for e-School programmes in Portgual
Vodafone will soon supply the first 5000 laptops for the e-School programmes in Portugal .
In the first phase, Vodafone has selected the Satellite L40 Notebook that has just been launched by Toshiba, and which incorporates the latest Intel chip that offers advantages in terms of performance and energy consumption. The laptop includes the latest version of the Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Office or equivalent. The first subscribers to this Vodafone offer will also receive a practical carrier case for their laptop. Vodafone has assumed a pioneering role in promoting and developing broadband services in Portugal, contributing significantly to the development of the Information Society.
Kenyan Government expands access to education
The Kenyan Government has taken bold steps to expand access to education at all levels in the country.
The Government is providing free primary education and support to vulnerable groups such as learners with special needs and regions that have lagged behind in education. These initiatives have increased primary school enrollment by over 2 million in the last four years. Kenya is now spending 220 per cent higher on education in the last 4 years. Secondary school sub-sector enrollment has increased from 778,000 to 1,030,000, while enrollment at university level has grown from 80,000 to 112,200 over the last four years.
S&T Ministry designs software for science education in Nigeria
The Ministry of Science and Technology of Nigeria has designed an ICT programme, which packages science curricula in software for school children.
The government is planning to expand the scope of its computer for all Nigerian programme by subsidizing the cost of computer for making it affordable to all Nigerians. The Edo state government has appealed the Ministry to support the state's pilot scheme for the setting up of computer laboratories in designated secondary schools in the state. The Ministry is also procuring laboratory equipment from Science Equipment Development Institute in Minna for secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the state.
Nigerian firm Zinox partners Intel, Microsoft
Nigerian ICT company Zinox Technologies Limited, is partnering with Intel Corp and Microsoft Corp, to empower 100,000 students in the country through a new initiative called the Zinox Students' Computer Ownership Project (Z-SCOP).
The project is aimed at promoting the use of computers by Nigerian students at all levels. From primary to postgraduate level, including graduates serving in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.The initiative enhances knowledge acquisition at all levels of the nation's education system. Z-SCOP was targeting in the first phase to empower, at least 100,000 students before the end of 2007. Providing them with laptops or desktops at greatly discounted prices and zero interest rate with full warranty. Zinox is ready to roll out 70,000 laptops and 30,000 desktops within the initiative that would grow to 500,000 students in the next one year. The initiative is expected to turn 1 million Nigerian students into computer literate.
Education ministry to survey state of New Zealand's early childhood ICT
The Ministry of Education is seeking a provider to conduct an environmental scan of ICT trends and influences on the Early Childhood Education sector.
The environmental scan will identify changes and trends impacting the infrastructure workstream as outlined in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) ICT Framework Implementation Programme. The scan, or survey, will include the technical, political and institutional, and socio-cultural influences on the New Zealand early childhood education sector. The report should be completed by March 31, 2008.
The report will also comment on how technologies are being applied within the sector, what is driving uptake of particular types of technology and the levels of technology that the sector wants and is appropriate
