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India ranked 40th in Global ICT index

Despite all the hullabaloo about India's prowess in IT and sky-rocketing telecom subscriptions, the country still figured at the bottom rung (rank 40) in the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006. US topped the list, followed by Singapore, Denmark and Iceland at second third and fourth positions, respectively.

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India's ranking at 40th position amongst 115 economies remained largely unchanged. In fact, India slid one rank from last year's 39th position. China's rank dropped 9 positions from 41 last year to 50 th position this year.

 

US regains the top position in the rankings, reflecting an impressive performance in the areas of ICT physical infrastructure and high levels of business and government usage of the latest technologies. US topped the rankings for the third time in five years. Last year, US was ranked fifth on the list. The US also stands out for ready availability of venture capital.

 

Singapore had topped the list last year. Singapore benefits from an excellent regulatory environment and exemplary macroeconomic management. Singapore apart, Asia and the Pacific also did extremely well this year with Taiwan in 7th place, gaining 8 positions from last year and in the top ten for the first time, followed closely by Hong Kong (11), Korea (14), Australia (15) and Japan (16).

An open source, multi-platform software for digitising libraries

The Greenstone Digital Library had introduced by John B. Rose of the University of Waikato at the British Council, which is produced in the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.

The advantage of digital libraries is that they provide access to and storage of multimedia and allow for cooperative input. The software has provision for multi-lingual interfaces and data entry. Hindi and Kannada databases have been created by some of the Indian users. The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and the Archives of Indian Labour are among the institutions that have put the software to use. The Greenstone software is available at www.greenstone.org and the digital library of the University of Waikato at www.nzdl.org.

A Digital Inclusion Program in Ghana to bridge the divide

    The Ministry of Communication of Ghana, in collaboration with Intel and Microsoft, has introduced a digital inclusion progamme to assist and advance in information society.

    In pursuit of this, Intel and Microsoft have jointly showcased their plans for personal computers (PCs) designed and built specifically for the local markets. The digital inclusion would boost the PC home ownership scheme and would introduce affordable, locally assembled PCs onto the market. It provides a great opportunity to bridge the divide. Digital inclusion would lead to a change in the quality of life for the people. This progamme would be a key to attain the targets that the world has set for itself in the millennium development goals.

     

    Microsoft in making of self-sustaining rural India

      IT major Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd is going to launch a rural portal shortly within next three to six months. The company is looking at partnerships to develop the portal with relevant information.

       

      The company has unveiled a self-sustaining kiosk model initiative aimed at taking IT benefits to rural India. It is a public-private partnership, called as Saksham (meaning self-sustaining in Sanskrit), on which the portal is being developed. Market linkages will be strengthened in association with ICRISAT and other institutes. The company is looking to set up over 10,000 kiosks in Andhra Pradesh. Similar experiments are being conducted for sugarcane in Tamil Nadu, Kanchipuram silk sarees, food processing industry in Gujarat.

      ‘Affordability Alliance’ to bridge the digital divide in India

      Intel India and Microsoft Corporation India have announced an `Affordability Alliance' to bridge the digital divide in India by creating affordable computing solutions and ensuring easy availability of affordable PCs across the country.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

      The two companies will work with banks to create financing options so that consumers can have easy access to PCs and realise their potentials. The alliance will focus on tailored solutions for specific segments like, first time PC users, students and teachers. Both the companies are also in discussions with telecom service providers to integrate telecom services and broadband access into these solutions to maximise impact.

      Red Hat and Lotus Learning in India to promote open source education in schools

      The Nasdaq-listed Red Hat, an open source software provider, has announced its partnership with the southrn Indian city Hyderabad-based Lotus Learning Systems Society to promote open source education in schools.

      This initiative is part of Red Hat's commitment to modernise the Indian education systems by promoting learning through IT and usage of open source technology as a platform for learning.

      Discovery Channel launches homework help site

      A new Discovery Channel homework Web site aims to remind parents whose math and history knowledge has gotten rusty how to help their children with the very things they have forgotten.

      Cosmeo, a new online subscription site from Discovery Communications, offers a range of tools from a WebMath equation solver to educational videos and subject-specific Brain Games. Launched recently, the site targets Web-savvy children from kindergarten through 12th grade. It also gives parents and other caretakers a way to be more involved in the learning process while refreshing their own knowledge.

      Cosmeo costs $9.95 per month or $99 per year. Other features include interactive quizzes, a digital encyclopedia and a digital photo library. The service is built on Discovery's united streaming, an educational video streaming service used in more than 70,000 schools. Cosmeo's search functions serve up age- or grade-appropriate content, which is also tailored to match state curriculum requirements. 

      Digital Learning Asia 2006: a curtain raiser

      Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), India in association with Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and Ministry of Education, Royal Thai Government, recently organised the 'Curtain Raiser Ceremony and First Meeting of the Program Advisory Board' of the forthcoming digital LEARNING Asia 2006 along with the two other parallel conferences

      Opening of 15 School Telecenter Network in Chittagong in Bangladesh

      On 16 March, a ceremony at the Kala Kakoli school launched a fifteen center project bringing computers and Internet to schools and their communities in the Chittagong area.  The project is part of a nationwide project by an international NGO, Relief International – Schools Online (RI-SOL) which has partnered in Chittagong with the Mahmudunnabi Chowdhury Foundation, a philanthropic organization promoting technology, education and youth development in the Chittagong area. 

      The RI-SOL project is funded by the US Department of State's Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Hewlett Foundation, the Global Catalyst Foundation and other private donations. The project promotes use and integration of information and communication technologies into secondary education. The opening took place as part of America week in Chittagong and was attended by USAID Deputy Director, Beth Paige.

      The ceremony began with remarks from the headmaster of the Kala Kakoli school, Ahmedul Haq, who expressed his hopes that the center would serve as a lasting resource for the students of his school and the surrounding community. Dr. Jack Welch, the Country Director of RI-SOL discussed the need to match school and community resources with educational objectives.  He also discussed RI-SOL's role in teacher and student training, and in assisting schools to develop their own solutions to the integration of technology and education.  

      Beth Paige, Deputy Director of USAID discussed the Global Connections and Exchange Program which will be implemented at these and other schools as part of the programming.   This project is running in many countries around the world and promotes intercultural education. Through the internet, students can learn about the world around them without limitation by distance, and can show others their culture.  A website developed for this project was also announced: www.connect-bangladesh.org

       

      HP unveils pen keyboard for Indian languages

      HP Labs India has introduced its pen-based keyboard for Indian languages, including Devanagari (Hindi), Kannada and Tamil.

      Priced at Rs 2,000, the gesture-based keyboard helps solve the phonetic language entry problem by allowing users to input text and data with a pen. The innovative technology also allows any Indian script to be recorded and stored directly on the computer. The hi-tech keyboard makes it easier for even non-English speaking people and those who can't type to communicate with others effortlessly. Designed and developed at HP Labs India, the keyboard is currently available in Hindi and Kannada scripts along with English fonts.

      Keyboards in Tamil and other scripts, which are being developed, will be rolled out in the coming months. The product is aimed at benefiting over 1.5 billion non-English speaking people in South Asia, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka besides other phonetic script users. The technology will be licensed to a third party for manufacturing and distribution. In addition to text, the keyboard allows the capturing of signatures, pictures and visuals. It also has the potential to create and store notes and images in any language as bitmaps.

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