"The manual and the toolbox seek to address the following question: how to maximise the contribution of the IT industry in developing and emerging countries towards sustainable economic development and poverty reduction? In order to achieve this, the Manual analyses the obstacles impeding the compet
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itive development of this innovative industry in developing and emerging countries. They can be attributed to three major factors: Specific structural problems of developing countries such as lack of efficient support structures, deficiencies in managerial, financial and technological skills, negative brand and country of origin effects (image); Challenges related to internationalisation and export, such as lack of market intelligence and export capabilities as well as the absence of international linkage; Specifics of the IT industry including technical as well as quality standards, high competitive pressure and short innovation cycles. The manual and the toolbox introduce a methodology and a set of practical tools to address these obstacles and promote the IT industry in developing and emerging countries. Their purpose is to provide a practical guideline for designing and implementing projects for promoting the IT sector in developing and emerging countries; develop a specific methodology to enable effective and sustainable IT sector promotion based on the practical experience of German development cooperation; elaborate concrete procedures, processes and tools to promote the IT industry in developing and emerging countries; provide advice on actions and measures to improve the international competitiveness of IT sectors; provide best practices of IT sector promotion in developing and emerging countries." (Executive summary, page 6)
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"Nach Angaben der Nielsen Company wurde Facebook 2010 von etwa 400 Millionen Menschen weltweit genutzt, für das laufende Jahr soll deren Zahl auf etwa 630 Millionen steigen. Laut der JIM-Studie 2010 sind Social Communitys die bevorzugten Seiten, wenn Zwölf- bis 19-Jährige das Internet nutzen. 70
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Prozent dieser Altersgruppe besuchen regelmäßig Facebook, schuelerVZ und wer-kennt-wen. Aktuelle Studien des Pew Research Centers bestätigen diese Befunde: Die meisten Internetnutzer sind gleichzeitig Besucher von Social Network Sites, wobei der Zugang immer häufiger drahtlos und mobil erfolgt. Zwar sind die Jüngeren erwartungsgemäß deutlich häufiger in Social Communitys anzutreffen, die Zuwachsraten bei den Nutzern ab 50 Jahren stiegen jedoch in den letzten Jahren rasant an. Mehr als vier Fünftel der Konsumenten von SNS können zu den Vielnutzern gezählt werden, mehr als die Hälfte davon (52 %) ist darüber hinaus nicht nur bei einer, sondern bei mehreren Plattformen angemeldet. Ein entscheidender Treiber für die Nutzung von Social Communitys ist offensichtlich ihr sozialer Charakter. Mehrere Studien, die sich mit der Frage nach den Nutzungsmotiven und den erhaltenen Gratifikationen beschäftigt haben, bestätigen diesen Eindruck. So wurden in einer norwegischen und einer amerikanischen Befragung die soziale Interaktion mit und das Kennenlernen von anderen Personen sowie die Pflege des Kontakts mit Freunden, Bekannten und Familie als wichtigste Gründe zur Nutzung von SNS genannt. Quan-Haase und Young (2010) fanden heraus, dass der quasi-öffentliche Charakter von Social Communitys diese eher für eine gruppenbezogene soziale Funktion prädestinieren. Gleichzeitig können Gratifikationserwartungen, wie sie für die Nutzung traditioneller Medien relevant sind (z. B. Information und Unterhaltung), mit den sozialen Funktionen von Social Communitys „unter einen Hut“ gebracht werden." (Seite 115)
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"Speakers may be liable for content online in many of the same ways as offline, but additional rules often exist. Many countries are enacting internet-specific speech laws, often imposing enhanced liability for online expression. In addition, some governments are extending broadcast-type regulations
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to online media, which could create new sources of liability. The authors also examine new entities that may be subject to liability on the internet. In some countries, internet “intermediaries”—meaning internet service providers (ISPs), webhosts, and other platforms for online expression—can be held responsible for the speech of others, which can lead to self-protective and overly broad “private” censorship. Since most speakers rely on intermediaries to host or disseminate their content, intermediary liability can harm citizens’ and media institutions’ ability to speak online. Finally, the internet’s borderless nature may complicate any assessment of what content laws apply, and thus what liability risk may arise. Addressing these complex challenges requires attention to several policy areas, including enacting legal protections for internet intermediaries, repealing internet content laws that enhance liability, and opposing further extension of broadcast regulation to the internet." (Abstract)
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"Chilescopio es un estudio implementado por la consultora Vision Humana que se realiza anualmente desde el ano 2005, lo que permite tener un marco tendencial importante. Es un estudio cuantitativo basado en encuestas presenciales realizadas en los hogares de 1.500 personas de 15 a 80 anos, residente
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s en el Gran Santiago y las 11 principales ciudades del pais." (Página 2)
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"La rápida difusión de la telefonía móvil en los países emergentes está cambiando las relaciones entre los actores económicos, los modos de relación interpersonal y la dinámica política de estas sociedades de forma acelerada y difícil de predecir. A lo largo de la historia, la tecnología
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ha infl uido de forma decisiva en los procesos de desarrollo económico y cambio social. Y aunque la telefonía móvil no es una excepción, su rápida difusión se convierte en un reto para comprender cuáles son sus efectos sobre los modos de organización social y política, así como sobre las culturas y los procesos de desarrollo económico. Este libro pretende contribuir a la comprensión de este fenómeno analizando el impacto de la telefonía móvil en el desarrollo social y económico de América Latina en la última década. En el estudio, en el que han colaborado reconocidos especialistas, se analizan los resultados obtenidos en una amplia investigación que abarca análisis regionales y casos de estudio en Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Perú." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"The explosion of digital media and their impact on journalism and democracy in Lithuania coincided with the country's second decade of independence and with the economic crisis of 2009-2010. With the rapid growth of internet penetration, websites dedicated to news appeared and traditional media wen
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t online. The near-doubling of internet subscriptions from 34.3 percent of the population in 2005 to 60.5 percent in 2010 was accompanied by dynamic growth in ownership of PCs, laptops, mobile phones, and later smart phones. The internet took on an increasing role as a news source for the public, especially younger audiences. Formerly marginalized groups, such as ethnic and sexual minorities, have gained a platform on the internet which they were almost entirely denied in mainstream media. Also, politicians have taken up communicating through new media; some have begun blogging, while others are active on social networks. Government transparency and civic engagement in politics have been enhanced by a range of online tools and initiatives by civil society groups which let voters access and analyze government data, and occasionally generate mainstream media coverage. However, there are no separate regulations or legal liability provisions concerning internet content that differ from those which apply to other media. Media regulation is in practice independent from government, but the regulators are lax in exercising their powers, e.g. to enforce ownership transparency rules. A weakness of the regulatory system is its dispersion among several bodies which don’t always coordinate among themselves. Their composition raises questions about competence and impartiality. This report calls for the creation of a single regulatory body with robust appointment criteria as well as for clear and transparent rules for allocating EU funds to the media. It recommends that the government introduce legislation restricting media concentration and intensify efforts to ensure universal public access to media after switch-over." (Open Society website)
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"In Moldova, the combination of digitization and political change has increased the diversity of media outlets and their news, the plurality of opinions, and the transparency of public institutions, while it has diminished political interference in the media. Yet the lack of independence of regulato
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ry institutions, the nontransparent media ownership structure, and the slow pace of digital switch-over continue to undermine these achievements. In order to reinforce positive change, this report proposes four kinds of reform. Firstly, the legal framework for digital switch-over must be completed in the near future if the country is to be ready for the transition before the switch-off date. The provisions for public interest, access, and affordability should be given priority and, for this purpose, participation of civil society groups in the drafting process is vital. This framework will also speed up the adoption of the new Broadcasting Code, a historic document that will end the era of non-transparent media ownership, the second area that needs urgent reform. Thirdly, with public awareness of the purpose and implications of switch-over virtually nonexistent, an information campaign and public debate on the issue need to start without delay. Finally, the independence of two key institutions, the Broadcasting Coordinating Council and the PSB, needs to be strengthened. In both cases, this can be done by changing funding models and adopting clearer regulatory safeguards against government interference." (Publisher description)
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"Multilingualism is an important aspect of African urban life, also of the lives of students in Dakar. While the students usually write monolingual texts, mainly in French, their text messages involve the use of African languages too, in particular of the majority language Wolof, as well as Arabic a
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nd English, often mixed in one and the same message. With the rapid rise in the use of mobile phones, texting is becoming increasingly central as a means of communication for the students, and the social network with whom they text is growing. This working paper investigates texting as literacy practices, putting the accent on language choices: what role do they play in constructing these new practices? What are the motivations and the functions of the students’ languages choices? The analysis is based on six months of fieldwork in Dakar, during which I collected 496 SMS and interviewed and observed the 15 students who had sent and received the messages. I will focus on the practices of three of the students: Baba Yaro, a Fula-speaker born outside Dakar who has come to the Senegalese capital to undertake his studies, Christine, a Joola-speaker born in Dakar, and the Wolof-speaker Ousmane, from the suburb. I argue that in order to manage relationships and express different aspects of their identity, the students both exploit and challenge dominant language attitudes in their texting." (Abstract)
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"Las comunidades de migrantes indígenas han podido desarrollar, con su propia iniciativa y recursos, distintos proyectos de educación y formación intercultural, que van desde la formación de bandas filarmónicas y grupos de danza, hasta la operación de centros de producción radiofónica, en lo
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s que se manifiesta su cosmovisión de respeto a los semejantes y a la naturaleza, y la apropiación tecnológica basados en la reciprocidad, en el tequio y vida comunitaria, haciendo uso del software libre. Estos principios comunales fueron la primera fuerza que nos unió. Por ellos la Asamblea de Migrantes Indígenas intenta, desde hace diez años, potencializar las formas de organización que consolidan nuestra vida comunitaria en la Ciudad de México [...] En este libro consta la memoria del camino que se ha recorrido. Construido mediante diálogos colectivos, no recupera la totalidad de las voces de quienes han colaborado con la Asamblea de Migrantes Indígenas, pero sí contiene sus momentos más importantes." (Introducción, página 16)
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"This report reviews five pieces of legislation affecting the freedoms of assembly and expression that have been introduced in recent years in Iraq. Of these, only one, the Journalists Rights Law (Journalist Law), has actually been passed into law, in August 2011. The other four – the draft Commis
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sion of Media and Communication Law (draft CMC Law), the draft Informatics Crimes Law (draft Internet Law), the draft Political Parties Law (draft Parties Law) and the draft Law of Expression, Assembly, and Peaceful Protest (draft Assembly Law) – have not yet been formally adopted as laws. Together, the five laws cover a wide range of issues including restrictions on the content of what may be published or broadcast, whether over the airwaves or the Internet or via some other media, the establishment of political parties, how to apply to hold an assembly or demonstration, restrictions on such events, the overall system for regulating broadcasting, including the oversight body and the regimes for licensing and controlling content, and special rules for journalists. This report assesses the rules contained in these laws against constitutional and international human rights standards, in particular relating to freedom of assembly and expression." (Introduction, page 3)
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"Unsere Gesellschaft befindet sich seit einiger Zeit in einem großen Umbruch. Ein wichtiger Motor der Veränderungen sind die Medien. Die technische Entwicklung hat zu einem Medienwandel geführt. Der Wandel hat weit reichende Folgen, gerade auch für das soziale Gefüge. Die Aufspaltung in viele K
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leingruppen, erweiterte Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten unabhängig von Zeit und Ort, zunehmende Individualisierung und neue Lebens- und Kommunikationsgewohnheiten sind nicht zuletzt Symptome einer medialen Revolution [.] Eine medienethische Analyse, so wie wir sie vornehmen möchten, verfolgt das Anliegen, mit Distanz und Gelassenheit aktuelle Entwicklungen in der Mediengesellschaft wahrzunehmen, über Prozesse zu reflektieren und Einordnungen vorzunehmen. Ziel unseres Nachdenkens ist es, medienethische Impulse und Anregungen für eine gerechte und menschendienliche Medien- und Kommunikationsordnung zu geben." (Vorwort, Seite 5-6)
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"ICTs and Development in India' is a unique attempt to study the nature and consequences of the growing presence of Information Technology in development projects in India." (Publisher description)