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Open Source Software Trap: Our Fatal Business Model Flaw

Nadia Andrada

ICTworks, July 1 (2025)

"I’ve been building open source software technology for NGOs for over a decade, and I have a confession: we’ve been living a lie. For years, I firmly believed that open source was the moral imperative that would democratize technology for the Global South. I championed platforms that could be fr ... more

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Rethinking Open Source in the Age of Foundational AI Models
Deep Insights

Greg Maly

ICTworks, July 29 (2025)

"As the global artificial intelligence community wrestles with the tension between scale and accessibility, recent work by researchers at Lelapa AI offers a compelling example of what inclusive, efficient AI can look like. Around the world, the push to shrink massive language models into deployable, ... more

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How to Break Digital Colonialism in African Software Development

Jan Kroeze

ICTworks, March 5 (2025)

"The promise of technology as a vehicle for African economic development often comes wrapped in the values and norms of the Global North. Western-designed software, pervasive across the Continent, reflects ideologies that may not align with indigenous African values. Digital colonialism is the enfor ... more

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Open Source Investigation Toolkit
Key Guides

Bellingcat (2024)

"More than 80 percent of open source researchers that participated in two Bellingcat surveys indicated that finding the right tools can be challenging. This is where our new Online Investigations Toolkit comes in: it not only helps you discover tools in categories like satellite imagery and maps, so ... more

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The CLeAR Documentation Framework for AI Transparency: Recommendations for Practitioners and Context for Policymakers

Kasia Chmielinksi, Sarah Newman, Chris N. Kranzinger et al.

Shorenstein Center (2024), 35 pp.

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Grundlagen der Informationswissenschaft

Rainer Kuhlen, Dirk Lewandowski, Wolfgang Semar, Christa Womser-Hacker

Walter de Gruyter (2023), xlv, 958 pp.

"Die 7. Ausgabe der "Grundlagen der praktischen Information und Dokumentation" (Erstausgabe 1972) heißt jetzt: „Grundlagen der Informationswissenschaft". Der Bezug zur Praxis und zur Ausbildung bleibt erhalten, aber der neue Titel trägt dem Rechnung, dass die wissenschaftliche theoretische Absic ... more

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Co-creating our digital future: How open-source technology can expand inclusive digital public infrastructure

Chrissy Meier, Heath Arensen

Digital Impact Alliance (dial) (2023), 18 pp.

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Von Fakten und Vorsicht: Open Source Intelligence für die Friedensförderung

Christina Bermann-Harms, Nina Strumpf

Bonn: FriEnt - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Frieden und Entwicklung (2023), 16 pp.

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Wissenschaftsgeleitetes Publizieren. Sechs Handreichungen mit Praxistipps und Perspektiven

M. Wrzesinski (ed.)

Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) (2023), 95 pp.

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Handbook on Small Satellites

Ali R. Ebadi et al.

Geneva: ITU, 2023 edition (2023), viii, 200 pp.

"In the field of small satellites, the technical and capital barriers to entry are often low, and small satellite development can be more affordable and rapid for various entities (start-ups, universities, research institutions, etc.) due to their lower cost, simpler design, flexible launching requi ... rements and modular payload configurations. The development of small satellites is an evolution in the overall satellite industry, which provides opportunities for greater and easier access to, and use of, space services by all countries. Governments and private enterprises are developing small satellite projects to promote not only the traditional satellite applications in data communications, Earth exploration, space research, monitoring of ground environment including climate change and global warming, space environment monitoring, satellite navigation and positioning, education, agriculture, forestry, disaster recovery, scientific experiments, testing innovative technologies, national defence, but also the development of multi-satellite fleets (constellation) for the satellite internet access, and further enabling integration with 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, business intelligence and many other areas in completing various difficult tasks in space. The vast range of possible diverse applications stems from a number of small satellite characteristics that can be summarised as follows: rapid build/launch cycle; affordable projects with low capital investment and operating costs; modular and standardized design (e.g. CubeSats standard); lower latency due to lower orbits; seamless coverage to all areas of the world when used in constellations; easy to expand, update, renew, augment and replenish the satellite fleet. In recent years, small satellites have been steadily launched, which gradually proved the feasibility of small satellite constellations. The small satellite industry has seen an incredible surge in the number of small satellites launched over the last few years. Small satellites with advanced technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning in the future are likely to bring new features to the field of satellite communications [...] Based on the above reflections and observations, the purposes of this Handbook on Small Satellites are as follows: to extend international cooperation among all ITU Member States, entities and organizations for the development and rational use of small satellites; to promote the adoption of small satellite technologies on a worldwide basis while striving to meet in a rational, equitable, effective, efficient, economic, and timely way of use of radiofrequency spectrum and satellite-orbit resources; to provide a detailed guidance on the regulatory environment and procedures, specifically the application of the Radio Regulations, for administrations, small satellite operators and service providers in the study/research, design, launch and application of small satellites; to promote and to offer technical assistance to developing countries, enterprises and individuals in the field of small satellite utilization; to help administrations/new entrants with information on the relevant space services with allocated radio-frequency spectrum, characterization and description of small satellites, characteristics of space and Earth segments, types of missions, space object registration, launch considerations, as well as space debris mitigation; to raise international awareness on current practices and applications with key drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities; to ensure interference-free operations of small satellite systems by implementing the Radio Regulations and regional agreements, as well as updating the system in an efficient and timely manner through the processes of world and regional information sharing and cooperation; to provide a reference tool for satellite operators and service providers interested in operating or utilizing such satellites, as well as national regulators to manage the small satellite applications." (Introduction, pages 1-2) more

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Fostering Open Source Software Security: Blueprint for a Government Cybersecurity Open Source Program Office

Sven Herpig

Berlin: Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (2023), 44 pp.

"Open source software (OSS) is the backbone and driver of digitization across sectors worldwide. This makes OSS a cornerstone of every society and economy, including the core of national security concerns. Therefore, governments have a vested interest in OSS security. At the same time, governments, ... more

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Report on Open Source Digital Safety Tool Ecosystem

Internews (2022), 18 pp.

"This is a report on the health of the open-source digital safety tool ecosystem that draws from the BASICS experience. Internews' BASICS project (Building Analytical and Support Infrastructure for Critical Security tools) was a 30-month initiative to strengthen the capacity of open source digital s ... more

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Public Money? Public Code! A Basic Guide to Open Source for Governments and Civil Society

Franklin Weng

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation (2022), 25 pp.

"The FNF Global Innovation Hub published in 2022 this guide using easily understandable language and examples of daily scenario that civil servants and the public encounter to help readers to painlessly grasp technical terms such as open source, FLOSS software, and open standard. Also, the Guide exp ... more

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Digital Civil Society: Access OpenTech

Gitte Zschoch (ed.)

Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2022), 52 pp.

"Both the challenges to a democratic internet and challenges to internet access make clear that good digital products accessible to us all are not natural byproducts of digitalisation. Instead, they require coordinated proactive and joint efforts by the global community in order to come into being. ... more

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FOSStering Democracy: Threats and Successes in Counter-Authoritarian Software Development

Chris Doten, Madeleine Nicoloff, Moira Whelan

National Democratic Institute (NDI) (2022), 20 pp.

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Grundwissen Internet

Joan Kristin Bleicher

München: UVK (2022), 230 pp.

"Joan Kristin Bleicher beleuchtet umfassend zentrale Aspekte der Medialität des Internets. Im Fokus stehen dabei nicht nur Rahmenbedingungen und die historische Entwicklung. Es werden auch Angebotsschwerpunkte, theoretische Fragen, Ästhetik, Nutzungs- und Wirkungspotenziale des Internets sowie Reg ... more

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Don’t Build It: A Guide for Practitioners in Civic Tech - Tech for Development

Luke Jordan

Grassroot; MIT Governance Lab (2021), 38 pp.

"This guide is for teams or managers involved in considering or building “civic technology”, i.e., technology that helps people engage government more effectively. It is the distillation of my four years spent building Grassroot, a civic tech platform in South Africa. The guide is focused on the ... more