Aidworld http://www.aidworld.org might be of interest to some list members, 
as it pertains to using ICT (information and communications technology) as a 
tool for humanitarian relief and development.  Some interesting social and 
psychological questions are raised regarding how to ensure that the tool is 
appropriately as well as the possible positive and negative impacts of such 
technology and approaches on risk, vulnerability, and resilience issues.

I append the first newsletter below, but I shall not send future editions to 
this list.  Please contact them directly if you wish to subscribe.

Ilan

---------------------------------------

Subject: AIDWORLD'S NEW NEWSLETTER!
From: "Aidworld Newsletter" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:30:03 +0100

WELCOME TO AIDWORLD'S NEW NEWSLETTER!

As we continue to go from strength to strength, we have decided to
ensure that a regular newsletter goes out. We anticipate that this will
be monthly but it may be less frequent if it turns out to be more
appropriate.

If you have any comments, suggestions or if you'd like to be removed
from the newsletter email list please email Sarah on
[log in to unmask]

Enjoy,

The Aidworld Team

    /\
(aidworld) taking the world-wide-web worldwide - www.aidworld.org
    \/

*****************************************************
CONTENTS
--------
1. From Aidbase to Loband
2. Kenya - Pilot Project
3. Gatsby and the DTI
4. ThoughtWorks
5. Volunteers
6. Chief Humanitarian Officer
7. Ndiyo
8. South Africa connections - EDN, NetDay and AIMS

*****************************************************
1. From Aidbase to Loband
-------------------------
We are rebranding Aidbase to be called Loband - www.loband.org (site
goes live Monday 1st November).  Aidbase was the name of a product
initially intended to be very different from what it has turned out to
be.  We hope that Loband better describes the product and its purpose.

Thanks to a large team of volunteers and a growing team of permanent
staff we have made exceptional progress with the development of Loband
over the past few months.

Loband is now functional with most websites including sites you have to
log-on to and interact with.  We are currently working on robustness
and
hosting.  The outcomes of the pilot project will entirely direct our
next development stages but from the results of our Working Group
assessments we suspect that security will be our next priority.
*****************************************************
2. Kenya - Pilot Project
------------------------
At the beginning of November, we will be heading off to Kenya for
Aidworld's first pilot project.  The goal of the 6 week trip is to
understand how and why people access the Internet and whether Loband
can
help them in a low-bandwidth environment.

The project will focus on telecentres (i.e. anywhere where the public
can access the Internet) in Nairobi and the surrounding area.  Nairobi,
has had an explosion of telecentres in recent years but access is still
hampered by poor connectivity. We are excited at the prospect of
learning more about the problems of low-bandwidth and also seeing if
Loband is, or could be, a viable solution to these problems.
*****************************************************
3. Gatsby and the DTI
---------------------
We are delighted to announce that The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
(www.gatsby.org.uk) recently confirmed that they will be providing the
£55,000 match funding required for our DTI Research and Development
Grant.  The DTI award was conditional on raising 40% of the total
amount
ourselves and with some hard work and excellent advice we managed to
secure this through Gatsby.

The DTI project will be focussed equally on social and technical
research to further understand and tackle the problems of low-bandwidth
and poor infrastructure in the South.

Our sincere thanks go to Gatsby without whom this exciting project
would
not be going ahead.
*****************************************************
4. ThoughtWorks
---------------
Aidworld has recently teamed up with the international software
consultancy ThoughtWorks (www.thoughtworks.com/uk). When ThoughtWorks
programmers are on "beach time" (not assigned to a project) they can
choose to donate some of their time to Aidworld.  To date this has
amounted to 23 person days and has helped us progress our code
significantly. Recently, we have also had a business analyst donate her
time, helping us with our initial assessment of a new product.

We are sincerely grateful to all the ThoughtWorks volunteers and hope
that our relationship with them will continue to grow.
*****************************************************
5. Volunteers
-------------
The volunteer pool continues to go from strength to strength.  At the
moment we have 3 full time volunteers and another 2 volunteers who make
up another full time member of staff.  Over the summer, Tariq
volunteered for us for 6 weeks and has subsequently joined the team as
the Lead Programmer on the DTI project.  An economics graduate recently
donated two weeks of her time before heading out to Ghana. We also have
a professional fundraiser volunteering for us, not to mention all the
ThoughtWorks staff!

We are continuing to gather interest from both the student and
commercial communities in Cambridge with a new evening volunteer just
starting who has come from the IT sector.

Aidworld wouldn't exist without volunteers including all those who've
gone before today's team. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank
all the volunteers, past and present, with a special mention to our
Working Group members - from all around the world - who have been
helping in the assessment of Loband over the past few months.
*****************************************************
6. Chief Humanitarian Officer
-----------------------------
The need for a full-time Chief Humanitarian Officer (CHO) has become
more and more pressing.  With the start of the DTI project in
September,
we were able to start recruiting.  After posting on ReliefWeb and the
Cambridge Careers websites we had an overwhelming response with nearly
100 applicants!!

We are currently whittling this down and hope to be interviewing in
November.  Watch this space....
*****************************************************
7. Ndiyo
--------
Ndiyo (www.ndiyo.org) is a not-for-profit company that has spun out of
Newnham Research (www.newnhamresearch.com).  They build technology that
allows multiple users to simultaneously use one PC - thereby substially
reducing cost.  This has significant commercial and developmental
implications.

They have loaned us a prototype system and we are feeding back into
their research.  We are incredibly happy with the system - we have 5
people running off one PC - and are looking forward to continuing to
work with Ndiyo.
*****************************************************
8. South Africa connections - EDN, NetDay & AIMS
------------------------------------------------
AIMS (The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences - www.aims.ac.za)
and Aidworld are currently finalising discussions to collaborate
remotely.  The hope is for AIMS students to be trained in Java by
working towards the internationally accredited SUN Java Qualification
whilst volunteering for Aidworld by programming remotely.

We are also in promising discussions with Netday and EDN. EDN
(www.schoolnet.org.za/atwork/edn.htm) is an Educator's Development
Network and NetDay (www.netday.org.za) is a non-profit organisation
that
empowers schools through access to ICTs. They are very interested in
Loband and its potential for their schools.
*****************************************************
END OF EMAIL
*****************************************************