Osservando questi dati viene da osservare che il futuro del non profit è l’e-philanthropy, ovvero un connubio tra social media e fundrising. Secondo uno studio sulle donazioni online condotto da Target Analytics (Blackbaud Company), entro il 2020 la maggior parte delle donazioni verrà effettuata utilizzando la Rete. In linea con questa tendenza vi è il progetto FeelMemory, un portale dove è possibile effettuare donazioni in memoria di persone care che non ci sono più e delle quali si vuole conservare la storia. Le donazioni, di importo libero, potranno essere effettuate in favore di una delle organizzazioni non profit che hanno già avviato una collaborazione con il portale, oppure indicarne altre che si vorrebbero inserite in quell’elenco.

Tra chi è già inserito nel portale si trova Sos Villaggi dei Bambini. Il direttore Franco Muzio, sottolinea l’apprezzamento per «l’originalità del progetto FeelMemory e, in particolare, l’idea che risiede alla sua base: unirsi nel ricordo di una persona cara e farlo vivere nell’aiuto e nel sostegno a chi è meno fortunato. I progetti che Sos Villaggi dei Bambini propone» continua Muzio, «dall’aiuto alimentare, al sostegno scolastico e le cure mediche sono, infatti, destinati a migliaia di bambini che accogliamo e aiutiamo in 133 paesi del mondo, Italia compresa. La fruibilità che caratterizza il mondo social è innegabile e senz’altro ci aiuta a raggiungere un pubblico maggiore e, soprattutto, diversificato».

«I social media, soprattutto facebook e twitter, hanno visto crescere in maniera esponenziale il loro utilizzo e la loro importanza per la comunicazione di Amref negli ultimi anni», spiega Enrica Arcangeli, Responsabile della Comunicazione. «In un “mercato” cambiato, dove il destinatario del messaggio quindi il potenziale donatore non è più solo passivo ma chiede di essere sempre più protagonista e attore del messaggio stesso, i social media giocano un ruolo fondamentale per le nostre campagne di sensibilizzazione e raccolta fondi. L’idea di FeelMemory è originale e intuitiva, infatti, cresce la tendenza di fare donazioni in memoria di una persona cara scomparsa. Unire lo strumento social a questa tendenza potrà rivelarsi un’iniziativa utile e funzionale».

L’idea alla base di FeelMemory è che fare una donazione in ricordo di una persona scomparsa, magari a un’associazione che combatte quella che è stata la causa della morte, o, semplicemente, che sostiene una passione che ebbe in vita la persona cara, aiuta ad affrontare il dolore con un gesto tangibile e si fa del bene nei confronti di chi ne ha bisogno. Nel caso si scelga di sostenere una delle organizzazioni già presenti, all’interno del portale si possono trovare tutte le informazioni relative all’associazione e alle sue campagne e, sempre restando all’interno del portale, si può effettuare il pagamento con la massima sicurezza. Il portale si presenta come uno spazio gratuito, protetto da sistema di privacy sicuro e facile da gestire dove non è presente alcun tipo di pubblicità.

(www.vita.it)

There has been a recent cluster of global evidence about negative impacts:

Economic: online retail models are precipitating closure of high street shops. This may be more economically efficient but it is also more ‘efficient’ in terms of employment numbers, it erodes both the sense and reality of community, and large ICT-based firms have been adept at avoiding paying corporation tax. (See attached ‘thank you’ note posted by staff of closed UK photographic retail chain, Jessops.)
Political: the excitement of the Arab Spring and its supposed twitter revolutions has given way to a situation in which the autocrats have colonised cyberspace. Moving on from the simplicities of blocking and filtering, regimes are now monitoring online communications in order to identify and then arrest, intimidate or attack opponents. Paid commentators are spreading misinformation and pro-regime messages.
Military: killing by drone is on the increase as are the concerns about autonomy, civil use, and accountability. It is now possible to manufacture your own gun using a 3D-printer. An undeclared cyberwar is already underway between global powers.
Social: ICTs have propelled a hypersexualisation of young people and pornification of sexual relations.

Unless we adopt an extreme perspective, we can recognise that in terms of impacts, it would have been equally easy to pull out a set of positive evidence about ICT. But it is positive and negative together that tell the whole story. And in terms of causes, there is no simple relationship between the technology and the impacts identified above but, instead, a socio-technical foundation.

This leads to a number of implications for the academic field of development informatics:

Balance: are we balanced enough in terms of the impacts we associate with ICTs in our work? Pushing a largely positive narrative can have the effect of making our work seem like hype; a relentless monotone buzz to which those working in development become habituated, and start to ignore.

Preparation: are the policy makers and practitioners who use our work prepared for what’s coming? Development informatics research needs to engage with the negative impacts, providing research users with an understanding of those impacts and, where possible, some strategies for amelioration.

Analytical Tools: do we understand what is behind these ICT trajectories? ICTs are not the direct cause of the impacts outlined above; they are an enabler of particular economic and political interests. Development informatics needs to ask the age-old question: cui bono? Who benefits when high street shops close? Who benefits from cyber-repression? Who benefits from printed guns? Who benefits from pornography? Cui bono is answered by the analytical tools of political economy. We need to be answering those questions and using these tools a whole lot more in development informatics.

Advocacy: how do we engage with ICT4D innovation trajectories? Even as it becomes more open and more decentralised, the trajectory of innovation can still be shaped by debate, by advocacy and by activism. Development informatics has always been an engaged area of academic endeavour, not stuck in the ivory tower. We have often worked with those seeking to deliver the positive impacts of ICT4D. The challenge now is to work more with those seeking to avoid the negative impacts of ICT4D.

(ict4dblog.wordpress.com)

14 Giugno , h.9.00 – 13.30, Fondazione THINK!, Milano, Via Palermo 5

Il tema del Workshop sarà “Brainstorming sulla nuova economia dei dati.Implicazioni per la crescita economica e policies”.

Il Workshop sarà introdotto da Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist of the Progressive Policy Institute, Washington DC, e precedentemente Chief Economist of Business Week, che ha scritto recentemente un importante paper su questo tema: “Beyond goods and services: the (Unmeasured) Rise of the Data-drivenEconomy.” http://bit.ly/10nwpkY

Per partecipare potete registrarvi al seguente link: http://thinkbondr.eventbrite.com/

Il Workshop sarà tenuto in lingua inglese. Per la partecipazione al Workshop è prevista una quota di adesione di €50 ($60). La partecipazione è gratuita per gli studenti e per i Membri della Fondazione THINK!. (Per diventare Membro clicca qui)

Potrete ascoltare ed interagire di persona o in streaming con Michael Mandel e con un prestigioso panel di esperti:

• Emanuele Baldacci, ISTAT;
• Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffè, SDABocconi;
• Gianluigi Castelli, Executive VP ICT, ENI;
• Luca De Biase, Giornalista e Scrittore;
• Giorgio De Michelis, Università MilanoBicocca;
• Stefano Fabrizi, Banca D’Italia;
• Alfonso Fuggetta, CEFRIEL;
• Paolo Gila, Giornalista e scrittore;
• Carlo Maria Medaglia, Sapienza University;
• Flavia Marzano, Presidente Stati Generali dell’Innovazione;
• Roberto Moriondo, Dir. Innovazione, Reg.Piemonte;
• Daniele Pica, John Cabot University
• Francesco Pizzetti, Presidente Alleanza per Internet;
• Roberto Polillo, Università Milano Bicocca

Nel corso del Workshop verranno discussi alcuni dei più importanti temi relativi all’economia dei dati e alla loro influenza sul funzionamento dell’economia e della società:

• È vero che le statistiche economiche ufficiali sottovalutano drammaticamente la crescita delle attività basate sui dati? Dovremmo ripensare radicalmente le principali categorie della contabilità nazionale per rendere conto di questa nuova dimensione? I data set dovrebbero diventare una componente principale dei balance sheeets delle aziende? C’è bisogno o no di una nuova “economia dei dati”?
• Come si modificheranno le future organizzazioni economiche sotto l’impatto di nuove “disruptive technologies” come Mobile, Cloud, Big Data, M2M e Social Networks?
• Prevediamo che in futuro i business services basati sui mashup dei dati rappresenteranno una delle principali fonti di crescita economica ?
• In che modo la rivoluzione dei dati trasformerà le attuali strutture organizzative e i modelli di business della ricerca e della statistica? Prevediamo un sostanziale sviluppo dei processi di disintermediazione?
• Se i dati alimentano la crescita di quale livello di regolamentazione abbiamo veramente bisogno per evitare di mettere a repentaglio le future opportunità di crescita? E quali implicazioni sulla protezione della privacy?
• Oltre gli Open Data: Big Data e Cittadinanza Digitale.

Non perdete questa opportunità unica di partecipare al confronto tra alcuni dei più prestigiosi esperti del settore.

Iscrivetevi subito, i posti sono veramente limitati!

Il parco eolico Sere comprenderà aerogeneratori 46 Siemens 2,3-108, sorgerà vicino a Koekenaap (Vredendal area), nel Western Cape, e dovrebbe essere pronto per lo sfruttamento commerciale entro la fine del 2014, con una durata di vita prevista di 20 anni ed una produzione energetica media annua di circa 233.000 MWh, sufficiente a dare energia a 97.000 abitazioni. Una riduzione potenziali di 4,7 milioni di tonnellate di gas serra in 20 anni che ne fanno uno degli elementi principali dell’evoluzione di Eskom, che fino ad ora ha puntato soprattutto su carbone e nucleare. .

Il progetto è stato finanziato da un gruppo di istituzioni finanziarie per lo sviluppo, tra le quali la Banca mondiale, la Banca africana di sviluppo, il Clean technology fund e l’Agence francaise de developpement.

L’amministratore delegato di Eskom, Brian Dames, ha detto: «Questa è una pietra miliare nel cammino della Eskom verso un mix energetico più pulito. Sere è il nostro primo grande progetto di energia rinnovabile. Ciò dimostra il nostro impegno a ridurre la nostra impronta di carbonio e ad investire in un futuro energetico sostenibile. Siamo molto lieti di essere stati in grado di approfittare del finanziamento attraente da parte delle istituzioni finanziarie internazionali per lo sviluppo per costruire il progetto a costi che reggono bene il confronto con il mercato».

Con questo parco eolico Eskom sta cominciando davvero ad attuare il programma Renewable energy independent power producer (Reipp) del governo sudafricano che porterà a produrre 3.725 MW di energie rinnovabili, soprattutto eolico e solare.

Accanto al progetto Sere, Eskom ha un impianto a concentrazione solare da 100 MW vicino Upington, nel Northern Cape, anche questo finanziato dalle istituzioni finanziarie per lo sviluppo. Inoltre ha installato pannelli solari fotovoltaici per fornire alimentazione ausiliaria alla sua sede ed in due delle sue centrali elettriche a carbone, per installare solare fotovoltaico anche in altri impianti.

(www.greenreport.it)

The PDS is a food security system based on the distribution of foodgrains, and other primary necessity goods, at subsidized prices, to make these universally accessible. Procurement of PDS commodities is carried out by the central government, through a state-owned corporation (the Food Corporation of India – FCI) that buys them from private producers at below market prices. Subsequently, PDS goods are lifted by the states, and distributed, at the intra-district level, through a network of Fair-Price Shops (FPS), owned and managed by authorized ration dealers. So organized, distribution of PDS commodities should be reaching all parts of the nation, through the strategic positioning of ration shops to maximize accessibility, even in remote rural villages.
(www.silviamasiero.it)

Read more…

(www.livemint.com)

“Si tratta di un prototipo previsionale, un software basato sull’acquisizione dei dati satellitari resi disponibili gratuitamente dalla Nasa, che funziona come supporto alle risorse antincendio. Questo sistema di sorveglianza aerea abbatte i costi, limita drasticamente la necessità di lunghe e costose analisi in situ e, soprattutto, permette un pronto intervento, quando l’incendio è ancora circoscritto”, spiega Rosa Lasaponara.

“Nella nostra regione il modello fornisce quotidianamente mappe di previsione del pericolo d’incendio, da cui derivano specifiche ‘classi’ di allerta dei vari comuni: dalla 4, che equivale al pre-allerta, alla 6, pericolo estremo”, prosegue la ricercatrice Imaa-Cnr, che ha realizzato Fire-Sat con il collega Antonio Lanorte. “Le mappe degli ultimi mesi confermano che in alcune aree lucane il livello di pericolo è rimasto costantemente alto dalla metà di giugno in poi, in particolare la fascia bradanica, la media e bassa val Basento, il melfese e la costa e montagna di Maratea. Secondo i dati forniti dalla Regione, il monitoraggio tempestivo e dettagliato ha consentito di dimezzare le aree bruciate rispetto al 2007″.

Il sistema si presta anche alla valutazione dei danni ‘post-evento’. “Il satellite consente di ottenere mappe delle aree bruciate, di discriminare il livello di danno registrato dalla vegetazione e di stimare l’impatto sul rischio idrogeologico, che potrebbe notevolmente accentuarsi a causa delle piogge successive agli incendi, che aumentano il rischio frane”, precisa Antonio Lanorte. “Inoltre, utilizzando le serie storiche di dati satellitari è possibile ottenere informazioni sulla capacità di ripristino della vegetazione e quindi sui cambiamenti e i danni a medio e lungo periodo indotti all’ecosistema”.

(www.italianinnovation.it)

This is the “Great Reset” – a cull of broadly middle-class jobs with middle-class incomes that is apparent across the west, but with little current sign of what industries and activities will replace them.

The world has lost millions of jobs before – on the land or in the old horse-powered economy – but they were soon replaced by jobs in the car industry or the new service industries. What worries many economists and computer scientists is that today’s technologies are going to remove people from economic activity completely. Some argue that a dystopian world is emerging in which good jobs and full-time employment will become the preserve of an educated, computer-literate elite. For example Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google are plainly riding the new wave, but they are not mass employers like Tesco, Ford or General Motors.

Moshe Vardi, a computer scientist at Rice University, asks if we are ready for a world in which half the adult population does not work. The Great Reset – the economy resetting itself, after a major technological shock, to deliver jobs for all – may never happen.

The omens are all around. The US economy has never generated so few jobs in an upturn since records began. In Britain, the Resolution Foundation charts the ongoing squeeze on low and middle incomes, and observes brutally that already Britain has the second highest proportion of low-paid jobs in the developed world. The formal unemployment numbers, now ominously rising five years since the crisis began, do not capture the full extent to which the economy is not delivering good work.

Plainly some of the explanation is that the economy is still reeling from the effect of the financial crisis and the accompanying vast overhang of private debt. But economies have an embedded resilience. Output will return to the levels of 2008, probably some time next year. There will be an economic “recovery”. But this raises the question: what happens afterwards?

Think through the implications of the driverless car. These will be vehicles whose complex sensors allow them to communicate with one another, so that they know one another’s intended route. One of the reasons Google is investing so much is that whoever owns the communications system for driverless cars will own the 21st century’s equivalent of the telephone network or money clearing system: this will be a licence to print money. The benefits are endless. Roads will both be able to carry more traffic and be safer. Personalised door-to-door transport will become hugely pleasurable: your car will deliver you to your home or place of work and then park itself without you. Road accidents will plummet. Energy efficiency will be transformed. Insurance rates, even the need for insurance, will plunge. Personalised transport, ordered by your mobile phone, will gradually replace mass transport networks.

But the implications for employment are awesome. Thomas Frey, senior futurologist at the DaVinci Institute, lists taxi-, bus- and truck-driving as soon-to-be-extinct occupations – along with traffic police, all forms of home delivery and waste disposal, jobs at petrol stations, car washes and parking lots. The cars themselves will be made by robots in automated car factories. The only new jobs will be in the design and marketing of the cars, and in writing the computer software that will allow them to navigate their journeys, along with the apps for our mobile phones that will help us to use them better.

Professor Larry Summers, former US treasury secretary, thinks that the challenge of the decades ahead is not debt or competition from China but the dramatic transformations that technology is bringing about. Summers believes that the transition to the automated economy that robotisation implies has only just begun. The invention of 3D printing, in which every home or office will be equipped with an in-house printer that can spew out the goods we want – from shoes to pills – anticipates a world of what Summers calls automated “doers”. They will do everything for us, eliminating the need for much work. The only jobs will be in writing the software and building the “doers”, creating a bifurcation of the labour market that is already discernible.

At least Summers sees some underlying economic dynamism. For techno-pessimists such as economist Professor Tyler Cowen the future is even darker. It is not only that automation and robotisation are coming, but that there are no new worthwhile transformational technologies for them to automate. All the obvious human needs – to move, to have power, to communicate – have been solved through cars, planes, mobile phones and computers. According to Cowen, we have come to the end of the great “general purpose technologies” (technologies that transform an entire economy, such as the steam engine, electricity, the car and so on) that changed the world. There are no new transformative technologies to carry us forward, while the old activities are being robotised and automated. This is the “Great Stagnation”.

That is a very lopsided view of the future with little recognition of the opportunities. The growth of transformative technologies is not tailing off: as scientific knowledge explodes and crosses new boundaries, they will accelerate. The 21st century will witness more technological and scientific advance than in the last 500 years. The pace of change is certainly accelerating – business models today already become obsolescent in less than 20 years, and that figure is going to fall further. But human demands are infinite. Notwithstanding robotisation and automation, I identify four broad areas in which there will be vast job opportunities.

The first is in micro-production. There is going to be a huge growth in micro-brewers, micro-bakers, micro-film-makers, micro-energy producers, micro-tailors, micro-software houses and so on who will deploy the internet and micro-production techniques to produce goods at prices as if they were mass-produced, but customised for individual tastes.

The second is in human wellbeing. There will be vast growth in advising, coaching, caring, mentoring, doctoring, nursing, teaching and generally enhancing capabilities. Medical provision will explode, with replacement organs, skin and limbs opening up new specialisms and industries. Taste, sight and hearing will be vastly enhanced. Ageing will be deferred, with old-age advisers offering advice on how to live well in one’s hundreds. Geneticists will open up a live-well economy. Instantaneous language translation will break down language barriers.

The third is in addressing the globe’s “wicked issues” . There will be new forms of nutrition and carbon-efficient energy, along with economising with water, to meet the demands of a world population of 9 billion in 2050. Space exploration will become crucial to find new minerals and energy sources. New forms of mining will allow exploration of the Earth’s crust. The oceans will be farmed.

And fourthly, digital and big data management will foster whole new industries – personalised journalism, social media, cyber-security, information selection, software, computer science and digital clutter removal.

Doubtless the futurologists can come up with more: the truth is, nobody knows. What we do know is that two-thirds of what we consume today was not invented 25 years ago. It will be the same again in a generation’s time. What is different is the pace of change, obsolescence and renewal – and new dangers of extraordinary inequality not just in wages, but in working possibilities. Firms and individuals will be on their mettle to open up, innovate and constantly reinvent themselves. If there is to be a successful Great Reset, Britain will need the open innovation structures, financing mechanisms and social support institutions to capitalise on the opportunities quickly, rather than be overwhelmed by the risks.

This is what threatens our future, our living standards, and this is what we should be arguing about – not the European Union, despite the efforts of Ukip and the Conservative party. Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.

(www.guardian.co.uk)

Il portale è il frutto della collaborazione con Centralcom e facoltà di fisica dell’Università degli Studi di Perugia. «È essenziale – ha detto Vinti – la diffusione della banda larga che rappresenta uno straordinario strumento di sviluppo per il territorio e per il suo tessuto produttivo, una opportunità di crescita sociale, culturale ed economica. Ma a cittadini e imprenditori devono essere garantite stesse condizioni di partenza». Di qui, l’idea del portale che, come ha spiegato lo stesso assessore, non è il luogo in cui segnalare disservizi o reclami su uno specifico operatore, né per fare denunce generiche e non documentate sul servizio a banda larga o un mezzo per fare propaganda o pubblicità. Al contrario, è uno strumento per segnalare situazioni di carenza o assenza del servizio, un supporto per le amministrazioni pubbliche per elaborare politiche infrastrutturali di telecomunicazione più mirate, un mezzo per gli stessi operatori del settore per avere informazioni sulla copertura del proprio servizio. Per Vinti, il successo dell’iniziativa dipenderà molto dalla «collaborazione degli utenti, ovvero di cittadini, imprese e amministrazioni pubbliche che con le loro segnalazioni consentiranno di avere un quadro sempre più aggiornato e puntuale della copertura digitale dell’Umbria».

Per il professor Luca Gammaitoni della facoltà di Fisica questa collaborazione «contribuisce a evidenziare le competenze dell’Università di Perugia» e conferma l’Ateneo come «grande risorsa per lo sviluppo del territorio». Il docente ha inoltre sostenuto che l’Università «continuerà la collaborazione anche attraverso incontri periodici con gli studenti che così potranno diventare i primi operatori e segnalatori sul territorio».

(www.giornaledellumbria.it)

(www.hsph.harvard.edu)

- una grande scuola di innovazione aperta alle novità che vengono dai paesi più avanzati;
- un’occasione unica di lavoro collaborativo e di incontro per costruire alleanze, progettare lavori comuni, rafforzare e allungare le reti;
- una dimostrazione concreta, data dai protagonisti della sanità pubblica e privata, di come si fa a “risparmiare innovando”;
- l’unico momento in Italia per la diffusione delle best practice perchè si diffondano e possano essere copiate e “riusate”.

L’evento centrale della giornata sarà e-Health Conference organizzata da FORUM PA e HIMSS, con il contributo delle istituzioni europee e nazionali, una grande conferenza internazionale sulla sanità digitale.

Leggi l’intero articolo…

Information about developments in many of the countries of the Soviet Union, for example, has not, for the most part, been widely disseminated outside the region (indeed, for many within the region as well!). The Moscow-based UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) has been perhaps the best ‘one-stop shop’ for information about ICT use in the region. Recent work by the Asian Development Bank has gone much further to help to fill in one of the most apparent ‘blind spots’ in our collective global understanding of how countries are using ICTs to help meet a variety of objectives within their formal education systems. ICT in Education in Central and West Asia summarizes research conducted over five years (2006-2011) in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with shorter studies on Afghanistan, Armenia, Georgia, and Pakistan.

Some key findings from this work:

[-] While the importance of ICT in education has been recognized widely, it is still in its infancy in most of the region and its role and impact have yet to be fully determined or realized.

[-] While all the participating countries consider effective teacher training in ICT skills to be among the key determining factors in its effective ICT use, most are not providing sufficient training to use ICT to best effect.

[-] There is an urgent need for governments to adequately fund school ICT operational costs.

Interesting conclusions, you might say to yourself, but not all that different in what has been happening in many places in the world. Especially so, when you consider that the report identifies “an emphasis in most systems on hardware provision — amid the unfortunate but widespread assumption that provision of the hardware by itself is the solution to a range of educational problems”. (Longtime readers of the EduTech blog may here echoes of what we have more generally labeled the ‘classic example of worst practice’ in ICT use in education: Dump hardware in schools, hope for magic to happen.)

That said, and like other regions, there is a wide range of both intention, ambition, and implementation across this set of countries. Compare, for example, Kazakhstan, where all schools are connected to the Internet, interactive whiteboards are in common use, and lots of digital learning materials are available, with a place like Tajikistan, where ICT use in education is still in the early stages, with targeted investments at a few grade levels — primarily in support of an ‘informatics’ (i.e. computer literacy) curriculum. (Side note: Reading the report, one gets the impression that the specter of ‘informatics’ has cast a heavy and often determining shadow over investments in computers in schools across the region, which in many cases have been closely linked with efforts to expand access to informatics courses — typically within the confines of school computer labs. This is, to my knowledge, not unlike how things have developed in other regions of the world, but the impression this survey leaves on me is that this influence is comparatively stronger in this region than in most others.) Technical support and maintenance is a problem in many places: Almost a third of computers in Kyrghyz schools, for example, weren’t working when survey work there took place.

The ADB study finds “a remarkable unanimity in the identified constraints on ICT development and effective use in basic education”, with challenges related ‘divides’ of various sorts (between rich and poor, for example, between urban and rural); inadequate school infrastructure (including power supplies) and gaps in so-called last mile connectivity; insufficient teacher training (compounded by lack of sufficient attention to how to motivate and support older teachers in their use of new technologies); and lack of digital materials in local languages. Not surprisingly, funding is often stretched quite thin. Core components of the educational landscape (curriculum, assessment mechanisms, etc.) have remained largely the same, and so have not been modified to take advantage of some of the affordances offered by the introduction of ICTs. Studies on the impact and effectiveness of ICT use in education remain few and far between, in part due to a lack of adequate mechanisms and funding to support such activities.

For most people not working in these places, I suspect the good (and short) executive summary will provide a sufficient general overview of what has been happening.

Those with more detailed interests — especially about country-level activities — are directed to the full (337 page) report, ICT in Education in Central and West Asia: A Work in Progress, which (obviously, given its length) goes into much greater detail. In addition to more substantive analyses of specific issues across countries, drawing on lessons from other parts of the world in certain circumstances, the publication includes a set of ‘ICT in Education Country Reports’ for Azerbaijan; Kazakhstan; the Kyrgyz Republic; Tajikistan; and Uzbekistan, as well as a shorter series of ‘ICT Rapid Assessments’ for Afghanistan; Armenia; Georgia; and Pakistan. Here you can find useful updates of many of the ICT/education country reports that appeared in the original UNESCO ‘meta-survey’ of 2003, as well as complements to the country reports for Afghanistan and Pakistan which are available in the infoDev regional survey of South Asia.

—

As with other regional surveys of this sort, some of the most interesting stuff is in the details of the individual country reports. Just one quick example: I was interested (and heartened) to see the apparent priority that Kazakhstan has given to ICT use to support the education of students with special educational needs. This is an area where the potential for ICT use to help meet goals that call for ‘learning for all’ is quite clear and compelling around the world and where (unlike many other aspects of the ICT use in education) there is a compelling evidence base to support investments that can make tangible, measurable impacts on student outcomes. This is not to say that Kazakhstan would appear to be a ‘model’ in this regard — the report notes that “computer/student ratio in special needs schools was 1:22 in 2010, which was only slightly less than the general secondary figure of 1:18″. Plausible arguments could be advanced that goals of parity in such things are only a starting point, given the outsized impact that ICTs can have on educational opportunities for special needs students. Rather, it is to note that Kazakhstan would appear to be doing more in this area than many of its neighbors — and similar countries around the world (even if ‘more’ is still felt by some to be ‘insufficient’). Might there be lessons in this regard from Kazakhstan for other countries around the world who are beginning to place greater priority on special needs education, and the potential role that ICT can play? Perhaps. A close reading of the country reports may unearth dozens of other examples where opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing around specific topics or issues might be worth exploring.

—

The Asian Development Bank’s work to survey ICT use in education in Central and West Asia helps fill an important gap in our collective global knowledgebase. For those interested in tracking developments across the globe in this area, it is an invaluable resource, pointing to issues and activities, initiatives and policies of potential relevance to scores of other middle and low income countries. For those working in, or considering working in, these specific countries, it contains a wealth of information and will most likely remain, for the immediate future, the best source of detailed data and insights about how countries in this diverse region are exploring the use of new technologies to help meet their educational and developmental objectives.

(blogs.worldbank.org)

5,7 milioni di euro per la Regione Lazio e 5 milioni per ciascuna delle altre Regioni, Liguria e Marche. I bandi del Mse per lo sviluppo della banda larga prevedono un cofinanziamento massimo del 70% per progetti di investimento volti all’implementazione di una rete per:

il trasporto ad alta capacità per la raccolta dei flussi dati delle utenze e alla/e porta/e di interfaccia alla rete internet;
l’accesso diretto per la connessione all’utente finale. La rete dovrà essere dimensionata in modo adeguato alle offerte di servizio e al bacino d’utenza servito. In particolare dovrà essere garantita la possibilità di aderire ad una offerta di servizio caratterizzato da velocità di picco almeno fino a 10 Mbps al 99% della popolazione residente nelle aree oggetto dell’intervento.
Il dimensionamento dovrà garantire a tutte le utenze una continuità di servizio 24 ore su 24 e una disponibilità di connessione del 98% del tempo su base annua. Inoltre, il servizio base dovrà assicurare almeno al 99% della popolazione residente una velocità minima pari a 2Mbps in download e 384kbps in upload, con un fattore di contemporaneità pari almeno al 40%.

Le domande possono essere presentate online attraverso il portale Invitalia entro il 19 luglio.

(www.fasi.biz)

Individual responders are now connected.
Individual responders are now available in a more immediate way than ever before thanks to advances in mobile technology. Organizers can interact in real-time with responders, something that wasn’t possible (or at least wasn’t happening) in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The new challenge is leveraging this properly.
Response is still dependent on utilities.
While mobile is important, ultimately ICT runs on power and telecom companies. Twitter, Facebook groups, email, even phone calls and SMS still rely on communications providers and charged devices.
LTE is everywhere.
One of the most interesting discoveries was the value of LTE. While LTE coverage is still very limited internationally, domestically LTE coverage is robust and complete. One organization reported setting up an inflatable satellite dish on arrival, but took it down in less than 24 hours because it wasn’t needed.
Deploy wired infrastructure early, wireless when you must.
Wireless networks are easy to deploy quickly, which makes them an obvious choice when setting up an operations center. With only so many wireless channels and frequencies available it doesn’t take long for networks to start interfering with one another as operations grow. Starting with wired and adding access points when necessary avoids having to reconfigure once the traffic jams have started.
In extreme situations, people reach for low-tech.
In strained situations people will reach for what they know instead of taking the time to learn something new. Hackathon-created tools are great for people who feel comfortable with them, but email, printed forms and even yellow legal pads still rule on the ground. This explains why the most commonly used digital tools in disaster response are still Excel spreadsheets, Word docs and Access databases.
Video is now informing major decisions.
Sandy saw official agencies bombarded with conflicting information and photoshopped imagery (movie stills, sharks, etc.), and for the first time user-submitted video provided reliable info that was used to make decisions in real-time.
“The Fog of War is Huge.”
In any emergency situation focus can narrow leading to blind spots and communication issues. Responding to Hurricane Sandy, NYC officials were not aware of additional communications channels used by volunteer groups and had almost no insight into their actions. To make matters worse national response agencies use ICS and NIMS frameworks to coordinate, but most volunteer groups either don’t know these frameworks exist or don’t know how to integrate with them.
The most important response elements happen before the disaster.
Preparation is key both in making communities more adept at helping themselves in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and helping response organizations coordinate response as help arrives. Hackathons can be extremely helpful, but logistics in response situations are generally strained enough without having to educate people in the field on which new tools to adopt. Preparation gives communities a common, familiar set of tools to fall back on, meaning less fragmentation and more focus on response.

(www.ictworks.org)

As of 2012, just two years since the iPad burst onto the scene, physician tablet adoption for professional purposes had reached 62 percent, with Apple’s device being the dominant platform, according to healthcare market research firm Manhattan Research. Here’s how they are used in medical imaging:

Viral image sharing

The most obvious differences between an iPad and the iPhone smart phone that preceded it are screen size and resolution. At 9.7 inches diagonal, and up to 264 pixels per inch, for the first time radiologists can view and share the images and accompanying reports on a mobile device.

And PACS vendors have responded. The ability to access images through a mobile app is a standard feature in the PACS industry, and has made sharing information with referring physicians easier than ever.

“It’s been a great tool for our referring physicians because iPhone and iPad penetration in the physician space is very high … so everyone is kind of used to the app ecosystem and the utilization of products through apps,” says Satish Mathan, MD, incoming president of Raleigh Radiology in Raleigh, N.C.

Raleigh Radiology has been using a mobile image sharing app supported by its PACS vendor for about two years, and Mathan says it’s a much faster way to access images and makes it easier to take care of patients while on call. He says the practice felt offering the app would be a good way to differentiate itself in the market, as opposed to relying on more cumbersome browser-based mobile viewing systems. Their marketing team went to work, too. Flyers with instructions on how to install the app, connect with the server and search patients were created and sent to referring physicians.

Once physicians found out about the app, its spread was almost viral, says Mathan. One physician could tell another during an elevator ride, and the second person would download the app on the spot and instantly access the system using the same credentials they had for traditional portals.

Raleigh Radiology doesn’t track usage, but Mathan says use by outside physicians is strong, and during the few times server maintenance shut down access to the app, the practice fielded a number of calls asking when it will be back online. Anecdotally, Mathan reports that specialist use of the app is higher than primary care physician use.

Edging into interpretation

The iPad’s screen resolution is high for a mobile device, but it’s not ready to replace the standard clinical workstation in a reading room. That said, a few studies have compared the tablet with consumer-grade LCD monitors and found that, in a pinch, either works just as well as a secondary display for interpretation.

Mark McEntee, PhD, of the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues completed a study analyzing the results of eight U.S. board-certified radiologists attempting to identify intracranial bleeding, fractures and lung nodules on iPads, LCD monitors and high-resolution clinical monitors. The findings, presented at the 2012 International Society of Optical Engineering conference in San Diego, showed that while there were “noticeable differences” with the clinical monitors, both the iPad and LCD monitors fared the same.

Likewise, there was no detectable effect of using an iPad rather than a consumer-grade LCD for diagnosing tuberculosis, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Despite the consensus on interpretations between the displays, readers noted the iPad felt slower than the LCD monitor, according to Samir Abboud, MS, and colleagues from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

“The limiting factor is a question of real estate. The typical tablet is smaller than a sheet of notebook paper, while a typical workstation can have two or three monitors with a 21-inch diagonal or greater,” says Abboud.

“The mainstay of diagnostic radiology is, and should remain, the workstation,” he adds. “However, interpretation of imaging studies is only half of the equation, communication to our clinical colleagues is equally important. While the tablets are not likely to change how studies are read, they do hold promise as communication and education tools.”

(ictpost.com)

(www.assodigitale.it)

It uses a network of 2,000 quake-detecting instruments now in place up and down the state.
Its backers say it could warn emergency workers and the public as much as a full minute before a big quake ruptures the ground along any of the faults in the state.
There is a 99 percent chance of a magnitude-6.7 earthquake or larger in the next 30 years in California because of the number of fault lines in the region, the biggest of which is the 810 mile San Andreas Fault that forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.
Using the new system, an alert would go out whenever the system senses the first pulse of short shock waves – known as P waves – that speed through the ground just as a seismic fault starts to rupture.
California senator Alex Padilla, said his bill, SB135, is based on recent advances in preparing the California warning system to operate.
Padilla, an MIT-trained engineer from the San Fernando Valley and a former space systems software specialist, said it could provide ‘critical seconds for teachers to get their pupils to duck and cover, for drivers to pull to the side of the road, for trains to stop, and for utilities to power down.’
The plans, unveiled at a news conference at the California Institute of Technology, are have been under development for a decade, and include studies of other early warning systems in Japan, Mexico and other quake-prone nations.
Padilla estimated it would take $80 million to develop a statewide version of ShakeAlert through the California Emergency Management Agency, and $20 million more in annual operating costs.
‘But an investment like that is a no-brainer,’ he said.
‘If you think about the lives we can save, the injuries we can reduce, and the billions upon billions of damages associated with every large earthquake, the system would more than pay for itself.’
The researchers say the scheme is now ready.
‘We’re ready to build it up right now,’ said Richard M. Allen, director of the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory.
‘It’s ready for prime time.’
The system’s test phases have proved so successful that BART trains in San Francisco are already equipped to stop instantly whenever the system flashes a hazard warning for the are, Allen said.

Lucy Jones, senior adviser for risk reduction for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), one of the monitoring network partners, said a lot of the technology needed for the system is already in place.
‘If we were building it from scratch, it would cost $650 million,’ she said.

It would take from one to three years to fully launch the new system, Jones said.
The system is based on a highly sophisticated algorithm that can send out a signal from any one of the 2,000 quake-detecting instruments now in place up and down the state.
An alert would go out whenever the system senses a temblor’s first pulse of short shock waves – known as P waves – that speed through the ground just as a seismic fault starts to rupture.

(www.dailymail.co.uk)

(www.bitmat.it)

Watch the interview…

The app essentially gives you stats about your smartphone usage (such as how often you unlock your phone, interval and frequency) – but it comes at a price. Every time you unlock your phone, 0,2 SEK (about 3 cents) is ‘collected’ in the app for SOS Children’s Villages. You also get reminders about how much you’ve ‘collected’ and you can then choose to donate the money directly.

Read more…

Mi permetto quindi, prendendomi un po’ in giro da solo, di proporti un decalogo, una sorta di tavole della legge per l’azione, breve o lunga che sia, che svolgerai per l’innovazione nella PA.

Cominciamo, prendi nota:

Leggi l’intero articolo…

Convened by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Motorola Solutions, the roundtable discussion will be attended by leading policy makers, development practitioners, technology manufacturers and local innovators.

Now in hands of more than 6 billion people across the developed and developing world – smart phones, tablets and other mobile technologies have become increasingly important channels through which innovative development solutions are being delivered or advanced. Kenya is known for its social innovators who have dynamically adapted mobile applications for development and also for its success with Open Source Software application design and development.

Read more…

Organised in Delhi by the CMAI (Communications, Multimedia and Infrastructure) Association of India (http://cmaievents.com) and Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (www.cto.int) headquartered in London, the event covered topics such as innovation policies, entrepreneurship, service infrastructure, smart devices, app development, universal access obligations, renewable energy, and empowerment of girls and women through ICT’s.

Smart Devices and Content Models

Making ICT accessible as well as affordable is a key priority in India. Therefore the aim of computers such as the Akash tablet is to provide Internet access via a device which is “just good enough,” and not necessarily the market leader in quality or excellence, said Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind. The project is not without its share of controversy, but Singh claimed the model was based more on principles of frugal innovation, strong focus on cost, and avoidance of ‘feature kill.’

“Computer penetration in the US took off when the PC price point dropped below 25% of monthly income. For a similar take-off in India, tablets must come below Rs. 5,000 at least. The next versions of Akash will be priced below Rs. 2,500,” said Singh.

India has only 50 million landlines for a population of 1.2 billion people, and mobile is the best way ahead for widespread Internet access. Content is the other half of the equation, and Datawind is part of the Apps To Empower contest (http://appstoempower.org/) which invites app developers to submit apps for education and empowerment for the next billion users, by July 26.

Other device players in this space are Nokia, which is targeting the 1.2 billion mobile phone users in the world who have access only to voice and SMS. Nokia Life, for instance, provides SMS and IVR based access to information about tractor management for farmers, health tips for diabetes patients, and educational information for rural school children.

The service has acquired 100 million users over the last years in India, China, Indonesia, Nigeria and Kenya, according to Nikhil Narayanan, product marketing manager, Nokia Life. Content partners include UNICEF, IGNOU, Plan International and Arogya World.

Sapna Narula, professor at TERI University, highlighted the importance of social entrepreneurship in bringing the fruits of ICTs to Indian farmers and fishing communities, via initiatives such as mKrishi, Handygo, and FisherFriend which help overcome information asymmetries.

In the discussions after these sessions, I shared the examples of competitions and awards held by YourStory, such as TechSparks, MobiSparks and eSparks. For example, KashmirBox was an eSparks 2013 winner, and is a social e-commerce marketplace that takes Kashmiri products to the globe by linking artisans, craftsmen and entrepreneurs via cybercafés. The Digital Empowerment Foundation also recognises innovative use of ICTs by government and social entrepreneurs (Manthan Awards, mBillionth Awards).

Girls and ICT

A special session was held to mark ‘Girls in ICT’ day. Giving more ICT access to girls can spur employment and entrepreneurship among women, according to the panellists.

While the IT industry has attracted more urban women than many other sectors, they are still not present in adequate levels at top management. Studies by companies such as Intel have shown than ICT access can give women not just information and education but jobs and a sense of self-esteem.

Unfortunately, patriarchal barriers and some regressive attitudes by Indian men towards women hold them back; other emerging economies are doing better – for instance, Uganda has a larger percentage of women accessing ICTs than India.

Currently, India has only 15 million broadband Internet users for a population of 1.2 billion, and initiatives like the government’s Bharat Broadband Network Limited are addressing this gap.

Swati Rangachari, vice president at Ericsson India, cited data which suggests that a 10% increase in broadband penetration can increase a nation’s GDP by 0.1%, and doubling the broadband speed can increase GDP by 0.3%. According to research by consulting firm Booz, if Indian men and women were equally employed, India’s GDP would increase by 27%.

This calls for more interventions by government, such as women entrepreneur training programmes, according to Tulika Pandey, scientist at the Department of Electronics and IT. More mentoring, women leadership councils and role model sessions are needed.

This is an issue in other countries as well. “Did you know that sixty years ago, six young women programmed the world’s first all-electronic computer, the ENIAC,” asked Pandey. But the programmers (http://eniacprogrammers.org) — Betty Holberton, Jean Bartik, Kathleen Antonelli, Marlyn Meltzer, Ruth Teitelbaum and Frances Spence – were honoured for their pioneering work only 50 years later.

Nirmita Narasimhan, policy director at Bangalore’s Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), shared insights on other aspects of digital inclusion, from her work in drafting the Indian National Policy for Electronic Accessibility. She has also participated in the World Blind Union Treaty negotiations at WIPO. CIS is working on an open source text-to-speech project for 15 Indian languages.

The Other Divides: Hardware and Energy

In addition to accessibility and affordability, other divides in India exist at the level of hardware and energy. Most of the components of mobile phones in India are being imported; the domestic manufacture of these components needs to increase, advised Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Communications & IT. By 2020, India will be spending more on hardware imports than crude petroleum imports, he cautioned.

Domestic hardware manufacturing will be good not just for India but also other emerging economies such as Africa, and reduce dependencies on external manufacturers, according to Sibal. For this to happen there needs to be not just corporate social responsibility but global social responsibility by the telecom industry, and we need not just an Internet but an ‘Equinet,’ he said. (I wondered whether there needs to be more ‘government social responsibility’ in India as well, given the 2G Scam and other such scandals!)

India is currently importing 80% of its energy, and that is still not enough. The telecom sector is one of the heaviest users of energy, observed Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy. This calls for innovative approaches in cleantech and renewable energy, he urged, and the government should set up a Centre for Innovation in Energy.

In addition to manufacture and access, the creative application of ICTs for tackling important problems is key. For example, India is responsible for the highest number of road deaths annually in the world, followed by China and the US. “In terms of road fatalities per 100,000 motor vehicles, India is unfortunately at the top of the list. Can ICTs help improve traffic safety? That is the focus of this year’s World Telecom Day on May 17,” said Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General, ITU (http://itu.int).

I thought the best observation of the day about the challenging divides facing India came from Mukul Sangma, chief minister of Meghalaya. “The real divide in India is the political divide, between parties and states,” he joked!

(yourstory.in)

RAEE – Nel 2012, secondo i dati del Centro di coordinamento Raee, in Italia sono stati raccolte circa 240 mila tonnellate di rifiuti elettronici, pari a 4 chili all’anno pro capite.

TIPOLOGIE – Il progetto Identis Weee prevede diverse tipologie di contenitori. Quelli stradali sono pensati per i piccoli elettrodomestici. Saranno posizionati in due quartieri di Bologna, a Castenaso, a Ravenna e a Lugo accanto a quelli della raccolta differenziata di carta, plastica o vetro. Gli altri due tipi saranno invece collocati in zone commerciali di Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrara e Rimini. In prossimità di punti vendita Mediaworld, Leroy Merlin e Ikea ci saranno contenitori dove si potrà conferire anche usando semplicemente la tessera sanitaria o la tessera Hera delle stazioni ecologiche. I più grandi saranno collocati nei parcheggi dei centri commerciali e potranno accogliere piccoli elettrodomestici, televisori, monitor, aspirapolvere, neon. L’altra tipologia, più piccola, sarà invece collocata all’esterno di alcuni negozi e accoglierà piccoli Raee come radio, rasoi, frullatori, orologi, cellulari, trapani, tastiere. Con il contenitore RaeeMobile c’è la possibilità di raccogliere i rifiuti elettronici anche in occasione di eventi particolari, come fiere e mercati, o presso le scuole e conferire anche i grandi elettrodomestici quali lavatrici, lavastoviglie, frigoriferi, condizionatori.

BENEFIT – Saranno riconosciuti buoni d’acquisto da spendere nei principali supermercati e ipermercati a quei cittadini che avranno portato il numero più alto di conferimenti Raee nei nuovi contenitori collocati presso i punti vendita.

(www.corriere.it)

Frost & Sullivan’s report, “EMR and EHR Market in APAC,” finds that the market saw some $1.2 billion in revenue in 2012 – projected to nearly double to $2.2 billion by 2018.

A combination of regulations and incentives is spurring adoption of EHR systems in Asia-Pacific countries as the region’s healthcare industry moves towards digitization, according to Frost & Sullivan. Governments, non-profit entities and the private sector are aggressively investing in health IT projects at both regional and local levels in an effort to achieve seamless information exchange and recognize cost savings and improved clinical outcomes.

“Government initiatives to establish standards, regulations and infrastructure further encourage healthcare providers to adopt EMR and EHR technology,” said Frost & Sullivan. Medical professionals hope to improve operational efficiency; medical resource utilization; patient data access in rural areas and aged care programs through EMR systems.

However, challenges related to interoperability and a lack of technical skills among medical professionals threaten to symie market development, according to Frost & Sullivan. Expensive health IT investments are a challenge to justify as providers in Asia Pacific countries struggle with tight finances. Their inability to extend their operational budgets to include sophisticated solutions restricts revenue inflow, researchers say.

Governments looking to fund the implementation of these solutions must balance their grants between new investments as well as maintenance and upgrades, according to the report, which finds that, in addition to funding, governments are collaborating with software and infrastructure companies to build EHR networks in public hospitals.

Healthcare groups and solution vendors are investing in training programs to build a skilled medical workforce that can leverage sophisticated technologies.

There’s a hunger for knowledge in fast-evolving countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), too. As was proven in a Manhattan Research report from May, which showed higher-than-usual use of social networking among docs in those countries, “where physicians are still hungry for clinical information and peer knowledge.

Developing countries are happy for the help. They realize that international companies have this vast experience and are very eager to learn and work with international companies.

Telehealth has not only shown an increase in its demand in the U.S., Europe and Japan, but also in emerging and lucrative markets, such as India, China and other South Asian countries,” said Frost & Sullivan. The development of new technologies and availability of sufficient funding from government agencies and venture capital firms has stoked growth

From imaging in Russia to telehealth in India and China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where GE Global Research recently announced it would be opening a new site, health IT companies are increasingly finding their way to the world’s fastest developing countries.

(ictpost.com)

La ricerca è stata condotta al Boston Children’s Hospital, e pubblicata sulla prestigiosa Plos One. È già riuscita a stabilire quali zone degli Stati Uniti sono più a rischio “pandemia”: nell’area di New York, ad esempio, si è visto che Coney Island è la zona con la più alta percentuale di utenti che mettono “Like” su interessi legati all’attività fisica. Guarda caso, nella stessa zona c’è un’incidenza del 7,2% più bassa di sovrappeso e obesi rispetto al Southwest Queens, che infatti ha la più bassa percentuale di utenti Facebook interessati all’attività fisica, ma che invece tendono a mettere “Mi piace” su programmi televisivi. Il valore aggiunto di uno strumento come Facebook è che rende possibile focalizzare in tempo reale la tendenza locale rispetto alla tendenza nazionale. Quest’ultima rivela che, in generale, i chili di troppo si riducono del 12% nelle aree dove gli utenti Facebook esprimono interesse per lo sport.

“ È incredibile quanto Facebook si sia mostrato utile nel tracciare le diverse condizioni della salute pubblica nell’intero Paese – ha detto a Time Rumi Chunara, autore dello studio, medico del Boston Children’s Hosptial e dell’Harvard Medical Center -. Abbiamo scoperto che si tratta di un’ottima risorsa per identificare le aree di più urgente intervento. Il fatto poi che sia possibile registrare i cambiamenti in tempo reale ci può aiutare a migliorare le strategie in continuazione, verificandone l’efficacia”. Anche perché la maggior parte delle soluzione tentate finora si è rivelata inutile.

“ Il tradizionale consiglio dei medici: fai la dieta e fai sport, non funziona!”, ha continuato Jennifer Li, esperto di cardiologia pediatrica alla Duke University di New York. “ È indubbio che oggi il modo più immediato ed efficace per raggiungere le persone è attraverso i social media, perché è quello il luogo dove si fa “massa”, dove ci si incontra e dove si viene influenzati in modo positivo o negativo. Se fumi, è più probabile che i tuoi amici fumino. Se sei obeso, i tuoi amici hanno più probabilità di diventarlo. Quindi, se è possibile avere un impatto sul gruppo, è possibile anche avere una reazione a catena”.

Tra le iniziative che traggono spunto da questo principio, è già attiva in rete quella di Weight Watchers, che ha un gruppo online di persone a dieta, con applicazioni o siti dedicati (come ad esempio Weight2Rock, indirizzato a bimbi sovrappeso che possono incontrare i dietologi in chat room) e poi incontri virtuali per scambiare esperienze.

Ma certamente Facebook è un’arma a doppio taglio. “ Tutte le principali marche di prodotti dolciari hanno la relativa pagina Facebook – fanno notare gli esperti – e se il ragazzino metterà “Like” avrà in continuazione informazioni e novità su quel prodotti, sarà insomma continuamente stimolato a consumarlo”. Il solo brand della Coca-cola ha 60 milioni di “Mi piace”, seguito a ruota dai biscotti Oreos, dalla Red Bull, dalle patatine Pringles.

Le grandi aziende postano video su youtube che diventano facilmente virali. “ Per un adolescente un messaggio che arriva da un amico è molto più potente di un messaggio che arriva da un genitore o da un insegnante. È dunque ancora più importante combattere queste nuove forme di pubblicità, particolarmente subdole, sullo stesso terreno”. Senza dimenticare tuttavia, che l’obiettivo finale è sottrarre i ragazzi alla sedentarietà inevitabilmente collegata all’uso di internet.

(life.wired.it)

“Part of the value of civil society is holding power to account, and if this can be underpinned by good quality data, we will have a very powerful tool indeed”, said Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society.

“The UK is absolutely at the vanguard of the global open data movement, and NGOs have a great sense that this is something they want to play a part in.

“There is potential to help them do more of what they do, and to do it better, but they’re going to need a lot of help in terms of information and access to events where they can exchange ideas and best practice.”

Third sector has for too long been misread as third place when it comes to nonprofits. Data has been widely touted as the future of the public and private sectors but when it comes to the adoption of big data initiatives, it is difficult to find a sector more ripe for revolution.

The opportunities offered by wider use of data in the third sector are many, from allowing individual organisations to provide donors and funding bodies with more tangible evidence of their successes, to opening up previously inaccessible datasets that could revolutionise their operations.

Peter Wanless, CEO of the Big Lottery Fund (BLF), which distributes lottery money to community-run projects, has already seen how better use of data and increased openness can streamline the funding award process, allowing deserving charities to get the money they need as quickly as possible.

“We are a massively oversubscribed fund, we are operating in a much tighter funding environment, so evidence is absolutely essential if the BLF is to move beyond random acts of kindness and to convince ourselves – and others – that we’re learning from what went before”, said Wanless.

The BLF has at any time 20,000 awards under consideration, but the traditional funder-fundee model has weaknesses that open data could be used to combat.

“There is a conspiracy of honesty: the organisations which apply to the BLF and get the money are desperate to show they’re successful, because they worry that if they’re not successful we’ll withdraw the grant”, said Wanless.

“This has led to a shift towards sharing a sense of success rather than being able to open up, celebrate and understand failure, and acknowledge that as an important part of the learning process.”

Solving the fear of failure problem is one of the main arguments for adopting an open data policy in any sector or industry, and the ‘fail fast’ approach has been used by big data businesses for decades.

The competitive marketplace and bilateral nature of funding awards make this issue perhaps even more significant in the charity sector, and it is in changing attitudes and encouraging this warts-and-all approach that movement leadership bodies such as the Open Data Institute (ODI) will play their biggest role.

“We’re in a new era of open data where we need permission to fail, we need to try to open up the whole conversation to allow everybody to see what we’re doing, to learn from our mistakes,” said Gavin Starks, CEO of the ODI.

An altogether different opportunity offered by open data is the ability for charities to use data directly to improve the service they provide.

“We use data to capture the complexity of how we deliver palliative care and to improve this process,” said Ian Carey, CEO of Barnsley Hospice.

“We can demonstrate as an organisation that we’re providing an important service to the people of Barnsley. Are we achieving our mission? Are we delivering a good and dignified death? We can use data to answer those questions.

“But we also want to know how we compare to others and this is where we’re really keen for other hospices to publish some of their data, so we’ve got a bit more of a benchmark. For all we know, we could be rubbish in Barnsley, because it’s very difficult to compare ourselves with other hospices that don’t publish their data”, said Carey.

Joining the ODI in driving and overseeing wider adoption of these practices is the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN). One of its first projects was a partnership with an organisation called Publish What You Fund, the aim of which was to release data on the breakdown of funding to sectors and departments in Uganda according to source – government or aid.

Without knowing such relatively basic information, charities distributing foreign aid to Uganda could have been blindly providing money for an already well-funded industry, or unknowingly overlooking a sector in desperate need of additional cash.

“We found huge disparities: more than half of spending on government projects in Uganda was coming from non-government sources”, said Rufus Pollock, co-founder and director of OKFN.

“Disaster management was [funded] entirely by donors, but health was much more mixed. This was something the government of Uganda didn’t even have. Publish What You Fund took this to them and they actually discovered spending they didn’t know about.

Open data can often take the form of complex databases that need to be interrogated by a data specialist, and many charities simply do not have these technical resources sitting untapped. OKFN is foremost among a number of organisations looking to bridge this gap by training members of the public in data mining and analysis techniques.

“We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘knowledge is power’, and in this case knowledge means insight gained from this newly available data. But data doesn’t turn into insight or knowledge magically. It takes people, it takes skills, it takes tools to become knowledge, data and change.

“We set up the School of Data in partnership with Peer 2 Peer University just over a year and a half ago with the aim of enabling citizens to carry out this process, and what we really want to do is empower charities to use data in the same way”, said Pollock.

(www.guardian.co.uk/)

Non ci sono però esclusivamente cattive notizie. Per prima cosa infatti, sebbene nello scorso anno si sia registrata una riduzione della ricchezza delle famiglie italiane, queste ultime non hanno visto un peggioramento della loro situazione. In secondo luogo a partire da gennaio numerosi investitori stranieri hanno indirizzato i propri capitali verso i nostri titoli di stato con conseguente alleggerimento della tensione sul debito pubblico. Inoltre la Banca D’Italia ha evidenziato “segnali positivi dai progressi conseguiti nel campo della finanza pubblica” e il miglioramento del saldo della bilancia dei pagamenti.

Un ulteriore aspetto sul quale porre particolare rilevanza riguarda l’insediamento del nuovo governo Letta. Secondo il neopremier il risanamento da solo non basta più, e risulta più che mai necessario un grande piano pluriennale che abbia l’obbiettivo di indurre una vera e propria crescita del nostro paese: “Per rilanciare il futuro industriale dell’Italia, bisogna scommettere sullo spirito imprenditoriale, innovare e investire in ricerca e sviluppo” ha dichiarato Letta. Il punto centrale del progetto è costituito dall’high-tech applicato in ambiti di sviluppo come ad esempio “l’agenda digitale, lo sviluppo verde, le nanotecnologie, l’aerospaziale, e il biomedicale”. Per riuscire a finanziare questo costoso piano il governo ha previsto l’introduzione dei project bond, subito apprezzati a Bruxelles. Si tratta di obbligazioni di medio-lungo periodo correlate alla realizzazione di un progetto e il cui piano di rimborso dipende dai flussi che il progetto riesce a garantire.
L’introduzione dei project bond accompagnati dalla riduzione dell’eccesiva burocrazia e l’allineamento dei prezzi energetici per le aziende con quelli dei competitor europei (le imprese italiane infatti pagano l’elettricità il 30% in più di quelle tedesche) possono rappresentare i importanti passi verso il desiderato sviluppo. Forse, così l’Italia anziché rallentare l’UE potrà diventare un modello da imitare.

(www.bitmat.it)

Through Open Data for Africa, users can access a wide range of development data on Africa in AfDB’s Data Portals as well as from other regional and international partners. The platform also facilitates the collection, analysis, and sharing of data on emerging and crucial development topics such as food security, gender equality, and climate change. The platform offers a unique opportunity for AfDB staff, policymakers, analysts, researchers, business leaders, and investors around the world to gain access to reliable and timely data on Africa. Users can visualize socioeconomic indicators over a period of time, utilize presentation-ready graphics or create their own, perform comprehensive analysis at country and regional levels, blog, and share their views and work with others, thereby creating an informed community of users.

(opendataforafrica.com)

Il D.L 179/2012, convertito in Legge 221/2012, ha poi toccato nuovamente tali aspetti, apportando ulteriori modifiche sia al Codice dell’Amministrazione Digitale che alla citata legge 4/2004.

Con la recente Circolare 61/2013 l’Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale, sulla base delle modifiche di cui al D.L. 179/2012, ha ora dettato indicazioni precise in tema di accessibilità, ribadendo in maniera puntuale l’importanza dei principi enunciati dalla legge Stanca n.4/2004, con l’obiettivo di rendere più chiari gli obblighi delle Pubbliche Amministrazioni in tema di accessibilità anche rispetto agli utenti disabili.

In base alle nuove disposizioni contenute nella Circolare, l’Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale diventa l’organismo di vigilanza e controllo a cui gli interessati che rilevano nei siti web di enti pubblici delle inadeguatezze rispetto ai requisiti di accessibilità stabiliti dalla legge possono rivolgersi per le opportune segnalazioni. Qualora poi l’Agenzia ritenga che le segnalazioni abbiano un fondamento, richiederà al soggetto erogatore l’adeguamento dei servizi alle disposizioni in tema di accessibilità, assegnando al soggetto medesimo un termine, non superiore ai 90 giorni, per adempiere.

Il concetto di accessibilità riguarda tutti quegli aspetti che permettono l’utilizzo di un sito web, coinvolge software e hardware utilizzati, architettura di rete, locazione geografica e qualità delle informazioni pubblicate, ma soprattutto per i siti web della PA è la garanzia di accesso alle informazioni per tutti gli utenti, anche quelli interessati da disabilità fisiche o cognitive, come pattuito dalla Legge Stanca (n.4/2004) all’art.1, c. 2 e ribadito dalla nuova Circolare, che introduce anche sanzioni per l’inosservanza dei relativi obblighi. A questi aspetti se ne aggiunge anche uno strettamente culturale. Per superare le barriere digitali che impediscono l’accesso ai soggetti diversamente abili, bisogna considerare il sito web istituzionale come l’unico canale di comunicazione pubblica e, proprio per questo motivo, il sito deve essere concepito come accessibile a tutti i cittadini fin dalla sua progettazione.

La Circolare in oggetto ha innanzitutto specificato che con la modifica all’art. 3 della Legge 4/2004 prevista dal D.L. 179/2012, i soggetti erogatori dei servizi ai cittadini che sono obbligati a rispettare le norme della legge 4/2004 sono, oltre alle PPAA di cui al D.Lgs. 165/01 ed ai soggetti diversi dalle PPAA, ma che erogano servizi pubblici o di pubblico interesse, anche i soggetti che usufruiscono di contributi pubblici o agevolazioni per l’erogazione dei propri servizi tramite sistemi informativi o internet.

Guardando al CAD, l’art. 12 relativo alla riorganizzazione dell’attività della PA attraverso gli strumenti ICT che devono essere utilizzati per renderla efficace, efficiente ed economica così da garantire il principio di imparzialità, trasparenza e partecipazione per il cittadino, stabilisce, con le modifiche del D.L. 179/12, che tali principi debbano essere realizzati nel rispetto del principio di uguaglianza e di non discriminazione.

Un elemento spesso trascurato dalle PPAA, riguarda poi quanto stabilito dall’art. 57 del CAD sulla pubblicazione per via telematica di moduli e formulari validi ad ogni effetto di legge, la cosiddetta pubblicità legale, nonché l’elenco della documentazione richiesta per i singoli procedimenti. Il successivo art. 9, c. 6, lett. e), del decreto legge 179/2012 riprende il concetto e aggiunge un chiarimento in più, sottolineando l’importanza e la necessità di pubblicare online nel rispetto dei requisiti tecnici di accessibilità secondo quanto stabilito dall’art. 11 della Legge Stanca (Legge del 9 Gennaio 2004, n. 4).

La summenzionata Circolare chiarisce il concetto e riprendendo l’obbligo generico del CAD, precisando che “i moduli, i formulari, ma anche gli atti e i provvedimenti amministrativi oggetto di pubblicità legale, devono essere fruibili anche da persone con disabilità. Non è ammessa, pertanto la pubblicazione di documenti-immagine, vale a dire scansioni digitali di documenti cartacei senza che si sia provveduto ad opportuna digitalizzazione del testo ivi contenuto”.

Per la prima volta dal 2004 il concetto di accessibilità viene quindi esteso, in maniera esplicita, non solo alle informazioni pubblicate sul sito ma soprattutto ai contenuti dei documenti resi disponibili on line. Rendere il web accessibile a utenti con differenti gradi di accessibilità significa utilizzare l’HTML nel modo in cui è stato concepito: codificare il significato, non l’impaginazione, definire il contenuto logico e non l’aspetto finale del documento, questo permette di scegliere browser alternativi che offrono la possibilità al documento ipertestuale di essere comunque disponibile, attraverso applicativi specifici, a diverse fasce di utenti e di conseguenza facilitare l’accesso ad esso degli utenti disabili.

La Circolare sottolinea inoltre l’obbligo di pubblicazione sul sito web della PA degli obiettivi annuali di accessibilità, da mettere in opera entro il 31 Marzo di ogni anno, così come stabilito dall’art. 9, c. 7 del decreto legge 18 ottobre 2012, n. 179. Data la mancata definizione dei contenuti da pubblicare, l’Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale ha predisposto due moduli in allegato per supportare le PPAA nell’autovalutazione sullo stato di attuazione degli obiettivi di accessibilità (allegato A) e un format che le PPAA possono utilizzare per la pubblicazione degli obiettivi annuali.

Altro obbligo esplicitato da questa Circolare è la pubblicazione del “piano del telelavoro” previsto sempre dall’art. 9 del Decreto Crescita 2.0, in cui bisogna indicare sia le modalità di realizzazione del telelavoro, sia le eventuali attività per cui non è possibile l’utilizzo del telelavoro. La Circolare specifica inoltre che la mancata pubblicazione di tale piano è rilevante ai fini della valutazione delle performance individuali dei dirigenti responsabili.

L’obiettivo di questa Circolare non è quindi semplicemente quello di fornire ulteriori indicazioni in tema di accessibilità e siti web istituzionali, ma soprattutto fornire alle PPAA gli strumenti di adeguamento ad essi, nella prospettiva di attuare quell’inclusione digitale che è alla base delle previsioni su smart cities e smart communities.

(saperi.forumpa.it)

When she and her colleagues studied the data, she found that people making calls or sending text messages originating at the Kericho tower were making 16 times more trips away from the area than the regional average. What’s more, they were three times more likely to visit a region northeast of Lake Victoria that records from the health ministry identified as a malaria hot spot. The tower’s signal radius thus covered a significant waypoint for transmission of malaria, which can jump from human to human via mosquitoes. Satellite images revealed the likely culprit: a busy tea plantation that was probably full of migrant workers. The implication was clear, Buckee says. “There will be a ton of infected [people] there.”

Read more…

Dico subito che l’ipotesi personalmente non mi appassiona. Nella storia dei 61 governi italiani dal 1948, in solo quattro governi c’è stato un ministro dell’Innovazione (Lucio Stanca nei Governi Berlusconi II e III con delega specifica; Luigi Nicolais nel Governo Prodi II e Renato Brunetta nel Governo Berlusconi IV con delega congiunta alla funzione pubblica). Non c’era invece nell’ultimo governo Monti in cui la responsabilità dell’Agenda digitale è stata spezzata addirittura su sei figure, anche se poi le politiche le hanno fatte soprattutto Profumo e Passera. Tra i 27 Paesi dell’Unione europea 11 Paesi hanno un ministro con una delega specifica per l’innovazione o la Società dell’Informazione, in generale insieme a deleghe per la ricerca o la scienza o le attività produttive. Negli altri paesi l’innovazione tecnologica è trasversale ai vari dicasteri.

Leggi l’intero articolo…

The result is a book full of fresh thinking, tightly researched examples and creative twists that are bound to get the digerati buzzing and cause regular people to reflect deeply about our future.

The book takes an old idea — that there are both digital and physical worlds — and extends it, arguing that today nothing less than two civilizations have arrived. One developed over thousands of years and the other is in its infancy. One is a world of old cultures, nation states, governments, institutions, power structures and laws. The other is a dynamic, ungoverned, even anarchistic world where boundaries are porous, rules unclear and where power is resilient and distributed. While these two co-exist, each restraining the negative aspects of the other, they increasingly come into conflict.

Leggi l’intero articolo…

SITA UK, che è la divisione britannica del colosso francese Suez, si è aggiudicata l’appalto con il sostegno di Lloyds Banking Group e dei giapponesi della ITOCHU Corporation, a seguito del ritiro di un consorzio formato da E.ON Energia e da Tata Chemicals Rifiuti.

Il contratto copre tutti gli aspetti del trattamento compresa qualsiasi attività di trasporto necessario, il funzionamento delle stazioni di trasferimento nonchè la produzione di energia e di combustibile da rifiuti per i quartieri di West London, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow e Richmond-upon-Thames. Si tratterà di gestire fino a 300.000 tonnellate di rifiuti domestici all’anno.

SITA UK assumerà la gestione di due stazioni ferroviarie di trasferimento dei rifiuti , attraverso le quali i rifiuti raccolti da più di 1,4 milioni di residenti saranno trasportati su rotaia verso una nuova centrale di recupero di energia dai rifiuti (EFW), l’ impianto di Severnside, nel Sud Gloucestershire. Questo impianto produrrà energia elettrica sufficiente per alimentare l’equivalente di 50.000 abitazioni e potrebbe anche fornire acqua calda per le imprese locali.

Secondo SITA UK, l’operazione consente di risparmiare più di 83.000 tonnellate di CO2 ogni anno rispetto all’attuale trattamento dei rifiuti in corso nella zona, aggiungendo fino a più di due milioni di tonnellate con il periodo di durata del contratto. Il nuovo impianto avrà un costo di oltre 240.000.000 Sterline (circa 208 milioni di Euro), impiegando 53 posti di lavoro permanenti e circa 200 posti di lavoro creati durante la sua costruzione.

David Palmer-Jones, amministratore delegato di SITA UK, ha dichiarato in un comunicato stampa: “Siamo lieti di aver ricevuto questo importante incarico per la gestione dei rifiuti nella zona ovest di Londra. È una grande notizia per i sei distretti e dei loro residenti, sapendo che i loro materiali di scarto saranno utilizzati per la produzione di energia evitando di essere conferiti in discarica e siamo ansiosi di lavorare con la West London Authority dei rifiuti. I contratti di questo tipo rendono l’economia circolare una realtà e dimostrano che le soluzioni eco-sostenibili sposano perfettamente il senso degli affari, come il recupero di energia – e l’occupazione – da materiali che sono troppo spesso trattati come semplici rifiuti”.

Bassam Mahfouz (Nella foto), Presidente dell’Authority, ha detto che per troppo tempo hanno «avuto a ovest di Londra il conferimento dei rifiuti indifferenziati nelle discariche». Questo nuovo contratto significa che «praticamente più nulla viene inviato in discarica e che «andrà di pari passo con le politiche di riciclo, che in quest’area raggiungono già percentuali tra le più alti di Londra».

(www.greenreport.it)

“They just told me I don’t qualify. My income was too little,” said Ms Achieng, who was asking for about $250 — about half her monthly turnover — to expand her fruit and vegetable stall in Nairobi.

But early last month, she applied for the same amount through a different source — and got the money in a matter of minutes. She credits the Kenyan mobile telephone money application called M-Shwari.

It expands on Kenya’s revolutionary use of sending money by cellphone — known as M-Pesa, “mobile money” in Swahili — launched in 2007 and now widely used across the country, where about 70% of people have cellphones.

With a minimum transfer of cash set at five shillings — about five US cents — the application revolutionised day-to-day banking for millions who have been left out of the formal system. It is used for transactions ranging from money transfers to paying utility bills and school fees.

Now it is hoped that the new M-Shwari application — meaning “no hassle” — can do the same for savers and borrowers.

“We have always been thinking of how to move M-Pesa forward. We knew there was a boundary to be broken and the next frontier was to be reached,” said Nzioka Muita, communications manager at Safaricom, which owns both the M-Pesa and M-Shwari systems.

On this platform, Safaricom says clients can open a bank account, move money in and out of their savings accounts, and access instant microcredit of a minimum of 100 Kenyan shillings — slightly more than a dollar — at any time, all through the cellphone application.

While loans must be repaid within a month, a single fee of 7.5% is charged, a far lower interest rate than high-street banks. Maximum loans depend on how much clients have in their M-Shwari accounts.

The mobile banking application has been so successful that on its first day of operations late last year, more than 70,000 new accounts were opened.

“Up to this point in time, no one in the formal banking sector had thought of implementing such an idea,” said Tiberius Barasa, an economic expert with Kenya’s Institute of Policy Research and Analysis.

“I am sure that a few bank managers are looking at M-Shwari steadily to see if it is a potential threat to their business,” he says.

At least 12-million Kenyans remain outside the formal banking system, according to the central bank.

Safaricom controls about 70% of the Kenya cellphone market, translating to about 19-million subscribers. Of those, about 15-million are already M-Pesa users, a customer base rivalling any banking institution. On its own, M-Pesa transactions account for more than $50m every day in Kenya.

M-Shwari was launched in partnership with one of Kenya’s privately owned banks, Commercial Bank of Africa, a deal that could see it boost its slice of the banking sector in Kenya. The family of newly elected President Uhuru Kenyatta holds the majority stake in the bank, which provides the banking infrastructure for M-Shwari.

Currently, even with its slightly more than $1bn asset base, it is still some distance away from East Africa’s largest banks, such as Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank.

(www.bdlive.co.za/africa)

Questo il risultato record messo a segno dalla Finanziaria Laziale Sviluppo (Filas), che a pochi mesi dalla pubblicazione del bando Open Data POR FESR 2007-2013 della Regione Lazio per le Pubbliche Amministrazioni Locali (PAL) ha utilizzato interamente le risorse stanziate a ottobre 2012. Si tratta del più importante intervento finora realizzato in Italia in favore dell’introduzione della filosofia “open” negli enti locali di una regione.

Su 170 progetti presentati dalle amministrazioni locali (al bando hanno partecipato circa il 60% dei Comuni del Lazio), 45 sono risultati finanziabili con le risorse ad oggi disponibili. Di questi, 18 nella provincia di Frosinone, 13 in quella di Roma, 8 a Latina, 5 a Viterbo e 1 a Rieti. Attraverso il bando Open Data PAL, i Comuni hanno intrapreso la strada verso un modello di open government basato su trasparenza, libero accesso ai dati pubblici e sulla forte interazione con cittadini e imprese. Un modello, quello dell’open government, che sta crescendo in maniera esponenziale in Italia e in particolare nel Lazio, che rappresenta allo stesso tempo un acceleratore economico sia per il territorio che per le imprese. Le recenti stime della Commissione Europea quantificano in 140 mld di euro l’anno il volume d’affari in Europa sul riutilizzo dell’informazione pubblica.

Monitoraggio dell’ambiente e dei consumi energetici attraverso app e piattaforme dedicate, turismo e infomobilità, ma anche gestione del bilancio comunale in modalità partecipativa, catalogazione del patrimonio immobiliare e delle aree industriali dismesse. Questi i principali ambiti di applicazione delle proposte (app, servizi e dataset open) ammesse a finanziamento che renderanno gli enti locali del Lazio più ‘open’. Si va dalla pubblicazione di open dataset standard in diversi settori (trasporto pubblico e infomobilità, gestione dei rifiuti, istruzione scolastica, beni culturali ecc.) alle 25 app per smartphone, senza contare altre tecnologie, come il social network per i cittadini del Comune di Amaseno o l’Albo Pretorio comunale online di Boville Ernica che cataloga bandi e delibere.

Tra i progetti green c’è quello del Comune Gaeta per la Bandiera blu: una piattaforma web che fornisce a cittadini e turisti informazioni sulla qualità delle acque e di gestione dell’ambiente e allo stesso tempo si integra con i social network, un canale video e applicazioni mobile. All’insegna della sostenibilità anche il progetto della Comunità Montana dei Cimini, con dataset che aiuteranno a razionalizzare e semplificare l’organizzazione dei dati relativi alle analisi delle acque fornite dalle ASL ai comuni della zona.

(www.italianinnovation.it)

While this may sound like a doom and gloom scenario, this Earth Day I want to focus on an area of promise: the increasing availability of affordable technologies that have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases and increase productivity in agriculture. I am referring here not to agricultural technologies—although those certainly play a role—but rather to information and communications technologies, like the mobile phone, video, and even radio. If you are wondering how a mobile phone, a video camera, and a radio might relate at all to climate change, allow me to explain.

For starters, so-called “climate-smart” methods of agriculture, such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry, and others already exist. The challenge is that not all farmers know about them, there is no single prescription, and traditional practices can often die hard, particularly when you are working with very small margins and taking risks could spell utter ruin for yourself and your family. So how do ICTs change this? In short, they make it easier to share locally relevant information on improved techniques and to provide time-specific information and recommendations (such as weather forecasts, and when to do what).

As mobile phone penetration rates continue to grow at a rapid rate throughout the globe, farmers now have access to a growing number of agricultural information services both through SMS and voice. In some cases, these services charge farmers a fee for access to agricultural content and advice, while others provide it for free through donor subsidies, or by selling advertising and providing other services, like user surveys. Many are accessed directly by the farmer, although others rely on a trusted community intermediary with access to the device.

In addition to mobile phone services, a growing number of agricultural organizations and agribusinesses have been using low-cost video equipment to create locally made extension videos to share the stories of farmers who have made the change to more sustainable practices with their peers in other communities. And not to be outdone, by coupling mobile phone access with radio access, interactive radio programs are being developed that are completely transforming rural radio from a one-way disseminator of information to a two-way exchange of sharing and learning.

Certainly not all services are created equally, and the depth of research on impact is still fairly shallow, but what the research to date has shown has been promising. This is particularly the case when we look at the rate of adoption of new practices. To be sure, not all of the agricultural content providers are promoting environmentally sustainable farming methods. The fact though that these technologies are leading to changes in agricultural practice over control groups without access to these services is telling. Here’s a selection of some of what we do know: research by the Grameen Foundation on its Community Knowledge Worker program in Uganda, which shares agricultural content via mobile phone, found a significant and positive impact in the use of organic manure within communities with access to this program; while research by Farm Radio International found that having a radio station call out to farmers can increase adoption rates by up to 14%; and a pilot study on the impact of low-cost video on agricultural practices in India by Digital Green found video to be up to ten times more cost effective on a cost per adoption basis than traditional extension methods alone (although more recent analysis by Digital Green is showing slightly lower, but still significant impact).

Of course, the potential impact of ICT on its own is not enough to overcome the very real climate and food security challenges that the world faces over the next several decades. It is important to remember that while the technologies can be used to support the transition to more sustainable agricultural practices, they still require someone to create high quality and relevant content, and someone to pay for the dissemination of that information. Compared to the state of agricultural extension in much of the world prior to the ready availability of these technologies however, there is cause for optimism that just as technology has enabled the rapid spread of entertainment like Angry Birds and Gangnam Style, it may also facilitate a faster transition to environmentally friendlier forms of agriculture in the parts of the world that need them most. And while that alone won’t solve the problem, it is certainly a helpful start.

(www.e-agriculture.org)

The portal provides a library of the agency’s on-going and completed projects nationwide. It also details their fund allocations and cumulative disbursements, completion period, percentage of accomplishment and other relevant data, including regularly updated photos, which were provided by the attached agencies, corporations and regional field units of the Department of Agriculture.

In addition, as part of its efforts to enhance the portal, the agency has also started mapping the projects through GPS.

Mapped projects include farm to market roads, irrigation, post-harvest facilities, production support facilities, market related infrastructure, post-harvest equipment and machines as well as other major projects nationwide.

Furthermore, users are encouraged to post their comments on the projects so as to help the agency improve its project management activities.

(www.futuregov.asia)

Un milione le persone che saranno raggiunte da questo progetto, che consentirà di creare almeno un migliaio di posti di lavoro in tutta la Gran Bretagna nel 2015 e ridurre in maniera consistente le emissioni di CO2 grazie all’introduzione di tecnologie pulite. È quanto emerge nel primo Responsibility Report pubblicato dall’azienda (joint venture tra Orange UK e T-Mobile UK), che ricordiamo essere l’unico operatore 4G nel Paese, in cui si annuncia l’obiettivo di conquistare il titolo di “most trusted communications company” nel Regno Unito.

Già entro la fine del 2013 saranno assunti 300 nuovi comunicatori, che EE formerà e spedirà in tutta l’isola per spiegare agli abitanti in che modo la tecnologia di internet e i servizi in mobilità possono cambiare in meglio la vita di tutti i giorni, non solo per i più giovani, ma soprattutto per le fasce di popolazione più anziane e che vivono in aree rurali. Un’assunzione di responsabilità civile e sociale mirata a ridurre al minimo il digital divide e a sviluppare politiche ambientali efficaci.
“Ci sono ancora 16 milioni di cittadini britannici che vivono in aree digital divide, che hanno scarse o nulle conoscenze tecnologiche ed informatiche – ha affermato Olaf Swantee, CEO di EE – il nostro compito è ridurre tale gap con il resto della popolazione e alfabetizzare al digitale almeno 1 milione di cittadini entro il 2015”.

Un obiettivo condiviso dalla piattaforma Go On UK, programma di innovazione sociale e di sviluppo economico firmato da grandi brand del settore Tlc, ICT, Energy e financing, di cui fa parte anche EE, per la lotta al divario digitale, all’analfabetismo digitale ed informatico e alla povertà, facendo leva sull’innovazione tecnologica e sulle opportunità di crescita e di lavoro che essa offre ad aziende e popolazione.

Altro importante obiettivo annunciato è il maggiore impegno per la sostenibilità ambientale e la riduzione dei consumi energetici. Entro il 2015 EE ha dichiarato di voler tagliare del 50% le emisisoni di CO2 dovute alle infrastrutture 4G, iniziando con un abbattimento dei consumi pari a 150 mila Mwh e dei gas nocivi per 80 mila tonnellate. Per fare questo si deve investire di più in green technology e in materiale riciclati. Già nel 2012, l’azienda ha dichiarato una riduzione dei consumi energetici pari all’8% e delle emissioni di CO2 di oltre il 5%.

(www.key4biz.it)

Under the agreement, KOICA will construct an ICT innovation centre in Kicukiro, Kigali. The centre will be a major step in the Information Technology front in the entire East African Region, according to officials.

The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Rosemary Mbabazi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and ICT, and Sang Chul Kim, the resident representative of KOICA.

The centre, which will be constructed late next year over a period of 24 months and will cost $5.6 million, will be under Rwanda Development Board’s IT department.

Speaking at the ceremony Kim said, “This agreement is another significant step for the friendship between Rwanda and South Korea. This is the 50th year of our friendship. So we had to move it a step further by starting this important journey as well as helping Rwanda move further towards its Vision 2020.”

KOICA affirmed to continue its support of the ICT development in the country with a plan to put up other IT centres around the country to help rural youth access information.

“This signed document represents another milestone for ICT in our country,” Mbabazi said.

Upon completion, the centre which is targeting 78 per cent per cent youth will be a major leap for the ICT industry.

“It will also help in job creation and give more exposure for the youth in the country. Not only will it be good for the urban youth which is our main target but also for the rural youth,” Mbabazi asserted.

The ceremony was a culmination of a six months survey by a Basic Design Survey Team (BDST) that consisted of members from KOICA and officials from RDB who took a Kigali-wide research to determine the essential tools and strategies which were necessary for the commencement of construction of the centre.

(allafrica.com)

Fifteen (15) African Governments – Kenya, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, South Sudan and Sudan have signed the Charter establishing the AVU as an Intergovernmental Organization.

The AVU has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and a Regional office in Dakar Senegal. The AVU has Host Country Agreements with the governments of Kenya and Senegal and the AVU has diplomatic status in these countries.

The AVU has developed significant experience in the following areas since 1997:

• Delivering programs though information and communication Technologies (Degree Programs, Certificate and Diploma Programs)
• Building and managing large consortia of African Educational Institutions
• Designing and implementing Multinational eLearning Projects
• Developing African-based residential and eLearning materials for Partner Institutions
• Establishment of state of art e-learning centers in Partner Institutions
• Training of Partner Institutions staff in eLearning methodologies
• Developing and implementing Open Education Resources (OER) strategy
• Managing a digital Library

The AVU has established ten (10) ODeL Centres, one at each of the 10 selected institutions.

Read more…

A cosa serve Giant
Giant, anzi la sua versione ridotta da 70 centimetri di diametro e soprannominata da chi ci ha lavorato Mini Giant, serve a ricavare energia potenziale dalle onde per trasformarla in energia elettrica. “ Siamo partiti due anni fa, nel corso di uno studio commissionato dal Comune di Venezia sulle possibilità di sfruttamento pulito del moto ondoso, da due brevetti italiani che ci hanno molto colpito – spiega a Wired.it Alessandra Vivona, direttrice di Agire – questo, inventato da Manlio Boito, e un altro di dimensioni maggiori, Wem, al momento sospeso. Ci siamo resi conto che il panorama estero era pieno di esperimenti, alcuni molto interessanti ma costosi, lasciati cadere dopo qualche tempo. Mentre le invenzioni che abbiamo scelto ci sembravano sufficientemente semplici e adattabili all’ecosistema lagunare”.

Come è fatta e come funziona la boa
La superboa intelligente Giant si compone in sostanza di un galleggiante fluttuante parallelepipedo ancorato alla banchina attraverso una gabbia a cubo. “ Un braccio che – spiega Vivona, che anticipa i risultati che presenterà, martedì 16 aprile, in un incontro all’Hilton Molino Stucky alla Giudecca – contrariamente a quanto era successo negli stadi precedenti del prototipo, consente il movimento solo dall’alto verso il basso e viceversa, per disperdere meno energia possibile. La cosa essenziale è che l’onda viene sfruttata a 360 gradi: il galleggiante lavora sia quando è sulla cresta che al cosiddetto punto zero. L’energia è poi immagazzinata da un generatore elettromeccanico incorporato all’interno della struttura, ma fuori dall’acqua, e nelle batterie di riserva”.

Le fasi della sperimentazione
“ Il primo prototipo è stato messo in acqua nell’agosto del 2011 – continua Alessandra Vivona – ed è stato progressivamente migliorato e implementato, in particolare dopo un anno. L’ultimo, quello che ha vinto il premio, è stato perfezionato appena lo scorso marzo. In parallelo alla sperimentazione abbiamo anche realizzato una mappa che indica i canali nei quali sarebbe più indicato installare le boe in base al traffico dei natanti. È chiaro che dove c’è più andirivieni il moto ondoso lagunare è maggiore così come più elevata sarebbe la produzione di energia pulita”.

Le applicazioni future
Gli sviluppi sembrano dietro l’angolo: “ A parte che, anche grazie alla nostra lunga sperimentazione, Giant sta per entrare in produzione e quindi si trasformerà da prototipo in oggetto industriale – conclude la direttrice di Agire – ci piacerebbe che il Comune scegliesse di supportarne la progressiva installazione nei punti più indicati della Laguna. Per alimentare, almeno inizialmente, tutta una serie di impianti da scorporare così dalla rete principale: penso all’illuminazione per gli attracchi dei vaporetti, le briccole, i pontili dei gondolieri ma anche l’alimentazione degli hot spot per il wi-fi o punti di ricarica diffusi per gadget elettronici. Tanto più sarà capillare ed efficiente la rete Giant tanto maggiori saranno le varietà di applicazione, i benefici per la città e il risparmio energetico”.

(life.wired.it)

In 2012 India was polio-free for the first time in its history. This was achieved because of the Pulse Polio Programme started in 1995-96 by the government of India.  The differences in urban-rural health indicators are a harsh reality even today. 42% of India’s children below the age of three are malnourished, which is greater than the statistics of sub-Saharan African region of 28%. Diseases such as dengue fever, hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria and pneumonia continue to plague India due to increased resistance to drugs. In 2011, India developed a totally drug-resistant form of tuberculosis. India is ranked 3rd highest among countries with a high rate of HIV-infected persons.

Indians are also at particularly high risk for atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. This may be attributed to a genetic predisposition to metabolic syndrome and adverse changes in coronary artery vasodilation.

While the powers of healthcare IT to radically transform the health of a patient population are widely lauded, one thing that isn’t discussed as much are the areas where the technology could do the most good but doesn’t often reach to.

Tough, the inroads health IT can make in these populations, and provided some key insights on how health IT can benefit minority populations and how to reach them.

Are there big factors holding developers back? One of the problems in getting health IT to reach underserved populations is that there is a lack of developers working to create applications for those groups.  There’s no real personal connection to the populations that are the most underserved. The first big step to take is to connect with the underserved populations and to begin to understand the communities and their needs. People need to build those bridges so they can take the amazing things they’re doing that are so creative and make them useful to those who really need it. Partnering with local organizations can be a way to break the ice and get input on how best to reach people. We can work now with what we have and where we are and if we educate, there will be this great population who’s able to continue to do it moving in the future.

Concerns around cost. The cost of health IT is often seen as a factor that holds it back from underserved populations. Health problems such as obesity can be so damaging but can also be targeted by health technology; it is a smart investment to target underserved populations, as it can greatly improve the standard of health for all. If we design things that are for populations that often times have the worst disparities … but also produce some of the highest costs, then we have an opportunity to reduce costs in healthcare.

Go local first, and then scale up. Launching an initiative aimed at underserved populations can be a daunting task.  Many minority groups are simply not understood well enough to have an effective health technology partnership. Starting with a focus on a particular local group and partnering with a community is one way to create a lasting, scalable model for success. Even if a community group isn’t particularly tech- or healthcare-centric, they still are a valuable partner who understands the populace and can help communicate and engage with people. Once a local project begins to take off, those lessons can be scaled up.  You’re going to learn some basic principles in worthing with local organizations that you can apply on a national level.

Communicate. Collaborate. Because minorities are often misunderstood or underrepresented, developers are not often willing to jump in to uncharted territory. This is partly because “people aren’t always ready to ask the tough questions or hear the tough answers. For communities, you’re going to hear the tough answers.” What matters in launching a project designed to target health matters in underserved communities is an open and effective line of communication.  Taking the time to build relationships, and not jumping in and jumping out, I think are the key things. This all needs to be part of the communication process.

(ictpost.com)

Il premio, attribuito da una comitato scientifico di esperti di tecnologia del territorio, verrà ritirato mercoledì 17 aprile a Roma, in occasione della 14^ Conferenza Italiana Utenti ESRI. Un appuntamento nazionale tra i più attesi e importanti per tutti gli operatori pubblici e privati che si occupano di elaborare, gestire, analizzare e pubblicare dati geografici.

La realizzazione dell’App è stata curata interamente da tecnici interni all’Amministrazione Comunale che, con professionalità, hanno messo a punto un nuovo strumento di comunicazione e interazione con i cittadini. Si presenta come una nuova modalità di fruizione dei servizi che può aiutare i cittadini a completare compiti, trovare quello che stanno cercando e comprendere quello che hanno trovato.

L’App del Comune di Cinisello Balsamo, che si chiamerà “Città facile”, permetterà ad esempio di effettuare chiamate di emergenza, segnalare disservizi, e soprattutto di far risparmiare tempo ai cittadini che, senza recarsi sul posto, potranno conoscere il numero di utenti in coda per il servizio di interesse o i parcheggi liberi intorno allo stesso servizio.

Questo strumento rappresenta nel panorama della Pubblica Amministrazione una
innovazione tecnologica e un esempio di buona pratica, che pone Cinisello Balsamo tra i pochissimi comuni all’avanguardia.

“Città facile” verrà presentata alla cittadinanza e sarà scaricabile gratuitamente dal prossimo settembre 2013.

(www.innovatoripa.it)

(eprints.usq.edu.au)

The GoN has been operating an Aid Management Platform (AMP) since 2010 with admirable results. AMP Nepal currently has information on nearly 700 development projects (both on- and off-budget) representing over $US 6 billion in disbursements, including over $1 billion in fiscal year 2012 alone. GoN officials use AMP for internal reporting, district-level aid analysis, and an annual public Development Cooperation Report, among other things. In 2012, with the support of AusAID, AidData geocoded over half of the AMP project portfolio. All remaining AMP projects will be geocoded in 2013 under the USAID HESN award.

GoN staff are eager to put this new geo-coded aid data to work. The AidData team conducted a first-ever training on geocoding and the AMP GIS module for 17 Ministry of Finance staff. Attendees were exposed to geocoding projects and creating their own visualizations. Future trainings will include more hands-on practice, and will be expanded to include development partners and civil society.

On one occasion, a line ministry under-secretary commented that aid project maps would expose gaps in service delivery and issues with aid fragmentation, highlighting the acute needs that AidData hopes to address with data and visualization.

In a move intended to further leverage the impact of AMP and geospatial data, GoN will soon make AMP fully public via an online Ministry of Finance portal. The public AMP will allow any user to view AMP data, download reports, and use analytical tools (including the GIS mapping tool). With this portal, GoN hopes that more stakeholders – including local government officials, more development partners, civil society organizations, media, and even concerned citizens – will use AMP data to further the aid effectiveness agenda in Nepal. The public launch is slated for May 2013 (formal dates and venues will be announced shortly).

To ensure that development stakeholders in Nepal are eager and able to use the public AMP data, the AidData team also worked to build a strong network of local partners in Nepal, including universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, civil society organizations, and non-governmental organizations. We will continue to engage with this network through trainings and collaborative work to effectively leverage geocoded information to analyze and implement development projects in Nepal. Coupling strong government relationships with new stakeholder outreach efforts will ensure that aid data are used to improve development planning in Nepal for the long term.

In sum, the successful launch of HESN work in Nepal bodes well for AidData’s similar work in 15 countries over the next 5 years. Government, donors, and civil society are all eager for visualized information on aid activities. We are excited and confident that good development data, made public, will have significant impacts for the development community in Nepal and around the world.

(www.aiddata.org)

Tale condizione è più evidente nella maggior parte dei paesi in via di sviluppo che non riescono a garantire a vaste fasce di popolazione a basso reddito l’accesso a computer e internet. L’ultima conferma di questo divario giunge dalla dodicesima edizione del “Global Information Technology Report 2013”, presentato mercoledì scorso a Ginevra.

Lo studio, curato dal Forum economico mondiale (Wef) e dalla Business School Insead, analizza su scala internazionale, su di un campione di 144 stati, l’impatto delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione (Ict) sullo sviluppo economico, sulla competitività e sull’occupazione.

Per quanto riguarda i paesi in via di sviluppo, molti di questi, in particolare in Africa, ma anche in America latina e nel Sud-est asiatico, mostrano ancora valori bassi di connettività, un insufficiente livello di utilizzo di internet e una limitata crescita dell’e-commerce.

Mentre per i cosiddetti Brics (acronimo che comprende le iniziali dei principali paesi emergenti: Brasile, Russia, India, Cina e Sudafrica) la tendenza è di continuare nella rincorsa alle economie più forti. In questi paesi, lo sviluppo degli anni passati potrebbe essere a rischio a meno che non si realizzino investimenti per rafforzare la competenza e l’innovazione nel settore Ict. La Cina, in particolare, scivola di sei posti in classifica posizionandosi al 58esima posto, mentre Brasile, Russia, Sudafrica e India recuperano qualche posizione.

Il dossier stilato dal Wef e dall’Insead assegna all’Italia il 50esimo posto, preceduta da Panama e Puerto Rico. Un piazzamento poco soddisfacente, che dimostra come il nostro paese non sia ancora in grado di beneficiare dei vantaggi delle tecnologie digitali e dell’e-commerce.

Leggendo il rapporto, si evince che sono molti gli ambiti anche sociali della questione che pongono un interrogativo diventato oggetto di un ampio dibattito internazionale e nazionale: se e come le Ict offriranno significative opportunità al Sud del Mondo, o se e quanto dilateranno invece le distanze tra paesi ricchi e paesi poveri.

Storicamente, i primi che parlarono di digital divide furono Al Gore e Bill Clinton, quando, all’inizio degli anni novanta, intrapresero una politica di forte sviluppo e potenziamento dell’infrastruttura di internet negli Stati Uniti. All’epoca il concetto di “divario digitale” era riferito alla difficoltà di accesso a internet in determinate zone del paese.

Erano gli anni in cui la rete stava esplodendo come fenomeno di massa per poi diventare uno strumento insostituibile di lavoro e di business. Con il passare del tempo, la rivoluzione digitale iniziò a interessare tutto il mondo industrializzato e queste tematiche cominciarono ad essere sentite anche in altri paesi fino a raggiungere anche le aree economicamente meno sviluppate del globo.

Nella sostanza, il gap digitale nei paesi poveri esprime la difficoltà di alcune categorie sociali o di interi paesi, di usufruire di tecnologie che utilizzano una codifica dei dati di tipo digitale rispetto ad un altro tipo di codifica precedente, quella analogica. La definizione digital divide racchiude in sé complesse problematiche che coinvolgono in pieno la vita di una comunità toccandone gli aspetti economici, culturali e sociali.

L’accesso e l’utilizzo delle tecnologie digitali rappresenta nel nostro mondo un prerequisito per lo sviluppo economico e sociale e la modernizzazione dei sistemi di produzione. Per i paesi che non sono in grado di adattarsi al nuovo sistema tecnologico, i ritardi divengono sempre più incolmabili.

La Conferenza delle Nazioni Unite per il commercio e lo sviluppo (Unctad) nel suo annuale rapporto Information Economy, ribadisce a chiare lettere che gli accessi a internet aiutano ad abbattere il divario tra i paesi ricchi e poveri.

Lo studio dell’organismo delle Nazioni Unite mira a trovare i modi in cui la scienza e la tecnologia possono favorire una crescita economica a lungo termine. Per questo monitora anche la diffusione nei paesi in via di sviluppo dei telefonini, rilevando che l’84% della popolazione di questi paesi possiede un cellulare.

Per esempio, in Africa, dove la crescita del numero di abbonati e la diffusione dei cellulari è stata maggiore, questa tecnologia può migliorare la vita economica dell’intera popolazione. Dalle comunità rurali in Uganda ai piccoli venditori in Sudafrica, Senegal e Kenya, i cellulari aiutano i commercianti a ottenere prezzi migliori, sprecare meno merce e vendere i prodotti più velocemente.

I costi dei computer nel continente nero sono invece ancora alti e quindi, molto spesso, l’utilizzo della rete avviene in luoghi pubblici, per lo più negli internet cafè dove le persone acquistano a tempo la possibilità di navigare. Il numero di host (domini) in Africa è molto limitato, anche se in costante miglioramento.

Secondo i dati contenuti nello studio Internet ed Africa il numero di domini internet in tutto il continente è inferiore a quello della Svizzera. Per fare alcuni esempi, in Nigeria, paese più popoloso del continente, il numero di host è un terzo di quello del minuscolo Liechtenstein. Lo stesso vale anche per la Repubblica democratica del Congo e il Sudan. L’Etiopia, con una popolazione di 80 milioni, ha 164 host (un cinquantesimo della Repubblica di San Marino). In Somalia se ne rilevano 36, mentre l’Eritrea registra un lieve incremento dell’attività online.

Diffondere l’uso della rete significa permettere ai paesi meno sviluppati di uscire dall’isolamento in cui versano e allo stesso tempo favorire l’interscambio commerciale. Internet ha infinite potenzialità sotto questo specifico aspetto e non tenerne conto è stato fino ad oggi uno dei maggiori errori commessi da chi è delegato a pianificare lo sviluppo dei paesi più poveri.

Sono infatti ben note le difficoltà incontrate da artigiani e agricoltori dei paesi con basso indice di sviluppo a raggiungere i mercati globali. I costi di immagazzinamento, stoccaggio, spedizione sono proibitivi per le popolazioni povere, senza contare i danni arrecati allo sviluppo economico interno dalle barriere commerciali imposte dai paesi industrializzati.

Tuttavia attraverso l’e-commerce sarebbe possibile rimuovere molti dei costi e degli ostacoli associati ai sistemi di distribuzione tradizionali, contribuendo ad avvicinare produttori e consumatori.

(www.afrofocus.com)

Every five years, the US’s National Intelligence Council publishes its analysis of “Global Trends”. This time, the analysis looks forward to 2030 and highlights four “megatrends” all of which will probably feel quite intuitive to people living in Africa.

The first major trend is an increase in individual empowerment, stemming from declines in poverty, the growth of a global middle class and more widely available communications and other technologies. Second, power will become more diffuse across countries, as emerging markets grow rapidly and many rich countries age and grow sluggishly. Third, demographic changes will take place slowly but inexorably. The world population will continue to rise rapidly and reach 8.3 billion in 2030 mainly on account of increased life expectancy in developing countries despite declining fertility. While some countries will “shrink” (such as Germany) others, like Kenya, will experience significant youth bulges, and rapid urbanization. Finally, as populations grow and increased consumption levels strain existing resources, access to food, energy, and water will become ever more crucial.

So how will the global megatrends play out in the Kenyan context? The 2030 horizon also has a special meaning for Kenya’s economic development, not least because its own development strategy is anchored in Vision 2030, Kenya’s aspiration to become a vibrant middle-income economy in the next 17 years. In line with global trends, Kenya will have many more people who will live longer, choose to reside in urban areas and benefit from more and better education. If current trends continue, Kenya will have 63 million people, about the same as the UK today. The country’s workforce will almost double: from 21 million today to about 39 million while the number of dependents (children and elderly) will grow much more slowly. In other words: the “dependency ratio” (dependents divided by workforce) will decline dramatically.

With these big transitions come better economic opportunities, which Kenya has yet to leverage. In other parts of the world, a rising workforce and urbanization have been synonymous with significant and rapid productivity gains and poverty reduction. With more workers and customers, companies are able to produce at scale with lower costs. The East Asian miracle describes a process of rapid industrial expansion which Kenya has not yet experienced. Over the last decade, the share of manufacturing in Kenya’s GDP stayed constant at around 10 percent. In 2000, manufacturing was still the second largest sector in the economy (behind agriculture), but now it is fourth, overtaken by transport and communications as well as wholesale and retail trade. Yet, in other parts of the world manufacturing has proven to be the most effective way to offer jobs to bulging youth populations.

In the social sectors these mega transitions will be underpinned by more complex development issues, which will increase further with an urbanizing and aging population. In education, service provision will shift from quantity to quality. In the health sector, Kenya is experiencing a dual disease burden: communicable diseases, such as malaria, diarrhea and AIDS, are still weighing on the country’s health system, while non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood-pressure and cancer are emerging, presenting new challenges and higher costs to the health system.

These development challenges require the “second generation” of reforms. These are more complex because they no longer involve ‘brick and mortar’ development, but rely heavily on improving the quality of public institutions. The reform objectives include raising the quality of education and reducing child and maternal mortality, areas where other middle-income economies are also struggling.

By 2030, the world may have completed its shift away from the West and (back) to the East as well as from the North to the South. But this isn’t the zero sum game that some pundits like to describe. The emergence of Asia, Africa and Latin America can be to everybody’s benefit. The West stands to gain from increasing wealth in emerging economies because they will provide new markets for their products. For example, Germany’s auto industry has been steadily stepping up exports to Asia at a time when its traditional markets were looking gloomy.

By 2030, we will be in a different stage of our lives. The authors of this article will be close to retirement (and some of its readers as well). A new generation will be in charge and a new world will come about in making sure Kenya becomes one of the emerging economies of the 2030s.

(blogs.worldbank.org)

“Sta arrivando un grande cambiamento culturale”, ha cinguettato il vicepresidente della Commissione Europea Neelie Kroes, annunciando la ratificazione del nuovo pacchetto di regole entro le prossime settimane. Alle singole autorità nazionali verrà dunque chiesto di aggiornare i rispettivi impianti legislativi entro un tempo massimo di 18 mesi.

Per la prima volta, il flusso di dati provenienti da musei, biblioteche e archivi sarà disponibile in modalità aperta e soprattutto in formati leggibili dalle più recenti macchine informatiche. Le varie istituzioni nel settore pubblico potranno applicare una tariffa minima a coprire i costi marginali derivanti dalla condivisione dei dati al pubblico.

Dalle cartine geografiche ai dati sul traffico, dai pacchetti informativi sulle attività aziendali ai vari procedimenti giudiziari. I vertici della Commissione Europea sperano che una vasta quantità di dati grezzi possa essere riciclata per l’integrazione in nuovi prodotti o servizi, ad esempio quei sistemi di navigazione satellitare o le applicazioni delle previsioni meteorologiche o finanziarie.

L’aggiornamento della direttiva europea non rappresenta il primo sforzo nella pubblicazione dei dati in formato aperto. Oltreoceano, voluto dall’Amministrazione Obama, il portale data.gov ha reso possibile l’accesso ad una corposa quantità di dati provenienti dalle varie agenzie federali a stelle e strisce. In uno studio analizzato dalla Commissione d’Europa, la condivisione aperta dei dati pubblici dovrebbe apportare benefici (diretti e indiretti) economici per un valore complessivo di 40 miliardi di euro all’anno.

(punto-informatico.it)