Balancing Act News Update - African internet developments

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The countries below contain a historic archive of information on the state of the internet that is now three years old. For some countries, the information has remained largely the same whereas for others considerable change has occurred. However it can still be used to identify organisations involved in developing the internet and to understand the historic development of the Internet in Africa. For up-to-date (but "pay-for") information click here: There are special rates for students and universities.

DOWNLOADS ZONE
This is an area where you can download longer articles and reports of interest. These will be updated as new material becomes available.

Download 1
(Word format, 875kb)
This IDRC-supported research study looks at how complaints by African consumers in the telecoms and Internet sectors are dealt with and what input consumer organisations are able to make into policy for these sectors. It is based on a survey of 30 African countries and includes detailed case studies of Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.

Download 2 Word document
(255kb)
This chapter from the ITU's Global Trends in Telecommunications Reform 2005 examines the market and regulatory implications of the shift to IP networks and outlines the different types of responses regulators are making to VoIP calling.

Download 3
(pdf format, 310kb)
Leslie Chan, Barbara Kirsop, Subbiah Arunachalam look at the use of Open Access archiving as a way of improving scientific capacity building.

If you have updates or interesting material to add, please send it to info@balancingact-africa.com

ALGERIA ANGOLA BENIN BOTSWANA BURKINA FASO BURUNDI CAMEROON CAPE VERDE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CHAD COMOROS CONGO COTE D'IVOIRE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO DJIBOUTI EGYPT EQUATORIAL GUINEA ERITREA ETHIOPIA GABON GAMBIA GHANA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU KENYA LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALI MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NIGER NIGERIA REUNION RWANDA SAO TOME & PRINCIPE SENEGAL SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SUDAN SWAZILAND TOGO TUNISIA UGANDA UNITED REP OF TANZANIA ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

SOUTH AFRICA - GAUTENG'S INNOVATION HUB OPENS FOR BUSINESS
News round-up & Snippets
On the money
Africa's Digerati

Useful websites and discussion lists
Digital toolbox/
In search of the business model

Jobs, people, events...
Free small ads

If our correspondent is "off the mark" or you have factual amendments, mail them to us and we will include them in subsequent News Updates. If you'd like to contribute, write and let us know.
If you need information about a particular place or issue, just send your questions in. We are always happy to follow up on readers concerns.
ISSUE NO 43 DIGITAL TOOLBOX


ORANGE MICRO DEBUTS THE IBOT

The world’s first FireWire Web cam, the iBOT FireWire Desktop Video Camera, has its debut. (source: Macworld http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=389103

PDF HINTS AND TIPS

Search through more than a million summaries of Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files on the Web. Your search results will allow you to see the summaries before deciding to view the original Adobe PDF. 

Adobe PDF files preserve the visually rich content of original files, and it can be easier ot read than HTML content that appears in a Web browser. Adobe PDF files print cleanly and quickly, and anyone can share Adobe PDF files, regardless of their platform or software application. http://searchpdf.adobe.com 
(source: Kabissa Newsletter) 

One tool that is immensely valuable is the Adobe Writer pluggin for MS Word. With this tool any Web page or E-Mail etc. can be opened in Word, and simply converted directly to an Adobe pdf file. You can use a macro to automate this for any webs or messages of interest and burn these onto a CD together with the Adobe pdf Reader. This way the entire content of the CD can be easily searched and catalogued.
(source: Don Cameron, Community Informatics)

XML E-COMMERCE STANDARD EXPECTED IN MARCH 

The ebXML standard will establish transport, routing and trading-partner protocols for businesses looking to trade with other businesses on the Internet. 
(source: Computerworld http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=381887

THE NEXT SCANDAL: PHONY PAGE VIEWS

When it comes to Web traffic data, don’t believe everything you read. 
(source:The Industry Standard http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=381957

INFOSEEK GERMANY ROLLS OUT FACE-SEARCHING SERVICE

Internet search engine Infoseek Germany is implementing a visual search feature which can locate faces of particular people. 
(source: IDG.net http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=381902


News Update is a free e-letter produced by Balancing Act that covers African internet content and infrastructure developments, It goes out to government, the private sector, education and NGOs. To subscribe, send a message saying "I want to subscribe" to info@balancingact-africa.com

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This page last updated on January 28 2004.

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