http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1074 en_GB_uk http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/160284/1/1074 Telecentres can serve as an important source of information by connecting citizens with the government. A growing trend of commercialisation is however treating such entitlements as services and citizens as customers who pay service charges, writes research associate Vivek Vaidyanathan. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/160234/1/1074 A comprehensive database, designed to track school-going children in Orissa in eastern India, has received the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2006-07. According to the state's Primary Education Project Authority, project ‘e-shishu’ will enable steps for universal education in the state. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/159770/1/1074 Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies is organising eIndia2008 from July 29-31, 2008 at New Delhi, India. The fourth annual ICT forum in the country will be a unique platform for stakeholders to share best practices and exchange ideas on creating a technology-enabled society. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/159447/1/1074 ASSOCHAM is organising 5th National Summit on e-Governance “Serving the Common Man through e-Governance: Sharing of Experience” on April 18, 2008 in New Delhi, India. The summit aims to provide a platform for various stakeholders from government and industry to share their experiences. http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/159391/1/1074 DENVER/RAYBURN 2123 IN SECOND LIFE, Apr 2 (OneWorld) - U.S. lawmakers held the first-ever hearing simulcast in a 3D virtual world Tuesday, probing experts about the opportunities and dangers posed by new online communities. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/159328/1/1074 From deployment of telegraph in 1854 to the age of Internet, Blackberries, iPods or Personal Digital Assistants, information and communication technology has traversed a long path. Thomas B. Riley, Executive Director, Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance, discusses the evolution of ICTs and assesses the wider changes in society due to their emergence. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/158942/1/1074 Jaipur, capital of western Indian state of Rajasthan, is soon going to be a wi-fi-enabled city. Data Infosys Ltd, which is among the top seven Internet Service Providers in the country, has signed an MoU with the state government in this respect. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/158773/1/1074 New software by India’s National Informatics Centre (NIC) in Jharkhand offers individual search for pregnant women and newborns at the Anganwadi level. The programme will help the state government track the nutrition status of both mother and child and the immunisation of infants. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/158043/1/1074 A new service launched by the Romanian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will enable self-employed and family businesses to register and carry out other procedures online. The service will also improve relations between local administrations and private entrepreneurs across rural areas and small cities. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/158003/1/1074 Western Indian state of Goa is embarking on an ambitious project to promote knowledge of information technology. It is going to set up centres to impart training and establish IT parks to address the problem of growing unemployment in the state, especially among the youth. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/157986/1/1074 Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations is organising the Second Connecting Rural Communities Asia Forum (CRC) 2008 in Kerala from April 15-18, 2008. The event hosted by the Indian government’s Department of Telecommunications will focus on the salient issues within rural ICT connectivity. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/156967/1/1074 With computerisation of local governing bodies, e-governance in India is likely to take deep roots. If central government accepts the recommendations submitted by an expert group, some 250,000 panchayats will go online over next three years, benefiting grassroots organisations and bringing in transparency. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/156859/1/1074 The Delhi Cabinet in the Indian capital has given the nod to online Project Jeevan that would provide a single-window facility on various government services to its citizens. To begin with, computerised kiosks will enable easy payment of various bills, issue of forms, applications and information brochures. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/156711/1/1074 A new mobile phone service launched in Singapore aims to extend the reach of government e-services to the public and business users on the move. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/156690/1/1074 Maharashtra government is planning to set up thousands of Internet kiosks in this western state of India to boost e-governance. Once operational, the move will greatly help people in accessing various government services while making the process transparent and less time consuming.