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CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS
by Hakikur Rahman 08 Jan '06

08 Jan '06

Please find a Call for Book Chapters and looking forward to your valued contributions. Best Regards. Hakik. CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS Proposals Submission Deadline: 02/28/2006 Full Chapters Due: 07/31/2006 Developing Successful ICT Strategies: Competitive Advantages in a Global Knowledge-Driven Society A book edited by Dr. Hakikur Rahman, SDNP Introduction The world is in the midst of an all-embracing technological revolution. Although this revolution has taken various names, there is little doubt that it is a revolution of information technology, or an innovative techno-economic paradigm, brought about by a set of neoteric information and communication technology (ICT). The ongoing ICT revolution combined with the forces of globalization, has provoked the aspirations and fears of countries at all levels of development, to leapfrog to the new economy. As a result many governments have formulated national ICT policies and strategies, where ICT is treated mainly as a thrust sector. However, in the current status quo while mainstream development practitioners continue to ignore the inherent roles of ICT poses serious jeopardy to development effectiveness. Therefore, the strategic significance of ICT for enabling national development and poverty reduction strategies must be clearly understood and operationalized by countries striving to gain global competency. The Overall Objective of the Book Maximizing the potential of ICT requires both promoting their use and addressing the inequality and dislocation they may cause. New technologies and the human and institutional capacity building in the public and private sectors, coupled with trends towards a greater emphasis on development initiatives at the state level, have resulted in a paradigm shift in the roles of the private sector and governments in ICT. Despite the massive prospects of ICT in assisting communities to increase their overall well-being through community development, there are relatively a very few examples of sustained community networks that have built around ICT. This book features these aspects in developing substantial national ICT strategies for their economies and makes use of their competitive advantages in a global knowledge driven society. The book also includes policies and perspectives of similar natures, including success cases around the world to synthesize and assist the reader in acquiring comprehensive knowledge from various analyses. The Target Audience Access to ICT requires education, infrastructure and institutions, three basic resources that many countries lack. Without them, it is increasingly likely that the poor may be on the trailing side of this revolution. This book will find its standpoint for its readers among multi-sectoral research bases. Apart from academics, researchers, and think tanks, the book will be extremely handy to the International Financial Institutions, National governments in LDCs, Non-Governmental Organizations, Donor agencies, Development partners and private sector entrepreneurs operating in ICT4D arena. Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following: * Emancipation of ICT Policies for Grass roots Outgrowth * Enactment of Autonomous ICT Policies in Developing Countries * Improved utilization of ICT policies for producing better products * Enhanced linkages between ICT and inequality across and within economies * Making ICT as a core competency for promoting competition and sustained development * Enabling mobility through wireless communication, tele-work, tele-services and e-learning * Focusing scarce resources as national priorities and help sequence complementary investments * Balancing market forces, enabling bottom up efforts, and ensuring shared learning and scaling up * Speeding up all types of transactions throughout the economy by reducing response time closer to zero * Preparing a rationale in designing national strategies for e-development (or e-enhanced development) * Complimenting needs and dynamics of promising ICT segments for export and economic competitiveness * Creating impact of ICT in social & economic development as enabling factor in national development strategies SUBMISSION PROCEDURE Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before February 28, 2006, a 2-5 page manuscript proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by March 31, 2006 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by July 31, 2006. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind review basis. The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group, Inc., publisher of the Idea Group Publishing, Information Science Publishing, IRM Press, CyberTech Publishing, and Idea Group Reference imprints. Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to: Dr. Hakikur Rahman SDNP Bangladesh (UNDP) BIDS, E-17 AGARGAON, DHAKA-1207, BANGLADESH Tel.: +880 2 8126204 FAX: +880 2 9118543 GSM: +880 189 228939 e-mail: <mailto:hakik@sdnbd.org>hakik(a)sdnbd.org

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submission deadline tomorrow
by Stephanie Jo Kent 05 Jan '06

05 Jan '06

hi all, just a reminder if this got onto your list of 'to do's' but hasn't actually happened yet: http://www.communicationincrisis.org/ best, steph http://www.reflexivity.us

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cfp for Mini-track "Virtual Communities" @AMCIS 2006
by Jan Marco Leimeister 04 Jan '06

04 Jan '06

Apologies for cross-postings. Abstracts are welcome by February 1, 2006. Sincerely, Jan Marco Leimeister cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++ Call for Papers Virtual Community is a well differentiated and well established business model. Examples for Virtual Communities range from Communities of Interest, Communities of Relationship, Gaming Communities, and Communities of Transaction to Peer-to-Peer Communities or Mobile Communities. Within the field of information systems sciences we are looking at interaction patterns, transaction processes, management aspects, business models, and design aspects of information systems and services for Virtual Communities. Community members interact via digital media and contribute value in the form of content, reviews, and recommendations. Related issues are trust, network effects, transaction costs and the design of services. Well-organized communities even expand their power across various channels and into the off-line world. We call for papers on social as well as business communities. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): - Social, political and economic impact of Virtual Communities - Community models, platforms, services, and interactions, multi-channel communities - Management and organizational behavior of communities - Community-related business models - Transaction-oriented Virtual Communities, Customer collaboration - Peer-to-Peer or mobile services for Virtual Communities - Case studies and empirical studies, best practices and lessons learned This mini-track builds on the success of the preceding AMCIS mini-tracks on Virtual Communities. During the last five years we have been gathering a community of researchers who are interested in the field of Virtual Communities and related issues. Information on last years? mini-tracks is available at: http://www.e-business.fhbb.ch/amcis Please visit the mini-track websites at http://www.e-business.fhbb.ch/amcis GUIDELINES FOR PAPER SUBMISSION 1. Submit abstracts via email to the appropriate mini-track chair(s) by February 1, 2006. 2. Submit final papers via the AIS Review System by March 1, 2006. http://reviews.aisnet.org/AMCIS2006. 3. Authors can submit multiple papers but in general may present only once during the conference. 4. Copyright Information: Submission of a paper to AMCIS2006 represents the author's agreement to allow AIS to publish the paper in any written or electronic format for distribution to all interested parties in perpetuity with or without compensation to AIS and without compensation to the author. The parties understand that the author is granting a nonexclusive license and all copyrights remain the property of the author. Mini-track Chair Information: Please use the following email-address for all inquiries: amcis(a)virtual-community.org Ulrike Lechner (contact) Universität der Bundeswehr München Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39 D-85577 Neubiberg, Germany Ulrike.Lechner(a)unibw.de http://wi.informatik.unibw-muenchen.de Jan Marco Leimeister Technische Universität München Boltzmannstr. 3 D-85748 Garching b. München, Germany leimeister(a)in.tum.de http://www.winfobase.de/ Achim Dannecker Universität der Bundeswehr München Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39 D-85577 Neubiberg, Germany Achim.Dannecker(a)unibw.de http://wi.informatik.unibw-muenchen.de cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++cfp+++

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Weblogging statistics I would be curious to know
by David Brake 04 Jan '06

04 Jan '06

1) Has anyone tried to find out systematically the numbers of readers for weblogs across the whole popularity spectrum? Ie how many readers does the typical personal weblogger have? How many readers do the top bloggers get? The only guesstimate I have seen is from this: Pollard, D. (2005) The Long Tail: A-Listers Maybe Not So Powerful after All How to Save the World Last accessed: 22 Mar 2005 Last updated: 4 Mar 2005 Address: http://blogs.salon.com/ 0002007/2005/03/04.html. It estimates number of page views, in-links and "reader attention/ day" for five popularity categories of blog but the methodology is a little wobbly. 2) What is the typical ratio of commenters to readers across different blog genres? (Since I imagine this varies wildly depending on the type of blog) Would be useful for guessing traffic for people who don't measure their traffic. 3) Any idea how much money leading and mid-ranked bloggers and/or podcasters get from their advertising? 4) Any idea what proportion of weblog readers read the personal blogs of people they know without those people knowing they are reading them? I have lots of other statistical questions about blogging but that's a good off-the-top-of-the-head shortlist... If anyone is working towards answers to any of these questions even if you haven't got the answers yet, please do let me know. And a Happy New Year to all and sundry! --- David Brake, Doctoral Student in Media and Communications, London School of Economics & Political Science <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/study/ mPhilPhDMediaAndCommunications.htm> Also see http://davidbrake.org/ (home page), http://blog.org/ (personal weblog) and http://get.to/lseblog (academic groupblog) Author of Dealing With E-Mail - <http://davidbrake.org/ dealingwithemail/> callto://DavidBrake (Skype.com's Instant Messenger and net phone)

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Re: [Air-l] air-l Digest, Vol 17, Issue 17
by Dr.Tim 04 Jan '06

04 Jan '06

----- Original Message ----- In a message dated 12/24/2005 7:51:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, drtlhaupt(a)swissinfo.org writes: It is my impression that if we study each segment separately, we will lose the gestalt. My children use multiple means of communication including IM, Chat, Blogging and - not so much - Message Boards. Within this context, I see an entirety of communication happening. Dr. Timothy Haupt, Psy.D. Hello Dr. Haupt, And what about the non-verbal communication cues? How does the entirety of communication happen without them? Thanks. Stephanie Bennett ------------CLIP------------------ Therein lies the difficulty. A lot of assumptions are made that may or may not be accurate. other questions I have regard cultural context. What of cultural context? What drives the context? Or does the medium drive the context? I'm researching these questions and reading this newsgroup to find out. My biggest concern are the non-verbal cues. Of course, the web-cams assist in that kind of context, but what of us who do not wish our image to be broadcast and, therefore, captured all over the internet? I have mostly questions at this juncture. Dr. Timothy Haupt, Psy.D. "People should be judged by the content of their character" - MLK, Jr.

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Internet & Jihad in the Netherlands (UvA research report)
by geert lovink 03 Jan '06

03 Jan '06

An interesting report has just been translated into English (from Dutch) and published on the Web. It gives a very detailed account about the way in which Dutch Muslim fundamentalists discussed and planned actions on the Internet, before, during and after November 2, 2004, the day that Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh was killed in Amsterdam. The report is written by Albert Benschop, an Internet sociologist who is teaching new media at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA). Chronicle of a Political Murder Foretold Jihad in the Netherlands By dr. Albert Benschop University of Amsterdam translation: Connie Menting http://www.sociosite.org/jihad_nl_en.php -- The conclusion of the report is called The Power of the Internet and goes like this: According to the Dutch Central Statistical Office there were about one million muslims in Holland in September 2004. About half of the Turks (45%) and Moroccans (51%) made use of the internet. These percentages are considerably higher among Turkish and Moroccan youngsters between 15 and 24 years of age, 97% and 85% respectively. So the internet is an extremely popular medium among younger allochthonous people. Both in the build-up to and digestion of the murder of Theo van Gogh the internet plays an important role. We have seen that the internet was intensively used by various, more or less radical islamic movements, in order to create a climate with aggressive words, in which a political murder of a critic of the fundamentalist islam could take place. We have seen how radicalised islamic youngsters used internet to hatch their networks of hatred and disseminate their hostile message. This gave rise to a climate for violent jihad, in which the murderer of Theo van Gogh could be recruited. A climate in which Mohammed B. and his friends of the Hofstadgroup could be trained to attack personal targets, for instance Theo van Gogh, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders, and political targets, such as the house of parliament and the decadence of the Amsterdam Red Light District. ‘All blasphemers out of the world, starting with the Netherlands.’ On the other side we also saw that fortuynist, right-wing extremist, neo-nationalist and neo-nazi groupings and small groups used internet to sell their political goods. With their xenophobic, islamophobic and racist statements they created a climate of hatred of foreigners, long before the murder of Van Gogh, in which multicultural society had to be violently sacrificed for a nostalgic longing for a mono-cultural, white society. It was a deliberate pursuit of a climate in our country, in which non-European foreigners and in particular muslims wouldn’t feel at home or welcome anymore. ‘All muslims out of Europe, starting with the Netherlands.’ The extremes touched each other. Not only in the mirrored ideological representation of a country in which ethnic and religious groups are not able to live with each other anymore, but also due to a fundamental dogmatic attitude, allowing no room for dialogue or non-violent political controversy. In this logic of escalation a culture of the big mouths was generated, in which reasonableness and nuances were lost. After the murder of Theo van Gogh the already poisoned climate came sharply into focus. Weblogs and discussion forums were only used to express passionate emotions in rugged language. But they were also and in particular platforms for the expression of political ‘incorrect’ proposals and measures. “The most popular weblogs like GeenStijl, Retecool and Volkomenkut lead the way in revealing new facts, although these facts appear to be mainly old and familiar. The broadcasting companies dutifully lurch after them” [Geert-Jan Bogaerts]. In the chase after the identity of the murderer of Theo van Gogh a picture of Mohammed Bouker was published on several weblogs. Although this person had nothing to do with the case (apart from having the same initials), this was enough reason for the editorial staff of the Limburger to liven up their Saturday edition [6.11.04] with a portrait of the alleged killer. A capital error for a quality newspaper that usually takes its journalistic responsibilities seriously. The next day, after the error had come to light the newspaper apologised in public to the person involved. The chief editors announced that an internal investigation would take place into “how this could have happened” [limburger.nl]. The traditional news suppliers of newspapers and broadcasting companies noticed that their monopoly on news service and interpretation of the news was undermined by what was taking place on the internet. “Internet puts pressure on paper and television,” Geert-Jan Bogaerts wrote. “The traditional news suppliers (newspaper empires, broadcasting companies) are seeing their monopoly crumble away. The modern news consumer makes use of new techniques on the internet, such as RSS and web diaries. Users can determine themselves when they want to take in the news, and which channel they want to use for this purpose. If the traditional news monopolists want to survive, they will have to adapt their organisation to it in a better way” [Volkskrant 27.11.04]. The free gathering of news performed by the individual and associated bloggers increasingly influences the public debate. They publish contributions that are picked up straight from the street, but also information that has been adopted from unknown or well-known media. The good with the bad are published and made accessible to a wide public. Unconfirmed rumours can roam the internet for days. For professional journalists this is an abomination. It proves once more how important it is for journalists to deal professionally with available information, by carefully checking their sources. If you don’t, the news supply degenerates into a rumour machine. “The internet implies that journalism should make higher demands than ever on the assessment and selection of information and especially on the transparency of sources” [Elsbeth Etty, NRC, 17.2.04]. However, the internet cannot just be dismissed as a rumour machine, in which one and all can voice their possibly self-invented little facts and opinions. The internet is also and especially a communication medium, in which lies are exposed very quickly, in which wrong information is quickly corrected, in which limited information is quickly completed, and in which untenable or dubious opinions are quickly contradicted. We have seen before how the internet can contribute to the reinforcement and intensifying of media hypes, and how it is employed as an increasingly powerful source of media hypes. But we have also seen how the internet helps shatter and correct media hypes. The internet is and remains a medium with greatly contradictory effects. This isn’t so much caused by the medium itself —after all the internet is not a subject possessing the capacity to act and for that reason cannot do or produce anything—, but by the way in which the internet is used by people and groups with various and often contradictory interests, needs, opinions, desires and aspirations.

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new reviews in cyberculture studies (january 2006)
by david silver 03 Jan '06

03 Jan '06

Happy New Year! New reviews (found at http://www.com.washington.edu/rccs/ ) for JANUARY 2006 include: [1] Gunther Kress, Literacy in the New Media Age (Routledge, 2003) Reviewed by: Karim A. Remtulla, doctoral student at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. [2] Chris Kohler, Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life (Brady Games, 2004) Reviewed by: Avery Alix, graduate student in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington. Enjoy. david silver http://faculty.washington.edu/dsilver/ subscribe? unsubscribe? https://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/cyberculture-announce

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Society of Internet Research
by geert lovink 03 Jan '06

03 Jan '06

Mission of the Society of Internet Research: * To promote understanding of the nature and threat of Islamic extremist movements, with particular emphasis on the use such movements make of the internet. * To develop and document tools and techniques that facilitate legitimate research and investigations of the internet-based activities of the global jihad, and to facilitate and conduct such research and investigations. * To encourage public, industry and goverment involvement in a collective effort to combat the use of the internet by such extremist movements and the spread of the ideology of jihad via the internet. http://sofir.org/sofir/index.php see also: http://haganah.org.il/haganah/ http://haganah.org.il/haganah/internet.html

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Steve's interview podcast if you've not heard it
by Jeremy Hunsinger 02 Jan '06

02 Jan '06

http://techvenue.blogspot.com/2005/10/interview-with-association-of- internet.html http://techvenue.com/PODCASTS/SteveJones_AoIR6_0_56.mp3 jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu jeremy.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.aoir.org The Associatiion of Internet Researchers

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Pew and AP get gendered
by Barry Wellman 28 Dec '05

28 Dec '05

Pew Internet and American Life has a nice new report out today on gender differences and similarities in US online. www.pewinternet.org Associated Press has a news report about this, which contains sound bytes from Tracy Kennedy and myself. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051228/ap_on_hi_te/internet_gender Felix Ano, Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 To network is to live; to live is to network _____________________________________________________________________

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