NETWORKS & DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

WHAT'S NEW?

8/1997 - 1/1998


People who frequently visit our site may ask why there is nothing new since May 97. Is it because nothing new happened in FUNREDES since then? Not so!

On the countrary, we have been involved in intense activities and projects... so much that we have not taken time to update our site. Furthermore, we have now a precise plan to get to the release 3 of our web site, paying more attention to its presentation and structure.

We are going then to update our "what's new?" complementing all 97 news and then leave it without further modifications until the delivery of release 3, which we expect for April 98. This new release will have several improvements:



WELCOME ON BOARD!

Several persons have joined the team of FUNREDES, marking the revival of its operational structure (which had declined in 96/97 as the consequence of the lack of funding).

Catherine Dhaussy arrived early November. She is French, has worked in the Internet since 1993, at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, later on at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She was the chief editor of Frogmag and worked last year at Nomade. She will stay with us for at least 2 years, and is currently Project manager for the CARIBCAD and EMEC projects, also in charge of coordinating the content of our Web site.

Marc Cassuto is a young French engineer studying at Ireste and doing his 6 month engineer training period with us. He will support the CARIBCAD project in all the technical aspects related to Work Flow Management, and groupware, will develop required Java applications and will insure technological watch on relevant matters. We may become mutually interested to extend the assignment.

Gustavo Capiro is a Cuban cooperant working for enda caribe thanks to a cooperation from CID. He will contribute to FUNREDES activities as system administrator and webmaster until March 98 at least. He worked previously as a technician of the Cuban network.

Amauris Espinal is a young Dominican student from Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) doing a computer training period in FUNREDES.



INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

April 9-11 97. Colloque de Beyrouth (Autoroutes de l'Information, un défi pour le Monde arabe, la Méditerranée et la Francophonie). Daniel Pimienta participated in the track Network and technologies, with the following contribution: "Internet et l'aide au développement en Amérique Latine et Caraïbes: l'expérience de FUNREDES" which has been published (in French) in Revue Universités de l'AUPELF, numéro spécial, February 1997.

June 22-25 1997. Daniel Pimienta participated in the Global Knowledge Conference held in Toronto, Knowledge for development in the Information Age - a Global Conversation organized by World Bank.

September 23-26, Budapest. Second World Assembly of CIVICUS. FUNREDES joined CIVICUS as member and participated with a contribution on: "New ways of funding NGOs".

October 1997. INFOETHICS: Pablo Liendo and Daniel Pimienta are participating in this Unesco launched virtual conference where a selected group of experts discuss the theme of Ethics on information. This is the follow-up of the Monte-Carlo's First International Congress on Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects of Digital Information of 10-12 March 1997

October 25-26 1997. Hanoï - Colloque Initiatives 97: Inforoutes et technologies, une chance pour le développement économique et social de l'aire francophone Asie du sud-est, Chine, Océan indien, Pacifique. Daniel Pimienta participated with the following contributions

  1. Relations de profit mutuel entre les opérateurs de télécommunications et les réseaux de la recherche: un atout pour le développement des pays du sud.
  2. La médiathèque universelle et l'Université virtuelle francophone prepared and presented by Didier Oillo.
  3. and as Chairman of the Regulation Track

November 6-7, Santo Domingo. Workshop on computers and networks organized by FUNREDES for the Autonomuous University of Santo Domingo (UASD). See the program (in Spanish only).

December 1-6 1997, São Paulo. Daniel Pimienta participated in the International Meeting for the Alliance for a Responsible and United World.

December 11-12 1997, Montevideo. IDRC Panconsultation. Daniel Pimienta participated both in the virtual conference and the physical conference and contributed with the presentation "A provocative grassroot view of the role of international organizations in the field of information technologies and recommendations for a drastical change"

January 1998. ISOC France, Journée Autrans 98 Catherine Dhaussy participated remotely with the following contribution (in French): http://www.isoc.asso.fr/AUTRANS98/funredes.htm



PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES

* Between June and september 1997, FUNREDES conducted a study for AUPELF about the state of the art of the Virtual University on LA&C in the perspective of the francophone virtual university. The result of the study is confidential but some overview has been published (in French) in the Hanoi francophone conference.

* The CARIBCAD project was launched on September 1st 1997.

Catherine Dhaussy and Daniel Pimienta participated in the following meetings:

* We are maintaining a constant activity of support to the Haitian Network REHRED and have been involved in several missions in Port au Prince. We have updated with additional information the page relative to the (in French) wrong doing with the Top Level Domain of Haiti.

FUNREDES has offered a SUN Spark Server II to REHRED (with permission of SUN Corp. which had it donated to FUNREDES) to built its own Internet server.

* We have made some consulting for the Internet activities of the Soros Foundation in Haiti.

* FUNREDES organized for the Autonomuous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) a Workshop on computers and networks on November 6 and 7. See the program (in Spanish).

* We are contributing to the project INFO@SOUTH of a magazine about the IT in the South.

* We keep as main priorities for FUNREDES the following projects and are trying to find financial supports and/or partners:



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION



See also 1/1997 - 8/1997.

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