1st International Conference on "M4D":

Mobile communication technology For Development

11-12 December, 2008, Centre for HumanIT

Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

A three day international conference on e-Governance will be held on July 28, in New Delhi. The conference will focus on digital learning and is expected to have participation from 1,200 experts from across 40 countries.

Sweden may be better known for cars and couches than computers, but when it comes to access to broadband and cellular networks, it's tops. The Scandinavian country leads the world in "technological readiness," according to the World Economic Forum.

Seoul received the highest score in a survey of digital governance in 100 cities worldwide conducted by Sungkyunkwan University's Global e-Policy e-Government Institute and the E-Governance Institute of Rutgers University of New Jersey. It's the third year in a row that Seoul has ranked tops in the survey, conducted every other year since 2003.

Villagers in the rural areas of Uganda that have no direct access to telecommunications have relied on village phone operators for their communications needs. Bringing information and communication technology (ICT) to rural and isolated communities in Uganda has been made possible through an MTN and Grameen Foundation project established in 2003.

hoomi was showcased at an international conclave here on Tuesday as part of India’s e-governance system incorporating modern technology.

Villagers in the rural areas of Uganda that have no direct access to telecommunications have relied on village phone operators for their communications needs. Bringing information and communication technology (ICT) to rural and isolated communities in Uganda has been made possible through an MTN and Grameen Foundation project established in 2003.

Worried over missing the broadband addition target, the government is now planning to give sub sidy for new broadband connection in the rural parts of the country. The subsidy would be up to 50% of the total cost of setting the system by service providers. Also, running cost of internet in rural ar eas would be about half of those in the cities.

While the ongoing e-governance initiatives of the State government are laudable, non-availability of updated information on websites of various government departments indicates a slow down in efforts toward consolidation of e-governance in the State.