Image by abbamouse and used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

Rising Voices note: Our biweekly newsletter provides a summary of our recent blog posts about all aspects of digital inclusion including access and adoption of digital tools, as well as different ways and opportunities for communities to fully participate online. Read here for previous editions of this newsletter.

Dear readers, how do you perceive this planet nowadays as technology has touched as many aspects of our lives as it may?  Have you ever wondered ”for which Earth do we create our intellectual, cultural, and artistic interventions?”

Comprised of a group of artists and academic scholars, Digital Earth is inviting “8 artists and/or duos from different practices who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits, and are committed to ideas of resilient futures, equitable societies, and critical diversity, showing a marked capacity for self-direction” to join them in imagining how this digital planet might continue to evolve and how it will be for us to live together in this new world.

If you are fascinated by this idea as well, please do take a look at this opportunity to apply. The nine-month fellowship from September 2020 to May 2021 offers:

• Monthly Stipend, a total of €13.500 per fellow for the entire fellowship.
• Consultations with acclaimed artists, curators, and scholars.
• Online research groups with other fellows.
• Online sessions with our faculty.
• Presentation during partner events, symposia and exhibitions (online and in real life, when possible).

For additional information, please see here.

Application due: July 17, 2020 at 9am (CEST)

Following our commemoration of the International Year of Indigenous Languages (#IYIL19), Rising Voices and our partners are continuing a series of rotating Twitter campaigns based off last year’s successful initiative. If you are curious about indigenous, minority, endangered, or under-resourced languages across the world plus how the internet and technology may play a role in their promotion and/or revitalization, please stay tuned! You can also read the profile posts as follows to learn more about our recent hosts, their work and visions for their languages.

@ActLenguas (Latin America)

• Elena Tambriz [es] on Mayan languages in Guatemala, cultural context behind the languages, and her personal experience supporting her people — the K'iche’ Mayan community — as a bridge between languages

@AsiaLangsOnline (Asia)

• Tumi Tanakyuwan on the Thau language, indigenous to Taiwan, as well as her participation in its preservation
• Biyanto Rebin on his love of languages and involvement as a Wikipedian in promoting Indonesian, Javanese, as well as other languages spoken in Indonesia with local support
• Bali Subalian and co-hosts on the current status of the Bunun and Ayatal languages, both indigenous to Taiwan, as well as their own journey in learning, preserving, and promoting their languages through digital means

Along this line, we are bringing you two more stories as to how two language activists — based in South Africa and Russia, respectively — leverage the Internet in saving their languages from fading away.

Meanwhile, please be invited to reflect with us on how it is a privilege to be able to resort to the Internet and carry on our lives during this pandemic while it’s not an option for some — in fact, a lot of people — going through the same turmoil.  → “COVID-19: Switching online is not an option in conflict-stricken countries in the Middle East”

Do you have a readily deployable solution for issues arising from this COVID-19 pandemic but lack the funding to make it happen?  Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation would like to give your project a boost and create lasting change together.  Please see here for additional information.  Proposal due: June 15, 2020

Do you see yourself as a problem solver?  MIT is inviting you to bring in your entrepreneurship and make lasting, transformational social impact with them by exploring innovative, tech-based solutions for global challenges.  Please see here for details.  Application due: July 7, 2020 (Indigenous Communities Fellowship) / June 18, 2020 (all other)

Do you find it frustrating not knowing who to trust when it comes to COVID-19-related information in the African context?  South Africa-based Jamlab is keeping and updating a compiled list of fact-checking organizations to help tackle misinformation and fake news circling the continent.  Please check it out and/or contribute as you see fit.

In May 2020, the Association for Progressive Communications published a report (as commissioned by the UNHCR Innovation Service) in exploring the potential of extending digital access to refugees in East Africa via community-based solutions.  Please see the content and/or download the report here if you’d like to learn more.

• Explore The World of Inuit Mythology via Pinnguaq Association
• How Technology Helps Preserve Endangered Indigenous Languages via YES! 
• Can This Indigenous Language Thrive in a Digital Age? via SAPIENS
• MILEN Talk 01: COVID Digital Emergency Relief Program (India) as presented by MILEN via Facebook
• Journalist in Rohingya refugee camp describes bracing for coronavirus without access to internet via CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists)
• Assistive technology offers ‘Welcome’ solution for disabled shoppers during pandemic via THIIS