Latest posts by Rezwan
Bangladesh: Citizen's Voice, A Citizen Watchdog for Public Services
Citizen’s Voice (Nagorikkontho.org) is an online project based on localized Ushahidi platform to empower Bangladeshi citizens by having their voices heard regarding feedback on public services. The platform supports both Bangla and English language and allows submission of texts, images and videos via mobile phone and web.
CGNet Swara: Enabling Tribals of Chhattisgarh To Tell Their Stories
CGNet Swara is a mobile-based news service which enables the tribals of Chhattisgarh to tell their version of stories, in their language. In this voice-based portal, citizen journalists can call a phone number and record a news onto the system. Similarly listeners can call the same number and hear the last three highlighted news. The reports are also shared by SMS, mailing list, blog, Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks.
SchoolTube: Sharing Of Teacher And Student Generated Contents For Better Learning
SchoolTube is a media-sharing website for students and teachers. It provides a safe search alternative to video sharing sites like the popular YouTube, Vimeo etc thanks to a strict moderation process making contents appropriate for the school environment.
Living Tongues: Endangered Language Technology Kits To The Rescue
Living Tongues Institute for endangered languages acknowledges that with the death of every endangered language the collective history of an entire people dies with it. To address this issue the institute scientifically documents endangered languages, and assists communities with maintaining and revitalizing knowledge of their native languages through ICT and community driven tools. It is raising funds to secure recording equipment and computers for 8 indigenous language activists in India, Papua New Guinea, Chile and Peru.
The Engine Room: Cataloging Social Advocacy Technology
The engine room is working with Oxfam Novib to catalog every organization, meetup, event and community that supports advocacy movements with technology questions. If you know about such tools, organization, community etc. please take a recently launched survey to help the project succeed.
The Kuyu Project: Teaching Digital Literacy To Congolese Refugees in Uganda
On the 1st - 4th of March 2012, the Kuyu Project in partnership with the Xavier Project organized a digital literacy camp in Nsambya, Kampala, Uganda. It trained approximately 70 Congolese Refugees on how to use social media and other digital tools to tell their stories and achieve their objectives. Eduardo Avila of Rising Voices speaks with Simeon Oriko, Founder and Executive Director of the Kuyu project about the event.
Tunisia: A National Network Of Alternative And Citizen Media
The award winning Tunisian blog Nawaat, in partnership with Tunisian Ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports & Canal France Internationale (CFI), has launched a new project in Tunisia to create citizen journalism clubs in youth centres. The goal is to have a national network of alternative and citizen media, using simple blogging platforms, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
IsumaTV: Preserving Indigenous Media And Connecting Native Communities
Isuma.tv from Canada is an independent interactive social networking website of Inuit and Aboriginal films launched in January 2008. The site hosts films for free and intends to help Native communities around the world become connected. There are currently over 2600 videos in 46 different Indigenous languages archived in the platform. The site is available in either high or low bandwidth for those in more rural communities.
Featured Guide: Creating Facebook Pages with Impact (Arabic)
The much talked about Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Mid-East heavily relied on the Internet and social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Social Media Exchange (SMEX) has released a new Arabic-language guide "Creating Facebook Pages with Impact: A Guide for Arab Civil Society Organizations". The guide will be helpful to emerging Arab activists as well as more experienced organizers trying to leverage social media effectively.
Apps4Africa: Using Crowdsourced Mobile Apps to Tackle Climate Change
Apps4Africa is an effort by a Ugandan software company started in 2009 with the idea of trying to help people in Africa use technology to their benefit. The Apps4Africa challenge is now spreading to southern African countries and during February - March 2012 it is being hosted in several countries of this region. On last March 16th a campaign event was organized in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo.
Iraq: First Conference For Iraqi Bloggers
The first conference for the Iraqi bloggers took place during 8-9 February in the city of Sulaymaniyah. It was organized by the Iraqi Network for Social Media and more than 70 Iraqi bloggers from across the country attended. For a country with low internet penetration and security concerns for bloggers this conference brought a lot of hope.
Video Contest: Everyday Digital Native – Cast Your Vote Now
The juries of the “Everyday Digital Native” video contest organized by The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), India, and HIVOS shortlisted 12 videos for the next round. You can check out the final videos and vote for your favorite one within March 31, 2012. Five videos with the maximum votes will be declared winners on April 1, 2012.
Singing The National Anthem In Their Own Language (Part 2)
In our second feature on the examples of citizen media videos of national anthems sung in indigenous or less spoken languages, we see that in many countries it is prohibited by law to sing national anthems except the national language(s). However that does not stop the ordinary people to use citizen media to sing their national anthem in their own language.
