incommunicado

Docs are here, Soenke

"The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, one of the prime scientific and technology research organisations in Africa, was home for two days to some of the leading lights of the open access movement. Speakers from Botswana, Canada, Egypt, Scotland, South Africa and the US were

(NYT, 26 Sept 2006)

Google to Push for More Electrical Efficiency in PCs

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 25 — Google is calling on the computer industry to create a simpler and more efficient power supply standard that it says will save billions of kilowatt-hours of energy annually.

In a white paper to be presented Tuesday on the opening day of the Intel Developer Forum here, two leading data center designers at Google will argue that the industry is mired in inefficiency for historical reasons, dating to the introduction of the first I.B.M. PC in 1981.

Toxic Shock: How Western Rubbish Is Destroying Africa
By Meera Selva
Independent
September 21, 2006

Western corporations are exploiting legal loopholes to dump their waste in Africa. And in Ivory Coast, the price has been death and disease for thousands. Meera Selva reports

One August morning, people living near the Akouedo rubbish dump in Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, woke up to a foul-smelling air. Soon, they began to vomit, children got diarrhoea, and the elderly found it difficult to breathe. "The smell was unbelievable, a cross between rotten eggs and blocked drains," said one Abidjan resident. "After 10 minutes in the thick of it, I felt sick."

"OpenFlows released a survey of open content projects in five non-western regions: Arab countries, Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Brazil and South East and Eastern Europe. The aim of the study is to assess the potential of the open content production process for areas and fields which are under served by the commercial players.

"In a report to General Assembly President Jan Eliasson, Ambassadors Johan Lovald of Norway and Rezlan Jenie of Indonesia advise on how to enhance NGO relations with the General Assembly. After consultation with Member States and NGOs, the report recommends some possible avenues, but comes short of specific pl

Goldstein, A., N. Pinaud, and H. Reisen. "The rise of China and India: what's in it for Africa?" OECD Development Centre (2006)

[via ELDIS

This brief examines the impact which China's and India's rise has on African countries. Since 2001, China and India have jointly contributed approximately 30 per cent to global output growth and helped hold world output growth above the 4 per cent threshold-level crucial to improving the terms of trade for primary commodity producers.

Promoting Human Development through Trade
By Kamal Malhotra*
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs
April 5, 2006

I speak in my individual capacity, and nothing I say here is the official position of the United Nations.

Principles of Justice.

When I think of justice from the framework that I work with, I think of enhancing human development as an outcome of justice. When I look at that goal and I look at a vision for the future in terms of a trade regime which is friendly to human development, there are four simple principles of international trade that I would like to highlight.

Click here for full report, sz

Introduction

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) and the Computer Take Back Campaign (CTBC) are pleased to release the 2005 Computer Report Card. The Computer Report Card, issued by SVTC since 2000, tracks the progress that computer and electronics companies are making on social and environmental indicators, including materials policy, supply chain management, take back programs, and end-of-life management of their products. By providing this information to the public, and to the companies themselves, we hope to improve the social and environmental performance of the brands. We believe that these companies must set and achieve the highest performance standards for labor rights, environmental protection, and human rights; just as they do for computing speed, functionality, size and product innovation.

e-waste collection as part of World Earth Day

DH News Service BANGALORE (21 April 2006).

In another initiative to battle the perils of electronic waste, an IT peripherals and solutions company and voluntary organisation, Saahas, have come together to establish e-waste collection centres in five locations in Bangalore. WeP Peripherals and Saahas will launch the centres — at The Forum in Koramangala, GK Vale on MG Road, Jayanagar and Indiranagar, Fabmall in Indiranagar and Bannerghatta Road, Safina Plaza and Fitness One in Jayanagar and Koramangala — on April 22, the World Earth Day.

India’s first e-waste dump faces eviction
K Raghu
DNa India
Friday, April 07, 2006 00:24 IST

BANGALORE: India's first scientific hazardous waste dump faces an eviction threat for a new township. A joint Indo-German hazardous waste management unit (HAWA), set up to treat and handle e-waste at Dobbespet, about 45 kms north of Bangalore, faces eviction just a year before it was to become operational.