MSC Malaysia Showcase World-Class Kre8tif! Conference

The MSC Malaysia Kre8tif! Digital Content Conference took place recently at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) from 15-17 December 2010.  The event was organised by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) partnering with X|Media|Labs, the internationally acclaimed professional network and digital media events for the world's creative industries.  The event saw the movers and shakers of the global creative industries imparting knowledge and experience to our local creative minds.  It is aimed at accelerating the developments of Malaysia's creative industry.

Prominent speakers the likes of Stephen Joel Davies the President of Hasbro studios were present and speaking at the event.  Other big names participating were David Freeman who heads the Freeman Group (http://www.freemangames.com/idea/4_2.php) and Alex Laurent the Senior Arts Designer & Visual Designer of Studio LXL (http://www.alexlaurant.com/).

The event ended with a high note with an award dinner event that saw local talents such as Silver Ant Sdn Bhd (in the Animation/VFX Award category: Best Production & Best Commissioned Work (Overall)), Imaginex Studios Sdn Bhd (in the Animation/VFX Award Category: Best Music Score) and Glue Studios Sdn Bhd (Special Mention Award - Short Animation Production and the Most Promising Startup Animation Studio).  Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology won three awards from the Students Games Awards category - Best Technical, Best Visual and Best Games Design.

 

by: Malaysia Surf!

http://www.surf.com.my/v2/msc-malaysia/90-hazelhassanhisham.html

Malaysian wants more cooperation in ICT with Korea

SEOUL: Malaysia wants to have more cooperation in information communication technology (ICT) with South Korea, which is well ahead in ICT, to enhance their bilateral relations in the field which is currently still at a moderate level.

Information Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Malaysia hoped the cooperation could be translated into ICT-related projects to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries, which are celebrating 50 years of that relations this year.

He said Malaysia would try to venture into various areas of ICT where Korea had the strengths in implementing the projects.

“We will see how Korea could advance and be the number one country in the ICT field and how it has incorporated ICT use in villages throughout the country, besides educating Korean youths on how to use ICT to generate income, especially in the content industry.

“These are interesting areas and we will try to venture into some,” he told Malaysian journalists covering his attendance at the World Information and Communications Summit: WICS 2010, held in the South Korean capital.

Rais said Korea also had an interesting programme in developing animation and research in three-dimensinal computer graphics, which were used in science fiction films such as the epic movie, Avatar.

“These fields are very interesting and will give huge returns to both countries. We are actually looking at the Korean ICT as the champion in the industry as it has pioneered various advanced areas at the international level.

“So, we need to learn how Korea managed to sell its animation, movie and cinematography culture and expertise outside the country,” he said. Rais said agencies involved in ICT in Malaysia should study the ICT developments in Korea and make proposals to the government on the approaches that could be taken to emulate Korea’s success. He said Malaysia-Korea cooperation in ICT could also be forged through ICT training programmes involving the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the Korean Communications Commission, and between the ICT practitioners of both countries.

“Perhaps there will be some of our ICT practitioners coming here and some from Korea going to Kuala Lumpur to see how the Malaysian ICT industry can develop in the best possible way.”

Rais regarded the organising of the WISC, where the leaders, ministers and deputy ministers from nine countries including from Asia discussed and exchanged ideas in ICT, as a noble effort by Korea.

“As an experienced country, Korea has further strengthened friendship with the developing countries, so that Asia as a whole will not lag behind in the field.“We (Malaysia) shall take this as a new beginning for us, in a new era where ICT is part of our lifestyle that bring us economic, cultural and industrial benefits,” he said.

The two-day WICS 2010 organised by the Korean Multimedia Communications beginning Tuesday, was aimed at strengthening cooperation and building a sustainable future for the participating countries by sharing experiences and vision in ICT.

Rais also said that Malaysia and Korea would discuss the possibility of coming up with a book on 50 years of Malaysia-Korea relations. -- Bernama The Star Online 

 

by: The Star Online

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/27/nation/20100527083922&sec=nation

METHODOLOGY USED IN STUDIES OF INFORMATION SEEKING AND INFORMATION SKILLS/LITERACY

Research on information seeking or skills/literacy in higher education has been carried out
since the 1980s involving both undergraduates and postgraduates (Cameron 1983; Coupe
1993; Greer, Weston and Alm 1991; Leckie and Fullerton 1999). The methodology employed
quantitative and qualitative data gathering techniques, using survey and focus group
approach. Morrison (1997), from Canada employed the focus group method to examine the
undergraduate perspective on the role of libraries in developing information skills. A small
group of seven undergraduates volunteered at the Concordia University College of Alberta
to discuss the concept of information literacy and the role of the library in developing the
skills among the undergraduates. Hartmann (2001) conducted a focus group study among
first year students at the University of Ballarat, Australia to understand why the information
literacy programme was poorly utilized. The study involved three focus groups, two from
the first year and one from the third year. Seaman’s (2001) study of freshman students’
focused on finding out how students acquire and use information. The study used both
quantitative and qualitative methods. It started with an open-ended survey, followed by emails
and interviews to gauge a better understanding of the processes. Among the findings
were that the students consulted friends, teachers, classmates, parents and experts when
looking for information
Information Seeking Behaviour of Computer Science and Information Technology Undergraduates
Page | 17
A qualitative methodology using interviews was carried out in a study with non-traditional
undergraduates to examine the impact of information literacy instruction and their
information seeking behaviour (Branch 2004). Using semi-structured questions, five
participants were selected from twelve volunteers. Eskola (2005) researched on information
literacy of medical students studying in the problem-based and traditional curriculum also
utilized the qualitative methodology. Sixteen-second year medical students subjected to the
problem-based learning education and fifteen second year students studying according to
the traditional curriculum were involved. The methods for data collection were theme
interviews, students’ diaries, observation and relevant documents.

by:Mohd Sharif Mohd Saad and A. N. Zainab (An investigation of information seeking behaviour of Computer Science and InformationTechnology undergraduates: aqualitative approach)

Symantec targets Sarawak market

Symantec Corp, a provider of security, storage and systems management solutions, is eyeing Sarawak as one of its targeted markets due to growing opportunities.

Its Malaysia country manager, Alex Ong, said Sarawak, currently ranked among the top three states in terms of market share outside Kuala Lumpur, had seen strong growth.

"This year we are eyeing government-linked companies besides the small and mid-sized business sector. They are increasingly leveraging on the internet to strengthen their brand and boost growth," he told a media briefing on
"Protecting Critical Information of Businesses and Government in Sarawak" in Kuching today.

Currently, Symantec has a 28 per cent market share in security software and 41 per cent in storage software in the country, he said.

Ong said with the rapid increase in cyber threats, local usinesses needed to prioritise the protection of critical business information and intellectual property.

"Information protection is critical for businesses in Sarawak as the state continues to invest to develop its infrastructure and high-technology industry and build a knowledge economy.

"They also need to be ready to protect against human errors and information technology system failures due to floods, fires and power failures," he said.

Meanwhile, Symantec South Asia region principal consultant, Nigel Tan, said the company was expected to launch its new version of the Endpoint Protection 12 product by year-end.

"The product is designed to detect and block sophiscated new threats earlier and more accurately," he said.

He said Symantec's latest Internet Security Treat Report (Volume 16) showed an over 286 million new threats globally last year.

"Last year, Malaysia was ranked 38th among countries globally on Internet malicious activities," he said. -- Bernama
by:Business Times

Pacts with Kazakhstan a sign of flourishing ties

2011/06/10

FOUR commercial agreements between Malaysian and Kazakh companies were signed during the 7th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) which ended yesterday.

The signing of the agreements during the official visit here by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was an encouraging sign of further collaborations between companies in the two countries.

The first agreement was signed between MyEG Services Berhad (Malaysia) and JSC National Information Technology (Kazakhstan) to undertake the deployment of skilled expertise in the area of information technology by the Kazakhstan government.

Also signed was an agreement between MIMOS Berhad (Malaysia) and ZERDE (Kazakhstan) to cooperate as strategic business and technology partners in the ICT field in Kazakhstan.

The other two agreements were a strategic partnership between Amanahraya Capital Group (Malaysia) and JSC Fattah Finance to establish a haj pilgrimage saving fund in Kazakhstan and a collaboration between Halagel (M) Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and Fattah Shop Company (Kazakhstan) to undertake the marketing of halal products in Kazakhstan.

WIEF chairman Tun Musa Hitam said the signing of the agreements was testimony of their success in bringing together businessmen in the Muslim world to collaborate.

"We have helped facilitate the partnerships between these four Malaysian companies and their Kazakhstan partners which is an endorsement of our objective to build bridges through business," Musa said

In a separate development, the WIEF Foundation has appointed four new members to its International Advisory Panel (IAP).

The appointees are CIMB group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Nazir Razak and Speedway Investments Ltd Kenya executive chairman Evelyn Mungai.

The others are Development Credit Bank Ltd and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India chairman Nasser Munjee and John Sandwick, a specialist in Islamic Wealth and Asset Management from Switzerland.

Musa said with the four new appointees, who are citizens of countries in three different continents with expertise in different areas, the WIEF had truly become a world forum.

Meanwhile, Najib returned home yesterday. The prime minister, who was accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, arrived at the Bunga Raya Complex, KL International Airport here at 4.40pm on board a special aircraft.

Among those present to greet him was Deputy Information Minister Senator Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz.

It was Najib's first official visit to Kazakhstan, at the invitation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, since becoming prime minister.

During the visit, the prime minister also attended the 7th WIEF and delivered a special speech at its opening.

by:New Straits Times

Information Technology | Certification Intelligence

Information technology news and technical information pertaining to certification intelligence for exam training is the main purpose of this article. Many people do not know the difference between computer training and certification exam training. I would like to inform everyone what the differences are. Computer training is classroom education with scheduled courses or online training about the career field pertaining to information technology. Let me explain! You may want to become a Server Administrator. To begin with you will need some education somewhere in order to be knowledgeable about the subject and maybe acquire a 2 or 4-year degree or receive some online training with a qualified instructor. You may just want to take a few courses and receive a certificate in this field. This would be considered computer training. Information technology certification intelligence on exam training is what you need in order to be fully prepared to pass your certification exam. After computer training you may have a degree or a certificate but you still do not have a certification that is recognized by Microsoft, CIW and CompTia or any other. If you have computer training that qualifies you to be a Server Administrator then you will want to get certified in Microsoft, CIW or CISCO. Certification exam training concentrates on preparing you to pass your certification exam. An IT Certification exam is unlike any other exam that you have had in college or school. There are two very important things to consider when preparing for a certification exam. They are the proper study technique and having relevant material that pertains to the actual exam that is up to date with the current market.
There are only a handful of places online that offer Certification exam training. The reason I wrote this article is to provide news and information about the best resources on certification exam training. There are many students of information technology that want this information because they are serious about passing their certification exam on the very first try. This article is not about selling but about helping those who are not informed about Certification exam training.
Another purpose of this article is education concerning information technology certification. There are many colleges and online training about information technology that will prepare you for a particular subject or field but there are but a few places where you can find information technology certification intelligence on exam training.
Say you want to become a PC Technician and you study at a college or receive online training so that you are knowledgeable about that field and receive a diploma or certificate in that area but you still are not certified until you take a certification exam. Even after graduation you will need to schedule an IT certification exam with prometric or pearsonvue in order to be certified in the field that you desire.
How many places do you know where you can get training on how to pass your information technology certification exam. Exam training is not the same as computer training. You will need knowledge of how to study for your certification exam and to know the proper study techniques because an IT exam is not the same as the exams in school. You will also need to know where to get updated material about your certification exam because if you are studying material that is outdated then you will not pass your certification exam. Certification exam training is important if you plan on passing your certification exam the first time so you can avoid 2nd and 3rd exam fees.
Some people may already be working on the job in the profession that they desire, such as a Server Administrator, Desktop Support Technician or a PC Repair Technician. They may have had prior training before employment but have never acquired a certification. They probably know their job and are very knowledgeable about their work and field but need a certification because their employer requires it. They do not need any computer training. They only need Certification exam training so they can pass their certification exam. I hope you get the picture now
by:COSMOPOINT (College of Technology Kota Kinabalu)

Origin and History of World Wide Web

The World Wide Web ("WWW" or simply the "Web") is a global information space which people can read and write via computers connected to the Internet. The term is often mistakenly used as a synonym for the Internet itself, but the Web is actually a service that operates over the Internet, just like e-mail. The History of the Internet dates back much earlier. The origins of the World Wide Web can be traced back to 1980. Since then it has evolved beyond what its creators imagined would be a file-sharing tool for academic and U.S. government contract researchers. 1980-91: Development of the WWW In 1980, Tim Berners-Lee, an independent contractor at CERN, built ENQUIRE, as a personal database of people and software models, but also as a way to play with hypertext; each new page of information in ENQUIRE had to be linked to an existing page. Another major development occurred when Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf introduced Transfer Control Protocol (TCP) in 1977 for cross-network connections. Although it had used the older Network Control Protocol (NCP) since its establishment in 1969, ARPANET and its associated networks slowly began a transition to the new protocol during the 1970s. In 1978, Internet Protocol was added to TCP, responsible for the routing of messages. The TCP/IP combination was officially adopted by ARPANET and its partners in 1983, redefining the Internet as networks using the TCP/IP network. The standardisation of network protocols helped lay the foundations for the later growth of the World Wide Web. In 1984 Berners-Lee returned to CERN, and considered its problems of information presentation: physicists from around the world needed to share data, with no common machines and no common presentation software. He wrote a proposal in March 1989 for "a large hypertext database with typed links", but it generated little interest. His boss, Mike Sendall, encouraged Berners-Lee to begin implementing his system on a newly acquired NeXT workstation. He considered several names, including Information Mesh or Mine of Information, but settled on World Wide Web. This NeXTcube used by Berners-Lee at CERN became the first Web server.He found an enthusiastic collaborator in Robert Cailliau, who rewrote the proposal (published on November 12, 1990) and sought resources within CERN. Berners-Lee and Cailliau pitched their ideas to the European Conference on Hypertext Technology in September 1990, but found no vendors who could appreciate their vision of marrying hypertext with the Internet. By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for a working Web: the first Web browser (which was a Web editor as well), the first Web server (info.cern.ch), and the first Web pages that described the project itself. The browser could access Usenet newsgroups and FTP files as well. However, it could run only on the NeXT; Nicola Pellow therefore created a simple text browser that could run on almost any computer. To encourage use within CERN, they put the CERN telephone directory on the web— previously users had had to log onto the mainframe in order to look up phone numbers. Paul Kunz from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center visited CERN in May 1991, and was captivated by the Web. He brought the NeXT software back to SLAC, where librarian Louise Addis adapted it as a way to display SLAC’s catalog of online documents; this was the first web server outside CERN and the first in North America. On August 6, 1991, Berners-Lee posted a short summary of the World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup. This date also marked the debut of the Web as a publicly available service on the Internet. “The WorldWideWeb (WWW) project aims to allow links to be made to any information anywhere. [...] The WWW project was started to allow high energy physicists to share data, news, and documentation. We are very interested in spreading the web to other areas, and having gateway servers for other data. Collaborators welcome!” —from Tim Berners-Lee’s first message  by:HinduWebsite http://www.hinduwebsite.com/webresources/articles/historyofwww.asp

Trends In RAID Technology - Technology Information

Charting the future helps users pick the best RAID-based storage solution

Today's technology is continually advancing, particularly in the field of storage and RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) solutions. Developers constantly create new, more advanced ways of managing and controlling information. RAID, a way of storing the same data in different places redundantly on multiple hard disks, has become a necessity. The amount of information and data being stored on hard drives has increased exponentially, along with the need to keep that data accessible. And, the need to have constant access to the data with the ability to update it grows daily. With that need in mind, manufacturers have developed and provided various different solutions to the ever-expanding market. RAID solutions can be used for any need and any level, from desktops and workstations to enterprise servers.

Developed by UC Berkeley's computer science department 20 years ago, RAID became a much-needed source of storing data due to the changes in technology and the use of computers. Computers and hard disk drives became faster, smaller and cheaper. The computer became a critical part of an organization's business. More and more data was stored in the computer and this information needed to be available 24/7.

In 1999, host-based RAID units grew 39.8 percent from 1998, which was twice that of multi-user server platform units, and UDMA or IDE RAID cards grew 167 percent from the previous year. Several challenges surfaced in the storage industry, including the need to:
* Improve system I/O performance at the pace of computing performance increases so that access to data did not become a limiting factor for applications; and;
* Provide uninterrupted access to on-line data at levels of reliability in excess of the expected lifetimes of the computer systems that process it.
* Why RAID has become a popular solution:
* The primary server bottleneck continues to be I/O Power, not CPU.
* The Internet industry's continued success depends on I/O throughput (LAN and Disk).
* PC servers are growing into mainframes and minis -- they need to match the I/O.
* The dollar per MB of storage continues to rapidly decline.

As we all know, data accessibility and reliability are essential key factors in today's business world. With more accessible and reliable data comes a price. How much of a price? It depends on the total storage requirement, the type of redundancy, and how quickly users need to recover from a failure. The cost of this hardware should be measured against the cost of system failure and the cost of downtime due to this failure. Some industries can sustain the loss of a disk drive or two and not suffer financially. Others where 24/7 availability is a requirement, such as brokerages, measure revenue loss in minutes of downtime. For this class of customer, RAID with full redundancy is a must-have.

One growing trend in RAID is Ultra l60 SCSI PCI low profile RAID controllers. Low profile PCI is a new PCI card standard for space-constrained system designs that maintain the same PC signals, electronics, functionality, and software drivers as standard PCI expansion cards. Based on the Low Profile PCI Standard (LPPCI) developed by the PCI Special Interest Group (SIG), the low profile RAID controller, targeted for 1 U and 2U servers, allows information technology (IT) managers to save expensive rack space, reduce co-location costs, and increase the available space for RAID storage, routers, and other types of adapters.
In addition to enabling these small rackable servers, the low profile board delivers increased value to workstations and dedicated task servers that have little space for add-in options. The low profile form factor 'meets customers' need for a physically smaller server. Until now, server OEMs desiring optional 110 configurations on their low profile rackable servers needed to mount standard PCI adapters horizontally. In many cases this increased overall implementation costs, limited flexibility, and hampered the ability to provide increased system scalability.

Choosing the best approach to RAID-based storage requires application and requirement analysis, and today's end users and systems integrators are faced with a steadily increasing number of technology choices. Fibre Channel is slowly taking a larger share of the high-end market from SCSI, while less complex and less expensive host-based RAID systems are becoming increasingly attractive to low-end and mid-range users. While new bus technologies continue to improve open storage bottlenecks in speed and other limitations including, cable distance, drive capacity and capabilities, drive prices continue to drop steadily.

by Jim Evans (BNET)

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BRZ/is_1_21/ai_77058005/?tag=mantle_skin;content

How to Successfully Execute IT Projects

Integrating Plans with Actuals

Projects are executed in order to bring in a positive return on investment (ROI). The ROI might be lowering risk, enhancing the organization's strategy, streamlining processes, complying with regulations, or otherwise improving the state of the organization in some way. This potential return must be quantified in financial terms, even if it is only a very rough estimate of the benefit provided. It motivates people to understand why they are working so hard, and a big number is a good motivation.

The other half of ROI is the investment or cost. Project managers and executives cannot know if a project was successful or not unless they understand its cost. In today's globalized knowledge worker world, project costs are mainly derived from the cost of labor. Consequently, tracking time to projects and tasks is an inescapable requirement for measuring project ROI.

If 10% of a project's allocated budget has been spent and only 5% of the work has been completed, there is a problem. Project managers who track employee actuals and find this out early in the project have a fighting chance of recovery. Those who don't will find out much later on that their projects are drastically over budget. This is just one example of how real-time data enables project managers to fix problems before they start.

By Curt Finch and Bruce McGraw (Smart Biz)
http://www.smartbiz.com/article/articleview/2509/2/58/

Microsoft Ahead of Cisco, IBM in UC Vendor Matrix

CRN Network, July 6, 2011, 0920

Microsoft has topped the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research. Cisco and IBM claimed the second and third spots in the company's most recent evaluation of worldwide unified communications (UC) vendors.

The Vendor Matrix is an analytical tool developed by ABI Research to provide a clear understanding of vendors' positions in specific markets. Vendors are assessed on the important parameters of innovation and implementation unique to each vendor matrix.

Subha Rama, Senior Analyst ABI Research said, "Microsoft has shown the strongest growth among UC vendors, leveraging its position as a leader in desktop applications. It has, over the years, integrated multiple solutions in its portfolio to offer a compelling software-based UC solution in Lync. Microsoft also has the widest spectrum of partners for Lync and is expanding this ecosystem rapidly. It has an equally significant play both on the premises and in the cloud."

Dan Shey, Practice Director Dan said, "Cisco scores very high for the way it has evolved its UC channel partner ecosystem: all leading system integrators view Cisco as one of the top two key vendors in this space. IBM was among the first to bring a high degree of credibility to the integration of social computing tools with UC platforms."

For this particular matrix, under "innovation," ABI Research examined the vendors' UC channel ecosystems, mobility (the ability to offer clients the same user experience on different devices, among other factors), technology partners, the cost of licensing and equipment, the nature of their application development efforts, the range of professional services vendors offer, and the scope of their product portfolios.
by:Computer Reseller News
http://www.crn.in/Software-006Jul011-Microsoft-Ahead-of-Cisco-IBM-in-UC-Vendor-Matrix.aspx

SAP Launches BusinessOne for SMEs

 CRN Network, July 6, 2011, 1045 hrs  

SAP has announced the availability of starter packages for the SAP Business One solution for the SMEs. SAP channel partners now can offer a fixed-price, small-scale option for companies needing to equip only one to five users with business software.   The starter packages comprise the basic finance, sales, purchasing, customer relationship management and inventory functionality databases. When they eventually grow and need to add more users, customers can upgrade to the standard edition of SAP Business One at any time, without having to reconfigure the software.   Depending on the scope of the project, the starter package can be implemented within three to 10 days. SAP is launching the packages based on feedback from channel partners that were seeing strong response to similar scaled-down offerings in several of these regions, especially among startup companies. The starter packages also can create new opportunities for software solution providers (SSPs) to help value-added resellers (VARs) expand sales, a SAP official said.
by:Computer Reseller News
http://www.crn.in/Software-006Jul011-Microsoft-Ahead-of-Cisco-IBM-in-UC-Vendor-Matrix.aspx

Promoting ICT for Human Development in Asia Page Tools

Background  In examining the use of ICTs for development between 1995-1997 conducted by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD), the Working Group on IT and Development noted that despite the positive impacts experienced in the industrialized countries and certain sectors of many developing countries, evidence showed that there were many people, especially in the least developed countries whose lives had been barely touched by ICTs.  There were also many whose lives were being negatively affected by their exclusion from the global information society or by the social or economic dislocations that can accompany the impact of these technologies (Mansell and Wehn, 1998). Notwithstanding the evident positive impact of ICTs on developing societies, the critical imperative overlooked in national information planning policy is the extent to which they address real development concerns across nations.  In this context, Mansell and Wehn (1998: 6) raise some crucial questions, which need to be urgently addressed by the political leaders and citizens of the developing world: “Are the benefits of the increasingly widespread, albeit uneven, diffusion and application of these technologies outweighing the risks for developing countries? Are the stakeholders in developing countries taking appropriate measures to minimize the risks of social and economic exclusion that could be associated with these revolutionary technologies?”  The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) Working Group on IT and Development carried out in-depth studies of the use of ICTs for Development between 1995-1997 (Mansell and Wehn, 1998). The findings of these studies not only provide some interesting and useful insights into the problems of access and use of information technology by developing countries but also call for caution and careful planning and implementation of ICTs if they are to be harnessed for genuine development objectives and goals.  The Working Group on IT and Development found in its study that while there were positive impacts which were being experienced in the industrialized countries and certain sectors of many developing countries, there was not sufficient evidence to suggest that the positive impact of these technologies on developing economies and societies were as pervasive as the debate about the benefits of the global information society made it appear.  The UNCSTD Working Group reached two principal conclusions (Mansell and Wehn, 1998: 7):  1. “Although the costs of using ICTs to build national information infrastructures which can contribute to innovative ‘knowledge societies’ are high, the costs of not doing so are likely to be much higher.  2. Developing countries are at very different starting positions in the task of building innovative and distinctive ‘knowledge societies’ and in using their national information infrastructures to support their development objectives.”  ICT has changed the course of development in the Asia-Pacific region. It has, however, not progressed at the same pace of change and progress across all countries. Connectivity, infrastructure, human capacity and knowledge creation and exchange, underpinned by cohesive national e-strategies fed into national development plans remain a daunting challenge, with some countries seizing the opportunities for enhanced development provided by ICT, better than others. Efforts are needed to level playing fields and encourage strategic and effective use of ICT to further human development and help eradicate poverty.  The choices guiding ICT initiatives in Asia are essentially driven by economic and commercial (self?) interest and as Mody (1999:7) argues “the gloss around the technology does not deal with the social choices about how to computerize (or communicate) and the ways in which different forms of computerization (or communication) advance different values”. The guiding of ICT initiatives in Asia are also driven by governmental agendas, such as social policy, military security, etc. Where then does all this leave development? As we have argued, it is urgent to reinstate development at the core of ICT initiatives in the developing world to avert the "digital capitalism's" further marginalization of large sections of the populations in the developing world.
by: United Nations Development  Programme
http://www.apdip.net/projects/rhdr/about/background