Launch of CITE
On 22 September 2010, the Centre launched the Committee of Information Technology Experts (CITE), a non-profit volunteer group that aims to inform Singapore online users of their rights and responsibilities with the larger goal of encouraging greater use of the Internet and the media. CITE is formed by professionals from diverse background such as lawyers, academics and internet technologists. To view the news releases, click on SiRC in Media.


SIRCA Graduate Award 2010

The SIRCA programme is offering a graduate award, with the objective of providing support for Master's thesis research in the area of ICT for Development. The successful recipient will receive supplemental financial support ranging from  SGD2,000 to SGD 5,000.

Eligibility: Currently enrolled graduate students, particularly the Master of Communication Studies students, as of September 2010.

For more information, please log on to SIRCA website http://www.sirca.org.sg/


The World Internet Project (WIP) Meeting 2010, Lisbon, 5-10 July 2010
SiRC reassessed if the Centre will continue to be part of the project and in what form. For more information about the meeting, please click here.


3rd International ICTs-and-Society Network Meeting, Barcelona 1-5 July 2010
SiRC representative, Prof Ang was Involved in the preparation committee for this conference. This meeting discussed the agenda items raised in the first meeting in 2008. PhD student exchange, summer schools, research collaboration and formation of a network of Internet policy researchers were among the topics discussed. For more information, please click here.


Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, Hong Kong 14 -16 June 2010
SiRC is part of the organising committee. SiRC representative, Prof Ang spoke at the conference. The aim of his involvement was to discuss the future of the United Nations’ Internet Governance Forum. The Forum has a 5-year mandate and is slated to end this year. This was the Asia Pacific regional meeting to gather regional perspectives and inputs for the IGF to be held in September 14-17 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
For more information, please click here.


8th Chinese Internet Research Conference, Beijing 28-30 June 2010
Prof. Ang represented the SiRC as a co-organizer of the conference and he was a moderator for a session titled “ICT Infrastructure and Public Administration”. For more information, please click here.
 

Congratulations to Ms.Komathi A Le on receiving the SIRCA GRADUATE AWARD to pursue the Master of Communications programme at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. The Award valued at SGD 15,000 will commence from Academic Year AY2009/2010.

The SIRCA programme is offering two graduate awards with the objective of providing support for master’s/PhD thesis research in the area of ICT for Development.

This Award is open to all currently enrolled, and entering, students of the Master of Communication Studies/WKWSCI PhD programme by January 2010. All submissions must be made online to sirca@ntu.edu.sg by Tuesday 15th June, 2009 11:59 EST. Grant award results will be announced in late July 2009. For more details, please click here

Two opportunities to enter global online competitions and to be showcased to a network of like-minded community members, funders, CSOs, thought leaders, universities, governments, and enthusiasts!

Ashoka is a global non-profit network and support system for social entrepreneurs—people who devise innovative solutions to the social problems that plague society. To further this goal, Ashoka's Changemakers (www.changemakers.net <http://www.changemakers.net/> ) provides an online, interactive forum that encourages collaboration and discussion, along with theme-based competitions, to draw out the most effective ideas.

ENTER ONLINE GLOBAL COMPETITION: "The Geotourism Challenge: Power of Place."
Entry Deadline: May 20, 2009.
Prizes: Three top winners get $5,000 each.

Competition focus: In partnership with National Geographic Society, Ashoka's Changemakers is looking for examples of sustainable management of tourism, or geotourism, as it is widely known. NatGeo defines geotourism as ''tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place--its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.'' We're looking at people and organizations -- including the government, and corporations -- that are are initiating responsible innovations that use tourism to help sustain, enhance, or preserve local culture, build heritage, and natural habitats. For more details on the competition, please visit: http://www.changemakers.net/geotourismchallenge

ENTER ONLINE GLOBAL COMPETITION, "Cultivating Innovation: Solutions for Rural Communities"
Entry Deadline: May 13, 2009.

Prizes: a) Three top winners get $5,000 each; b) Early Bird Prize: If you enter by April 13, 2009, you could win a cell phone and digital camera (equal value of USD $1000); c) Nominator Prize: If you nominate people/organizations who could enter the competition, you stand to win a special prize!

Competition focus: In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ashoka's Changemakers is looking for innovative solutions that span the entire agricultural value chain – from seeds to sales. Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people—the 1 billion who live on $1 a day or less—rely on agriculture to feed themselves and their families, yet many cannot grow enough to sell or even eat. If you've come up with strategies, tools and opportunites for small farmers to boost their productivity, increase their incomes, and build better lives for themselves and their families, enter now! For more details on the competition, please visit http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/agriculture

For more information or media queries, please contact Ms. Kalpana Kaul, Asia Director & Managing Editor, Ashoka's Changemakers. Tel. No. 033-2417-2587; 6535-8647 (Kolkata, India). Email: changemakers@vsnl.com; kkaul@ashoka.org

Congratulations to WKWSCI’s Asst Professor Vivian Chen Hsueh-hua in attaining $1.6M of award funding for the 3rd Call for Proposals under NRF's R&D Programme on IDM in Education! The Ministry of Education (MOE) received a total of 23 proposals from 3 Institutions of Higher Learning for the NRF’s R&D programme on IDM in Education, and only 5 proposals including Dr Chen’s were successful. For more detailed information, please click here (NRF Announcement).

State of Play is coming to Chicago! This year's State of Play, the only conference about the serious study of virtual worlds, will take place October 20-22, 2008, at the River East Art Center in Chicago.

Organized by New York Law School in conjunction with the MacArthur Foundation, the conference invites experts across disciplines to discuss philanthropy in virtual worlds.

Virtual worlds are crucial building blocks of global civil society. As such, they harbor great potential for relationship building and cooperation across national borders. We hope you will join us for this important interdisciplinary conversation.

Registration will be available shortly.


IDRC and SiRC are pleased to announce the maiden call for grant proposals under the new initiative SIRCA. The SIRCA Programme seeks to identify future research leaders and to facilitate their development through the support of research grants. The awards are intended to ensure capacities to conduct research in the area of Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D or ICTD) are built in Asia. Click here for more details.

Seminar on Internet Regulatory Reform.  This public forum was held on Saturday 21 June at 2pm. The seminar was part of Singapore's ongoing dialogue on internet policy and included presentations by independent bloggers. Click here for more details.

Germany Professor Joining SCI

We extend a warm welcome to Professor Marcel Machill who has joined the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information as a visiting professor from Feb 2007. Prof. Marcel Machill is a tenured professor of journalism and international media systems at the University of Leipzig in Germany.
Prof. Machill's research combines results from journalism/media science and computer science. His current focus is on search engines and digital gatekeepers, including electronic program guides in digital TV, web portals and Internet search engines. He is paying attention to such fundamental questions as why and how such gatekeepers are developed, which role they play in the media markets, and which impact they have for the working conditions of journalists.

Prof. Marcel Machill graduated with a PhD in media policy and media economy in the University of Dortmund, completing a thesis on the topic "French Media and Language Policy". Before becoming a university professor in University of Leipzig in 2002, Marcel Machill was Head of the Department of Media Policy at the Bertelsmann Foundation, where he was responsible for International Media Politics and Science Journalism. He also worked as a journalist in both print and electronic media.

Prof. Marcel Machill has published in many renowned scientific and technical journals (for ex., the Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, The European Journal of Communication, The Journal of Media Economics). He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Journalism Practice, the new scholarly international journal published by Routledge.

He is currently teaching CS225 IT and New Media and CS446 Communication Issues in Singapore and Asia in Sem 2 and CS802 Social Issues in Science and Technology during the Special Term.