re:publica 2010

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The topics network neutrality und innovation will be covered by Rick Whitt, Senior Policy Counsel at Google, on Friday at 10 a.m. at the Friedrichstadtpalast: “At the Net’s Edge: Adaptive Policymaking in the Broadband Era.”

“The talk will explore the often-confusing intersection of technology, law, and markets, with a particular emphasis on public policies related to broadband communications networks.”

Rick Whitt blogs on the  Google Policy Blog . Google is partner of the re:publica 2010.

One of the many highlights this coming Thursday will be the event on “Mobile Activism in Africa“. Moderated by Geraldine de Bastion, the bloggers Sokari Ekine and the Ushahidi-developer Victor Miclovich will report how information technology and social media is changing Africa. The discussion will be held on Thursday at 3 pm at the Friedrichstadtpalast.

From the announcement:

The spread of mobile technologies has opened new opportunities for social and political activism in Africa. During the past years, the world has witnessed the spread of innovative tools around the world, developed in Africa. Crowdsourcing tools such as Frontline SMS and Ushahidi have attracted international media attention and are being used by organizations around the world today. This is a true shift in paradigm away from the classical model of technologies from the west being brought to Africa to foster development.

Who are the people developing and using such solutions in Africa? What impact does the spread and use of such tools have – for instance on making information available, mobilizing for campaigns and political actions? Two experts will share their experiences and thoughts on these questions: Sokari Ekine does not only write one of the most read blogs written by a woman in Africa, but is also editor of the book “SMS Uprising – Mobile Activism in Africa”. She will present the case studies and contents of this work and share insights from her own blogging experience in Nigeria. Victor Miclovich is one of the developers in the Ushahidi team and currently developing a new innovation: Swift River – a crowdsourcing tool to verify news and information which he will present at the re:publica.

“Digital Natives” is an artistic term to describe a generation that is growing up with the internet. But how do digital technologies in the hands of this generation change the societies in the global South, the developing countries and emerging economies? To answer these questions we have invited Nishant Shah from the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, India. He will speak about “Inquilab 2.0: Digital Natives with a Cause?”.

The lecture  will be held on the 15th April at 11:00 a.m.  at the Friedrichstadtpalast. And here is the extensive abstract:

“As a growing population in emerging Information Societies, particularly in Asia, experience a lifestyle mediated by digital technologies, there is also a correlated concern about the young digital natives constructing their identities and expressions through a world of incessant consumption, while remaining apathetic to the immediate political and social needs of their times. Governments, educators, civil society theorists and practitioners, have all expressed alarm at how the digital natives across the globe are so entrenched in practices of incessant consumption that they have a disconnect with the larger external reality and contained within digital deliriums. They discard the emergent communication and expression trends, mobilisation and participation platforms, and processes of cultural production as trivial or unimportant. Such a perspective is embedded in a non-changing view of the political landscape and do not take into account that the Digital Natives are engaging in practices which might not necessarily subscribe to the earlier notions of political revolution, but offer possibilities for great social transformation and participation.

The oldest Digital Native in the world – if popular definitions of Digital Natives are accepted – turned 30 this year, whereas the youngest is not yet born. In the last three decades, a population has been growing up born in technologies, and mediated their sense of self and their interactions with external reality through digital and internet technologies. These interactions lead to significant transitions in the landscape of the social and political movements as the Digital Natives engage and innovate with new technologies to respond to crises in their local and immediate environments. However, more often than not, these experiments remain invisible to the mainstream discourses. The mechanics, aesthetics and manifestation of these localised and contextual practices hold the potentials for social transformation and political participation for the future. This presentation looks at three different case studies to look at how, through processes and productions which have largely been neglected as self indulgent or frivolous, Digital Natives around the world are actively participating in the politics of their times, and also changing the way in which we understand the political processes of mobilisation, participation and transformation.