Uruguay

The Bolivian government is focusing on telecentres as a means of bringing internet access to the population, especially in rural and marginalised areas. But according to researcher Orlando Arratia, the structural problems that currently limit connectivity cannot be resolved until the government adopts a national broadband policy.

In the 1990s, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela privatised their telecomms sectors and the policies were a dismal failure. Almost 20 years on the Andean region has some of the worst connectivity statistics of all Latin America. For example only 4 in 100 Bolivians have internet access. Of the four, two will have broadband connections but out-of-date telephone systems will force the ...

“As feminists, we are creating our own media and disrupting and challenging mainstream notions of identity and what women are or should be. We are self-representing, to recast ourselves and challenge stale notions of what women are or should be. We are demonstrating the multiplicity and diversity of who we are”, writes APC women’s programme as a prologue to the Beijing+15 review proce...

Studies reveal that the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) makes up 2% of all global emissions – the same amount as the airline industry. By 2012, 4.5 billion people will have access to a mobile phone – the majority will be those live on less than USD 2 a day and be the most likely to be affected by climate change. “Planting the Knowledge Seed – Adapting to cl...

Today hundreds of people will march through Montreal in support of APC member Alternatives – a non-profit organisation which has helped thousands of people living in some of the most difficult situations in the world. Alternatives has come under attack from the right-wing Conservative government in Canada and it is rumoured faces savage funding cuts which could threaten its existence. Join th...

Since the inception of the IGF, the Council of Europe, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and APC have been working on a joint initiative on public participation in internet governance. Now a draft code of good practice on transparency, information and participation in internet governance is ready for comment!

The Internet Governance Forum is the only space of its kind in the world – it acts as a “pressure relief valve” for some of the most important and controversial issues related to the global internet. The IGF is in its fourth year of existence and next year could be its last. APC brings you quickly up to date with some of the most pressing issues to be debated from November 15-18.

APC staff and members will be in Sharm El-Sheikh, in the fourth meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. We'll be running two workshops and launching two publications. Here's a quick review of our activities. We'll be providing on-site coverage for those of you following the IGF remotely.