Hello again.

Further to my request for suggested case studies of ICT's at work in the
SADC region (see earlier message 'ICT's that work...and don't'), I am also
looking to recruit people to research and write for the study on ICTs and
Development that I am co-ordinating for the Panos Institute. Payment for
this work will be competitive and in hard currency.

Particularly, I am looking for:
* IT experts working in the region who can write well.
* Journalists / freelance writers with some knowledge of ICTs.

Authors are needed for the following sections of the study:

1) Short profiles (about 500 words each) of case studies in SADC countries
where ICTs benefitted politically and/or economically marginalised people.
We will also look at include case studies where ICT's have failed to
promote development. The authors will need to be resident in, and
preferably citizens / permanent residents of the countries in which the
case studies are situated. We intend to include case studies from all 14
SADC countries (Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia,
Zimbabwe).

2) The case study authors will also be required to research and write short
profiles (about 500 words each) of their respective countries, outlining
government policy and legislation concerning ICTs (telecoms regulation
etc), as well as facts and figures that reflect the state of ICTs and
development in each country (eg.statistics for rural teledensity, cost and
reach of cell phone services etc).

3) Longer (about 1500 words) analytical articles on key aspects of the ITC
and development debate in southern Africa. These articles will take a
critical look at these issues and their impact on / relevance to
development within southern Africa. While these articles should be well
informed and well researched, they should not be academic in style, but
rather punchy and hopefully even entertaining! The topics to be covered are:

* Telemedicine and tele-education: the realities in terms of practice and
potential in southern Africa
* ICTs and human rights / democracy
* Universal access / service, with particular emphasis on rural development
* Financing ICT development (covering issues such as the impact of telecoms
accounting rate reform, private sector investment, public/private sector
partnerships)
* The South African model - theory and practice
* A historical perspective on communications and communications technology
in (southern) Africa, and the lessons that can learnt from past
"information revolutions".
* New technologies - which technologies really work, and are the most
appropriate for contributing to development in southern Africa.
* The role of ICTs in trade and economics in southern Africa, with
particular emphasis on their impact upon poor people.
* View from the WTO / ITU - what really motivates the international
community's policies and actions related to ICTs in Africa?


If you would like to be considered as an author for any of the above,
please e-mail me ([log in to unmask]) by May 30, stating which part(s)
of the study you are interested in  writing and researching, and in which
SADC country you are living in. Also include your CV., and a recent sample
of something you have written (please only send attachments in Word, HTML,
or text formats).

If you know of someone else who might be interested in being an author,
please either forward this message to them, or e-mail me their contact
details.

I look forward to hearing from you.



David Lush
Freelance Journalist
PO Box 8828, Bachbrecht, Windhoek, Namibia
Tel. +264 61 252946
e-mail: [log in to unmask]