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Fusion – Sarvodaya ICT4D Movement
Fusion is the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) for Development (ICT4D) movement of Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka, the leading NGO, serving over 15,000 villages. The name Sarvodaya is taken from the Sanskrit meaning of 'awakening (udaya) of all (sarva)', and roots back to the Gandhian ideals. Fusion, as implied by the true meaning of the word, envisages the fusion of the vision and mission of Sarvodaya into the broader development scenario, using Information and Communication technologies (ICT) as a common fabric. Thus, Fusion is identified as the ICT for Development (ICT4D) movement of Sarvodaya. Fusion primarily, but not exclusively, works with the villages that have already been socially and economically uplifted through diverse community development programs carried out over a period of time. Thus they are better prepared to connect with the information age. For instance a community having a registered society, with a healthy track record of micro-finance activities is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information And Communications Technology
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information. ICT is also used to refer to the convergence of audiovisuals and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives to merge the telephone networks with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution, and management. ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device, encompassing radio, television, cell phones, computer and network hardware, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and appliances with them such as video conferencing and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economic Development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and objectives. The term has been used frequently in the 20th and 21st centuries, but the concept has existed in the West for far longer. " Modernization", "Westernization", and especially "industrialization" are other terms often used while discussing economic development. Historically, economic development policies focused on industrialization and infrastructure; since the 1960s, it has increasingly focused on poverty reduction. Whereas economic development is a policy intervention aiming to improve the well-being of people, economic growth is a phenomenon of market productivity and increases in GDP; economist Amartya Sen describes economic growth as but "one aspect of the process of economic development". Economists primarily focus on the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telecentre
A telecentre is a public place where people can access computers, the Internet, and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information, create, learn, and communicate with others while they develop essential digital skills. Telecentres exist in almost every country, although they sometimes go by a different names including public internet access center (PIAP), village knowledge center, infocenter, Telecottage, Electronic Village Hall, community technology center (CTC), community multimedia center (CMC), multipurpose community telecentre (MCT), Common/Citizen Service Centre (CSC) and school-based telecentre. While each telecentre is different, their common focus is on the use of digital technologies to support community, economic, educational, and social development—reducing isolation, bridging the digital divide, promoting health issues, creating economic opportunities, and reaching out to youth for example.ENRAP. (June, 2000)Knowledge Networking for Rural Developm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratnapura
Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located on the Kalu Ganga (Black River) in south-central Sri Lanka, some southeast of the country's capital, Colombo. Ratnapura is also spelled as Rathnapura. The name 'Ratnapura' is a Sanskrit word meaning "city of gems", from the Sanskrit words ''pura'' (town) and ''ratna'' (gemstone). Over 2000 years ago, when the first Buddhist monks arrived here from the north eastern provinces of India namely Bodh-Gaya, Varanasi and Pataliputra, they not only brought with them the Buddhist religion, but since their teachings were mainly in Sanskrit and Pali they also influenced the local language. While candy produced from the jaggery palm is traditionally known in this region as ''ratnapura'', it is more likely that the candy was named for the locale rath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kahawatta
Kahawatta ( si, කහවත්ත, ta, கஹவத்தா) is a town in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is located in the central mountains of Sri Lanka at an elevation of . The town and its surrounding area is recognised for its large tea plantations and the gem industry. According to local folklore, the area was popular for providing turmeric to the Maha Saman Devalaya of Ratnapura. As a result, the area is known as Kahawatta, which means the "turmeric garden". Transport Kahawatta is situated at the intersection of the Nonagama - Pelmadulla Road (A18) and the Watapotha - Opanayake Road, on the banks of the Wey Ganga. It is approximately southeast of Ratnapura and approximately southeast of Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colomb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information And Communication Technology Agency Of Sri Lanka
The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA; si, ශ්රී ලංකා තොරතුරු හා සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණ නියෝජිතායතනය, Shri Lanka Thorathuru Ha Sannivedana Thakshana Niyojithayathanaya) is the lead agency in Sri Lanka for implementation of information and communications technology (ICT) initiatives by the Government of Sri Lanka. It was established to develop the economy of Sri Lanka through ICT. To this end, it works to improve the country's technological capacity, such as building infrastructure, and the readiness of its people, through education and human resources. It is also active in developing regulations around the use of technology and disseminating information worldwide about Sri Lankan ICT. Its current Chairman is Prof. Malik Ranasinghe. Establishment ICTA was established on 12 May 2003 under the Information and Communication Technology Act, No. 27 of 2003, and strengthened by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micro Finance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient.Christen, Robert Peck Christen; Rosenberg, Richard; Jayadeva, Veena. ''Financial institutions with a double-bottom line: Implications for the future of microfinance''. CGAP, Occasional Papers series, July 2004, pp. 2–3. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution. Microfinance initially had a limited definition: the provision of microloans to poor entrepreneurs and small businesses lacking access to credit. The two main mechanisms for the delive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information Age
The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology. The onset of the Information Age has been linked to the development of the transistor in 1947, the optical amplifier in 1957, and Unix time, which began on January 1, 1970 and serves as the basis for Coordinated Universal Time and the Network Time Protocol. These technological advances have had a significant impact on the way information is processed and transmitted. According to the United Nations Public Administration Network, the Information Age was formed by capitalizing on computer microminiaturization advances, which led to modernized information systems and internet communications as the driving force of social evolution. Overview of early development ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Change
Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic structure, for instance the transition from feudalism to capitalism, or hypothetical future transition to some form of post-capitalism. Social development refers to how people develop social and emotional skills across the lifespan, with particular attention to childhood and adolescence. Healthy social development allows us to form positive relationships with family, friends, teachers, and other people in our lives. Accordingly, it may also refer to social revolution, such as the Socialist revolution presented in Marxism, or to other social movements, such as women's suffrage or the civil ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement
The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement is a self-governance movement in Sri Lanka, which provides comprehensive development and conflict resolution programs to villages. It is also the largest indigenous organization working on reconstruction from the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Founded in 1958 by A. T. Ariyaratne when he took “forty high school students and twelve teachers from Nalanda College Colombo on “an educational experiment” to an outcaste village, Kathaluwa, and helped the villagers fix it up. As of 2006, Sarvodaya staff people and programs are active in some 15,000 (of 38,000) villages in Sri Lanka. The organization estimates that 11 million citizens are individual beneficiaries of one of its programs. The group distributes funds from a financial reserve bank of 1.6 billion rupees. The Sarvodaya movement belongs to the Global Ecovillage Network. Etymology The movement is based on Buddhist and Gandhian principles. Coined by Mohandas Gan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information And Communication Technology
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information. ICT is also used to refer to the convergence of audiovisuals and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives to merge the telephone networks with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution, and management. ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device, encompassing radio, television, cell phones, computer and network hardware, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and appliances with them such as video conferencing and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or absorption of energy. This difference in mass arises due to the difference in nuclear binding energy between the atomic nuclei before and after the reaction. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers active or main-sequence stars and other high-magnitude stars, where large amounts of energy are released. A nuclear fusion process that produces atomic nuclei lighter than iron-56 or nickel-62 will generally release energy. These elements have a relatively small mass and a relatively large binding energy per nucleon. Fusion of nuclei lighter than these releases energy (an exothermic process), while the fusion of heavier nuclei results in energy retained by the product nucleons, and the resulting reaction is endo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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