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bridges.org |
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| About bridges.org
Bridges.org is an international NGO with a mission to promote effective technology use in the developing world, help people in developing countries use ICT to improve their lives, and tackle the digital divide. It is a Section 21 non-profit corporation in South Africa, and a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in the United States. It was founded in 2000 in Washington DC, and now has its main office in Cape Town. Its multi-disciplinary staff, and engaged board and advisors bring together a wide range of experience in ICT and related issues from the worlds of business, academia, technology and development. Bridges.org also combines involvement in the highest levels of international technology policy-making with participation in ground level projects in developing countries and disadvantaged communities, research, and report writing. It is one of only a few organisations that bring a holistic vision to the issues involved in ICT-enabled development. It has established an international reputation for the quality and objectivity of its work, and has produced reports for the UN ICT Task Force, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and a number of multi-national corporations and civil society organisations. Bridges.org looks at what is known and what is being done about international and domestic digital divides, highlights trends, and draws conclusions about what more is needed to tackle the range of problems. It reviews basic facts about ICT access and use, and provides resources for further information. It examines approaches to the problems, considers ground level initiatives and government policies that play a role, and reflects on what is working best and what is failing – and why. Finally, it illustrates the key elements necessary for integrating technology into society in an effective, sustainable way so that people can put technology to use to improve their lives. This is what bridges.org calls Real Access to technology, which is becoming a term of art in the development community. The organisation brings an entrepreneurial attitude to its social mission, and is committed to working with, instead of against, government agencies and the business community. And it encourages organisations involved in ICT development to improve what they do, and relay the lessons they have learned to the international development community. The organisation is committed to increasing awareness, establishing best practice, reducing duplication, and building indigenous capacity. Recent bridges.org work includes: a seminal report on the digital divide, Spanning the Digital Divide: Understanding and Tackling the Issues (2001), which has been downloaded more than 14,000 times since publication; an evaluation on the viability of hand-held technology for health-care applications in Africa for Satellife (2003); a pilot project to develop new methods of delivering entrepreneurship support
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