NTU, Singapore calls for ICT4D grant proposals

Posted on August 26, 2008 / 10 Comments

The Strengthening ICT4D Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA) Programme of NTU Singapore has announced a call for grant proposals.

The SIRCA Programme seeks to identify future research leaders and to facilitate their development through the support of research grants. The awards are intended to ensure capacities to conduct research in the area of Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D or ICTD) are built in Asia. This applies particularly to emerging researchers based in Asia who are relatively new to ICTD research and interested in undertaking theoretically-based and methodologically rigorous research. Additionally, these applicants would benefit from concerted capacity building exercises including a mentorship arrangement. In particular, the program promotes broad-based high-quality multidisciplinary research in ICT development, e-services, new media use and social impact, and policy for the benefit and advancement of individuals, organizations, nation and society.

Visit the following web page for additional information about the programme and the call for proposals: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/sirca

More Information

10 Comments

salman ijaz
August 28, 2008, 3:23 pm
i m a student of telecommunication
and doing number of reasearch projects
i recently wrote a research paper on the WPM (Wavlet Packet Modulation)
i want to know about this program
on which type of projects it will provide grant
and also what about stuiedents who want to do some research work
how will this program address those students

thanks
Mohammad Zakaria
August 28, 2008, 4:11 pm
‘Participation, ICT & Local level Good Governance’is the name of my action research proposal. We are already piloting with one union parishad in south west Bangladesh.We are providing virtual services on agriculture to the farmers, health, education etc. This union parishad is now email connected.Biggest need here is around micro borrowers in order to make their investment profitable so that they can repay loans and make livelihood out of loan operation.Since we are located in union parishad building our understanding of union parishad operation is deepening and trying to specify where exactly union parishad role can be interfaced in between community empowerment and ICT.Or how to enhance Union parishad capacity to facilitate the process.

Ministry of Local Government,Bangladesh with support from a donor consortium, is going to support fifty unions very soon . We are negotiating nine unions [union parishad is lowest tier of government administration in Bangladesh]where union parishad will remain responsible for the project captioned UIC [Union Information Center].We are curious to learn from the action process – what are the relative weightage of community empowerment and information [ICT] in bringing changes in various sectors including agriculture, health, education etc with active role of union parishad.

One hypotheis is – without community empowerment demand led ICT will not be achivable. ICT itself has in born tendency of being supply led,crippling sustained impact.Initial positive outcomes must be transformed into longterm sustained impact.Computer itself is not Aladin’s lamp.However, potentially it is Aladin’s lamp,if manouvered properly.Local governance so far worked as extension of central government. New opportunities have been created in Bangladesh for enhanced space for local governance. Such initial euphoria will not last long without investment in capacity building of union parishads through participatory research and participatory planning where community takes lead in identifying their own issues and make decisions to interact with officials of local govrnment. ICT brings here additional muscle of information- connecting villages with the global village in this flat world.

From GonoGobeshona [participatory research]a registered NGO in Bangladesh, working since 1988, is hereby registering interest to work on relative weightage of Participation [ experiential learning of the people], ICT [external Information]in bringing change and ending poverty.Role of union parishad as institution comes because some where these grassroots learning has to be stored and conituously refreshed from the field ideas to fix in the next round of planning and implementation. In our situation union parishad is best suited to institutionalize such new knowledge generated out of people’s own experintial learning and extrnal information viz ICT.
Rohan Samarajiva
August 28, 2008, 6:00 pm
No problem with posting your proposals here, but if you really want funding, best to send them to the people running the competition, which is not us.
G M Mourtoza
August 28, 2008, 10:19 pm
We are pleased to inform you that Centre for Communication and Development (CCD-Bangladesh), a knowledge centre has been sincerely working in the northern region of the country for advocating freedom of press and right to information, enhancing professional skills of the journalists, media owners and managers, building communication and public relation skills of development activists as well as promoting citizens and community journalism through arranging various effective activities since 1999.

CCD is committed to utilize full power and potential of information and communication media for the betterment of the people and the societies as well as raise marginalize people’s voice for their empowerment.

CCD has been conducting several kinds of researches and studies since its inception. CCD has planed to conduct ICTs based action research in future. In this regard, We would like to take part the this Call for Proposal and submit a inovative ITCs based porject for Bangladesg. We hope that SIRCA will come forward to assist us.
Dr.Naushad
August 29, 2008, 10:59 am
Dear sir
I am senior lecturer of chemistry. Can I submit a project from chemistry background.
with regards
Sunil Rodrigo
August 29, 2008, 2:38 pm
Weare an organization carrying out sustainable development activities in income generation at house hold level through ICT,Enterprise Development,Resource management and facilitating good practices to meet the changing market envirnment and the competition. Being facilitators of the largest women own enterprise in Srilanka [basket waving at house hold level] with 3800 share holders we like to share our experience and success stories with others.
Regards
Sunil
Mahfuz Ashraf
August 31, 2008, 6:45 pm
Mr Zakaria,

You would get few ongoing ICT4D projects in Bangladesh looking at your micro level issues.
http://digitaldiv.villbd.2agile.com/index.htm
If interested further about ICT4D grant and putting an application, please contact me.
Mahfuz
Mahfuz Ashraf
August 31, 2008, 6:46 pm
salman ijaz….see the above message for Mr Jazaria
SIRCA
September 6, 2008, 7:15 pm
Dear,

Please note that the relevant details of the grant call is available on the SIRCA website: http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/sirca/home.html

Also, participants are required to indicate their interest or direct any enquires by sending an email to sirca@ntu.edu.sg.

Thank you!

SIRCA Secretariat
Le Thi Nhu Xuan
September 10, 2008, 5:18 am
we would like to have more support to Project “Building humain capacitty for economic villages develop- Throught temples traditional vietnamese on 21 century”- Temples Vietnames as meeting room and culture house. The temples traditionals has buiding like the PC-networks. Villages to villages small to grander.
Now Internet support Temples to temples connecting

– In supporting of UNESCO, one Mobil training course was etablish to have conditions to bruing Nootbook to villages for training
– One web building to share informations and made forum
– one server set up as home business sub-pilot project develop
– 3 pc install to tree villagess in its temples
– We would like to have more more temples PCs installations