This open source training toolkit has been developed by the Open Source Resource Center (OSRC). Used as the basis for OSRC's training workshops, it contains step-by-step manuals related to open source applications for databases, application servers, desktop applications, office productivity suites, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, and open source desktop applications for the Microsoft Windows platform.

The research division of OSIPTEL, Peru's telecom regulator, has released a new set of working documents. These documents (in Spanish) cover, from a theoretical perspective and reviewing the recent economic literature, several subjects related to fixed telephony investment projects, service access and pricing in the Peruvian economy, tariffs and their effect in the consumers, interconnection fee analysis and the role of regulation in innovation.

The working papers represent an interesting summary of the current economic literature in the field of telecommunication services from a Peruvian perspective, that can also be useful in analyzing other markets of the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The working paper written by Kristian López, “Models of access in a context of uncertain income”, presents a theoretical frame to understand the relationship between low income or uncertain income and the fixed telephony service demand. The study shows how income uncertainty drives down household demands for services. This document is especially useful to understand the service demand of those living in poverty conditions, even in urban areas and it helps to explain the coverage gap seen in developing countries. The document also concludes that in certain households the demand for services does not grow due to income uncertainty. The working paper develops a model based on household income classification and service demand, showing the concrete consequences of income uncertainty in telephony service demand.

"Interconnection Charges among telecommunication networks, recent developments”, written by J.C. Carbajal Ponce, reviews the recent literature related with network interconnection and interconnection fees, from different perspectives. These views include the study of interconnection in a context of heterogeneous demand and with different termination prices in long distance services. The document also includes a comparison between two networks, focusing on interconnection charges when receiving calls originated from an external network.

The paper “Sales and service bundling in a top pricing scheme” by Miguel Angel Martínez Carrasco, studies the regulation of top price telephony services in Peru. This document analyzes, with a focus on Peru, bundling examples described in the present literature and how these bundling can benefit the consumers. The document presents also a model with three scenarios: a) with top prices, b) without top prices and c) with regulated and non regulated prices.

“Innovations and the role of regulations”, by Romina Alania, analyzes the regulated network industries, focusing on telecommunications, and the relevance of regulations in the innovation dynamics.

Municipal wireless programs are springing up in towns and cities across the country. Free and low cost Internet access is great for the community, and it means new leadership opportunities for nonprofits and new ways to serve their constituents.

This report discusses the many ways nonprofits can shape municipal wireless programs and maximize the community’s benefit to increased Internet access.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Description: "There have been surprisingly few attempts to catalogue what is known about the economic impact of information and communications technology (IT). In a new report, ITIF does just that, examining the impact of IT in five key areas: 1) productivity; 2) employment; 3) more efficient markets; 4) higher quality goods and services; and 5) innovation and new products and services. The report finds that the integration of IT into virtually all aspects of the economy and society is creating a digitally-enabled economy that is responsible for generating the lion’s share of economic growth and prosperity, both here and abroad, including in developing nations. Importantly, the “IT engine” does not appear likely to run out of gas anytime soon and should power robust growth for at least the next decade, provided that policy makers take the right steps. Toward that end the report lays out five key public policy principles for driving digital prosperity: 1) give the digital economy its due; 2) actively encourage digital innovation and transformation of economic sectors; 3) use the tax code to spur IT investment; 4) encourage universal digital literacy and adoption; and 5) do no harm."

e-justicia pone a disposición de la comunidad jurídica internacional el Informe Final del Estudio Comparado sobre la implantación de la Justicia Electrónica en Iberoamerica, cuya investigación estuvo a cargo del Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), órgano adscrito a la Universidad Oberta de Cataluyna (UOC).

Este estudio permite contar con una relación bastante exhaustiva sobre lo que ocurre en este proceso en nuestros países. "Los indicadores han sido establecidos; y ahora disponemos de una propuesta de índice de desarrollo de la e-Justicia que ha sido elaborada a partir de la información recabada sobre el estadio actual del uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en la administración de justicia en Iberoamérica. Podemos afirmar que, efectivamente, la e-Justicia es un fenómeno de la realidad iberoamericana, incipiente, pero distinguible entre los múltiples procesos de renovación que hemos acometido en los últimos años", reza la presentación del libro.

El objetivo del estudio es determinar el grado actual de implantación de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en la administración de justicia de los países iberoamericanos, identificar las mejores prácticas que se están produciendo en este ámbito y, de este modo, facilitar a los poderes judiciales miembros de la Cumbre el diseño de políticas encaminadas al impulso de la administración electrónica en el ámbito de la justicia.

How would you like to study at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for free? It has been nearly six years since MIT first announced their MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) program. More recently, MIT announced that the OCW program, a free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world, is online and will be completed by 2008. The OCW provides open access to course materials for up to 1,550 MIT courses, representing 34 departments and all five MIT schools. The goal is to include materials from all MIT courses by next year.

MIT provides just one of the 10 open source educational success stories detailed below. Open source and open access resources have changed how colleges, organizations, instructors, and prospective students use software, operating systems and online documents for educational purposes. And, in most cases, each success story also has served as a springboard to create more open source projects.