isummit 08

It's amazing how out of touch I sometimes feel now that I'm not working in New Media any more. Being a student means I have to find out what's happening out of my own initiative and I dont always have time to be on the lookout for new and exciting events, technologies or trends.

Today I came across news about the iSummit 08 happening from the 29th July - 1st August in Sapporo, Japan.



To quote their website: "Advancements in information and communication technology have, for the first time in human history, enabled a host of opportunities that have seen societies leapfrogging out of underdevelopment, artists and creators regaining control over their expressions and people around the world working on distributed projects that benefit all humankind.
The iSummit offers a picture of that promise - bringing together activists, change agents and new world social entrepreneurs to chart and reflect on a positive path for a more fair, more just, more creative world in the Information Age."

Sounds like its going to be a great meeting place of creative and technical minds who'll be thinking, debating and working towards an exciting vision of what ICTs can do and bring us.

Globalization influences policy

I'm in the middle of my maternity leave (our son is now 2 months old), but have started to read and think about my studies again. Was reading a paper I did before I went on leave and it made me realise how much globalization influences the way we live our lives on a daily basis, at the micro level.

Its fascinating how decisions made at the global level, at UN conferences for example influence the things we do daily. Environmental policy is probably the best example because of all the hype about carbon footprints, recycling and global warming - all issues addressed at the local level but which affect the way we live - from the shopping we do, the way we throw things away and the way we think about our next holiday.

We can no longer say that we aren't political beings - even if we dont want to be, we are all directly influenced by political decisions at the global and national level. Think about it!

Life in Leeds

I was going to write a long piece about globalization and policy, but thought I would share a bit of news about the city we moved to in May last year.

We have survived our first English winter, and were fortunate to have a bit of snow - something quite fun for people from South Africa.

Fortunately, the weather hasnt been as bad as everyone says, the worst part about winter here is the lack of sunlight and the really short days.

I have been working hard since September in doing my PhD through the Institute of Communication Studies at the University of Leeds. It has been challenging, but rewarding and I look forward to the next three years when I hope to complete my studies and move onto bigger and better things.

For now though, we are expecting our first baby, which is a real blessing. I probably wont be writing for a while because the baby is due on the 2nd March - less than 5 weeks aways!

(Roundhay Park on the day it snowed in Leeds)

I'll be back to studying full time in July, and hopefully go to SA in September to do some research, attend a conference and see family and friends. In the meantime, I've got the time to think about my research - The Role of the Media in ICT Policy Development in Kenya - and everything that it means.