中英对照：瑞典奖励信息通讯技术促进发展的项目

　　Projects that use innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries were honoured at the Stockholm Challenge Awards in Sweden last week (22 May).

　　The awards, which offer a 　5,000 (around US$7,800) prize to winners, seek to reward projects that overcome social and economic disadvantage in six areas: culture, health, environment, economic development, education and public administration.

　　共有50个国家的145个项目进入了候选名单，并被邀请参加这个一年两次的颁奖典礼。绿色数字（Digital Green）项目―一个使用数字视频来向农民传播培训技能的项目―获得了文化领域的奖励。

　　One hundred and forty five projects from fifty countries were shortlisted and invited to the biannual awards ceremony.

　　Digital Green ― a project that uses digital video to disseminate training techniques to farmers ― won the culture category.

　　这个项目在印度农业地区卡纳塔克邦和泰米尔纳德邦的12个村庄进行。工作人员与普通农民在田间地头摄制了关于改良的以及与地方相关的可持续农业技术的节目，然后通过笔记本电脑或者DVD影碟机每周为村民们播放三次。

　　The project works in 12 villages in India's rural Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states. Instructional sessions on improved and locally relevant sustainable farming techniques are filmed in the field with ordinary farmers and then shown to villagers three times a week on a laptop or DVD player.

　　该项目创始者Rikin Ghandi对本网络记者表示，“大约只有1/4的农民能识字。这让政府非常难于教育其大众关于可持续的农业实践中的进展。”

　　"Only about one in four farmers can read. That has made it difficult for the government to educate its populace about advances in sustainable farming practices," Rikin Ghandi, a founding member of the project, told SciDev.Net.

　　他说，农民们觉得与这些材料和他们很有关系。“观看者相信视频上的内容，因为在许多情况下，他们认识拍摄这些素材的村落甚至是参与拍摄者。我们选择这些参与者时让他们代表了广泛的年龄、性别和地点。农民们甚至竞争获得“上电视”的机会。”

　　The farmers feel a strong connection to the material, he says. "Viewers trust the content in the videos because, in many cases, they recognise the villages where they were shot or even some of the participants ― who are chosen to represent a variety of ages, genders and locations. Farmers even vie for the privilege of appearing 'on TV'."

　　绿色数字（Digital Green）项目计划利用斯德哥尔摩挑战奖的奖金将这个项目扩展到更广泛的地方。他们希望与其它基层拓展项目建立一个协作网络。

　　Digital Green aims to use the Stockholm Challenge money to extend the reach of the project. They hope to establish a network of partnerships with other grassroots extension programmes.

　　卫生领域的获奖者是EpiSurveyor项目的执行人。他们开发了免费和开源的软件，用于收集、分析和传播卫生信息。

　　The winners of the health category were those behind the EpiSurveyor project, which creates free, open-source software for the collection, analysis and dissemination of health information.

　　这些软件被设计成可以在移动电话和掌上电脑等移动设施上运行。技术专家Rose Donna说，这个软件让卫生保健工作者能在各组织之间传递数据。Rose Donna是美国公司Datadyne的创建者，这家公司创建了EpiSurveyor项目。

　　Designed to function on mobile devices such as mobile phones and handheld computers, the software allows healthcare workers to transfer data between organisations, says Rose Donna, a technologist and founder of Datadyne, the US-based company that created EpiSurveyor.

　　目前，人们利用EpiSurveyor来调查疫苗接种覆盖和研究小儿麻痹症在肯尼亚和赞比亚的暴发。世界卫生组织准备在2008年底之前，在撒哈拉以南非洲国家推广使用EpiSurveyor软件。

　　EpiSurveyor is currently being used to survey vaccine coverage and investigate polio outbreaks in Kenya and Zambia, according to Rose, and the WHO plans to roll out the use of EpiSurveyor across Sub-Saharan Africa before the end of 2008.

　　用来收集数据的电子表格也很容易被传递，所以各国不必每次都从零开始。例如，赞比亚卫生部可以快速下载和修改世界卫生组织为肯尼亚创建的表格。

　　The electronic forms that are used to collect data can also be easily transferred, so countries don't have to start from scratch each time. For example, the Zambian Ministry of Health has been able to rapidly download and adapt forms created by the WHO for Kenya.

　　目前，人们正在准备在亚洲实施这一项目，并扩展该软件的功能。

　　Plans are afoot to implement the project in Asia ― and expand the functionality of the software.

　　本文由科学与发展网络(SciDev.Net)独家提供。