Vivek's Info

Academic Themes

Notes on my research, book reviews and discussions on social sciences
This section contains articles on some of my main areas of academic interest including economics, development studies, collective action, social policy, governance and the right to food. A few articles look software and utilities that would be of interest to researchers. If you are interested in any of these in particular, please click on the subtopic on the menu to your right.

Rating of RTI laws around the world: This page contains information about a ranking of countries based on the strength of the right to information Law. Serbia has the highest ranking followed closely by India. Sweden, the first country to legislate the right to information, falls very low in the list.

Global Integrity: “Global Integrity champions transparent and accountable government around the world by producing innovative research and technologies that inform, connect, and empower civic, private, and public reformers seeking more open societies”. The website contains a good review of anti-corruption movements and initiatives from around the world.

New Stanford computing lab imagines the mobile-social future: Project on making the mobile phone social at Stanford.

E-Democracy.org: “E-Democracy.org builds online public space in the heart of real democracy and community. Our mission is to harness the power of online tools to support participation in public life, strengthen communities, and build democracy”.

www.radiojamming.info: Website dedicated to Jamming of radio broadcast by various countries with cool photographs and sound recordings of jammed broadcast.

Budapest Convention on Cybercrime: One of the conventions on governing the internet relating to cybercrime.

Center for Democracy & Technology: It is “a non-profit public interest organization working to keep the Internet open, innovative, and free”.

Cyberspace Policy Review by The White House: Documents on cyber space policy of the US government.

Global Network Initiative: GNI is a network for protecting and advancing freedom of expression and privacy in information and communications technologies

Information Technologies & International Development: Multi-disciplinary journal focusing on the relationship between ICT and development. Published by USC’s Annenburg school.

Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering by OpenNet Initiative: “Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information–often about politics, but also relating to sexuality, culture, or religion – that they deem too sensitive for ordinary citizens. Access Denied documents and analyzes Internet filtering practices in over three dozen countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of this accelerating trend”.

Berkman Center for Internet and Society: A leading academic centre on the internet and society whose mission “is to explore and understand cyberspace; to study its development, dynamics, norms, and standards; and to assess the need or lack thereof for laws and sanctions”. It is a great source of information on debates around the cyberspace and the quest to shape it.

Clean Slate Design for the Internet: Our mission is to reinvent Internet infrastructure and services by creating platforms for innovations in networking, computing, and storage and making them available to research and user communities with emphasis on mobile computing.

Open Data: Empowering the Empowered or Effective Data Use for Everyone?: In the context of digital-divide, will open data empower the empowered, asks this article.

Open Knowledge Foundation Blog

TheyWorkForYou.com: Are your MPs and Peers working for you in the UK’s Parliament? Hansard++: Website that provides information about the functioning of the English parliament and assemblies, including the activities of individual members.

Information Warfare Monitor | Tracking Cyberpower: The Information Warfare Monitor is an advanced research activity tracking the emergence of cyberspace as a strategic domain.

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse: The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse collects and analyzes legal complaints about online activity, helping Internet users to know their rights and understand the law. Chilling Effects welcomes submission of letters from individuals and from Internet service providers and hosts. These submissions enable us to study the prevalence of legal threats and allow Internet users to see the source of content removals.

Anti-Corruption Research Network – ACRN: ACRN is “a podium to present innovative findings and approaches in corruption / anti-corruption research, a sounding board to bounce off ideas and questions, a marketplace to announce jobs, events, courses and funding. The periodic spotlight section also looks at specific corruption issues and highlights key research insights and contributions on the selected topic”.