UNESCO Video Podcast Series

UNESCO just released a series of 9 video podcasts on "human rights, peace, tolerance and the fight against discrimination".

The videos were selected out of more than one hundred proposals from fifty countries submitted under a project on so called 'ICT-enhanced Public Service Broadcasting'. The podcasts have been released on DVD and through podcasting platforms.

This project aimed at putting ICTs, particularly new formats, at the service of content development on major societal and development issues.

“Public service content is not limited to news formats; it can be provided to people/users through different genres: documentary, fiction, TV magazines, animation, etc. In addition to these traditional audiovisual genres, the last few years have witnessed the emergence of new online formats and mobile distribution platforms that have had a tremendous impact on the type of content being generated and the profile of those generating it. Content produced for small mobile devices - commonly called podcasting - will entail different audiovisual choices than those we may apply to images conceived for a big screen”, said Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Communication and Information.

For more United Nations related issues, check out the Unicef and
'United Nations Yak' podcasts.

Moroccan podcasting portal launched

The Tanmia association, a Moroccon NGO, has launched the podcasting portal Podcasting A-Z. The first project of its kind in Morocco "is intended for those involved in civil society to be able to use audio and video as a tool to raise public awareness and to share their views. It is also aimed at teachers who wish to produce a podcast or video to support their lessons, or as a school activity together with a group of pupils." Tanmia also produced a guide to podcasting, available on the site under a CC licence.

At the moment, Morocco has more than five million Internet users and in excess of 400,000 Internet subscribers, more than 97% of whom are on broadband (ADSL). The market has expanded rapidly since early 2007 due to the deregulation of the telecommunications sector. In addition to the historic operator, Maroc Telecom, two new operators, Méditel and Wana, now operate in the fixed telephone and Internet segment.