A Frenchman, and maps ... in the South Pacific

Franck Martin [1] is a Frenchman based in the South Pacific. (You might
have noticed his sense of humour on the trip to Angkor Wat.) As a
Wikipedia contributor, he's described as someone "checking mainly the
pages of the Pacific Islands and updating when neccessary. Promotion of
wikipedia in Pacific Islands." But what's more interesting is his
Tikimaps [2] work.

http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/franck

Mapserver, says Franck, is a tool, for "bringing data to all
stakeholders via Internet and Opensource Technology". It promises the
tools for e-government, good governance, transparency, sustainable
development, asset management, disaster management and security....
provided we have the political will for that.

To see what's possible, visit some of these sites from the distant (from
us!) South Pacific islands of Tonga [3], Fiji [4], Tuvalu [5], Kiribati
[6]. Franck sees many advantages in using Free and Open Source software.
These include sustainability, licenses (Internet licences are
expensives), software support, no "black box" phenomenon (where we don't
understand the technology we use). It also allows you to rely on
standards and support many file formats (not vendor dependent). It is
reliable. And secure too, provided the administrator cares for it.

For more links on what uses Tikiwiki can be put to take a look at the
Tikiwiki Community Portal [7]. Uses include uses in educational context
[8], using the mobility features of WAP browsing or for use with a PDA
[9], and, of course, Franck's interest of maps [10]. -- Frederick
Noronha

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Franck_Martin
[2] http://maps.tikiwiki.org/
[3] http://www.lands.gov.to/tiki/tiki-map.phtml?mapfile=tonga.map
[4] http://map.mrd.gov.fj/tiki/tiki-map.phtml?mapfile=viti.map
[5] http://map.tuvalu.tv/tiki/tiki-map.phtml
[6] http://map.gov.ki/tiki/tiki-map.phtml?mapfile=tarawa.map
[7] http://tikiwiki.org/
[8] http://edu.tikiwiki.org/tiki-index.php
[9] http://mobile.tikiwiki.org/tiki-index.php
[10]http://maps.tikiwiki.org/tiki-index.php
--
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Frederick 'FN' Noronha | fred@...
Independent Journalist | http://fn.swiki.net
Goa, India | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9822122436
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1995-2005: Ten years of waiting for community radio in India!
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