after my first visit to the country of Qatar. The government of Qatar hosted the conference, and underwrote travel and accommodation. My proposal was on ensuring that all of humanity benefits from the incredible knowledge and technology. James Moody, also from Australia, presented a concept for a Global Social Responsibility license focused on humanitarian applications of patents and technology. And, I had promised Abbas to connect him to the Mada Center in Qatar. MORE

ictQATAR is the website for the Supreme Council of Information Communication and Technology for the Government of Qatar, which is in charge of technology innovation and implementation throughout the country. ictQATAR is the website for the Supreme Council of Information Communication and Technology for the Government of Qatar, which is in charge of technology innovation and implementation throughout the country. Influence Qatar Tips & Trends MORE

Currently, we are working on building clientele in Doha, Qatar as we continue to work with longtime partners the Supreme Education Council and the Supreme Council of Information Communication and Technology. When President Obama took the stage in Cairo, Egypt last year, millions tuned in to hear his approach for improved U.S.-Muslim Muslim relations. MORE

People with print disabilities around the world have a right to high-quality ebooks that they can read with assistive technology. Our Bookshare team has also been working on a special project with Qatar’s Mada Assistive Technology Center to add Arabic-language books to the collection. Benetech’s Bookshare library continues to expand its international service providing accessible books and publications to members in more than 30 countries. MORE

In 2011, we began collaborating with the Mada Center (Qatar Assistive Technology Center) to create accessible Arabic-language digital books. We’re incredibly grateful to these visionary publishers who worked with us closely to overcome multiple hurdles, from getting files in the right format to battling various issues with digitizing Arabic to learning about assistive technology in the Arab world. MORE

ictQATAR is the website for the Supreme Council of Information Communication and Technology for the Government of Qatar, which is in charge of technology innovation and implementation throughout the country. ictQATAR is the website for the Supreme Council of Information Communication and Technology for the Government of Qatar, which is in charge of technology innovation and implementation throughout the country. Influence Mobile Qatar Tips & Trends MORE

Welcome to the first of our ongoing interview series on organizations in Qatar that are doing great things in the online space. Qatar is deeply invested in the innovation of information technology, and eager to see its citizens adopt new tools and resources as they become available in the global arena. Our first interview focuses on the nonprofit organization Qatar Assistive Technology Center (more commonly known as Mada). MORE

At a time when open source technology is exploding in the government sector, it is with great pleasure that we announce the official launch of the ictQATAR web redesign ! Several months of strategic planning, audience research, usability and accessibility testing, and of course, web development, culminated in the flagship website for the information technology sector in Qatar. Influence Qatar MORE

Our team has been thinking hard about scaling positive social impact of technology work. Through a funded partnership with the Mada Center in Qatar, in 2011 we will pilot Arabic language capability and content, enabling Bookshare to start serving readers throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Conclusion With strong values and a commitment to making revolutionary social change through technology, Benetech is just getting started! MORE

We and our sweet crowd of regulars were joined by event socmed expert Chris Bucchere , ( @bucchere ), which was totally awesome, as well an old friend from university, Nigel Gourlay, who now lives in Qatar and has set up a daily news aggregator for his town of Doha. Tags: Technology Conference NTEN social media Chat room BIL SXSW NTC Your friendly neighborhood Socialfish will be "IN" the NTEN Office Hours Communications Chat Room every Thursday (that's today!!) MORE

The Year That Was and the New Year Ahead Guest Beneblog by Betsy Beaumon, Benetech's VP and General Manager of the Literacy Program 2012 was a year of titanic shifts in the fields of consumer technology, education, and publishing, along with the requisite challenges brought about by such rapid change. We held a gathering of leading practitioners who are at the intersection of accessible images, assistive technology, special education, and publishing. MORE

For example, all residents with the qualifying disabilities in Australia, Denmark and Qatar, to pick just three examples, now have free access to Bookshare thanks to our joint efforts with local and national disability groups in these countries. Bookshare now has hundreds of titles in Hindi, Tamil, and Spanish, and we recently announced a partnership with the government of Qatar to develop an Arabic language service. MORE