eMinima mini-CD marks the first success of IDMG's eBarangay Program in bringing Internet technology to the grassroots.
Using GNU (also called "open-source") technologies, the mini-CD enables anyone with a PC to author and broadcast content interactively.
LGUs and other service entities can now create, on their own, informative and interactive PC stations. All they have to do is write content using the mini-CD and then add the completed content to the same mini-CD. Assembling and then making available in digital/text format the information needed by citizens is now doable by anyone, anywhere. Training and help for doing this will be provided by IDMG and its accredited trainers.
This method of creating and deploying interactive content is especially useful in education, where there are problems of scarcity in learning materials and high student-teacher ratio. A cheap, replicable mini-CD for teachers can help schools publish uptodate learning materials and, where there is a local PC network, allow the students to take exercises and tests interactively.
Simply said, the mini-CD brings the Internet to anyone who has a PC. The most remote village can have its own Internet using a PC and this mini-CD.
The underlying technologies are Linux, Apache and PHP, all global technologies, plus EM, a set of scripts created by Prof. Raffy Mananghaya. EM, or E-Minima, is a way of delivering Internet service (such as elearning, egovernance and ecommerce) to citizens at minimal effort and resources. E-Minima was first discussed by Dr. Mananghaya in the August 2004 conference of the Philippine Elearning Society. Students under Dr. Mananghaya at IDMG, UPLB and at Technology Management Center, UP Diliman have used EM.
More information about the use of EM and the mini-CD may be accessed via the link below or by using the email link at the right window.