Smitten by the cyberbug, non-profit groups and campaigners are eager to take to the Internet. An initiative underway in Goa could see a profusion of alternative web-pages surfacing on the world wide web. This, it is hoped, would create a pool of alternate talent of persons who would be able to put out useful web-pages on the Internet, related to both Goa and the nearby region.
Nothing is up yet.
Most of the participants for this regional workshop are from Goa. In the course of the four-day programme, representatives of over a dozen organisations and groups practised the mechanics of designing web sites, and how to upload the same to the Internet. In recent years, the dramatic developments in cyberspace have made the Internet one of the cheapest ways of reaching out to large numbers. With something they desperately want to talk about, the non-profit groups could effectively use this young medium, it is felt. This Portuguese cultural foundation has itself also been running its own cybercafe for over the past one year, which is visited each evening by many youngsters and others who are allowed to surf the Internet and check their electronic-mail for free.