-------------------------------------------------- G D R C M o s a i c www.gdrc.org October 2005 -------------------------------------------------- Welcome to another edition of GDRC's Mosaic! This month, GDRC Mosaic is being set to more than 950 subscribers in 110 countries worldwide. -------------------------------------------------- THIS MONTH'S SPOTLIGHT: What is the Informal Sector? from GDRC's Programme on Informal Sector, in its economic sphere of activites. "The informal sector provides a critical 'leg-up' for the very poor in urban areas to find jobs, increase their incomes, and improve themselves. But that is not how everyone see it!" On one hand it is an unorganized 'nuisance' sector whose members, for example, do not pay any form of tax; on the other, it provides jobs and increases incomes of the most vulnerable groups in a city - the very low-income group. The informal sector, often called the subsistence, unorganized or unenumerated sector, includes all economic activities that are not officially regulated and which operates outside the incentive system offered by the state and its institutions. Public efforts in 'dealing' with the informal sector have ranged from curbing its activities, letting it be as it is or attempt to integrate it into the formal economy. This love-hate relationship between the government and informal sectors makes an interesting perspective to study, in developing policies and strategies for the economies of developing coutnries. GDRC has been working on these and related issues . Resources on the informal sector are availble at: http://www.gdrc.org/informal/ As with all sections of GDRC, contributions, comments and suggestions are always welcome from users and subscribers! Please contact GDRC's Coordinator at - mosaic@gdrc.org -------------------------------------------------- FOCUS ON GDRC: LEARNING LESSONS Information Life Cycle The 'life-cycle' approach, as applied to information management includes the planning stage; collection, creation and capture of information assets' organization of information for effective searching and sharing of information; disseminating information in a timely and accurate manner. Where is information available? Who has it? How can we match user needs with information available? What are the interlinakages between the different pieces of information? What enhancements can be envisaged to the info patterns? How can the products developed be improved further? How can the info products be delivered to the user? These are some of the questions that need to be asked in understanding the information life-cycle approach. Ultimately, the timeliness and currency of information - that enables the right decision to be taken at the right time at the right level by the right person - is key objective! -------------------------------------------------- MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR GDRC'S WEBSITE , Total hits encountered - 1,077,746 Total files downloaded - 896,366 Total pages viewed - 322,735 Total web visitors - 135,842 Total KBytes - 9,254,136 Pages per day - Avg. 10,410; Max. - 14,464 Visits per day - Avg. 4,382; Max. - 5,574 -------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S NEW AT GDRC'S WEBSITE? Some highlists of new items added to GDRC's programme: - Environmental Decision-Making: Documents - Environmental Management Toolbox - Sustainable Development: UNDESD - International Days and Observances - Oceans, Coasts and Small Islands: Coastal areas - Guiding Principles for post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction - Oceans, Coasts and Small Islands: Islands - University of West Indies - Urban Environmental Management: Disasters - "Environmental Management and Disaster Reduction" - Microfinance: Newsletters added - "Portfolio" and "Post-Conflict Microfinance" - Microfinance: Updated document on 'Causes of Poverty' - Microfinance: Training Programmes - Rural Finance Learning Centre -------------------------------------------------- ABOUT GDRC MOSAIC The "GDRC Mosaic" is a monthly email newsletter that provides information bites, and summarizes programme activities of GDRC, including new items added to the website. You are welcome to forward this newsletter to friends and interested people! To subscribe: http://www.gdrc.org/about/newsletter.html To unsubscribe: unsubscribe-mosaic@gdrc.org Comments/suggestions/contributions: mosaic@gdrc.org -------------------------------------------------- CONTACT ADDRESS: Global Development Research Center 1-5-1-1013, Mori Minami Machi, Higashi Nada-ku, Kobe 658-001, Japan Tel / Fax: +(81-78) 452-8414 Email: mosaic@gdrc.org Web: http://www.gdrc.org/ -------------------------------------------------- Copyright (C) 2005-2007, GDRC. All rights reserved.