Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the Strengthening Independent Media Initiative (SIM) seminar in Salzburg, Austria. Thanks to the Knight Foundation (John Bracken, representing) for sponsoring this, and to the organizers — Stephen, Susan, Claire, Jad (enjoyed our morning runs) and many others — for an effective discussion of the challenges and opportunities around supporting independent media around the world. Great group of people, most of whom were new to me, and many of whom I have since followed-up with.

I was invited to give a talk on the next Killer Apps, but focused my presentation on Web applications that could prove to be useful and usable for people who are not yet Web enabled.  Ethan Zuckerman, who provided some really interesting stats and views on the question of how wide the Web really is,  wrote an accurate and concise account of both of our talks.  I like Ethan’s account better than the video of my actual presentation (not sure I’ve ever been satisfied when seeing a replay of one of my talks).

The Salzburg Seminar blog (currently) captures the sense of the meeting quite well.  Please have a look, and participate in the SIM conversation.