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Now two years after 10 Tactics was launched, the film has just been presented at Warsaw's international human rights documentary film festival, Watch Docs. We screened the film and presented our work on Info-Activism on the last day of the festival, dedicated to "New Technologies and Social Change" alongside workshops on digital security by Frontline Human Rights Defenders and on social media activism by People in Need, Prague.

Soon after its release, the 10 Tactics Burmese film was picked up by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and highlighted on their science and technology program, khit hlaine yin pyin, whose title translates to "wave of new era". The bi-weekly program, directed by than win htut, will be showing the entire 10 Tactics film in weekly installments, along with some segments of Survival in the Digital Age, Tactical Tech's animation series about digital security and privacy for activists.

In late 2007, a group of young Chileans visited Punta de Choros, one of Chile's natural wonders and home to 80% of the world's Humbolt penguins and over 800 other species. As the group walked through the small town, they noticed a paper on a wall that advertised the plans to building four coal thermoelectric plants in the region, which would threaten the fragile eco-system.

Over the last four years, Chile has struggled to reform an outdated intellectual property law. Originally passed in 1970, the law exlcuded libraries and most importantly, digital material as well. A new act was proposed, act 17.336, to reform and update the outdated law. While everyone seemed to agree that the law needed to be updated, special interests and media companies fought to protect their own financial interests by advoacting that changes should be minimal.

As well as being a key part of people's social lives, social media has a role to play in fostering dialogue between people and the institutions providing the information and feedback loop required to better service customers and citizens.

Written by Delphine Pawlik, Programme Coordinator & Facilitator for Global Change.

As part of the Global Change course in Nepal, ActionAid Denmark looks into the fine art of communication, including how to convey your message to different target groups using different media and methods. For this matter the materials from Tactical Tech have been of enormous value to us.

Burmese and Spanish are the two latest languages to join 10 Tactics’ website in a fully functional and translated form. The 10 Tactics project was launched in December 2009. Since this time hundreds of rights advocates from around the world have used these materials to deliver workshops for turning information into action and they have screened the 10 Tactics film to get people talking about opportunities and barriers for info-activism.

On 16 March 2011 in Lagos, Nigeria, twenty nine young communicators, journalists and grass roots organisers attended the one-day Info-Activism training that took place at the offices of Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria.

Many project have tackled sexual harassment in our communities through education and action. One of the major challenges with sexual harassment and tracking is the difficulty of collecting accurate data. A lack of reporting can provide limited numbers and make the problem seem smaller than it is. 

Tactical Tech were delighted to present 10 Tactics at the 6th Vibgyor International Film Festival in Kerala, India from January 12th-16th. The focus of the festival was 'political filmmaking and activism in South Asia', dedicated to the memory of filmmaker and media activist, C.Saratchandran.

In February 2010, the House of Digital Culture screened the 10 Tactics film for about 100 people in São Paulo, Brazil. The event was more than just a screening of the film; it was also a fundraiser for local activist organisations.  The House of Digital Culture in Brazil is a cluster of individuals and organisations formed to promote the ability of people to communicate using digital tools.

Every day, migrants making their way through Mexico towards the United States face abuse and aggressions.

Human rights advocates, technology activists and NGOs gathered in Nicaragua for an info-activism day which included a screening of 10 Tactics.  The day was promoted by REDDES and hosted by ISI, a technology education and promotion institution in Managua, Nicaragua. The day included a screening of 10 Tactics, a four hour workshop on info-activism using internet-based platforms, a two hour workshop on audio and video production, and a two hour workshop on internet security.

When we send people copies of our toolkits and guides, we follow up asking them to complete an online evaluation. To thank people for their feedback we periodically give out a prize based on the questionnaire response judged most intriguing/interesting/critical by a review panel at Tactical Tech. We regularly review the evaluation feedback people give us and make changes based on what people have suggested.

Latin America hosted the first Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) on November 18th /19th in Santiago, Chile.

Story by Juan Casanueva

In November, Tanya Notley did a two week tour of Australia, speaking about Tactical Tech's work and facilitating 10 Tactics workshops at a series of events.

A group of Spanish activists who organised a kissing ‘flashmob’ through Facebook to coincide with the Pope's visit to Barcelona recently received worldwide press coverage.

Tactical Tech has been following the work of  W.TEC (Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre) in Lagos, Nigeria since they participated in 2009’s Info-Activism camp. W.TEC has continued to use 10 Tactics in their day-to-day work and training workshops. W.TEC’s mission is two-fold, training women and girls how to use ICTs (information and communication technology) for economic empowerment and equality but also to improve social awareness and advocacy.

Last weekend, 10 Tactics was screened in Kyoto, Japan coupled with a live online broadcast. Keiko Tanaka volunteered to create Japanese subtitles for the 10 Tactics film earlier this year.

Throughout 2010, Tactical Tech has been collecting evaluation feedback from the organisations and individuals we sent copies of 10 Tactics. This evaluation is important for us to understand the project successes, but also to understand weaknesses in terms of geographical reach and the limitations of the materials in different contexts. We've just finished reviewing this feedback for the first time.

Here are some early findings....

We've created a new 10 Tactics DVD that includes all new language options. The 10 Tactics film can now be viewed with subtitles in: Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, English, Belarusian, Bosnian-Serbian- Croatian-Montenegrin, Burmese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), French, Indonesian, Japanese, Georgian, Hindi, Macedonian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Urdu, Ukrainian.

10 Tactics was screened in Erbil, Iraq as part of a 5-day course on strengthening relations between media and civil society organisations at an event hosted by Iraqi Al Amal Association in cooperation with Internews Europe. The event included 15 journalists, bloggers and NGO workers.

During the month of July 10 Tactics was screened six times in five states across Northeast India. The screenings were hosted by the Foundation of People Empowerment (FPE) in association with Mahiti, and the Panos Institute South Asia.

An in-depth review on 10 Tactics is featured in InfoChange India, the online publication focussed on "news and analysis on social justice and development issues in India". "10 tactics for turning information into action is a smart, nifty resource package, loaded with valuable information and links that unlock the doorway to a world where hard data, software technology, creativity and sheer human ingenuity frisson to tell tales of human resilience and struggles for social justice" writes Nirupama Sama, an independent communications consultant and contributor to InfoChange.

When Reshma failed to clear her Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exams despite many attempts, her father, an auto-driver, thought it fit to keep her at home. The only thing her father allowed her to do was to cut betel nuts and help her mother with embroidery work. The story of Haleema, daughter of another auto-driver, is no different. Being at home all day had left them feeling completely demoralised, depressed and shy.

The Bell Bajao campaign was conceived by Mumbai-based NGO, Breakthrough, to mobilise men in India to take a stand against domestic violence. The campaign has been led by intensive mass media outreach: a series of public service announcements (PSAs) for Indian radio, television and print. “Bell Bajao” translates as “ring the bell” which is the message that informs the whole campaign: anyone can help stop domestic violence by being proactive and drawing attention to it. The PSAs all show examples of men and boys who have witnessed domestic violence within their communities and intervened.

On 1 June 10 Tactics was shown as part of the Women of Uganda Network's (WOUGNET) 10 year anniversary celebrations in Kampala. This celebration also marked the 100th screening of 10 Tactics. The film was well received by the participants and a number of copies of 10 Tactics and other materials by Tactical Tech were distributed after the film.

After the success of 10 tactics for turning information into action, Tactical Tech is starting work on a new info-activism resource that will support rights advocates to use information and digital technology.

While this new project is still at the research and planning stage we are inviting you as friends, colleagues and networks to share with us any ideas you have for info-activism stories. What we are looking for are examples of where rights advocates have used information and digital technology in a strategic way to advance a cause or address an issue.

Undoubtedly, 10 Tactics has been screened in many interesting locations around the world, but its premiere in Cyprus on 27 May 2010 was quite unique. The screening took place at the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC), situated right in the heart of the UN buffer zone dividing the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities and therefore accessible to all communities of Cyprus. 

As part of the events organised by Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights on the week dedicated to
Human Rights and Migration in the Mexican Northen city of Tijuana. REDDES was invited to participate as a
speaker in two conferences: “Tools to combat Human Right Abuse of Migrants”  and “New Generations' role in Migration and Human Rights”.

Mumbai saw its first screening of the film 10 tactics for turning information into action at National College Conference Room at Bandra West on 29 April 2010. Point of View, a Mumbai based women’s rights non-profit that works on promoting points of view of women through media art and culture, organised this screening in collaboration with Tactical Technology Collective.

Consumer Education Society (CES) held three screenings of '10 tactics' in February and March: two in the Latur District and a further screening in Guntur, India.

Latur District, Maharashtra state, India, saw two screenings of 10 tactics; the first being in Udgir on 2 February and the second one in Loni the following day. These screenings were organised by CES and shown as part of teacher training programmes. Around 100 teacher trainees and NGO representatives participated in these events and were said to have found the film to be highly informative and inspiring.

On Wednesday March 31 Internews Europe hosted a screening of '10 tactics for turning information into action' at the Comptoir Général on the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin.

Around 100 people attended the screening and the subsequent panel discussion from various professional backgrounds including academics, journalists, individuals from the media and the commercial corporate sector and those from associations and NGOs.

Wanting to raise public interest around the funding crisis for health in Sub-Saharan Africa and extend their support base to a young audience who would mobilise around this issue, ARASA turned to creative campaign tactics. Inspired by the correlation between excessive government spending on personal luxuries, like birthday parties and flash cars, and the “bling culture” of hip-hop and rap artists, ARASA created a mock music video, “Lords of the Bling”.

Egypt's first 10 tactics screening in Egypt was organised by Samia Helmi El-Yamani – ('Hayat'), a project manager from the Egyptian New Woman Foundation which advocates women's rights. Hayat was a participant at Tactical Tech's 2009 info-activism camp. She says her experience at this “amazing camp” was the impetus to screen the film since it allowed her to share the knowledge and experience she gained with others working to promote human rights in Egypt.

10 tactics was screened to over 40 activists at the start of the first Latin American Camp for Young Social Activists.

A group of 45 Cape Town based designers, artist-activists and NGO workers from a range of organisations gathered for a Thursday night out with info-activism. The reason was the '10 tactics' screening hosted by Tactical Tech, the Institute for Democracy in Southern Africa (Idasa) and NGO media consultancy group, Wingseed Media.

In San Antonio, South Texas, Media Justice League, alongside their own film entitled ‘Digital inclusion in San Antonio’, showed 10 tactics to a diverse audience. Rebecca Ohnemus writes of this experience:

Local media activists, educators and aficionados gathered at C4 Workspace January 31 to launch San Antonio’s Digital Justice Coalition (DJC) and discuss tools and techniques for effectively communicating causes in South Texas.

On 8 March WITNESS training participants in Hungary watched 10 tactics as part of their training on ICT tools for activism. Aliya Rakhmetova writes of the days events:

10 tactics received great praise last week when it was screened in Nairobi, Kenya to more than 20 East African organisations working on election monitoring and civic participation. The film was screened at the 'East Africa Election Monitoring Platform' event, organised by Hivos, which took place on the 3rd and 4th March.

From the conflict zone in Chattisgarh to the urban slums in Bombay, advocates and campaigners gathered to learn about 10 tactics as part of their participation in the 'Maps for Making Change Workshop'in Ahmedabad, India, between 1-3 February 2010.

The workshop, organised by the Centre for Internet Society (CIS) in collaboration with Tactical Tech, was the second workshop aimed at providing advocates with the mapping know-how to communicate their social struggles.

Yesterday, after Martyrs’ Square cleared out and before Valentines dates began, 10 activists and social media enthusiasts gathered at the Social Media Exchange (SMEX) offices in Badaro to watch '10 tactics for turning information into action' and discuss the potential of using digital and social media for positive social change in Lebanon.Jessica Dheere, from SMEX, led the discussion afterwards, questioning the audience about the video and how the featured tactics might be applied in Lebanon.

Development and advocacy activists in Bangladesh were amazed to see how powerful a small mobile phone can be when they watched the film '10 tactics for turning information into action' at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU), Bangladesh.

They learned how bloggers in different countries used this miniature version of information technology to expose corruption, intimidation and rights violations and create awareness against such practices among the people at local and global levels.

On 9 December 2009, just five days after the London launch of ’10 tactics’, Tactical Tech's team in Bangalore held their own event for rights advocates working in India. The film was screened at the Centre for Education and Documentation and followed by a discussion focused on relating ‘10 tactics’ to the real issues and experiences of advocates in India. 

Action, information and freedom were the subjects up for discussion at the launch of '10 tactics' on 23 January in Porto, Portugal. The event took place at the Núcleo de Jornalismo Académico do Porto (NJAP), a non-profit which has been publishing Portugal’s oldest volunteer-led student newspaper, JUP, for 22 years. Sara Moreira, a computer engineer from Porto who organised the event for NJAP, says the '10 tactics' documentary allowed the audience to reflect on the power of information but also to learn about controversial and sensitive subjects often ignored in mainstream media.

Soon traditional Chinese will join the other eleven subtitle options already available for the 10 tactics documentary. New media masters student at the University of Amsterdam, Yufen Cadence Chen, is spending her winter vacation translating "10 tactics for turning information into action" because she believes that “it is a good film to share” and one she wants Chinese speakers to have access to. With a firm belief in environmental activism, borne out of her passion for organic urban farming and an academic focus on digital media, a film about info-activism resonates strongly for her.

The first Portugal screening of “10 tactics for turning information into action" took place on the evening of the December 21 at the cultural cooperative, Crew Hassan, in Lisbon. The event brought together about 25 people from different professional backgrounds, including representatives from several Portuguese and international NGOs, graphic and web designers, bloggers, students and artists.

10 tactics was shown to a mixed group of social activists, students, NGO workers, and even a few virtual spectators, in Guwahati, India on the 12th December. The screening was held at the Foundation for Social Transformation (FST) and welcomed some special guests including the Chairperson of Northeast Network, Manisha Behal and Executive Director of FST, Ketaki Bardalai.

December 4th - Bloggers, journalists and rights advocates united for the the global launch of 10 tactics for turning information into action. Tactical Tech's film was screened in three different locations in just one day: London, UK; Manilla, Philippines and Nairobi, Kenya.

Long-time writer and activist, Melissa Gira Grant researched and wrote the content for the ten fold-out tactic cards which accompany the 10 tactics film. She first met Tactical Tech while she was consulting with the Open Society Institutes's Sexual Health and Rights Project in 2007. Two years later she attended the Info-Activism Camp in India.