tom abeles wrote: > Dave Roop's response is interesting and one that seems very important > > One of the critical pieces that is coming to light with the growing use of > the internet is the term, social networking both in brick and click space > industry with its intranets has found much that might be helpful here- > primarily how information moves. Information "wants to be free to move" but > it isn't free to move no matter > how connected people are. There are networks and overlapping and > interconnected networks with gatekeepers and filters. Much of this has to do > with the social aspects. Not everyone chooses to > be linked to everyone and linked doesn't mean free flow- not necessarily > malicious in intent. > Well, it is a bit bigger than that. Governments and Laws dictate geopolitical borders on the Internet as well. Recommended reading: "Who Controls The Internet", by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu.
At the end of the day, most people who want to use the Internet want their local protections. In the context of medical information, this is extremely important. Patients have rights too - though these rights are not recognized as the same or are qualitatively equivalent around the world. As a sidenote, the noteworthy thing about medical software that exists in the developed world is that it is insurance-centric. In developing nations where insurance is not as central to healthcare, insurance is not as much of a driving force - for better or for worse (my opinion: better. Why? Long answer). Further, insurance companies can actually compete through their software, it is almost never open source to protect proprietary standards that assure the developer of the software larger revenues (!) which are then passed along to the patient. TANSTAAFL. But it is not that way around the world. And technology that is not insurance-centric can benefit quality of life without being as expensive and/or prejudicial - how many times have we heard that someone can't have something done because of the coverage that they have? Pitiful. The insurance striations are socioeconomic, and those striations become the disease instead of the symptom. There is segregation in hospitals based on socioeconomic status which is reinforced by health insurance. This is where, I suppose, socialist medicine is of interest to me - since at the root, I believe that every human being deserves the same treatment. This is so inherently evil that the Sermon on the Mount supports it, as well as the UN Declaration of Human Rights. If I am evil, I at least have fun and interesting company. :-) > The development community has an unstated assumption, especially in the idea > of closing the digital divide that such issue do not exist, are minor or will > eventually disappear with time and connectivity. > I am not sure the difference between developed and developing countries or > the subject matter of the network neutralizes the issues > > thoughts? > I think you're right on - and it is the underlying thought of much of my contribution to this great discussion. I do not think that there are any evil people twisting their collective mustaches while hatching plots on how to maintain the status quo or make the status quo something that makes others suffer - I cannot believe that, though there may be exceptions that may make it seem so. At the end of the day, though, it is the patient that matters - and really, the patient is the one who decides. There's a metric. Asking the patients. But like a Doctor or Nurse taking notes for a patient's history and complaint, the questions must not be leading questions. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.your2ndplace.com Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - Nikola Tesla _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
