Thanks to contributors who have raised this topic. The issues do need to be clarified. How can we have clarity of thoughts and communication without clarity of language?
May I illustrate the problem by describing a project in rural Nigeria. Its long term vision is for community development. Communication across the digital divide is an important feature - but I am at a loss for effective words to describe it if we are to avoid being misunderstood. The project combines community development and digital bridges. It was initiated by someone who belonged equally in the rural community and the ICT community (the late Peter Adetunji Oyawale) and his vision for development combined what he knew of the two cultures. The project foundations are both in rural Nigeria and also on the connected side of the digital divide (more information on www.cawd.info). In Nigeria, the project has the commitment of local chiefs, local government officials, teachers and farmers, and the benefits of all their formal and informal communication networks. That means the project can communicate with considerable effectiveness across a large rural area that has no telephone network, a postal service of dubious reliability, and a large number of adults who need help with the written word. With regard to descriptive words this is definitely a community development project, and it aims to introduce sustainable initiatives. On the connected side of the digital divide the project is supported by people like me who knew Peter when he was a skilled ICT professional working in the UK. I can easily take advantage of the Internet on behalf of the project. This is what makes it, even at this early stage, a project that reaches across the digital divide. Communication between Nigeria and the UK is by whatever means we can manage, and includes physically delivering web-page printouts to Nigeria to overcome lack of Internet access for the community development committee members. On both sides of the digital divide we share Peter's vision for community development, which, to oversimplify, is based on opportunities for self help through access to information. Ultimately what we want to do is provide an integrated dynamic effective multi-directional community information system. Our long-term vision includes existing community communication structures, Community Digital Information Centres (CDICs - staffed to provide a human interface and maximise inclusiveness) offline web-page libraries, email, public telephones, online web access, and a community radio service. We already have some small pieces of this information system beginning to take shape. These include a local broadcaster ready to help us do some slots on existing radio channels, the likelihood of a small solar powered email bureau and web-page library in the heart of our rural area later this year, and a probable VSO worker - to help act as a catalyst to increase the two way flow of information among people at the edges of the project. So we have long term vision and something that we describe as a digital bridge community development project. At one time those words seemed right - but now they seem too empty and, in some people minds, almost reduce down to 'putting some online computers in somewhere', or 'doing some IT training'. What other words are there? How can we best describe clearly and succinctly what we are trying to do? Pam McLean [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
