Hi List, I will attempt to provide my views on the questions posed:
> 1. Are high-bandwidth connections necessary, or even important, to > making a real impact on development? Or are the costs and problems > inherent in establishing such connectivity too high -- and unsustainable > -- for underserved areas? High bandwidth connections are not a pre-requisite to impact on development. In a country like Uganda where I happen to come from, one of the biggest prohibiting factors to dev't is information. So many citizens fail to take advantage of possible opportunities, corruption is exacerbated (since officials rely on our ignorance), delivery of public services is hindered etc. The kind of information I am talking about can always be relayed even on the slowest links possible coz its all about the content (even though its text based). The issue of high speed connections in my view comes in after the society has been exposed to the bottomline and thereafter, when they realise the need for more information and complexity in delivery, usually these folk can even contribute towards the sustenance of the improved system. > 3. Can information distribution centers (e.g., public access > telecenters) offer a viable economic solution to a community's > information needs, by, in effect, sharing a single high-bandwidth > connection among many users, and thus spreading the cost? Community access centres are the way to go. In many third world countries, there is little chance to find individual ownership of all sorts of ICTs. Even mobile phones, I always come across scenarios in rural Uganda where 2 or 3 people own phones and are "forced" to offer public commercial calling services as a result of need. Tele Centres create an agregation of ICTs and enable the general public access them at a nominal fee and yet benefit from the advantages that they have to offer. I have also learnt that because a number of rural folk are not exactly financially liquid, it would be good for one to explore the possibility of accepting payment for services using alternative methods e.g farmer X brings a heifer to the telecentre, valued at an amount xyz and getting the service for the equivalent. However I would also like to add that many times when we talk of connectivity, we mean having probably a connection to either the internet directly or to the telcos etc. Has some one ever thought of creating a network of villages linked together probably through wireless technologies, enabling these rural folk to communicate with each other and exchange information without having to ride a bicycle for 20 kms. Eventually, this creates a mesh of villages interconnected and one high speed connection probably links to the ISP or Telco. I believe this kind of aggregation would prove cheaper and more meaningful for our societies. Why int he first case should you try and force a villager to communicate with some one in Europe when he still has problems communicating with his in-laws 10 kms away ? Just my thoughts regards -- Wire Lunghabo James M.D Linux Solutions / Data Networks Uganda Limited Kagga Hse Plot 2 Bandali Close, Bugolobi P.O.Box 26192 Kampala Off: 256 41 505033 / 256 31 263033 Cell: 256 71 726609 ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. 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 For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
