Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] What's on the Horizon?
1. What new high impact technologies are on the 3-year horizon? Who (exactly) needs to do what (concretely) to make those technologies widely available? It seems to me that most of the component technologies needed for deploying ICT in rural areas are already in place. What really needs to be done is to knit these together into a system that can be easily deployed in rural areas. To give an example, Philips in India, is looking at expanding its market by tapping the bottom of the pyramid. They have skills in lighting systems, power storage and solar power. Now, they are exploring how they can combine these skills into a system that can be deployed in rural areas. One proposal is to create community owned solar power systems into which villagers can plug rechargeable lamps. The lamps can be charged during the day and used during the nights to bring light to off-the-grid locations. This will probably need some microfinance intervention but my point is that we don't need more technology because the components -- low cost computers, renewable energy, VSATs etc exist as discrete pieces. We need to spend a lot more time and effort to knit these together into solutions that fulfil the needs of people in different locations. Hope this makes some sense. Venky 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
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] How Much Bandwidth is Necessary?
In India, we have the public call offices (PCOs) -- essentially manned telephone booths where the revenues are shared between the telco and the PCO operator. There are more than 600,000 of these PCOs across the country. There are many Community Information Centres where one can access the Internet and according to some of my friends who love travelling across India, these cybercafes are now appearing in remote locations too. A couple of examples of Community Information Centres are: www.drishtee.com www.e-choupal.com Venky Herman Wasserman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Cliff, this is a very interesting line of argument -- if this way of using the internet through an intermediary is a general practice in Africa because of the lack of connectivity, it might mean amending some of the theories of Internet communication from the idea of the Internet as a many-to-one or individualised, customised form of communication to one that is similar to the two-step flow of communication, where information is mediated by leaders or representatives in society. Can you perhaps point me to some case studies of this type of mediation, or to specific examples? Thanks Cliff Missen wrote: Today, villager's messages are being delivered on paper to a Internet Cafe and then transcribed into email for delivery worldwide by someone who holds an email account. There may someday be a SERVICE that enhances this informal relationship to the point where a single griot can manage email accounts for hundreds of clients through a simple handheld device. It'll take a little tweaking of the current email and client software, but it's very possible. 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
[GKD] RFI: Pico Hydro Power and ICT Deployments
Has anyone on this list come across a deployment of ICT specifically meant for powering computers in rural areas? I would be interested in hearing about this. Thanks, Venky ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** 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/
Re: [GKD] Non-profit Local Wireless Networks
I am with Media Lab Asia (www.medialabasia.org) and we are exploring the use of 802.11 technology for rural networks. However, we envisage these as small village telcos that will be set up by rural entrepreneurs. Decades of experience with Universal Service Obligation etc makes it clear that the big telcos are not be interested in providing telecommunications to rural markets. I recently met someone from Malaysia who said that his country has around $300 million earmarked for USO but there has been little progress till date. The story in India is also the same. A better alternative may be to follow the growth of cable networks in India. Most cable networks in India were set up by small local entrepreneurs. Since cable networks were unregulated, they grew at an astonishing rate and soon outnumbered the number of telephone connections in India! It may not be possible to replicate this success in the telco sector which is far more regulated than the cable networks in India but there is a good chance that local entrepreneurs would be far more interested in providing telco services in rural areas than the big telecom companies. This may be a win-win for everyone -- small entrepreneurs, large telecos and national governments -- because these village telcos may most likely operate their services under franchise from a larger teleco, thus providing connectivty to the disconnected, additional revenues to larger telecos and help governments fulfill their USO dreams. Another advantage of this bottoms-up approach is that it creates a lot of employment opportunities in rural areas. The example of India's Public Call Offices (PCOs) is another good example that comes to mind. These manned PCOs created a lot of employment in rural areas and brought telecommunications closer to the rural masses. These PCOs are also popular in urban areas and the manner in which these yellow and black signs have sprouted up all over India in the last ten years has been eye opening. I look forward to hearing from other members on this list on this subject. I am particularly interested in hearing if others on this list have tried to apply 802.11 technology for rural connectivity and their experiences so far. Venky www.medialabasia.org ***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/
