Re: [GKD] RFI: How Can A Grassroots Project Obtain Financing From Private Donors In Rich Countries?
On 6/24/05, Gena Fleming wrote: Currently, people in need of funding need to do quite a bit of sleuthing to find funding sources. Can we create an alternative? I am imagining a website which showcases a diversity of projects through photos and brief descriptions (women's rights, sustainable water purification, permaculture, medicinal gardens, etc.) so that individuals who want to donate can get an overview of a diversity of sustainable projects around the world and choose specific projects they would like to donate directly to, without the mediation of individual foundations. I think this would serve the dual purpose of offering a new vision of a sustainable world, while helping donors feel more personally connected and involved with projects to which they are donating financial support. It is definitely a great idea. From my experience, it is precisely the 'alignment' that takes place with individual mediating organisations that results in some amount of dilution of purpose for the grassroots players: your 'marketplace' (souk, bazaar, eBay) model provides an alternative. However, even that bazaar needs support - hosting, design, bug-fixing, the main tech issues, and other broader issues like certification, ratings, ancillary commercial issues and the like. We should discuss ways and means of getting this off the ground in a workable manner. -- Vickram ***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-DOTCOM] RFI: IT Training Curriculum for Rural Community Local Government
On 5/20/05, Femi Oyesanya [EMAIL PROTECTED] asked: What ICT training curriculum do you then introduce to the leadership of, take for example, a tribe of nomads, so that he/she can begin to think of policies that will use IT to improve rural livelihood ? I have been thinking about the essential dichotomy between our urbanised, land-centric view of ICT and the cultures of nomadism. While it seems true that the twain don't meet, it is also true that we need to ensure that nomadism as a way of life not be allowed to vanish. To do this, certainly nomads need to be armored against the creeping growth of landowners. Is ICT going to be another of those tendrils? I believe not, provided the tools can be developed by and placed within the controls of nomads themselves. But how can this happen, if the landowning cultures are the only ones looking for ways to deliver these tools? Nomads too live by rules, only those aren't the same rules as landowners. Current ICT propositions are based on the kind of rules with which fixed-property societies exist. I fear neither hardware nor software solutions exist that truly deliver intelligent edge devices to people who aren't locked to land. I am not sure we have here on this List people who were once from such cultures, who can at least opine with some authority on such a topic. I hope I am wrong. -- Vickram 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 past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
Re: [GKD] Sneaking Up on the $100 Computer
On 3/2/05, Sam Lanfranco wrote: There is no need to detail all these options here except to note that a significant, necessary, and important component to in-vehicle telematics is the need for voice-to-voice interaction between the driver and onboard systems. This is necessary for safe driving since using a keyboard, or giving attention to a screen, while driving, is not a good idea. My 90 paise (IRs). The keyboard of course, is hardly an essential I/O instrument or device, considering the range of alternatives being developed in parallel streams (think mobile devices, but also think of the large number of devices being researched and developed for the severely disabled). I am thinking, however, more about the screen itself. There is hardly any good reason to consider that the 'screen' *not* be the primary interface for observation of the external environment, rather than the fairly useless, if not actually counterproductive, square meters of glass that current vehicles use. Compare this with the ratio of glass used in a modern aircraft, for instance. And also consider that, at least in a fighter aircraft, the see-through glass is also used as a reflective medium for I/O - the head-up display. I think that future vehicles will use far more 'smart glass' as compared to 'dumb glass' (ie the kind you just look through, and that does not add actual value), and that this will have serendipitous results for computing in general. None of the above is intended to deduct from Sam's comments about voice I/O. -- Vickram ***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] The $100 Computer: A Polite Scam
On 2/22/05, Edward Cherlin wrote: On Thursday, 10 February 2005, Sam Lanfranco wrote: Dear Colleagues, The $100 computer for those on the other side of the digital divide has once again surfaced in what are mainly self-promoting (occasionally well intended) pronouncements from various quarters. You might enjoy (well, that isn't the right word, but never mind) the recent novel Air by Geoff Ryman, which describes the consequences of dumping every villager in the world on the Net without warning. Of course, it would be a disaster. That's why we don't plan to do it that way. ..snip... Yes, that's where the comparison with Air comes in. Just giving people computers and going away would accomplish less than nothing. Compare, however, the Grameen Bank program for placing cell phones in villages. The villagers are first brought up to a functioning level of literacy, then taught the rudiments of business and banking, and then they get to take out a loan, buy a phone, and start selling minutes. The same, but more so, is an absolute requirement for placing computers in villages. That has always been the real stumbling block - whether it is through the useless unstaffed and unhoused village schools of India, or the political football schools in Pakistan, or elsewhere - there is little incentive to bring literacy/education to the disadvantaged. What sticks in the craw is the unstated assumption that *we* privileged IT-aware people can, on our own, bring blessings to the *stupid* untutored poor. This is why, at Radiophony, we advocate empowering poor people with their own low cost, low power FM stations, where the user devices cost under a dollar in real street prices, and the central dissemination device under $50. At those costs, putting in the extras (training, maintenance, economic wrappers) become feasible on a large scale. Networking those inputs creates synergy and serendipity - who better than the information users to tell *us* what the necessary information devices should be? Or better still, learn to join *us* in developing those devices. -- Vickram ***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] Should Developed Countries Subsidize the Internet for LDCs?
On 1/11/05, Medard Gabel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A Thought experiment / Cost/benefit question: What would it cost (ball park estimate) to provide everyone in the world with broad band Internet access? ..snip... Building the high-speed wireless connection devices (or wired ones where appropriate and economical) will be a huge market and benefit (subsidy?) to the global telecommunications industry. Manufacturing the computers and/or Internet access devices in the developing countries where the products will be used would provide jobs, infrastructure, and technological expertise. Training the technicians for installation, maintenance, and upgrading of the network and its access technology would provide additional jobs and expertise to the developing country. Providing electricity for Internet access through solar cells and other decentralized energy production technologies would provide electricity for a host of other important basic human needs devices, such as lighting, water pumping, and refrigeration. Please don't forget the very real cost of fixing legislation and regulation that militates against low cost and collaborative networks in developing countries (well, in developed countries too, but ). The global telecom industry is geared to picking low hanging fruit, and spends a lot of money on 'education' to ensure that local pricing (extortionary) and competition (cartelised) remains convenient. In India, for instance, although we have had an IX (internetworking data exchange) in place for two years, its share of local traffic is completely minimal due to bad policies - so ISPs pay international rates for most emails and the local share of hosting is abysmal - and consumers pay more. The total PC penetration remains incredibly low and Internet usage pathetic - though most people think that India is a cyber superpower - we are far from it. -- Vickram ***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] NGOs and Free Software
On 12/22/04, Sam Lanfranco wrote: Many of these take place in areas where markets fail to work properly, in any event. And where on this planet exactly do markets work 'properly', without hedging them with consumer-protecting regulatory provisions? -- Vickram ***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-DOTCOM] Win-Win Business Models
On 12/1/04, Peter Burgess wrote: My current view is that we need to start looking very hard at how human resources in communities can be used best to produce the most ... and then market to get the most cash revenue and at the end have the most value for the community as a whole. I have probably said something like this before, and so have Lee Thorn and others too, but the first 'we' in the phrases above gains immensely in power if it (a) actually includes a large dollop of local participation and (b) is seen to do so. Doing that in practice involves long gestation periods for the first project and the first success, and even later will continue to involve a lot of engagement, as long as further money and skills are necessary. Disengaging from making resources 'available', moving to the self-sustaining replicable stage where resources are only 'listed', to be made available against a negotiated demand, is the next level. Very few corporations have the stomach for the long haul, or rather, perceive that they do. The current trend towards short-term goals and reporting that is sweeping the world, coupled with the growth by acquisition of mega-corporations, is an unsettling portend. We need to hear about and to help create more examples of what the genuinely engaged corporations do, rather than what the well-heeled claim to do (to the echoing kudos of an adoring media), if the possibilities of win-win are to become truly replicable. -- Vickram ***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-DOTCOM] What is the Future for Cyber-Security?
On Friday, October 15, 2004, Jim Burnham wrote: While the Macintosh OS is not exactly a new technology (more a niche technology unfamiliar to the majority of computer users), I feel that the Mac OS is a valuable 'tool' for helping protect both businesses and individuals from the flood of cyber-attacks that they have to deal with every day. Perhaps the donors, rather than spending huge amounts of money on virus protection, training, and recovery of systems and networks once they are attacked, should help developing countries purchase Macintosh's. The initial up-front cost differential (Macs tend to be more expensive than PC's) will be more than made up for by the considerable savings in support. Both MacOS and GNU/Linux, unfamiliar through lack of hands-on exposure to the majority of computer users, are largely immune to cyber-attacks (I use MacOS myself, and am attempting to get savvy enough to use GNU/Linux) but this is (mostly) not because of superior technology. Arguably, the donors should spend more money promoting GNU/Linux, which is Open Source and mostly Free Software, thus reducing the cost of acquisition tremendously. Support for most users is also free (note the difference between capitalisations), and collaborative, which is good for society in general. Computers themselves are a niche technology, unfamiliar to and remote from the lives of the vast majority of humans on this planet (I can't ;-) speculate about the humans who live off-planet). Yet their influence is undeniable. It behooves us to seek ways to ensure that this impact is mostly good, rather than mostly bad or mostly unknown, for that matter. Creators of cyber-attacks follow the principle of low hanging fruit, and therefore over 90 per cent of personal computer users who run MS Windows are usually at risk from such attacks. Cyber-attacks are a societal problem, and creating laws and battalions of cyber-savvy law enforcement agencies is merely fire-fighting, not getting to the root of the problem. The Net itself is global, while different countries have different levels of openness and attitudes to law making and enforcement. No single rule will fit all, I fear. -- Vickram 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] Community Learning by Radio and the Internet
On 5/26/04, John Hibbs wrote: What would happen if micro radio would be so ubiquitous (and affordable) that children everywhere would have a frequent opportunity to be their own content developers? broadcasters? Wouldn't this activity compare to the piano recital? Christmas play? soccer game? How much value arises when the speaker knows that her grandmother is listening? or even the mayor? what internal value comes to those who have been on the radio? What does it take to organise a reference demonstration of this simple thesis? Not much really - except that it would be quite illegal in most countries, due to the same kind of thinking that has paralysed South Africa (cf the article posted by bridges.org very recently on this list) on the subject of WiFi and VoIP. Here are the building blocks of micro-radio: * An inexpensive low power transmitter * Antenna * Microphone * Recording device * Editing device * Playback device (may be the same as the recording device) As I write this, I am listening to jazz on the radio, broadcast on the Net by www.attentionspanradio.net and sent from my sound card to the input jack of a tiny FM transmitter with a rudimentary antenna (their d-i-y designs can be downloaded conveniently from http:///www.radiophony.com, the Radiophony website), which cost a total of IRs 200 to assemble, and the long-life rechargeable 12V battery which powers it cost IRs 90. FYI, Rs 300 is approximately USD 6.5 these days. The signal is just powerful enough to reach every room in the house. For one account of what internal value really means, browse through our website (Radiophony is promoted by Dr Arun Mehta and myself, both of us are present on this list), where we describe the experience of setting up India's first rural radio station (later shut down by some bureaucrats). There are really no words to describe the thrill so visible on the faces of villagers as they heard their voices on their radio (in fact, they later named their station Mana Radio, which means Our Radio in the local - Telugu - language). The station was powered by a similar transmitter as the one I am listening through now, and with a suitably placed antenna, every home (within half a kilometer from the antenna mast) could tune in to their own village station. But to return to the question raised by John Hibbs, what would it take to 'scientifically' demonstrate the internal value? What would it take to make radio ubiquitous and affordable? By international agreement, the frequencies from 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz are reserved for public broadcasting over FM. This fact has had a very useful outcome, in that consumer FM radio receivers are extraordinarily cheap in most parts of the world. This means that FM radio listening is affordable, for the most part, but at the same time, the restricted band of frequencies for the purpose has led to a commonly expressed fear psychosis that the spectrum is a scarce commodity. Market forces usually ensure that scarcity drives up prices, and in the case of FM broadcast license fees or spectrum usage charges, this is true. In the US, one of the world's heaviest users of spectrum in the FM band, prices are sky-high, and the government has been stepping back from protectionist measures that secured a place for public service radio. Most public service radio frequencies are held by well-funded organisations, while commercial radio has become massively dominated by a very few media companies, and there does not seem to be much scope for independent micro-radio to flourish, on the surface. The reality is somewhat different. Actually there are many 'pirate' stations that broadcast independent content, and a groundswell movement that seeks to open the spectrum for more micro-radio. The FCC has been forced to take note of the pioneering study by the Prometheus Project (http://www.prometheusradio.org/) and a hearing on Localism in Broadcasting will take place today (May 26) in Rapid City, South Dakota. Sen John McCain is also expected to introduce a legislation shortly to mandate bandwidth for low power radio. Much more can be done to make the technology easily available. The circuit on our website is not ideally temperature stable nor filtered to a very high quality (US standards militate towards a separation of 200 KHz between stations) - it was designed for low cost and easy component availability. What is needed is a handy circuit that can be easily tuned to lock onto frequencies 200 KHz apart, encased in a simple, cheap and hardy box, and an accompanying range of easy to build and tune antennae, so that thousands of little stations can be set up within a few hundred meters of each other, without the need for expensive one time use instrumentation. It won't take much to upgrade the technology of consumer level devices to achieve the specifications outlined above - but someone must get down and fine-tune them, and someone else must work out the best low
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] The Role of the Private Sector
On 11/25/2003, Global Knowledge Dev. Moderator wrote: Many GKD members have argued that the for-profit private sector must play a key role in expanding access to underserved communities. The notion is appealing. At the outset, let me state that I operate as an entrepreneur, mainly because the regulatory environment for public trusts in India is not very good. However, the work we do and the technology solutions we promote are almost completely focused on developmental issues, and I do not see any conflict of interest here. Of course, we don't make a lot of money either, and that is because we find ourselves shut out from several funding opportunities. I also have found some NGOs reluctant to deal with a for-profit, because it affects their own funding proposals. 1. What specific elements does a policy environment need in order to encourage the private sector to expand access to poor, isolated, underserved areas? Where do such policies exist? The first part is a challenging question. To my mind, policies do not drive access, demand does. Private companies will step in to supply against demand if there is sufficient possibility of a profit in doing so. Having said that, policies can and do work to *prevent* such a supply situation from being created, or even the demand situation. In India, for instance, currently the use of VoIP with termination within the POTS system (and that includes cellular and WiLL telephony) is banned, thus depriving half a billion people from access to cheaper and possibly affordable telephony. Without the experience of telephony, users are deprived of the ability to demand, and providers to devise, more imaginative uses for it (than POTS, that is). 2. What lessons have we learned about the risks and rewards of creating public-private partnerships to expand access to the underserved? Where have these lessons been applied, and where have they worked? Businesses are driven primarily by the profit motive. Unless there is a significant change in market mechanisms (and this is one place - perhaps the only place - that policies can make a difference) this situation will continue. To look at lessons in expanding access, I can suggest the experience of 'community' radio in Nepal, where several stations have been established in difficult areas, where opposing political groups routinely employ violence to further their cause. In India, several rural development groups are attempting to deploy better microbanking systems, using a hybrid combination of physical access and electronic data capture. In the absence of higher availability of electricity and low cost computers and networks (connectivity) this must be the only practical solution. 3. What are specific, unexploited opportunities for public-private partnerships to expand access to the underserved? Please provide examples where these opportunities can be exploited effectively. I have a little earlier suggested voice mail systems deployed over smartphones using cellular and WiLL networks. To develop such a system needs private-public partnering, even if the actual cost of software is met through development in publicly owned facilities such as universities. Actually, the cost of development is trivial, the deployment needs a large investment, and I am not aware of any such investment ever being made in the past by a public agency for promoting access. 4. What concrete lessons have we learned about stimulating/supporting local businesses to extend access to the underserved? Please be specific. Where have these lessons been applied effectively? The example of hybrid microbanking systems is a very good one, I believe. The reports I have read indicate that users consistently exhibit better banking behaviour, with higher rates of savings and lower defaults on loans, thus stimulating local economies. Both men and women appear to benefit, often the latter more. 5. Within underserved communities, women often face special difficulties becoming ICT providers (e.g., lack of capital, education, competing demands for time). Are there particular approaches that can be used to support women entrepreneurs who want to offer ICT access to underserved communities, beyond the 'Grameen cell phone' model? I have been told, verbally, that the private Reliance Infocomm WiLL network in India has encouraged about 5,000 small entrepreneurs, of which perhaps 20% are rural based, to use the phones as PCOs. No reports have been published yet of this effort. However, where ordinary users pay as little as Rs 500 (just over 9 euro) upfront for a phone with connectivity, entrepreneurs under the scheme do not pay anything at all. They also do not pay Reliance any commission, for billing of under Rs 250 per month. A call costs Rs 0.40 per minute (this was the cost, till very recently, of a call within the Reliance network, anywhere in India, but has probably gone up as a result of a regulatory change. The organisation is
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] What's on the Horizon?
My two bits... 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? Optical frequencies communication for exceptionally low power, very high bandwidth, short distance communications (line-of-sight) will be very likely to emerge as a new low cost option, in both desktop (laptop) and handheld devices. To deploy it, far more effort will be needed from grassroots social assistance program workers. Voice based messaging software programs will also appear on handhelds, enabling the Grameen model to be deployed much more effectively in other regions of the world, where cellular and cellular-like systems are being and will be deployed over the next three years. 2. What's the most valuable area for technology development? Voice recognition? Cheap broadband delivery? Cheap hand-helds (under $50)? The most critical area for technology development lies in the digitisation and support of services in demand, not in hardware per se. This is an exceedingly local activity, given that software development by its very nature demands a huge level of interaction between technologists and users. In hardware, though, it is both cheaper broadband and handhelds that need to emerge. Right now, in countries like India, the only really cheap mobile handsets are obsolete ones, which do not support the kind of operating systems that run such applications. 3. Where should we focus our efforts during the coming 3 years? On ICT policy? Creating ICT projects with revenue-generation models that are quickly self-supporting? Demonstrating the value of ICT to developing country communities? We need to evolve better funding models, that are better equipped to evaluate and deliver funds to grassroots projects that are more appropriate to the communities in which they are to add value. Trying to opine here in this group about specific projects we get to know about somewhere else in the world is both frustrating and patronizing. 4. What levels of access should we be able to achieve by 2007 in each of the major under-served regions? Who (exactly) must do what (concretely) to attain them? We need to get a foothold into these regions. And we need to have funding in place that will support the growth of that foothold, driven by local demand. 5. What funding models should we develop over the next 3 years? Projects with business plans that provide self-sustainability? Support from multilateral corporations? Venture capital funds for ICT and development? In a nutshell, none of the above. But see *3.*, for the glaring weaknesses in these models make it impossible to choose between them, or even to want to make such a choice. -- Vickram 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] Misunderstanding Broadband
Al Hammond wrote: WiFi networks already cover ranges of 100 miles or more, with repeaters and tuned anntennae--in Laos, in California, in India, and in many other places. If it is happening in India, sadly, it is illegal. We are only permitted to operate WiFi indoors. However, the definition of *indoors* has been extended to include the physical area of a campus. 100 miles and similar extended areas, while highly desirable, seems hard to believe. -- Vickram 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] RFI: Pico Hydro Power and ICT Deployments
At 3:31 PM +0530 13/10/2003, Venkatesh (Venky) Hariharan wrote: 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. Venky - you have separately been in direct contact with Udit about using relatively inexpensive solar power panels to recharge batteries that will be part of a direct/alternating current supply for a computer. This can be made to work in a real world scenario by distributing the computers locally within a village (and not putting them in 'special' cybercenters), connecting them using Wi-Fi locally. This means that the network has to be grown outwards from one or more points within the village, since Wi-Fi has an inbuilt signal strength issue. Each node is self contained, and the responsibility for keeping them powered up then becomes the users'. Panels for single computers are not prohibitively expensive (TCO), unlike installations for complete cybercenters, which then naturally become part of a bureaucracy. It takes a bit more thought and effort to get such a network started, but I think in terms of sustainability it is certainly a more attractive proposition. In fact, the process of installation can also trigger off a fresh growth industry - installation services. -- Vickram ***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] RFI: Computer Donations To The Third World
At 9:46 PM +0100 25/06/2003, Tony Roberts wrote: What we need to do is make an appropriate distinction between dumping and providing quality, fully refurbished, Pentium PCs into contexts where the appropriate capacity is already in place to make productive use of them. This means that secure and adapted premises, experienced staff and access to free or affordable technical support is in place. A couple of posts here also suggesting that one via media is to do a workaround with the computers sent to small businesses who will then integrate their usage locally. Donee schools can also do this, farming out the computers to local businesses with the proviso that the machines be available to the school during specified times (school hours, study periods) and be used for whatever else (cybercafes, printshops, entertainment centers) the rest of the time. The problem with this is the fact that the donee schools are often run by absentee trustees, who do not care often enough to see the big picture. Whether they are private or public (ie commercial or government run schools) finally the responsibility for imparting education must be that of the local administration (teachers and principal). Also not much point if the donor organisations make (well-meaning, but well!) demands about end-usage that prevent the computers from being used at all! -- Vickram ***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] New Graph on ICTs in Africa
This is just one more example of how things are structured AGAINST development (by which I mean equitable distribution of wealth and opportunity)... and anyone who raises a voice is labelled anarchic or some other convenient socio-eco-political pejorative. This graph refers to status quo in interconnectivity, whereas I am relating here an episode in the fight for wireless spectrum in broadcasting. However, I think that both broadcasting and interconnectivity could do with freeing up of spectrum. This should particularly be encouraged in developing countries, because the situation regarding frequency usage is so different from the paradigm of the North. Last week at the AMARC conference I tried to have the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters endorse an appeal for freeing up frequencies from excessive regulation, that certain low cost technologies, such as low power FM, can use without creating global problems in interference. The main objections? One: that freeing frequencies from regulation (that's not what I said, I asked for local governance in such matters) is anarchic (sic). Two: that the current governance of frequency usage is an international agreement going back years, it works, and we should not propose any change that 'they' will defeat as 'being anarchic' (which seems to say that if it ain't broke, don't fix it - but it is broke. Many countries have citizenry who are denied the use of this incredibly low cost medium of local communication and information dissemination, one that even illiterate people can manage with minimal (or no) assistance). The final solution? The Kathmandu Declaration, February 2003, now includes a clause that reads: We call for regulation of frequency spectra for community radio such that it favors the development of this medium for the use of local communities. It really in my opinion does not say much more than the status quo. But still, it can be used as one more flag to wave when local government policies are being discussed, and hopefully totally repressive governments will find it easier to accept than asking for radical change in the right of their citizens to information. To further amplify the reasoning behind each phrase: We call for the... : AMARC is a recognised international body supporting the use of community radio in the development of civil societies. ..regulation of frequency spectra... : current status is to manage frequencies at the central level. Except for advanced countries like Germany, this is just about universal. There is no justification for this situation in the use of public FM bands, where signal propagation phenomenon is completely local. ..the development of this medium... : current broadcast technology (pretty well 50 years old) is almost totally North centric and not suited for many parts of the third world. .. for the use of local communities. : This is to avoid the tendency to hand out this frequency band excessively to commercial, religious or political pressure interests. The AMARC Kathmandu Declaration goes on to say (rather verbosely, I fear), with regard to WSIS: We therefore urge all the participants in the WSIS process, particularly the government of Tunisia which will host the second assembly, to recognize and support the role of community media in providing spaces for people's voices to be heard in the formulation and implementation of national, regional and international policies on information and communication technologies and in the construction of an information society which is globalized for the many rather than the few. Further, this approach must extend beyond the WSIS into the foreseeable future. At 3:06 PM +0100 05/03/2003, Richard Gerster wrote: We invite you to have a look at our new graph at the homepage http://www.gersterconsulting.ch/fs/fs_news_graph.html on our latest graph: The Intercontinental Detours of Internal African Phone Calls Do you know? African telephone companies annually pay USD400 million to European and North American providers for internal African connections. We examine a phone call from Benin (Porto Novo) to Nigeria (Lagos) and compare it to an international phone call of similar distance from Switzerland (Geneva) to France (Lyon). Our graph is a contribution in view of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, December 10 - 12, 2003, and in Tunis in 2005. The graph can be downloaded in English and German. -- Vickram ***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] World Computer Exchange Article
At 1:11 PM + 13/02/2003, Pamela McLean wrote: We are exploring possibilities for equipping a community centre, such as getting computers through World Computer Exchange (WCE). Any advice or comments would be welcome. In the long term we recognise that there are good reasons for using Open Source, but we have no relevant experience. Obviously if we do get computers we will need technical support, and as available expertise favours Microsoft, we are likely to start with Microsoft. I presume you mean the expertise available at hand. If Net based support is an option, I suspect you will find that it is far better for Linux. MS is always a backup option available to you since the computers you get will probably have that preloaded. Our teachers' initial interest is not in teaching computer classes, but in the potential of ICTs for communicating and gaining information. For instance, Adebite Johnson wants to use the potential of computers to support his subject work. His most urgent thought is that somehow it might help him to improve the standards of the geography department, which is terribly under-resourced. He also wants to exchange information with other schools. I have understood your concern about poor electricity and no telephones. But if the latter is the reality, you will find exchange of information a serious issue. One solution to this is Wi-Fi, an inexpensive technology for broadband wireless connectivity between computers. Its major limitation is distance, as effective bandwidth drops off seriously fast over 20 km. Even to get this distance you need special antenna - the technology was originally developed as an alternative to wired Ethernet. Perhaps you should also look at downloading data on a regular basis using Worldspace's Africa satellite. This may be the cheapest and easiest way to regularly update your computers with information on various subjects. Adebite Johnson can also access information on CD-ROMS, to share with his students, thanks to the OOCD2000+ field officer, David Mutua, and his laptop, Adebite Johnson will also be contacting groups such as SchoolNet and Teachers Without Borders through David, who currently travels a half day journey to Ibadan to do overnight web-browsing and email sessions on behalf of the project. (see thread on email for rural Africa) I think that Frederick's various concerns are perfectly valid (snip) he raises: What is the impact on recipients (snip) Are such gift-horses appreciated well, or simply abused and misused by recipients, who feel they've got the PCs in an easy way anyway? Even free computers would not be seen as 'easy'. OOCD2000+ has worked hard to get this far, laying all the foundations of the project, which ensure that it has excellent social capital. Without social capital, as you say, you would not have got this far. What lies next is harder: for you to sustain it and support it with infrastructure so that the project does not become an insufferable burden to the core team. We do have concerns about the level of technical support that may be needed, software costs, and the electrical power that will be needed to keep them running, but we will do our best to overcome these difficulties, just as we have done our best to overcome our previous and present difficulties. Incidentally, I saw a mail just a couple of days back about IBM Linux boxes costing only $199 retail now in the US. They need keyboard, mouse and monitor to be full-fledged computers, which WCE can probably help you with easily. Are you looking at solar power or micro-hydel for the electricity problems? We have some expertise with these technologies here in India, and I can help put you in touch with developers. The best thing about twinning your computer project with this technology is the fact that it will be of help in so many more developmental areas for the people in the immediate region. -- Vickram ***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] Radio and ICT
At 3:53 PM + 08/07/2002, Lynette Obare wrote: We need to be very cautious about how they get to be used in community and ensure that it does not marginalise women or those with low income. We also needs to consider women's gender daily calender and when to air certain programmes so that it coincides with the time they are at home. Without taking some of these intricate issues into consideration we risk losing an important target audience. Having been part of the Kenya Community Media Network that promotes different approaches in community empowerment, use of community radio as a tool has been hindered by licensing of airwaves. It also involves a lot of resources. We were also looking into the use of manual radios but we realised that these also required resources. We have been trying to excite interest in very low-cost rural oriented community radio initiatives. We have found that it is possible to get fairly good reach in a small region (dia less than 1/2 km, about the size of a typical village) using extremely low powered radio frequency modulators feeding ordinary paired wire. This leaks enough power to ensure that receivers in the vicinity of the wire can get decent reception. Since leakage of power is intrinsic to any electric wire, we maintain no explicit licensing is needed. In fact, if there is already a local cable TV network in place, this can be used to carry the signals. We use very low cost digital recording equipment to build the production studio, thus the total cost of operation is also low. The remaining cost is in the training of the people who will produce audio content on a regular basis. We have successfully set up this kind of community radio in India. Please contact me off-list if you would like to have more details. -- Vickram Crishna ceo Net Radiophony India Pvt Ltd Wireless Freedom! www.radiophony.com how can I be of service to you without diminishing your degrees of freedom? -- R. Buckminster Fuller ***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/
Re: [GKD] Literacy -- A Forgotten ICT?
Richard Labelle [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I guess that this all depends on what is meant by literacy. Not being able to read and write does not preclude being able to develop, test and use technology and reading and writing may not be necessary to use some of the newer ICTs. People can afterall communicate orally and the use visual cues and messages, including drawings, to communicate. Living and working in India makes one peculiarly alive to the need for communications that are not language sensitive, or transcend language sensitivity. We (at radiophony... http://www.radiophony,com) have been struggling with the creation of a software that will enable people with severe physical difficulties to gain computer literacy, so that computers can become very versatile AAC (assisted and augmented communication) devices. In the process I do not think a single one of us (an extended workgroup based in Yahoo Groups) has not realised with some force that there really isn't much difference between helping those who cannot move much and those who cannot use English. Once you have eliminated the keyboard and mouse as a necessary adjunct of computing (interacting with the computer), it is not a big step to 'junk' English either (in order to get one's work done). Much of the problems with traditional interfaces has to do with the need to punch particular keys. This goes away when you have only a limited number (as low as one) click devices. Please contact me offlist if you would like to discuss this further. I somehow think (empirically and intuitively) that this will have a huge impact on our understanding of communications, going forward. -- Vickram ***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/
