Techknowlogia Journal 2000 Mac April

Volume 2, Issue 2 March/April 2000
Thematic Focus: Access to Information and Knowledge
5 Is the Divide Digital

Wadi D. Haddad, Editor
There is now a genuine concern about the "digital divide." But narrowing the divide - publishing a newspaper
in every village, placing a radio and TV in every household, putting a computer in every classroom, and wiring
every building to the Internet - does not automatically solve the problem. The most serious divide is in the
extent and quality of human knowledge and learning.
7 Email to the Editor

Read what your colleagues have offered as feedback on the last three issues of TechKnowLogia.
9 Why be Wired? The Importance of Access to Information and Communication Technologies

Kerry Stephen McNamara, Senior Knowledge Management Officer, World Bank Institute
Access to information and communication technologies – and the ability to adapt those technologies to local
needs – is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. This article outlines the scope of the problem, how to tackle it,
how to ensure improvements in the lives of the poor and what the international community can do.
12 Measuring up Access
Prepared by Lesley Anne Simmons, Communications Officer, Global Knowledge Partnership Secretariat,
World Bank Institute
This article presents data on the degree to which the people of most countries of the world have access to
the tools and skills of the information age.
16 Rural Access: How Can Connectivity Contribute to Social and Agricultural Development?
Don Richardson, Ph.D.,TeleCommons Development Group
Telecommunication services are important “lubricants” for rural and agricultural development, and while they
are not a development panacea, their contribution can be significant – where they are available.
! 1 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

21 TechKnowNews
Tony Blair Focuses on Learning as Key to Digital Economy ♦ Asia's IT Revolution Exposes Serious Skills
Shortage ♦ Multipurpose Community Telecenter in Africa ♦ Need Fuels Continued Growth of Corporate
Universities ♦ Internet Use in Asia to Explode by 2005 ♦ New Internet Training Materials Available from
ITrain ♦ On-Line Debate on Global Poverty, Social Exclusion, Inequality ♦ World Bank Group and SoftBank
to Invest in Internet Enterprises for The Developing World ♦
23 FM Radio Stations: Broadcasting with the Sun

David Walker, Educational Specialist, The Commonwealth of Learning
This article describes community-based low powered FM radio stations, some powered by solar energy, and
how they can be used successfully.
25 Information Technology for the Masses: Can It Be TV?

Claudio de Moura Castro, Chief Education Adviser, Inter-American Development Bank
Technology follows the tracks of wealth. Television may be an exception. This article focuses on two cases
from Brazil: Globo Rural and Pequenas Empresas e Grandes Negócios (Small Enterprises and Great Deals).
28 School Connectivity: Wishful Thinking or Wise Action?

Sam Carlson, Robert Hawkins, World Links for Development Program
This article describes a pilot project in Uganda which links via the Internet secondary-level students and
teachers around the world, in order to improve educational opportunities, develop youth employment skills for
st
the 21 Century, and build global awareness and understanding.
32 A High-Tech Twist: ICT Access and the Gender Divide

Mary Fontaine, The LearnLink Project, Academy for Educational Development (AED)
This article discusses a subset of the digital divide - a snapshot of a phenomenon that is emerging as an
issue of substance in its own right: the gender divide.
37 Grassroots Libraries: A Base for Lifelong Learning

Aya Aoki, Adult Outreach Education Thematic Group, The World Bank
Grassroots public library systems can serve as a powerful mean to promote literacy and a lifelong learning
environment for both children and adults. Examples are provided.
40 The Full Story: Full-Text Publications on the Web

Gregg B. Jackson, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Coordinator, George Washington University
The Internet is now the largest library in the history of the world. This article steers you to Internet sources
that provide the full text of books, reports, journals, and newsletters.
42 The Information Revolution and the Digital Divide: A Review of Literature

Sonia Jurich

The author reviews the literature in search of answers to the questions: Who benefits from the ICT
revolution? Why is it so important to embrace the digital revolution? Is there no hope for those on the other
side of the divide?
45 e-Lectronic Access to Information: A Research Review

Sonia Jurich
Four summaries of research on the use of electronic documents for information seeking and retrieval.
48 Korea: Can Edutopia Become a Reality?

Insung Jung, Ph.D., Korea National Open University
The author describes a national strategy of easy access to education by anyone at any time and place, and
how Korea National Open University is implementing it.
51 Open-Source Software: Untapped Opportunities?

Rafael Chargel
Open-source is the term used for designated software that is publicly available in source code form, rather
than as final product. This article presents best known examples and outlines rationale, limitations and
potential for developing countries.
53 On the Move
Upcoming Events: Conference, Seminars, Exhibits, Training Courses, etc.
56 A Phone is a Phone is a Phone? …Well, Not Really!

Sandra Semaan
What are the types of wireless technologies and what can mobile phones do?
58 WorthWhileWebs
This article offers a selection of websites that make access to information and knowledge easy.
60 High Speed Internet Access: The Future for the World and the Implications for Developing
Countries
Lawrence Wolff, Inter-American Development Bank
The author summarizes the five options for Internet access, their costs and notes what appears to be most
feasible for developing countries.

62 Wake Up and Smell the Coffee…Remotely? The Internet Home
Sandra Semaan
A fully Internet enabled home: controlled via the Internet and accessible from anywhere.
64 UNLP: Universal Networking Language Programme

Sandra Semaan
The article describes an electronic language for the Internet, which is being developed with the goal of
enabling people from around the world to communicate in their native languages.
66 The Global Knowledge Partnership

Lesley Anne Simmons, Communications Officer, Global Knowledge Partnership Secretariat, World
Bank Institute
GKP is an informal partnership committed to sharing information, experiences and resources, and to
promoting broad access to, and effective use of, knowledge and information.
67 InfoChange
Jody Olsen, InfoChange Foundation
InfoChange is a non-profit organization that helps move forward the goal that everyone should have access
to information through technology, and that, without this access, basic education will remain limited.
Editorial Calendar for Years 2000 and 20001
YEAR 2000
January/ March/ May/ July/ September November/
February April June August /October December
Higher Access to Basic Skill Learning Teacher

Education Information Education for Formation Never Ends Support
& Knowledge All (Lifelong) and
Training
YEAR 2001
January/ March/ May/ July/ September November/
February April June August /October December
Manageme Science and Enterprise Social Early Language

nt of Math Training Studies Childhood Education
Education Education Development
Systems and Parental
Education

Wadi D. Haddad, Editor
If Not Digital, Then What? development and advanced technologies, developing coun-
tries can leapfrog. The bad news is that this process is not
The thematic focus of this Issue is: Access to Information automatic. On the contrary, unless conscious efforts are
and Knowledge. With the remarkable advancements in in- made, countries are likely to be marginalized. There is an
formation and telecommunication technologies (ICT), there educational emergency for:
is now a genuine concern about the "digital divide", the gap ! A workforce that has the foundation to enhance the
between the ICT "haves" and the ICT "have-nots." There is a quality and efficiency of product development, produc-
good justification for this concern and the figures show it at tion and maintenance, and the flexibility to acquire the
every level. But narrowing the divide - publishing a newspa- new skills required for new jobs; and
per in every village, placing a radio and TV in every house- ! A cadre of highly-trained scientific, technological and
hold, putting a computer in every classroom, and wiring processing personnel, including some with sophisticated
every building to the Internet - does not automatically solve research skills, who can fully understand developments
the problem. The most serious divide is in the extent and in the material, scientific, technological, managerial and
quality of human knowledge and learning. It is not digital; social areas and who can take the lead in their assess-
it is educational. ment, adaptation, and local applications.
It is necessary but not sufficient to provide avenues to infor- The globalization of the economy and its concomitant de-
mation and knowledge. What is more important is to em- mands on the workforce requires a shift to an education that
power people with appropriate educational, cognitive and enhances the ability of learners to access, assess, adopt and
behavioral skills and tools to: apply knowledge, to think independently, exercise appropri-
! access the information avenues efficiently, effectively ate judgment and collaborate with others to make sense of
and wisely; new situations. The objective of education is no longer sim-
! acquire knowledge and internalize it; ply to convey a body of knowledge, but to teach how to
! apply knowledge to better understand the changing learn, problem-solve and synthesize the old with the new. It
world, to develop their capabilities, to live and work in is worth noting, also, that the emerging economy will no
dignity, to participate in development, to improve the longer be centrally created and controlled by governments.
quality of their lives, and to make informed decisions; This environment, which will be dominated by private sector
and and not government jobs, will place a premium on creativity,
! upgrade their knowledge continuously and systemati- initiative and entrepreneurship.
cally.
Access Anytime Anywhere
The Digital Divide … An Educational Emergency
The above demands require two changes in our educational
Advancements in ICT have revolutionized the world econ- behavior. Firstly, the need for continuous access to informa-
omy. Information can now be collected, analyzed and com- tion and knowledge makes learning life-long, and the tradi-
municated with increasing speed through dramatic innova- tionally neat distinction between learning and work unreal.
tions in information technology, rapid international commu- Education thus becomes a continuum, with no marked be-
nication and transportation capacity, and massive technologi- ginning and end. Secondly, the process of learning cannot be
cal connections across national boundaries. Any service that confined to the traditional classroom. The architecture of
can be digitized and transmitted can be produced and sold education services and the allocation of resources have to be
anywhere. Together, with economic developments, these planned accordingly. No longer should countries view for-
advancements are producing a new worldwide economy that mal educational institutions as the sole educators, or the only
is global, high speed, knowledge driven, disciplinarian, and institutions worthy of financial investment. Other channels,
competitive. Countries have to meet the competitiveness from interactive radio to educational television to offerings
challenge in terms of agility, networking and learning, and to of virtual schooling over the Internet, or Intranet, to commu-
arrange production to achieve quality, productivity and flexi- nity learning centers, to training schemes, will have to be
bility. The good news is that, with the potential of human figured into the equation.

Access Channels and Educational Achievement
TechKnowLogia™
The model of education that was developed for the industrial Published by
age cannot effectively achieve the educational empowerment Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.
in the information age. With the tools of ICT, we should be
able to evolve the conventional model of: In collaboration with
! A building, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO )
! A student Organization for Economic Co-operation
! A teacher (as provider of knowledge), and and Development (OECD )
! A set of textbooks and some audio-visual aids.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Into a new model of: Wadi D. Haddad, President, Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.
! A knowledge infrastructure (print, audio, video, digital ) INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD:
! A learner Thomas Alexander, Director, Employment, Labour and Social
! A teacher (as a tutor and facilitator), and Affairs Directorate, OECD
! Multimedia materials Gajaraj Dhanarajan, President & CEO,
The Commonwealth of Learning
Dee Dickenson, CEO, New Horizons for Learning
It is in this model, that the digital divide becomes an educa- Alexandra Draxler, Director, Task force on Education for the
tional divide, and bridging it becomes a human need, an edu- Twenty-first Century (UNESCO)
cational necessity, and a global urgency. Jacques Hallak, Director, Int'l Bureau of Education
Pedro Paulo Poppovic, Secretary of Distance Education, Federal
*** Ministry of Education, Brazil
Nicholas Veliotes, President Emeritus,
An Update…. Association of American Publishers
This is the fourth issue of TechKnowLogia, and we are ADVISORY EDITORIAL COMMITTEE:
pleased to report that the Journal is now read in 149 countries Joanne Capper, Sr. Education Specialist, World Bank
covering all the regions of the world. Total readership based Claudio Castro, Chief Education Adviser, IDB
Dennis Foote, Director, LearnLinks, AED
on individual and institutional subscribers, including browser Gregg Jackson, Assoc. Prof., George Washington Univ.
and PDF versions, is approximately 20,000. In addition to James Johnson, Deputy Director, GIIC
downloading the PDF version of the Journal, our readers are Frank Method, Dir., Washington Office, UNESCO
spending significant time on the web, actively utilizing the Laurence Wolff, Sr. Consultant, IDB
browser version of the Journal. Our tracking system has GUEST EDITORIAL ADVISER:
shown that, for the month of January 2000, the web regis- Kerry Stephen McNamara, Senior Knowledge Management
tered approximately 160,000 successful hits. Officer, World Bank Institute
We have introduced in this issue a new feature, "Email to CONTRIBUTING EDITORS:

Jarl Bengtsson, Head, CERI, OEDC
the Editor." We have also made a number of improvements Sonia Jurich, Consultant
on the site, and we will continue to do so, to make it as user Glenn Kleiman, VP, Education Development Center
friendly as possible. Dan Wagner, Director, International Literacy Institute
In order for us to continue to offer the journal free to our MANAGING EDITOR:
Sandra Semaan
subscribers, we are inviting organizations, institutions and
firms to co-sponsor one or more issues of the Journal and/or GENERAL QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
advertise their products and services in the Journal. (For Info@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
more information on how to sponsor or advertise, please FEEDBACK ON ARTICLES
TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
click on the respective buttons on the home page.) EDITORIAL MATTERS:
TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
We hope that TechKnowLogia will continue to be a useful SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING
resource for you about the potential of technologies for Sandra@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
knowledge dissemination, effective learning and efficient
ADDRESS AND FAX
education services. We also hope that you will continue to Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.
introduce it to your colleagues and friends. P.O. Box 3027
Oakton, VA 22124
U.S.A.
Fax: 703-242-2279

©Corel
Technologies: A Window for Transforming the crystal ball of the future? Does the past have no
Higher Education Jan/Feb 2000 credence? If so why study history?
Thank you for your article. I would refer you to a book by Thank you again for the article,
Lewis J Perleman titled "Schools Out" for his view of the JIM SUMNER
future of all levels of education. Right or wrong, I think he is United States
on to something. If the educational system doesn't do it
someone else will out of nothing but the desire to survive.
I read your abstract in the TechKnowLogia online Journal. I
I recall listening to a salesman of "programmed texts" 40 would agree with a lot of what you said. The problem for a
years ago. All the faculty was present. The conversation lot of rural people is one of costs. One being the low density
afterwards took the same paths you mentioned for the of people. This makes it difficult to bring broadband over
electronic technology. We are going to lose our jobs, etc. I wireline (copper or fiber) at an attractive price. Governments
think I was the only one who experimented with the are asking for the business case first. When it can be done
programmed texts in the school. The resistance is certainly then the local content is lost because of the need to centralize
there. and save staffing costs to offset high bandwidth. Where the
rural areas can show savings they are often marginalized by
I recall one of the best math classes I ever had was one in the institutions or politely rebuffed by endless committees.
which there was no teacher except Mallory who authored a Satellite can bring content to large amounts but it is
text in Algebra 1. I attended a small high school with about 8 impractical to do realtime classes over satellite. One way to
people enrolled in the class. The teacher/principal simply do this is by radio with a return audio feed or a lower
assigned us all the problems in the book and returned to his bandwidth two way audio on dedicated links. Another way is
office to principal. My success in the class was attested to to move faculty into the field and have them teach and
when I transferred to another larger school in another town, mentor from the field. This forces faculty to become users of
enrolled in Algebra 2, trig, solid geometry and didn't even the system from necessity and will spread the knowledge out
break my stride. In fact I could keep up with the top of the to the regions. Then the faculty will bypass the endless
class. The text wasn't programmed, just well written. I could committees to work with the rural people and students to get
go on about small class size, motivation, small school and broadband to the rural areas. Some things gain importance as
the like but I learned from that experience that at least in one moves away from the cities. The city can be used for
some instances one doesn't need a teacher physically in the centralization of paper work. (people to correct, collate books
classroom. In fact it could be a detriment. I had to think etc etc.)
through the material. On the other hand I had a geometry
class with a teacher and it worked out quite well. Point being As we plan to do a virtual high school with teachers in the
that one can learn with or without teacher if motivated and field teaching and mentoring to students in 5 communities
given the opportunity. this spring we hope to keep learning from other people in
TechKnowLogia. Maybe someday we can submit our
However, that is just one class out of a curriculum. Now I experiences in Northwestern Ontario.
read that we are evolving into a paradigm where students
design their own curriculums. I simply ask, where do these …. Keep up the good work.
students gain all this wisdom to know how to chart a proper DAN PELLERIN
path toward a desired goal? Has culture produced no Network Operations, Northern Chiefs Tribal Council,
wisdom? Are events whizzing past us so furiously, vis-a-vis Canada
Toffler in Future Shock, cultural wisdom is garnered from

If Technology is the Solution, Where is the General Feedback
Problem? Nov/Dec 1999
Just a quick note to congratulate you on the Journal -- it is a
Your editorial "If Technology is the Solution, Where is the really important addition to the field, and has already given
Problem?" is so very vital. I wish every school me several useful references for my work.
superintendent and school board would read it. I noticed that Senior Education Adviser
your comments were aimed at shifting from skills to the UNICEF, United States
learning process. I agree with you on that issue. I must ask
though, do we need to completely eliminate skill acquisition I am truly happy to see how profound an impact your work
from the process? Is there not yet a place for vocational skills and this website has on those of us who believe in
to be acquired? We are short thousands of truck drivers, technology for education and development.
networking people, people who know how to code computer Communications Specialist
programs, wire buildings, plumb them, & build them. Where AMIDEAST, Washington, D.C., United States
do these skills fit into your paradigm?
Thank you very much for the subscription. I have read some
Thank you for the time, of the articles (including your editorial) and found them
JIM SUMNER extremely interesting. This publication has a lot of potential
United States and I will mention it to colleagues and World Bank
developing country clients that I come in contact with.
The Editorial by Wadi D. Haddad was excellent. However, Principal Informatics Advisor
there is one additional factor and that is societal acceptance The World Bank
of an idea. We know that American and world society in
general believe that computers and Internet can increase My heartiest congratulations for your excellent web site and
learning. Therefore that battle is partially won. One of the Journal. I have already entered my application for a
greatest weaknesses as Wadi points out is the development of subscription, and am recommending that all English-
the courseware to go into the system. The United States speaking members of our staff also subscribe. I am sure the
government has abdicated this responsibility both at NSF and Journal will be of great professional interest and benefit to all
USED for the past two decades. Great curricula are created of us.
by inspired visionaries capable of bringing content and Ministry of Education, Brazil
technology together.
As the smell of the turkey roasting this Christmas Day
FRANK B. WITHROW afternoon wafts up into my work area, I just wanted to pass
Director of Development, ABLE COMPANY on my thank you and kudos on how much I have enjoyed
United States reviewing and reading the TechKnowLogia site! …I have
found it extremely interesting and useful. Well done!
Searching the Web for Educational Research Principal, School District, Canada
and Evaluation Nov/Dec 1999 …I sincerely consider TechKnowLogia a superb product
representing a new frontier of thinking in the information and
Excellent article "Searching the Web for Educational knowledge-technology-society nexus.
Research and Evaluation." In plain English, with a wealth of Fellow
material for the new user of the web for research (like me) Harvard University, United States
and a superb set of questions and warnings on how to use
evaluate and use someone else's research. Many kudos. I found not only an enjoyment in the articles for this issue,
but a serious contribution to the new thinking around tertiary
JANET KERLEY education for developing countries, as well. Most of our
Monitoring and Evaluations Specialist, USAID future development has to do with making no mistake in
United States designing the educational systems for this century in our
countries. I am from Colombia, but living in Mexico with an
To submit feedback regarding articles appearing in any extended mission for other Latin American countries, in
of the TechKnowLogia issues, please send an email to order to assist governments in designing new learning
TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org, or go to systems propulsed by information technologies.
the Reader Feedback section on the TechKnowLogia TechKnowLogia is becoming the intellectual driving force.
website at www.TechKnowLogia.org Director,
Global Thinkers,Mexico

Why be Wired?
The Importance of Access to Information and Communication Technologies
Kerry Stephen McNamara
Senior Knowledge Management Officer
World Bank Institute1
A Luxury or a Necessity rural areas, and not surprisingly, few of them have ever made
To judge by the attention that the Internet has received in the a telephone call. According to the International
past year, one could be forgiven for believing that “getting Telecommunications Union, over 80 percent of main
wired” is now the solution to all problems, the magic bullet, telephone lines are in urban areas. Some point out that new
the source of all wealth and wisdom. And indeed, in recent technologies, such as wireless and satellite communications,
months there has been much talk about the dangers of falling create opportunities for poor countries to “leapfrog”
behind in the Internet age, of the emerging “digital divide” technologically, moving directly to more advanced digital
both within and between countries. Dire predictions abound technologies that can reach a wider range of people. Yet
that poor communities and nations will be left behind by the there is increasing evidence that the gap between rich and
information revolution, and new projects emerge everyday to
poor countries, and communities, in terms of access to
narrow the “divide”.
information and communication technologies is widening.
Skeptics reply that poor communities and countries have While some poor countries are improving their citizens’
much more serious problems. 1.2 billion people lack access access to these technologies (or even simply to dial tone),
to safe and reliable water supplies. About 3 billion lack often with the latest technologies such as cellular, the pace of
access to basic sanitation facilities. Hunger and disease are the improvement is much slower than the pace of
rampant. War and civil strife still deprive millions of people technological (and communications) change in richer
of their basic daily needs. Why should we choose Pentiums countries. So even though these countries might be moving
over penicillin, wireless technology over water pumps? ahead on access, they are falling further behind. Over half of
India’s 600,000 villages, for example, still lack even one
The choice is not that stark; but the challenge is. In the 21st working telephone.
century, access to and effective use of information and
knowledge will be the critical determinant of successful and The access gap is not just a problem in rural areas. Even in
sustainable development for individuals, communities, and large cities, the poor have little access to information and
nations. New information and communication technologies communication technologies, and irregular access to simple
open vast new opportunities for poor communities and telephone service. Just as importantly, the poor have less
nations – access to the world’s store of information and access to the training and skills that come with these new
knowledge; increased efficiency and profitability for technologies and create new jobs and opportunities. Thus
governments and private companies; a stronger voice, locally even in cities, the spread of new technologies can widen the
and globally, for non-governmental organizations; a gap between rich and poor, between those who have access
reduction in the isolation and poverty of rural communities. to and know how to use effectively these new technologies
At the same time the advent of these technologies can widen and those who don’t. The challenge then, is not to provide
the gap – in life chances, in economic conditions, even in
basic health and well-being – between those who have access the poor access to phones and computers; it is to help
and those who don’t. Access to information and them make these new technologies into tools of their own
communication technologies – and the ability to adapt economic, social and political empowerment.
those technologies to local needs – is no longer a luxury; it
The simple argument that “the poor can’t afford these
is a necessity.
technologies and services” has often served as an excuse
The Scope of the Problem for complacency. In fact, there is growing evidence that
Of the 6 billion people on the planet, 3 billion live on less people even in the poorest communities would be willing to
than $2 per day. The majority -- roughly 60 percent -- live in spend modest sums for telephone and other communications

and information services if they were available. In poor challenges of policy, strategy, vision, investment, and
communities where these services do become available
public-private partnership.
(through a centrally located payphone or phone shops, or a
community access center such as a “telecenter”), they are
used eagerly – to contact relatives, to learn about crop prices, Tackling the Access Problem
to request government services, to get health or agricultural The first step in tackling any problem is getting a clear
information, to learn new skills. Even the poorest have understanding of its dimensions and nature, and this is
information and communication needs that they have certainly the case with the access problem. At the World
traditionally addressed in ways that are just as costly in terms Bank, we begin with the principle that, particularly in this
of scarce resources (such as time). time of enormous technological innovation and vast new
investment in information/communication technologies,
Why is it so difficult, in our age of rapid technological market investment and private sector innovation should be
innovation, to assure even simple telephone service, let the first recourse for expanding access. At the same time,
alone access to the Internet and other given our fundamental commitment to fighting poverty, we
information/communication technologies, for the vast should aggressively address those cases where, even with
technological innovation and private investment, poor
majority of the world’s poor? Several factors contribute to communities are still likely to be left behind. Ongoing
the slow progress. In many developing countries (as in a research suggests that we should distinguish between two
still-considerable number of richer countries) telephone overlapping (and shifting) but distinct “gaps”; the market
monopoly operators (often government-owned or controlled efficiency gap, and the access gap. The "market efficiency
operators) have felt little incentive or desire to find ways to gap" refers to the gap between telecommunications services
serve the poorest and most isolated communities, believing that are currently commercially viable in a given community
that they simply could not afford to do so. Even in those or nation and those that would be commercially viable if only
markets where telecommunications services have been we could correct certain factors that limit or distort markets.
liberalized and competition has been introduced, a number In these cases, our role is to work with our client
of impediments remain. Traditionally, the costs of installing governments to put in place the policy and regulatory
and maintaining telecommunications infrastructure have changes that will encourage private investment and
been high enough to make investment in such infrastructure innovation, carefully target public investment to seed and
commercially unsustainable in poor neighborhoods without enable this private initiative, partner with the private sector to
some form of government support or cross-subsidy from increase their confidence and help them deal with the risks of
profitable services. The problems are even more acute in investing in these markets, and put attention and resources to
rural areas, where infrastructure costs are multiplied, as are those other societal factors (including education) that
the technical challenges of reaching distant and remote areas. reinforce both the growth of an innovative market economy
International investors have tended to shy away from and the effective use, by individuals and by governments, of
telecommunications markets in most developing countries, these new technologies.
because of a combination of inadequate (or hostile) policy
and regulatory frameworks, the perceived risk and Yet even if we get all of these things right, there will be
uncertainty of such markets, and a belief that there was not groups in any society – particularly the poorest and most
enough commercially sustainable demand to warrant geographically isolated – who will not be reached in the near
substantial new investment. future by affordable and commercially sustainable
telecommunications and information services. This “access
New technologies are helping to change this. In many gap” is also of fundamental concern to us, because even our
developing countries, the growth of cellular telephone role in creating economic growth and private innovation is
service has made it possible to “leapfrog” technologically, rooted in our fundamental commitment to fighting poverty.
avoid the traditional sunk costs of “land line” service, and To assure that even the poorest have access to these new
roll out service to new customers more quickly. Indeed, in tools and resources that can improve their lives in
several developing countries (such as Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire immeasurable ways, we need to resort to creative approaches
and the Philippines) more than 50% of phone “lines” are to matching their modest but real need (and willingness to
mobile. Innovations in cellular phone technology, wireless pay) for these services with the current technological
local loop, and satellite technology hold out hope for rural possibilities. One approach that has been tried in a number
and traditionally inaccessible communities as well. Yet of countries in the past few years is community-based
progress is slow and results are spotty. This is mainly telecommunications services – community phone shops or
because, as we sometimes forget in our attention to new “telecenters”, ranging from a simple phone kiosk to a
technology,, the real challenges are not technical; they are classroom-sized community access center with phones,
computers, Internet access, and appropriate training. And the

well-known Grameen Phone experiment with providing cell technologies as tools to empower people with information
phones to poor women who in turn sell use of the phone to and knowledge. Bearing this in mind helps to focus our
their neighbors has demonstrated that innovation in our attention on those areas where the international community
business models is as important as technological innovation. can be most effective.
Even aggregated at a village level, providing information and What Can the International
telecommunication services to poor and isolated
communities faces continuing challenges. First, in many Community Do?
villages a public phone already exists; yet the national Projects to provide access to the Internet and telephone
monopoly operator has no particular incentive to service the services for rural and poor communities are very popular in
phone regularly, so it rarely works. Even local innovators, development agencies at the moment. Wiring villages and
such as phone shop operators, are at the mercy of the schools is hot. We learn a great deal from these experiments.
telecommunications service provider. A further challenge is Yet they risk distracting us from the tougher issues where
assuring that our experiments and pilot projects in providing our attention should perhaps be focused. They also reinforce
rural access are sustainable and do not have the perverse the supply-driven, project-focused tendencies of our
effect of crowding out local private entrepreneurship (as agencies; it is easier to quantify the “success” of ten
some have argued is the case with many of the recent telecenter projects than the slower, more difficult and more
“telecenter” projects supported by international agencies). complex success of helping to create the policy, regulatory
and investment environment in which thousands of
telecenters could bloom. Finally, they cause us to blur the
Access for Whom? Access for What? two “gaps” spoken of earlier -- the market efficiency gap and
There is a further challenge as well. Even if we could bring the access gap -- by encouraging us to provide solutions
access to information and telecommunications services to based on the second gap in environments where the first gap
every village on the planet, how can we assure that these is really the issue.
tools serve to empower, and improve, the lives of the
poorest? Particularly once we get beyond basic telephone If we have learned anything from the revolutionary changes
service and think about access to the Internet, how can we in the global economy in the past few years, it is that
help poor communities and countries develop and share technological innovation can expand the range of who has
content in their languages, relevant to their challenges and access, how quickly, and to what information, faster than we
interests? This means encouraging the growth of indigenous could have imagined a few years ago. Our goal is to assure
initiatives and networks that help the poor reach out to and that this revolution encompasses and empowers all, even the
learn from each other, through the full range of technologies poorest in the most remote village. To do that, we have to
from radio to the Internet, and that foster the growth of local carefully balance two tasks. The first is to make room for,
content in a variety of languages. and build a nurturing environment for, this innovation in
developing countries, so that the market-driven information
This concern with local content, and with enabling poor and revolution can spread around the world. This requires
isolated communities to learn from each other, reminds us working closely with the governments in these countries to
that, when we speak about access, what we really mean is make the difficult choices and changes -- in policy and
access to information, knowledge, and communications regulatory regimes, in public investment in infrastructure and
education, in national information flows -- that will help
opportunities, not access to one specific service or
grow the digital economy within their borders. The second is
technology. Tools are just tools. In our rush to wire every to find ways – through a combination of public investment,
village, we sometimes forget that already-widespread public-private partnerships, community based solutions, and
technologies (such as community radio) could do a lot more technical innovation – to assure that no one is left behind by
to empower people with information and knowledge if we these changes. It also requires that we who work in
only encouraged their broader use. Some of the same international development agencies ask ourselves tough
constraints that face the higher-end technologies (policy and questions about whether our usual approaches and our
regulatory restrictions, government monopolies, institutional favorite projects are having the maximum positive impact on
and political cultures that inhibit the free flow of these changes.
information) restrict even the effective use of simpler
1
The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and should not be
attributed in any manner to the World Bank, its affiliated organization members of its Board of Executive Directors or the
countries they represent.

Measuring up Access
Prepared by Lesley Anne Simmons
Communications Officer
Global Knowledge Partnership Secretariat, World Bank Institute
We believe that, given the chance to take advantage of the information revolution, people can
improve their economic well being and empower themselves and their communities to participate in
their own development. Most of the world’s poor, especially those in developing countries, aren’t
benefiting from the powerful and positive changes that speedy and easy access to knowledge and
information is bringing to better-off countries. Access to knowledge is essential if the poor are to
improve their lives and the lives of their children. Helping knowledge-poor groups gain access to
knowledge and the technologies to harness it, contributes to improving people’s lives, the natural
environment and resource base, people’s health, children’s education, the global business climate,
and the global economy. It benefits everyone.
Many things indicate the degree to which people and their countries are participating in the
information age. For citizens to be knowledgeable and informed they need to know what is going on
in their community, their country, and in the world around them. For those who are literate and live
in urban or semi-urban areas, newspapers provide such information. But for those who are not
literate, or who live in more remote areas, radio is a more accessible source of information and
communication. Television is another measure of people’s access to information as well as
entertainment. Television is mostly accessible to people living in urban areas but satellite
technology is increasingly bringing it to more remote areas.
Sharing knowledge and communicating with others depends on access to telephones — and for
those in the remotest areas, only mobile telephones can keep them reliably in touch. And access to
modern technologies and the skill to use them — personal computers, and especially those that
allow easy, regular, and affordable access to the Internet — is of growing importance.
At the country level, we can measure countries’ engagement in building their knowledge base by
comparing how many scientists and engineers are trained for, and employed in, research and
development, and by the numbers of patent documents issued for new inventions.
The indicators presented here illustrate the degree to which the people of selected countries have
access to the tools and skills of the information age. They include data on the number of:
! daily newspapers in circulation

! radio receivers in use for broadcast to the general public
! television sets in use
! telephone lines that connect a customer’s equipment to the public switched telephone network
! users of mobile telephones (using cellular technology)
! personal computers in use
! Internet hosts, or computers connected to the worldwide network.
The data are extracted from the World Bank’s World Development Report, 1999/2000 (table 19).
These in turn are selected from more than 500 indicators included in the World Bank’s annual
©Corel World Development Indicators. More information about the data, including technical notes and data
sources can be found in the World Development Indicators and the World Bank’s other statistical
publications.

Internet
per 1,000 people hosts
Daily Television Telephone Mobile Personal Per 10,000
newspaper Radios sets main lines telephones computers people
Economy 1996 1996 1997 1997 1997 1997 January 1999
Albania 34 235 161 23 1 .. 0.30
Algeria 38 239 67 48 1 4.2 0.01
Angola 12 54 91 5 1 0.7 0.00
Argentina 123 677 289 191 56 39.2 18.28
Armenia 23 5 218 150 2 .. 1.01
Australia 297 1,385 638 505 264 362.2 420.57
Austria 294 740 496 492 144 210.7 176.79
Azerbaijan 28 20 211 87 5 .. 0.21
Bangladesh 9 50 7 3 0 .. ..
Belarus 174 290 314 227 1 .. 0.70
Belgium 160 792 510 468 95 235.3 162.39
Benin 2 108 91 6 1 0.9 0.02
Bolivia 55 672 115 69 15 .. 0.78
Botswana 27 155 27 56 0 13.4 4.18
Brazil 40 435 316 107 28 26.3 12.88
Bulgaria 253 531 366 323 8 29.7 9.05
Burkina Faso 1 32 6 3 0 0.7 0.16
Burundi 3 68 10 3 0 .. 0.00
Cambodia .. 127 124 2 3 0.9 0.06
Cameroon 7 162 81 5 0 1.5 0.00
Canada 159 1,078 708 609 139 270.6 364.25
Central African 2 84 5 3 0 .. 0.00
Republic
Chad 0 249 2 1 0 .. 0.00
Chile 99 354 233 180 28 54.1 20.18
China .. 195 270 56 10 6.0 0.14
Hong Kong, China 800 695 412 565 343 230.8 122.71
Colombia 49 565 217 148 35 33.4 3.93
Congo, Dem. Rep. 3 98 43 1 0 .. 0.00
Congo, Rep. 8 124 8 8 0 .. 0.00
Costa Rica 91 271 403 169 19 .. 9.20
Côte d'Ivoire 16 157 61 9 2 3.3 0.16
Croatia 114 333 267 335 27 22.0 12.84
Czech Republic 256 806 447 318 51 82.5 71.79
Denmark 311 1,146 568 633 273 360.2 526.77
Dominican Republic 52 177 84 88 16 .. 5.79
Ecuador 70 342 294 75 13 13.0 1.26
Egypt, Arab Rep. 38 316 127 56 0 7.3 0.31
El Salvador 48 461 250 56 7 .. 1.33
Eritrea .. 101 11 6 0 .. 0.00
Estonia 173 680 479 321 99 15.1 152.98
Ethiopia 2 194 5 3 0 .. 0.01
Finland 455 1,385 534 556 417 310.7 1,058.13
France 218 943 606 575 99 174.4 82.91
Georgia .. 553 473 114 6 .. 1.27
Germany 311 946 570 550 99 255.5 160.23
Ghana 14 238 109 6 1 1.6 0.10
Greece 153 477 466 516 89 44.8 48.81
Guatemala 31 73 126 41 6 3.0 0.83
Guinea .. 47 41 3 0 0.3 0.00
Haiti 3 55 5 8 0 .. 0.00
Honduras 55 409 90 37 2 .. 0.16
Hungary 189 697 436 304 69 49.0 82.74
India .. 105 69 19 1 2.1 0.13
Indonesia 23 155 134 25 5 8.0 0.75
Iran, Islamic Rep. 24 237 148 107 4 32.7 0.04

Internet
Economy 1996 1996 1997 1997 1997 1997 January 1999
Ireland 153 703 455 411 146 241.3 148.70
Israel 291 530 321 450 283 186.1 161.96
Italy 104 874 483 447 204 113.0 58.80
Jamaica 64 482 323 140 22 4.6 1.24
Japan 580 957 708 479 304 202.4 133.53
Jordan 45 287 43 70 2 8.7 0.80
Kazakhstan 30 384 234 108 1 .. 0.94
Kenya 9 108 19 8 0 2.3 0.23
Korea, Rep. 394 1,037 341 444 150 150.7 40.00
Kuwait 376 688 491 227 116 82.9 32.80
Kyrgyz Republic 13 115 44 76 0 .. 4.04
Lao PDR 4 139 4 5 1 1.1 0.00
Latvia 246 699 592 302 31 7.9 42.59
Lebanon 141 892 354 179 135 31.8 5.56
Lesotho 7 48 24 10 1 .. 0.09
Lithuania 92 292 377 283 41 6.5 27.48
Macedonia, FYR 19 184 252 204 6 .. 2.56
Madagascar 4 192 45 3 0 1.3 0.04
Malawi 3 256 2 4 0 .. 0.00
Malaysia 163 432 166 195 113 46.1 21.36
Mali 1 49 10 2 0 0.6 0.00
Mauritania 1 150 89 5 0 5.3 0.06
Mexico 97 324 251 96 18 37.3 11.64
Moldova 59 720 302 145 1 3.8 1.17
Mongolia 27 139 63 37 1 5.4 0.08
Morocco 26 241 160 50 3 2.5 0.20
Mozambique 3 39 4 4 0 1.6 0.08
Myanmar 10 89 7 5 0 .. 0.00
Namibia 19 143 32 58 8 18.6 15.79
Nepal 11 37 4 8 0 .. 0.07
Netherlands 305 963 541 564 110 280.3 358.51
New Zealand 223 1,027 501 486 149 263.9 360.44
Nicaragua 32 283 190 29 2 .. 1.47
Niger 0 69 26 2 0 0.2 0.02
Nigeria 24 197 61 4 0 5.1 0.03
Norway 593 920 579 621 381 360.8 717.53
Pakistan 21 92 65 19 1 4.5 0.23
Panama 62 299 187 134 6 .. 2.66
Papua New Guinea 15 91 24 11 1 .. 0.25
Paraguay 50 182 101 43 17 .. 2.18
Peru 43 271 143 68 18 12.3 1.91
Philippines 82 159 109 29 18 13.6 1.21
Poland 113 518 413 194 22 36.2 28.07
Portugal 75 306 523 402 152 74.4 50.01
Romania .. 317 226 167 9 8.9 7.42
Russian Federation 105 344 390 183 3 32.0 10.04
Rwanda 0 102 .. 3 0 .. 0.00
Saudi Arabia 59 319 260 117 17 43.6 0.15
Senegal 5 141 41 13 1 11.4 0.21
Sierra Leone 5 251 20 4 0 .. 0.03
Singapore 324 739 354 543 273 399.5 210.02
Slovak Republic 185 580 401 259 37 241.6 33.27
Slovenia 206 416 353 364 47 188.9 89.83
South Africa 30 316 125 107 37 41.6 34.67
Spain 99 328 506 403 110 122.1 67.21

Internet
Economy 1996 1996 1997 1997 1997 1997 January 1999
Sri Lanka 29 210 91 17 6 4.1 0.29
Sweden 446 907 531 679 358 350.3 487.13
Switzerland 330 969 536 661 147 394.9 315.52
Syrian Arab Republic 20 274 68 88 0 1.7 0.00
Tajikistan 20 .. 281 38 0 .. 0.12
Tanzania 4 278 21 3 1 1.6 0.04
Thailand 65 204 234 80 33 19.8 3.35
Togo 4 217 19 6 1 5.8 0.24
Tunisia 31 218 182 70 1 8.6 0.07
Turkey 111 178 286 250 26 20.7 4.30
Turkmenistan .. 96 175 78 0 .. 0.55
Uganda 2 123 26 2 0 1.4 0.05
Ukraine 54 872 493 186 1 5.6 3.13
United Kingdom 332 1,445 641 540 151 242.4 240.99
United States 212 2,115 847 644 206 406.7 1,131.52
Uruguay 116 610 242 232 46 21.9 46.61
Uzbekistan 3 452 273 63 0 .. 0.10
Venezuela 206 471 172 116 46 36.6 3.37
Vietnam 4 106 180 21 2 4.6 0.00
Yemen, Rep. 15 64 273 13 1 1.2 0.01
Zambia 14 121 80 9 0 .. 0.31
Zimbabwe 18 96 29 17 1 9.0 0.87
World (weighted .. 380 280 144 40 58.4 75.22
Averages)
Low income .. 147 162 32 5 4.4 0.17
Excl. China & India 13 133 59 16 1 .. 0.23
Middle income 75 383 272 136 24 32.4 10.15
Lower middle income 63 327 247 108 11 12.2 4.91
Upper middle income 95 469 302 179 43 45.5 19.01
Low & middle .. 218 194 65 11 12.3 3.08
East Asia & Pacific .. 206 237 60 15 11.3 1.66
Europe & Central Asia 99 412 380 189 13 17.7 13.00
Latin America & Carib. 71 414 263 110 26 31.6 9.64
Middle East & N. 33 265 140 71 6 9.8 0.25
Africa
South Asia .. 99 69 18 1 2.1 0.14
Sub-Saharan Africa 12 172 44 16 4 7.2 2.39
High income 286 1,300 664 552 188 269.4 470.12

Don Richardson, Ph.D.
Director, TeleCommons Development Group*
Access for What? Rural People are Not Stupid
Despite many views to the contrary, from the vantage point The real challenge for enhancing rural connectivity lies with
of a member of a rural community in a developing country, the urban-centered governments, businesses and agencies
getting connected with phone lines, payphones, and even that have for so long ignored or placated the desires of rural
Internet services is not a luxury or an "inappropriate" use of people to get connected to the world. The challenge is not
technology for development. For a rural person, getting technical or financial, but political and ideological.
connected is a means for sharing the wide range of Unfortunately, because so many rural people do not have
communication options available to urbanites. access and are not connected, we do not often hear their
Telecommunication services are important “lubricants” for voices on this issue (or on countless others!).
rural and agricultural development, and while they are not a
development panacea, their contribution can be significant – Many urban people, and many of those who make decisions
where they are available. about allocation of development resources, take the privilege
of connectivity for granted. Until one has experienced the
For rural people, access to a reliable telecommunication daily difficulties and knowledge access deficits faced by the
service represents:1 "great un-wired" of the world, then one has no business
deciding what is, or should be, in their best interests. Those
• a means for making better and more informed decisions, of us who advocate for improved rural telecommunication
• a means for accessing the services (health, education, infrastructure and applications in rural and remote areas of
information, etc.) that enable urban people to improve developing countries are used to hearing urban decision-
their lives, makers question the drive for rural connectivity. "Shouldn't
• a means for staying in contact with friends and families the recipients of rural development project interventions be
who migrate to urban areas for work and education, getting more appropriate technology?" "Isn't this just another
• a means for facilitating the transfer of funds and case of pushing Western technology at people who will be
resources from overseas workers and urban family overwhelmed or culturally damaged by it?" Rural people are
members to their relatives in rural villages – a significant not stupid. In developing countries they are quite adept at
means through which rural people can alleviate appropriating Western technologies for their own goals and
conditions of poverty, objectives. Rural people have every right to desire and
• a means of communication that is dramatically less demand the tools that help improve quality of life, health,
expensive, less arduous and less risky than alternative prosperity and cultural vibrancy. For people in rural villages,
means of communication involving the physical "politically correct" stances on the inappropriateness of
transportation of people or information, and which can telecommunication technologies, such as village telephones,
free up money and time that can be invested in as tools for rural development can be frustratingly myopic.
productive and income generating pursuits,
• and a means for linking rural businesses and agricultural Rural Access is Good Business
endeavors to the trade, transportation and commerce
systems of urban areas and to the global marketplace. Another challenge is the widespread belief that there is no
business case for establishing rural telecommunication
systems in developing countries. This is an out-dated market

view that continues to impede the advancement of rural In rural regions with significantly lower population densities
access. Evidence continues to mount that where than Bangladesh, rural telephone services have also proven
governments are serious about promoting universal access to to be commercially viable. In northern Ghana, for example,
telecommunication services, and follow through with a telecommunications feasibility study (TeleCommons
programs that optimize commercial viability and promote Development Group, 1999) has demonstrated sufficient rural
liberalization of telecommunication markets, private sector demand to mobilize a consortium of Ghanaian and
telecommunication operators are able to provide reasonably international investors to create a new rural telephone
priced and effective service to rural communities. Countries operator to provide a purely commercial response to this
such as Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia have demand. Plans include deployment of wireless local loop
demonstrated that rural telecommunication markets can infrastructure together with franchised communication shops
support commercially viable businesses if provided with (telephone and email) at the village level.
supportive regulatory conditions (Alvarado, 1999).
Participatory Planning
Despite the positive impacts and the evidence of commercial

viability of rural access, there are some dangers in pushing
for rural connectivity at any cost. It is possible for any
technology to be used inappropriately if the technology is
beyond the control and influence of those who would use it.
Solutions for rural connectivity are best developed with and
for rural people. Rural people must be enabled to participate
in making decisions about how and where
telecommunication technologies will be put to use. Access
to the technologies, and influence on their use, must be
equitable across the diverse groupings within rural
communities (including gender, class, ethnicity, age and
wealth). To be sustainable, rural telecommunication
technologies need to be designed with rural people as active
A young boy in rural Bangladesh uses a Grameen participants in strategizing, planning, implementing and
Telecom Village Phone to talk to his father who is evaluating.
working overseas in Saudi Arabia
The Village Phone program in Bangladesh provides some
strong evidence for the need to develop solutions with and
In a recent study of the Village Phone program of the
for rural people. In rural Bangladesh, men prefer to use
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh (TeleCommons Development
telephones owned and operated by male operators, but will
Group, 2000), rural telephone services were shown to be
use telephones operated by women. However, rural women
very profitable, when properly deployed to ensure that a
prefer female operators and are very unlikely to use a
single phone can be accessed by hundreds of local villagers.
telephone operated by a man. The Village Phone program
Typical Village Phone operators generate gross revenue of
was developed with participation from Grameen Bank
over $125 USD per month with most telephone
members, 95% of whom are women. By placing most of the
communication focused on maintaining ties to family
Village Phones in the hands of women who operate them
members (44%) and facilitating transfers of funds from
from their homes, the program is able to ensure “universal
overseas workers and family members working in the capital
access” to telecommunications for both women and men.
(42%). Public Calling Offices (PCOs) operated outside of
the Village Phone program, in larger rural centers, typically
generate about $1,000 USD gross revenue per month, with Email and the Web
one rural telecommunication operator reporting that it
generates as much revenue from 1,500 rural PCOs as it does Despite the glamour and glitz of the World Wide Web, rural
from 12,000 urban-subscriber GSM cellular telephones. telecommunication users are more likely to make use of
Another Bangladeshi rural telecommunication operator voice telephone services or basic electronic mail. In Senegal,
reported individual PCO revenues of up to $6,000 USD per for example, a network of thousands of privately operated
month with some individual PCO telephone lines in service communication shop franchises provide rural people with
for over 18 hours per day. access to telephones, and in larger centres, access to
electronic mail. In Ghana, the Internet Service Provider,

Africa On-line, partners with existing telephone The Power of the Telephone
communication shop owners to provide computers and
Internet accounts to enable anyone, with users paying on a Despite the power of the telephone, there is little evidence of
per-message basis. There is very little evidence of development agency or NGO programming which takes
significant use of the World Wide Web in rural areas of advantage of its features. As rural telephone systems in
developing countries, however the Web can be an effective developing countries emerge and are improved, many
tool in the hands of government line agencies and NGOs that opportunities for value-added, development-oriented services
serve the rural poor. emerge. The information needs in rural areas of developing
countries are immense and present huge challenges to
McConnell (1998) reports that among 20 rural and government services, NGOs, educational agencies and others
agricultural development oriented non-governmental that are attempting to assist rural people in gaining access to
organizations (NGOs) surveyed in Uganda that had full critical knowledge. For example, around the world,
access to the Internet’s World Wide Web, 30% reported that agricultural extension systems are undergoing processes of
they either seldom or never took advantage of the resource. decentralization. At the same time, funding cuts are reducing
Those that are able to use the Web report many specific the availability of extension workers and extension services
benefits: in rural areas. Meanwhile, agricultural market economies are
developing rapidly and many rural agricultural stakeholders
Many of the organizations that reported using the lack access to the knowledge and information required to
World Wide Web stated that they found it helpful in effectively participate in agricultural market economies. Yet,
order to have access to information directly related in the author’s experience, very few agricultural extension
to their own programmes. The Uganda Rural fieldworkers in developing countries even have access to
Development and Training Programme (URDT), an telephones in their rural offices, and there seems to be no
organization working in rural, western Uganda, has known attempt in developing countries to employ the
used the Internet to acquire information on telephone as a tool to help agricultural producers to access
appropriate technologies which can be used to assist information.
local villagers. In one example, the organization
used the Internet to acquire information on solar
panel energy, as well as solar panel product and
pricing information, which was then presented to the
villagers. With the information concerning their Village Phone operator
energy options before them, the stakeholders were using a Grameen
able to assess their options and make the decision Telecom GSM cellular
that best suited their means. The result was the phone in rural
purchase of 130 solar powered units to provide Bangladesh
energy and electric light to fellow villagers for the
first time ever.
McConnell, 1998 (p. 10)
Among the key obstacles making it difficult for rural

The telephone is one “access” tool that is often ignored,
development NGOs to use the Internet, as revealed by perhaps because many of us in the developed world have
McConnell (1998), is the cost of engaging a telephone line come to take it for granted. When a public telephone or a
for long periods of time in order to search the Web for community-based communication center comes to a rural
information. Average costs for engaging the phone line in town or village, the good old telephone is seen as a
Uganda are approximately US$ 0.11 per minute. Accessing remarkable advance in communication technology. In North
electronic mail requires only minimal connection time, while America, Europe and Australia during the early part of this
“web surfing” requires substantial on-line time, particularly century, the telephone was, and still is, a critical tool for
in areas of developing countries where antiquated enabling agricultural stakeholders to communicate with one
telecommunication systems can dramatically slow download another and share knowledge. Farmers who have access to
speeds. Even those NGOs that used the Web expressed telephones make significant use of this simple device for
reluctance to use the resource more often due to the time and accessing extension information, communicating with peers,
cost involved, preferring electronic mail as their primary organizing events, obtaining market prices and market
Internet tool. information, buying and selling inputs and commodities, and
accessing information about credit and financial
opportunities.

In many agricultural regions of the developed world,
extension services have made very good use of the telephone
to provide voice-based agricultural helplines to supplement
or replace face-to-face extension visits. With the advent of
the Internet and advances in web-based computer databases,
extension experts working with networked computers can
now provide very accurate, timely and specific information
to the voice information requests they receive over the
phone. In North America, it is not uncommon for
agricultural researchers to provide similar services directly to
farmers over the telephone.
The Telephone and the Internet

Similar services have not yet been made widely available in Participant in a rural connectivity workshop in
developing countries. Here is an area where the telephone Zamboanga, Philippines making plans for Internet
can be married with Internet tools very effectively networking among rural and agricultural
(Richardson, 1999b). For example, a handful of trained development organizations
extension experts, backed by agricultural researchers and
networks of input suppliers, marketing organizations and
always be financed by grants or concessional packages.”
others, could provide prompt and accurate voice answers to
questions they receive from farmers over the telephone. Governments and donors need to give their attention to
Initial agricultural knowledge and information needs reforming and liberalizing telecommunication policies and
assessments could determine key information needs and enabling regulatory agencies to provide a fair and transparent
knowledge gaps that would generate frequently asked playing field. This will enable prospective rural
questions. Well-researched answers to probable frequently telecommunication operators to negotiate fair deals to
asked questions could be present in an on-line web-based interconnect with existing telephone systems, negotiate fair
database available to the extension experts, regardless of revenue sharing agreements among operators and charge
their physical location. As such a service develops, service fees that suit the calling patterns (often weighted
frequently asked questions can be tracked and additional toward incoming calls) of rural areas.
researched answers added to the database. Very specific
questions with answers not in the database would be referred The International Telecommunications Union has called for
to other extension experts or the agricultural research efforts to meet the long-term goal of providing "universal
community for follow-up and reply to the information access" to telecommunications. “With over 40 million
requestor. An on-line list of experts, their specific fields of people waiting for a telephone line world-wide and with
expertise, availability for fielding questions, email addresses, some least developed countries having telecommunication
fax numbers and telephone numbers would be instantly penetration levels up to 200 times below that of developed
available to information providers through the database. countries, universal access stands as one of the key issues
Such a service could also be applied to subject matters such confronting governments around the world” (ITU, 1998).
as health, forestry, fishing and natural resource management. According to James Bond of the World Bank, “as concerns
communications for the rural and urban poor, there is a large
Universal Access overlap between the 75% of the world's population who have
no access to telephones in any form, and the 3 billion people
Donors or governments throwing money at the problem of who live on less that $2 a day,” (Bond, J., 1998).
poor rural connectivity will not directly increase rural access.
As clearly stated by Intelecon Research (1999), The technologies for achieving universal access exist and all
commercially viable “rural networks and services can be evidence suggests that they are now inexpensive enough to
planned to yield high per-line revenues and a good return on commercially viable rural telecommunication systems. The
investment if the supply strategy and service retailing barrier for universal access is not technical, it is tied directly
concepts are optimized to the situation. But the pessimistic to market structures and regulatory systems. The key
perception [that rural telecommunication services will never challenges we face are finding ways “to harness the
be commercially viable] is difficult to shake and, until enormous creativity and the financial clout of the private
recently, led to a general attitude that rural networks should

sector, to roll out broad bandwidth global connectivity that Telecommunication Experts and Communication for
does not leave the poor out of the loop” (Ibid). Development Practitioners. In Richardson D., & Paisley, L.
1998. The First Mile of Connectivity: Advancing
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http://www.telecommons.com/uploadimages/Integrated.htm
Canadian International Development Agency, Ottawa,
Canada (Forthcoming – http://www.telecommons.com ).
Richardson, D. 1998. Rural Telecommunications and
Stakeholder Participation: Bridging the Gap Between
*
Author note: The author is a principal consultant and Director of the TeleCommons Development Group, a consulting agency
specializing in community development enhanced through telecommunications. He is also an Associate Graduate Faculty
member of the Faculty of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Canada. Email: don@tdg.ca
Web: www.telecommons.com .
1
The following points are based on research conducted by the author and the TeleCommons Development Group
(www.telecommons.com), including rural telecommunication impact assessments and commercial viability studies in
Bangladesh, Canada, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, India, Peru, the Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe during the last decade (Richardson and Paisley, 1998; Richardson 1997, 1998; 1999a; TeleCommons Development
Group, 1999; 2000).

TechKnowNews
Tony Blair Focuses on Learning Multipurpose Community
as Key to Digital Economy Telecenter in Africa
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has outlined the reforms he In Mali, a pilot Multipurpose Community Telecenter (MCT)
claims Europe needs in order to build a thriving digital project has been set up in Timbuktu. This is a three-year
economy. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, project, which started in May 1998. The project is run by
Switzerland, Blair said the need for reform in education is technical staff and a steering committee, which includes the
paramount. "In an economy dominated by information and mayor, business people, artisans, librarians, health workers,
knowledge, education is king. Not just in school or university women's associations and other members of the community.
but throughout life," he said. He held up Britain as an The hope is that at the end of the project, it will be run by the
example. "A whole network of adult learning centres are community. There is also the hope that the project will
being established, with incentives provided to upgrade skills, expand to 701 rural communities. After the pilot phase the
and a new University for Industry established through the use estimated cost of running MCT in other rural communities
of Internet technology to give adults the skills they need." To will be around US $3,175. The pilot telecenter is equipped
read the entire article, go to http://www.silicon.com/a35401. with 11 computers. It serves 4 regions with an approximate
population of 200,000 people. It offers copying, telephone,
fax, and Internet services. A major emphasis of the telecenter
Asia's IT Revolution Exposes is to provide training to artisans to set up their web page to
sell their handicrafts with the hope that this will help develop
Serious Skills Shortage new global markets. The telecenter also serves a wide range
of other community groups, such as teachers, rural radio
animators, students and librarians. Another important area of
An information technology revolution sweeping across Asia service is support for healthcare. Telecenter staff train health
is causing an acute shortage of skilled labor that may limit workers in using the computers and the Internet to do
the region's rebound from an economic crisis. The New research. Also, health workers in outlying areas
Economy, fuelled by the new technology wave of digital communicate with doctors using the Internet. Keeping the
networks, software and new media is forcing many firms to community's limited income in mind, services are subsidized.
restructure and reconfigure to survive. "With technology There are also special discounts for women and children.The
driving the economy, amplified by the e-commerce craze and telecenter website is :
knowledge-based activities, the missing piece of the puzzle is http://www.tombouctou.org.ml.
skilled human resources," said Wong Yit Fan, Standard Birama Diallo, the MCT country coordinator is at
Chartered Bank's chief economist with Southeast Asia. Diallo@sotelma.ml. (Courtesy of Bytes for All)
Wong foresees a long gestation period to gear up the local
workforce through training and education because of
constraints like government budget deficits and lack of
expatriates who had quit during the financial crisis of mid- Need Fuels Continued Growth of
1997. Foreign talent is not an option due to the nationalistic Corporate Universities
sentiments borne out of the recent financial recession.
Countries most likely to succeed in the New Economy need The number of corporate universities has more than
to upgrade the skills and would require large investments in quadrupled in the past five years -- to more than 1,600. And
education at all levels from the public and private sectors as last year, according to Corporate Training magazine, U.S.
well as the overhaul of the education sector in many cases. corporations spent more than $60 billion in employee
(Agence France Presse, 2/1/00) training. "The drive for improved efficiency and the huge
merger activity has fueled this growth," said one corporate
training pro. "CEOs are very frustrated that they can't

implement their strategy and they need to get everybody on
board. Corporate universities help reinforce the company's On-Line Debate On Global
goals and values." In a tight labor market, such facilities (real Poverty, Social Exclusion,
and virtual) also help retain good workers and attract others.
"I would expect we'll continue to see more such corporate Inequality
universities among major employers," he continued. "For
companies with less than 1,000 employees, it's hard to justify In September 2000, the World Bank will publish its once-in-
these types of corporate universities. But for major a-decade 'Poverty World Development Report' (WDR).
companies trying to adjust to today's market, it's really During February and March 2000, there will be a global
becoming essential." (Chattanooga Times/Free Press 23 Jan. online discussion of the draft. Its conclusions will be fed to
2000) http://pb1-2.newsreal.com the report's authors. The World Bank's research reports and
journals are highly influential on development thinking and
programmes. They achieve wide distribution, major press
coverage and are frequently cited. The WDR is the Bank's
Internet Use in Asia to Explode by flagship publication, with over 150,000 copies printed and
2005 many distributed free. This is the first time the World Bank
is widely circulating a draft WDR. The draft WDR was
A new survey finds that the amount of people using the posted in January on the web at:
Internet in Asia will increase by 422 percent in the next six http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/ .
years and will number 228 million by 2005. Authors of the
survey, London based Philips Group, estimate that there are To sign up for this e-consultation, send email to
currently 43.6 million Asians online and predict that by wdrconf@gn.apc.org
2006, that figure could be 370 million, representing a 62
percent increase on current figures. While the majority of World Bank Group And Softbank To
users will be concentrated in Japan for the next few years, by
2005, Internet use in China will surpass that in any other Invest In Internet Enterprises For
country in the region. By 2005, 37.6 percent of Asian The Developing World
Internet users will be Chinese, representing 85 million users.
Another survey by IDC finds that despite the fact that Asian The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is joining with
users would rather surf the Web in their native language, a SOFTBANK CORP. of Japan to spawn startup Internet
growing number are going to English language Web sites. companies in some 100 developing countries. The initiative
http://www.newsbytes.com/ is based on IFC’s long experience of private sector
investment in developing countries around the world, using
New Internet Training Materials project finance to build the businesses that are the foundation
Available from ITrain of sustainable growth in developing economies; and
SOFTBANK’s market leadership in taking Internet
businesses international and at replicating successful models
ITrain is a collection of Internet training materials for in other countries.
instructors and students. The materials offer an interactive SOFTBANK, a Japan-based global Internet company, and
approach, engaging students in the learning process and IFC, part of the World Bank Group, will invest US$200
supporting instructors in the customization and planning of million to found SOFTBANK Emerging Markets (SBEM) to
the courses. The materials have been developed by the ITrain incubate Internet-related businesses in developing countries.
Collective, a multi-cultural group of Internet trainers with IFC will also join SOFTBANK’s recent Latin America- and
work experiences from around the world. ITrain began as a China-focused Internet investment funds, bringing the total
project of the International Development Research Centre commitment to global Internet development to $500 million.
(IDRC). Bellanet, an international initiative working with the
development community to increase collaboration by The fund will nurture new Internet enterprises both by
providing advice and assistance on more effective use of investing seed money and by providing an array of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) actively technological, legal, and management support to quickly turn
supports ITrain and oversaw the development of the two ideas into solid businesses.
most recent ITrain modules, "Effective Internet Searching" For press release, see:
and "List Facilitation." In the future, Bellanet will continue
to update and add to the collection in collaboration with its http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/news/pressrelease.nsf/
partner organizations.
http://unganisha.idrc.ca/itrain/index_e.html

FM Radio Stations: Broadcasting with the Sun
David Walker
Educational Specialist (Educational Technology/Media)
The Commonwealth of Learning
This article describes community-based low powered FM radio as part of the work the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
has undertaken in different regions of the Commonwealth. The radio projects are just one element of an overall strategy
by COL that develops and researches creative and effective media and technology-based models under the banner of an
initiative called the Commonwealth of Learning Media Empowerment (COLME)*
Overview of the Station Key Elements to Success
Radio is a very powerful technology that can allow There are a number of technological factors that are
information to reach large sectors of the population quickly important in the initial needs analysis before a station can be
and economically. Due to national broadcast regulations in considered. First, the physical landscape must be conducive
many countries, community radio stations have not to an FM signal to reach the intended target audience
developed. Also the cost of transmitters, infrastructures, and especially if rebroadcast of the origin station signal is not
equipment, has placed most potential community possible due to cost or licensing regulations. If the landscape
broadcasters at a disadvantage, especially those in the remote is mountainous then there will be difficulty in the signal
rural areas. There is a distinct information gap to the rural reaching a large radius of users. Second, the station target
corners of some countries resulting from the lack of service audience must have radios or access to radios. Third, there
by national broadcasters who in some cases have weak or must be a situation where there is a steady flow of content
non-existent signal coverage. Under COLME, portable FM and a regular broadcast schedule. Fourth, the station must be
radio systems have been tested and implemented as part of targeted to the local users so that they can directly relate to
media project work over the past three years. The station the content, language, and situations discussed.
configuration that was first developed has, with input and
data gathered from the field, aided the manufacturer in In the feasibility stage before station implementation, certain
altering the station to address each community’s need. The conditions must exist to improve the element of
station configurations range in price from three to five sustainability. In-country stakeholders are identified for each
thousand dollars US including all elements: antenna, of the stations. Their role is to insure that the infrastructure
transmitter, console, mixer, microphones and CD and tape for FM radio is in place, and that all licensing and issues
decks (Figure 1). The stations can be powered by 12 V DC or pertaining to community broadcasting are dealt with.
120/240 AC.
Another important factor is that the broadcasts are in
languages that are used daily in the local community level.
Figure 1 – A station in its The national or regional stations do not have the capacity to
watertight carrying case (on aim linguistically or at the level of information detail for
the consul starting on the left rural community issues. Community-based stations can be
top the gooseneck effective if well managed in providing information and
microphone, below is the
mixer, top right are two tape
training directly to the community. In the case of the
decks, below are two CD COLME installed community station in Uganda, it was
decks). The transmitter and imperative that the station be able, by law, to rebroadcast
power supply, not pictured, Radio Uganda in the event of important political
are housed under the consul. announcements. Therefore, among the technological
The consul is removed from upgrades in the design of the station, in addition to the
the carrying case when in interface for telephone calls, extra microphone inputs for
operation (see Figure 3 for group discussions, and a more powerful transmitter, a facility
operational mode). for radio rebroadcast of the national government station, (in

Uganda, Radio Uganda) and international broadcasters (such eighteen-hour broadcast day. Eight solar panels and seven
as the BBC) was implemented. deep cycle batteries were installed at the station, which now
provide lighting and all the station power requirements for
The overriding factor to the success of these stations has daily broadcasting (see Figures 2 and 3). The life span of
been the proper community access and ownership, which solar installations is over a decade with low maintenance
was paramount in the initial project design. If the station is costs.
or becomes an integral part of the voice of the community
and local interest groups have an equal say in the information
that is disseminated via the station, then there is a lesser risk
of failure in the long-term sustainability of the station. This
can be achieved with good station management that works
with community leaders and committees including both
political and community leaders.
The local stakeholders, with the aid of COLME, will provide

an going evaluation of the stations via listener surveys and
media expert evaluation. Workshops will be given in
production and survey techniques that will aid broadcasters Figure 2 – Installing the solar panels
with improving programming to suit the needs of the
community. Local broadcasters will be tapped to train in
advanced broadcasting techniques and program development
that will improve community radio personnel.
A Solar Station on the Move

Apac, Uganda is located in the northern region of Uganda.
This COLME project was a cooperative effort with the
Minister of State and Tourism, The Right Hon. Akaki, to
work with community leaders to implement an FM radio
station in the Apac region. The COLME feasibility study
revealed several limitations with the electrical infrastructure, Figure 3 – Radio Apac, 92.9 FM on air, powered by the sun
which was not reliable. This was a result of load sharing
throughout the country (Apac would not receive power for
several days). The power was also not usable for electronic Conclusion
equipment due to the dramatic power fluctuations. Community radio will continue to grow globally with the
Therefore, it was decided that in order to maintain a reliable convergence of satellite and Internet systems and low cost
broadcasting schedule and develop the station as a center media formulas that allow for participation by disadvantaged
point to community activities by different groups, Radio groups. The COLME initiative will continue to research and
Apac would be operated entirely by solar power. This would develop projects that will work in partnership with in-
free the project from the constraints of the electrical situation country stakeholders to develop new modes of community
and the tariffs associated with it. A configuration was involvement and access to technology.
determined, in consultation with a solar distributor in
Kampala, to allow the station to stay operational during the
* COLME strives to:

! Provide new skills in the use of technology for the disadvantaged.
! Provide media models that will stress local participation and transfer of knowledge and skills.
! Provide opportunities for disadvantaged groups to participate and benefit from new technology and media based initiatives.
! Create a capacity for dialogue among government sectors, institutions and different interest groups.
! Create a research base and body of knowledge that can be utilised by Commonwealth governments, organizations and communities as
models for media and technology based initiatives.
The projects underway via the COLME include computer-based software systems and networks, radio, and video production models.
Information concerning these projects can be obtained from:
The Commonwealth of Learning Web: http://www.col.org/colme

Or from the author at: dwalker@col.org Tel (604) 775-8235, Fax (604) 775-8210

Information Technology for the Masses:
Can It Be TV?
The digital divide seems to be for real. Claudio de Moura Castro

Technology follows the tracks of wealth. It goes Chief Education Adviser,
where money has arrived. Those who use Inter-American Development Bank
technology are the haves and, being the haves,
get even more from privileged access to
technology. Only rarely does technology go the
other way, reaching the have-nots. Television
may offer some interesting counter examples,
particularly since it is a technology that is in
many cases targeted to the masses.
This article focuses on two cases from Brazil:

Globo Rural and Pequenas Empresas e Grandes
Negócios (Small Enterprises and Great Deals).
The Landscape chronically short of quality education and training – and

extension services, in the case of agriculture, the focus of one
Both programs are part of the regular offerings of the Rede of the programs. The Globo formula is simple: high quality
Globo, a Brazilian media enterprise that is rated as the image, good technical content, appropriate style and
world’s fourth largest TV network. Both are completely language, all of this targeted to farmers and small
commercial programs, run for profit by an entirely private entrepreneurs. Where vocational schools and extension
conglomerate. In other words, while this article will try to services fail to reach, TV may fill the gap.
suggest that they are socially useful, they are entirely paid for
by advertising, like any other program run in commercial Globo Rural is the oldest program, having been on the air for
TV. 20 years and Small Enterprises for 8 years. Notice that a
somewhat equivalent program in the United States (Money
Brazil is a highly diverse country, classified as middle Hunt) is only three years old and broadcast on public
income but offering extreme inequality among its 160 television, rather than private (even though programs on
million inhabitants. Yet it has a single language and a hobbies and house improvement are common and quite
relatively homogeneous culture, so the same programs can be successful).
transmitted and understood throughout the territory.
The formula for both programs is quite similar. The
The poor and the rich Brazilians have something in common: programs cover a range of areas that might be of interest to
close to 90% of the population has access to TV sets. This farmers and small entrepreneurs. The core messages focus on
market, covering over 100 million spectators, has generated a teaching practical lessons and offering ideas for new
major TV industry, making Brazil one of the top exporters of activities, technologies, or markets.
soap operas.
Globo Rural
If there are TV sets, millions glued to them and a
sophisticated production capability, then it makes much Farmers want to know about droughts, early rains, prices of
sense to use this combination to benefit education and commodities and other such germane subjects. The program
training. Much sense indeed, since Brazil has been does comply with short spots on those issues. But a core

formula remains in place and dominates the program: how to Small Firms, Great Deals
improve crops, fix problems, adapt technologies and reduce
losses in farms. Throughout the past century, Brazil has devoted most of its
energy to the development of large enterprises. And indeed,
The program invariably takes place on a farm that has it has been quite successful: the country boasted one of the
adopted the proposed solution. The message emerges from fastest rates of growth. However, while large enterprises
interviews with farmers, agronomists and extension workers. remain critically important to the country’s economy, their
Occasionally, a researcher in his laboratory may also be ability to create employment to all the active population
interviewed. The “before” situation is compared with the progressively became sorely inadequate.
“after,” when the innovation has been adopted and the
advantages discussed. The costs are sometimes presented and Lately, it has become crystal clear to all that small
the technical procedures receive a lot of attention. The goal is enterprises are the best bet for absorbing surplus labor. But
to teach practical lessons that can be adopted by the they can do this only if they become more efficient,
maximum number of farmers. Credibility comes from the competitive and productive than they have been in the past.
interviews with real farmers in their real farms. Hence, the health of small firms is a critical element for the
prosperity of the country. The Small Enterprises program
The image is highly professional and full of shots of the local responds to these efforts to improve efficiency and promote
landscapes. The talk is simple and to the point, there is no the growth of these firms, raising their profile and lime-
technical gibberish. The music is, suitably, Brazilian country. lighting their potential.
Below are a few examples of topics treated: The formula is not much different from that of Globo Rural.
In fact, one can easily see that a winning solution was
• Management of natural forests in the Amazon. The transposed to another sector. The half-hour programs present
program reports a pioneering effort to introduce innovations, show spectators how to contact specialized
management techniques suitable to small farmers. The government agencies, promote web sites that help small
land is divided into ten plots, selectively cut: one per exporters and so on. But the main thrust of the program is to
year. Hard data on yield and revenues are also presented. show examples of successful small entrepreneurs or good
• Bananas are very fragile crops and traditionally more ideas that can be adopted by other would-be entrepreneurs.
than half of the harvest is lost due to improper handling. Below are a few examples:
A farmer explains every step he took to reduce the
damages and losses. It also shows how an extension • A man who transforms the metal sheets of recycled cans
worker helped the farmer in each step. There is also an into sculptures of animals. The clip starts in his
interview with a banana growing expert and the farmer's backyard, full of colorful or shiny toucans, roosters,
final comments boasting his overall reduction in losses. alligators and many other animals. It then moves on to
• A farmer explains a simple method to get rid of ticks in show how he works the sheet metal and the tools he has
his cattle. created to shape them into feathers, animal skin and so
• A relatively long clip displays a farmer who employs his on. The following part shows how he managed to get an
nine daughters to work on his property using very exclusive contract to decorate a supermarket chain and
traditional methods. The entire background description the economics of selling his art. It ends with an
of what is going on is in rhymes, sometimes presented as interview with the supermarket buyer discussing the
poetry, sometimes as music. This one is not to teach economics of selling in small enterprises.
methods but rather to present a picturesque case of the • Another craftsman created a simple cooler for beer and
many and various methods that can benefit Brazilian soda cans: press a lever and one can at the time is
farmers. released without opening the box. After this
demonstration, the clip mentions that the inventor is
In parallel with the TV program, there is a magazine looking for partners or entrepreneurs who might want to
following exactly the same line and with the same name (on- manufacture or commercialize his idea.
line version: www.globoruralon.com.br). Given the nature of • A small manufacturer has produced a pizza oven on
the printed media, there are more technical data, more wheels that can be transported anywhere. It works from
statistics and a greater variety of subjects. Significant space bottled propane for outdoor operation or from electricity
is devoted to answering technical questions sent in by for indoor use. After presenting the price of each pizza
readers. This is the "Ann Landers" column of Globo Rural: chariot, several customers who purchased it are
advice for real-life problems. Each month, 140,000 copies of interviewed and the costs of raw pizzas and the sale
the magazine are sold. prices are presented, as are typical uses and monthly
revenues generated.

• A firm has taken an American product and adapted it to impact is measured by the bottom line, i.e., cost of
Brazilian conditions. It is a display or exhibit kit for production versus advertisement revenues.
posters and samples of products that unfolds. After use,
the contraption can be easily collapsed for storage in a What can we say about socio-economic impact? Something,
rollaway plastic container (that looks like a narrow trash but not too much. First of all, the programs are slick, well
can). Again, prices are shown, as are the consumers of done, and the image is refined. But they are, by no means,
the product. entertainment. The programs are serious and direct. It is hard
to imagine anybody watching them for fun. It makes sense to
Like in the case of Globo Rural, there is a companion assume that advertisement contracts would not flow if there
magazine with the same name that goes with it (online were no audience. Therefore, size of audience gives some
version: www.Pequenasempresason.com.br). Presently, suggestions as to how the programs are perceived by
120,000 copies are being printed every month. The magazine spectators.
shows hundreds of products, ideas, offers, and prospects of
new business. The January (2000) issue has the following Recent phone surveys (roughly extrapolated to cover the
headline on the cover: “Open your firm now: 51 universe of spectators) suggest that around 4.5 million TV
opportunities waiting for you, 20 business ideas costing less sets are tuned to Globo Rural on Sunday mornings. Consider
than US$10,000, 16 machines to get your business started that 20% of the Brazilian population lives in rural areas and
and, the month’s 15 good ideas." that about half are working adults (the target audience). This
means that if the potential audience for the program is mostly
Understandably, management techniques and problems are located in rural areas, there would be about 15 million people
perhaps, the most common subjects featured in the magazine. (including all those who do not have a TV set) tuned in. In
The January issue has a piece on how to deal with arrears and other words, in very rough terms, one third of the working
customers who do not pay, how to open a firm, how to avoid rural population watches the program. Conceivably, the
the common causes of bankruptcy and so on. Considerable audience is a much larger proportion of those owning TV
space is also devoted to answering technical and economic sets. Even accounting for gross errors in these estimates,
questions from readers. such audience for a program teaching farming techniques is
extraordinary.
Brazil is the third country in the word in number of
franchises. Accordingly, the franchise business is one of the Small Enterprises also has a considerable audience, although
most common subjects, both for the TV program and the of lesser magnitude. The audience reaches close to two
magazine. Indeed, one of the standard features of the million spectators. This is also quite impressive for a
magazine is offering examples of franchises. The same issue program of its kind and it is only the huge figures for Globo
features franchises that have succeeded and become heavy Rural that make it look less remarkable. But, of course,
weights. Small Enterprises is also a younger program.
Again, given the nature of print media, the magazine, more To sum up this somewhat inadequate evaluation, it makes
so than the program, is a market place for ideas, products and sense to suggest that programs with little entertainment value
services. In addition to references to all firms and products will only be watched if they offer something that is useful. If
described, it provides substantial space for paid classified around 4.5 million watch one and close to two million watch
ads. the other, year after year, their allegiance seems to be telling
us that they are learning something useful indeed. Otherwise
Do They Work? they would simply vote with their feet (better said, with their
fingers, changing channels). By the same token, private
What is the ultimate meaning of these two programs? A advertisers are willing to continually sponsor the relatively
harmless and useless effort to help farmers and small expensive production of both programs. They too must be
entrepreneurs? Entertainment for them? A significant getting something in return. The bottom line, it seems, is that
contribution to real life productivity? these programs are an effective way to support farming and
small enterprises. We only regret that initiatives that appear
Unfortunately, there has been no effort to evaluate the impact to be so productive remain so long without a serious
of either program, even though Globo Rural has aired for 20 evaluation of their ultimate impact.
years. The producer is a commercial media network. For it,

Wishful Thinking or Wise Action?
Sam Carlson, Manager

Robert Hawkins, Country Coordinator
World Links for Development Program
The World Links for Development program (WorLD) is an recurrent Internet and telephone costs. This last requirement
initiative of the World Bank Institute to expand the opportu- limited school selection to those schools within a local phone
nities of education technology to developing countries. call to an Internet Service Provider – which excluded most
WorLD’s primary objective is to link via the Internet secon- schools outside of the Kampala area. While schools within a
dary-level students and teachers around the world, in order to local telephone call to an ISP would pay US$144 per month
improve educational opportunities, develop youth employ- for 60 hours of access, schools outside of this local call range
ment skills for the 21st Century, and build global awareness would pay an exorbitant amount of US$720 per month.
and understanding. WorLD is currently working in 18
countries around the world and is planning to expand to an Based on these criteria, the steering committee selected the
additional 5 countries by July 2000. Specifically, WorLD 10 schools for the program and each of the schools got busy
works with Ministries of Education to connect secondary with computer lab preparation and phone line installation.
schools to the Internet, train teachers in the pedagogical uses Once the infrastructure requirements were fulfilled, the
of information technology and project-based learning appli- World Links program procured, refurbished, and shipped one
cations, assist schools to establish links with other schools hundred 486-computers that the World Bank donated to the
from around the world, and monitor and evaluate the impact program. Local private sector partners were then contracted
that this intervention has on teaching and learning. to install the equipment and make the final configuration for
http://www.worldbank.org/worldlinks the schools to access the Internet. “Dial to connect to Inter-
net” should have been the final bridge to cross. The tele-
communications infrastructure, however, failed at a large
The Story of Uganda number of the schools -- dropped lines and misconnections
left 6 of the 10 schools without connectivity. While the fixed
line infrastructure was relatively reliable for analog voice
In many countries in which WorLD is working, the first step connections, the lines and the exchanges could not carry
-- establishing reliable and cost affordable Internet connec- data. With over half of the schools unable to establish reli-
tivity -- can be the most challenging. The WorLD program able connections to the Internet, another path needed to be
in Uganda provides an interesting case study of the chal- forged.
lenges and successes of working to establish connectivity on
the digital frontier. Upon the heels of telecom liberalization in Uganda, two cel-
lular telephone operators received licenses to offer services.
In 1997, the World Links program selected 10 pilot schools The World Links program approached one of the providers –
based on criteria set forth by the Ministry of Education, a Celltel Uganda – to determine if the private sector company
local steering committee and the World Links program. The would be interested in partnering with the program to help
school selection criteria stipulated that eligible schools the schools establish Internet connections over the new ex-
needed to have the basic infrastructure (electricity, access to panding cellular infrastructure. The company agreed to pro-
telecommunications, and a secure classroom for a lab), a vide one hour of free airtime to the schools per day. The
vision of how to integrate the technology into their teaching schools could now at least establish a 9600 kbps link using
and learning process, and a business plan for sustaining the cell phone technology to send and receive email messages.

Web surfing, however, over this speed would only be possi- testing 2 variations of wireless connectivity solutions. These
ble for the most patient of teachers. solutions are as follows: 1) stand alone VSAT connectivity;
and 2) a combination VSAT and spread spectrum terrestrial
While all 10 of the schools had successfully established some wireless connectivity. Also, there may be scope for addi-
degree of Internet connectivity, the infrastructure limited the tional schools up country to participate in the pilot with just
speed at which teachers and students connected to the Inter- HF radio connectivity.
net, and the amount they paid for recurrent costs limited their
online time to one to two hours per day. In order to address The pilot also plans to test a number of sustainability mod-
these limitations, the program had to adjust to help the teach- els for schools to recoup the recurrent costs of this higher
ers maximize their offline use of the technology and still be level of connectivity. With 11 schools participating in the
able to fully participate in the collaborative nature of the pro- pilot, the monthly recurrent costs for sharing a 64kbps space
gram. segment come to US$114 per school per month. The poorer
rural areas that participate in the pilot will need to develop an
The WorLD program instituted three technology adjust- innovative plan to support these costs. The following are a
ments to allow teachers to save time and resources while still few of the ideas that will be tested during this pilot.
incorporating the technology into their teaching and learning.
The first technology adjustment involved implementing store • Training in exchange for equipment. WorLD schools
and forward email on their local area network. Each of the might pay off capital investment costs through provision
teachers would send mail off-line to the server in their school of training to teachers and community groups (a form of
and the server would call the Internet Service Provider (ISP) in-kind payment). In this model, the schools would
3 or 4 times a day to send and receive emails for the entire agree to train a predefined number of teachers in their
school. Proxy web software was also implemented which area for free, in exchange for the purchase and installa-
would save copies locally of frequently visited web pages, so tion of the wireless infrastructure.
that repeated online connections were not necessary. Finally, • E-commerce links with local entrepreneurs. In this
each school was provided with an internal web server that model, a rural school connection would be partially, if
could house both locally developed and web-based content not fully, supported by local entrepreneurs in exchange
on the local area network. These adjustments, along with for access to the infrastructure and support in developing
training on how to manage a classroom in this environment electronic content to market and sell their goods.
and maximize offline time, assisted teachers to fully partici- • Telecenter training model. In this model, the schools
pate in collaborative projects with others from around the would be obliged to open their facilities to the commu-
world. nity after school hours to train individuals in computer
literacy and provide email accounts and access to Inter-
While these technology adjustments helped as an intermedi- net information.
ary fix, the teachers wanted faster and more frequent access • Linkage to local ISP to rent facilities as a local node.
to the Internet. Spread spectrum wireless technology pro- In this model, a contract would be arranged between the
vided the only way to bypass the deficiencies of the existing school with a VSAT ground station and a national ISP.
fixed line infrastructure and the slow data rates of the cell The ISP would pay for the capital costs and a portion of
phone link. The first WorLD school in Kampala – Makerere the recurrent costs in exchange for use of the school fa-
College School – has successfully implemented this technol- cilities and free student internships.
ogy. With a capital outlay of US$1,500, the connection has
worked flawlessly. The school pays the Internet Service
Provider US$250 per month and pays the telephone company
nothing for dial-up charges – the school now has a 24-hour
Educational Benefits
high speed connection to the Internet at the same costs that it
had paid for slow, unreliable, limited Internet access over the
As a result of the establishment of this connectivity in Ugan-
dial-up connection.
dan schools, the following is a summary of the principal
benefits that teachers and students derive from participating
The WorLD program is now preparing to expand this initia-
in the WorLD Program:
tive to reach a larger number of schools as well as experi-
ment with VSAT technology in rural areas. This wireless
connectivity pilot aims to connect at least 11 schools to some • WorLD opens classrooms to a world of educational
form of wireless connectivity, train teachers and students in resources: The Internet provides a near infinite source
maintenance of the equipment, and monitor and evaluate the of information, and many of the educational resources
results of the pilot to determine the technical and financial on the Internet are free. For many schools in Uganda
sustainability of the various solutions. The pilot envisions which have no access to libraries, museums or even
textbooks, this simple access to educational resources is

phenomenal. Teachers can access and use a variety of cans to produce and disseminate their own view of the
lesson plans, activities, databases, and resource materials world to the world, their own history, music, art, religion
in every possible subject matter. They can use real and philosophy at virtually no cost. It can also be used
video footage of chemistry or biology experiments in to encourage students to reach out into their own com-
their classrooms. They can access texts of literature they munities in order to record and preserve traditions for
may never find in their own country. posterity.
• Facilitates teaching and learning for teachers: Teach- • Improves internal efficiency of the education system:
ers in developing countries generally have very little op- In addition to the improvements in student learning
portunity to exchange ideas, lessons, and activities with mentioned above, many school systems have noted a
each other in their own country, much less with teachers marked increase in school attendance, and a decrease in
outside their nation’s borders. Moreover, because li- drop-out rates after a period of sustained use of comput-
braries are usually poorly stocked with outdated resource ers and the Internet in the classroom. This appears to be
materials, if they exist at all, teachers must often rely on linked to increased student interest, possibilities for self-
their own textbooks, or even memories, as their sole learning and perceived improvement in employment
source of information. prospects both from students and parents. Given that
low student throughput is of the greatest challenges of
The introduction of WorLD Program promotes teacher many African school systems, this is an important factor
exchange, both domestically and abroad; helps over- to consider and measure.
come teacher isolation, permitting distant teachers to
collaborate, complement each other’s strengths, access • Encourages progressive pedagogy: The WorLD
subject matter expertise, resources and high-quality schools which have most effectively integrated informa-
learning activities; provides access to other lesson plans, tion and communications technologies (ICTs) into their
activities and teaching techniques (both within the same classrooms have noted a fundamental shift in pedagogy
country and internationally); supports group learning to the type of teaching that has proven most effective
activities, allowing collaboration among schools for towards promoting learning among students. The edu-
collection and analysis of data, email, etc.; offers ad- cational process changes from top-down, teacher-
ministrative support for attendance, accountability, man- directed, passive, rote-based instruction to bottom-up,
agement of educational supplies (e.g. textbooks, etc.); student-centered, project-based, interactive learning.
and facilitates teachers’ need to address students with
different learning styles or special needs. • Enhances opportunities to build community links:
Many of the current collaborative education projects un-
• Improves students’ learning and motivation: By en- dertaken by WorLD Program schools rely on students
gaging in collaborative Internet-based projects, WorLD reaching out into their community to obtain information,
students can learn more and learn faster, and enjoy their conduct surveys and interviews, and bring in local ex-
classes more. They can become independent learners perts to enhance the teaching and learning of various
and self-starters, broadening their horizons in all sub- subjects. In addition, because schools may in fact be
jects, but particularly about the world beyond their the first point of entry for ICTs in many developing
community. They certainly develop a more positive at- country communities, there are countless opportunities
titude towards computers, and towards technology in for the school and its surrounding community to mutu-
general, and acquire workplace competencies that in- ally support one another. From students reporting to lo-
clude working with resources, acquiring and evaluating cal farmers on crop prices or weather patterns, to train-
information, working with others in groups or teams, ing others in the use of computers; from schools opening
and understanding complex relationships and systems. their doors after school hours to provide Internet access
Perhaps most important, they learn how to learn. to the community (and even generate revenue to recover
costs) to students and teachers providing their services to
• Preserves local culture and contributes to the body of local businesses for web site creation in return for
world knowledge: The use of the Internet is not just a “sponsorship” of their school.
one-way street, with developing countries receiving in-
formation from elsewhere. Equally, if not more impor-
tantly, is the opportunity to promote and preserve local Educational Impact
culture by producing materials for worldwide consump-
tion. In the past, non-Africans wrote much of what was
written on Africa for worldwide consumption. The
In 1998, the WorLD Program contracted with SRI Interna-
Internet presents an unparalleled opportunity for Afri-
tional’s Center for Technology in Learning to design and

implement a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation economic, and cross-cultural development. The WorLD
component. The objective of this component is to provide program intends to thoroughly integrate the SRI Monitoring
the World Bank and educational ministries of participating and Evaluation component into its services to help the pro-
countries with information about results and implementation gram meet its biggest challenge: turning these early suc-
of the program as well as the challenges faced by students, cesses in the classroom into sustained educational progres-
teachers and administrators. sion. SRI International aims to leverage these early accom-
plishments to stimulate new educational reform efforts and
The evaluation was conducted at the end of the 1999 school capitalize on those already in place within each country.
year in five of the currently 15 participating countries: Chile,
Paraguay, Peru, Senegal and Uganda. (In 2000 this evalua-
tion will be expanded to 12 WorLD countries). In total, 26 Conclusion
WorLD schools with 20,000 students and 1,200 teachers and
administrators were asked to evaluate the impact of the pro-
gram upon student learning and the impact of computers World Links has successfully piloted school connectivity in
within the WorLD program. 20 schools in Uganda over the past two and half years. The
equipment and connectivity is functioning, schools are pay-
The highest rated impact of the program was students' ability ing the recurrent costs and maintaining their equipment,
to get better jobs upon graduation. Moreover, a large number teachers are training others both in their schools and commu-
of students indicated that they had acquired the technological nities, classrooms are engaging in collaborative projects with
and communication skills they needed to succeed in the in- other schools around the world, and teachers and students are
formation economy. motivated and active learners. The number of beneficiaries
of the program however is limited -- a digital divide threatens
A large majority of teachers agreed that students improved Uganda. The challenge over the next two and a half years
will be to build from this base of motivated and skilled
their information, communication, collaboration, technologi-
teachers and students to reach the majority of schools that are
cal skills, and attitudes as a result of their participation in the
still unable to participate in this community of educators.
WorLD program. Teachers and administrators also con-
World Links plans to work with the Ministry of Education to
curred that they too acquired new skills and attitudes in both extend the reach of the program through expanded wireless
technology and pedagogy as a result of participating in the technologies, train a larger number of teachers through in-
program. service and pre-service training by using the champion
teachers presently engaged in the program, and continue to
The results of the SRI Center for Technology in Learning's facilitate collaboration and information sharing across all
study prove that information technology holds the potential stakeholders in the education sector.
for making a significant contribution to world educational,
Distance Learning to be Offered Throughout Middle East via Egyptian Satellite

The Egyptian Ministry of Information recently signed a Letter of Intent with VirtualAcademics.com, Inc. (VADC), an Internet
Educational Holding company that owns and operates "distance learning" universities. This agreement will provide VADC
with access to Egypt's communication satellite system to provide Distance Learning in Arabic and English throughout the
Middle East.
VADC offers training and degrees in six languages including English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic to
students from 43 countries around the world. The degrees vary in specialty and are accredited and licensed. VADC also oper-
ates one of the largest international educational portals on the Web and through this site students and corporate clients can ac-
cess over 1000 degree and training programs from a variety of institutions. This agreement will expand VADC into all 22
Arabic speaking countries throughout the Middle East.
VADC plans to initially offer courses in English as a second language (ESL) and computer training courses, including Micro-
soft Certified Systems Engineer certifications.
For the complete story, see: http://www.businesswire.com

A High-Tech Twist:
ICT Access and the Gender Divide
By Mary Fontaine
The LearnLink Project, Academy for Educational Development (AED)
"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more."
"You mean you can't take LESS," said the Hatter. "It's very easy to take MORE than nothing."
Alice in Wonderland
governments and NGOs worldwide are exploring issues

Unequal access to information and communication surrounding women and ICTs, and virtual communities
technologies (ICTs)—a.k.a. the digital divide—is a dedicated to women in development are linking individuals
rapidly emerging concern in the international and groups around the world on an unprecedented scale.3
community. Both computerization and connectivity are
spreading faster in developing countries than any Drawing on information from these sources, this article will
technological advance in history. However, the gap provide a quick summary of the issues confronting ICT
between the haves and have-nots is also growing, access, capacity and usage among women in developing
threatening to leave the latter excluded from the countries. This will be followed by a brief comparison of
powerful networks that already are influencing the worldwide trends with LearnLink's4 experience in Ghana,
shape of the new century. As Castells explains, the where community learning centers (CLCs) are providing
global economy "does not include all people in its people in three cities with access to ICTs.
workings, although it does affect directly or indirectly
the livelihood of the entire humankind."1 The purpose of It is worth noting that while anecdotal information about
this article is to discuss a subset of the digital divide - to gender issues and ICTs is plentiful, hard data are not. Given
provide a snapshot of a phenomenon that is emerging as the apparent extent of the gender divide in developing
an issue of substance in its own right: the gender countries and the serious nature of the issues, more attention
divide. to gender in project design is needed, as is more rigorous
tracking, monitoring and evaluation of ICT projects and
better analyses of results.
Sources
Information for this article comes from a variety of sources. The same old story?
A few simple web searches yielded over 200,000 sites related While efforts are underway to increase ICT access, improve
to the topics of "women" or "gender" in computing and capacity and enable usage for all—or at least for more—
telecommunications.2 When narrowed to the developing questions are arising about how well those efforts are
world, of course, the number of sites decreased significantly, reaching women in developing countries. It's the same old
as did the quantification of the data. Many new articles and story, in some ways, with a high tech twist. Early returns
books on ICT access and use, as well as the digital divide, suggest that women are neither participating in nor benefiting
are also available, with some attention to gender issues. In from the efforts at anywhere near the same level as men.
addition, active web sites, listservs and online discussions, The familiar and still formidable constraints are again rearing
launched and run mainly by women, are underway around their ugly heads—poverty and illiteracy, lack of time,
the world. Many were prompted by a strategic objective that insufficient skills—with "technophobia" and male-
grew out of the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women to dominated, corporate control of technology added to the list.
increase the "participation and access of women to Accompanying the questions and constraints are the
expression and decision-making in and through the media continuing debates about the relative value of "Women In
and new technologies of communication." In preparation for Development"-type initiatives vs. "gender mainstreaming" as
the upcoming Special Session of the General Assembly for responses. Noteworthy progress notwithstanding, after a
the Beijing +5 Review in June 2000, UN agencies, quarter of a century of exploring, analyzing, debating and

experimenting with approaches to meeting women's how to weed out what's useful to them. Also, many
development needs, we still face daunting difficulties and organizations have difficulties in processing, storing and
dilemmas when it comes to striving for gender equity. disseminating their own information, which means their
presence in virtual communities is relatively ineffectual.7
It is important to note that ICT usage is still a relatively new
phenomenon that is changing rapidly. Information available With the vast majority of Internet and World Wide Web
today is better viewed as a snapshot of the situation, the material posted in English, language is a constraint as well,
details of which may change by tomorrow. so much so that some organizations are calling on the United
Nations to promote, support and facilitate the development of
affordable, easy to use and far more effective translation
Common cross-continental constraints software. See Universal Networking Language article,
TechKnowLogia, March/April 2000.
Generally speaking, the constraints to women's access, usage
and capacity vis-a-vis ICTs are similar in many respects Outside of urban areas, women in developing countries are
regardless of geography. On all continents, for example, far less likely to come into contact with ICTs and tend not to
poverty precludes access, and illiteracy, lack of education perceive a need for them. In some places, this is due to a
and skills, and language limit capacity and, therefore, usage. lack of telephones, electricity and infrastructure. In others, it
Psychological barriers, perhaps due to the perception of is because women often control indigenous, traditional and
technology as a male domain, include ambivalence and even popular forms of media which, many caution, should not be
fear—technophobia—accompanied by a lack of information ignored in the rush to embrace computer facilitated
about the possibilities and potential of ICTs and a lack of communication. As one woman explains, "For generations
confidence about mastering them, even among women who rural women have been active participants in social
might have access. Of course, it is the most marginalized of communication networks using indigenous communication
women who are least likely to have access-minorities, the methods for information exchange and knowledge sharing.
poor, non-speakers of mainstream languages, the elderly, and This rich cultural and creative environment should...be
the disabled. strengthened. The preservation of traditional forms of
communication and new information technology are not
Training in the use of ICTs—by knowledgeable trainers—is mutually exclusive."8
a serious shortcoming. For the most part, women have little
or no previous experience with technology, and many feel Other concerns about ICTs, expressed by women in both
confused when confronted with the sudden appearance of developed and developing countries, relate to the ownership
computers and the Internet. Merely getting access to the of telecommunications. As a participant in a worldwide
hardware or connecting groups to the Internet without an online discussion forum explained:
adequate introduction to what it is and how it works - and in
the absence of policies or guidance about usage, etiquette or Since the further deregulation of telecommunications in
communication techniques - is proving insufficient to the U.S., there have been several huge mergers as
promote intelligent usage. To effectively introduce and companies try to seize all the possible pipelines in which
integrate ICTs at an organizational level, the group's "entire digital communications might be operated.... the
range of communication capacities needs to be 'broadband' highway is only in the business districts of
strengthened."5 At both the personal and organizational major urban centers. Huge swaths of the country [U.S.],
levels, who assists with the capacity strengthening also can especially the mid-west and the poorer working class
be an issue, especially if all the technical "experts" are communities outside of central business districts,
males-and many are young. As one woman explained, "We already have limited access to the new "broadband
find that mainly women over forty, who are just learning to networks." Our concern is that this "digital divide" will
use their computers, feel really uneasy when a young boy is only increase as these major "broadband" highways will
the one in charge of hands-on-training."6 be operated as corporate businesses, with the ability to
restrict access, or set the conditions of access for
A similar concern, which also spans continents, is the ability everyone involved. This restriction will not only operate
of organizations new to ICTs to handle too much at the tollgates, i.e. getting on to the Internet. But
information. As one contributor to a recent online discussion because of the monopolization going on, it will occur at
group explains: the level of browsers and search engines, too, restricting
content or information itself. For example, none of the
Many organizations leap, in the space of a few weeks, search engines provide more than 20% of the available
from a situation where updated information is hard to sources on the Internet, which means they are already
come by to one where they have an excess of information
that they don't have experience in handling, don't know

making many choices about what is available to people
using their services.9
Networking is empowering
Rooted in the notion that "Sisterhood is powerful" - a slogan
In addition to these constraints to ICT use by women, their that swept the globe - the women's movement of the latter
reluctance to use ICTs even when they do have access is also half of the 20th century adopted networking as its primary
cited as a problem. While commentators from developing means of organization and operation. Today, women's
countries attribute the reluctance to an ignorance of the organizations on all continents are starting to take advantage
possibilities, some in high-income countries are less patient. of ICTs to continue that tradition - to collect, synthesize,
"Is it necessary to hold multimedia-style 'Tupperware' parties disseminate and, to a lesser but growing degree, produce
[to convince women] to purchase a computer instead of information. In this way, those without access to ICTs are
beauty products or useless clothes."10 starting to benefit from the knowledge that flows to those
with access. As a participant in a recent discussion forum on
Women and Media explained:
The same yet different If a road is built to my remote village, I will benefit
While the constraints to ICT use among women worldwide whether or not I use that road to travel. If my
are similar, the difference in usage rates is significant. By community/network/organization gains access to the
the summer of 1998, for example, women in the United Internet, and uses it innovatively, I may benefit even if I
States accounted for more than 40 percent of the 42 million never use a computer...information being received
Internet users in the country, up from 10 percent just a few through e-mail and redistributed through other circuits
years before.11 This tremendous increase in usage among illustrates this sort of strategy.16
U.S. women is interesting because a common theory
regarding nonuse is that those who do not produce or The other "circuits" used to redistribute information may
construct a product are less likely to use it. As one include traditional communication channels such as popular
researcher suggested, "Women tend to experience technology theater and community radio, demonstrating a creative
differently...and if those experiences are not addressed during blending of old and new technologies. Through this
'construction,' then women are more likely to feel intimidated repackaging of Internet-delivered information, it is possible
by new information technologies and resist learning about to reach much larger numbers of women, including those in
them and using them."12 There is no question that U.S. remote areas where the prospects for ICT access are remote.
women are "underrepresented in every aspect of computer
culture, from programming to product design to everyday Around the world, NGOs with ICT access also are using
use."13 Indeed, computer science is clearly a masculine mailing lists and email for advocacy and activist purposes.17
domain, where "women comprise just 7.8% of science and Through targeted marketing, for example, groups are
computer engineering faculties," for example, "and only flooding officials, stakeholders and decision makers with
2.7% are tenured."14 Yet U.S. women who have access are messages in support of positions favorable to women or
using ICTs enthusiastically, and there seems to be no public protests against perceived injustices-a breakthrough in
evidence to suggest that they "would respond differently to communication in light of the persistent difficulty in getting
computers if they were designed and programmed by mainstream radio, television and newspaper media to cover
women."15 "women's issues." These efforts are beginning to link
organizations around the world, leading to the creation of
There are few statistics indicating the prevalence of ICT use virtual communities focused on specific development issues
among women in developing countries, and we have no way and the forming of alliances enabling greater participation in
of knowing if the trend experienced in the United States will international fora and decision-making.18
be replicated elsewhere, assuming that ICTs become widely
accessible. At present, it is probably safe to assume that While women's access to information and communication is
women in developing countries are less likely to have access increasing through these collaborative collection and
than men, less likely to have opportunities to develop usage dissemination schemes, there is less activity in the
capacity than men, and, perhaps, less likely to use ICTs even production of information. This field is fertile, however, for
when they do have access. the future. With some skill sharpening and, perhaps,
translation service, those who currently are collecting
At the same time, there are indications about how women in information also can produce it, drawing on local networks
the middle- and low-income countries are using these for valuable content. Another possibility is software
technologies where they are available. One trend that is development and the production of inexpensive multi-media
emerging is based on organizational, collective usage. material, which ICTs can facilitate.

At the organizational level, a new role for NGOs is managing women's use of the centers a lack of time, a lack of support
the telecenters and community learning centers (CLCs) that from their male family members, and an element of
donors are supporting to increase ICT access in the "scientechno-phobia."
developing world. Three of these are operating in Ghana
through the USAID-funded LearnLink project. The CLCs will continue creative outreach to women and
women's organizations, soon offering an Open Day for the
Ghanaian women online Central Region Association of Female Entrepreneurs.
Assuming that the initial lack of interest in the Internet is in
LearnLink's experience with community learning centers part due to unfamiliarity with what it is and does, the day
(CLCs) in Ghana reflects some of the trends summarized will focus on sensitizing invitees to the use of the Internet.
above. Located in three Ghanaian cities, the centers tracked
ICT usage, by gender, over a nine-month period. In general,
the experience indicated that the higher or newer the
technology, the less likely women were to use it. However,
evidence also suggests that, over time, women warm to the
online environment and move steadily from word processing,
for example, to the World Wide Web.
The managers of the NGOs that run the CLCs in Kumasi,

Cape Coast and Accra are all women, an intentional decision
designed to encourage women to patronize the centers. Yet
nearly three times as many men as women have registered.
The usage pattern mentioned above also indicates a male bias
toward higher technology and a female bias toward lower.
For example, of those visiting one of the centers over a nine-
month period, from November 1998 to August 1999, 1,904
men browsed the Internet compared to only 253 women. It
is noteworthy that Internet usage by women grew steadily A woman uses a computer provided by the
during this period, from only one woman in the first month LearnLink CLC project in Ghana.
to 85 in the ninth. Email traffic also was tracked, with a
similar result. Women sent a mere 13 percent of the number
of messages sent by men. While the percentage of male and A happy ending?
female participants registering for typing, word processing It may be the same old story, and the difficulties still may be
and database courses were similar, it is not surprising that the daunting. But there is a determination to solve the twin
percentages registering for a course called Internet problems of ICT access and usage for women that is growing
Orientation were skewed in favor of the males. horizontally - on a planetary scale - and even vertically, from
the top down through donor attention and the bottom up
To further promote ICT usage among women, one of the through women's groups worldwide. As participants in one
NGOs organized a Women's Week, during which women in of the multinational discussion groups put it:
Kumasi were invited to sample the center's wares. Targeted
marketing to organized groups and institutions, such as If we can't deal with what is happening today, then the
NGOs, state agencies and religious groups, included flyers problems are being compounded for tomorrow. The
attached to invitation letters promising a free email address, lack of gender perspective in
one free email, and a 10 percent discount to those registering Information/Communications Technology means that
for a program at the CLC. With 212 women arriving over a women will find themselves shut out of information
five-day period, the event was successful in the short term, sources, less qualified for employment, unable to access
though the number of women returning to the centers more education, and unable to create and control the
dropped off slowly during subsequent weeks. The center in technology. We'll be virtual second class citizens [and]
Cape Coast is planning a similar event now, taking into our struggle for equality will be set back and much,
account the lessons from the experience of its counterpart in much more difficult.19
Kumasi.
This is the "boy's party" of the century, girls, and we are not
According to LearnLink's Resident Advisor in Ghana, most invited."20
of the women who frequent the centers are students, not
working women. He cites as the three major constraints to

ENDNOTES
1
Manuel Castells, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Volume I, "The Rise of Network Society," Blackwell Publishers,
1996, p.92.
2
As such searches are accustomed to do, one revealed a site devoted to jokes about Why a computer is better than a woman
("because computers don't make you meet their parents, or ask you to call them in the morning, or because you can shut a
computer down when you're tired of it") - perhaps a telling commentary on the need for continued attention to the issue. (URL
withheld at author's discretion).
3
See, for example, http://sdnhq.undp.org/ww/women-media for a list of web sites.
4
LearnLink is a five-year Indefinite Quantities Contract (No. HNE-1-00-96-00018-00) of the U.S. Agency for International
Development, funded by the Human Capacity Development Center in the USAID Global Bureau, the Africa Bureau, and other
USAID Bureaus, offices and missions. It is operated by the Academy for Education Development (AED). For more
information on LearnLink's activities, see http://www.aed.org/learnlink/ .
5
This and many of the following quotes are from the Virtual Working Group on Women and Media-with a special focus on
ICTs as they impact women's lives-sponsored by WomenWatch and facilitated by Women Action 2000 during November and
December, 1999. The Group's goal is to analyze, at a global level, which of the objectives from the Beijing Platform for
Action, Section J, have been realized and which still need attention. Recommendations from the Working Group will be
compiled for inclusion in a report to be submitted by UN WomenWatch at the 44th session of the Commission on the Status of
Women in March 2000. To access the Group's archives, go to: http://sdnhq.undp.org/ww/women-media .
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
11
Dan Schiller, Digital Capitalism: Networking the Global Market System, The MIT Press, 1999, p. 139. (Note: Some of the
most sophisticated tracking of Internet usage comes from the advertising world. In the case of women, Schiller quotes Procter
& Gamble remarking that "the vast majority of [women Internet users] represent the target audience for most of our brands").
12
Ruth Anne Corley, Women, Technology and the Internet: How will the three get along? Working Papers in Communication Technology
and Culture, Carleton University, 1994.
13
Leslie Regan Shade, talk given at Community Networking: The International Free-Net Conference, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada,
August 17-19, 1993.
14
Ibid.
15
Ruth Anne Corley, Women, Technology and the Internet: How will the three get along?
16
The Women and Media Working Group on the Beijing Platform for Action.
17
For a sampling of ways in which women are using ICTs for these purposes, see "40 activist ways of using the internet" at
http://www.womenspace.ca/Campaign/Activism/activistways.html .
18
Sally Burch, "Latin American Women Take on the Internet," http://www.connected.org/women/sally.html .
19
The Women and Media Working Group on the Beijing Platform for Action.
20
Ibid.

Grassroots Libraries: A Base for Lifelong Learning
Aya Aoki*
Literacy is a fundamental skill that allows one to access a variety of information and knowledge
resources and to continue learning throughout one’s life as an independent learner. In order to promote
literacy and a lifelong learning environment for both children and adults, public library systems can
serve as a powerful mean for the goal. Several bridges need to be built and strengthened to take
advantage of library services in education for children and adults. Such bridges include: 1) a closer
linkage among school, library, community, and publishing industry at local levels; 2) a conceptual bridge
between education for children and education for adults; and 3) closer communication and collaboration
among stakeholders at national and international levels, including libraries and resource centers,
research and practice organizations, governments and international organizations.
Linking School, Library, Community, and librarians, and community workers; 4) day-to-day school
Publishing Industry based support; 5) motivational programs and events for
students and teachers; and 6) assessment and evaluation for
In order for the public library system to be better utilized in further development and assistance. According to READ’s
education for children and adults, especially for neoliterates learners’ achievement survey, students at schools
and people with limited literacy skills, libraries need to work participating in READ program are ahead of control school
closely with schools, communities, and publishing industries. students in their reading and writing ability. The staff of
READ has been involved in similar education efforts in
South Africa’s READ program, started in 1979, is supporting Lesotho, Nigeria, and Tanzania to share their experiences.
learners in rural primary, secondary and tertiary levels
throughout South Africa for skills development in reading, Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie promotes
writing, and accessing information technology, to help them literacy in French speaking countries in Africa through
become independent, lifelong learners. In collaboration with assisting public reading rooms for rural populations to help
educators, librarians, teachers, and parents, READ develops their social and cultural communication and community
and assists using inexpensive teaching and learning materials development, and through Centres de Lecture et Animation
in libraries and classrooms. READ program provides a wide Culturelle (CLACs) or reading and cultural centers for
range of services including curriculum and teaching methods students and teachers. At CLACs, students and teachers can
development, and teacher training, following the six-step consult and borrow books, magazines, journals, and
strategy: 1) initial program presentation and consultation educational toys and games, provided by the Agency, while
with schools and libraries; 2) systematic resource provision the buildings, equipment and volunteer teachers (usually
after consultation and training; 3) training for principals, from primary schools) are supported locally. The CLACs
subject teachers, librarians, supervisors of teachers and project started in 1986 and by the end of 2000, there will be

some 180 centers in 16 countries. The second generation of Educating Parents with Their Children
the CLACs is francophone centers for multipurpose cultural
development including rural radio services. The centers are The second bridge that needs to
focusing on areas of health, education, and agricultural be strengthened is to link
advice, and also offer rural micro credits, radio programs, education for children with
and cinematic and information technology skills training. education for adults, which are
often administered separately.
Proposed World Bank assisted projects in Bangladesh and Several programs adopting the
Indonesia intend to support development of grassroots concept of family education show
libraries through working closely at the local level to the effectiveness of such a
effectively involve the community, to utilize existing linkage for both children and
resources, and to reflect the needs of beneficiaries in the their parents.
projects. The proposed project in Indonesia will support
development of existing village based community libraries, The Family Literacy Program in the UK targets both children
youth libraries, and libraries at the Islamic mosques, Hindu and parents with limited literacy skills. It was established in
temples, and Christian churches. 1993, aiming to enhance parents’ own literacy skills, to
improve parents’ ability to help their children with the early
The support will focus on book purchases, reading stages of learning to read and write, and to boost young
promotion, training programs and other activities. The children’s acquisition of reading and writing skills. The
country has a fair amount of publications and publishing program is comprised of three sessions: parents-only
industry, which is expected to grow as the literate sessions, children-only sessions, and parent-child joint
environment is enhanced. The proposed project in sessions. In parents-only sessions, in addition to literacy and
Bangladesh plans to support enhancing grassroots libraries to numeracy courses, they organize visits to local libraries and
eventually transform them into continuing education centers discuss games and literacy related activities adopted easily
that introduce to learners various new and existing with low cost at home with their children. The children-only
continuing education opportunities in the community. Prior sessions for children aged between 3 and 6 year olds,
to the design of continuing education centers offerings, the emphasize writing, talking and reading through games,
project is supporting beneficiary and stakeholder needs dramatic play, including play library, and collaborative
assessment as well as assessment of existing local human and poetry writing. In the joint sessions, parents work with their
physical resources that can be utilized for continuing own children and share stories and books, write poems and
education efforts in the locality. make alphabet scrap-books together. The assessment of the
program participants showed improvements in vocabulary,
reading and writing skills for both children and parents, with
a variety of other benefits for parents such as growth in their
confidence, improvements in social skills, and involvement
in children’s school activities. The experience of the Family
Literacy Program in the UK reveals the effectiveness of the
strategy to target children and parents together.
The Mother-Child Education Program (MOCEP), originally

started in 1983 in Turkey, targets children and mothers,
aiming to foster cognitive and psychosocial development in
the home environment and to promote school readiness for
children. MOCEP reaches children and parents right before
the children start formal schooling and lasts for 25 weeks.
The group meetings are held once a week in adult education
centers in each district. The program consists of three
components: Mother Enrichment, Reproductive Health and
©Corel
Family Planning, and Cognitive Training Program. The first
two components involve group discussions to encourage
The proposed project in Indonesia will support mothers' self-confidence and to increase their sensitivity to
development of existing village based community the cognitive, social and emotional development of the child
libraries, youth libraries, and libraries at the Islamic and to support them in preparing a preferable home
mosques, Hindu temples, and Christian churches. environment. The program to foster children’s cognitive

development is done using worksheets for various daily analytical description of good practice cases and
exercises to be used by the mothers together with their dissemination, and through adopting applicable elements of
children that take about 15-20 minutes to complete. The good practices in each locality, (2) disseminating in multi-
exercises include pre-literacy (recognition of letters and letter format (paper, radio, TV, E-mail, Website, CD ROM, etc.) to
sounds), pre-numeracy skills (recognition of numbers, reach the population without advanced technology, and (3)
addition and subtraction), language development, and serving as information brokers between researchers/
concept formation (direction, size, place, etc.) among others. practitioners and policy makers.
In addition, interactive shared book reading activities are
given particular emphasis using picture story books. The The Adult Outreach Education Thematic Group of the World
program evaluation indicates positive effects on children’s Bank is supporting efforts to promote global gains in literacy
pre-literacy and pre-numeracy skills and initial school and to help developing grassroots libraries through
success and adaptation, mother-child interaction and their partnerships. The International Literacy Day working group,
attitudes toward school and mothers’ self-esteem. consisting of representatives from the preeminent
organizations dedicated to literacy, including the
Collaboration for Narrowing the Information International Reading Association and the US Library of
and Technology Gaps Congress, was formed in 1999 to advance advocacy efforts
for literacy and to motivate media, public and private sectors,
The third bridge to be made is to strengthen communication and the general public. The partnership with the New York
and collaboration among libraries and resource centers, Public Library is exploring the knowledge and skills transfer
practitioners and researchers, governments, NGOs and to other countries in developing community libraries,
international organizations, in order to narrow the current especially in the area of staff training.
information and technology gaps between the haves and have
nots. References
The Adult Learning Bekman, Sevda (1998). A Fair Chance: An Evaluation of

Documentation and Information The Mother-Child Education Program. Mother
Network (ALADIN) initiated Child Education Foundation. Istanbul: Yapim
by the UNESCO Institute for Matbaasi.
Education (UIE) in Hamburg in
1998 aims to support a global Brooks, Greg; Tom Gorman; John Harman; Dougal
knowledge network among the Hutchison; and Anne Wilkin (1996). Family
stakeholders listed above, and Literacy Works: The NFER Evaluation of the Basic
to support developing adult learning libraries and resource Skills Agency’s Demonstration Programmes. The
centers in lower income countries. The membership of Basic Skills Agency. London: Commonwealth
ALADIN consists of ninety adult learning documentation House.
centers and information services from various regions,
including the International Council for Adult Education and READ (1999). Annual Report 1999. Read Educational Trust.
the World Bank. The Network is working towards (1) Braamfontein, South Africa: Creda Press.
internationalizing and localizing good practices through an
*
Adult Outreach Education Thematic Group, Human Development Network - Education, The World Bank

The Full Story:
Full-Text Publications on the Web
Gregg B. Jackson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Coordinator,
Education Policy Program, George Washington University
The Internet is now the largest library in the history of the world. It is also a strange library. Currently it has far
more short abstracts, summaries, and references to important sources, than it has the full text of those docu-
ments. Sometimes an abstract or summary is all that is needed, but at other times the full text of a document is
needed to ascertain details and get the full story. This article will steer you to Internet sources that provide the
full text of books, reports, journals, and newsletters. All these will be referred to in this article as “documents.”
SCOPE slash (/) to find a live site that may steer you to the new
URL. Alternatively, use another of the listed sites to try to
The focus is on documents that are distributed in full-text on find the same document. Third, text is available on the web
the World Wide Web or by e-mail. Some of the sites offer in two main formats, HTML and Adobe Acrobat .pdf files.
full-text materials for free and others charge a fee that is usu- The former downloads fastest. The latter includes all the
ally paid with an international credit card. Many of the ref- original graphics, but Adobe Acrobat Reader software must
erenced sites will have materials only in English, but several be installed on your computer to read the documents. It can
offer materials in other major languages. Most of the sites be download for free from:
will allow you to access not only current issues of periodicals http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
and recent reports, but also several years of earlier issues and
reports. Some of the documents are available only electroni- ALL FORMS OF PUBLICATIONS
cally, but others are electronic versions of documents also
distributed in print. Eldis
Eldis is the best portal to information on the web that is rele-
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES vant to national development. It currently links to about
2,800 web sites of organizations involved in development
and to 5,000 documents available in full-text.
Advantages of Electronic Text www.ids.ac.uk/eldis/eldis.html
Instant Access The Internet Public Library
Cost Efficient This is a major portal to full-text documents on the web. The
periodicals are listed in alphabetical order by title, but can be
Searchability
searched by subject headings and subheadings. “Education”
Easy Storage is a subheading under “Social Issues and Sciences.” Books
can be searched by author, title, keywords, and the Dewey
classification scheme.
Periodicals: http://ipl.org/reading/serials/index.html
Disadvantages of Electronic Text Books: http://ipl.org/reading/books/
Reading Immobility Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC)
Inability to make notes on text This is the premier North American system for searching for
reports, journal articles, and conference papers on education.
Obsolescence of Storage Media With rare exceptions, the system does not provide the full-
text of the documents electronically, but three other organi-
A few precautions are in order. First, most of these portals zations do so for fees.
try to link to everything within their domain of interest, For documents to which ERIC assigns a number starting with
without screening for quality. They link to first-rate material ED, contact:
as well as to false and misleading material. Second, URLs
are changing rapidly. If a given link does not function, try ERIC Document Reproduction Service
truncating the right portions of the URL to each forward http://www.edrs.com
! 40 ! TechKnowLogia, November/December, 1999 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

For journal articles to which ERIC assigns a number starting EBSCO
with EJ, contact either of the following two vendors by e- This is a broad-ranging index and full-text collection of
mail: scholarly and professional periodicals. About half of the
Carl Uncover Document Delivery Service journals are available in full-text. EBSCO has limited cover-
sos@carl.org age of journals dealing with education, but good coverage of
ISI Document Solutions those dealing with health and business topics. This is a pro-
ids@isinet.com prietary system operated by EBSCO Information services,
and is not accessible except through organizations that sub-
TechKnowLogia scribe. Some universities and large libraries do subscribe.
The journal that you are currently reading offers many links http://www.epnet.com
to web sites with full-text documents of particular interest to
those interested in education and training within developing View From Internet Valley
countries. Particularly see the “WorthWhileWebs” of Vol- This site lists the 100 most influential periodicals on comput-
ume 1, Number 2 (November/December, 1999). ers. These periodicals offer a way for computer technicians
to stay up-to-date and a few of the periodicals deal with the
JOURNALS, MAGAZINES, AND policy implications of technology.
http://eye.hooked.net/netvalley/archives/apr99/magrank1.html
NEWSLETTERS
Electronic Journal Access
BOOKS AND REPORTS
This appears to be the largest portal to periodicals that are On-Line Books Page
available in full-text on the web. The periodicals are listed in This site tries to link to most books that are available without
alphabetical order by title, but can also be searched by the charge on the WWW. It currently links to more than 10,000
U.S. Library of Congress Subject Headings, such as “educa- books. Most are older books with expired copyrights that are
tion” and subheadings under it. The focus of each periodical of historical or literary importance, but recently published
is briefly described. books will increasingly come available on the web.
http://www.coalliance.org/ejournal/ http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
E-Zine-List netLibrary
This is another large portal to periodicals on the web. The This organization provides access to a growing collection of
periodicals are listed in alphabetical order by title, but can trade, reference, scholarly, and professional books published
also be searched by keywords such as education (121 titles), by some major commercial publishers and many university
science (89 titles), and health (180 titles). Brief descriptions presses. Currently, it has only about a hundred books on
of the content and editorial policy are provided for many of education theory and practice, but this organization is ex-
the journals and magazines. Several listed periodicals are panding its collection rapidly. Currently a one-year individ-
published in languages other than English. ual subscription costs $29.95 (U.S.).
http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/ http://www.netlibrary.com/
Northern Light Books on the Internet
Northern Light is a search engine that also provides access to This site links to many university and research organizations
the full text of selected publications. Most are related to with collections of books on the web.
business and management, but some deal directly with edu- http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Etext.html
cation. After examining the abstract, you can view and
download the full text for a fee that varies from $1.00 - $4.00
(U.S.) and can be charged to an international credit card.
RESOURCES ON ELECTRONIC
http://www.northernlight.com PUBLISHING
ABI/Inform (also known as ProQuest) Journal of Electronic Publishing

This is a large database of periodicals in business and man- This is a scholarly journal on electronic publishing.
agement, with some coverage of education periodicals. It http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-01/
allows powerful searches and includes the full text of about
Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography
half the articles that it indexes. This is a proprietary system
This site would be of interest to those wishing to publish
operated by Bell and Howell, and is not accessible except
materials electronically.
through organizations that subscribe. Some universities and
http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html
large libraries do subscribe.
http://www.umi.com

The Information Revolution and the Digital Divide
A Review of Literature
by Sonia Jurich
In the early 1990's, Tim Bernes-Lee developed the global one-fifth of the world’s population, had less than one percent
hypertext system - the World Wide Web - with an aim to of the users. The United Kingdom alone had 10.5 million
provide a common space where information could be shared Internet users, compared to one million in the whole African
without barriers. The expansion of the Web may have continent (Black, 1999). In 1994, when the Web started to
surprised even its creator. In less than ten years, the online spread through the world, the average telephone density in
population has grown to 180 million individuals across all industrialized countries was 52.3 per 100 habitants,
continents, while an estimated 250,000 sites are added to the compared to 5.2 in developing countries (Mike Holderness,
Web each month (www.net-surfin.com/page4.htm). Rapid in Loader, 1998). Even at accelerated rates of investment,
expansion is not unique to the Web. Computers, a strange the fastest growing economies of Asia, South America and
word some fifty years ago, are now common household Eastern Europe may need two decades or more to reach the
items and integral parts of educational systems in many telephone penetration rates of the industrialized countries.
countries. At the end of 1998, more than 40 percent of the For the slower-growing economies, it may take a century or
households in the United States owned computers and one- more (Credé & Mansell, 1998). The information
fourth had Internet access (NTIA, 1999). In October 1999, “superhighway” in the poorest countries, writes Trevor
90 percent of all Canadian schools were online; four out of Haywood, “is more often than not a long and tortuous dirt-
ten students had used e-mail during the previous school year; track miles from a made-up road which itself is miles from
and 30 percent had designed their own web sites the nearest medical centre or school.” (in Loader, 1998, p.
(www.nua.ie/surveys). Scholars, journalists and practitioners 24)
reacted to the rapid development of the new information and
communication technologies (ICTs) with high expectations This digital divide exists not only between nations, but also
and equally great concerns. All recognize the technology’s within individual countries. A recent study on the
potential to overcome geographical and cultural barriers and telecommunications and information technology gap in the
bring needed improvement to people’s lives all over the United States shows that computer ownership and Internet
world. At the same time, fears have mounted that this access are strongly correlated with income and education.
potential is not being tapped. Instead of fostering a new Households with annual incomes of $75,000 and higher are
equilibrium among countries, the ICT revolution may be about nine times more likely to have a computer at home and
widening the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots,” twenty times more likely to have access to the Internet than
and creating a divide that may prove extremely difficult to households at the lowest income levels. Although access to
close. electronic resources has been steadily increasing in all social
strata in America, the differences are also increasing. For
instance, between 1997 and 1998, the digital divide between
Who is benefiting from the ICT individuals at the highest and lowest education levels
increased 25 percent and between those at the highest and
Revolution? lowest income levels increased 29 percent (NTIA, 1999).
The Industrial Revolution divided the world into two large
Besides income and education, variables that influence the
blocks. While the industrialized countries amassed
divide include geographic location, race and ethnicity.
significant wealth and power, those countries that were
Regardless of income, U.S. families living in rural areas are
unable to change their pre-industrial forms of production
less likely to have Internet access when compared to families
experienced mounting economic and social problems.
living in urban areas. Similarly, Blacks and Latino
Starting in the industrialized countries, the ICT revolution
households are approximately one-third as likely to have
seems to be perpetuating this divide. In 1998, 88 percent of
home Internet access compared to Asian/Pacific Islander
all Internet users lived in industrialized countries, home to 15
households and two-fifths as likely as White households
percent of the world’s population, while South Asia, with
(NTIA, 1999). A telephone survey with 5,813 randomly

selected households found that Whites are more likely to fight one of the greatest problems in Africa, famine. An
own a home computer compared to Blacks, even when international project supported by the Food and Agriculture
controlling for differences in education. Only at the top Organization (FAO), ARTEMIS uses satellites and near
income levels, the racial differences disappear. At the top infrared sensors to detect photosynthetic activity taking place
income levels, Blacks are more likely to use computers and within a particular area. With this information, researchers
graduate from college than Whites (Novak & Hoffman, can identify levels of vegetation in different areas and
1998). Larry Irving, U.S. Assistant Secretary for provide early warnings of potential areas of famine. In
Communications and Information, calls the digital divide Ghana, satellite-gathered information on types of soil and
“one of America’s leading economic and civil rights issues” human occupation is being combined with data on malaria
(NTIA, 1999). prevalence and intensity to examine variations in malaria
transmission. This information is instrumental to more
If access to computers and the Internet is not equally efficient health education and planning for disease
distributed in a country as wealthy as the United States, what eradication (Credé & Mansell, 1998). Education is another
does that say about developing countries, many of which are area where the new technologies are proving essential,
struggling to meet the survival needs of their populations? particularly in bridging a shortage of personnel and
Africa, a continent with a population of approximately 740 connecting scattered populations (for in-depth discussions on
million, has 14 million phone lines, 80 percent of them in this topic, please refer to the previous issues of
only six countries (Black, 1999). Without telephone access, TechKnowLogia).
the Internet becomes a distant dream. Even when the
infrastructure exists, access may not be economically viable. Is there no hope for those on
In India, for instance, where the average annual income is
approximately US$140, it may cost US$ 1,600 to buy a
the other side of the divide?
personal computer with Internet connection. In addition,
In contrast to previous technologies, ICTs have the ability of
phone bills costs may exceed US$ 200 per year (Noronha,
developing at a very fast pace while bringing costs down, a
1999). In 1995, Ghana, with 17 million inhabitants, had 140
characteristic that may prove essential for developing
Internet subscribers, who paid an average annual subscription
countries. For instance, the more the telecommunication
charge of US$1,300, the equivalent to a journalist’s salary
infrastructure spreads and the number of users increases, the
(Credé & Mansell, 1998). Access is also hampered by
lower the investment costs and service fees, which enables
language barriers. Four-fifths of the Web sites are in
the further expansion of services, increased numbers of users,
English, a language understood by only one in ten people on
and still lower costs. From 1995 to 1997, the UN
the planet, observes Jane Black in a special report for BBC
Commission on Science and Technology for Development
News Online. Large segments of the developing countries’
organized a working group to study the impact of ICTs in
populations are illiterate, even in their own language (or
developed and developing countries. Although recognizing
languages). In Benin, for instance, more than 80 percent of
the seriousness of the divide, the group found signs that even
the population speaks one of the 71 local dialects, 60 percent
poorer countries are benefiting from the digital revolution.
are illiterate, and only 19 percent can speak and read in
Some of the group’s observations include the following:
French, the official language. (Black, 1999).
(Credé & Mansell, 1998):
Why is it so important to em- ! A wave of privatization in the telecommunication
brace the digital revolution? sector across the globe has stimulated competition
at both national and international levels
In this new information society, raw material and cheap labor
can no longer sustain economies (indeed, they have not ! The significant expansion of the market for ICT
sustained economies for more than a century, as attested by services and equipment in Southeast Asia is helping
the industrial divide). ICTs were instrumental to the creation the local economies and pushing technology further
of a flexible economy where production can be located at any ahead.
point of the globe. Knowledge, rather than labor, is the key
element for sustainable development in this global economy. ! The opening of the Eastern European economies has
By enabling fast and low-cost collection, processing and contributed to the fast expansion of the
dissemination of information, the new technologies have telecommunication infrastructure and technological
become essential to economic growth. ICTs also promote growth in these countries.
international cooperation and provide powerful tools for
research and development (Loader, 1998; Krogt, 1999). The ! Developing countries have been able to take
Africa Real Time Environmental Monitoring Information advantage of the latest technologies without having
Systems (ARTEMIS) is a good example of the use of ICT to to go through “stages of development.”

already much too wide. Technologies are only instruments,
! Public, private, national and international efforts and as instruments, ICTs have incredible potential. It is up to
that provide intellectual and financial resources for us to make them work for a better world. According to
ICT-related projects are multiplying across the Krogt (1999), “No actor alone has the combination of vision,
globe. power and resources needed to guide the revolution in such a
way that it advances the general good and let's not forget that
! Creative solutions and ingenuous initiatives are PEOPLE make it work.”
helping to overcome logistic obstacles; for instance,
the Community Telecentres Project of the National References
Farmers Union in Zambia is building local ICT
centers to facilitate communication and provide Black, J. (1999). Information rich-information poor,
information to small-scale agriculture producers. bridging the digital divide. International Institute for
Communication and Development. Available at:
! Governmental investment in capacity building, such http://www.iicd.org/search/show-entry.ap?entryid=39808&part=all
as those initiated by the Dominican Republic and
Colombia, ensure technology access to the Bernes-Lee, T. (1999). Weaving the Web. San Francisco,
academic community, thus fostering local research CA: Harper Collins.
and development.
Credé, A. & Mansell, R. (Eds) (1998). Knowledge societies
! Many developing countries, particularly those in . . . in a nutshell: Information technology for sustainable
Southeast Asia, have been able to exploit the development. Ottawa, Canada: International Development
flexibility of the ICT production and become Research Centre and the UN Commission on Science and
producers themselves; for instance, South Korea is Technology for Development.
now a leading producer of computer memory chips,
while Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan Krogt, S. van der (1999). The Role of ICT in Harnessing
are important suppliers of electronic products, Sustainable Development and Knowledge-based Societies.
including personal computers. Keynote address at the Thirteenth Annual National
Conference on Science and Technology of the Scientific
Governments have an important role in guiding their Research Council, Kingston Jamaica. Available at:
countries through the digital revolution. For instance, both http://www.iicd.org/search/show-entry.ap?entryid=40448.part-all
China and India have invested heavily in new technologies,
but under different political directives. While the process in Loader, B. D. (Ed.) (1998). Cyberspace Divide: Equality,
India has been centrally controlled, China promoted a agency and policy in the information society. London:
flexible policy that provided regional governments and Routledge.
partnerships with decision authority. As a result, China has
now a digital telephone network of 55 million main lines, National Telecommunications and Information
while India’s network comprises less than 12 million main Administration [NTIA] (1999). Falling through the net:
lines, of which 87 percent are digital. From 1996 to 1997, Defining the digital divide. A report on the
Internet usage grew by 298 percent in India and by 820 telecommunications and information technology gap in
percent in China. With a population about one-fifth larger, America. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce.
China had six times as many Internet hosts as India (Credé & Available at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/fttn.pdf
Mansell, 1998).
Noronha, F. (1999). Indian experiment shows how slum-kids
Using Krogt’s terminology, physical access to the new speedily take to computers. International Institute for
technologies is not enough. It is equally important to ensure Communication and Development. Available at:
economic and cognitive access by improving infrastructure http://www.iicd.org/search/show-entry.ap?entryid=4050&part=all
and services, and investing in professional development and
education. Partnerships between public and private Novak, T.P., & Hoffman, D.L. (1998). Bridging the Digital
organizations, research centers, universities and financial Divide: The impact of race on computer access and Internet
institutions are essential in accomplishing such an ambitious use. Project 2000, Venderbilt University. Available at:
agenda. The digital revolution can either bring the world to http://ecommerce.vanderbilt.edu/papers/race/science.html
a new era of shared wealth, or it can further a divide that is

e-Lectronic Access to Information:
A Research Review
By Sonia Jurich
Exchange of information is a phenomenon as old as two-hour interviews focused on the following themes: the
humanity. From foot couriers to electronic mail, information reasons for becoming a network user, patterns of service
exchange has gained in speed, outreach, precision and utilization in the job and outside it, problems with network
reliability. The past fifty years have been particularly usage, the role of network services in the individual’s life,
significant for the areas of information and communication. and the future role of the Internet in society. To support the
New technologies, such as satellites, computers, and the qualitative data from the interviews, the researcher used
Internet, are challenging our concepts of space and time, and results from a 1996 national survey of 1,080 Finn
redefining the words “global” and “immediate.” Researchers households.
are trying to understand the impact of these technologies in
our lives and the ways people are reacting to them. We Findings:
present here four summaries of research that address the use
of electronic documents for information seeking and ♦ At the time of the research, only 3 percent of the survey
retrieval. Reijo Savolainen, from the University of Tampere, respondents had utilized the Internet to seek practical
Finland, focuses on the use of the Internet to obtain information.
information in job-related and other contexts. Bridget
Booske and François Sainfort, from the University of ♦ Males, low-income level participants and those with
Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A., study the use of electronic high education levels were more likely to use the
documents (e-documents) to obtain information in decision- Internet for information seeking than females, people
making contexts. Lee Komito, from the University College with high income levels, and those with low education
Dublin, Ireland, uses qualitative methodology to study levels.
employees’ preferences between e-documents and paper-
♦ The Internet was most frequently used for
based documents. The last summary moves the focus from
communication (e-mail, discussion groups) than
the people who seek and use the information to the intrinsic
information seeking.
qualities of electronic information-retrieval tools. Michael
Gordon and Praveen Pathak, with the University of ♦ In the context of information seeking, participants used
Michigan-Ann Arbor, U.S.A., analyze the retrieval the Internet mostly to “stay up to date” and monitor
effectiveness among different World Wide Web search daily events.
engines.
♦ Research participants cited the following criteria to
The role of the Internet in information seeking. Putting choose networked services over other media for
the networked services in context by Reijo Savolainen. information seeking: easiness of accessing a huge
Information Processing and Management, 35: 765-782, amount of data at low cost, savings in time and money,
1999. the chance to consult with experts, and greater
independence of when and how to seek the information.
Focus:
Focus Research shows that the strengths of electronic
sources as tools for information seeking are their easiness of ♦ The factors that make traditional media more attractive
updating, modifying and manipulating data and the speed of than networked sources were: lack of computer or
search. On the other hand, printed formats have the computer skills; insufficient quality control (information
advantage of being easier to transport and rooted in our daily may be outdated or unreliable); technological glitches
routines. This research focuses on whether the Internet is (slow response time, frequent breakdowns); and the
replacing other media as an information-seeking tool and the chaotic nature of the Internet.
criteria for such a replacement.
♦ Printed newspapers are still preferred to their online
Methods:
Methods The researcher conducted 23 theme interviews versions, because: they are easier to read (participants
with Internet users in Finland, in spring 1997. Participants found it inconvenient to read long texts on the screen),
were recruited through an online paper. Reflecting the tend to have more news and more in-depth coverage of
demographics of the online population, the participants were news and, most of all, reading the newspaper is a well-
mostly university students and white-collar workers. The established part of the individuals’ daily routines.

♦ Twelve percent found the information difficult to
Relation between quantitative and qualitative measures understand and less than 20 percent reported difficulty
of information use, by Bridget C. Booske & François using the information; older participants had more
Sainfort. International Journal of Human-Computer trouble understanding and using the information than
Interaction, 10 (1): 1-21, 1998. younger participants.
Focus:
Focus The analysis of information use in any medium Paper “work" and electronic files: defending professional
raises issues of quantity (how much information can a person practice, by Lee Komito. Journal of Information
handle?) and quality (which criteria are used to define quality Technology, 13: 235-246, 1998.
information?). Answers to these questions are essential for
improving the effectiveness of the new information and Focus:
Focus Organizations are moving toward the use of
communication technologies. The research funded by the electronically stored data over paper-based documents for
U.S. Health Care Financing Administration, focuses on the many reasons, such as reducing costs, improving safety of
use of electronic documents to obtain information in a data, standardizing data input and automating work. The
decision-making process. transition from paper to electronic documents is technically
easy, and does not alter the categories and general format of
Methods:
Methods A group of 201 individuals were offered the information. However, acceptance of e-documents is not
alternative hypothetical health care plan scenarios using a smooth, and the resulting systems are not as effective as it
Windows 3.1-based computer system. The sample was would be expected. This research examines some of the
randomly selected from a population of 70,000 state factors that influence people’s reaction to electronic
employees with experience in health plan choice. The documents.
software was programmed in Delphi as the front end to reach
Microsoft Access databases. Participants could search the Methods:
Methods The research is a case study of the use of a Lotus
database by plan, by attribute (such as costs, services offered NOTES database within a department of the Irish Civil
etc.), or any combination of methods. The quantity of Service that examines citizens’ claims for services or
information was arranged in levels, from general to detailed, benefits. The methodology included three months of
and participants could move easily from one level to another participant-observation of work practices and social
and back. Researchers collected information on number of interactions in the office, tape-recorded interviews with all
screens visited, amount of time spent per screen, overall staff members (thirty in all), and analysis of logs of e-mail
amount of time spent in the search, and number of redundant traffic over a two-month period.
visits to the same screen. In addition, participants were
asked their reactions to the process and their satisfaction, or Findings:
Findings
frustration, with the information received.
♦ Overall, staff expressed satisfaction with the
Findings:
Findings introduction of the new system. The staff dealing with
queries from the public reported that NOTES reduced
♦ On average, participants accessed only 20 percent of the time in finding the status of cases, facilitated prompt
available information and spent no more than 45 seconds responses to the public, and made the work less
on each screen (including redundant visits); 70 percent repetitive and more interesting. Staff responsible for
of all participants considered the amount of information examining the claims stated that the workload had
about right. increased, since they had to do all the word processing
and control, but expressed satisfaction with their greater
♦ In general, participants who stated that there was not control of the work and improved quality.
enough information available had either failed to take
advantage of all the available information or were ♦ The information sharing and work collaboration features
interested in information that was not in the plan; also of NOTES were rarely used and the paper file remained
participants who considered choosing a health care plan as the “document record” par excellence.
a difficult task were more likely to state that more
information was necessary for a decision-making ♦ Staff suggested that the paper files provided a “hidden
process. story” of the case that was considered vital in the
decision-making process (the scribbled notes on the
♦ Participants who thought that there was enough or too margins of the document, the number of papers included
much information were more likely to have a higher in the file and their order of inclusion, etc). This meta-
percentage of redundant visits to the same screen and information was absent in the electronic documents;
have spent less time per screen. although NOTES allowed for the inclusion of notes and
other types of information, these features were not used.

specific vocabulary (such as gage repeatability or
♦ The ethnographic research showed that staff organized sequential analysis of variance).
and manipulated the paper file as something belonging
to them; the paper file also provided them with the Conclusions
ability to control how much of the information they The papers summarized above show that electronic
wanted to share and with whom to share; they lacked communication has yet to fulfill the promises of its
this control power in the electronic documents. supporters, or the horrors of its detractors. It has neither
taken over the place of other media as an instrument of
Finding information on the World Wide Web: the information and communication, nor eliminated the need for
retrieval effectiveness of search engines by Michael traditional, face-to-face contact. “Although the internet
Gordon & Praveen Pathak. Information Processing & offers a new repertoire of information sources, the changes
Management, 35: 141-180. 1999. seem to be less dramatic, at least as far as information
seeking is concerned,” summarizes Savolainen (1999, p.
Focus:
Focus The average number of pages in search engine 779). This is in part due to technological shortcomings, as
indexes and subject directory catalogs on the Web vary from reflected in Gordon & Pathak’s study of Web-based search
2 million to 100 million, with most major engines containing engines. According to these authors, individual search
between 25 and 50 million pages. Also, many search engines cover no more than three to 34 percent of the Web.
engines employ a variety of advanced techniques that make Meta search engines enable users to issue a single query that
searching the Web different from more conventional is then sent to different engines. However, relevant
information retrieval activities. This research focuses on the documents may be lost in the process of aggregating the
quality of Web search engines when used by expert searchers URLs returned into a unified list. To improve the results,
to address specific research-related information needs. searchers must use more than one engine, and explore each
engine exhaustively. As any researcher can attest, this has
Methods:
Methods Highly experienced searchers conducted queries been the process used in literature reviews for a long time.
on eight popular search engines addressing research The main difference is that the Web allows us to do most of
questions posed by 36 faculty members. The searchers were the process from home, while the old reviews required
requested to explore the Web engines as much as possible to continuous visits to libraries and archives (what we still must
respond to each faculty’s detailed research questions. The do, after exhausting the Web). As researchers start using the
faculty members evaluated the quantity and quality of the Web with more frequency, the quality of engines will
documents found in relation to their initial request. The eight probably improve, or specific research-focused engines will
engines searched were: Alta Vista, Excite, HotBot, Lycos, appear, making the Web more research-friendly.
Magellan, Open Text and Yahoo! (a subject directory, rather
than a search engine). The human factor, though, is more problematic. In the three
studies on use of e-documents, the usefulness of e-systems
Findings:
Findings was related more to users’ characteristics, than to systems’
features. Demographic characteristics, interests and, most of
♦ Absolute retrieval effectiveness of Web search engines all, habit, were common variables influencing how people
is low; in a group of ten documents returned, evaluated the e-systems in both Savolainen’s and Booske &
approximately half of the searches returned just one Sainfort’s research. Komito’s study is an excellent example
relevant document and the majority returned five or of the complexity of human behavior. Despite all the
fewer. advantages of the electronic system, the office staff did not
change their allegiance to paper document. Technically, the
♦ Precision varies among engines and number of system was almost perfect, but it did not offer the one
documents retrieved; overall, Alta Vista, Open Text and variable that proved essential for the staff: control over
Lycos were the top performers, and Yahoo! was the information. “If managers want to provide the benefits of
lowest. electronic systems, they must address the organizational
factors which militate against these systems,” concludes
♦ The overlapping of documents across search engines is Komito. Her conclusion is pertinent to most situations.
almost nil; 93 percent of the documents were retrieved Technology is as good as the people who use them, says the
by a single search engine regardless of the number of old cliché. To make the new technologies more efficient and
documents retrieved (only 7 percent were found in more more helpful to users, we must understand and address the
than one engine). factors that interfere with their use. Research is key to this
understanding.
♦ Faculty receiving the best results had used highly

KOREA: Can Edutopia Become a Reality?
By Insung Jung, Ph.D.
Korea National Open University
Edutopia is “an education welfare state—a soci-

ety of open and lifelong education to allow each
and every individual equal and easy access to
education at any time and place.”
A National Strategy
Since then, the introduction of information and communica-
In the 1990s, Korea developed and implemented the concept tion technology has been seen as a barometer of national
of an “Edutopia,” intended to create an open and lifelong competitiveness and quality of life. Thus, informatization—
learning society. To overcome the problems with the current the process and outcome of introducing and implementing
education system, which is too rigid and uniform to meet information and communication technology in the society—
individual students’ learning needs, a new system for the 21st is being pursued as a national development strategy for se-
century was suggested to prepare people for the information curing leadership in the world economy in the information
and globalization age. age of the 21st century. Due to the national efforts for infor-
matization, the PC penetration rate in 1998 rose to 20 percent
The government’s plans and action strategies have been de- of the population, with a total of 9 million PCs supplied.
veloped according to suggestions made by the Presidential Moreover, the number of subscribers to PC online services
Commission on Education Reform since 1995. The Com- and Internet hosts was approximately 6 million and 3 mil-
mission, which operated from 1994 to 1998, defined the goal lion, respectively. Korean newspapers recently reported that
of the Korean Education System in the 21st century as an more than 4 million Koreans were using the Internet services
“Edutopia,” meaning “an education welfare state—a society in 1999 and among the Internet users, 73% were male and
of open and lifelong education to allow each and every indi- 27% female.
vidual equal and easy access to education at any time and
place.” In 1997, the Commission recommended the estab- Implementation Measures
lishment of a virtual university, a national credit bank system
and the use of advanced technologies in education as a possi- The active implementation of the above plan came with the
ble means of realizing this Edutopia. establishment of the independent Bureau of Educational In-
formation and Technology (BEIT) in 1996, and the Korea
This strategic plan enjoys unanimous societal consensus; few Research and Information Center (KRIC) and the Korea
have even raised issues about its cost-effectiveness or effi- Multimedia Education Center (KMEC) in 1997. Using gov-
ciency. There is almost universal support for the elements of ernment funds, KRIC has established and/or linked many
this plan, which include: establishment of an information digital libraries and provided information services for profes-
infrastructure by 2005, development of a multimedia data- sionals in higher education with its own server and network
base, training in the use of advanced technologies, and the system to which all higher education institutions are now
use of information technologies to educate the next genera- linked. Online journal articles, research papers, academic
tion. Most importantly, there exists a national aspiration for databases and other academic materials are provided to pro-
Korea to become a world leader in the future information fessors and researchers in Korea. Membership is required,
society. Newspapers echo this consensus with slogans, in- but no individual or institutional payment is necessary for the
cluding one that urges: “We fell behind in the industrial use of KRIC’s services at this time. They will charge mem-
revolution, but let us lead in the information revolution.” bership fee later—perhaps starting next year.

(60 percent of all courses offered by KNOU) was developed.
The Korea Multimedia Education Center (KMEC) supports Using the database services, students could obtain supple-
implementation of virtual education in primary and secon- mentary learning materials for each course, updated news of
dary schools and provides online teacher training. Using their departments and other information in the KNOU
government funds, KMEC conducted various activities such Weekly News. Also, a PC network was added as a formal
as researching the current use of technology in schools, im- channel for students to ask questions of their instructors and
plementing technology initiatives in schools, developing on- to interact with other students. This initiative inspired other
line learning materials for teachers, students and parents, higher education institutions to use PC networks for their
supporting schools in creating their homepages, and provid- instruction as well.
ing a comprehensive educational Internet service called
EduNet. KMEC’s network system is connected to a national As the use of the Internet has become popular in higher edu-
information superhighway—a high-speed information net- cation since the mid-1990s, KNOU established a multimedia
work system throughout the nation—and operates its own digital library system on the Web in 1997. With technical
server system. In April 1999, KRIC and KMEC were united and financial help from IBM, this new initiative digitized
as the Korea Education and Research Information Services. KNOU’s TV and radio programs and integrated them into a
In 1998, the government initiated the Virtual University Trial teaching and learning platform so that students could study
Project (See TechKnowLogia, January/February 2000) under their courses in a multimedia format on the Web.
which 65 higher education institutions and five private com-
panies have used advanced technologies to deliver their in- The digital library system has two main functions: authoring
struction and training. and instructing. Using the authoring function, professors or
instructional designers can create a standardized Web-based
Higher Education’s course, which integrates digitized KNOU TV or radio pro-
Response: grams, graphics and text materials. The instructional func-
tion of the digital library system allows students to study
Korea National Open online materials on the Web. Students can access the digital
University (KNOU) library through the Internet from any location and at any
time; they can watch KNOU’s TV or radio programs on the
There have been tremendous changes in higher education to Web, read supplementary notes written by the professors and
respond to government policies in harnessing information interact with their professors. All KNOU TV, radio, and
and communication technologies for flexible and lifelong cassette programs—760 hours of video and 4,730 hours of
learning. A typical case is KNOU. audio materials—were digitized in 1998 and stored in the
digital library system. KNOU will add lifelong educational
Korea National Open University (http://www.knou.ac.kr) CATV programs to the digital library system this year, thus
was founded in 1972 as a branch of the Seoul National Uni- allowing the public to access its digital library system and
versity, offering a two-year junior college program to less take Web-based lifelong educational courses.
than 30,000 students. Initially, the purpose was to provide a
two-year college education to high school graduates who 2. Connecting the Nation Via Videoconferencing Net-
were unable to attend a traditional university. But as the de- work to Increase Interaction
mand for higher education grew and conventional colleges
and universities were unable to accommodate this demand, a In the fall of 1995, KNOU launched a project to research the
more cost-effective approach was sought resulting in the first use of the information superhighway with funds from the
national distance teaching college using TV and radio broad- Ministry of Information and Communication. As a result, an
casts. interactive videoconferencing network was introduced for
educational programs in the geographically scattered regional
KNOU intends to be a cutting-edge open university in an and local study centers. Using this network, the project con-
effort to differentiate itself from other conventional universi- nected 14 study centers, introduced interactive tutorial ses-
ties in the use of advanced technologies. Major strategies sions, held meetings among university members in different
include five elements: places, encouraged open discussions among students, faculty
members and general citizens, and created non-degree pro-
1. Online Database and a Multimedia Digital Library grams such as teacher training programs using the system.
This videoconferencing system uses for transmission a com-
In 1992, KNOU started an initiative to develop and imple- mercial T1 line (a digital carrier available for high-volume
ment text-based database services for its students and to pro- voice or data traffic and for compressed video).
vide the opportunity for two-way interaction through three
nationwide PC network systems. As a result, a database with In 1998, more than 74 of the 288 KNOU courses which re-
supplementary learning materials for more than 300 courses quire eight-hour face-to-face sessions delivered their instruc-

tion sessions using the videoconferencing system, saving deliver high-quality Internet courses to the students, an inde-
traveling costs for KNOU professors and honoraria for part- pendent virtual education team and a cyber administration
time lecturers who would otherwise provide face-to-face office were created. In 1999, the KVU will develop several
lectures in regional study centers. In addition, directors and lifelong, non-degree virtual education programs for adults
other staff of regional study centers met using the videocon- who are not students of the member universities.
ferencing system, thus saving traveling costs. Some profes-
sors at the main campus in Seoul delivered special tutoring 5. Establishing an Integrated Web-Based Support Sys-
sessions to students in other provinces and provided consul- tem to Improve Student Services
tation via videoconferencing. Since the videoconferencing
system connects major provinces in Korea, the Ministry of KNOU has used a computerized management system since
Education uses the system to deliver important messages to 1985 to support its administration and student services. In
the Provincial Offices of Education, or to hold seminars for 1997, KNOU launched a self-financed project to upgrade the
teachers all over the nation. existing system and build an integrated Web-based support
system to provide effective administrative and instructional
3. Establishing a CATV Channel to Provide Lifelong services to university staff and students. The system in-
Education cluded databases of profiles and, records of students and
staff, credit files, curriculum logs and syllabi, and other ad-
A cable TV channel for distance education, called the Open ministrative and educational records. Using the system,
University Network (OUN), was founded in September 1996 which also is linked to the database of online learning mate-
to promote open and lifelong education at the higher educa- rials and library services, students may review their grades,
tion level. With modern digital broadcasting facilities and apply for a transcript or certificate, download course materi-
about 80 staff members, OUN has been providing programs als, reserve books or articles in the library, and meet online
of regular degree courses to KNOU students and lifelong counselors for academic or psychological help. University
education courses to the general public to meet their needs staff may use the system to receive relevant information for
for higher education and retraining. About 40 percent of their work and to communicate with each other.
OUN’s broadcasting time is allocated to lifelong education
programs for adults. This cable TV channel was exchanged Conclusion
with a satellite TV channel in March 1999 in order to expand
distance education services to those who live in remote areas One of the important lessons from the Korean experience is
where cables have not been installed. Using this satellite TV the need for an integrated network system linking the educa-
channel, KNOU is now able to provide its lifelong educational computer network to the national information super-
tional programs to about 9 million people in the nation who highway. In most countries, the Ministry of Education is
registered for the satellite TV system, without much increase responsible for building an educational computer network
in transmission costs. system, and the Ministry of Information and Communication
is charged with establishing the national information super-
4. Joining A Consortium and Offering Web-Based highway. The failure of these two ministries to collaborate
Courses to Share Resources may result in a disconnect between the educational network
and the national information infrastructure, or a slower speed
In February 1998, KNOU joined the Virtual University Trial or high costs in the Internet connections.
Project, initiated by the Ministry of Education. It also joined
a consortium known as the Korea Virtual University Con- On the other hand, an integrated network system would pro-
sortium (KVU), which consists of eight conventional univer- vide learning environments in classrooms, homes and work-
sities and KNOU. The nine member universities of the KVU places where multimedia materials are used, and remote
collaborate in designing Web-based virtual courses for their learners and schools would not be excluded by technical
students who wish to study using the Web. KNOU provides limitations. The government should develop a vision for an
the faculty members of the eight other universities with con- integrated network system that addresses both the network
sulting services in the areas of instructional design, and de- infrastructure needs of a society and the education use of a
velopment and evaluation for Web-based courses; it runs national information superhighway.
staff development training seminars, and lends its production
facilities and videoconferencing system to the other member
universities.
The KVU provided 41 Web-based virtual courses in the

spring of 1998 and 39 courses in the fall. Over 2,000 stu-
dents from the member universities took these virtual courses
in 1998; one-third were KNOU students. To develop and

By Rafael Chargel
Open-source is the term used to designated software that is Digital Alphas.2 Eric Raymond, a developer of much open-
publicly available in source code form, rather than as final source software, refers to the successful development of Li-
product. By making the source code public, the software nux as a "great babbling bazaar of differing agendas and ap-
developer enables other programmers to modify and expand proaches . . . out of which a coherent and stable system could
the original product. Indeed, some developers even offer seemingly emerge only by a succession of miracles."3
bonuses for people who will improve and redistribute their
software. Open-source software is generally copyrighted and Free-For-All?
its license may include notices of authorship and restrictions Although the bazaar image fits well the open-source commu-
to preserve the open-source status and control development. nity, far from being a free-for-all environment, the commu-
In contrast to commercial licenses, open-source licenses do nity obeys a set of shared rules and regulations that protects
not restrict the use, modification and redistribution of the ownership, while ensuring public access. These non-written
product.1 rules define who can modify the software and in which con-
ditions, how it can be redistributed and by whom, and how
The use of open-source software is more prevalent than usu- transfer of control can occur. Public legitimacy is an essen-
ally thought. According to David Niemi, only a small pro- tial value of this community. In an environment where co-
portion of software development is geared toward commer- operation is a required condition for success, prestige is both
cial use. The vast majority represents software developed for a personal reward and a guarantee of further cooperation.
internal uses of both public and private organizations and For the open-source community, the concept of personal
many of these have open-source licenses. Some open-source property, as the exclusive right of use and disposition of a
products eventually become commercial, while commercially good, is replaced by a system of prestige, honor and respect
developed software may become open-source. Netscape, for that is closer to the values of tribal societies than to the ex-
instance, decided to go open-source with its Navigator 5.0 pected rewards of capitalism. Indeed, Raymond compares
browser, although it is using a license that entails more con- the notions of property in open-source software to the Eng-
trol of the development and the trademarks than usual open- lish laws of land tenure.4 By changing the rules that govern
source licenses. Many of the most fundamental software private property, an essential element of capitalist societies,
running the Internet are developed as open-sources, includ- the open-source community may have initiated a social
ing: Apache, a program that powers more web services than movement of unsuspected consequences. However, the
Microsoft and Netscape together; InterNet News (INN), open-source community is already divided between two
which handles the majority of Usenet News on the Internet groups: those who argue that any commercialization of open-
and in many corporate Intranets; and WU-FTPD, the most source products violates the very principles of the movement,
popular File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server on the Internet. and those who are flexible about commercialization of the
software.
Best Known Examples
Probably, the two better known examples of open-source The Rationale
software are UNIX and Linux. UNIX is an operating system Why did a company like Netscape move into the open-source
initially developed by University of California, Berkeley, realm? In part, it may be trying to reach a new sector of the
under the BSD license (a license that requires notice of copy- public, specifically those with expertise in programming. In
right and authorship). Most commercial versions of the pro- part, though, this move may reflect a wise cost-saving meas-
gram are based directly on the original source code or borrow ure. By opening the source code of a software to the public,
heavily from it. Linux, the most popular non-Microsoft op- companies ensure a better product without investing large
erating system, was originally created in 1991 as a school amounts of money in staff and development time. This also
project by Linus Torvalds, then an undergraduate student in provides a more efficient way for other companies to develop
Finland. The system has had the contribution of thousands software that uses an open-source platform, because they
of independent programmers around the world and many for- have easy access to the source code. Open-source organiza-
profit companies. It is under the General Public License tions can create profit through support services, such as in-
(GPL), which forbids restrictions on derived or redistributed stalling and adapting the product to individual customer
products. Linux can support diverse platforms, from the needs and providing technical support. For skilled consum-
smallest Palm Pilots to supercomputing clusters of 64-bit

ers, access to the source code enables them to have a product cost of software and the value of royalty fees. The vast ma-
that they can adapt to their needs, independent from the pro- jority of commercial software comes from the United States
ducer's sustainability. Since open-source software are sub- and other developed countries with high-powered currencies.
mitted to massive independent peer review for code and de- Such software arrives in developing countries at inflated
sign, they are generally more reliable and of better quality prices. In addition, the payment of royalties is a source of
than commercial products, where the pressure to put the economic drainage and political contention. Open-source
product in the market generally curtails the review process. software is obtained at no purchase cost and does not require
Raymond also observes that the lack of authority that perme- royalty payments. They are more readily adaptable to the
ates the open-source community favors a synergistic dia- technological conditions and needs of the different countries
logue that is not possible in commercial environments, which than commercial software. They also do not have the re-
tend to be characterized by relationships of power. This strictions on reduplication common to commercial software.
open dialogue promotes a better scrutiny of design flaws and For instance, rather than buying one packaged software for
a greater variety of corrective solutions. each of their computers, a group of small business owners in
Burundi can hire a skilled programmer to configure an open-
Limitations source material to their specific needs and reduplicate the
One of the most important limits for the expansion of open- product to be installed in all their computers. In the end,
source software is the platform requirement. The majority of they have a better service for less cost and without infringing
this type of software is written for non-Window systems, on national or international laws. The programmer will not
mostly UNIX and Linux. Microsoft's control of the PC mar- be isolated in this endeavor. He (or she) can rely on the
ket imposes significant limitations on other operating sys- open-source community to ask questions and share discov-
tems but, although small, the number of Linux users is eries and concerns. More important, this process stimulates
growing rapidly. Some open-source developers are also en- the expansion of local skilled workforces by creating more
tering the Microsoft realm and are using Windows NT as a jobs and increasing training opportunities. The situation is
secondary target. Another important limitation is the fact advantageous for all those involved.
that open-source software requires a high level of technical
expertise for its use and maintenance. If technical glitches Many developing countries have skilled programmers, and
appear, the user has no vendor to ask for support, although the United States has been importing them for a few years.
many open-source organizations offer some type of technical For these countries, the costs of software and hardware,
assistance. In view of the general lack of quality of the tech- rather than the lack of skillful workforces, are the main barri-
nical support offered by commercial organizations, this ers to the expansion of computer-related technologies. The
limitation may not be so severe. A 1997 survey conducted open-source movement has the potential to break some of
by InfoWorld appointed the Linux user community the "Best these barriers and contribute to a more democratic distribu-
Technical Support" of the year. In addition, there are com- tion of the technological wealth.
panies specialized in providing technical support for open-
An Internet Societal Task Force (ISTF) is organizing a
source software users. The superior quality of open-source
working group to study the use of open source software as a
software, the possibility of customization, and the availabil-
way to facilitate Internet access for developing countries and
ity of reliable support, make it an enticing option for small
economically disadvantaged people within developed coun-
and large businesses. According to David Niemi, "it is diffi-
tries. The group plans to establish a clearinghouse of infor-
cult to quantify the overall impact or even usage of open-
mation about open source software, and work with local gov-
source software, but it is clear that both are widespread and
ernments, international organizations, community activists
greatly underestimated by the general public."
and private companies to promote the development and use
of open source material (for more information see Ngenge,
Potential For Developing Countries
Wawa. Open Source Software as a Tool for Development,
For developing countries, the open-source movement has the
18/01/2000, at www.iicd.org/search/show-entry.ap?entryid=4127)
potential to curtail some obstacles toward full use of com-
puter-related technologies. Two of these obstacles are the
1. For more information on this topic, see Software for Public Interest, http://www.delian.org and the Open Source Definition,
http://www.opensource.org/osd.html.
2. An in-depth and clear review of open source software can be found in David Niemi (1998), Open-Source Software: What is it? Why use
it? And what's gotten into Netscape? at http://www.tux.org/~niemi/opensource/customer-case.html .
3. Eric S. Raymond (1998), The Cathedral and the Bazaar, at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar .
4. Eric S. Raymond, Homesteading the Noosphere. This book has a thorough discussion of the rules that regulate the open-source movement
and how these rules are maintained in place. The book is the second in a trilogy that starts with The Cathedral and the Bazaar and ends with
The Magic Cauldron. These and others of his writings can be found at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings .

Upcoming Events: Conferences, Seminars, Exhibits, etc….
MARCH 27-29, 2000

Launching & Creating Learning Portals: The Next The Conference will address some of the following
Wave in Web-Based Distance Learning questions: Keeping IT Learner Centered: Is It Possible?
Chicago, Illinois, USA Explore the many facets of the following questions: How to
http://www.iqpc.com/0320/0320learningportal.htm take advantage of the potential of IT in distance education?
The information highway - a training or information tool?
This conference explores using web technology to deliver Where does the learner stand in the new learning
training and information across an organization and establish, environments? The Internet and the Web - tools for
refine and implement effective learning environments using learning... and for teaching? This conference will be of
portal technology. It will demonstrate how to develop a interest to educators and support staff in high schools,
learning portal for: optimizing corporate knowledge and colleges, technical institutes and universities who want to
learning; building and managing a granular knowledge base; learn how to keep IT learner centered.
collecting, filtering and disseminating corporate knowledge
through a central site; creating an enticing learning MAY 24 - 27, 2000
environment; empowering subject matter experts to create WEM - The World Education Market
learning modules; and identifying the bottom line impact of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
implementing a corporate learning portal. It will feature http://www.wemex.com
what Cisco Systems, Inc., Charles Schwab, Lotus
Development Corporation, and other industry leaders are WEM was created to open up opportunities for business
doing to leverage today's portal technology to deliver expansion and relationship-building on a global stage. Top-
training and manage organizational learning. level executives, decision-makers, international buyers and
industry leaders will buy and sell educational resources,
APRIL 12 - 14, 2000 systems and expertise, to build partnerships and to create
Fifth Annual Teaching in the Community Colleges solutions to the educational challenges of the new
Online Conference millennium. National Pavilions will be present from Canada
Theme: "A Virtual Odyssey: What's Ahead for New (Industry Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and
Technologies in Learning?" International Trade), France (Agence EduFrance, CFME-
http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon2000 ACTIM), and the United Kingdom (British Educational
Suppliers Association) and more are being developed for
Argentina, Chile, China, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands,
Registration provides full access to all online conference Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and Thailand,
activities, including keynote presentations, conference among others. The WEM Conference Program will be
papers, email announcements, discussion forums, virtual addressing major issues impacting the world of education
tours, pre- and post-conference activities, etc. This is a great today, as well as providing practical workshops on adapting
conference with a wealth of original research and opinion content to reflect local needs and circumstances, and
pieces for teaching practitioners. information on how to sell, buy and produce materials in the
international marketplace.
MAY 3-6, 2000
Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for JUNE 26-JULY 1, 2000
Distance Education (CADE) ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference on Educational
Université Laval - Quebec City, Canada Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications
http://www.ulaval.ca/aced2000cade/index.html Montreal, Quebec, Canada

http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia forum for scholars engaged in publishable research on
policy-relevant telecommunications and information issues,
ED-MEDIA 2000--World Conference on Educational and for public- and private-sector decision makers engaged
Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications is an in telecommunications and information policy. TPRC is now
international conference organized by the Association for the soliciting proposals for papers for presentation at its 2000
Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). This conference. Proposals should be based on current theoretical
annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for and/or empirical research relevant to the making of
the discussion and exchange of information on the research, communication and information policy, and may be from any
development, and applications on all topics related to disciplinary perspective. TPRC welcomes national,
multimedia/hypermedia and distance education. ED-MEDIA, international, or comparative studies. For subject areas and
the premiere international conference in the field, spans all more information, refer to the web address listed above.
disciplines and levels of education and attracts more than
1,200 attendees from over 50 countries. OCT 18-21, 2000
New Approaches in Higher Education: The University
AUGUST 2 - 4, 2000 College Conference
16th Annual Conference on Distance Learning & Bermuda College, Bermuda
Teaching http://www.bercol.bm/w/events/ucmainpage.html
University of Wisconsin - Madison, Wisconsin, USA
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/ Explore the University College model for Bermuda in the
21st century. A group of thinkers, practitioners,
The conference features keynotes and more than 125 administrators and politicians from around the world have
workshops, roundtables, and information sessions that been invited to meet in Bermuda, to share information and
examine critical success factors in using technology, document what is happening with this tertiary education
including: Best practices for effective applications; Practical model around the world. Of particular interest is how the
planning guidelines; Successful teaching methods and course University College Model relates to distance education and
designs; Techniques for faculty development and learner small island states.
support; Innovative approaches, solutions, and research
findings; The new distance learning marketplace; and The OCT. 30-NOV. 4, 2000
future of online learning. The estimated cost to register for WebNet 2000: World Conference on the WWW and
the conference is $295 and includes program materials, Internet
proceedings, box lunches, breaks, and receptions. A booklet San Antonio, Texas, USA
with all sessions and registration information will be http://www.aace.org/conf/webnet/
available in May 2000. Call 608-265-4159 to be added to the
conference mailing list. An electronic version of the brochure WebNet 2000 -- World Conference on the WWW and
will be accessible at the web address listed above. Internet is an international conference organized by the
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
SEPTEMBER 23-25, 2000 (AACE) and co-sponsored by the WebNet Journal - Internet
The 28th Research Conference on Communication, Technologies, Applications & Issues. This annual conference
Information and Internet Policy serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the exchange of
Alexandria, Virginia, USA information on research, development, and applications of all
http://www.tprc.org/ topics related to the Web. This encompasses the use,
applications and societal and legal aspects of the Internet in
The purpose of the conference is to acquaint policy makers its broadest sense. WebNet 2000 will be of interest to all
with the best of recent research and to familiarize researchers who plan to use the Internet to access information,
with the knowledge needs of policy makers. The conference communicate or conduct transactions or, who are developing
is hosted by Telecommunications Policy Research applications for the Internet, including the WWW, Intranets,
Conference (TPRC), a nonprofit organization and an annual and Extranets.
To advertise your conferences, seminars, exhibits, and training courses,

go to the "How to Advertise" section on the TechKnowLogia home page, found at:
w w w.t ec h kn o wl og ia . o r g.

ADVERTISEMENT
CROSSROADS OF THE
NEW MILLENNIUM
LEARNING AT THE CROSSROADS •CULTURE AT THE CROSSROADS •QUALITY AT THE CROSSROADS
FEATURING INTERNATONAL SPEAKERS FROM OVER 20 COUNTRIES
Dr. Paul A. Elsner Dr. Jethro Newton
Chancellor Emeritus Head, Academic Office
Maricopa Community Colleges, USA North East Wales Institute of
Higher Education, UK
Dr. John Hinchcliff
Vice Chancellor Baroness Pauline Perry
Auckland University of Technology President
New Zealand Lucy Cavendish College
Cambridge University, UK
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Managine Director and Vice Chancellor Dr. Jerry W. Wright Jr.
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WHO The Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates • WHAT Conference on Technological
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For further details and registration, please contact:

"The TEND Organisers"
Higher Colleges of Technology, P.O. Box: 25026, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Tel: 971 2 320331, Fax: 971 2 321787
Email: tend@hct.ac.ae
Visit our homepage http://crm.hct.ac.ae

A Phone is a Phone is a Phone?
…Well, Not Really!
By Sandra Semaan
According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry allocate a set number of frequencies for each cell. So then
Association, in 1999 there were 200 million wireless sub- two cells can use the same frequency for different conver-
scribers worldwide and in 2005 it is projected that there sations as long as they are not adjacent to each other.
will be 1 billion wireless subscribers worldwide. That is to (http://aol.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/c/cellular.html)
say that there are now over 200 million people using mo-
bile communications in one way or another. Mobile tele- While cellular technology is still used, there are newer and
phones have come a long way since the days of the "port- more improved technologies than analog, such as GSM
able" 20-pound suitcase. and CDMA. More recently, non-cellular technology is
being developed using satellite communications.
What are the Types of Wireless
Tech
Technologies? GSM
Short for Global System for Mobile Communications,
The earliest mobile phones used analog technology - sig- GSM is one of the leading digital cellular systems. GSM
nals that transmitted at low frequencies where call quality uses narrow band TDMA. TDMA stands for Time Divi-
was bad. Calls were not very secure and service was ex- sion Multiple Access which is a technology for delivering
pensive. Today, more and more mobile phones are using digital wireless service using time-division multiplexing
digital technology. Calls are clearer, more services and (TDM). TDMA works by dividing a radio frequency into
security are supported, and while phones are usually more time slots and then allocating slots to multiple calls. In this
expensive than analog phones, digital services tend to be way, a single frequency can support multiple, simultaneous
cheaper. The digital network works on two frequencies: data channels. GSM was first introduced in 1991. As of the
digital cellular functions on the lower 900-MHz frequency; end of 1997, GSM service was available in more than 100
and digital PCS functions on the higher 1900-MHz fre- countries and has become the de facto standard in Europe
quency. and Asia. (http://aol.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/G/GSM.html)
Three of the digital standards used are: CDMA, GSM, and CDMA
TDMA. (http://aol.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/T/TDMA.html) A CDMA is short for Code-Division Multiple Access, a
dual-mode phone works on both the analog network and digital cellular technology that uses spread-spectrum tech-
the digital network. A tri-mode phone works on analog, niques. Unlike GSM, that uses TDM, CDMA does not
digital cellular, and digital PCS. A dual-band phone assign a specific frequency to each user. Instead, every
works on both the high and low frequency bands. channel uses the full available spectrum. Individual con-
versations are encoded with a pseudo-random digital se-
The words "mobile" phone and "cellular" phone are used quence. CDMA is a military technology first used during
interchangeably because mobile computing uses cellular World War II by the English allies to foil German attempts
technology. Cellular usually refers to communications at jamming transmissions. The allies decided to transmit
systems that divide a geographic region into sections over several frequencies, instead of one, making it difficult
called cells. The purpose of this system is to make the for the Germans to pick up the complete signal.
most use out of a limited number of transmission frequen- (http://aol.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/C/CDMA.html)
cies. In cellular technology, each connection requires its
own dedicated frequency and the total number of available PCS
frequencies is about 1,000. In order to support more than PCS is Personal Communications Service, the U.S. Fed-
that amount of simultaneous connections, cellular systems eral Communications Commission (FCC) term used to

describe a set of digital cellular technologies being de- calling you and if they are in your address book, you can
ployed in the U.S. PCS includes CDMA, GSM, and North see their name as well. The phones will recall most recent
American TDMA. PCS systems are completely digital and incoming and outgoing calls and tell you if you have
they operate at the 1900 MHz frequency range. missed a call.
(http://aol.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/P/PCS.html)
Mobile phones are personal digital assistants (PDAs). The
SATELLITE address book keeps track of names, addresses, phone num-
Outside of the realm of cellular technology is satellite bers, email and website addresses as well as other infor-
communications. Using this technology in mobile tele- mation about your personal and business contacts. You
phones will bring low-cost, high-quality communications can make a call, send an email, open Internet sites, or
to more regions of the world where wire line telephone or make appointments from your address book. You can
even cellular telephone coverage is weak. Satellite tech- make a list of things to do and set a priority level for them.
nology will similarly be of significant use to anyone out- You can perform basic operations on your built-in calcu-
side cellular coverage areas and in rural areas. lator.
What can Mobile Phones Do? With the built-in "minibrowsers", you can access the Inter-
net and check the weather, trade online, read the news,
In the old days, mobile phones were a luxury - only those shop, book a flight, and get directions. Some mobile
of us who could afford to have one. The technology wasn't phone companies in North America use "push" technology
that great and costs were exorbitant. Perhaps we made a to send information directly to your phone based on your
call here and there in case of emergency or a very urgent personal preferences.
business call, but whatever the case, we savored those
times when we could use our mobile phones. If you have a laptop computer and want to connect to the
Internet or send an email but don't have access to a phone
Things have changed. Nowadays in most developed coun- line, there is no problem. Just plug in your mobile phone
tries, just about everybody is carrying one and sometimes and connect to the Internet via your wireless network when
two, including the kids. The phones are getting smaller and and where you choose.
the services getting less expensive. Developing countries
are leapfrogging into the 21st century and increasing their Large content providers like America Online, Inc. (AOL)
access to information by using mobile telephones. and similar companies around the world will be making
their content available to mobile phone users. Whereas
However, the traditional idea about what phones are for AOL's content is currently available either on the Internet
has gone by the wayside, replaced by products and serv- or via its subscription service, soon you will be able to
ices we wouldn't have dreamt about a few short years ago. access this content from your mobile phone. In Japan,
Wireless data is the latest phenomenon and is driving the Mobilephone Communications International (MTI), touted
next generation of growth in wireless communications. As by Forbes magazine as the world's largest content provider
demand for 24-hour access to people and information infor the mobile Internet, offers over 200 services for mobile
creases, the lines between voice and data communications telephones.
is blurring. The last generation of mobile phones provided
voice communications services; you could make a phone In addition to the services listed above, in Japan, via your
call, leave a voice mail message, receive a call while on a mobile phone you can: engage in digital dating via live,
call, receive a page on your phone and perhaps receive a recorded, or written messages; participate in interactive
text message. talk shows and live auctions; and place an ad for an
anonymous rendezvous. Similar companies offer restau-
On top of these voice communications services, today's rant menus and theater show times via mobile telephones.
data communications services include: wireless faxing,
wireless connection, wireless email, wireless Internet, ***
short messaging services, location-based services and a
As is clearly evident, mobile phones are not just mobile
host of other things.
phones anymore. Wireless operators are differentiating
Mobile phones today are practically computers in your their services and increasing airtime revenues by expand-
pocket. The displays are larger, they utilize power saving ing data-based value-added services for their subscribers.
techniques to conserve battery life, include security fea- With the cost of receiving such services ranging between
tures and have enhanced basic services. You can receive US$60 per month to US$170 per month, it's only a matter
numeric and text pages and email messages. You will soon of time before wireless data becomes an integral part of
be able to send live, instant messages to your friends and people's daily lives.
colleagues as well. You can see the number of who is

This Issue offers a selection of websites
developed with the express
purpose of making access to
knowledge and information
as easy as possible. There
is something for children
as well as adults. The sites range from translation tools
to portal networks, to clearinghouses of information, to
everything in between.
International Center for Distance Learning

http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/
International Center for Distance Learning (ICDL) is an international center for research, teaching, consultancy, information
and publishing activities. ICDL distance education databases contain information on over 31,000 distance learning programs
and courses mostly in the Commonwealth countries, over 1,000 institutions teaching at a distance worldwide, and over 11,000
abstracts of books, journal articles, research reports, conference papers, dissertations and other types of literature relating to all
aspects of the theory and practice of distance education.
Orientation.com
http://www.orientation.com
Orientation.com is the world's first global network of licensed local and regional multi-lingual Internet portal sites, offering the
most relevant country and region-specific information available on the World Wide Web. Through its partnerships with the
United Nations and other organizations focusing on sustainable economic development, Orientation.com has been instrumental
in developing Internet communities in countries outside of Western Europe and the United States. Orientation.com has also
expanded its reach through its unique licensing system, using Internet Service Providers in each country to provide locally pro-
duced, locally relevant content, while offering access to a global network, the newest technology and a worldwide audience.
Soft Power Expeditions.com

http://www.softpower.edex.co.uk/index.html
Soft Power Expeditions was developed to expand the global horizons of school children around the world by providing web
based educational adventures that transcend the barriers of culture, geography, economics and language. Children and teachers
around the world, using today's most advanced technology, and traveling teddy bears, enter the classrooms of developing
country schools and gain a unique knowledge and understanding of each other and the world in order to advance education,
foster peace and develop future trade and business relationships.

The European SchoolNet
http://www.en.eun.org/
The European SchoolNet is network-of-networks in Europe whose aim is to promote the use of Information and Communica-
tion Technologies (ICTs) among schools in Europe by supporting collaboration between schools, offering a broad range of
educational content and services, promoting good practice and experience, and advancing standardization processes in educa-
tion.
The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM)

http://www.thegateway.com
You can browse keyword lists, search by terms, or access subject lists to see this site's nearly 7,000 resources. The Gateway to
Educational Materials (GEM) project is a consortium effort to provide educators with quick and easy access to the substantial,
but uncataloged, collections of educational materials found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial
Internet sites. GEM is a project of the U.S. Department of Education and is a special project of the ERIC Clearinghouse on
Information & Technology. The Gateway is a free service.
CREN, Corporation for Research and Educational Networking

http://www.cren.net/know/techtalk/
CREN offers access to the knowledge and experience of technology experts through their TechTalk facility. TechTalk events
are live audio Webcasts that provide up-to-the minute information from leading experts on relevant technology topics. Live
events are archived and transcripts indexed (a list of all the indexed topics is also available). The site includes an Event Calen-
dar that lists upcoming events for the next three months. CREN also offers Web-based Virtual Seminars that analyze TechTalk
topics in more detail using multimedia such as audio, video, animation and text. Current seminar topics include Creating Inter-
net2, Untangling the Web, and Campus Communication Strategies.
Think Quest
http://library.thinkquest.org/26451/frames.html
Think Quest is an educational web site that takes visitors on a journey of discovery through the world of communication. It is
about the development of verbal and non-verbal communication through human history and shows how developments in the
field of communication have affected our lives and how they continuously change the world in which we live. Illustrations,
photographs, and diagrams reinforce the instructional character of the site. The site also includes a quiz and a survey to en-
hance the learning experience. Think Quest is a valuable online resource not only for teachers and students but also for every-
one interested in communication.
Altavista Translations
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Just type in English, hit the "translate" button, and your message comes up in your choice of several European languages
(Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese). You can also convert foreign documents into English.

High Speed Internet Access
The Future for the World and the Implications for Developing countries1
By Laurence Wolff
Until now nearly all home and small business connections to TV, Internet, and telephone, with Internet access always on.
the Internet have been made to permit transmission of data at Where cable is already available, as in the US and some
56,000 bits per second (56 KBPS). This is the limit at which European countries, the costs to the consumer are quite rea-
current technology permits transmission of data over normal sonable. One provider is advertising Internet access via ca-
telephone lines (two twisted lines of copper). But comput- ble at a cost of $29.95 per month if the customer provides the
ers are capable of exchanging data 200 or more times as modem. For most developing countries, this option is not
rapidly as the current transmission rate. While Internet users realistic, since cable systems are not already installed.
have gotten used to this slow speed of Internet, in reality they
are at the “horse and buggy” stage of inter-connection and
data transmission. Over the next five years, in the developed
world, there will be a rapid transition to high bandwidth, or
Internet via Telephone (DSL)
“broadband” communications, which will permit far more
rapid communications and new applications of the computer. Copper telephone lines have been installed
With broadband, consumers will be able to combine voice, in more than 600 million phone lines
television, and Internet communications. They may link up worldwide. A new technology, called
with “smart” search engines providing specialized services. “digital subscriber line” (DSL) exploits the
Health and education services may be far more effectively long dormant capacity of these lines to
provided at the home, office and other centers. In most cases, handle wide band Internet. It provides a fifty-fold increase
the Internet connection can always be on. New, as yet un- (1.5 MBPS downstream and 0.5 MBPS upstream) speed of
foreseen, uses of the Internet will surely arise as speed of data transmission. The technology requires a heavy invest-
transmission increases exponentially. ment in the central telephone offices, since the signal deterio-
rates beyond 5.5 kilometers of transmission over normal
The economic and technical aspects of providing telephone wires. One advantage over cable is that the signal
“broadband” are complicated. There are at least five options. is not shared with other users and telephone wires are physi-
This article summarizes the current options and costs and cally secure. Another advantage is that businesses generally
notes what appears to be most feasible for developing coun- are not already connected to cable. DSL is also relatively
tries. inexpensive in the US. While cable has a two-year head
start, DSL is rapidly catching up. Newspaper ads in the US
offer DSL access at $49.95 per month, which includes tele-
phone usage.
Internet via Cable.
DSL technology offers wide opportunities in middle income
Currently the leading providers of countries, especially in Latin America and Southeast Asia,
broadband in the USA are cable compa- since with deregulation of phone provision, many of these
nies. Over 90 percent of US homes have countries have an increasing number of telephone connec-
nearby access to cable. In order to provide tions. However, most telephone companies still charge for
access, cable companies have deployed phone connections by the minute. DSL may remain beyond
fiber optics in their transmission networks, leaving the “last the reach of homes, and therefore it may not pay for phone
mile” to the existing network of coaxial cable. The cable companies to make the investment in their central telephone
company’s central facility can serve up to 1000 homes. Ca- offices.
ble modems can provide a wide variety of services, including

Internet via Optical Fiber
Internet via Ground Based Wire
Wire-
By far optical fiber provides the most rapid
transmission of Internet and other services.
less Net
Networks
The capacity of optical fiber is so enormous
that it can handle all kinds of communica- The fifth and potentially least expensive means of
tions simultaneously--telephone, television, providing wide band Internet access is that of "lo-
Internet, etc. Until recently the problem has been one of high cal multi-point distribution services" (LMDS).
costs--currently about $1500 to install in individual homes. This technology is similar to that of cell phones;
This cost may go down through using "fiber to curb" tech- however it operates on a much wider bandwidth
nology, with the remaining 30 meters to one kilometer cov- than cell-phones, thus permitting data transmission
ered by metallic connections. In the near future, this ap- of up to 155 MBPS. A voice network can be utilized con-
proach will mainly be used in construction of new homes and currently with data transmission. The technology is limited
developments, and it does not yet appear financially feasible by "rain fade," distortions of the signal caused by raindrops
in most developing countries. as well as wall hills and even leafy trees. One proposed so-
lution to this problem would be to provide more than one
transmitter per site.
Internet via Satellites A major advantage of LMDS is that it can be deployed

quickly and relatively inexpensively. There is no need for an
A new breed of satellites employing existing copper or fiber optic network. In addition, central
digital technologies may improve the equipment can be moved as needed without high costs. It
reliability, capacity, and speed of therefore could be a cost-effective medium of choice in
data communications, including densely populated areas, which have inadequate telephone
Internet connections. Ultra-small access.
relatively inexpensive antennas will capture the signals di-
rectly. Two types of satellite systems are possible. The first, In summary, for developing countries,
geo-stationary satellites would orbit 36,000 kilometers above
cable as well as fiber optics are not finan-
the equator at the same speed as the earth's rotation. They
cially feasible at this time. DSL technol-
would use sophisticated signal processing to account for the
ogy over telephone lines is feasible in urban
transmission delays caused by the distance the radio signals
areas of middle income countries. Wireless
must pass. In the second option, low earth orbit satellites
systems offer the greatest opportunities since they short cir-
could circle the earth every two hours at altitudes of 1,500
cuit the need for hard wiring. Satellite systems would be
kilometers. While they reduce the distance delays, many
especially feasible for reaching rural areas and for wide-
more would have to be constructed. The estimated costs of
spread installation in schools and in community centers.
an antenna is currently $500-$1000 per installation. Speeds
Ground based wireless networks are the most cost effective
would be up to 12 times faster than DSL. While satellite
means of providing access in urban areas. But as new tech-
costs could range from $4 billion to $10 billion, there would
nologies evolve and cost structures change, actual deploy-
be no need for wires. Despite these advantages, satellites
ment of any and all of these alternatives could vary signifi-
have up to now received scant attention. Nonetheless several
cantly. But there is no doubt that high speed Internet access
countries have announced plans to launch satellites in 2002,
will expand rapidly throughout the world, and that develop-
and it is estimated that satellites could eventually cover 15-
ing countries must move promptly to keep from falling be-
20% of the world market.
hind.
Satellites will be of especial value in rural and low populated
areas of the world, as well as those areas that currently have
inadequate hard-wired telephone service. Antennas could be 1
This article summarizes five articles on high-speed data and
set up in community centers and schools and therefore serve
Internet access, which appeared in the October 1999 issue of
entire communities, before eventually expanding to individ-
Scientific American. The complete articles may be accessed
ual homes. They therefore offer a clear opportunity to help-
at www.scientificamerican.com.
ing ensure that poorer countries or regions are not left behind
in the race for broadband Internet access.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, ….Remotely?
The Internet Home
By Sandra Semaan
INTRODUCTION companies and what products/services they brought to the

Internet Home.
In Watford, England, a house was built that looks like any
typical house you would find in any upper middle class Axis Communications supplied Web cameras, including one
neighborhood in England. The home costs 500,000 UK used to monitor the doorstep of the home and another in the
pounds, has five bedrooms (two with their own bath), a main home's nursery to enable occupants to keep a watch on that
bathroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, study and coat- room from elsewhere in the house. Axis also supplied a
room, and is one of 10 similar homes in the Brandon Gate Video Server for the home to support a remote-controlled
community. The only difference is that this home is fully Sony web camera.
Internet enabled -- meaning that all appliances, PCs, home
entertainment devices, heating, ventilation, lighting, security British Telecom (BT) provided digital TV - via dishes - and
systems, and gardening functions are controlled via the a satellite Internet service called Convergence Plus that is a
Internet and accessible from any website whether at home, in combined digital TV feed and Internet system with news,
your car, your office, or from a hotel room halfway across weather, travel, business and Reuters channels, MTV2, Euro-
the globe. sport, Live Events and Music Choice Europe. It has also in-
stalled four high-speed connectivity lines along with two
Built by Cisco, a world-wide leader in networking for the complimentary cordless phones. BT will also keep the home
Internet, in partnership with Liang Homes of UK, the con- furnished with the latest available connectivity technology
cept behind the Internet Home was to demonstrate how new through the life of the home.
technologies are truly changing the world in which we live.
Cisco does not believe that "… the current technological Business with Government (BwG), through the use of a
revolution will affect most parts of our computer system is providing knowledge on a range of gov-
lives - we think it will affect all of them."1 ernment services and information in one
In addition, the Internet Home goes to- place and in a usable way.
wards demonstrating that the Internet is
Compaq provided all the personal com-
not just a web site.
puters.
The house was designed for a hypothetical
couple with three children. Besides the DVD Plus provided a DVD player and a
house's standard features, the Internet collection of classic movies.
Home contains about 5,000 UK pounds of First Software Virtual Town Hall (VTH)
network infrastructure and an additional allows people to gain access to services
20,000 UK pounds of new technology. A through a variety of technology channels
detailed list of what is included in the in- as well as face-to-face and via post, fax or
frastructure can be found at: e-mail. e-Democracy services are available to allow online
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/3/uk/ihome/the_home/tec opinion sampling and voting.
h_info.html. Most interesting is that all the technology in-
stalled in what may seem the "house of the future" can be Fujitsu provided flat-screen TVs offering the latest in audio-
bought off the shelf today and will become the norm in the visual technology.
very near future.
Honeywell supplied a concept home automation system
TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS named Hometronic which controls all of the heating in the
house - plus some of the lighting, small appliances and gar-
In order for this house to become a true Internet Home, Cisco den sprinklers.
joined with technology partners to bring together all the nec-
essary products and services. Below is a listing of these Iomart Madasafish.com, a free Internet service provider, is
providing access to games and music.

If you're working late in the office or even traveling across
Citizen Connect/Job Connect is a program designed by Citi- the globe and your child needs help with his/her homework,
zen Connect Limited to help individuals discover their inter- with the Internet Home all the child has to do is project a
ests, skills and learning needs, as well as looking in detail at problem on his/her PC to your PC and the two of you can
what kinds of jobs are available. The program offers an op- solve the problem together.
portunity to enhance long-term employability and career op-
tions. What about if you're away from home, and it's getting late.
From a laptop you can draw the curtains, turn on the lights,
Motion Media offered video telephony. Their ISDN Video- turn on the oven, and arm the security system.
phone looks and works like an ordinary telephone and can
also make video-telephone calls, allowing you and the person Front Door: Do you want to know who's knocking at your
at the other end to see and speak to each other. door before you let them in? The Internet Home provides a
camera next to the doorbell linked to the Total Sound audio-
Perception Digital Media created a unique web interface that visual system. You can also log into the home from your
provides total control of the Internet Home. office or anywhere with secured Internet access for three
other views of the house: from the front drive, the back of the
Polaris Telemetry's MicroLan system is used to control secu- garden and in the nursery.
rity.
Kitchen: The coffee machine and kettle in the Internet Home
RM is a leading provider of Information and Communica- can be switched on remotely at any time, from the living
tions Technologies to UK market. In the Internet Home, room, bedroom, or even outside the house. Your hand-held
children will be able to access the same ICT packages they scanner can help you keep track of the foods you use up -
use at school - RM Living Library and RM Maths. They will and will help you put together a shopping list which you can
also be able to log onto the school network, accessing their order online from a local grocery store. Not only that, but if
own folders as well as shared folders where they will pick up you find a recipe on the Internet, a web pad will tell you
and drop off homework assignments, access information whether or not your have the necessary ingredients, and if
stored centrally or talk to teachers and other pupils. Parents not, you can order them right over the Internet.
will also be able to log on to check up on what homework
their children should be doing or read their latest report. Living Room: Relax in front of the Fujitsu flat-screen TV
Teachers will be able to prepare lessons at home. with programs from Sky Digital. But if you would rather surf
the web, then you can download information over a thousand
Symbol Technologies is providing a Wireless Local Area times faster than you can with a traditional modem using the
Network to cover the entire house and gardens. available combined satellite TV and Internet services link
that allows you to receive data directly from space at up to 64
Townpages is pioneering the provision of information and Mbit/s. And to access the Internet, simply switch to the
website design services through the Internet, touch-screen Internet channel on your TV using your remote, then use the
kiosks and other new media and supplies local and national wireless keyboard and tracker ball to navigate as you would
information on over 1,300 UK towns and cities through its with a computer.
website.
Study: For working at home there is a standard office PC and
WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE INTERNET HOME printer with Internet access, as well as a video -conferencing
General Features: Through a web interface designed jointly system from Intel. Internet screen-phones allow you to also
keep in touch with your family from the study.
by Perception, Honeywell, Polaris and Axis, you can adjust
lighting, heating, and household appliances inside the house Garage: Cisco has included cabling and data points in the
using a PC, an all-purpose wireless web pad, or remotely garage in case technology is developed to enable you to plug
over the Internet. You can also similarly monitor electricity your car computer in and carry out motor engine diagnostics
and gas meters to track how much energy you are using and from home.
adjust it, if necessary. The security system can detect when
members of the family are in the house - and will sound the For more information on the Internet Home, go to:
alarm, for example, if the patio door is opened while every- http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/3/uk/ihome/.
one is asleep. As well, this system can be set using the Inter-
net Home's web pads or PCs. Smoke detectors are also linked
to the security system and use machine intelligence to, for 1
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/3/uk/ihome/concept/
example, switch off the gas mains if high levels of carbon
dioxide are detected.

UNLP
Universal Networking Language Programme
By Sandra Semaan
"Sharing information and providing a common

educational environment for all is an often-stated
ideal. Language is an essential factor for this."1
Although English has become very common in business, of native languages into UNL, and any UNL text can be "de-
entertainment, science and government related matters, a converted" into native languages.
communication gap persists for non-English speakers. There
are billions of people who do not speak English and who do The UNL would bring potential benefits to citizens, scholars,
not have the opportunities or resources to learn it. Likewise, business, media, government and non-governmental organi-
a gap exists between English speakers and the information zations across linguistic barriers and in a variety of situa-
and culture that exist in other languages. Many attempts to tions. In particular, it can be a very useful tool for interpret-
overcome the language barrier have been made in the past. ers and translators. As well, it will accelerate the information
exchange in many parts of the world that do not rely on Eng-
One such attempt, The Universal Networking Language lish as their primary language.
(UNL), is being developed with the goal of enabling people
from around the world to communicate in their native lan-
The UNL System
guages. UNL is an electronic language for the Internet. It is
a common language, or type of translator if you will, that can
The UNL system consists of language servers, editors and
deal with natural languages and exchange information
viewers.
through computers. UNL is being developed by the Institute
of Advanced Studies of the UN University located in Tokyo,
UNL Language Server
Japan, in cooperation with research groups from around the
world.
The language server consists of a deconverter and an encon-
verter. A language server that resides on the Internet provides
UNL is a software system that will reside on the Internet, and
the processes of "enconversion" and "deconversion". The
will be compatible with standard network browsers. The
"enconverter" and "deconverter" are responsible for con-
software is yet in its early stages. The initial stage involves
verting a particular language into UNL, and vice versa. The
the development of modules for 15 languages: the six official
"enconverter" "enconverts" a language into UNL, while the
languages of the United Nations, Arabic, Chinese, English,
"deconverter" "deconverts" UNL into a native language. As
French, Russian and Spanish. The other ten are German,
the system is developed, language servers for every language
Hindi, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Latvian, Mongol, Por-
supported by UNL will also be developed.
tuguese and Thai. In April of this year, UNL will be open to
the public in 6 UN official languages and 6 popular lan-
UNU/IAS developed a software for enconversion called
guages. By 2002, UNL services will be extended to all the
"EnCo" and a deconversion software called "DeCo", both of
languages of EU member states, and by 2006, to all the lan-
which constitute an enconverter/deconverter together with a
guages of the 185 member states of the UN.
word dictionary, co-occurrence dictionary and conversion
rules for a language. "EnCo" and "DeCo" are language inde-
Once the system is fully developed, any person with access
pendent, and applicable for any language.
to the Internet will be able to "enconvert" text from a range

UNL Editor and Viewer Your native language is Spanish. You are viewing a home
page originally developed in Arabic. Through UNL, the
UNL editor is used to make UNL documents and is linked to Arabic homepage will be seen in Spanish. The Arabic Lan-
a language server. As a document is being input in a natural guage Server and the Spanish Language Server provide the
language, UNL editor "enconverts" it into a UNL document. conversion service.
UNL expressions are produced automatically or interactively
with the author according to the following methods: UNL Editor recognizes the contents of the Arabic home page
as Arabic and sends a request to the Arabic Language Server
1) Full automatic enconversion for natural language texts. to "enconvert" the text. Once the Arabic text is "encon-
2) Full automatic enconversion for controlled or tagged verted" to UNL, the Arabic Language Server sends the re-
language texts. sults back to the UNL Editor. When you read this page in
3) Interactive enconversion for natural language texts. Spanish, the UNL Viewer recognizes the contents as UNL
4) Word by word input method. and sends a request to the Spanish Language Server to "de-
convert" the text to Spanish. Once UNL is "deconverted" to
Conversion error rate decreases as you move from method 1) Spanish, the Spanish Language Server sends the results back
to 4), but the cost of making a UNL document also increases to the UNL Editor.
as you move from method 1) to 4). Users can choose the en-
conversion method according to the type of the UNL docu- Once any text is converted to UNL it may then be converted
ments they want to generate. UNL editor, using the UNL to many different languages. For example, home pages can
viewer allows the author to see the UNL document in the be designed in one's native language and then "enconverted"
author's native tongue. This allows the user to check for er- to UNL before being uploaded. Once a home page is ex-
rors. If error rate is high, the author has the option to choose pressed in UNL, it can be read in a variety of languages.
a more precise method of conversion (but this also increases
the cost). An Extension to HTML
How the UNL System works For ease of use and because UNL will reside on the Internet,
developers are hoping that UNL conventions will be re-
Any person with access to the Internet will be able to "en- garded as an extension of HTML and are being developed as
convert" text written in their own language into UNL expres- such. HTML offers universal adaptability to any editing sys-
sions using UNL editor. Likewise, any UNL expressions can tem in holding the advantages of hyper-text. Furthermore, in
be "deconverted" into a variety of native languages using the HTML, the description format for embedding instructions is
UNL viewer. open to the public. As well, HTML conventions are still ex-
panding and developing.
An Example -
For these reasons, UNL expressions are utilizing and ex-
Arabic Server Spanish Server panding upon the HTML convention. This all means that
UNL information can be embedded in an HTML document.
UNL extensions of conventions will conform to the existing
HTML so that they will be handled like other documents,
without damaging the HTML hyper-text structure. In order to
Internet conform to the HTML conventions, descriptions in UNL will
be in plain text.
For more information on the Universal Networking Lan-

guage, see: http://www.unl.ias.unu.edu/
UNL Editor UNL Viewer
1
Hiroshi Uchida, Meiying Zhu, Tarcisio G. Della Senta,
The UNL System would consist of language servers, UNL UNL: A Gift for a Millenium, UNU/IAS, Tokyo, Japan,
editors and UNL viewers, connected via the Internet November 1999.

The Global Knowledge Partnership
Lesley Anne Simmons, Communications Officer,
Global Knowledge Partnership Secretariat, World Bank Institute
The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) is an evolving, In March 2000, the Partnership is organizing an Action
informal partnership of public, private and not-for-profit or- Summit attended by current and potential GKP members.
ganizations from across the globe. About 50 current member The Summit is part of the “Global Knowledge II” conference
organizations range from multilateral institutions such as the organized in cooperation with the Government of Malaysia.
World Bank and UNDP to bilateral aid agencies, founda- The Action Summit has two objectives: the first is to expand
tions, corporations, civil society organizations, and training the GKP’s membership to include more organizations from
institutions. What unites these organizations is a commitment middle- and low-income countries; organizations that can
to partnering: to sharing information, experiences and re- more effectively voice the views and experience of the peo-
sources, and to promoting broad access to, and effective use ple most in need of greater access to knowledge and infor-
of, knowledge and information as tools of sustainable, equi- mation and communication technologies. Some 75 such or-
table development. ganizations are registered to participate in the Action Summit
to explore the opportunities for membership.
The GKP emerged from the cooperation of several dozen
organizations that sponsored the Global Knowledge 97 con- The second objective of the Action Summit is to generate
ference, "Knowledge for Development in the Information consensus within the Partnership on priorities for joint action
Age" in Toronto, Canada in June 1997. Information on that for the next two years. The Action Summit focuses particu-
conference, and on the Partnership and its history, can be larly on three key themes: Access, Empowerment, and Gov-
found at the GKP website at, http://www.globaknowledge.org . ernance. Working Groups, made up of member representa-
tives from across the Partnership are preparing detailed rec-
The work of the Global Knowledge Partnership is rooted in ommendations on these three themes to be presented to the
the conviction that access to, and effective use of, knowledge Action Summit. Each working group has addressed four
and information are increasingly important factors in sustain- critical questions:
able economic and social development for individuals, com-
munities and nations; that the information revolution can be a ♦ What is the state of our current knowledge on this issue?
positive force for empowering the world's poor; that effective ♦ What are the greatest challenges facing the international
action to assure the inclusion of the poorest individuals, community and the world’s poor, in this area?
communities and nations in the global information economy ♦ Which of these challenges would best respond to con-
requires increased partnership and mutual learning among certed joint action by a partnership of public, private and
public, private and not-for-profit organizations. non-profit organizations such as the GKP?
♦ What concretely could we do as a Partnership over the
GKP members cooperate through a variety of initiatives - next two to three years to address these challenges?
pilot projects, conferences and workshops, capacity-building
initiatives, information sharing and project coordination. To The Working Groups’ recommendations form the basis for a
join the GKP, members contribute resources to at least one draft Action Plan of the Partnership presented at the final
initiative organized by present members of the Partnership. plenary of the Kuala Lumpur conference. The draft will be
While all members endorse the GKP’s general principles and available for further consultation within partner organizations
goals, members are free to decide in which Partnership- over the proceeding few months with a goal of reaching con-
related initiatives they participate or support. The GKP’s sensus on the Partnership’s action priorities by later in the
activities are coordinated by a small secretariat, currently spring of 2000.
located at the World Bank Institute.

InfoChange
Info
Jody Olsen
President, InfoChange Foundation
Based on the interest in helping support the development of The National Network: InfoChange Foundation, with sup-
self sustaining community communication centers in devel- port from the World Bank’s Info/Dev program and working
oping countries for those least able to access information on with UCS, is currently engaged in the establishment of a
their own, a group of people representing both corporate and Ghana National Network (G-Net) of community communi-
non-profit telecommunications interests organized Info- cation centers (CCCs), owned and operated by Ghanaians.
Change. Based in Washington, D.C. this two year old non- One of the centers, the Ghana National Service Center
profit organization has an informal membership of over 100 (GNSC), will function as the core of the network and will
individuals and organizations, including government repre- help establish CCCs and coordinate their services and opera-
sentatives, helping move forward the goal that everyone tions. Support will include assistance with capitalization,
should have access to information through technology, and leasing equipment on a long term basis, training, and man-
that, without this access, basic education will remain limited agement advice.
and slip further behind what is available to most of the de-
veloped world. The local Centers will:
InfoChange is furthering the development of centers based ♦ Generate local data and information.
on the models of self-sustainability, namely that the centers ♦ Provide support services for new and on-going busi-
are financially viable entities with built-in maintenance nesses (business incubator resources: facsimile, copying,
structures and are part of a larger self-sustaining network of and administrative support).
centers. They can be housed almost anywhere, including ♦ Offer individual and group computer-assisted training
schools, as long as they are self-sustaining. and educational courses.
♦ Have the capability of linking into the postal service in
By bringing together the resources and products of compa- addition to e-mail.
nies with the technical work of non-profit groups, Info- ♦ Link with government agencies for "kiosk" services.
Change members can help access hardware and software, ♦ Engage in desktop publishing.
center models, and educational content relevant to the appro- ♦ Connect with national and international Internet serv-
priate local situations as the centers are established. ices.
♦ Secure technical assistance - long distance.
An Example: The Ghana National Network Plan ♦ Stimulate conference dialogue and exchange.
Telecommunications Infrastructure: United Communica- ♦ Connect computer users in the community.
tions Systems, Inc. (UCS) and United Communications Sys-
tems International (UCSI), in cooperation with Ghana corpo- Into the Future
rations, are building a telecommunications infrastructure for One goal of InfoChange over the next year is to help estab-
Ghana and Western Africa. The Volta River Authority lish a dynamic, member-focused association of local tele-
(VRA) and the UCS Team implement a major component. centers that would operate predominately in underserved
The VRA has completed the installation of a Fiber Optic markets, regions and countries. The association would pro-
Ground Wire along the coastline from Accra to Takoradi, vide support, business research, and shared member access to
and then has extended it to Kumasi. This provides an excel- resources and experiences. InfoChange can be reached at
lent platform for the implementation of a national high-speed http://www.infochange.net
telecommunications backbone for Ghana.

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Volume 2, Issue 2 March/April 2000

Thematic Focus: Access to Information and Knowledge

5 Is the Divide Digital

7 Email to the Editor

9 Why be Wired? The Importance of Access to Information and Communication Technologies

! 1 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

23 FM Radio Stations: Broadcasting with the Sun

25 Information Technology for the Masses: Can It Be TV?

28 School Connectivity: Wishful Thinking or Wise Action?

32 A High-Tech Twist: ICT Access and the Gender Divide

37 Grassroots Libraries: A Base for Lifelong Learning

40 The Full Story: Full-Text Publications on the Web

42 The Information Revolution and the Digital Divide: A Review of Literature

! 2 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

45 e-Lectronic Access to Information: A Research Review

48 Korea: Can Edutopia Become a Reality?

51 Open-Source Software: Untapped Opportunities?

56 A Phone is a Phone is a Phone? …Well, Not Really!

! 3 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

64 UNLP: Universal Networking Language Programme

66 The Global Knowledge Partnership

Editorial Calendar for Years 2000 and 20001

Higher Access to Basic Skill Learning Teacher

Manageme Science and Enterprise Social Early Language

! 4 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

! 5 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

We have introduced in this issue a new feature, "Email to CONTRIBUTING EDITORS:

! 6 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

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! 10 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

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! daily newspapers in circulation

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Access for What? Rural People are Not Stupid

! 16 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

Despite the positive impacts and the evidence of commercial

! 17 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

McConnell, 1998 (p. 10)

Among the key obstacles making it difficult for rural

! 18 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

The Telephone and the Internet

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Overview of the Station Key Elements to Success

! 23 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

The local stakeholders, with the aid of COLME, will provide

A Solar Station on the Move

* COLME strives to:

The Commonwealth of Learning Web: http://www.col.org/colme

! 24 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org

The digital divide seems to be for real. Claudio de Moura Castro

This article focuses on two cases from Brazil:

The Landscape chronically short of quality education and training – and

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! 27 ! TechKnowLogia, March/April, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org