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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN
class=328280311-31072007>Dear Kwasi,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN
class=328280311-31072007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN class=328280311-31072007>Yes, and why could
we not learn from earlier mistakes and why must we always reinvent the wheel?
Let us bring in to Governments in developing countries, what we know by
experience from industrial countries, and also bring in our knowledge of what
could be done then developing countries are building up its ICT infrastructure.
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN
class=328280311-31072007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN class=328280311-31072007>Warm
regards</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN class=328280311-31072007>Kicki </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><BR><BR>,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P align=left><SPAN lang=sv><FONT face=Arial size=4>Kicki
Nordström<BR>Synskadades Riksförbund (SRF)</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=sv><FONT
face=Arial size=4>World Blind Union (WBU)<BR>122 88 Enskede<BR>Sweden<BR>Tel:
+46 (0)8 399 000<BR>Fax: +46 (0)8 725 99 20<BR>Cell: +46 (0)70 766 18
19<BR>E-mail: <A
href="mailto:kicki.nordstrom@srfriks.org">kicki.nordstrom@srfriks.org</A>
</FONT></SPAN></P><SPAN lang=sv>
<P><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial>kicki.nordstrom@telia.com (private)</FONT>
</FONT></P></SPAN>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=4></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=sv dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>Från:</B> kwasi boakye-akyeampong
[mailto:kboakye1@yahoo.co.uk] <BR><B>Skickat:</B> den 30 juli 2007
15:16<BR><B>Till:</B> governance@lists.cpsr.org; Norbert Bollow<BR><B>Ämne:</B>
Re: SV: [governance] IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE A PHANTOM?<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Hello Norbert,<BR><BR>Sorry, if I sounded like you did not know what
you are talking about. My response was as a result of the
following:<BR><BR><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">" ... as
soon as this has been achieved,</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">
</SPAN><TT><TT><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">all visually
disabled people everywhere will be able to benefit from this </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">..."</SPAN><BR><BR>Taken out of context, it sounds
like as soon as a screen reader becomes free then the digital divide will be
bridged.<BR><BR>You are right, we must ensure that the technology becomes, at
least, accessible to those who are fortunate enough to have it available like
Kikki suggested. It is a shame that visually challenged people in developed
regions are still struggling to have access to technology though it is available
by others around them. This can be attributed to the same old devil, economies
of scale, as someone mentioned earlier. If commercial interests are allowed to
drive technological change, that is what happens.<BR><BR>May be the digital
divide argument has been over-simplified and its definition too narrow. Matter
of fact, the visually impaired and physically challenged folks in deprived
regions (developing countries) of the world are totally left out of the
discussions when it comes to national ICT policy discussions. And if we don't
start talking about it now, we shall still be looking answers for these
questions 20 years down the
line.<BR><BR>Regards,<BR>Kwasi<BR><BR><BR></TT></TT><B><I>Norbert Bollow
<nb@bollow.ch></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">Kwasi
Boakye-Akyeampong <KBOAKYE1@YAHOO.CO.UK>wrote:<BR><BR>> Norbert, you
wrote:<BR>> "This of course needs to be funded somehow, but as<BR>> soon
as this has been achieved, all visually disabled people<BR>> everywhere
will be able to benefit from this ...".<BR>> <BR>> I disagree with the
underlined bit because in the developing<BR>> (under-developed) regions,
even the non-visually impaired are<BR>> struggling to have access to
computers. Internet access is even<BR>> worse.<BR><BR>Yes, yes. I have been
to rural Africa (not where tourists go, but<BR>where the genuine reality is),
and I would certainly say that visiting<BR>with the wonderful people living
there or in some other region with<BR>major technological and economic
development challenges, and trying to<BR>understand them and their situations
as well as possible for an<BR>outsider who can only commit a relatively
limited amount of time to<BR>getting to know them, that is certainly an
absolutely very<BR>fundamentally valuable experience for anyone who would like
to make a<BR>contribution toward bridging or reducing the digital
divide.<BR><BR>Please don't dismiss my statements about the benefits of
making<BR>screen reader software available as Free Software by addressing
me<BR>as if I were someone who doesn't know what he's talking about. It
is<BR>not necessary to have reliable electricity or internet
connectivity<BR>before screen reader software becomes valuable to visually
disabled<BR>people. Even when for a given area it is not possible to do more
than<BR>visiting them e.g. once a week with a mobile "information
society<BR>communication center" containing one or more battery operated
laptop<BR>computers, certainly at least one of those computers should
be<BR>equipped with screen reader software.<BR><BR>By the way, has it been
tried to use screen reader software for the<BR>purpose of making information
society technologies more accessible<BR>to illiterate/not-yet-literate
people?<BR><BR>> Believe me, the digital divide issue is worse than we make
it<BR>> sound. Most of the solutions we propose are just not practicable
in<BR>> the deprived regions. They are models fit for the developed<BR>>
countries. For instance, most developing countries are struggling<BR>> with
electricity supply even in the cities. Most rural communities<BR>> are not
connected to the national electricity grid. So bridging the<BR>> digital
divide goes beyond providing them with computers.<BR><BR>Certainly. In my
opinion, based on the observations that I have made,<BR>empowering people to
use computers productively is much more difficult<BR>than providing them with
computers, electricity and some kind of<BR>internet connection. Quite a lot of
measures are necessary in order<BR>to transform that human-empowerment task
from being virtually-unsolvably <BR>difficult into being feasible with the
ordinary level of skill that can<BR>be realistically expected from teachers at
rural schools in economically<BR>underdeveloped regions of the
world.<BR><BR>One measure that will in my opinion help a lot is to provide
them with<BR>Free Software rather than proprietary software.<BR><BR>Screen
reader software is a special case because in that area, AFAIK the<BR>needed
functionality does not exist yet as Free Software, hence there<BR>is a need
for thinking about how the develeopment of this kind of<BR>software as Free
Software can be funded.<BR><BR>In most other important areas, the essential
functionality is already<BR>available as Free Software and just needs to be
marketed more<BR>effectively.<BR><BR>Greetings,<BR>Norbert.<BR><BR><BR>--
<BR>Norbert Bollow <NB@BOLLOW.CH>http://Norbert.ch<BR>President of the Swiss
Internet User Group SIUG
http://SIUG.ch<BR>____________________________________________________________<BR>You
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information and functions,
see:<BR>http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance<BR></NB@BOLLOW.CH></KBOAKYE1@YAHOO.CO.UK></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV><FONT class=sqq><STRONG><FONT face=system
color=#007f40>..............................................................................................................................</FONT></STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT class=sqq><STRONG><FONT face=system color=#007f40>“If I am not for
myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?”</FONT></STRONG> - <FONT face="arial black"><FONT
face=system>Rabbi Hillal</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT class=sqq><FONT face="arial black"><FONT face=System
color=#007f40><STRONG>..............................................................................................................................</STRONG></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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