Hi Folks<br> <br> I am reading through the thread here and I am smiling. The issues being raised here, we have raised them a million times. But I still believe that experience is the best teacher. Analysts can say what they want, but living in the situation is worth a million analyses.<br> <br> Two weeks ago, I was in 5 town in Burkina Faso to do an evaluation of the pilot projects that the Digital Solidarity Fund is supporting.<br> <br> In truth, electricity alone is not the only problem. But problems are not the only things that I saw. I also saw hope, optimism and a strong will power to rise beyond problems.<br> <br> There are options - Satelite is one of them. Solar power is one of them. Community access points too. In a far away village called Ouahigouya - the DSF has provided a Satellite Internet connection. In that center alone, the Internet is being offered to the public. They have
video conferencing equipment and telemedicine is a reality. I was surprised that the cybercafé ran on Open Source Software and that local people are well adapted to it.<br> <br> In that same town, I slept in a hotel that was using solar panels for power. <br> <br> I am not speaking about what can happen. I am saying what has already happened.<br> <br> Cheers<br> <br> Nnenna<br><br><b><i>Lee McKnight <LMcKnigh@syr.edu></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> Bertrand, David,<br><br>Not to be a naive utopian, but there are a wide variety of technological and business model alternatives being explored within Africa and elsewhere, and yeah by the usual suspect major multinationals, as well as start-ups and non-profits like One Laptop Per Child.<br><br>So assuming cel phones/mobile Internet devices will have the same constraints for Internet access
for long in Africa or anywhere else is probably not safe; paying for and powering infrastructure, ah there's the rub. But still alternatives are emegring.<br><br>Lee<br><br>Prof. Lee W. McKnight<br>School of Information Studies<br>Syracuse University<br>+1-315-443-6891office<br>+1-315-278-4392 mobile<br><br>>>> bdelachapelle@gmail.com 9/12/2007 4:11 AM >>><br>(Sorry, I hit the send button inadvertently on the previous post before it<br>was finished)<br><br>Hi David,<br><br>You mentionned this quote :<br>"Most Ghanaians do not have access to the internet, in spite of the<br>proliferation of ICT in the country, due to cost. Many more Ghanaians have<br>access to mobile telephony than they have access to the internet."<br><br>And said :<br><br>Reading this, it means the future of internet access in much of Africa could<br>be via handheld devices (mobile phones, smart phones...), and so planning on<br>governance issues probably should be done with this in
mind.<br><br>This development of mobile telephony in africa and the relatively slower<br>penetration of other modes of Internet access is an important element<br>because the business models for both are very different.<br><br>At the moment, mobile telephony can be very profitable even in poor<br>countries because a brief phone call can save a day trip to another village<br>or town. Therefore, even if the cost per minute is high, the replacement<br>cost is even higher. But this will mean that the priority of business actors<br>will be on mobile phone networks rather than on general Internet access with<br>cheap monthly fees. Using market forces to develop connectivity is certainly<br>positive and is going to work, but one can wonder if it will be enough to<br>bring the normal Internet Access, and particularly broadband (the second<br>dimension of the digital divide).<br><br>If mobile telephony becomes the main communication channel, will that not<br>mean that Internet
access will remain much rarer and more expensive in these<br>countries ?<br><br>I wonder if the Access session in the Rio IGF will address this point.<br><br>Best<br><br>Bertrand<br><br><br><br>On 9/12/07, David Goldstein <goldstein_david @yahoo.com.au=""> wrote:<br>><br>> Hi all,<br>><br>> I've just finished reading an article in The Economist - Electricity in<br>> Africa: The dark continent. See<br>> http://economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9660077.<br>><br>> This had me thinking back to a discussion here recently on ICT in Africa.<br>> The article notes "Africa accounts for over a sixth of the world's<br>> population, but<br>> generates only 4% of global electricity. Three-quarters of that is used<br>> by South Africa, Egypt and the other countries along the north African<br>> littoral."<br>><br>> Other points made are "Only 6% of Congolese have access to electricity and<br>> more power will be needed
to get at the country's trove of minerals. ...<br>> Aggreko, a company based in Scotland, is the world's biggest supplier<br>> of temporary electricity in the shape of back-up generators. It meets<br>> up to 50% of Uganda's power needs, and 10% of those of Kenya and<br>> Tanzania. It believes that the global power shortfall in the next<br>> decade will be much greater than predicted, perhaps over 500,000MW. The<br>> ensuing competition for energy, it argues, will see the world split<br>> between those countries whose economies grow faster than their power<br>> consumption and those, including most of Africa, whose power<br>> consumption grows faster than their economies."<br>><br>> There are obviously huge issues in just providing power to much of Africa<br>> before the vast majority of the population can even be connected to the<br>> internet. And then with a global shortfall of power, where does that leave<br>> the ongoing
development of ICT?<br>><br>> For those interested in ICT in Africa, I was sent a link to an article on<br>> Ghana (thanks Kwasi) - Ghana's internet growth slowed by high cost. See<br>> http://myjoyonline.com/features/200709/8441.asp.<br>><br>> The article starts, "Most Ghanaians do not have access to the internet, in<br>> spite of the<br>> proliferation of ICT in the<br>> country, due to cost. Many more Ghanaians have access to mobile telephony<br>> than they have access to the internet."<br>><br>> Reading this, it means the future of internet access in much of Africa<br>> could be via handheld devices (mobile phones, smart phones...), and so<br>> planning on governance issues probably should be done with this in mind. But<br>> then, a handheld device of any sort still needs electricity to work. Even if<br>> the device can be powered by some form of wind-up mechanism, for example,<br>> the infrastructure still needs to b
developed, and powered.<br>><br>> Anyway, something to think about.<br>><br>> Cheers<br>> David<br>><br>> ---------<br>> David Goldstein<br>> address: 4/3 Abbott Street<br>> COOGEE NSW 2034<br>> AUSTRALIA<br>> email: Goldstein_David @yahoo.com.au<br>> phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home)<br>><br>> "Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time<br>> you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery<br>><br>><br>><br>-- <br>____________________<br>Bertrand de La Chapelle<br><br>Tel : +33 (0)6 11 88 33 32<br><br>"Le plus beau métier des hommes, c'est d'unir les hommes" Antoine de Saint<br>Exupéry<br>("there is no better mission for humans than uniting humans")<br>____________________________________________________________<br>You received this message as a subscriber on the list:<br> governance@lists.cpsr.org<br>To be
removed from the list, send any message to:<br> governance-unsubscribe@lists.cpsr.org<br><br>For all list information and functions, see:<br> http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance<br></goldstein_david></blockquote><br><p>
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