[governance] Re: SECOND DRAFT statement on enhanced cooperation

[Jean-Louis FULLSACK]

Dear Parminder and members of the list

I appreciate the debate in progress with these informative and revealing references. Thank you, Parminder for having raised it. 

I'd also stress that the neoliberal thinking and indoctrination is perfectly reflected in the ITU and UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development (sic) based on the dogma "Broadband will save the MDGs" and other rubbish like "+10% Brodband = +1,4 GDP" for making it short. 

This "top-level" Commission (see UNESCO and ITU portals) was launched with great pomp during the last WSIS Forum (I unfortunately couldn't attend it for major family reasons). Without any critical voices coming from civil society, at least as far as I could percieve the echoes through WSIS mailing lists.

The best critical analysis on this Commission I found recently is ... on our friend Michael Gurstein Community Informatics site : 
http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/investment-58--poverty-14 ...  That's why Michael is to be commended. 






> Message du 06/11/10 15:04
> De : "parminder" 
> A : governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Copie à : 
> Objet : Re: [governance] Re: SECOND DRAFT statement on enhanced cooperation
> 
> McTim
> 
> And if, in response to my cited figures about India, you may want to say that the real full impact of ICTs may be yet to come to India, you may be interested in the statistics of the 'front yard' , the US, where the new innovation based 'ecosystems' you speak of have had the longest play.
> 
> To quote from the academic paper at www.networkideas.org/ideasact/jan09/PDF/Fine.pdf 
> 
> "Over the period of neo-liberalism, from the mid-1970s, there have been dramatic and
> uniquely extreme reversals in the evolving patterns of income distribution in the United
> States. Whilst, without wishing to finesse the figures, the average income of 90% of the
> population has stagnated, the share of income of the top 1% has increased from well
> below 10% to around double that. "
> These figures, along with those below about India, may take some gloss off the supposedly big and neutrally (or equally for all) advantageous role that ICTs are touted to play in our socio-economic systems.
> 
> Parminder 
> 
> 
> 
> On Saturday 06 November 2010 06:49 PM, parminder wrote: McTim
> 
> Rest of your responses to my proposal are a bit of a standard exchange between us, and I may have not have much new to say, but I will like to make a comment on the following. 
> 
> On Saturday 06 November 2010 01:26 PM, McTim wrote: > > And if we think there is a global vacuum vis a vis global IG policies, what > is our analysis about whose interests such a vacuum serves, It seems to have served innovation quite well, built economies and eco-sytems. Look at your own backyard to find the About my backyard, two things
> 
> one, pl read this article about the recent 2010 UNDP HDR report, from which I quote 
> 
> "India has failed to make any significant improvement in its poverty figures,with over 400 million -- more than the total in the poorest African nations -- still struck in poverty, the Human Development Report 2010 said today, listing India at the 119th position on the Human Development Index." ( some more details, that may be startling to some, at  http://www.mydigitalfc.com/economy/indias-growth-fails-translate-poverty-alleviation-hdr-024 )
> 
> One may wonder how in this time of ICTs and instant news from all over the world, people seem to keep getting not too right a picture of where and how things really may be in India. Any comments on this?
> 
> Second thing about my backyard, I did share with the list a few weeks back, mobile companies are colonizing the mobile Internet in India by the day like nobody's business. Mobile Internet is facebook, google and yahoo, not the neutral and open Internet we seem to be thinking and talking about here. I have no doubt that, going this way, the Internet would soon turn into an instrument of increased dependency of the marginalised on outside forces and agents. Its potential for empowering local, community based processes is being increasingly compromised. 
> 
> So, yes, I do look at my backyard, and my comments and my proposal are informed by it.
> 
> Parminder 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
> [ message-footer.txt (0.4 Ko) ]
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