Having not been in Tunis, it's hard to see the WSIS as a resounding success. I'm sure that for the people who were there the networking and social factors are very meaningful. But, let's face it, the Internet governance matters are unchanged and the Digital Solidarity Fund remains unfunded.
The developed countries have defended their position concerning the Digital Solidarity Fund, stating that they prefer to rely on established programmes, like the World Bank's. Is this rational? In a certain sense one would have to say, "yes". There are many programmes that are well established, where valuable experience has been gained, and this should not be underestimated. On the other hand, giving the intended beneficiaries and their geographical and social neighbours a more prominent role in the direction of the programmes increases relevance. If the intention with the Digital Solidarity Fund is to promote this type of local responsibility and cooperation than surely it is justified.
Negroponte showed off his laptop, "the green machine". Looks pretty snappy. What I'm really happy about is the choice of going open source (OS) and the reasoning behind that choice. The idea, as I understand it, is that using OS permits more flexibility to adapt the system and software to the needs of each user. This is certainly in line with my own thinking, as evidenced from this paper.
In other news, the BBC's WSIS blogger claims that "The answers to bridging the digital divide are already here. The challenge is in their implementation." My question is, which digital divide is he referring to (developing countries, rural areas, the illiterate, the elderly, the poor in developed countries, this list could go on and on and on), and what is it that these "solutions" acually solve? Claims like this over-simplify the issues and are certainly not helpful.
The WSIS has started and it's everywhere. Most major news related web sites have stories about some aspect of the digital divide issue and ICTs for development. Imagine if it were always this way...
Luckily, the Internet Governance issue was resolved (for now) before the summit started. The US retains its control. Whew! Don't want to lose that stability and innovation! I fail to see the logic in these arguments, as do others apparently. Nevertheless, I'm glad they got it out of the way because I do think that there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed and this could have overshadowed the whole summit.
I assume the press coverage will continue over the next few days and I'll be following it closely. After that... Back to obscurity?
I've decided to post part of the draft introduction from my thesis because it illustrates my thinking about globalization and development. It provides a good context for my other postings.
Globalization, as it is understood in most economic and social science circles today, is described by David Held and Anthony McGrew “as a process (or set of processes) which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and transactions, generating transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity, interaction and power. Globalisation [sic] can be thought of as the widening, intensifying, speeding up and growing impact of world-wide interconnectedness.” (EOS Gallup Europe, 2003). Among the effects of this interconnectedness are that decisions that affect people’s livelihood are being made far away from their social and physical habitats. While we may choose to be for or against globalization, the fact is that this is the reality in today’s world. The question then is how we adapt to this reality? For the developed regions of the world the response has been to strive to stay ahead of competitors in a global market. This has given rise to the knowledge based economy where information, knowledge and innovation are the most important commodities. Those who do not have access to the information needed to fuel the continuous production of knowledge and innovation are fighting a hopeless battle.
The proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including radio, television, telephones and the Internet, is an important factor in the spread of globalization. ICTs have had a profound impact on the way we communicate, the way we do business, and the way we learn. ICTs make it possible to rapidly transfer information from corporate headquarters to far away production facilities. Market information from anywhere in the world is available at the touch of a button. ICTs facilitate collaboration among researchers and developers, wherever they may be situated. And, ICTs provide us with access to vast amounts of information to meet our increasing need for new knowledge.
It is no surprise then the impact that ICTs have had on education. Not only are they an ideal tool to facilitate learning by providing access to learning resources, but they are also an integral part of the environment that we need to prepare today’s learners for. This point is acknowledged in the UNESCO’s Dakar Framework for Action for the “Education for All” (EFA) initiative which clearly states, “Information and communication technologies (ICT) must be harnessed to support EFA goals at an affordable cost.” (UNESCO, 2000) As such, the EFA goals are focusing not only on inequality in terms of access to education, but also inequality in terms of access to ICTs. Put simply, the EFA goals support the notion that being “educated” today is to have the basic skills needed to make effective use of ICTs.
When considered in a development context, the challenges associated with globalization, the need for education and innovation, and the role of ICTs raises further issues. José Maria Figueres-Olsen, chairman of the UN ICT Task Force, has stated that, “Countries in which most people do not have access to the new technologies cannot play a full part in the new global economy at a time when knowledge acquisition and information are becoming pre-requisites for human development and progress. And the longer they remain outside the global economy, the harder and costlier it will be to catch up.” (UN, 2004). The most challenging issue is that lesser developed regions of the world are being forced to “catch up” with societies that are themselves changing at an astounding rate. It has been suggested that cheaper ICTs that require little investment in infrastructure, such as wireless communications, will facilitate “leapfrogging” development (Alhassan, 2004). The assumption being that access to the technologies will allow developing regions to sidestep stages of development commonly associated with modernization to facilitate rapid development. While there is evidence that access to technologies can have a significant impact on development (Alhassan, 2004), it seems that this is not enough to achieve the leaps and bounds some are hoping for. In fact, several participants at the 46th International Congress on Education explicitly state that access to technology is not enough (UNESCO, 2003). What is implied is that there is a need for multiple strategies, of which, ICTs and well planned, coordinated education initiatives will play a significant role. Furthermore, that development initiatives, especially those that encourage the use of ICTs, need to be brought in line with the need for sustainable innovation that globalization demands. As stated by Arthur Harkins, “The world economy is growing more competitive, complex, and volatile. The economies of all countries, therefore, need to leapfrog into knowledge and innovation.” (Harkins, 2005).
Extended bibliography:
Alhassan, A. (2004). Development Communication Policy and Economic Fundamentalism in Ghana. University of Tampere, Tampere.
EOS Gallup Europe (2003). Flash Barometer 151b: “Globalisation”. Taylor Nelson Sofres / EOS Gallup Europe.
Glasersfeld, Ernst von (1986). Steps in the Construction of "Others" and "Reality": A Study in Self-Regulation. In: R.Trappl (ed.) Power, Autonomy, Utopia, pp. 107-116. London and New York: Plenum.
Harkins, A (2005). Course Syllabus: Knowledge Formats and Applications [Graduate Course]. Minneapolis, MN.
infoDev (2005a). infoDev: Work Program 2004-2005. Retrieved June 5, 2005 from infoDev web site: http://infodev.org/section/programs.
infoDev (2005b). infoDev: About Us. Retrieved June 5, 2005 from infoDev web site: http://infodev.org/section/aboutus.
McElroy, M. W. (2003). The New Knowledge Management: Complexity, learning, and sustainable innovation. Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA.
UNESCO (2000). The Dakar Framework for Action: Education for all: Meeting our collective commitments. UNESCO, France.
UNESCO (2003). Education for All: Have we failed? – A summary of the ideas and contributions arising from the forty-sixth session of UNESCO’s International Conference on Education. UNESCO, International Bureau of Education. Geneva, Switzerland
UN (2004). Challenges and Partnerships: Opening up ICT to the world. Secretariat of the UN ICT Task Force, New York
West, M. A. & Farr, J. L. (1990). Innovation at work. In M.A. West and J.L. Farr (Eds.). Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies (pp. 3-13). Chichester: Wiley
The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society is coming up in Tunisia next week. The first phase held in Geneva in 2003 was disappointing to many who felt that the resulting declarations lacked ambition in the context of concrete development goals. So far the second phase doesn't look like it's going to be very earth shattering. One of the most talked about issues to be discussed is Internet governance, hardly a decisive matter for developing countries. On the more positive side, Nicholas Negroponte plans to officially announce his sub-$100 laptop, that could prove to be a major development in terms of infrastructure.
What I am personally waiting to see is how point 24 in the Declaration of Principles, "The ability for all to access and contribute information, ideas and knowledge is essential in an inclusive Information Society." I think it is more important for constructive knowledge development to think in terms of how new users contribute ideas and knowledge, than the access they gain to existing info. To learn more about my views on these issues click here to read or download a PDF of a paper I've written on the topic.
