[bytesforall_readers] Re: RE: [Telecentres] how many / emergency systems

[Profitinafrica at aol.com]

Dear Colleagues

A very short observation regarding the discussion about the value of 
different systems in an emergency situation like the current tsunami disaster. The sad 
news is that there will be a considerable mobilization of resources in the 
aftermath of enormous death and destruction, and discussion and (probably) 
funding for a multi-million tsunami warning system for the Indian and Atlantic 
Oceans ... and lots of relief activity and even quite a lot of relief funding. 

But at the end of the day the basic economics of most of the regions most 
affected by the disaster will be left worse than it was before, and the 
investment needed to have even reasonable levels of infrastructure (transport / safe 
water and sanitation / communications / etc) will not be made and the situation 
will be as bad or worse than before. When the media goes home so will donor 
priorities, official development assistance and national government 
intervention. There is a need for an alternative development paradigm driven by community 
needs!

While the top 10% of the world  has seen amazing progress over the past forty 
years, the bottom 50% has gone substantially backwards. This is because the 
basic dynamics of development are not being adequately understood by 
development leadership, and the results are plain to see. We need to be clear, spending 
on relief is NOT development, and typically relief expenditures dries up the 
budgets for development. Watch this play out in 2005!

More than anything else I want to see all communities able to communicate 
with the external world, 10 miles away or 10,000 miles away. The technology is 
available. It could easily be funded and be sustainable. Why is it not being 
done? Mainly the regulatory regimes, the priorities of government ... and 
discounting heavily the needs and priorities of remote and rural communities. 

And when communities communicate, it would be nice if someone was listening, 
and able to offer the sort of development investment that the communities are 
asking for. What a novel idea!

Enough ..... but a lot of the death is a result of extreme poverty and failed 
development that has ignored what would have been reasonable to get done.

Sincerely

Peter Burgess

____________
Peter Burgess
Tr-Ac-Net in New York
WISPforD in New York
Tel: 212 772 6918 
Web: www.afrifund.com
Email: mailto:peterb at afrifund.com
Database http://www.afrifund.com/wiki/index.pcgi?page=AfrifundDatabase
Coffee: http://afrifund.coffeefair.com
Blog: http://taame.blogspot

In a message dated 12/29/2004 1:23:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
john.lawrence at undp.org writes:


> Subj:Re: [bytesforall_readers] Re: RE: [Telecentres] how many telecenters 
> continued 
> Date:12/29/2004 1:23:16 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From:john.lawrence at undp.org
> Reply-to:bytesforall_readers at yahoogroups.com
> To:bytesforall_readers at yahoogroups.com
> CC:donc at internode.on.net, joyojeet at SIMS.Berkeley.EDU, 
> telecentres at wsis-cs.org
> 
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