Peace Corps to Wire Senegal

An anonymous submitter wrote: "Peace Corps Online is reporting on the White House's Digital Freedom Initiative that will place volunteers from the Peace Corps, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco in a pilot program in Senegal where they will leverage nearly 200 cybercafes and 10,000 telecenters to provide opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The idea isn't new - David Rothman proposed an Electronic Peace Corps in 1984, the Geek Corps has been doing this kind of work in Ghana for years, and the Peace Corps already has about 1,500 volunteers working in information technology."

Comments

Swell!

[LeoDV]

We've got no food, but now we've got BROADBAND! (First post?)

Re:Swell!

[Angry White Guy]

That's only half of the equation. Constant fighting between the political factions, stimulated by Colonial Europe's arbirtary division of the continent without regards for tribal boundaries (Forcing the Huutu and Tsutse tribes to live together), and corruption of their parliment have prevented African countries from prospering, as much as cash crop farming for the western world.

A large portion of Africa is farmland, but dedicated to export crops. There is little left over for staple farming. The money earned from these cash crops makes the landowners rich, which in turn makes the government rich. The profit is dumped into the military, buying jets and tanks, troops, training camps, etc to quell uprisings and 'protect' their country. Little is left over for urban development, health care, or infrastructure. Much of the foreign aid is absorbed by the government.

Tackling the root causes is difficult, as it is not only the western world which is profiting from Africa's poverty. It is their own leaders as well.

Re:why?

[droid_rage]

Maybe it's because most entrepreneurs and small business owners in Senegal can't afford a computer, and would be better off renting small amounts of time as needed. According to the world bank Senegal's GNP per capita for 1996 was only $570. I doubt it's gotten much higher.

Re:why?

[jem]

Because it's realistic? if you electricity and telecoms already then it's going to be much easier to set everything else up. Plus an Internet Cafe is a good place for people to meet, get training, etc.

Always has to be hardware

[jj_johny]

It seems that everyone who does development work does not feel that they have made a difference unless they leave behind something to point at: A dam, a tall building, an internet... Please although internet access maybe easy to get your hands around, accessible technology that the educated can support and widely available, it really is way behind other issues that need to be fixed. Most countries need better laws, courts, banks not IT infrastructure.

Well at least Cisco and HP are branching into new market and away from the saturated ones.

Re:Always has to be hardware

[Thomas M Hughes]

IT Infrastructure is useful in developing other kinds of infrastructure, assuming it can be effectively used.

Most countries need better laws, courts, banks

Better laws can theoretically be attained in semi-democratic and democratic countries through providing information about current laws, and things that are going up for voting in the legislative body, as well as providing a conduit for citizens to contact their government members in order to influence policy.

Better courts can be attained, especially in countries that utilize a common law standard, by having the court system linked up, so all judicial reviews can be viewed quickly, easily and instantaneously. Thus, the court system can act more consistently as a whole across the entire nation-state, as opposed to the personal habits of each judge. Also, abuses in the system can be reported easier across great distances, if the other branches of the government are plugged in as well.

Banks are another institution that really need to be connected, and have a sharing of information between them. Computers are very useful in documenting a credit history on individuals, making it much easier to call up, so any bank can view it much faster for when determining whether or not to give an individual a loan. Transfers between institutions are better handled electronically as well.

The Internet also provides a cheap way for local nation-wide businesses to post job listings, theoretically allowing for out of work people to be put in touch easier with companies that need workers, improving the overall economy. Though, it is important to note that the US has had some serious flaws with this, but not to the point where its completely useless. I have found work off an Internet job posting before.

Along with increased mobility, you also have a better chance of affordable communication with relatives within the country. Thus, despite the physical distance potentially developing between citizens and their families, all touch won't be lost.

And of course, there is always the benefit of being able to access a wealth of information sources on the Internet that encourage people to view other places in the world and see how they function, so that they might demand change at home.

The point is, just because IT infrastructure seems like a luxury, improved and increased communication between all levels of society is an inherently good thing for democratic institutions, as well as developing market economies. It might not be as useful as building a power plant, or teaching them better farming techniques, however the companies helping here aren't farming or power companies. They're IT companies, so they're helping the way they know how to help.

Peace Corps not part of Homeland Security

[Mothra the III]

From the Peace Corps website: "Currently, 6,678 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in 70 countries, working to bring clean water to communities, teach children, help start new small businesses, and stop the spread of AIDS. Since 1961, more than 168,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 136 nations." These people most likely dont have the skills to combat cyber terrorism and are using the skills they do have to set up small networks and get people on the internet.

Sutil slogan changes...

[gmuslera]

Hippie: "Make love, not war"
Yuppie: "Make lan, not war"

Helping out online

[rf0]

In a similar vain people might be interested in NetAid which apart of the UN in helping out online less developed countries

Rus

What will it do?

[Txiasaeia]

My wife was in Senegal in a few years, and after seeing this article, she commented, "Well, that might help the people in cities, but what about most of the people who live in rural areas?"

Besides, the people in this country can't afford Coke as a general rule -- even when they can, they return the glass (yes, glass!) bottle right away to get the deposit back and put the Coke in a plastic bag to drink. There are already enough cybercafes in Dakar; perhaps this cash should be going towards helping the little Muslim boys that run around the streets, forced into virtual slavery (via begging) in order to make a few bucks for their master.

Re:why?

[vidarh]

I agree with you about internet cafe's as a good place to meet and provide access. It's important to focus in this, as the point is to provide access to people who are unlikely to afford a computer (or for that matter their own radio, telephone or TV).

However long range wireless solutions might be very suitable for many of these countries for bringing internet access to the cafes, because the poverty levels means that even phone lines get stolen quite often for the copper many places (some countries have even had cases of people cutting down power cables to sell the scrap metal).

Securing a number of wireless routers might be easier than securing miles and miles of cable. Additionally, putting up phone cables is expensive, and many African countries have extremely under developed landline networks, and it's not a given that setting up wireless connections won't be cheaper.

Re:why?

[pe1rxq]

It is all very simple actually....

You can find practicly anything on the internet, no need for expensive books, all you need is a little curiousity.

As for fighting big business and governments all you need is to set up a 'poor-villages-against-whatever' mailinglist and you can organize.

That is the power of the internet: spreading information at practicly no cost.

Jeroen