Adventures in Advertising
Friday, August 31st, 2007
Cross-posted from imagicity.com.
Archive for August, 2007
Cthulhu, Melanesian-style
Thursday, August 30th, 2007
This merits posting here as well as on my photo site. It’s a really fascinating painting. About 3 metres long by 1 metre high, it stands outside the National Museum in Honiara, unfortunately without attribution or explanation.
If anyone has more info about it, please let me know.
(Also: I don’t do twitter, but if someone does, perhaps you could submit this to ectoplasmosis….)
Software and the New Colonialism
Thursday, August 30th, 2007
A colleague of mine recently attended a meeting between the Ministry of Education and representatives for a new initiative sponsored by Microsoft. On the face of it, the offer on the table was compelling: Microsoft Windows and Office licenses for sale at about 700 vatu each for educational institutions. Huge investment in flagship schools in Vanuatu, with hundreds of new PCs in total running all the latest software at prices never seen before. How could anyone refuse?
Microsoft is not the only company to come to the sudden realisation that there are about 5 billion people out there who don’t buy their product. Many major IT corporations have taken a look at the mature European and North American markets and decided to begin developing markets elsewhere in the world.
It’s a great opportunity for them. Junior and intermediate managers trying to make a name for themselves are leading the exploration. Rather than navigate the shark-infested waters of corporate HQ, they’re establishing new territories, trying out new tactics and creating new opportunities for themselves and their customers.
This is not a bad thing in and of itself. But it does need to be understood. The world of IT is undergoing the same shift in emphasis and momentum as industrialism underwent in the late 19th Century. Having reached critical mass in the developed world, technology was exported to the developing world, most notably into India, Japan and, to a lesser degree, China. They profited immensely, but the social cost was high.
It was largely due to technological mastery that the great colonial powers managed to control huge parts of the globe. Their communications and logistical capabilities were well beyond anything their opponents could muster, and their industrialised military ensured that they dominated wherever they set foot.
In fairness, this latest excursion into the ‘wilds’ of the developing world is much more benign than the conquests of the 19th century. Nonetheless, the goals are the same: expansion of business opportunities and profits through the creation of new products and markets.
It’s not necessary – or possible – to pass judgement on the process as a whole. Regardless of how we might feel about it, it’s happening now, and no one can stop it. This strategic change in approach offers Vanuatu a valuable opportunity and at one and the same time creates challenges that need to be understood and addressed.
Let’s unwrap the Microsoft offer then, and try to tease out the implications….
Low-Cost Software Licenses
Affordable software licenses are a very good thing. Something that many people don’t realise is that breaking a license agreement by installing pirate software is just as illegal in Vanuatu as it is anywhere else in the world. You can get away with it for now, but that will change. Besides, it’s only right that people should receive payment for their work.
But what software would Education be getting? The official answer is that it would be for cut-down versions of Windows and Office, which would be missing some features that people have come to rely on. As for server licenses, which are many times more expensive than client software, the only thing the Microsoft would say was that they would ‘look into it.’
A particularly sticky issue is scope: How long will Microsoft continue to offer these cheap licenses? Would Education end up paying tomorrow for something that is free today? The issue of perpetual licensing was discussed, without any commitment from Microsoft.
These licenses would be available to schools and other educational facilities, but not to the Ministry itself, nor any related administrative offices. The cost of integrating central systems with these new PCs and servers was not discussed.
Free Hardware
The Microsoft representative spoke of a remarkably ambitious plan to purchase ‘hundreds’ of new PCs and servers for Malapoa College, VIT and other institutions, to install Microsoft software on them, to provide training and support for years. There was limited discussion, however, about support issues, technical capacity of existing staff and the carrying capacity of Vanuatu’s ICT capacity as a whole.
Other unanswered questions included our rural schools’ ability to run PCs at all, issues of Internet access or any kind of communications, for that matter. There was no detail available concerning the actual use of these computers. How would they be integrated into the existing curriculum? And what about service and repair?
The issue of exclusivity was also not discussed in detail. If Microsoft provides the hardware, will there be any limitations on what gets installed? What if we decide to use Firefox and not Internet Explorer? What if we want to integrate the OLPC laptop in with these systems? Contracts with other countries have required the exclusive use of Microsoft products, a condition that would certainly prove far too restrictive for Vanuatu’s unique requirements.
A New Colonialism
Most significantly of all, the issues of freedom, self-determination and appropriate technologies were not on the table at all. Global corporatism is very much the ‘New World Order’ described by George Bush senior in the late 1980s. It’s not necessary to like it or hate it, but it is both healthy and wise for people in Vanuatu to consider what this new colonialism means.
People today are wiser in the ways of the world than they were. They are better positioned to determine their own fate, and they are better equipped to achieve it. A more positive, less overtly dominating global environment also means that we have a great deal more leverage than we did before. We can effectively pick and choose which elements of this new world order we want, or where the choice is compulsory, we can at least have some say in how things get done in our corner of the world.
This offer from Microsoft is generous, and Vanuatu would do well to consider it carefully. But there’s no need for us to accept it whole hog and without first making sure that every aspect of it will work well for us today and continue to work well for us in the future.
Honiara photos
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
I’ve got the first few photos from Honiara up here.
Many more to come, so if you haven’t already done so, just subscribe to my RSS feed.
Overseas bands to perform at Fest’Napuan 2007
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
The Fest’Napuan Association has confirmed the overseas artists to perform at Fest’Napuan2007. Headlining will be “The Black Seeds” from Aotearoa, “The Whitehouse” from Sydney, South American folk group “Inka Marka” from Melbourne, “Jazz Quartet de Noumea” from New Caledonia and “The Unique Family” from the Solomon Islands
Hanging out
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Mun i No Laet Gud
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
Las nite Muun i no laet gud mo. Kala blong em i ko orange ino mo saen braet waet olsem oltime. Sam man i sei planet Mars i kam blokem Muun. Mi kam aotside long 10.30pm long nite mo luk sei Muun ino saen gud mo i gat fulap klaot.
Mi karem kamera mo tekem photo [...]
Drug Stoa Kolsap i Bon
Monday, August 27th, 2007
Drug Stoa blong Port Vila taon klosap i bon las nite long wan faea.
Wan faea wei i bonem ruff blong bilding wei Drug Stoa i stap long em. Oli faenem long haf pas ten long las nite olgeta long Faea Station i resievem wan telefon call wei i com long security ofisa blong Club Vanuatu [...]
Liquid Gold
Saturday, August 25th, 2007
PacINET 2007
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
Last week a delegation of over a dozen Vanuatu IT experts representing government, the private sector and civil society joined over two hundred others from throughout the Pacific region at the annual PacINET conference in Honiara.
PacINET is the single most important event in the IT calendar here in the Pacific. Organised every year by The Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society, it brings together hundreds of IT professionals to discuss important technical, social and political issues related to communications and access to information.
PICISOC’s members have been very successful in making sure that there is a voice for the Blue Continent at the global level. Its work at the regional level is equally important. By pulling together the best and the brightest IT people in the region, it has a seminal effect on the work we do. The most important benefit is the opportunity to share ideas and approaches and to better coordinate ourselves in our efforts to change the communications landscape. The Vanuatu IT Users Society (VITUS) and its VIGNET mailing list were born shortly after Vanuatu hosted the PacINET conference in 2004.
This year’s conference has proven equally – if not more – successful. Events and announcements here were of potentially historic importance. Probably the most interesting to the general public were the announcement of plans the join Vanuatu and several other Pacific nations to an international fibre-optic network and the unveiling of the One Laptop Per Child project’s XO computer in the Pacific. More about these below.
This year’s keynote speakers were Jimmy Rodgers, Director of the SPC, and Vinton Cerf, widely known as the Father of the Internet for the work he did designing the Internet and its protocols in its earliest days. He remains one of the most widely known and respected Internet experts in the word. (Dr. Cerf’s role as honourary chair of PICISOC is an indication of how successful it has been in ensuring we have a global voice.)
Dr. Cerf’s speech dwelled mostly on a vision of a world in which every computing device is accessible via the Internet, all the time. Imagine if you will being able to contact anyone in the world on their hand-held mobile device using not only voice, but text, multimedia and other methods not yet invented. This holds tremendous promise for those of us in Vanuatu, because it clears the way for low-cost, low-power devices to bring invaluable assistance in keeping in touch with our families, our doctors, pastors, chiefs and other leaders, as well as with our friends and business acquaintances.
Dr. Cerf cautioned us all that there is a great deal of work yet to be done, most importantly the roll-out of IPv6, a new addressing protocol that will make it possible for us to connect anything to the Internet, any time, anywhere. VITUS is committed to encouraging the government and all Internet carriers in Vanuatu to begin a timely roll-out in order to meet the 2010 target date,
Jimmy Rodgers’ speech was particularly inspiring and encouraging to IT professionals throughout the region. He outlined a number of initiatives that promise to change the way we communicate, bringing improvements that until now we’ve only been able to dream of. Like Dr. Cerf, he started on a cautionary note, stating that political leadership is more important than any other factor to ICT development. Given the government of Vanuatu’s demonstrated commitment to a new telecoms policy, we in Vanuatu should take heart from that comment. We must nonetheless do everything in our power to ensure that this policy commitment remains stable in spite of any changes that may happen in the future.
We also need to ensure that ICT remains well understood in government circles and in the private sector. Dr. Rodgers reminded PacINET attendees that to date, most communications forecasts are based on existing constraints. Constraints, he said, for which our leaders are responsible. Past weaknesses and shortcomings are still guiding expectations in terms of capacity. So how do our current leaders want to be remembered? Will they continue as victims of institutional weakness and conservatism, or will they realise that usage rises in proportion to capacity?
Nearly all of our existing forecasts are predicated on the idea that rich, Internet-based communications will remain unavailable to a majority in our society, and that increases in demand will scale accordingly. This is simply untrue. New Caledonia, for example, recently allowed businesses to start providing Internet services in an more open manner, and the result was an increase in total capacity from about 5 million bits per second to almost one billion. The lesson that Dr. Rodgers outlined is clear: Give people access to communications, and they will find profitable ways to use them that we cannot imagine today.
Dr. Rodgers told PacINET that there are two projects underway to achieve the goal of widely available, low-cost Internet. One consists of a new satellite service that promises to allow very low-cost access to satellite communications. This means that people in remote islands can access the Internet at a cost of about 400,000 vatu per station, with ongoing fees of approximately 45,000 vatu per month. The equipment can easily be powered using solar, wind, or small-scale hydro power. Prices like this mean that the goal of Internet services for most everyone in Vanuatu is well within our reach.
Even more interesting was his announcement of plans to create two new fibre optic networks in the region. The first, funded by the French government, will join New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna and Tahiti together, picking up numerous other islands along the way. It is slated for completion before the end of next year. The western leg of the network would join Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea together, with extension reaching Santo and Port Vila.
At 300 million vatu per location, this may seem expensive to some. But the economic opportunities and the potential improvements in service delivery for government, civil society and the private sector are tremendous. According to Dr. Rodgers, “The time to move is now. Fibre will be laid, and those countries who pass on this current opportunity will have to wait a generation before they will have another chance.” A decision must be made by Vanuatu before the end of November this year. There is literally not a moment to lose.
He emphasised that “ICT has the ability to ‘unlock’ the economic development potentials” in Vanuatu and elsewhere in the Pacific, and re-stated that it all depends on our political leaders. We need to remind them, he said, that “they are the ones – it’s happening on their watch.”
VITUS members of the Vanuatu contingent were busy at the conference, building links to support the advocacy and technical work that will be required in order to achieve these goals. Our most significant achievements were building partnership with the members of the Pipol Fastaem network in the Solomon Islands, and getting SPC’s support in our bid for a test deployment of the low-power OLPC computer. VITUS was given a prototype to bring back to Vanuatu in order to demonstrate its value as a learning and communications tool in Vanuatu. This writer has had the opportunity to use this computer for over a week. Expect to hear more about this here as well as on television in the weeks to come.
