Foreign aid from Canada helping to develop Internet capacity in Latin America

Canadian efforts to expand the Internet into Latin America have been successful, but more work needs to be done. Leaders of four pilot projects were in Ottawa at the end of September to tell the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of their results.In introducing the session, Ricardo Gomez of the IDRC said the work falls under three headings. The first is as a nursery, incubating projects until they can grow. "Sometimes very small input can yield very large results," he noted. The second area is establishing alternative practices. Promotion of the Internet provides people with other avenues and engenders empowerment. Lastly is evaluation, which permits researchers to see what happens when communications technology is brought to poor areas. What happens in those communities was best illustrated by the presentation of Mino Eusebio Castro of the Ashaninka tribe in Peru. Establishing a wireless Internet in his community has allowed Castro’s tribe to document its traditional folk lore and keep records for future generations. (In a film accompanying Castro’s talk, an IDRC worker is shown asking an Ashaninka chief, "Is it possible to save all your ancient lore in a computer?" The chief, in full regalia, deadpans, "Oh, yes, the computer has enough capacity.") The Ashaninka are able to deal with authorities in Lima by remote communications, thus saving time and money from the previous arduous trek from the jungle to the capital city. Castro is most proud of the fact that young people in his village are now learning the skills to repair computer hardware and software themselves, thus increasing their self-reliance. Karin Delgadillo of Ecuador’s Fundacion Chasquinet stressed the importance of telecentres in the lives of her country’s street children. She said the telecentres are so crowded they are unable to close until at least 11 p.m. She noted that some enterprising children are downloading music from the Internet, burning CDs and selling them in the streets, just as they used to sell food and drink. She also used the example of women who sew traditional Ecuadorian garments and handicrafts. They have established a web site and are now busily engaged in e-commerce. One of the greatest challenges to providing service to remote regions is the lack of electricity and telephone connections. All of the participants in the IDRC panel concurred that connectivity is the hardest obstacle to overcome. The connectivity issue was the main focus of the speech by Kemly Camacho of Fundacion Acceso in Costa Rica. Her presentation on the impact of the Internet on civil society groups dealt with that and the other prime concern, the underutilization of resources. Non-governmental organizations, student groups, trade unions and the rest are heavy users of email, she noted, but chat rooms and other resources tend to be ignored. She called for more education to help these groups empower themselves. The convergence of radio and the Internet was promoted by Lorencita Pinto of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. Despite the lack of technical and financial resources, small community broadcasters are able to exchange material among themselves using Internet technology. This allows the groups to have full programming days and to better educate their listeners about other cultures. During a question-and-answer session following the formal presentations, one speaker from the floor suggested Canada should be doing more to assist these small groups. Companies like Nortel Network Corp, Corel Corp, and Bell Canada could be making their equipment and software available to the organizations, perhaps in return for tax credits. They would be providing the Latin Americans with valuable online training, he said. Delgadillo urged her audience to put pressure on Latin American governments to change telecom policy, so connectivity will cease to be an issue. "To do it alone is impossible, together we can make it," she said.

Foreign aid from Canada helping to develop Internet capacity in Latin America

News | 10/11/2000 4:00 am EDT

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