[comp.society] Electronic Peace Corps

patth@dasys1.UUCP (Patt Haring) (08/07/87)

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Electronic Peace Corps Proposal

Feb. 8, 1986

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                  WHY NOT AN ELECTRONIC PEACE CORPS?
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                         By David H. Rothman

     WASHINGTON--In  an  Atlanta  suburb a $50,000-a-year  engineer  spends
countless  hours  twiddling  with his  new  IBM  comuter.   The  technology
engrosses  him,  but  he  lacks a sense of  purpose.   In  southeast  Asia,
meanwhile,  a  young  man  wrestles  with calculations needed  to  build  a
hydroelectric dam.   He thinks his figures are correct, yet isn't certain--
and thousands of people will die if the dam collapses.
     Can the Atlanta engineer somehow help his counterpart abroad?
     There  is  a way,  if politicians for once will appeal to  the  better
instincts of technicians.   An Electronic Peace Corps could bring these two
together  and  offer the Third World some of the  best  American  technical
expertise  via  computer networks.   A useful lap-sized computer sells  for
less than a $700 with an economy printer, and much better, cheaper, simpler
portables are on the way.
     What's more,  thanks to satellites, international communications costs
are  falling;  and 1,000-word messages anywhere in the world,  via  special
packet-switching networks,  could cost just $1.  Already, American users of
a  private  net  called Econet pay just 25 cents a  message  plus  a  small
membership fee to send information anywhere from Sweden to Japan,  and soon
Third World nations such as Sri Lanka will be online.
     The Electronic Peace Corps,  then, needn't threaten the taxpayers.  By
basically  exporting knowledge instead of people,  it in fact would give us
more  for  our  money.    It  would  emphasize  the  basics  like   health,
agriculture, transportation and communications.
     Carrying  out the idea,  the U.S.  government or private groups  might
keep computer files listing the skills and information required in specific
underdeveloped  countries,  identifying  the individuals abroad who  needed
help,  and  the  Americans who might be able to provide it.   Most  of  the
Americans  wouldn't  even be computer experts--just people with  the  right
technical knowhow.   Some might be ex-Peace Corpsmen.  Others might receive
special   cultural  indoctrination  if  need  be  to  avoid   sending   the
stereotypical Ugly American abroad electronically.
     Once in the corps,  U.S. experts might regularly correspond via E-mail
at  nights and on weekends,  or on occasion "talk" instantly to Third World
counterparts.   Of  course,  not every Third World beneficiary might use  a
micro; some might submit written questions, which local Peace Corps offices
could pass on electronically.
     Even more important than the electronic mail,  however,  might be  the
ability  of professionals in the Third World to tap directly into the  vast
amounts of information stored in computers in the U.S.
     For  instance,  as  I  write  this,  Dr.  Cyril  Ponnamperuma,  senior
scientific  advisor  to  the  president of Sri Lanka and  director  of  the
Institute  of  Fundamental  Studies  there,  hopes  to  bring  in  chemical
abstracts  from  the  U.S.  via computer rather than spend perhaps  half  a
million dollars on a set of back volumes.
     Then  Sri  Lankan researchers--in important areas such  as  medicine--
won't  have  to  wait  for  for updates  to  wend  their  way  through  the
international mails.
     Even  now,  when some Latin American doctors have questions,  the  Pan
American  Health  Organization  can tap into the Medline computers  at  the
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,  Md.   Soon the information will
be computer-sent, too.
     What's more, just by tapping out combinations of keywords, you can use
computer  memories to locate highly specific facts.   Say you want to  know
about solar energy in India.   Rather than searching out "Solar energy" and
"Egypt"  in the memory,  you might tap both categories in at once and  have
the answers or citations spew up in one tidy package. once
     The EPC,  however,  needn't be rely just on mailed-in or computer-sent
facts.   Over  the next few years it will be possible to store volume  upon
volume  of information on compact disks similar to those used  to  preserve
music.   Perhaps in the end the electronic nets will simply be used to keep
the  information  on the disks up to date,  and to answer questions via  E-
Mail.
     Whatever means it uses to spread knowledge, the Electronic Peace Corps
wouldn't  replace Americans in the existing Peace Corps,  and  it  wouldn't
start  out  aiding  people  directly at the  village  level.   It  wouldn't
immediately  hand out lapsized portables,  say,  to  bare-foot  farmers--at
least  not until the technology made this feasible.   Rather the EPC in the
beginning would help carefully selected members of foreign elites who  were
contributing  to development in one way or another;  Americans in the field
would make certain,  for instance, that a New Delhi slumlord didn't use the
EPC to automate his dunning operation.
     Typical EPC beneficiaries might be:
  *       --A  veterinarian  baffled  by  an  epidemic  that  was   killing
     thousands of cattle.
  *       --People  trying  to  set up a more efficient  food  distribution
     network.   Millions  are starving because the food goes to  the  wrong
     places.    Sometimes,  incidentally,  the  "wrong places" include  the
     warehouses of thieves;  and good computerized records could reduce the
     opportunites for corruption.
  *       --A  civil  engineer  working on a road or  bridge  for  isolated
     villagers who hoped to sell food to cities.
  *       --A  public  health administrator who was seeking to  computerize
     his  records  so  members of his staff could spend more  time  in  the
     field.   Special computer programs, perhaps transmitted via satellite,
     might help him and others mentined below.
  *       --A  doctor  wanting to check a diagnoses or determine  a  proper
     drug dosage,  who could quickly contact a U.S. specialist or plug into
     a medical data base.
  *       --A  rural  assistance  administrator.   Micros  could  help  his
     staffers keep abreast of the latest Third World nitty-gritty,  such as
     the newest, best way to dig a well or treat a dysentery-stricken baby.
  *       --A  communications specialist hoping to modernize his  country's
     phone service.   For obvious reasons,  better communications might  be
     one  of  the EPC's first priorities.   Even countries with poor  phone
     lines,  however,  can  receive  some computer messages  to  the  large
     cities.   And the EPC would be as good a reason as any for U.S. aid to
     beef up Third World phone systems.   Good communciations can double or
     triple  the market for a Third World farmer--can help direct the  food
     to where it's most needed.
     This   could  have  a  domestic  version,   too.    Because  of  lower
communications  cost,  the Home Corps (to borrow a friend's  phrase)  might
take  more chances helping nonexperts without credentials.   A gifted  high
school writer in Harlem might tap out short stories on a school computer; a
famous   author across town might zip the files back--with comments  easily
inserted  electronically.   The two might meet a few times in person,  then
carry  on  via  computer without the hassles and menace  of  urban  travel.
Likewise  a  Beverly  Hills  executive might  volunteer  help  to  a  small
businesswoman in Watts.
     The  most  urgent need for EPC-style assistance,  however,  is in  the
Third  World,  where,  because  of  technical  backwardness,  so  many  are
starving.   The  idea  isn't so far fetched.   In fact the Third  World  is
already enjoying some similar help in a small way.
     The CARINET computer network links the United States,  the  Caribbean,
Southeast  Asia  and Africa.   Long before harvest time a  Jamaican  tomato
grower  can  learn how promising a market there'll be for his crop  in  the
U.S.--or an African potter can find out how to make a ceramic insulator for
his local phone company.
     Jerome   Glenn,   an   official  with  Partnership  for   Productivity
International,  the Washington-based group behind CARINET, says the answers
often come in just a day.
     Of all the existing international nets,  Econet may be the cheapest to
use.
     Started with help from Apple Computers,  Econet reaches people thorugh
Tymnet,  a  worldwide  computer system and a subsidiary  of  the  McDonnell
Douglas  Corporation.    I'm an unabashed booster of the network because it
costs  just  25  cents to send a message to anyone  hooked  in,  thanks  to
Tymnet's  generosity.   Normally the only other charges to use the  network
are  (1)  a  membership fee that can be perhaps $15 a month or  less  to  a
really  hard-pressed group and (2) the costs of dialing up Tymnet when  its
computers aren't reachable through local U.S. phone connections.
     If you post public messages electronically,  moreover,  you don't  pay
the 25 cent charge.
     Econet's public posting ability is no small use.  The people helping a
planned computer net in Sri Lankanas,  for instance, are spread out all the
way  from  California  (home of Christian Stalberg,  the  man  running  the
network) to North Carolina (home of Jeff Fobes,  an expert on international
communciations policy) to Texas (home of John Oeffinger, an official with a
Baylor  University  medical research foundation) and Canada  (home  of  Dan
Kolis,  an expert on satellite dishes).   And yet when the Sri Lankans join
the  net,  they'll be able to send questions to everyone at once.   For the
moment   the  questions  will  relate  to  the  establishment  of   cheaper
communications between Sri Lanka and the U.S.   But in the future,  they'll
directly  address agricultural and  medical matters and other  Third  World
concerns--and elicit answers from the appropriate experts.
     Rather  than  competing with such private efforts,  an EPC could  fund
them  and supply technical expertise, both to the U.S.  groups using  micro
communications and to Third World people abroad.   One of the lessons  I've
learned  from  Econet  is  that an EPC would work best if  hooked  in  with
existing organizations.  It shouldn't try to replicate their efforts with a
vast bureaucracy.   In fact,  the EPC should start with a small budget,  to
accustom  people to doing things the least expensive way.   The  EPC  might
even  draw on technical help from members of local groups  of,  say,  Apple
owners, or IBM owners.
     Top  foreign  aid and computer experts expressed support of the  basic
EPC proposal to Jeff Fobes and me after it appeared in the Washington  Post
and some 14 other newspapers and was the subject of a National Public Radio
interview.
     Just  as  I'd  imagined,   the  technicians  were  far  ahead  of  the
politicians.  One of the most distinguished technicians of them all--Arthur
C.  Clarke,  the father of the communications satellites--has described the
EPC proposal as "an excellent idea."
     A Sri Lankan diplomat, moreover, Naren Chitty, praised the EPC concept
as  "a  positive  approach  to technology transfer"  in  "these  days  when
'electronic   imperialism'   is  a  catchword."   And   a   Saudi   Arabian
ects such as  the  Saudis'.
Similarly it might work the United Nations University out of Toyko, some of
whose  staffers  hope  to  tie development  experts  in  various  countries
together via computer.
     If  the EPC concept sounds intriguing--either as an independent agency
or  one  working  within  the existing  Peace  Corps--why  not  write  your
congressman?   Ideally, too, this will eventually be fodder for the "Issues
Office" of your favorite presidential candidate.   Readers outside the U.S.
may  want  to  work within their own governments for the creation  of  EPC-
style agencies.  Similarly a UN-run EPC would be highly desirable.
+----------------------------------------------------------- --------------+
l     David H. Rothman, author of The Silicon Jungle (Ballantine,         l
l 1985), from which this is adapted, is reachable on Econet as            l
  His MCI Mail address is "Jeff Fobes", his  l
l Telex one is 6502213448, and his paper one is Box 357, Webster, N.C.    l
l 28788.  Telephone: 704/586-9705.  Appropriate people and groups         l
l wanting to join Econet should reach Christian Stalberg at               l
l 707/887-2941 or 707/874-3060.  Trial memberships last 1-2 months and    l
l are free, excluding individual messages and connection charges.         l
l Econet, as suggested by its name, also provides electronic networks     l
l for environmental activists.                                            l
+----------------------------------------------------------- --------------+
                *************************************
                *             ATTENTION             *
                *************************************
                *The  EPC  article above    includes*
                *copyrighted   material.    However,*
                *groups in international development*
                *and others may reprint the material*
                *without permission if they promptly*
                *mail  clips to Jeff Fobes and David*
                *Rothman  (see addresses at  end  of*
                *article).    Anyone  may  reproduce*
                *this  material  electronically   if*
                *he or she notifies us of use.--DHR.*
                *************************************


P.S.  There is no longer a free "trial" subscription to ECONET.
      Anyone who wishes to reach John Oeffinger can do so
      via modem at 1-214-783-7548 Baylor University Network;
      there's also information on the Baylor Network about
      PANAnet - a network which connects Baylor to hospitals
      and doctors in Central and South America.
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