Subject: Fw: Partnerships & Participation - Rural Telecomm Conference Update
patricem@ombwatch.org
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 09:37:27 -0500
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 09:37:27 -0500 From: patricem@ombwatch.org Subject: Fw: Partnerships & Participation - Rural Telecomm Conference Update To: roundtable@cni.org References: <Pine.WNT.3.94.980818120328.-973023I-100000@pppuser.uoguelph.ca> Message-Id: <Chameleon.903534261.patrice@patrice.rtknet.org>
FYI.
-------------------------------------
Patrice McDermott
patricem@ombwatch.org
Date: 08/19/98
Time: 09:37:27
-------------------------------------
------------------------
From: Susan Rimkus <srimkus@uoguelph.ca>
Subject: Partnerships & Participation - Rural Telecomm Conference Update
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 10:02:41 GMT-0200
To: GRANITE@NIC.SURFNET.NL
Partnerships & Participation in Telecommunications
for Rural Development: Exploring What Works and Why
www.snowden.org
U of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada - October 26 & 27 1998
Online Pre-conference - October 1 to 21 1998
(Details on how you can participate
in this conference at the end of this email.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
If you think access to a telephone is an issue of the past,
consider the photo on the North Spirit Lake First Nation
(Ontario, Canada) web site at http://www.knet.on.ca/nsl/cevents.html.
In many countries, fewer than 1% of rural people have access to
a telephone - globally, most rural people have never used a
telephone.
In a developed country like Canada, many rural communities
still do not have basic telephone service, and many other
communities are seeking ways to obtain services on par with
their urban peers in order to gain access to the Internet and
access telemedicine and distance learning applications.
Advancing telecommunication for rural development has become a
key priority for many nations around the world, Canada
included.
According to recent reports from the International
Telecommunication Union, many factors which relate to and
influence "Communications for rural and remote areas" are
changing and are evolving very rapidly. Such factors include:
Technology is changing and progressing quickly,
providing continually increased capability at
progressively lower cost. This is especially true in
radio technology, which is usually the technology of
choice in serving the rural and remote areas of
developing countries.
Experience in implementing major Rural
Telecommunications Programmes is expanding quickly as
more countries recognize and respond to the
requirement. This results in an increasing knowledge
base which enables well proven conclusions to be
reached regarding the "best practices" which should be
followed by countries in implementing major Rural
Telecommunications Programmes.
The demands for telecommunication services from
residents of the rural and remote areas are rising
dramatically, as are the demands of those elsewhere who
want to communicate with these areas.
Rapid gains are being made in understanding and taking
advantage of the benefits in economic, social and
cultural development for the citizens of rural and
remote areas through integrated delivery of the
applications which are made possible by the advent of
telecommunication services.
Organizations involved in advancing rural telecommunications, from
Australia to Zambia are seeking to determine the best methods and
techniques for selecting appropriate technology options for rural
telecommunications, and the best methods of planning, implementing
and sustaining rural telecommunication development programmes.
Our conference focuses on learning more about the critical role
played by partnerships and the advancement of rural
telecommunications: partnerships between people in the private
sector, government and civil society that enhance rural
development through telecommunication applications.
Across history and around the world, creative partnerships are
at the root of rural telecommunication services - whether it be
early farm community telephone systems and rural radio systems
in North America, current rural telecommunication services in
Africa, rural telemedicine applications in the outback of
Australia, or high speed wireless rural data systems in Canada.
- How are these creative partnerships formed?
- What are the challenges to creating and sustaining
partnerships?
- What roles to partners play? How do we measure social and
economic impacts to justify investments?
Through case studies, presentations and working group
discussions conference participants will generate concrete
statements of "best practice," key recommendations, and ideas
for initiatives that will move forward the next generation of
partnerships to enhance rural development through
telecommunications.
Below are details on the conference and how you can
participate.
=============================================================
Partnerships and Participation in
Telecommunications for Rural Development:
Exploring What Works and Why
October 26 & 27 1998
University of Guelph
Guelph Ontario
Online Pre-Conference October 1 to 21 1998
http://www.snowden.org
Theme ________________________________________________________
Collaborations between agencies, communities, business,
institutions and government to improve telecommunications for
participatory rural development in Canadian and international
contexts.
Intended Audience ___________________________________________
Rural people, rural organizations & institutions,
policy-makers, economic & social development practitioners,
agri-business, companies serving rural areas, international
development organizations, and telecommunication industry
representatives.
Keynote Speakers ___________________________________________
Iqbal Quadir co-founder of Grameen Phone, Bangladesh
Terry Mosey Group Vice President, Product Portfolio
Management, Bell Canada
Iqbal Quadir will address the innovative partnerships and
creative thinking that are bringing the information revolution
to the rural people of Bangladesh. Such partnerships and
thinking are beginning to appear wherever rural people,
organizations, governments and service providers see
opportunities to use telecommunications to enhance social and
economic development. Mr. Quadir's work is helping to bring GSM
900 cellular mobile phone service to 100 million rural
inhabitants in 68,000 Bangladeshi villages by financing 50,000
members of the Grameen Bank (a cooperative bank owned by poor
Bangladeshi people) to provide pay phone service, and provide
direct phones to individual subscribers. As the project
develops, fax, email and Internet services will be added. The
village pay phone service is likely to become the largest
wireless pay phone project in the world. The lessons being
learned from the Grameen Phone model are just as applicable in
Canada as they are in a developing country.
Terry Mosey will address the future for rural
telecommunications and highlight Bell Canada's commitment to
partnerships with national/provincial stakeholders to improve
rural service and help rural users adopt useful applications
enabled by new technologies. Bell is undertaking a major
upgrade of telecommunication services in Ontario and Quebec in
order to, among other things, provide full digital service to
rural telecom users. This upgrade has significant implications
to rural communities and organizations wishing to develop
creative rural development, health, education, management and
personal applications of this new telecommunication
infrastructure. Mr. Mosey will be addressing the conference
via a video link from The Ontario Rural Council meeting being
held the same day at another site in the north of Ontario.
This interactive video link is provided by Bell Canada and
represents one of the many applications of advanced digital
telecommunication infrastructure for rural communities.
Speakers __________________________________________
A wide variety of people with "hands-on" experience in Canada
and overseas will be attending to make presentations and
participate in the workshops, including:
Sam Coghlan
rural wireless data networks in Canada
John Desmond
Nortel's wireless telecom services
Richard Fuchs
rural telecentres in Newfoundland and Africa
Gerry Kenney
CIDA and rural telecentres
Angelita Martini
rural telemedicine in Australia
Hugh Maynard
on-lne interactive agricultural extension, Quebec
Farmers' Association
Scott McConnel
evaluating the impact of rural telecom & Internet
in Uganda and Kenya
Fred McGuiness
telecommunication case studies from across Canada
Ricardo Ramirez
evaluating the impact of rural telecom in
Canada & internationally
Scott Robinson
rural telecentres in Mexico
David Reid
Community Access Project for rural
communities in Canada
Don Richardson
telecommunications for rual development
Larry Sanders
telecommunication access issues for native
communities in Canada
Dorothy Todd-Henaut
Challenge for Change Project in Canada
Mark Waldron
National Farm Radio Forum in Canada
Tony Williamson
former director of the Don Snowden Program
Conference Design ___________________________________________
This conference has two components:
1) The two-day face-to-face conference on October 26 & 27,
1998 will take place on the beautiful campus of the University
of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Guelph is a short 45
minute drive from Toronto with easy access to and from Toronto
International Airport (Pearson Airport).
The conference focuses on telecommunications for participatory
rural development. It looks at how lessons-learned in Canada
might be applied by people in other countries, and how lessons
learned in other countries might be applied in Canada.
2) The free online pre-conference located at
http://www.snowden.org from
October 1 to 21, 1998 will provide opportunities to discuss
past, present and future uses of communication technology in
rural areas. The aim of the pre-conference process is to
identify and explore key issues related to telecommunications
for rural development across sectors.
Face-to-Face Conference ______________________________________
The face-to-face conference on campus at the University of
Guelph on October 26 & 27, 1998 will consist of half-day
workshops designed to generate specific recommendations to
enhance rural telecommunication project planning. Participants
will work closely with one another to develop recommendations
and actions for the future.
The workshops include:
a. Reviewing the Past: Communication for Development
Lessons Learned
b. Telecommunications for Rural Development Today:
Generating Results
c. Future Directions: Recommendations for Project
Planning
d. Measuring Rural Development Impact: How and What to
Measure?
Each workshop will receive an orientation from a panel of
people with expertise in the topic area. Workshops will be
interspersed with short case studies of rural telecommunication
projects and applications. During lunch sessions, participants
will hear in-depth case studies of projects that involve
creative partnerships, new technologies and innovative
applications for rural development.
Poster sessions, video screenings and other media presentations
are invited for display at the face-to-face conference. We are
open to innovative ideas; please contact us with your
suggestions.
Registration _________________________________________________
Registration at the 2 day face-to-face conference is CDN$ 349 +
GST or US$ 300 for non-Canadian residents. You may download a
registration form from http://www.snowden.org. To register by
phone, fax or mail, please contact Conference Services at the
University of Guelph at (519) 824-4120 ext. 2353 or by fax at
(519) 837-8630.
Online Pre-Conference _________________________________________
The online pre-conference from October 1 to 21 is free and is
open to everyone. You may register for it in advance at
http://www.snowden.org.
It will include the following discussion areas:
1. Lessons Learned from Past and Present Participatory
Rural Development Strategies
2. Current Rural Development Activities Involving
Telecommunications & Internet
3. Future Activities: Building on Lessons Learned
Submissions are still welcome for the online pre-conference.
Papers will be used to focus on-line discussion. Such papers
may also be published in the conference proceedings.
Submissions can be made in any language, but the on-line
pre-conference web site will be designed in English. Interested
participants should provide a 300-500 word summary of their
paper or presentation by mail or email. Email submissions
should be included in the body of the message instead of as
attachments. Summaries should include a full title, the
author's name, author's affiliated organization if applicable,
email address, telephone, fax and postal address. A brief
biography of the author would be appreciated.
Pre and Post Conference Receptions __________________________
Conference participants are encouraged to attend the
complimentary wine and cheese receptions on Sunday October 25,
8 to 10:00 pm at the College Motor Inn, and in Peter Clark Hall
on Wednesday October 27th from 5 to 7:00 pm.
Conference Hosts ____________________________________________
This conference is being held by the Don Snowden Program in
partnership with the TeleCommons Development Group and the
Foundation for International Training.
Conference funders ___________________________________________
Industry Canada
SR Telecom Inc
International Development Research Centre
Bell Canada
University of Guelph
Rural Secretariat - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Foundation for International Training
TeleCommons Development Group
Don Snowden Program for Development Communication
==============================================================
To receive a conference registration package, send your postal
address to registration@snowden.ca or go to the conference
website at http://www.snowden.org to print and fax/mail a
registration form.
---------------End of Original Message-----------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a16 : Tue Mar 23 1999 - 03:33:39 EST