JSDF_SF_UgandaD6

I. Title

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ICT FOR E-LEARNING, TELEMEDICNE, INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE PROMOTION AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OF UGANDA

II. Goal

To establish (i) broadband Internet network (UgaNet) of universities, research centres and institutions of learning that will enhance interaction among these institutions and, at the same time, link them with their communities for enabling their life-long learning to increase their productivity for poverty eradication, and (ii) Local Community Development Networks (LCDNs) which is to link diverse rural communities for knowledge sharing through exchange of experiences.

III. Objectives

a. To promote the establishment of wireless or satellite broadband Internet linkages and networks for distance learning in small regional universities and rural communities so they can have access to information, data, and education facilities; and, at the same time, promote the establishment of Internet connection to schools, libraries, hospitals, and local governmental authorities -- see Figure 1 in ANNEX II.

b. To promote the use of information and communication technologies for economic development and wealth creation in the country by the participation of farming and pastoral communities for improving agricutural and animal husbandary practices and to engage them in knowledge and information sharing by harnessing the emerging broadband connectivity to enhance these activites as well as to improve welfare.

c. To promote the establishment of tele-immersion environment in the country, which emphasizes the critical elements of the peoplesí cultural heritages, history of the people as well as their daily experiences based on their indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) by linking them to centers of learning and promoting ICT to local language development and use in research, recording and retrieval.

d. To create the Global University System in Uganda (GUS/UGANDA) in order to establish technological alternatives to promote the above objectives as well as learning-ware, digital libraries, virtual laboratories and virtual universities with high-speed wireless and satellite technology, which is designed to deliver cost-effective transmission of voice, text, and video content anywhere in Africa and the world.

See more in ANNEX I.

See ìCreating Global University Systemî at;

http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Global_University/Global University System/UNESCO_Chair_Book/Manuscripts/Part_II_Intercultur/Utsumi Creating GUS/Creating_GUS/GUS_web_upload/Creating GUS-D11-053003.htm

IV. Schema

1. UgaNet will interconnect small regional university campuses in Eastern, Northern and Western regions of Uganda as well as linking them to colleges and institutions and centres of higher education and research in these parts of Uganda via broadband microwave and/or satellite Internet. They are;

Buwalasi University College, Mbale,
Islamic University in Uganda, Mbale,
Busoga University, Iganga,
Kumi University, Kumi, Soroti,
Gulu University, Gulu,
Kabale University, Kabale,
Afrika Study Centre, Mbale
Centre for Strategic Studies, Wakiso
Others

2. Local Community Development Networks (LCDNs) will link diverse rural communities for knowledge sharing through exchange of experiences and the promotion of indigenous knowledge for development as well as connecting them to universities and colleges, selected secondary and elementary schools, libraries, hospitals, local government offices, NGOs, etc. by broadband wireless Internet.

See more in ANNEX II.

V. The JSDF/Seed Fund Phase Activities

Application is made for the Japanese Social Development Fund (JSDF)/Seed Fund (US$54,000) for the following activities:

Step 1: Fact-Finding and Assessment Trip by Dr. Utsumi.

To meet the Uganda supporters/promoters of the project and discuss with them the various elements of the programme involving e-learning and e-healthcare and how these can be linked together in the context of the GUS/UNESCO/UNITWIN Networking Chair Program;
To conduct preliminary field survey for deploying fixed spread spectrum broadband wireless Internet of UgaNet and the Local Community Development Network (LCDN), which will connect these Universities and Colleges with several secondary schools, hospitals and communities using the Community Project Assistant Fund (about US$80,000) of the Japanese government;
To find out current Internet capability for a demonstration during the mini-workshop, and examine the possibilities of extending e-learning and e-healthcare programs from the US and other countries to Uganda;
To plan the organization of the mini-workshop, etc.

Step 2: Mini-workshop (3 days) three months after Step 1 above

Together with Ugandan stakeholders and invited persons from different parts of the world, examine which of the e-learning and e-health experiences would be available through the currently available Internet capability for extending to Uganda;
To form a coalition of UgaNet and Local Community Development Networks (LCDNs) for connecting higher, secondary and elementary schools, hospitals, libraries and local non-profit organizations and governmental agencies;
To discuss the deployment of the linkages and set up the relevant structures such as a Project Committee, etc.;
To plan the subsequent large workshop, which will reflect and advise on the overall project and its mechanisms with assistance from the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), etc.

The deliverable of the above activities will be the full proposal for the JSDF, which will be prepared by the participatory discussions of a Project Committee, which will consist with the selected members of the UgaNet/LCDNs coalition and outside consultants, for maximum effectiveness and sustainability. The outside consultants are necessary because of high-tech nature of (a) the UgaNet/LCDNs and (b) e-learning and e-healthcare, both of which experiences are scarce in Uganda at the present. The well-developed JSDF grant proposal will be submitted within 12 months after this seed fund application is approved and granted.

VI. Description of the JSDF Phase Activities

As soon as the JSDF is available, an international workshop will be held at the International Conference Centre, Kampala, Uganda to brainstorm on and to form a committee for the deployment of broadband Internet in Uganda and to set up relevant structures to strengthen existing ones and draw up the National Project Plan. We will outline the preparatory work to be carried out by the committee for about a half year after the workshop, and identify roles of the committee members. The plan will include specification of broadband Internet telecommunication configurations, their systems design, feasibility study, market survey and action plan of implementing the infrastructures, and production of cost estimates for dish antenna, transceivers and satellite segments, as well as designing of organizational structures for technical support and administration, etc.

This is to follow the model made by Uruguay people who have already received about US$750,000 from the Japan Special Fund of Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) for their preparatory work to subsequently receive financial support for the implementations of their broadband Internet among K-12 schools.

During this International Workshop, there will also be discussions on how to form joint programs and projects on the content development with the appropriate parties in the North America and Europe through the envisioned broadband Internet ñ see ANNEX VI.

The resultant comprehensive document will be used to seek the following funding opportunities from the Japanese government:

1. Community Project Assistance Fund (CPAF)

This fund (of about US$80,000 per one application) will be used to deploy the Local Community Development Network (LCDN) around the UgaNet affliated institutions, universities and colleges to connect them with their nearby secondary and elementary schools, hospitals, libraries, and local non-profit organizations and governmental agencies, with the use of fixed spread spectrum wireless broadband Internet.

2. Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF)

This fund will be used;

To deploy the LCDNs which are not covered by the CPAF mentioned above,
To deploy the UgaNet to connect its affiliated colleges and universities and other institutions of higher learning with the use of broadband digital microwave network,
To initiate global e-learning and e-healthcare to the Uganda sites,
To initiate joint content development, research and development, global forum for idea and information exchange with counterparts in Asia, America, Europe, and other parts of the world.

3. Non-cultural aid grant out of the ODA fund

This fund is not only for conducting the same as above which are not covered by the JSDF, but also to connect selected colleges and universities to the outside world with the use of broadband digital satellite,

The strategy here is to make broadband Internet available to many communities and the broadband trunk line connection among the local universities as soon as possible with the use of low cost wireless Internet units and microwave network. The broadband satellite Internet connection from selected universities to the outside world will be made later with the Japanese ODA fund. In a sense, this is a bottom-up approach since the process of getting the Japanese ODA fund takes a long time. This approach has been taken in other African countries.

See more ANNEX IV.

VII. Expected Project Results and Benefits

See ANNEX III.

VIII. Capabilities of Proponents

Principal Promoter and Coordinator

Zerubaberi M, Nyiira, Ph. D.

Co-Principal Promoter and Coordinator

Prof. Dani W. Nabudere

and

Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E.

See ANNEX VII for resumes.

ANNEX I: Project Objectives

ANNEX II: General Scheme of Uganda Network of Universities (UgaNet) and Local Community Development Network (LCDN)

ANNEX III: Expected Project Results and Benefits

ANNEX IV: Financing UgaNet and LCDNs

ANNEX V: Synopsis of Principal Organizations

ANNEX VI: Joint Programs and Projects

ANNEX VII: Resumes

ANNEX VIII: Letter of Support and Commitment

ANNEX IX: Budget

ANNEX I

Project Objectives

In general, Informatics plays an important role in teaching and learning, and particularly, in the development of engineering and architectural courses. Nowadays, science and technology development is inconceivable without computer aid.

A true revolution in e-learning and telemedicine requires high-speed access to the World Wide Web and the flexibility to offer a variety of media. Developing countries need broadband Internet via international satellite and optical fiber cable.

The objective of increasing quality of audio / video delivery, high interactivity, and system throughput can be seen as a global objective of closing digital divide for improving e-learning and e-healthcare services.

By their nature, New Information and Communication Technologies (NITs) are ideally suite to the needs of distance education. The new ware of technical facilities renders it possible now, metaphorically speaking, to bring the lecture hall, the library and the laboratory combined, into the room of a student who possesses a relatively cheap personal computer (PC). We are witnessing a new kind of mobility in higher education, by means of which it is the university (and the whole range of its facilities) that goes to the student. In that manner, access to higher education studies is open to large categories of people, both within national boundaries and internationally. NITs become equally important for all universities and other higher university institutions to attach an objective they had recognized as their own a long time ago, namely the need to become true centers of life-long learning. It is now perfectly within their possibility to develop large-scale post-graduate programs, special training courses for the updating of knowledge, teacher-training skills to which larger number of people can have access. Moreover, adult-education programs stand now a new chance, thanks to the possibilities offered by the introduction of NITs. It is accordingly expected that the use of Informatics in distance education will occupy a major place in Education and Healthcare Systems.

On the other hands, for many years, UNESCO, IFIP, IEEE, GUS and other international organizations have understood the importance of computing applications in Education and Healthcare Systems.

Many international conferences dedicated to study and analyze the main problems in developing countries have recognized the following as the essential difficulties in computing education field:

(a) Lack of qualified teachers and professors;

(b) Limited material and financial resources;

(d) Lack of qualified personnel and resources for computer and peripheral equipment.

Considering the constraints mentioned above, we propose the following as the main objectives of the present project:

a. To promote the development of communities (universities, elementary and secondary schools, hospitals and others) with the use of high-speed wireless Internet connections for e-learning and e-healthcare associated with content development ñ see Figure 1 in ANNEX II.

b. To create the Global University System / Uganda (GUS/Uganda) in order to establish technological alternatives to promote access and use of the available technology for e-learning in educational and e-healthcare in medical fields with the Official Development Assistant (ODA) fund of the Japanese government ñ see ANNEX IV.

ANNEX III

Expected Project Results and Benefits

I. Social Benefits

It is expected that broadband wireless and satellite Internet, available to universities, elementary, primary and secondary schools and hospitals, will promote the interaction among young people from different areas of Uganda with young people from the rest of the world.

As the infrastructure becomes a reality, there will be a need for the development of content (e-learning on environmental education, rational techniques and methods for implementation of suitable agricultural farm land practices and e-healthcare, etc.) and of new uses of the technology (Internet telephony, distance medical diagnose, access to information, etc.).

In this process, the rural communities in the various regions of Uganda will come closer empowered to utilise their resources for their own transformation as well as becoming more aware of their connection to other communities in Uganda and globally. This is a project capable of replication throughout Uganda and other parts of Africa, which are closely related to the problems of development which Uganda faces. The replication and expansion will happen through strong partnership with other institutions in the country and the East African Community at large. The consortium (UgaNet and LCDN) will play a major role in this initiative because they are located in a country which is rapidly taking up ICT in its national plans from which the neighbouring countries can emulate.

So, this project of deploying UgaNet and LCDNs is a community development approach, firstly connecting non-profit organizations (elementary, secondary and higher education institutions, libraries, hospitals, local governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations, etc.) and secondly with profit-making organizations to have global E-Rate, thus all applicable groups are inclusive. The more participants can share the cost of expensive digital satellite trunk line better. The use of broadband wireless Internet for the LCDN will make their participation easy so that the so-called "last-mile" problem to reach individual end-users can more effectively be solved.

II. Technical and Economic Benefits

The main focus of the proposed broadband Internet (see Figure 1) is either or both of satellite and terrestrial (microwave and/or spread-spectrum) wireless approach in viewpoints of the regionís geographical constraints and their cost effectiveness. At the main campuses of the affiliated universities, the spread-spectrum with 802.11b protocol will be the most cost-effective option for their local area networking. The community development network in the cities of the affiliated colleges and universities will also be connected with this technology. Students of the universities and all schools in the cities will then be able to access Internet at high speed wherever they are within the coverage of its antenna. This is to provide e-learners with self-pacing, interactive, and customized courses that are perfect fit to learner motivation and target language environment.

The community development approach of this project will include all interested parties in the cities of the affiliated colleges and universities. This will not only contribute to the problem of digital literacy among poor, but also create new job opportunities to the graduates of the universities, and even E-Rate with the involvement of profit-oriented organizations in the later stage.

III. Cost Effectiveness of Wireless Broadband Internet

The cost effectiveness of this project of deploying community development networks are;

The proposed activities provide the most cost effective method to promote the use of advanced broadband Internet for the benefit of societies in remote/rural areas of Uganda and later the whole of Uganda
The wireless Internet requires (i) less regulations, (ii) less initial investment, and (iii) less operating costs. (After initial investment in tranceivers and antennas, expensive recurring monthly cost for leasing broadband Internet does not need to be paid.)
E-learning and e-healthcare can thus provide (a) more flexibility, (b) more enhanced content and (c) more accessibility.

IV. Expected Utilization of Broadband Internet

Anticipated activities with the use of Local Community Development Network are:

(i). Use of broadband Internet connection:

Teleconferences, based on text
Videoconferences
Web-based instructions
Local experts assistance to medium size enterprises
Multimedia web-based educational course development
Scientific knowledge exchange

(ii). Two-way interactive use in e-healthcare, environmental education and training:

Access to environmental databases and monitoring information
Access to medical data bases
Medical training
Remote diagnostics
Emergency support, like in floods and fire situations
Prevention care

V. Poverty Reduction Impact

Ugandaís economic performance over the last ten years has been noted for its high growth rates. However the corresponding poverty alleviation, although positive, has not matched these high economic growth rates. In 1997, the government of Uganda developed a central policy-planning framework, which is called The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). This plan recognizes that poverty is a multidimensional problem, not only an income one, and eradicating it requires actions that empower the poor by opening up ways for them to participate in the economy and in other decisions that affect their lives.

A survey carried out in the country in 2002 revealed that ordinary people described poverty as "a situation of perpetual need for the daily necessities of life, such as food, shelter, or clothing as well as a feeling of powerlessness to influence the things around you." This clearly demonstrates that poverty is about more than income and expenditure figures and it affects different people and localities differently. It is not a uniform condition. A multi-faced approach is necessary, combining complementary, sustainable, and relevant interventions that are location-specific, carefully targeted, and mindful of seasonal pressures on households.

The survey also revealed that majority of the poor people were frustrated in their attempts to move out of poverty and demanded any poverty alleviation should build on their existing resources and activities provide the impetus for development. The researchers noted that this sounded like adult basic education principles. It was noted that co-operation in the community leads to development and the examples cited included communities whose members co-operated to undertake development activities, such as women's savings groups.

According to a recent census, Ugandaís population is 25 million people where 50.8% are women and 49.2% are men. Sixty-five percent of this population is illiterate. This compounds the problem of poverty alleviation. In urban areas, the adult literacy rate is higher than in rural areas with 87% and 59% respectively. At a literacy rate of 65%, Uganda has the lowest literacy rate in East Africa. Nevertheless, within Uganda, glaring disparities exist between regions and districts. The populations in the North of the country, especially pastoral communities, are the worst affected.

The survey also revealed that multidimensionality of poverty implied that non-literate people become hard-to-reach to bring about poverty reduction. They get isolated from rapid information and communication advances and become marginalised in powerful modernising processes even more. The researchers noted that in policy terms, literacy can act as a mechanism of social inclusion, as a tool for empowerment and a direction for participation and directing of development by poor people themselves especially women who constitute 57% of non-literate people in Uganda. Illiteracy is therefore a form of inequality in Uganda between individuals, gender, districts and even regions. Hence, illiteracy as a dimension of poverty, inequality and exclusion needs to be tackled in its own right. This was because illiteracy has a negative impact on the distributive aspects of opportunities, scale of economic, social and political growth and poverty eradication measures. According to the Guiding Principles of the 1995 Uganda Constitution, education is one of the fundamental rights to which Ugandans are irrespective of age, gender or other dimensions are entitled.

The implementation of a modern communication technology can drastically reduce the risks threatening the region. A broadband or faster and more reliable communication network will link people and institutions within and between communities in the country. This will increase their ability to engage in productive activities in a more satisfying way and thereby contributing to the drive for poverty reduction and improvement in their quality of life. Technological propagation is not an end in itself, but a means to a larger end with clear and compelling community benefit. The development of such network will benefit communities living in remote areas of other country in the future.

VI. Replicability

This activity is to be a model replicable to other localities and regions, as leading the use of the advanced Internet in various sectors of societies. The local higher educational institution participants will have the broadband Internet satellite earth-station, and will become the major Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the local community of non-profit organizations. The higher education institution will then provide teacher training to secondary and elementary schools and promotion of digital literacy with training courses/seminars at public library, hospitals and healthcare facilities, local governmental offices, etc., and also act as facilitators and technical supporters to other non-profit organizations. These teacher-training and technical support can be the on-the-job training of the graduate students of the universities, thus creating new job opportunities after their graduation in local communities.

It is expected that interaction among the affiliated universities will contribute to the dissemination of information about alternatives to promote sustainable development in Uganda. At the same time, the region's population will have better access to healthcare information, which will contribute to a better quality of life. In addition, a number of e-learning courses will be developed which will decrease isolation and offer better opportunities for those living in Uganda.

We hope the scheme of this UgaNet and LCDNs projects will be replicated elsewhere.

VII. Summary

In summary, the following benefits can be expected;

ANNEX V

Synopsis of Principal Organizations

1. Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Islamic University in Uganda and Afrika Study Centre

The Uganda National Council for Science and Technology is public corporate institution created in 1990 by an Act of Parliament to promote and develop science and technology, and carry out activities that ensure sustainable integration of science and technology in the national development process. Its functions include creation of appropriate establishments that will support basic value added services for rural community development. The Council established rural multipurpose community telecentre to promote the development and improvement of communications infrastructure in selected rural centers in Uganda to facilitate and improve the economic and social value of rural communities. The Council has developed important projects in sustainable use of indigenous knowledge and practices funded by the World Bank.

Having the responsibility to coordinate the national policy on all fields of science and technology, the Council is linked to universities and institutions of higher learning including Makerere University (central region), Mbarara University of Science and Technology (western region), Islamic University in Uganda (eastern region) and Gulu University (northern region), and to all science and technology programmes in the public and private sectors throughout the country.

In addition to its programmes, the Council has special collaborative activities with Afrika Study Centre, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge, Uganda Information Society Foundation and other community development organisations.

The Council is implementing important projects in information and communication technology and indigenous knowledge systems funded by donor agencies such as UNDP, IDRC and the World Bank and other projects on sustainable development funded by SIDA/SAREC, UNEP/GEF, EU, USAID and the Government of Uganda.

The Council has operational flexibility that circumvents the bueracracy thus enabling it to mobilize resources for its operations and collaborate freely with both national and international development agencies worldwide. This will facilitate linkages and information sharing.

The Islamic University in Uganda-IUIU is a private international university, which was established by the decisiÛn of the International Islamic Conference (IOC) in 1974. The decisiÛn was inspired by the realisation that the Muslim minorities in Afrika had limited educational opportunities and were therefore lacking in professional and academic qualifications. The aim and objective of the University is, among others, for the university to function as an academic and cultural institution which can enhance the cilvilisational and scientific influence of Islam, to promote culture and science among African peoples and to contribute to rapport and solidarity between the African people and the rest of humankind.

The University is located in Mbale district of eastern Uganda bordering the pastoral and agricultural communities of this region. It is well situated to attract students from the neighbouring countries of Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania from which it draws most of its students. Although it is an Islmaic university nevetheless, under Uganda educational legislation, it is required to open its doors to non-Moslem students in a spirit of a true university, upholding not only Islamic values but also universal values that unite humankind.

It is in this spirit that the Afrika Study Centre under the directorship of Prof. Dani W. Nabudere in 1999 entered into a collaboration arrangement between the Afrika Study Centre-ASC and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences-FASS of the Islamic University in Uganda-IUIU. The agreement has five collaborative elements. The first element involves the appointment of Professor Dani W. Nabudere, the Executive Director of the ASC, as Professor Emeritus for purposes of the collaboration arrangement. In return, the FASS was expected to attach a member of their staff to the ASC in order to collaborate with Professor Dani W. Nabudere for purposes of promoting the agreement.

The second element involves the carrying out of joint research between the IUIU and the ASC in the fields of the social sciences on an interdisciplinary basis. In the advancement of this objective, Afrika Study Centre has used the members of staff seconded to the Centre by the University to carry out a three-year research programme on agro-pastoral conflict and violence, which has resulted in the production of one book and five monographs from the research. These are now being published. Moreover this programme is proving innovative in that as we link the two institutions, we expect that under the GUS-UGANDA the arrangement can be widened to include linkages to rural pastoral communities as indicated under the Joint Programs and projects below.

The third element involves Professor Dani W. Nabudere assisting the IUIU in staff development through supervision of their lecturers wishing to do their PhD in the social science disciplines as well as in the humanities. As a result, three lecturers were seconded to Professor Nabudere for this purpose and continue to be assisted. As indicated above, it is with these lecturers that a research project on agro-pastoral conflict and violence was carried out. These members of the staff have become an important key link in the extension of university teaching and research to rural research activities, which can lead to life long learning for those communities through the GUS-UGANDA program which is to be developed.

The fourth element of the collaboration involves staff exchange between the two institutions as well as Universities and Institutions in other parts of the World, particularly when they are linked to research in fields of special interest to the IUIU and the ASC. This element of the agreement has not been explored but with of activities envisaged under the GUS-UGANDA program we expect that this aspect can be developed to include links with the regional universities and other institutions of research and learning throughout the world.

The fifth element creates possibilities for jointly conducting short courses for visiting students from other countries on short-term basis. Currently, the ASC is jointly conducting short course for visiting students from Osterlenes Folkh–gskola, Tomelilla, Sweden for the last three years whereby Osterlenes sends about twenty-five students a year in the months of February and March for training and research together with students from IUIU. At the end of the course, they are examined and given a certificate. We believe that this element of the collaboration agreement enhances the kind of objectives that the GUS-UGANDA project wishes to advance in Uganda and other countries.

II. Global University System (GUS)

The Global University System (GUS) is a worldwide initiative to create satellite/wireless telecommunications infrastructure and educational programs for access to educational resources across national and cultural boundaries for global peace. The GUS helps higher educational institutions in remote/rural areas of developing countries to deploy broadband Internet in order for them to close the digital divide and act as the knowledge center of their community for the eradication of poverty and isolation. The GUS has task forces working in the major regions of the globe with partnerships of higher education and healthcare institutions. Learners in these regions will be able to take their courses, via advanced broadband Internet, from member institutions around the world to receive a GUS degree. These learners and their professors from participating institutions will form a global forum for exchange of ideas and information and for conducting collaborative research and development. The aim is to achieve ìeducation and healthcare for all,î anywhere, anytime and at any pace.

Currently institutions with faculty members who are participating in GUS development projects include the University of Tampere, UK Open University, 6 federal universities of Amazonia, Havana Institute of Technology, University of Malawi, Islamic University in Uganda, McGill University in Canada, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Cornell University, Yale University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, Montana State University, Houston Community College, University of Hawaii, Maui Community College, University of Milan, Catalunyan Open University, Concordia International University in Estonia, NEXT (Generation) Project with European universities and global commercial organizations at Cancer Research U.K., and others. GUS will serve as an educational broker for universities, thus helping them gain international influence and access to students that they would otherwise not reach.

We are currently creating GUS in Amazon of Brazil, Cuba and the Caribbean region, Malawi, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and have received inquiries for the same from several Asian and the Pacific countries. The GUS affiliated institutions will be invited to become members of our GUS/UNESCO/UNITWIN Networking Chair Program, located at the University of Tampere in Finland.

The officers of the GUS are: P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D., Acting President, (University of Tampere, and a former rector of the United Nations University of Peace in Costa Rica); Marco Antonio Dias, T.C.D., Vice President for Administration, (former director of Higher Education at UNESCO); Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., Vice President for Technology and Coordination (Chairman of GLOSAS/USA). The trustee members are: Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, (former Director-General of the ITU) and Dr. Federico Mayor (President of the Foundation for Culture of Peace and a former Director-General of UNESCO). The special advisors are: David A. Johnson, Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus, University of Tennessee) and Fredric Michael Litto, Ph.D. (President of the Brazilian Association of Distance Education at the University of Sao Paulo).

III. The GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA)

The GLOSAS/USA is a publicly supported, non-profit, educational service organization -- in fact, a consortium of organizations -- that is dedicated to the use of evolving telecommunications and information technologies to further advance world peace through global communications. GLOSAS fosters science- and technology-based economic development to improve the quality of life.

Over the past three decades, GLOSAS/USA played a major pioneering role in extending U.S. data communication networks to other countries, particularly to Japan, and in the deregulation of the Japanese telecommunications policies regarding the use of e-mail through ARPANET, Telenet and Internet (thanks to help from the Late Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldridge) -- this is now referred to as "closing the digital divide." This contribution of GLOSAS/USA triggered the de-monopolization and privatization of Japanese telecommunications industries, and the liberalization of the telecommunication industry has now created a more enabling environment for economic and social development in many other countries. This type of reasoning has since been emulated by many other countries; at present, more than 180 countries have Internet access, and more than 550 million people are using e-mail around the world. Academic programs of universities in America and other industrialized countries now reach many under-served developing countries.

Another major contribution of GLOSAS towards fostering global dialogue and creating learning environments has been the innovative distance teaching trials conducted in our ìGlobal Lecture Hall (GLH)î^TM - multipoint-to-multipoint multimedia interactive videoconferencing, using hybrid delivery technologies.

Thanks to these efforts, Dr. Takeshi Utsumi, its Chairman, received the prestigious Lord Perry Award for the Excellence in Distance Education in the fall of 1994 from Lord Perry, the founder of the U.K. Open University. The two-year senior recipient of the same award was Sir Arthur C. Clark, the inventor of satellite.

ANNEX VI

Joint Programs and Projects

Resumes

Zerubabel M. Nyiira, Ph. D.

Executive Secretary,

Uganda National Council for Science and Technology

Uganda Government

And

Co-Chair, National Foundation for Research and Development

Plot 10 Kampala Road,

Uganda House, 11th Floor,

P. O. Box 6884, Kampala, Uganda

Tel: (+256) 41250499

Fax: (+256) 41 234579

uncst@starcom.co.ug

http://www.uncst.go.ug/

Zerubabel M. Nyiira, Ph.D. is Science Policy Administrator and Executive Secretary, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) and Co-Chair of both the National Foundation for Research and Development (NFRD) and the NFRD Trust Fund. Prior to his appointment to his current position he was Research Administrator and Senior Principal Research Scientist at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Senior Research Fellow at the International Service for Agricultural Research (ISNAR) and Chief Research Officer and Director of Research in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of Uganda. He was invited to serve as Senior Fellow at the African Reinassance Institute. His background is bioecology but has inter-disciplinary training in economics, environmental biology and electronics. He served in positions of Adjunct and Visiting Professor in science policy and natural science. He is a Consultant for the World Bank, UN-organisations several international development agencies including the International Development Research Centre and SIDA-SAREC in several areas particularly science policy and innovations and information and communication technology.

Professor Dani W. Nabudere,

Executive Director,

Afrika Study Centre,

P. O. Box 961, Mbale, Uganda,

Upper Moni, Mbale Municipality, Mbale District.

Telephone:

(+256 45 35292) (Office)

(+256 45 35760) (Home)

(+256 77 503473) (Mobile)

Afriscent@infocom.co.ug

Dani W. Nabudere is Executive Director, Afrika Study Centre, Mbale. He coordinates with the Islamic University in Uganda, Mbale in different areas of interest. He has since 2001 carried out ìfield buildingî research activities in collaboration with the Washington-based Social Science Research Council, Program Committee on Global Security. This activity brings together academic researchers, practitioners, and indigenous knowledge custodians in an effort to pool knowledge. He has promoted the establishment of the Mandela African Peoplesí College -- a mobile folk high school for pastoral women and youth from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and New Sudan on the basis of an integration of Danish Folk High School educational experience (where he was a teacher for ten years) and the African educational principles of Ubuntu into the philosophy of Global Ubuntu. Together with the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology and the National Foundation for Research and Development, he has promoted the idea of the creation of ICT for e-learning in pastoral communities in promotion of this philosophy. Presently he is engaged in promoting the establishment of the Pan-African University for which he has entered into a collaboration arrangement with the University of South Africa-UNISA with a view to developing the idea of an African renaissance institution of higher learning based in communities and open to all people through life long learning.

Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E.
Founder and Vice President for Technology and Coordination
Global University System (GUS)
Chairman
GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA)
43-23 Colden Street, #9-L
Flushing, NY 11355-3998
U.S.A.
+1-718-939-0928
Fax: +1-718-939-0656
utsumi@columbia.edu
http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/

Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., is Chairman of GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the USA (GLOSAS/USA) and Vice President for Technology and Coordination of the Global University System (GUS) <http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS>. He is the 1994 Laureate of the Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education. His public services have included political work for deregulation of global telecommunications and the use of e-mail through ARPANET, Telenet and Internet; helping extend American university courses to developing countries; the conduct of innovative distance teaching trials with "Global Lecture Hall" multipoint-to-multipoint multimedia interactive videoconferences using hybrid technologies; as well as lectures, consultation, and research in process control, management science, systems science and engineering at the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, M.I.T. and many other universities, governmental agencies, and large firms in Japan and other countries. Among more than 150 related scientific papers and books are presentations to the Summer Computer Simulation Conferences (which he created and named) and the Society for Computer Simulation International. He is a member of various scientific and professional groups, including the Chemists Club (New York, NY); Columbia University Seminar on Computer, Man and Society (New York, NY); Fulbright Association (Washington, D.C.); International Center for Integrative Studies (ICIS) (New York, NY); and Society of Satellite Professionals International (Washington, D.C.). Dr. Utsumi received his Ph.D. Ch.E. from Polytechnic University in New York, M.S.Ch.E. from Montana State University, after study at the University of Nebraska on a Fulbright scholarship. His professional experiences in simulation and optimization of petrochemical and refinery processes were at Mitsubishi Research Institute, Tokyo; Stone & Webster Engineering Corp., Boston; Mobil Oil Corporation and Shell Chemical Company, New York; and Asahi Chemical Industries, Inc., Tokyo.

P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D.
Acting President, Global University System
Unesco Chair in global eLearning with applications to multiple domains
Professor and Chair of Media Education
University of Tampere

P.O.Box 229
FIN-13101 Hameenlinna, Finland
Tel: +358-3-614-5608

Fax: +358-3-614-5611

tapio.varis@uta.fi
http://www.uta.fi/~titava

Tapio Varis, Ph.D., is currently Professor and Chair of Media Education, earlier Media Culture and Communication Education at the University of Tampere, Finland (Research Centre for Vocational Education, and Hypermedia Laboratory), and UNESCO Chair in global e-Learning with applications to multiple domains. He is Acting President of the Global University System (GUS). Formerly he was Rector of the University for Peace in Costa Rica, and Professor of Media Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland. He has been a consultant on new learning technologies for the Finnish Ministry of Education, and expert on media and digital literacy for the EC, Council of Europe, Nordic Research Councils, and many Finnish and foreign universities. He is a member of the European Union's PROMETEUS Steering Committee and Adviser to several international organizations. In 1996-97, he was UNESCO Chair of Communication Studies at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. He has also been a faculty member of the European Peace University (Austria), Communication and Media Scholar at the University of Helsinki and at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. He has published approximately 200 scientific contributions which are listed at his Website: <http://www.uta.fi/~titava/publications00.html> with additional biographical information (in Finnish). In 2001 he received The Rochester Intercultural Conferences 1995-2001 award as "an outstanding European scholar in intercultural and international communication." In addition to Finnish, he is fluent in English, Spanish, German, and Swedish.

John M. Eger
Executive Director
International Center for Communications
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-4522
619-594-6933
619-594-6910
Fax: 619-594-4488
jeger@mail.sdsu.edu
http://www.smartcommunities.org/

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John M. Eger is the Lionel Van Deerlin Endowed Professor of Communications and Public Policy at San Diego State University (SDSU), and Executive Director of SDSUís International Center for Communication, and is also President and CEO of the World Foundation for Smart Communities.

Earlier, Professor Eger headed CBS Broadcast International, which he established, and was Senior Vice President of the CBS Broadcast Group responsible for CBS International, CBS Cable, CBS Interconnects (a cable advertising service), EXTRAVISION (the networks teletext service), and development of all other new business enterprises worldwide. During this period, he introduced the concept of commercial television to the Peopleís Republic of China and developed new marketing strategies involving the barter of advertiser-sponsored programming. He was also responsible for the development of the prize-winning home video documentary series ìWorld War II with Walter Chronkiteî; the inauguration of live and tape-delayed programming on domestic and international aircraft; and satellite delivery of ìThe CBS Evening News with Dan Ratherî to Paris and Tokyo.

From 1973-1976, Professor Eger was Advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP). He served on the Presidential Initiative on Privacy, the Cabinet Committee on Cable Television, and the Ad-hoc Committee on Regulatory Forum. During this time, Professor Eger helped spearhead the restructuring of Americaís telecommunications industry, particularly the divestiture of AT&T, and launched the first in a series of extended bilateral and multilateral discussions on international communications trade matters. He also initiated the development of an Asian Basin secretariat on telecommunications, which resulted in the formation of a private sector, ìPacific Telecommunications Council,î which he helped found in Honolulu in 1977.

More recently Professor Eger served as Chairman of California Governor Pete Wilsonís first Commission on Information Technology; Chairman of San Diego Mayor Susan Goldingís ìCity of the Futureî Commission; and recently published the Smart Communities Guidebook, and Implementation Guide for community leaders and city officials throughout the state of California. He is also author or editor of over a hundred other publications, including books, book chapters, monographs, journal articles and op-eds on the subjects of international telecommunications, public policy, and economic development.

He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of international communications, emerging trends in media and marketing, and technology and public policy. He is also a frequent contributor to trade and industry journals and general interest publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washington Journalism Review. He is the author of ìEmerging Restrictions on Transborder Data Flows: Privacy protection or Non-Tariff Trade Barriers,î Georgetown Journal of Law and Policy in International Business (1978); ìThe Global Phenomenon of Tele-Informatics,î Cornell International Law Journal (Summer, 1981); ìGlobal Television: An Executive Overview,î Columbia Journal of World Business (Fall, 1987); and of the seminal study: ìCities of the Future: The Role of Telecommunications and Information Technology (1997).î

Recently Professor Eger received the highest award from the Japanese Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for his leadership in building a strong Pacific alliance for telecommunications. He was also recently named as Advisor to the Government of the Netherlands Kenniswijk Broadband Communications Initiative, and named as a Fullbright Senior Specialist on communications and economic development.

See about his Smart Community approach in "Athens in the Information Age" at;

http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Global_University/Global University System/UNESCO_Chair_Book/Manuscripts/Part_III_Global_E-Learning/Eger, John/Eger_web/EgerD9.htm

D.K. Sachdev

President

Spacetel Consultancy

Adjunct Professor, George Mason University

Chief Operating Officer, Nirvano Technologies

10289 Johns Hollow Road

Vienna, Va 22182

Tel: (703) 757-5880

Mobile: (703) 314-3211

Fax: (703) 757-6511

Dksachdev@Spacetelconsult.com

http://www.spacetelconsult.com/

D.K. Sachdev is Founder and President of SpaceTel Consultancy, Vienna, Virginia. This company provides business strategy and engineering support for satellite and wireless systems. (www.spacetelconsult.com ), He is also Adjunct Professor at the George Mason University, Virginia and teaches graduate courses in System Engineering for Telecommunication Systems and Project Management. Mr. Sachdev is Chief Operating Officer of Nirvano Technologies, McLean, Virginia, a new company planning to provide wireless networks with advanced technology sensor systems for medical surveillance, home land security and other applications.

From 1996 through 2000, as Senior Vice President, Engineering & Operations at WorldSpace, Washington, DC, Mr. Sachdev had the responsibility for the engineering, deployment and operations of the first worldwide digital radio system consisting of three satellites, broadcast and business networks. While at WorldSpace, Mr. Sachdev also contributed to the evolution of the XM Radio system and led the development of its system architecture and initial stages of the engineering development of this system.

For almost two decades ending in 1996, Mr. Sachdev was at the center of the expansion of the INTELSATís global telecommunication network. After establishing the in-house technology development team in the early 80s, Mr. Sachdev led a team for the development, procurement and deployment of 16 new satellites (INTELSAT VIIs and VIIIs), today forming the backbone of INTELSATís and New Skies networks. Matching this effort in the space segment, were several equally impressive efforts for INTELSATís international terrestrial network.

Prior to crossing the oceans in 1978, Mr. Sachdev held several senior positions in the Indian Telecommunications Service and the associated industry. Mr. Sachdev was a member of the founder team of the Telecommunication Research Center at New Delhi. He led the development of microwave systems in India. He created during the early 1970ís one of the largest design and development organizations in electronics and telecommunications at ITI, Bangalore. For his leadership in creating this large and dynamic team, Mr. Sachdev was awarded the prestigious Vikram Sarabhai Award in 1976.

On May 8, 2003, Mr. Sachdev was co-recipient of Arthur Clarke Foundation Innovation Award for the development of worldís first digital radio system.