TM

November 5, 1999

The goal of the Global University System is to improve the global learning and wellness environment for people in the global knowledge society where the global responsibility is shared by all. The Global University System will coordinate and facilitate national and international regional systems which will support and complement the traditional institutions of learning and healthcare, by using conventional methods in tandem with advanced electronic media to further this goal. The Global University System seeks open, egalitarian and culturally transparent methods to achieve improved learning and healthcare worldwide, cooperating closely with people around the world.

The digital revolution and economic globalization are taking us into a new era. We are moving towards a global knowledge society where information, skills and competencies become the driving forces of social and economic development. The problems associated with this transformation can no longer be solved by traditional means. The Internet, with its extending and improving infrastructure, will be the main telecommunication media of tomorrow. It has been extended to most countries, albeit with slow-to-medium speed. The advancement of videoconferencing, telephony, broadband Internet, World Wide Web, and other communication and information technologies are rapidly creating new opportunities for establishing international distance learning and global-healthcare/telemedicine programs that will allow us to foster global citizenship and achieve "education for all."

Broadband Internet backbone development such as vBNS and Abeline are expanding high-speed Internet access to higher education and healthcare institutions throughout the U.S.. This technology extends increased band-width to university researchers requiring the ability to manipulate large quantities of data and graphic images. In addition, this technology holds great promise for improving multimedia distance learning capabilities, especially in rural and isolated areas that are not well served by commercial network providers. The enhanced distance learning capabilities of broadband Internet are only beginning to be explored and offer an immediate benefit to the populations served by these networks.

Although the opportunities for international distance learning are great, they are accompanied by challenges regarding technical infrastructure, language barriers, cultural differences, and appropriate matches between needs and educational resources. The Global University System seeks to establish pilot projects using broadband Internet technology that can be disseminated as "best practices" examples for the further development and deployment of effective international distance learning partnerships in order to enhance the teaching/learning capabilities.

P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D.
Acting President, Global University System
University of Tampere, Finland
tapio.varis@uta.fi; http://www.uta.fi/~titava