<<November 6, 1999>>

Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP <daj@utk.edu>

Kimberly K. Obbink <kobbink@montana.edu>

Dr. Joseph N. Pelton <jpelton@seas.gwu.edu>

Dr. Takashi Iida <iida@crl.go.jp>

P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D, Professor <tapio.varis@uta.fi>

(1) Dear David and Kim:
===================

At the last coffee stop before our departure on 10/18th mtg, we talked
about the construction of one page profile of our Global University
System project.

ATTACHMENT I below is my version of it. Pls send me your comments and
refinements -- I should have one or two sentences to narrow the gap between
"haves" and "have-nots," particularly in remote/rural areas.

Dear Kim:
=========

I borrowed three para's from your draft proposal of your pilot
project proposal for the Asia/Pacific operation which is now at
<http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Tampere_Conference/Final_Report/Pilot_Project_Proposals/Asia_Pacific/infoDev_Proposal_Form.html>.

(2) Dear Joe:
=========

Many thanks for your contribution to this (ATTACHMENT II).

(3) Dear Electronic Colleagues:
===========================

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

(4) Dear Dr. Iida:
==============

I am sending this at the suggestion of Joe Pelton.

(5) Dear Tapio:
===========

As discussed during our dinner mtg last night at Chemists Club in
Manhattan, pls utilize the first para for your bylaws of our Global
University System when you incorporate it in Finland.

Pls distribute its hard copies at the TeleLearning99 conference in
Montreal, Canada and the InfoDev Symposium on The New Networked
Economy: What Is At Stake for the Developing World?" in Washington, D.C.
next week.

Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I

November 5, 1999

Synopsis of Global University System

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
****************************************
ATTACHMENT II

Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 12:36:00 -0500 (EST)
From: gu-l@www.friends-partners.org
To: peltonj@seas.gwu.edu
Cc: utsumi@www.friends-partners.org
Subject: Error Condition Re: Re: Goal of Global University System

Dear Everyone: I feel that Tak Utsumi's latest draft of the mission
statement captures all of the ideas that I was trying to cover and support
it as a good mission statement. Part of the concerns with earlier versions
were partly substantive and partly editorial improvements Once this is
adopted formally, I feel it would be good to send a copy of this statement
and some background information on the initiative to Dr. Iida, Director
General of the Communications Research Labs, of MPT in Japan at
<iida@crl.go.jp> Best wishes. Joe Pelton
****************************************
List of Distribution

Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP
Board member of GLOSAS/USA
Former President of Fulbright Association
Professor of School of Planning
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Tenneseee
108-I Hoskins Library
Knoxville, TN 37996-4051
USA
Tel: +1-423-974 5227
Fax: +1-423-974 5229
daj@utk.edu
http://web.utk.edu/~djohnutk/

Kimberly K. Obbink
Director
Burns Telecommunications Center
128 EPS Building,
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3860
USA
Tel: +1-406-994 6550
Fax: +1-406-994 7856
kobbink@montana.edu
http://btc.montana.edu

Dr. Joseph N. Pelton
Senior Research Scientist
Institute for Applied Space Research, Rm 340
George Washington University
2033 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20052
202-994-5507
Fax: 202-994-5505
jpelton@seas.gwu.edu

Dr. Takashi Iida (Fax: +81-423-27-6695)
Director, Communication Science Division
(Tsushin Kagaku Bucho)
Communications Research Laboratory
(Tsushin Sogo Kenkyu Sho)
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
+81-423-27-7470
iida@crl.go.jp

P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D, Professor
Acting President, Global University System
Chairman, GLOSAS/Finland
Professor and Chair
Media Culture and Communication Education
Hypermedia laboratory
University of Tampere
P.O.Box 607
FIN-33101 Tampere
FINLAND
Tel: +358-3-215 6110
GSM: +358-50-567-9833
Fax: +358-3-215 7503
tapio.varis@uta.fi
http://www.uta.fi/~titava
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, GLOSAS/USA *
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.) *
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education *
* Founder of CAADE *
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education) *
* President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and Coordination of *
* Global University System (GUS) *
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A. *
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer email) *
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676 *
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/ *
**********************************************************************

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