Timo Portimojarvi <hotipo@uta.fi>
Mauri K. Elovainio (Fax: +358-20-406
3440)
Dear Timo:
==========
(1) ATTACHMENT I is the transcript
of the Keynote Speech made by Mr.
Elovainio
of SONERA during our Tampere event.
I OCRed it from its hard copy.
I then uploaded it (with attached slides) to <http://friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Tampere_Conference/Keynote_Speech/SONERA/Mauri_K_Elovainio.html>.
BTW, if you can obtain the files of those slides from him, pls
send them to me -- I will replace with them -- since, of course,
color is better than BW.
His email bounced back so that I cannot send a copy of this msg to him.
Pls link
it to the corresponding location in the left frame of your web
at <http://www.uta.fi/EGEDL/outline/>.
(2) About the GUIDANCE / FORMAT" in the left frame of the same URL;
(a) Pls link Guidance to the Group Facilitators" to;
<http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Tampere_Conference/Guidance_and_Format/Guidance.html>, and
(b) Recommended Format for Pilot Project Proposals" to;
Thanks in advance.
Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I
Mauri K. Elovainio, Secretary General, Sonera Ltd
Keynote speaker - EGEDL'99 - 10.8.1999
The Outstanding Role of Telecommunication
in the Finnish Information Society:
Making the bridge between telecommunications
and learning
Finland is progressing towards a
knowledge-based society. In the information
society, knowledge forms the foundation
for education and culture and
constitutes the single most important
production factor. Information and
communications technology (shortly
ICT) significantly promotes interaction and
exchange of information between
individuals, business enterprises, and other
organizations, as well as the provision
of, and access to, services. The
extent to which the information
society is implemented in schools and
libraries, health care, the promotion
of business and industry and other
administrative services, as well
as enhancing transparent decision-making,
largely depends on the decisions
made and the measures taken by local
authorities.
The national vision is a society,
which develops and utilizes the
opportunities inherent in the information
society to improve the quality of
life, knowledge, international
competitiveness and interaction in an
exemplary, versatile and sustainable
way.
Half (51%) of the information society
projects are regional and nearly 17%
local and national. International
or Internationally regional is about 20% of
the projects. There are more regional
and local projects in Finland than in
Europe on the average. International
and interregional projects there are less.
To open up better opportunities
for self-enhancement, interaction and
influence the decisive factors
for the competitiveness of a business
enterprise are rapid responses,
flexibility and networking. The public sector
develops the overall conditions
for the information society and promotes the
construction of technology and
the infrastructure. To be able to make the best
use of the opportunity thus offered
for everyone who needs new skills or
intercommunication with one to
other.
Uncontrolled information society
development may lead to the exclusion of some
population groups and regions.
The increasing use of ICT in office work is
conducive to efficiency, and at
the same time it reduces labor needs.
Electronic transactions and trade
may impair services for those with
inadequate skills and knowledge
for electronic self-service. Access to sources
of information in the midst of
the information flood may increase inequality
between people if the cost of reliable
and well-organized information services
is too high. The constantly expanding
data systems include more and more
information about individuals,
which, if abused, may compromise people's
privacy. Dependence on ICT may
increase risks in nearly all activities, which
highlights the need to prepare
for exceptional circumstances.
Information society development
is influenced by global trends, such as
progress in the global economy
and electronic trade, the rapid progress and
integration of ICT, the growing
presence of the media and the growth of
populations. Growing social inequality
and urbanization, environmental
problems, increasing mobility and
the strengthening role of regions in Europe
has also promoted the rapid development
of information society.
How is the information society going
to strengthen cultural creativity, and
will it allow each citizen easy
access to multiple cultures while preserving
his own identity?
The role of the public sector is
to create conditions for building an
Information society, which meets
the needs of both individuals and business
enterprises by means of legislation,
research and education. The public sector
also promotes the development of
serviceable technology and infrastructure. By
means of strategic management,
it will ensure access to information and
promote the development of knowledge,
an efficient innovation system. Also
conditions for business activities,
balanced regional development, the
implementation of human rights,
and equality, credibility and security in
society will be developed. The
public sector must constantly re-evaluate its
own role and mission.
Democratic and open access will
be offered to every one through reduced costs.
It can be for the diffusion or
use of the interactive services offered on the
various communication networks.
Each citizen will be granted easy access to
the kind of knowledge, which until
now has been difficult to reach. Today he
has the facility to access the
interactive tapping of cultural goods as those
from libraries, museums or galleries'
art collections. The development of
permanent education will hence
be made easier while specific cultural
identities will be preserved.
It is the administration's task
to strengthen democracy and improve citizens'
access to information and opportunities
for social influence by developing
legislation and procedures and
making use of the opportunities offered by
technology. Legislation and legal
control also promote the implementation of
the individual's data protection
and freedom of speech and improve the
individual's status as a consumer.
Decentralized decision-making highlights
the need for management by
strategies. ICT creates new opportunities
for producing and distributing
public services, but at the same
time it entails the renewal of processes in
co-operation with the private and
voluntary sectors.
1) Information society development and changes in the operational environmentShared responsibility and competitiveness must be developed in tandem, and due
must be constantly monitored to provide support for strategic management. The
action models and cost-effective utilization of technology must be developed
and promoted in the administration to ensure compatibility and sufficient
steering of information management. Efficient procedures and funding
practices, which provide incentive for good performance must be developed and
instituted for cross-sectoral R&D projects in particular. All this entails
substantial annual funding.2) With a view to transparent decision-making and the empowerment of citizens,
users must be able to access the information produced by the public sector in
an electronic form.3) The public sector must take responsibility for data security in society
and, together with enterprises, ensure that all critical systems function
under all circumstances. The administration must develop norms and regulations
governing exceptional circumstances and see to the dissemination of information.
Knowledge management requires good
feedback channels, indicators and
incentives, as well as constant
alertness to changing needs. The prerequisites
of knowledge management can be
improved with the introduction of renewed
procedures. Educational institutions,
business enterprises and other work
communities can engage in closer
co-operation with a view to knowledge
transfer and the utilization of
information reserves.
1) Strategic management of knowledge
and processes which support it must be
developed to keep know-how at a
high standard on a wide front and a sufficient
part of it at the top level. The
national priorities in education and research
and their financing must be regularly
reconsidered by the combined co-operation
of both the public and private
sectors to ensure a flexible response
to changes. Methods for anticipating
changes in working life and in industrial
structures must be developed to
help business enterprises and educational
institutions to respond better
to the challenges arising from these changes.
Enterprises in growth fields could
make the know-how qualifications in their
key professions available to job
seekers and educational institutions on the
information network.
2) Measures must be taken to develop
such methods for measuring human capital
which encourage organizations to
appreciate and increase their own human
capital and which also serve to
develop funding for growth of enterprises. The
accounting of organizations must
indicate the investment made in know-how.
Taxation practices must give incentive
for the development of know-how.
3) Wide-scale co-operation must
be carried on, and further expanded, to offer
the necessary basic skills in the
use of information society tools and
electronic services to all citizens,
and especially to those who have not had
instruction in the new skills during
their education or in their line of work.
All levels of education must increase
the teaching of skills needed to
acquire, critically evaluate, transmit
and present information and to interact
in the modern, international communications
environment. Teachers' initial and
continuing education must be essentially
improved to enable teachers to
utilize the possibilities of the
information society and to pass on relevant
knowledge to their pupils.
We should critically exam the idea
where service provider is considered as
information provider. As a provider
of service platforms we should not take
the role of content provider. There
are many principles that are worth of
building the digital nervous system.
In a workplace, where we were simply
transferring information from paper
forms into the computer are not needed
because they've been replaced by
self-service. People going directly to their
PC, connecting to the Internet,
and getting or putting the information they
need. All the jobs have to be converted
into far more empowered jobs, where
you can actually deal with complex
situations, and be value-added in a world
where just simple activities, like
entering information, are no longer
necessary at all.
The concept of the global classroom
is an excellent example of nervous system.
To create network which it self
increase amount of information for educational
use. It's a reality because of
the expansion of world communication systems.
These new and diverse telecommunication
technologies represent powerful tools
for linking both students and teachers
together for sharing knowledge and
diverse solutions to problems;
and for actually creating the global classroom.
As this learning environment is
evolving, education is developing new visions
of learning and teaching. That
will provide students with new ways to think
and live in the global village.
Today there are many global classroom
projects that have been designed for
implementation. These projects
provide the tools for developing global
understanding as well as in depth
studies in a variety of content areas and a
thorough introduction to computers
and telecommunication skills. We should
remember also the projects to develop
methods for the creation and publishing
of electronic learning materials.
To what extent is the Information society a worldwide stake?
The fundamental features of the
information society are global interconnection
and interoperability between multiple
professional educative or entertainment
services. A unique opportunity
is thus offered for the distribution of a very
large range of products and creations,
which will reflect the most diverse
cultural and linguistic identities.
The stake of information society
is worldwide because the interconnection of
national communication networks
gives birth to a global infrastructure thus
linking economical, political and
social operators. The information society
will have considerable social and
economic impacts which will affect all
citizens in various aspects of
their daily lives.
The G8 member states have recognized
the importance of that stake and during
that conference will express their
intention
1.
to lay down a common strategy defining the global principles
without which the information society could not properly function
on a world-wide basis,
2.
to identify those applications and pilot-projects of global
interest in order to promote the new services available,
3.
to encourage developing countries to participate in long term co-operation
to reinforce democracy and have easier access to knowledge and education.
The building blocks of the information society
Communications systems combined
with advanced information technologies are
keys to the information society.
The constraints of time and distance have
been removed by networks (e.g.
telephone, satellites, cables) which carry the
information, basic services (e.g.
electronic mail, interactive video) which
allow people to use the networks
and applications (e.g. distance learning,
teleworking and telemedicine) which
offer dedicated solutions for user groups.
Open service interfaces promote
competition.
- to provide equal opportunities
for the acquisition and management of
information and for the development
of knowledge
- to develop services and cultural
provision and increase international interaction
People themselves have responsibility
for their own choices, as well as for
making their needs known or for
putting their personal data at the disposal of
the markets. Information society
development, together with the liberalization
of world trade, create new business
opportunities and new markets for
enterprises, as well as subjecting
them to stiffer competition and to
internationalize themselves.
The decisive competition factors
are information and knowledge management,
swiftness in applying technologies
and innovations, strategic management,
flexible organization and procedures,
and networking throughout the value
chain, both in product development
and production as well as in marketing.
There are still many questions open,
but I hope that you will find some
answers from the publication "Facts
about the Finnish information society"
which has already been delivered
to you. (Reijo Lilius - Finnish national fund
for research and development)
When we build and develop the information
society we have to break a gap
between different sectors. To achieve
society coherence there has to be
someone who makes technology flexible
to build the bridge and make
interactions between humans possible.
========================================
Attached Slides
Application areas of information society projects
The most important financiers of the Finnish information society projects
Information society strategies of the regions
Public libraries - 1200 service units
Elements of Sonera's information
society solution
****************************************
List of Distribution
Timo Portimojarvi
Assistant
(Media Culture, Media Education)
Department of Teacher Education
University of Tampere
P.O.Box 513
13111 H‹meenlinna
FINLAND
tel. +358-3-61451
+358-50-381
3443
GSM: +358-40-550-3193
fax. +358-3-6145 237
hotipo@uta.fi
www.uta.fi/~hotipo/
www.uta.fi/laitokset/okl/hokl/
Mauri K. Elovainio
Secretary General
Sonera Ltd.
FIN-00051 Sonera
FINLAND
Fax: +358-20-406 3440
**********************************************************************
* 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/
*
**********************************************************************
Return to: Global University System Late 1999 Correspondence
Web page by Steve McCarty,
World Association for Online Education
President