<<December 4, 2000>>
Archived distributions can be retrieved
by clicking on the top lines of our home page at <http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/>.
Peter T. Knight, Ph.D. <ptknight@attglobal.net>
Dr. Joseph N. Pelton <ecjpelton@aol.com>
Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP <daj@utk.edu>
Francis J. Method <fmethod@erols.com>
Deborah K. Welsh <dkwelsh@dkw.baku.az>
Dear Peter:
===========
(1) Many thanks for your msg (ATTACHMENT I).
Dear Joe, David, and Frank:
===========================
(2) Many thanks for your gathering for a luncheon discussion
about our
Global Service Trust Fund (GSTF) project at a Chinese restaurant
in
Washington, D.C. on 12/3rd.
My perceptions of the discussions are as follows. Pls feel
free to add
or revise, and send me yours via email at your earliest convenience.
(3) After Peter Knight comes back from Brazil next February,
all of us will
visit Ford Foundation, Markle Foundation, Carnegie Corporation
of New
York, etc. in NYC area.
Since Joe will have an event of Arthur Clark's Odyssey 2001
in a museum in Arlington and at the Smithsonian Museum on
2/7th (Wednesday), we may visit them in NYC on 2/9th
(Friday). Pls let me know your availability.
Frank will give us a contact person at Ford Foundation.
Our contact persons there are (and both are in our list);
Mr. Jorge Balan
Program Officer
Education, Knowledge and Religion
Education, Media, Arts & Culture
Ford Foundation
320 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017
212-573-4661
Fax: 212-351-3650
j.balan@fordfound.org
Dr. Norman R. Collins
Director
Special Project on Program and Information Technology
Ford Foundation
320 East 43 Street
New York, N.Y. 10017
212-573-4938
Fax: 212-351-3675
n.collins@fordfound.org
See ATTACHMENT IV.
Dear David:
===========
Many thanks for the information.
Dear Joe:
=========
My attempt to reach Markle Foundation failed with the following person;
Suzan Sigel
Grants Manager
The Markle Foundation
10 Rockefeller Plaza, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10020-1903
212-713-7600
http://www.markle.org/index.html
Therefore, pls locate an appropriate person at the foundation.
Pls see ATTACHMENT II -- I might have contacted the wrong person there.
Dear Deborah:
=============
Many thanks for your msg (ATTACHMENT V).
We would greatly appreciate it if you can make a lead for our
visit to Dr. Vartan Gregorian;
Dr. Vartan Gregorian
President
Carnegie Corporation of New York
437 Madison Avenue, 27th Flr.
New York, NY 10022
212-371-3200
Fax: 212-754-4073
Telex: US166776
http://www.carnegie.org
(4) For these visits, we will prepare the following write-up;
(a) Executive Summary (one page)
by Peter Knight
(b) Introduction and main narrative on GSTF project (a few pages)
by Peter Knight
(c) Conditionalities of GSTF (a few pages)
by Frank Method
(d) Global Summit (a few pages)
by Joe Pelton
(e) Pilot projects for GSTF
1. Global University System (GUS) project (a few pages)
a. GUS/Manaus, Brazil,
b. GUS/Philippines, etc
by Tak Utsumi
2. New Millennium Satellite System for the Digital Divide (a few pages)
by Joe Pelton
3. Biosphere project (a few pages)
by David Johnson
First draft of each of the above is to be made by the middle
of
December, and the final version by the end of December.
They are to be sent to Peter (cc to me) who will compile them
into a
final format by January 20, 2001.
This material will be later used for preparing our grant
applications to the InfoDev and others -- see below.
(5) Our grant applications will be divided into the following
separate three
categories. Each will be submitted to appropriate funding sources
separately -- but this does note restrict them to mention the
activities
of other related categories in their application.
(a) GSTF Project
Mainly related to Item (4)-(a) to (4)-(c) above, but this
application will mentioned of the other items listed above.
The submission of the application for this project will be
made
through Joe's CITI. However, its administrative functions may
be
handled by the University of Surrey in the U.K. or by his George
Washington University.
The GSTF will be handled by a neutral entity which will be
established under the auspices of the World Bank, UNESCO, WHO
and ITU.
The main target of submitting this application is the InfoDev of the World Bank.
(b) Global Summit Project
Mainly related to Item (4)-(d) above.
Contributions from industries would be main funding sources.
Relevant previous list distributions about this summit are;
a. Minutes of TechNet seminar on GSTF at InfoDev/World Bank on 10/19/00 - October 21, 2000
b. Report on TechNet seminar on GSTF at InfoDev/World Bank - October 20, 2000
c. Invitation Committee for Global Summit of GSTF Project - October 12, 2000
d. Forming Invitation Committee for Global Summit of GSTF project - September 22, 2000
All of the above can be retrieved at
http://www.friends-partners.org/~utsumi/gu-l/mid-2000/index.html
(c) Pilot Projects
1. Global University System (GUS) project
a. GUS/Manaus, Brazil:
Our colleagues in Manaus is now preparing their grant
application for a community development with broadband
Internet which will be submitted to the InfoDev. Their
first draft in the InfoDev application format will be made
by the middle of January.
b. GUS/Philippines:
Our colleagues in Manila is now preparing a cost estimate of
a workshop to be held there next spring. This will be
combined into a grant application which is to be submitted
to the US/NSF from Montana State University (MSU).
Incidentally, the MSU has already received a pledge of
a fund from Citicorp, a portion of which can be used
for this project of connecting with the Philippines.
A similar grant application (as the one of GUS/Manaus,
Brazil) for the feasibility study and market survey for
establishing a community development with broadband Internet
in Manila will be made during and/or after this workshop and
be submitted to the InfoDev.
2. New Millennium Satellite System for the Digital Divide:
See ATTACHMENT III
3. Biosphere project
This project has already been supported by UNESCO and has
more than 150 sites around the world which are coordinating with
each other.
Some of the sites will be selected for connecting with
broadband Internet, if possible. The selected sites will
conduct collaborative research and development with exchange
of their information and experiences.
Their site in Tennessee may initially provide us with a seed
money for this project.
Looking forward to receiving your response soon,
Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I
From: "Peter T. Knight" <ptknight@attglobal.net>
To: <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Subject: New coordinates in Rio below - Amazon project?
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 05:23:17 -0200
Tak,
I'm installed here in Rio. Below are my coordinates for your records.
Once I'm a bit more organized, we can begin to work on application
to
infoDev. Money there is a problem. Anyway, please provide material
from the
project you would like to use as a pilot GSTF project.
With best regards,
Peter
Peter T. Knight
Knight-Moore Telematics for Education and Development/CDI
1808 Eye Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC, 20006, USA
Tel: 1-202-721-0348 (dir/vmail) 202-775-2132 (sec.)
703-247-2958 (ho)
Fax: 1-202-775-2135 (of) 703-247-2959 (ho)
Rio de Janeiro Office
Avenida AtlŠntica 4002/302
22070-002 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Tel/Fax: 55-21-522-9167, cell 9572-5972
www.knight-moore.com www.cdinet.com
Please note I am based in Rio de Janeiro through January 2001.
****************************************
ATTACHMENT II
<<July 6, 2000>>David Johnson's msg of 6/13/00;
PS In yesterday's (June 12) New York Times (p.A16) was an article
on a $100
million project by the Markle Foundation to explore how digital
technology can
benefit developing countries. Project is headed by James B. Steinberg,
formerly of the White House staff. It might be worth looking at
and contacting Markle
****************************************
ATTACHMENT III
(Draft for Review)
New Millennium Satellite System for the Digital Divide
Prepared by Dr. Joseph N. Pelton
Exec. Director, Clarke Institute for Telecommunications and Information
(CITI)
Despite the rapid growth of global communications and the amazing
spread of
the World Wide Web, there are still perhaps two billion people
out of a global
population of 6 billion that have major unmet needs. These remotely
located
people have limited or no access to formal educational systems,
health care,
potable water, electricity, or jobs related to the new information
economy.
These deficiencies are core to what has been described as the
"digital divide."
A number of initiatives have been started to address this issue
as a
result of the G-8 meetings held in Okinawa, Japan this past year,
but there is
certainly more that could be done. The satellite industry that
has the
technology that can most easily reach the isolated populations
should seek to
do its share to address this problem with innovative answers.
Intelsat has
undertaken its Project Share and Project Access programs, Worldspace
has set
up a Foundation to support health and education activities and
several
satellite companies have agreed, in principal to support the new
Global
Services Trust Fund Initiative. But much more is still needed
to be done.. One
candidate solution to use satellites for meeting unmet educational
and health
programming needs is outlined in this document. This proposal
is called the
New Millennium Satellite System for the Digital Divide. It would
make low new
satellite capacity and low cost user terminals available to the
global
populations within the equatorial zone where the need is seemingly
the greatest.
The Japan U.S. Science Technology and Space Applications Program
(JUSTSAP), the Clarke Institute for Telecommunications and Information
(CITI),
the Global University System and many others that will be consulted
in coming
months are now examining the feasibility of this innovative new
proposal. The
basic concept is to deploy an innovative new low cost "Millennium
Satellite
System." that would be designed to address the educational
and health needs of
the digital divide.
This proposal is to create and deploy in medium earth orbit
as quickly
as possible a new, low-cost satellite system of eight (or possibly
more) small
satellites. These small satellites in equatorial circular orbit
(ECO) would
be built using off-the-shelf components. These satellites would
be designed
and built using whenever possible qualified graduate students
and faculty from
universities that have small satellite design and manufacture
capabilities.
This satellite system would be deployed as a "string of pearls"
that provide
continuous, real-time coverage of the entire equatorial belts
via a satellite
beam (1800 miles or 2900 kilometers in radius) both above and
below the
equator where some 2 billion people live. The altitude of the
satellite would
be somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 miles or 13,000 to 16,000
kilometers
high as optimized to provide maximum coverage while avoiding the
worst of the
Van Allen belt radiation hazards. This system would be specifically
dedicated
to tele-education, tele-health and emergency warning and recovery
services.
Participants would be asked to sign a written pledge to not use
the satellite
for other purposes and not to seek to use this system in lieu
of commercial
telecommunications services. This satellite would be designed
for a 5 year
life-time and would be able to provide television, multi-media,
audio-conference, e-mail and Internet services.
As soon as funding for this low-cost satellite system is established
a
university team of professors and graduate students would be established.
These would be most likely be drawn from graduates students participating
in
the JUSTSAP graduate student program, the University of Surrey
and/or the
International Space University. Then the manufacturing and design
team would
be established at the chosen host university site to begin the
design, test
and integration of these low cost satellites. These satellites
would be built
using off-the-shelf components that would be tested against radiation
or other
space or launch hazards. Further, because of the radiation hazards
and other
failure mode possibilities these satellites would be designed
with some
redundancy and at least two spare satellites would also be provided.
The satellite design would be based on the SERVIS satellite
concept as
developed by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation with suitable
modifications
such as making this an earth-pointing satellite rather than a
sun-pointing
satellite. There would be a parallel effort to work with manufacturers
of
VSAT in order to develop user terminals that would be less than
$1000 in cost
for a village based terminal. In addition, solar cell and battery
units would
also be sought for villages without electricity so that these
could also be
made available at low cost as well. The funding support for this
project would
be sought from the governments of Japan, Canada, the U.S. and
Europe as well
as other governments, international organizations and private
foundations.
The most expensive part of this program would be the launch costs
for the
satellites, but these might be accomplished as "piggy-back"
launches with
heavier payloads. A detailed systems study will be needed to establish
the
cost of the satellites, the uplinking facilities, the VSAT user
terminals and
power supplies, and the cost of the launches.
The essential points of this proposal are as follows:
* This "Digital Divide" satellite for the new millennium
would provide
essentially free television, audio-conferencing, multi-media,
high
definition still images, fax, e-mail and other educational and
health
and emergency warning services for an equatorial service band
that
ranges from 25 degrees north to 25 degrees south latitude.
* The satellite transmissions and the user terminals (except
for a modest
deposit fee for the ground equipment would be provided free) once
an
agreement was signed by the participating government or local
organization to use the satellite exclusively for education, health
or
emergency communications purposes.
* There would be parallel efforts undertaken to create a fund
to help
support the development of local programming and production of
content
in local languages so that the satellite could be used to best
advantage
in the countries where satellite coverage was available.
* The program would be designed to accomplish a number of goals.
These
would include the desire to reduce the cost of the program and
the total
information delivery program to the lowest possible level. This
would be
accomplished through the use of volunteers, educational programs,
off-the-shelf components and already proven designs. It would
also be
sought to make the project an educational program by allowing
faculty
and graduate students to participate actively in the design and
building
of the satellite, and to make the international participation
in the
program as large as practically feasible.
* Among the largest issues to be faced would the management
and operation
of the satellite system, the arrangement for uplinking to these
satellites via teleport facilities and the launch of the satellites
and
the spare facilities.
* The frequencies that would be used would be those earmarked
for
community antenna television and education services in the 2.5
GHz
range. The initial background with regard to the satellite design
concepts that derive from the SERVIS satellite design are provided
as
Attachment No. 1 to this document. The details of the VSAT terminals
will need to be addressed further after consultation with various
VSAT
manufacturers around the world. The objective would be to make
these
terminals very user friendly in terms of their installation and
line-up
and on-going use and to keep their net cost under $1000 and under
$1800
with solar power and battery units.
* Commitments to the funding and ongoing support of this innovative
project are provided in Attachment No. 2.
For more information about this project and about the activities
of the
Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Telecommunications and Information
(CITI)
please go the following web site address: http://clarkeinstitute.com
For more information about the Japan U.S. Science Technology
and Space
Applications Program (JUSTSAP) please go to:
For more information about the Global University System please
go to:
****************************************
ATTACHMENT IV
From: daj@utk.edu
To: utsumi@columbia.edu
Subject: NYTimes.com Article: $330 Million in Ford Grants Will
Aid Foreign Students
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 21:50:42 -0500 (EST)
tak utsumi
Tak: Ford Foundation might be a good place to approach now.
Hope to see you on Sunday.
Dave
david johnson
daj@utk.edu
========================================
Excerpt from The New York Times
$330 Million in Ford Grants Will Aid Foreign Students
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/29/national/29FORD.html
November 29, 2000
By TAMAR LEWIN
In its largest grant ever, the Ford Foundation will announce
today a
10-year $330 million fellowship program to support graduate
education for hundreds of disadvantaged college graduates in 20
countries.
Ford's International Fellowship Program, which will pay for
up to
three years of graduate study anywhere in the world, will begin
with about 100 students from Chile, Ghana, Nigeria, Peru, Russia,
Senegal and Vietnam next year, and then gradually expand to about
350 fellows in 20 countries where the Ford Foundation has a presence.
"The goal is to help these countries develop a diverse
group of
people prepared to lead, people who wouldn't normally be at the
table," said Susan Berresford, president of the foundation.
"In one country, that might be people from rural areas,"
Ms.
Berresford said. "In others it might be women, or ethnic
minorities, or people from families where no one has ever attended
graduate school. It's a global program, but the selection will
be
completely local."
At a time when William H. Gates, Ted Turner and other
entrepreneurs have been making headlines with bold ventures into
big-ticket philanthropy, the fellowship program is Ford's response
to years of rising stock values that have pushed its assets to
$14.5 billion from $5 billion in the late 1980's and less than
$10
billion three years ago.
The program is a substantial departure for the Ford Foundation,
which has traditionally made much smaller grants. Last year it
paid
out about $700 million in more than 2,000 grants. Ford's largest
previous grant was $51.8 million, split between 1998 and 1999,
to a
North Carolina community development organization, to help
low-income families become home owners.
For decades, Ford was the nation's largest foundation, but
it was
edged out by the Lilly Endowment in 1997 and then by the $21
billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
With the new wealth created by the nation's long economic
expansion, many entrepreneurs have turned to philanthropy, some
with grants and gifts much larger than those of old-line
foundations like Ford. In 1997, Ted Turner jolted the nation by
donating $1 billion to the United Nations over 10 years. Just
last
month, the Gates Foundation announced a $210 million program to
enable 225 students a year - half from the United States - to
attend Cambridge University. And in June, the Gates Foundation
started a $1 billion program of college scholarships for minority
students.
By law, foundations must distribute at least 5 percent of their
assets each year, and Ford, like most, has stayed close to that
minimum. But with assets growing rapidly, foundations are under
increasing pressure to distribute larger percentages..
"Foundations were established with the purpose of making
grants
and doing good, not investment banking," said Terry Odendahl,
executive director of the National Network of Grantmakers in San
Diego, which has urged foundations to increase their payouts.
The new International Fellowship Program will raise the Ford
Foundation's payout to 7 percent of its assets, a change that
Ms.
Berresford called "a very nice secondary benefit," but
one that may
not continue.
Ford, like many of the old-line foundations, has moved toward
larger grants slowly.
"For a long time, the assets were growing, but we were
very
cautious, because we all thought there would be a correction,"
Ms. Berresford said.
"But," she said, "the money kept growing and
growing, so we began
to think about what we'd like to do with larger grants. We thought
about curing disease, but that's not who we are. We are in a global
society, and we wanted to try to give back something to other
countries that have not experienced the kind of economic growth
we have had."
Graduate fellowships are a mainstay of philanthropy, an area
in
which there is consensus that an investment produces a social
return, and an area in which the Ford Foundation has a considerable
track record. One of the foundation's signature programs has long
been its funding of minority fellows' doctoral studies. And in
the
1960's and 70's, Ford had graduate-fellowship programs in several
countries.
"All over the world, we run into leaders, like Kofi Annan,
who
were once Ford fellows," Ms. Berresford said, referring to
the
secretary general of the United Nations. "Part of the reason
that
this idea appealed to us all was that we have seen that investment
in people, and how they went on to make such a difference in so
many fields."
While academic performance will be a criterion for selection,
committees in each country will also base their choices on
leadership potential and commitment to community service and social
justice.
Joan Dassin, director of the program, said, "A lot of
the people
we want to reach may not have had typical careers and may be older,
particularly women who took time off to have a family."
"There's no single definition of educational disadvantage,"
Ms.
Dassin said. "That is clearly the most challenging conceptual
part
of this program."
Besides paying for tuition, travel and living expenses for
graduate studies, the fellowships will cover training in language,
research and computer skills. To encourage the students to work
in
their own countries, the program will pay students $1,500 for
research or projects in their home countries when they finish
their fellowship.
The program will also include $50 million to increase the number
of candidates in the pipeline in countries where few disadvantaged
students have the undergraduate background to qualify for a fellowship.
"We don't know how it will come out," Ms. Berresford
said, "but we
hope to recognize people with the potential to be intellectual
and
practical leaders, people from groups whose ideas and talents
and
voices are often overlooked."
The New York Times on the Web
http://www.nytimes.com
/----------------------------------------------------------
Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the
most authoritative news coverage on the Web,
updated throughout the day.
Become a member today! It's free!
http://www.nytimes.com?eta
\----------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
****************************************
ATTACHMENT V
From: "Deborah K. Welsh" <dkwelsh@dkw.baku.az>
To: "Tak Utsumi" <utsumi@friends-partners.org>
Subject: Carnegie?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 18:15:33 +0400
Tak, On a long shot, I send you this notice simply to alert
you to the
funding possibility of Carnegie Corporation. Dr. Gregorian has
long been a
visionary of higher education (Brown university) and I had discussions
with
him about 7 years ago about establishing a South Caucasus Institute
of
Diplomacy. At the time he was extremely interested but overwhelmed
with
previous commitments, and I did not pursue the concept with him.
However, as
he is now discussing "Libraries and Reading in the Computer
Age", he may be
interested in what your group is doing - and by extension, I hope
-
establishing an online and bricks-and-mortar university in the
South Caucasus.
I do not have his coordinates, but they must be available through your connections.
I continue to follow your progress and trust that some day
I will be able to
be more of service and less of an observer.
Best regards,
Deborah K. Welsh
South Caucasus Project Director
National Peace Foundation
Washington DC
Tel/Fax: 994-12-92-67-58
What: "Libraries and Reading in the Computer Age"
Dr. Vartan Gregorian president of Carnegie Corporation of
When: Nov 16 2000 6:30pm
Where: Fieldhouse Auditorium, Leacock Building,
McGill University, 855 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, CA
Misc: Free & open to all, organized by Hamazkayin-Canada
Online Contact: dzovo@hotmail.com or salpiaskan@hotmail.com
Tel: 514-337-7753
****************************************
List of Distribution
Peter T. Knight, Ph.D.
Board member of GLOSAS/USA
Knight, Moore - Telematics for Education and Development
Communications Development Incorporated (CDI)
Strategy, Policy, Design, Implementation, Evaluation
1808 I Street, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20006, USA
Tel: 1-202-775-2132 (secretary), 1-202-721-0348 (direct)
Fax: 1-202-775-2135 (office), 1-202-362-8482 (home)
Cel: 1-202-255-7215
IP for CU-SeeMe: 198.77.80.46
ptknight@attglobal.net
peter@knight-moore.com
webmail: ptknight@netscape.net
http://www.knight-moore.com
http://www.cdinet.com
http://www.knight-moore.com/partners/partnerindex.htm -- bio
http://www.knight-moore.com/projects/GSTF.html -- about GSTF
Dr. Joseph N. Pelton
Board member of GLOSAS/USA
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
ecjpelton@aol.com
jpelton@seas.gwu.edu
Or,
Acting Executive Director of CITI
Vice-Chair of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation of the U.S. (ACCFUS)
Arthur C. Clark Institute for Telecommunication and Information
(CITI)
4025 40th Street North
Arlington, VA 22207
(703) 536-6985
ecjpelton@aol.com
http://clarkeinstitute.com/
http://www.clarkeinstitute.com/
Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP
Board member of GLOSAS/USA
Former President of Fulbright Association
Professor Emeritus, School of Planning
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Tennessee
108-I Hoskins Library
Knoxville, TN 37996-4015
USA
Tel: +1-865-974 5227
Fax: +1-865-974 5229
daj@utk.edu
davidj@buncombe.main.nc.us
http://web.utk.edu/~djohnutk/
Francis J. Method
Director, UNESCO-Washington
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
1775 K St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (1) 202-331-3755
Fax: (1) 202-331-9121
fmethod@erols.com
Deborah K. Welsh
South Caucasus Project Director
National Peace Foundation
Washington DC
Tel/Fax: 994-12-92-67-58
dkwelsh@dkw.baku.az
**********************************************************************
* 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/ *
**********************************************************************