OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

More from Jeffrey James book (discussed in a couple of postings in the last few days):

James mentions an article by Linda Main in Third World Quarterly that emphasizes the role of satellite and undersea cables in building the Global Information Infrastructure. He goes on to mention Low Earth Orbiting Satellites in other sections of the book, especially in the context of VitaSat and Healthsat. I think it is important to open the “black box”, and identify these technologies that are so important in building the information infrastructure, but which are invisible to the user. They exemplify very high technology that is critical to providing connectivity to the poor.

James also mentions cable and Interactive TV. The TV is a good display mechanism, and is widely available in developing nations – much more so than are PCs. My first home computer was a little Sinclair that display via a black and white TV, and it made good sense to me not to have to buy a video display for the computer. Similarly, cable is more widely available in many developing countries than one might expect, and is a good medium for two-way communications. There is a lot that can be done via these technologies, but they are almost always neglected in ICT4D communities.