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"Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development"
Conference at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario Canada: Oct 26 & 27,
1998.  See note below for further information...

**Conference News Flash**  October 13, 1998  http://www.snowden.org

Item 1) Sharing African telecom for rural development experiences

There will be at least 25 African delegates participating in the Oct. 26 &
27 conference in Guelph, representing telecom for rural development
initiatives in countries such as: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mali,
Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.  These
conference participants represent a wide variety of organizations such as
national ICT "think tanks", libraries, trade associations, environmental
communication agencies, community information services, rural radio
organizations, private sector ICT players, PTT rural technicians and
officials, and rural/agricultural development organizations.  Initial
comments in our on-line pre-conference indicate that despite very different
contexts, many of the issues, lesson-learned and recommendations for
enhancing telecommunications for rural development are shared whether we are
looking at rural Africa or rural Australia, North America, Asia or Europe.

Travel, accommodations and conference fees for these participants is funded
by several organizations, including the International Telecommunication
Union, the International Development Research Centre's Acacia Initiative,
the European Union, SR Telecom Inc., and the Don Snowden Program for
Development Communication.

Item 2) On-line pre-conference - focus on sustainability
http://www.snowden.org/conference/forumintro1.cfm

The Online Pre-conference for the "Partnerships and Participation in
Telecommunications for Rural Development" Conference is underway with many
participants focusing on the issue of sustainability of telecom for rural
development initiatives.

For example, Paul McLeod from Newfoundland comments:
"I find it useful to separate ends and means -- to remember that in most
projects the development objectives are separate from the tools being
utilized to achieve them.

Certainly a particular project may have as a primary objective the
institutionalization of the tools so they can be sustainable, perhaps to
serve the community or institution for a long time after the project
concludes. But in many more projects there may be no real purpose in
creating a sustainable tool. After a few months or years of project
activity, the real objectives may have been achieved (in part, thanks to
using the tools well) and the tools themselves can be dismantled or allowed
to disappear.

In another scenario, tools may already exist (e.g. a private or
institutional telecentre; a private or institutional video production
facility; etc.) and it may make sense to try to incorporate it/them into the
project In so-doing a facility/institution may be enhanced and people may
receive training; this may advance the facility from a marginal to a fully
sustainable operation that in turn may benefit the community on an on-going
basis. But this would be a secondary objective and whether or not it happens
or the facility survives would not have any real impact on the primary
development objectives (e.g fisheries development; community water;
irrigation; health; whatever) which are being furthered by effective
utilization of the communication tools.

In most development projects, unless a specific objective is to create a
sustainable communications tool, it's important not to let the tools become
an end in themselves. The problem is they often seem to have a way of
becoming just that, perhaps diverting resources and distracting attention
that should be going to the primary development objectives."

Item 3) "Making Canada the Most Connected Nation in the World"

David Reid from Industry Canada's Community Access Program
(http://cnet.unb.ca/cap/) will be at the Oct. 26 & 27 conference to speak
about this innovative and cost effective program helps provide Canadians
with affordable public access to the Internet and the skills to utilize it
effectively. Under CAP, local schools, libraries and community centres act
as "on-ramps" to the Information Highway and provide support on how to make
the best use of the Internet.CAP originally focussed on establishing 5,000
access sites in rural and remote communities. The 1998 federal budget
provided funding toward the creation of up to an additional 5,000 Internet
access sites in urban neighbourhoods across Canada. To date, close to 2,200
rural and remote communities have been brought on-line by CAP partners,
bringing Canada closer to the goal of establishing up to 10,000 access sites
by the end of fiscal year 2000-01.

According to CAP officials, access to the Information Highway will help
create awareness of the Internet's potential to create new and exciting
opportunities for jobs and growth, by providing communities with the ability
to communicate with one another, conduct business, enhance job skills or
simply exchange ideas and information. Once fully implemented, CAP will help
Canadians use the Internet to:

- access federal, provincial and municipal information services;
- seek out domestic and international business opportunities;
- develop value-added products and services;
- create local enterprises, jobs, growth and social development; and
- learn valuable skills to reap the opportunities provided by the
knowledge-based economy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the "Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunication for Rural
Development Conference"

The two-day face-to-face conference on October 26 & 27, 1998 will take place
on the beautiful campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario,
Canada. Guelph is a short 45 minute drive from Toronto with easy access to
and from Toronto International Airport (Pearson Airport). The conference
focuses on telecommunications for participatory rural development. It looks
at how lessons-learned in Canada might be applied by people in other
countries, and how lessons learned in other countries might be applied in
Canada.

There is still time to register for the conference!  You may call (519) 824
4120 ext. 2353 to register by phone, or you can print, complete and fax your
registration(s) from our website at
http://www.snowden.org/conference/registerpaid.html  The conference fee is
$349 +GST for Canadian residents and $300 US for non-Canadians.

This conference is sponsored by: Don Snowden Program for Development
Communication, Foundation for International Training, Bell Canada, SR
Telecom, International Telecommunication Union, International Development
Research Centre, Industry Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada,
University of Guelph, and the TeleCommons Development Group.

Don Richardson
Director
Don Snowden Program for Development Communication
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
N1G 2W1
Tel: 519-824-4120 x 3811 Fax: 519-836-9941
Email: drichard@uoguelph.ca
Web: http://www.snowden.org