Synopsis of GUS and GCEPG

December 30, 2005

Economic interdependence among nations and cultures is spawning a global economy. Globalization also highlights clashes of divergent cultures and belief systems, both political and religious. If global peace is ever to be achieved, global-scale education, with the use of the modern digital telecommunications, will be needed to create mutual understanding among nations, cultures, ethnic groups, and religions. The Internet is the future of telecommunications and can be a medium for building peace.

Background

Over the past three decades, GLOSAS/USA (the founder of Global University System (GUS) [Utsumi, et al, 2003]) has played a major pioneering role in extending U.S. data communication networks to other countries, particularly to Japan, and deregulating Japanese telecom policies for the use of e-mail through ARPANET, Telenet and Internet. This triggered the de-monopolization and privatization of Japanese telecom industries. This liberalization of the telecom industry has been emulated and has now created a more enabling environment for economic and social development in many other countries. Over 180 countries have Internet access and more than one billion people use e-mail around the world nowadays. American and other countries' university courses now reach many under-served developing countries.

Next to that, since 1986, GLOSAS conducted a series of innovative distance teaching trials with multipoint-to-multipoint multimedia interactive videoconferences using hybrid delivery technologies, which often spanned the globe and came to be called the "Global Lecture Hall (GLH)" ^tm, including demonstrations of telemedicine from Finland and Amazon to the US.

Global University System (GUS)

GUS aims to build a higher level of humanity with mutual understanding across national and cultural boundaries for global peace [Varis, et al, 2003]. The GUS is a worldwide initiative to create advanced telecom infrastructure for accessing educational resources around the world. The aim is to achieve "education and healthcare for all," anywhere, anytime and at any pace.

The mission of GUS is to help higher educational and healthcare institutions in remote/rural areas of developing countries to deploy broadband Internet in order to close the digital divide. Learners may take courses from different member universities, obtaining their degree from the GUS, thus freeing them from being confined to one academic culture of a single university or country. These institutions also act as the knowledge center of their community for the eradication of poverty and isolation. Those institutions affiliated with GUS become members of the GUS/UNESCO/UNITWIN Networking Chair Program located at the University of Tampere in Finland.

Globally Collaborative Environmental Peace Gaming (GCEPG)

E-mail and multimedia World Wide Web of Internet so far contributed significantly to the world society on the dissemination of information. The next phase of the Internet development with emerging global grid computer networks (which concept I initiated [McLeod, 2000] and [Utsumi, 2003]) should be the globally collaborative experiential learning and creation of knowledge and wisdom with interactive actions on virtual reality simulation models of joint global research and development projects on various subjects. This is to form a globally collaborative innovation network (GCIN) to foster creativity of youngsters around the world.

The GCEPG is toward this direction and proposes to utilize the semantic benefits of gaming simulation on a global scale to aid decision makers in appreciating the impact of their decisions on interwoven global problems. The GCEPG, focusing on the issue of environment and sustainable development in developing countries, is to train would-be leaders in crisis management, conflict resolution, and negotiation techniques basing on “facts and figures.” The socio-economic-environmental models of participating countries will be constructed with System Dynamic methodology and linked together in a globally distributed computer simulation system mode through a grid computer network. The GUS will supply game players, simulationists, tech support from around the world.

The GCEPG is a computerized gaming/simulation to help decision makers construct a globally distributed decision-support system for positive sum/win-win alternatives to conflict and war. The idea involves interconnecting experts in many countries via global Internet to collaborate in the discovering of new solutions for world crises, such as the deteriorating ecology of our globe, and to explore new alternatives for a world order capable of addressing the problems and opportunities of an interdependent globe. Gaming/simulation is the best tool we have for understanding the world's interwoven problems and the solutions we propose for them. System analysis for systemic change at the global level is a precondition for any significant resolution to today's global-scale problems. The understanding of interwoven world phenomena gained with scientific and rational analysis and critical thinking basing on “facts and figures” would be the basis of conflict resolution for world peace, and hence ought to provide the basic principle of global education for peace [Utsumi, 2005].

The purpose of an interactive gaming mechanism is to help find appropriate alternative policies by establishing consensus among participating parties. It is suggested here that globally distributed computer simulation should be tested interactively with the game player inserting pseudo-policy parameters into the models whenever necessary, during the execution of simulation. This is called peace gaming/simulation [Utsumi, 1977] similar to war games practiced by military strategists [Schram et al., 1971]. With the advent of global broadband Internet and standard interface protocols for interconnecting various dispersed, dissimilar host computers, the potential exists for ensuring the coordination of international efforts by providing more frequent communications and an environment for shared development, enabling more credible simulation study than was previously possible.

This will be done in cooperation with the European Learning GRID Infrastructure (EleGI) Project group [Allison, et al, 2003], North American and Japanese groups, and later on with groups of developing countries. This will promote trustful friendship among youngsters around the world to realize the Knowledge Society of the 21st century, and their collective creativity will enlarge the size of pie for stakeholders to reach peaceful win-win consequences. Senator Fulbright once said that learning together and working together are the first steps toward world peace.

Financing

Our projects will combine the Japanese government's Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds and Japanese electronic equipment with the Internet technology and content development of North America and Europe.

Conclusion

The GUS program is a comprehensive and holistic approach to building smart communities in developing countries for e-Learning and e-healthcare/telemedicine. Initiatives are underway to create the necessary infrastructure and educational liaisons, and some near-term educational access is expected.

GUS is clearly an ambitious program, one that cannot be achieved by any one group, university, or national government. The program requires substantial collaborative contribution of ideas, expertise, technology resources, and funds from multiple sources. Those who value the vision of GUS are invited to join this great and noble enterprise.

Reference:

Allison, C., et al, "Human Learning as a Global Challenge: European Learning Grid Infrastructure," Global Peace Through The Global University System, University of Tampere Press, Tampere, Finland <http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z1D031A39>

McLeod, J., (2000), "Power (?) Grid!," Simulation in the Service of Society, Simulation, September <http://makeashorterlink.com/?H241159B9>

Schram, S., Marks, H., Behrens, W., Levin, G., and McLeod, J., et al., (1971), Macro-system simulation, Panel Discussion Session at the 1971 Summer Computer Simulation Conference (SCSC), 1972 SCSC Proceedings, Society for Computer Simulation, pp. 1491-1502

Utsumi, T., (1977), “Peace game,” Simulation, November, pp. 135

Utsumi, T., Varis, T., and Klemm, W. R., (2003), “Creating Global University System,” Global Peace Through The Global University System, University of Tampere Press, Tampere, Finland <http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2F231019>

Utsumi, T., (2003), “Globally Collaborative Environmental Peace Gaming,” Global Peace Through The Global University System, University of Tampere Press, Tampere, Finland

<http://makeashorterlink.com/?E1D121E09>

Utsumi, T., (2005), "Global e-Learning for Global Peace," Paper for opening speech at the American Society for Cybernetics in Washington, D.C., October 28

<http://makeashorterlink.com/?F44621BDB>

Varis, T., Utsumi, T., and Klemm, W. R., (Editors), (2003), Global Peace Through The Global University System, University of Tampere Press, Tampere, Finland, November, (ISBN 951-44-5695-5) <http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2D252E09>

Officers of GUS

· P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D., Acting President, (University of Tampere, former rector of the United Nations University of Peace in Costa Rica)

· Marco Antonio Dias, T.C.D., Vice President for Administration, (former director of Higher Education of UNESCO)

· Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., Founder and Vice President for Technology and Coordination, (Chairman of GLOSAS/USA)

· Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, (former Director-General of the ITU)

· Dr. Federico Mayor, (President of the Foundation for Culture of Peace and a former Director-General of the UNESCO)

Dr Takeshi Utsumi is the Founder and Vice President for Technology and Coordination of GUS and the Chairman of the GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA). He is the 1994 Laureate of the Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education. He has been lecturing, consulting and conducting research at many universities, governmental agencies, and large firms in Japan, the USA and other countries.

utsumi@columbia.edu