Comments by Millennium Institute

On Globally Collaborative Innovation Network (GCIN) Project

June 15, 2006

MI/T21 contribution to the project:

The project aims at creating a Globally Collaborative Innovation Network (GCIN) for western African countries (i.e., Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone). The objectives include the establishment of a reliable broadband internet connection, which would help in providing e-learning and e-healthcare/telemedicine, leading community development, and creating a gateway to the outside world. The project is based on the belief that national wealth is created by knowledge, education and wealth.

T21 can contribute to the project in various ways: it can be taught and used at school to comprehend how to face complex issues (at different levels –basic SD education, training on a simple planning model, training on T21 for policy planning), it can be used to promote holistic and comprehensive thinking (by linking society, economy and environment), etc.

See a more detailed analysis below:

• Network: the project involves mainly education (at different levels), health sector, government and NGOs. T21 is a comprehensive simulation model, which includes society, economy and environment. T21 is based on System Dynamics (SD), a practical methodology to analyze complex systems. T21 and System Dynamics can support the Developmental Universities project in various ways:

• Education: in the education sector, T21 can speed-up learning about policy planning and interrelations between social, economic and environmental issues at the country level. Moreover, SD, by proposing a framework for understanding complex issues, can enhance the learning process in policy planning as well as in all related knowledge areas.
• Health: in the health sectors T21 helps understanding interrelated issues such government investment and improvement in the sectoral performance (which involves delays, non-linearity and dynamic -more than detailed- complexity);
• Government and NGOs: T21 represents a very good tool for understanding the implications of policy planning. It also helps in analyzing the cause and effect relationship that generates the outcomes of the simulation, so that negative effects can be reduced while the positive ones can be amplified through the implementation of an optimized mix of policies.

• Beneficiaries: young people and students. T21 is transparent, flexible and enhances discussion and confrontation. It is based on the System Dynamics methodology, which is now used in many Universities and research institutions to allow students and researchers to fully comprehend complex issues in various different fields. T21 is also a simplification of the reality, therefore students and young people can focus on the few mechanisms that determine the development of the country without being overwhelmed by complexity. In addition the SD methodology is intuitive, easy to understand and utilize. Certainly, T21 is not a Òblack boxÓ.

• Instruments: T21 can be used as a tool for teaching how to face and therefore understand complex issues. In addition, T21 can also be a game and it is actually played by the users through policy testing. The model can be used to teach SD and to train modelers, but at the same time is also the tool used to practice with the methodology and national issues. Courses and trainings can be organized for professors or facilitators of the project (administrators of the shared simulation model over the net) and 2 versions of the model can be created: a simplified learning version and a complete T21 application.

• Supporting objectives: the utilization of T21 can involve the creation of a regional center for the development of the model and for continuous training of local experts. Training is also provided by the University of Bergen, which has a partnership with MI. The utilization of T21 ad of the SD methodology could also have positive effects on the economy of the region/country. SD is also used to manage business; a number of application can support its validity in this field.

• Dissemination:

• Implementation: they write that 2 models should be installed on many computers and run as a single gaming entity. Here are the possible options:

• On the model structure side:

• A simplified version of T21: this model can be used to teach the basic SD concepts and analyze a few simple policies. The utilization of its Run Only version should not require training in SD. The model can be uploaded on the net and available to anyone. (low cost, benefits in teaching)

• As a standard application: T21 will be customized for a single country (e.g. Ghana), and will be equipped with domestic issues and assumptions about the ROW. (standard cost, good for advanced teaching and for policy analysis)

• Extended model: if a standard application does not satisfy the purposes of the project, we could create a more comprehensive ROW sector (by adding a few policies on neighbor countries). (high cost, good for policy analysis)

• Two models linked to each other: we could link the T21-Ghana to the T21-USA, but this would require a lot of work and it would not produce much value added it would produce very similar results to those obtained with an extended model). (high cost, good for detailed policy analysis –at the NGO/government level)

• On the user side:

• Single user: standard T21 application. (standard cost)

• Multi-user asymmetric game: it can be applied to all the 3 options described for the model structure. In this case we would need to create different interfaces for each player. I know this kind of games (like the MEG one) works on the LAN, I donÕt know about the network that will be used for the project Òmini supercomputersÓ. (high cost, need to be tested, it would allow the user to face competition)