Proponents are asked to
submit this form electronically as a file attached to an email or as a file on
a 3.5 inch pc-formatted diskette mailed to infoDev. The
file should be in Microsoft World or a RTF. While no particular graphical form is required for an infoDev proposal, it should contain the information
requested below.
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infoDev MISSION "To promote innovative projects
on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for economic and social development
with a special emphasis on the
needs of the poor in developing countries" |
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1. Project Title
(maximum 12 words): Community Development
with E-Learning and E-Healthcare in Amazon, Brazil |
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Proposal ID number (to be
completed by infoDev): |
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2. Date of Proposal: January 25, 2002 |
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PROPONENT
INFORMATION |
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3. Proponent Contact
Information: |
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3.1 Principal
Investigator
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Name: |
Alexandre Rivas, Ph.D., Professor |
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Organization: |
Center for Environmental Sciences (CCA) Universidade Federal do Amazonas / Fundacao UNI-SOLan> |
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Address: |
Campus Universitário 3000Manaus, AM Brazil 69000 |
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Phone Number: |
+ 55-92-647-4066 |
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Fax Number: |
+ 55-92-647-4066 |
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Email: |
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Website of organization: http:// |
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3.2 Co-Principal Investigator |
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Name: |
Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E. |
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Organization: |
President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and
Coordination of Global University System (GUS) Chairman, GLObal Systems
Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA) |
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Address: |
43-23 Colden Street Flushing, NY 11355-3998 U.S.A. |
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Phone Number: |
+1-718-939-0928 |
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Fax Number: |
+1-718-939-0656 |
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Email: |
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Website of organization: http:// |
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4. 4.1 Total
project cost (in $US): 300,000 4.2 Funding
Requested from infoDev (in
$US): 235,000 4.3 Project Duration
(one year, two years, three years or more) One year from the beginning of this fund available to the submission of a comprehensive document of systems design, feasibility study and market survey on the proposed CampusNet and Community Development Networks (CDNs) to appropriate Brazilian governmental agencies which will forward it to the Japanese government for their "non-tied cultural aid." The project duration of deploying the CampusNet
and the CDNs with this ³non-tied cultural aid² fund will be determined by the
committee which will be formed at the proposed workshop in Manaus, Amazon,
Brazil which workshop is to be held with this InfoDev grant. |
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5 Please elaborate on the role of each
intended partner in the project.
Please Letters of commitment by
the participating organizations are recommended. See APPENDIX X: List of Participants See also APPENDIX IX: Prospective Joint Programs and
Projects |
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CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECT |
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6 Please choose from the following ONLY ONE of the most relevant category for the proposed
project: (if necessary you may choose a second, but please mark as primary
and secondary). infoDev will not consider anything beyond the primary and secondary categories: |
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Telecommunications Infrastructure Development |
[ ] |
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Internet Infrastructure Development |
[ X] Primary |
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Education |
[ X] Secondary |
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Health |
[ ] |
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E-Commerce |
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Environment |
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Government |
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Other (please explain) |
[ X ] |
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This project with the Japanese government fund
(after the proposed workshop with the InfoDev fund) will be for community
development with all other interested parties involved in the order of
e-health, environment, government, and e-commerce. |
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7. Please indicate the type of
organization that would carry out the proposed project:
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Academic/Research
Institution |
[ X ] |
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Non Governmental
Organization |
[ ] |
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Private Enterprise |
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Government Agency |
[ ] |
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Regional, Bilateral or
Multilateral Organization |
[ ] |
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Other (please explain) |
[ X ] |
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This is a joint project of the University of Amazonia (UA) in Brazil and the Global University System (GUS) at the University of Tampere, Finland. |
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8. |
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Country(ies) please specify |
[ X ] Amazon Region, Brazil |
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Worldwide, Regional or Non
Country-specific |
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9. Proposal Executive Summary: Please give a brief description (maximum 100
words)
of the proposed activities. This summary will be posted on the infoDev website. This international
workshop is to brainstorm on and to form a committee for the deployment of
broadband Internet in Amazon, Brazil, with CampusNet via satellite and the
community development networks with wireless units. This is a community development approach with the
involvements of all schools, libraries, hospitals, local governments, non-
and profit-organizations to have global E-Rate. Joint contents development, teacher and general-public training for digital literacy will also be discussed for poverty and isolation reductions. The resultant comprehensive documents will be submitted to the Japanese government's "non-tied cultural aid." Global University System will emulate
this project in other developing countries around the world in the future. |
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10. Poverty Reduction Impact Describe the
technology components of the project and
how the application
of ICTs will reduce poverty and improve
the lives of the
intended
beneficiaries. Electronic means of communication is taking an
ever greater role in our societies. Internet business, for instance, is
expected to move money in the order of billions of dollars. Scientific
progress at universities is enhanced by accessing to databases via Internet.
A PC, now more than ever, bases medical equipment, on digital equipment, a
fact that makes it quite immediate to send the acquired data via Internet, or
process it. In a word, anyone not capable accessing Internet in a way or
another will be in a great disadvantage with respect to their peers. South America is the home of one of the world's
unique environment, the Amazon rain forest. The region was considered as an
empty area in terms of human population density, particularly in the
Brazilian side. During the last years, the media called the world's attention
to the deforestation and biodiversity loss problems that were happening in
the region. The world was also concerned about the increasing problems
associated with drugs. Those problems were clear indication that the empty
area was starting to suffer the consequences of human activities. Those problems can be substantially minimized if
their isolation is addressed. Isolation makes people unaware of their
importance as citizens and increase impoverishing and degradation of the
environment and economic system. In situations like that, people will not
understand the importance to conserve the environment or how to benefit from
it without compromise their own future as well as the future of future
generations. Ultimately, such unawareness can perpetuate a cycle of economic
and social poverty and environmental degradation. The implementation of a modern communication
technology can drastically reduce the risks threatening the region. A
broadband or faster and more reliable communication network linking people
and institutions within and inter Amazonian communities will contribute for
the understanding of people¹s role and importance on the use of the forest in
a sustainable manner and, at the same time, to improve their quality of life
avoiding the cost of nature destruction. Community based programs in Amazonia have the
premise that exercises in the deployment and use of technology are not the
core for sustainable development in Amazonia, rather it is the promotion of
economic development, job creation, and increasing quality of life as the
final goal. Technological propagation is not an end in itself, but only a
means to a larger end with clear and compelling community benefit. The
development of such network will benefit communities living in remote areas
of other Amazonian countries in the future. In summary, the problems or opportunities that
this activity addresses are;
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11. Comparative Projects in
the Subject Area Please make clear how your project is
distinguished from other projects in the subject area The main focus of the proposed broadband Internet
is either or both of satellite and terrestrial (microwave and/or
spread-spectrum) wireless approach in viewpoints of the region¹s geographical
constraints and their cost effectiveness. At the main campuses of CampusNet affiliated universities,
the spread-spectrum with 802.11b protocol will save considerable fund for
their local area networking. The
community development network in the cities of the main campuses of the
affiliated universities will also be connected with this technology. Students of the universities and all
schools in the cities will then be able to access Internet at high speed
wherever they are within the coverage of its antenna. Some of the proposed joint program (e.g., English
as a Second Language [ESL]) will also utilize cutting-edge technologies; (1)
multimedia e-book, (2) web-teaching of pronunciation with audio analyzer, (3)
combined use of DVD with web access via narrow-band Internet to retrieve
multimedia contents previously stored in the DVD, as if it has been downloaded
via broadband Internet, (4) multimedia collaborating system via narrow-band
Internet with audio conferencing via Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)
network, (5) laptop with wireless Internet access to web and to conduct
smooth audio/video conferencings from anywhere within the range of the
wireless antenna, (6) well proven content (with hard track record of teaching
more than 20 million students in 5 years via terrestrial radio in the
Mainland China), which content will further be enhanced with globally
collaborative business gaming/simulation based on management case study
methods. This is to provide
e-learners with self-pacing, interactive, and customized courses that are
perfect fit to learner motivation and target language environment. The community development approach of this project
will include all interested parties in the cities of the main campuses of
CampusNet universities. This
will not only contribute to the problem of digital literacy among poor, but
also create new job opportunities to the graduates of the universities, and
even E-Rate with the involvement of profit-oriented organizations in the
later stage. |
BODY OF THE PROPOSAL
(Please read the Guidelines carefully) |
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A Formation of a committee at the proposed workshop for
deployment of broadband Internet in Amazon region with a Japanese
government¹s grant. |
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B This workshop is to brainstorm on and to form a committee for the planning of necessary telecommunication configurations, their systems design, feasibility study, market survey and action plan of implementing the infrastructures, and the construction of their cost estimates for dish antenna, transceivers and satellite segments, etc. They are for;
Possible joint projects with Brazilians, Americans
and Canadians will also be discussed on how to utilize the expected broadband
Internet. They are contents
development, teacher and general-public training for digital literacy,
English as a Second Language (ESL), nurse training, etc. The resultant comprehensive documents will then be
submitted to the Japanese government (through Brazilian Cooperation Agency)
for their ³non-tied cultural aid² grant. See summary slides at;
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C
C.1 Activities
C.1.1 Activity Background
C.1.1.1 Global University System (GUS)
With the generous funds from the InfoDev, the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), the British Council, the Ministry of Education of Finland, the Soros Foundation/Open Society Institute, the United States Information Agency (USIA), and many others, GLOSAS and the University of Tampere conducted a highly successful International Workshop and Conference on "Emerging Global Electronic Distance Learning (EGEDL#99)" in August, 1999 at the University of Tampere, Finland <http://www.uta.fi/EGEDL>.
The event brought together about 60 decision-makers and leaders in e-learning and telemedicine from 14 underserved countries who discussed practical solutions for the implementation of affordable global e-learning across national boundaries. They brainstormed and the workshop recommended the formation of the following three interrelated organizations:
The group also formulated specific pilot projects focused on major regions of the world to reduce the growing digital divide between information-rich and information-poor populations, as realizing Òeducation and healthcare for all,Ó at anywhere, anytime and at any pace. The regional GUSs will be interconnected with GBI, which will be financed by GSTF (APPENDIX V to VIII). See more at; <http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Global_University/Global University System/Reference_web_sites.html>.
This grant application is the continuation of our Tampere event and is to hold a workshop in Manaus, Amazon to establish CampusNet and Community Development Network (CDN, firstly in the City of Manaus and later in the cities of main campuses of the CampusNet affiliated universities). The former is to interconnect Multimedia Resource Centers (MRCs) at the main campuses of 6 Federal Public Universities and at their branch campuses in the localities of their states in Amazon areas via broadband satellite Internet (APPENDIX I). The latter is to con |