African participation in AFRO-NETS (8)
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Dear colleagues,
David Gwatkin raises important points which are of concern to us too at
SatelLife as we administer global electronic conferences (or discussion
groups). We do feel that we are engaged in a shared enterprise and that the
lively discussion and constructive comments by the participants on AFRO-
NETS can guide us in providing a more useful service to health workers. The
issues are complex and there are no simple solutions but input from our
users are taken very seriously as we construct these new tools.
We would definitely like to see more participation from colleagues in the
developing world. Other AFRO-NETS participants have identified many of the
obstacles facing health workers in Africa around issues of connectivity.
These are real obstacles and continue to be a challenge. A high-speed,
direct Internet connection is not necessary for participation in our
electronic conferences. They are free and open to all health workers who
have access to email, such as basic store and forward systems. We do feel
however that there needs to be a major investment in systematic training
and skills development in the effective use of electronic communication.
SatelLife is exploring opportunities to train users in the new information
technology tools as well as develop a cadre of trainer of trainers.
Another issue of concern is a person's comfort level in posting to a
discussion group, a very public forum for the sharing of information. We
have not heard any opinions expressed on this subject but would be very
interested in hearing the comments of our subscribers in Africa and other
developing countries.
To monitor the traffic on AFRO-NETS (and other HealthNet conferences), we
would like to introduce a short registration form which will provide a
profile of a subscriber. This can give us more information about who is
subscribed and who is posting to the conference. Usually we can determine
the geographic location of a person from the email address but not their
background.
We are extremely pleased with the progress of AFRO-NETS which was initiated
in Africa and is moderated by Dieter Neuvians in Zimbabwe. AFRO-NETS is
still "young" and we look forward to its continued growth.
Sincerely,
Leela McCullough
Information Director
SatelLife
mailto:leela@usa.healthnet.org
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