Value of the Internet (14)
--------------------------
Greetings:
In response to the numerous postings concerning the value of the
INTERNET, I wish to add the following comments. The prevailing inade-
quacy of the telephone system in most Sub- Saharan African nations
seriously retards development, from business, tourism to healthcare.
This situation also helps to perpetuate the traditional attitude --
let's not act but ask for another study -- and enjoy the quietness of
isolation. There are those, however, who want to become part of the
"global village", want prosperity which would allow better healthcare
for the populace.
INTERNET-based services in combination with satellites can provide
access to the global community. However, satellite links are expen-
sive costing on the average $15.000 per month. Nowadays there are
less and less donors who are willing to pay such service fees on a
sustained basis. This condition prompted our organisation to develop
the concept of an INTERNET Service Centre for the Promotion of In-
vestment, Electronic Commerce and Trade, Tourism Development and
Telemedicine. I offered in an earlier posting, free of charge, copies
of these documents to persons and organisations interested in these
projects.
During our lengthy involvement with development in Africa we recog-
nised that aid money can be used for the creation of "white ele-
phants" or for the establishment of a solid commercial infrastructure
which in time can be self-sustaining and inspirational for enterprise
development. This model is designed to pay for the cost of telemedi-
cine services. If these services are restricted to one hospital or
clinic, such a program would represent the blatant misuse of this
unique INTERNET capability.
Fortunately, inexpensive wireless digital communication links can
provide access to many hospitals and clinics within a given region.
The capacity of the wireless digital links provides opportunities
for sharing this capability with local businesses in order to sustain
the service. Researchers with access to this network can create Vir-
tual Research Organisations with video-link and white-board capabili-
ties for collaboration without leaving their own laboratories.
The INTERNET contains the world largest medical and pharmaceutical
knowledge resources. In some American states where telemedicine is
the backbone of universal healthcare, professional training has be-
come the prominent and dominant feature of the service. African uni-
versities with connection to the wireless digital network could pro-
vide similar service, including "traditional medicine".
The obvious question is how can the projects described above be ac-
complished? The answer is simple: collaboration through systematic
approach. On behalf of our African clients we are in communication
with major funding sources. We are willing to expand our applications
if other medical organisations are interested in participating in our
projects.
The value of the INTERNET is immeasurable. A connection can facili-
tate access to free or shareware programs. For example, New Deal Of-
fice is a graphical DOS-based productivity suite that runs on comput-
ers with 286 processors, 640KB RAM and 8MB of hard disk space. This
software offers all the functionality of WINDOWS 95 with point-and-
click capability for word processing, spreadsheet, database, personal
organiser, and drawing applications. For information and preview con-
tact:
http://www.newdealinc.com/front.html
Fax: +1-514-633-6315
At an advanced level, the latest British invention, the 3D Virtual
Surgical Simulator can facilitate the development of surgical tech-
niques. Every day new capabilities, new knowledge are added to the
resource base of the INTERNET. We have succeeded finally in the de-
mocratisation of KNOWLEDGE.
Dr Sigmund de Janos, Senior Consultant
Canada
Tel: +1-613-731-3461
Fax: +1-613-731-3286
mailto:dejanos@mail.on.rogers.wave.ca
--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.