This seems a good candidate for a thoughtful case study, especially appropriate during the International Year of the Mountains. I am amazed that mountains symbolize essential communications sites for cell towers and other hardware, yet the people dwelling in those same mountains seldom seem able to reap the benefits (economic, technological) in their own indigenous communities, even in industrialized countries. The advantages of modern ICTs seem to skip over them. Perhaps Martha Davies could comment on this Andean example, since she has done so much to help bring ICTs to local communities in Peru.
Scott Robinson wrote: > Peter Burgess' recent post is on the mark. His comments re > accountability and the lack of same in the "Development Business" are > germane to any evaluation of the World Bank Group, its websites and > investment strategies. A recent discovery of mine merits mention here: > an IT for development and community telecenter conference in northern > Peru two months ago programmed a visit to a highland village > inaugurating a low power community radio station (using truck batteries > for power). En route to and fro our group shoehorned into two > microbuses passed the largest gold mine in Latin America, Minera > Yanacocha. With its satellite-fed Internet connection to its offices on > the p…ramo, above 3500 meters, it seemed logical to request the company > offer fixed wireless connectivity to the many villages within and on the > perimeter of its extensive subsurface mineral concessions impacting > several communities. Upon return home, I discovered there is a dispute > being adjudicated by the internal IFC Ombudsman office re this mine, and > that IFC has a 10% equity share in the operation (with Newmont Mining, > Denver, Colorado). > > We can only ask why can't the good World Bank / Int'l Finance Corp. > planners and program officers see fit to add a minor line item in the > project budget that would offer the virtues of connectivity to those who > have none and whose livelihood is placed at risk by toxic, mercury > spills in their delicate Andean highland econiche....? ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
