You can now 'telecommute' for sustainable use of resources and take an 'edutainment' break! overseeing more than what an overseas aid by a developing country does, satellite info is the emerging poverty alleviation mantra for developing nations
IN THE backward regions of the world, there is as much a need
for technology as there is for organisational know-how for
improving productivity. Effective administration and
demand-supply management can be established by cost-beneficial electronics communications and Computer technology
advances which make possible a state of 'zero-tag-time' taken
to reach information to the required places.
The world urgently needs to study if new 'products' and
manufacturing principles' can be designed with nature as a
model, and if new levels of productivity might be achieved by
means of a synergistic clustering of manufacturing industries,
where one firm's by-products and effluents can be fed as
inputs into other firms to achieve net zero-emissions.
Therefore, the developing and backward regions need to
exploit the latest developments in modern agriculture and
bio-industries, since this is an area that does not escape 'reengineering'.
Most well-informed scientists and policymakers will
agree that humanity as a whole is already in possession of the
technologies, resources and organisational abilities necessary
to eradicate poverty from this earth. Economic liberalisation
in India, for example, actually opens our doors to a learning
process which can link small producers to private enterprises
owning the technologies, the knowledge and necessary implements/devices.
A synergistic link between corporate managements, with
their technology and marketing expertise, and the small producers, who are owner- cultivators of natural resources
(land/labour/sunshine and rain), is much desired, For post-harvest handling of agro-products and for productivity
enhancement, small producers need the services of well-organised corporate enterprises.
Sustainable development - the agreed goal of most
countries today - requires a parallel and synchronised improvement in agro-industry, political systems and individual-family behaviour (which have a key role to play in changing our consumption patterns). For this, an electronically interconnected demand-supply system takes care of everyone's views and preferences in a zero-(information)-time-lag environment.
On the technical side, 'telecommuting' is
becoming increasingly attractive as a consequence of databases available both on-line and distributed on optical discs. Optical
fibres, small dish antennae, and pocket radio
systems have opened the floodgates to information exchange, information-demand-registration, polling and voting and even to
1edutainment' born out of the wedlock
between video and satellite support systems on the one hand,
and advanced multi-media entertainment systems on the
other.
Little wonder then that modern biotechnology and telematics can lead us confidently to intelligent 'rurbanisation',
both by contributing to the development of agro-industrial
enterprises in rural areas, and by upgrading city life with the
help of urban agriculture.
For smooth technology transfer in developing countries,
need definition' must be paid attention to. This is because
the political say of the underprevileged often does not register
with the government. Electronics-aided networking ought to
improve this.Then there is 'problem solution', where a common practice of establishing geographically 'representative'
committees often becomes counterproductive. Creative
adaptation is another phase where the centre of gravity must
necessarily lie in the socioeconomic and cultural environment of technology usage. Here, the greatest asset is indigenous creativity, a fragile resource which may succumb to 'technology push'. In all these cases, access to databases can help generate a stimulating 'technology pull'.
A special-purpose, satellite-based communication system
called Healthsat is now in full operation. It actually opened a
new chapter in development-oriented information transfer.
Professionals in health and health-related fields can now use
the facility to reduce inequities with respect to access to information, both from North to South and from South to South.
The latter may be the satellite's most important contribution.
In poor countries, there is definitely the need for organisational know-how to help establish effective political and
administrative systems. No one else but scientists and technologists can paint such motivating visions to help nations
navigate between 'technocratic illusions' on the one hand,
and 'theocratic hopes' on the other.
An electronic networking like a 'bio-focus Internet'
would be a good starting point. The possibilities of establishing e-mail connections even in remote townships in developing countries would be more useful. Actually, the Financial
costs involved in breaking such communication barriers are miniscule compared to the overseas development assistance, most of
which does not alleviate poverty.
The type and the magnitude of the initiative which is now needed is comparable to Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement,
or Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great
Depression in the cause of national reconstruction. This is technologically possible and financially feasible. But the question is,
whether the political leadership and the
cream of the concerned professions can or
will rise to the occasion sincerely.
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