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NEWS

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'Software exports may reach $50 bn before 2008'

Berlin

5 SEPTEMBER

INDIA'S exports of computer software and related services could reach $50

billion ahead of the target year 2008 if value-added products get priority

attention, according to an Indian official. The exports of computer software

and related services is expected to be around $3 billion in 1998-99, up from

$1.8 billion in 1997-98 maintaining 60-per-cent-plus growth rate, D P Gupta,

chief (coordination) of the Electronics and Computer Software Export

Promotion Council, said here. Off-shore development, information-technology

(IT) related services, electronic commerce, in addition to value-added

products hold the key to augment India's export endeavour in the new

millennium, Mr Gupta, who was here as part of the Indian delegation at the

Berlin International Broadcasting and Consumer Electronics Fair, said. The

type of manpower available in India was mostly suited for IT-related

services because software development had the limitation of professional

manpower available, he said. Efforts were being made to increase the Indian

computer software's presence in the European market with off-shore data

processing facilities being among the key elements in this strategy. The

European market, which mainly consists of west-European countries, is

India's second biggest market for computer software and services after the

US. The US accounts for nearly 57 per cent of Indian computer-software

exports. The share of the European market was 26 per cent in 1997-98 with

imports from India valued at around half a billion dollars. Lufthansa, the

German airline, has already set the trend in having a centralised

world-wide, reservation-data processing system in India. It is being

increasingly felt by Indian computer software exporters that they should

reduce their dependence on the market in the US for their growth and give

equal emphasis to markets in Europe and Japan. The consumer electronics

giant Videocon and India's largest original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of

television sets and Calcom were among the companies who had exhibited a

range of products at the Indian stall at the week-long Europe's biggest

consumer electronics fair held once in two years. An official of the

department of electronics (DoE), which coordinated the Indian presentation,

said the exhibition should not be looked at merely from the angle of exports

to Europe. "We are looking for strategic alliances, setting up joint

ventures (JV), transfer to technology, sub-contracting work, and joint

research and development activities," said Dr R C Chopra, senior director in

the DoE. During the recent visit of a 22-member Indian delegation to

Germany, the "number of deals" to export computer software to Germany were

finalised amid indications that German companies were scouting for Indian

partners for JV projects in the computer software sector. Calcom's executive

director Vivek Narang said there was a big scope for India to tap the OEM

market in Europe which produces one million colour TV sets through

sub-contracting work each year. "The OEM market in Europe is worth an annual

$40 million and we can capture at least 50 per cent, if we are able to

overcome the price barriers," Mr Narang said, adding Chinese OEM products

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"... LONDON -- In more than 30 developing countries, doctors and other

Launched in 1989, HealthNet provides thousands of medical workers in the

developing world with e-mail accounts, access to the latest medical research

and a way to communicate with colleagues working in isolated areas. Its

moderated, free e-mail list has over 11,000 subscribers in more than 135

countries who report, discuss and request assistance for outbreaks of

infectious diseases, such as dengue fever in Malaysia or Ebola in Gabon.

Ten years ago, stories like this persuaded international organizations that

the Internet presented a new way to help the developing world catch up,

leading to investments in more than 100 technology initiatives in Africa

alone. But at the dawn of the 21st century, successes like HealthNet are few

and far between. In the developing world, the Internet has not delivered on

its early promise.

Old hardware, a weak telecommunications infrastructure and in some cases

local political opposition have rendered the promised benefits of technology

elusive. Such poor results have forced policy makers to question what the

Internet can really bring to places that lack essentials such as safe water supplies.

"We are still searching for some good reasons to pack computers into the

bush," Vern Weitzel, a United National Development Organization worker in

Phenom Pehn, said in an e-mail interview.

"We know it's a good idea but if it is driven by tech-os, it tends to get

unstuck in the provinces where the phone lines are a couple of wires held up

by a twig and there is nobody in a day's drive who has ever seen the guts of

a computer, much less ever fixed one."

The evidence is not just anecdotal. According to the United Nations

Commission on Science and Technology for Development, which spent three

years investigating the benefits and risks of information and communication

technologies (ICTs), "There are many instances where the use of ICTs is

bringing widespread social and economic benefits. However, there are as many

instances where ICTs are making no difference to the lives of developing

people."..."

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South Women Nod Agro Forestry Project - Zambia

The Times of Zambia - September 6, 1999 - By Times Reporter Women in the

Southern Province have pledged their full participation in agro-forestry and

conservation farming. J and P Mboole Farm Group coordinator Jennifer Mulengu

said that women were encouraged to play an active role in the new farming

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Educate Girls - Kenya

Daily Nation on the Web - September 6, 1999 - By NATION Correspondent The

Sabaot community has been urged to take the education of girls seriously.

Saying that the war against illiteracy should be won at all costs if the

community was to realise any development, Mr Ting'aa urged parents take all

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DoE plans to 'IT-ise Indian society'

K C Krishnadas BANGALORE 10 SEPTEMBER

THE Department of electronics (DoE) hopes to increase personal computer

(PC) penetration in the country under a broad framework which its secretary

Mr Ravindra Gupta calls the `IT-isation of Indian society'.

To begin with, attempts are to be made to make parents of school-going

children understand the role of computers. "We have to try and create an

awareness among parents of the use of PCs as opposed to their conventional

preference for consumer electronic goods," Mr Gupta told The Economic Times.

However, just how this awareness and preference is going to be created is

yet to be worked out. The DoE expects a change in the government policy to

exempt the components that build the PC from customs duties and also put

them at the lowest excise duty slabs - if it is not possible to eliminate

the excise altogether.

"There have been reductions in the past but it is not enough. We would like

to see zero duties on the components. We are trying to get the finance

ministry officials see this point of view and I hope there will be something

in the next budget on these lines," Mr Gupta said. Another is a proposal to

have PC available at the lowest prices. Asked about Bharat Electronics'

reported announcement that it would try to make available PCs for between Rs

26,000 and Rs 28,000 each, Mr Gupta said that while this is a good move,

even this price is on the higher side as far as vastly improving PC

penetration is concerned.

DoE is in talks with some processor manufacturers to see if the assurance of

lifting big volumes will make the manufacturers offer them at very low

costs. Talks are on in this regard, he said. DoE is also looking at getting

refurbished PCs and believes it can get about 10,000 PCs. While this number

is a drop in the ocean it will at least help a bit in improving penetration,

Mr Gupta said. He said the DoE is also pushing the ministry of human

resources development to conceptualise what the latter means by 'computer

literacy' so that it can get a fix of the cost of the PCs. For instance, the

DoE wants to know whether this involves making software available in Indian

languages through tie-ups with the appropriate institutions such as the Cent

re for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the like.

He said C-DAC is also working on an optical character recognition code for

Indian languages and on this subject, the DoE has signed a memorandum of

understanding with Carnegie Mellon University which has done work on

language technology. Developing content for educational purposes is also on

the agenda and the DoE has had meetings with officials of the department in

charge of education on this matter. All these various steps, though

seemingly unrelated, needed to be done in sync in order to increase PC

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ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS

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UNDP Donates To Micro-Projects - Lesotho

Mopheme/The Survivor (Maseru) - August 31, 1999 - By Thabang Matjama

Maseru - Omotoso said the ultimate goal of the programme is poverty

alleviation by mobilizing and supporting grassroots communities and the

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ONLINE RESOURCES

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Taken from The TrainingZONE LearningWIRE - Issue 65

The September issue of Training Journal has a short - but interesting -

article on turning ideas into action: something of concern to everyone who

works in the field of training. The article touches on what a trainer can do

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Taken from The TrainingZONE LearningWIRE - Issue 65

Mentoring is a term which has gained a considerable amount of prominence

recently. If your organisation subscribes to the idea of mentoring - or if

you are intrigued by the idea of how mentoring can benefit you and your

organisation - take a look at the article which appears in the current issue

of Continuing Professional Development. The article, which has free access,

is entitled The Dynamics of Mentoring Relationships: towards an

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Taken from The TrainingZONE LearningWIRE - Issue 66

Two issues of the weekly electronic forum from Lakewood Publications aimed

whilst the most recent issue of the Training Directors electronic forum for

There's plenty of ideas and discussion in both these ezines which are

available on free subscription also.

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Taken from The TrainingZONE LearningWIRE - Issue 66

Three roads to cost effectiveness

Clive Shepherd of Fastrak Consulting has added another interesting article

to his website aimed at training managers wanting to develop greater cost

effectiveness in the programmes which they create and manage. For those with

responsibility for ensuring best value in training policies and practice,

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PRINTED AND OTHER RESOURCES

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Taken from The Drum Beat - 27 (Edited by Warren Feek)

Radio Show for Adolescents - Uganda - launched by Straight Talk Foundation

and broadcast in English on 2 Kampala FM stations, the 22 min. show contains

youth interviews, panel discussions, songs, sweepers, advice from experts, a

quiz question, interviews with interesting teens and young adults. Topics

include: right age to have sex; girls' right to say "no"; changing

behaviour; conflicts with parents; and pressures on boys to have sex. Local

language shows, to be broadcast Sept. 1999, will target out-of-school youth

who do not speak English and address issues of HIV prevention. Contact Cathy

Watson strtalk@imul.com

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Taken from The Drum Beat - 27 (Edited by Warren Feek)

Community Mobilization Project to Eradicate Female Genital Mutilation -

Kenya - PATH and Population Action International (PAI) are working with

Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO) to develop community-based

programmes to reduce the incidence of FGM. District-level teams are

designing and implementing communication programmes to increase awareness of

the harmful effects of FGM and to promote alternative rituals that retain

the cultural significance of the practice while eliminating the physical and

emurphy@path-dc.org

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Taken from The Drum Beat - 27 (Edited by Warren Feek)

"Youth Whispers" - Egypt - a 20 min. TV programme on youth issues has been

developed by UNICEF and the Egyptian AIDS Society and broadcast weekly on

Alexandria's Channel 5. Aims to promote young people to identify and voice

views on issues of concern for them and to increase community awareness of

issues of concern for adolescence and youth and to make sure they are better

informed and better equipped. Includes interviews, live tapings of youth and

parent focus groups, and quiz questions promoting change in behaviour which

offer a prize for the correct answer. Contact Ibrahim El-Kerdany

iel-kerdany@unicef.org

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SAIDE Resource Centre : Selected Abstracts No.4/1999

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DISTANCE EDUCATION

A Comparative Study of Distance Higher Education Systems in Australia and

China by Xingfu Ding. Ziff Papiere 112. The Hague : Fernuniversitat, 1999.

In many nations, including Australia and China, distance higher education

has recently taken on a new and greater significance. New technologies and

the seemingly ever increasing demand for improved access suggest that its

growth in importance is likely to continue in the coming century. This

thesis is a study of the distance higher education systems, policies and

practices of Australia and China with particular reference to their

similarities and differences from the mainstream model. In Part I, a new

conceptual framework for the comparative study of higher distance education

systems is developed. The framework comprises three propositions of systems

analysis, typology and shaping mechanism and provides the theoretical and

methodological foundation for the remainder of the thesis. In Part II, the

characteristics of both systems, their structure and function at three

levels - macro level ie. the national system, median level ie. the

institutions with two major subsystems of administration and operation, and

micro level ie. the learning group are described. Differences and

similarities with reference to the mainstream model are explored. In Part

III, an analysis of certain contemporary critical issues grounded in the

interrelationships between endogenous and exogenous features of distance

higher education systems is presented. These critical issues relate to (a)

the industrialised conceptualisation of distance education, (b) features of

administrative and operational organisation, and (c) distance teaching and

learning practices. This analysis allows for an exploration of how various

systems of distance higher education across the globe are influencing and

interacting with each other. The conclusion provides a summary,

substantiation of the systems shaping mechanism based on this study, and

addresses future options for distance higher education in both nations.

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Legal Analysis of Distance Education in the European Union by Hugh O'Neill.

Ziff Papiere 110. The Hague Fernuniversitat, 1998. The regulatory provisions

in the field of distance education in the European Union is a syncretic

bundle of legislative, quasi-legislative, self-regulatory, and other varied

and differing measures. Against the background of a single market it stands

in splendid isolation, indeed it is hard to imagine a sector or industry

that contrasts more with the concept of an internal market. From the point

of view of the European Union it will be a very long time before there

exists a single market in the distance education industry; this is probably

of more concern to the proprietary distance educators in the European Union.

However during the Voctade survey and analysis concern was voiced on the

fact that in the university sector, which enjoys a very large degree of

autonomy, distance education courses are largely unregulated. Having regard

to the cost advantages which may be gained by offering distance education

courses, there exists the possibility that in the absence of outside

evaluation or control, the didactic quality of these distance courses may

not be all that they should. It should also be pointed out that the

information technology revolution with the consequent creation of

intellectual capital, demands new and flexible ways to allow the workforce

to exploit this new information-based factor of production. As distance

education may have an instrumental role in adapting the workforce to work

with intellectual capital, one must ask whether in a global economy this

sector should be so unregulated at a European level.

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HUMAN RESOURCES

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Skills Needs of the SA Labour Market: 1998 - 2003. Pretoria : Human Sciences

Research Council, 1999. This book provides information on future workforce

needs and includes detail about the growth/decline that is expected in 78

professional and artisan occupational categories. The authors not only give

reasons for the demand expected in certain skills, but also discuss the

shortages currently experienced in others. An overview of the income of

professionals in the government, semi-government and private sectors, as

well as those who are self-employed, is also included.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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End of Millenium. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Volume

III by Manuel Castells. Oxford : Blackwell, 1999. The final volume in Manuel

Castells' trilogy is devoted to processes of global social change induced by

interaction between networks and identity. The book opens with a study of

the collapse of the Soviet Union, which traces its demise back to the

incapacity of industrial statism to manage the transition to the Information

Age. In this volume, the author demonstrates the rise of inequality,

polarization, and social exclusion throughout the world, taking as his focus

Africa, urban poverty, and the plight of children. In addition, Manuel

Castells documents the formation of a global criminal economy that deeply

affects economies and politics in many countries. He analyses the political

and cultural foundations of the emergence of the Asian Pacific as a

critically important region in the global economy. And he reflects on the

contradictions of European unification, proposing the concept of the network

state. In the general conclusion of the trilogy, Castells draws together the

threads of his arguments and his findings, presenting a systematic

interpretation of our world in this end of millennium. (SAIDE has all three

volumes of the trilogy).

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OPEN LEARNING

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Convergence of Distance and Conventional Education: Patterns of Flexibility

for the Individual Learner ed. By Alan Tait and Roger Mills. London :

Routledge, 1999. This volume of essays from British, North American and

Australasian contributors engages with the issues of the convergence of

distance and conventional education. The term convergence refers to the

breaking down of barriers between open and distance learning and

conventional education, and sees the creation of more and more institutions

working across a range of modes. Such convergence has been driven by a

number of factors, including the technologies for teaching and learning, the

impact of lifelong learning policies and the entry of larger than ever

numbers of adult part-time students into tertiary education, and the demands

of both employers and individuals for professional work and work-related

education throughout working lives.

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TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING

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Comparative Research into Chinese Conventional and Television-based Higher

Education by Yawan Li and Jikun Chen. In: Open Learning: Journal of Open and

Distance Learning. Vol.14, no.2, June 1999 pp3-12. In this article the

authors report on some of the findings of a joint Sino-Japanese study

comparing conventional and television based higher education in China. They

draw on the preliminary findings of the Chinese members of this bilateral

research project to provide a concise introduction to the background,

methodology, and some of the findings of the study including among other

issues, questions of student satisfaction and student expectation of higher

education, relative to the resourcing of the sampled conventional and radio

and television universities in China. The article also reports on a

supplementary survey into the experience of radio and television university

students in rural areas.

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Delivering Digitally: Managing the Transition to the Knowledge Media by

Alistair Inglis, Peter Ling and Vera Joosten. London : Kogan Page, 1999. The

technologies of the Internet, multimedia and telecommunications generally

have generated a rapid shift to the use of web-based delivery for learning

materials in the fields of education, training and commerce that is nothing

short of phenomenal. As a result, however, managers and developers are often

finding themselves having to make decisions without adequate background

information on the field, or a full understanding of the management

approaches to it. Based on research undertaken by the authors, this resource

is a key route map to successfully managing the implementation of

electronically mediated learning programmes and systems. Its main features

include: clear organization, providing easily followed decision making

support; accessible coverage of key technical issues; depth of coverage;

concentration on issues of cost and quality; a vision of the future of

digital delivery.

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Interactive Radio for Supporting Distance Education: An Evaluation Study by

Kron Bansal and Shohanvir S. Chaudhary. In: Indian Journal of Open Learning,

vol. 8, no. 1, 1999 pp 61-71. Radio has a great potential to support

learning at a distance. Being an easily accessible and cost effective

medium, IGNOU started an interactive radio project for the students of

Management and Bachelor Preparatory Programme. The objective of the project

was to interact with the students in their own language and share

experiences with them. The effectiveness (pedagogic, access and utilisation)

of interactive radio instruction was evaluated and reported in this paper.

The students appreciated interactive radio sessions as effective inputs for

accomplishing their course objectives. Besides IGNOU students, the students

enrolled with other institutions and enlightened public also participated in

the sessions. The study revealed that students' participation in the

interactive radio sessions was higher than the teleconferences and face to

face personal contact sessions. The project can be replicated in other areas

also, with systematic planning, implementation and monitoring.

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What does "Using the Internet for Education" Mean? By Guglielmo Trentin. In:

Educational Technology, vol.39, no.4 Jul/Aug 1999 pp15-23. What does using

the internet for education mean? What educational activities can be planned

by a teacher wishing to communicate and collaborate at a distance with

remote students and peers? And what educational goals should be pursued? In

an attempt to answer these questions, this article examines three main

aspects of using the internet in education. The first concerns classifying

the activities that can be carried out on the net. The second is about the

skills and knowledge teachers need in order to make full use of the various

opportunities that networking offers. The third refers to classifying the

educational goals that can be pursued with the aid of networking.

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ARTICLES

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OCLC RESEARCH PROJECT MEASURES SCOPE OF THE WEB

DUBLIN, Ohio, Sept. 8, 1999--Researchers at OCLC have determined that the

World Wide Web has about 3.6 million sites, of which 2.2 million are

publicly accessible. They also found that the largest 25,000 sites represent

about 50 percent of the Web's content, and that the number of sites and

their size are climbing.

The project, conducted by the OCLC Office of Research, indicates that the

World Wide Web has approximately 2.2 million Web sites that offer publicly

accessible content. These sites contain nearly 300 million Web pages.

These results, obtained in June 1999 through OCLC's Web Characterization

Project, also show that significant portions of the Web are not publicly

accessible or do not offer meaningful content. About 400,000 Web sites can

be considered "private," in that they do not offer content that is

accessible without fee or prior authorization. In addition, about 1 million

sites are "provisional" -- either in a transitory or unfinished state (e.g.,

the ubiquitous "Under Construction" site) or have only content that, from a

general perspective, is meaningless or trivial.

Project findings indicate that adult content claims a small proportion of

the Web. About two percent of the public sites--42,000 of the 2.2

million--contain sexually explicit material.

The mean size of a public Web site is about 129 pages, a 13 percent increase

over last year's estimate of 114 pages. The Web is dominated by a relatively

small collection of "megasites"-- the largest 25,000 sites contain about 50

percent of all pages on public sites.

The number of public Web sites has approximately tripled in the two-year

period from June 1997 to June 1999, increasing from 800,000 to 2.2 million.

"The Web has achieved the status of being one of the foremost information

resources available today," said Ed O'Neill, consulting research scientist

and manager of the Web Characterization Project. "Because of the Web's

importance to libraries around the world, OCLC is committed to providing

timely information that will assist them in understanding the Web and using

its content."

In addition to conducting independent Web research, project staff are also

working with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Characterization Activity,

a cross-industry group committed to the goal of promoting the Web's

evolution and ensuring its long-term interoperability and robustness.

More information about the latest OCLC Office of Research Web statistics and

Founded in 1978, the OCLC Office of Research is dedicated to research that

explores the place of the library in the changing technology environment and

develops tools that enhance the productivity of libraries and their users.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a

nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization

whose computer network and services link more than 34,000 libraries in 67

countries and territories. OCLC is dedicated to the public purposes of

furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs.

In the United States, more information is available (via telephone:

+1-614-764-6000 or 1-800-848-5878; fax: +1-614-764-6096; or e-mail:

oclc@oclc.org). In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, contact the OCLC

Europe office, located in Birmingham, United Kingdom (phone: +44 121 456

4656; fax: +44 121 456 4680; or e-mail: europe@oclc.org). In Asia and the

Pacific region, contact the OCLC Asia Pacific office in Dublin, Ohio (phone:

+1-614-764-6189; fax: +1-614-764-4331; or e-mail:

asia_pacific_services@oclc.org). In Canada, contact the OCLC Canada office

in Montreal, Quebec (phone: +1-450-658-6583 or 1-888-658-6583; fax:

+1-450-658-6231; or e-mail: canada@oclc.org). In Latin America and the

Caribbean, contact the OCLC Latin America and the Caribbean office in

Dublin, Ohio (phone: +1-614-761-5196; fax: +1-614-718-1026; or e-mail:

america_latina@oclc.org).

More information about OCLC, its affiliated U.S. regional networks, service

centers, international divisions and distributors is available at

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Telematics for African Development Consortium

P.O. Box 31822

Braamfontein

2017

Johannesburg

South Africa

Tel: +27 +11 403-2813

Fax: +27 +11 403-2814

neilshel@icon.co.za

www.saide.org.za

* To view an archive of previous updates visit:

www.saide.org.za/tad/archive.htm

* For resources on distance education and

technology use in Southern Africa visit:

www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Default.htm