March 2004
U of Waterloo "geek" makes a difference
ORION's state-of-the-art gigabit broadband network is a gateway to the world, but not to Mali, which might as well be on a different planet. Increasingly isolated by a widening technology gap and without the resources to reverse the trend, Mali is a sprawling secular land-locked equatorial country in Western Africa that is underdeveloped even in comparison to other African countries.
But for one employee and former graduate of the University of Waterloo, Mali's predicament is an opportunity to test his belief that "wireless technology has the opportunity to bridge the digital divide." Ian Howard has been in Mali since late January, halfway through a leave of absence from his job with the university's Department of Information Systems and Technology and two months into his stint with an organization called Geekcorps on a project funded primarily by USAID.
Two years ago, Howard applied to Geekcorps, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that places international technical volunteers in developing nations, after coming to the realization that digital wireless could begin to bridge a growing divide in the information gap between the developing and developed world.
Aid organizations already identify radio as the most efficient cost-effective mass communication vehicle in poorer countries. In Mali, where the population is mostly rural, there are almost 200 radio stations, most do not have telephone lines much less connections to the internet. The immediate goal of Howard and other Geekcorps volunteers in Mali was to lay the groundwork for future implementation of a wireless network by making contact with community radio stations, establishing partnerships with local businesses and organizations, and determining how the network will be implemented after his four-month stint is up.
"The project has really done a sharp turn with knowledge that we have gained of Mali since our arrival," said Howard. "Creating a project plan, and architecting technology from overseas for here is very difficult. Doing anything in Africa seems to be difficult. The rules, procedures and manner of getting things done here are totally different. It is very humbling."
"Among the greatest challenges to providing Internet connectivity here is the lack of infrastructure," Howard added. "The only affordable Internet connectivity here is via 802.11b wireless, and that is only available in the capital city of Bamako. Once connected, you still have to contend with very limited up-link to the Internet. At best connectivity to the world-at-large is less than a 56k modem link in North America."
And to make the task even more challenging radio stations could neither create nor use digital programming. Howard and other volunteers first had to provide expertise to help the radio stations "computerize" recording studios to allow local content to be recorded onto CD and into digital format for easy transmission and reception among radio stations or for later broadcast.
According to Howard, the main problems with networking technology in Mali are the limited numbers of skilled IT workers and limited supplies of equipment. Few skilled IT workers stay in Mali and few pieces of technology make it here without hefty price tags.
"Installing any equipment here is a challenge, and creating something that is sustainable is very difficult without foreign money or expertise beyond the completion of the project," said Howard, noting that an objective in Mali is also to develop plans to provide guidance, training and limited capital support, as well as business models for the radio stations to sustain the cost of connectivity which can cost up to several thousand dollars per month.
Howard is also attempting to help the crippled University of Mali wireless network, which spans 11 campuses. Unlike institutions on the ORION network, the university has little ability to use its connectivity for high bandwidth research. Howard observed that speed is a secondary problem to reliability, where a loose cable can sometimes keep a site disconnected for several weeks and rampant virus damage goes unchecked.
Whereas the University of Waterloo was able to deal with network problems introduced by malicious worms within a few days in 2003, the University of Mali still has no means to do the same, Howard explained. These worms, peer-to-peer networking and other bandwidth hogs, quickly consume the limited network bandwidth.
"The network is impressive," he said, "though it is currently much like many of the roads in Bamako: it has so many pot holes that no traffic can get through."
"I am quickly learning of the difficulties in development work, which strives to juggle the objectives of many people and many organizations," he added. "That being said, I have never felt more compelled by my work. I have never felt as though I have ever made this great an impact before."
While Howard is grateful for the support of Geekcorps, his family, friends and co-workers at the University of Waterloo, which made it possible for him to do this gratifying work, he is still hopeful that he will receive the equipment and sponsorship support he needs to continue his work beyond the next two months.
Howard can be contacted at ihoward@uwaterloo.ca. View his web sites at http://dingo.uwaterloo.ca/~ihoward/geekcorps or //dingo.uwaterloo.ca/~ihoward/index.php. Find out more about the Geekcorps at www.geekcorps.com.
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