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MISTICA: Report on GCN2001

From: Yacine Khelladi ([email protected])
Date: Tue Dec 18 2001 - 18:55:53 AST


>-------- Original Message --------
>Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 20:09:02 -0800
>From: "Steve Cisler" <[email protected]>
>
>II Global Congress of Citizen Networks, Buenos Aires, Argentina. December 2001
>
>Report copyright by Steve Cisler 2001 <[email protected]>
>
>This article may be served, stored, mailed, archived on non-commercial
>web sites, magazines, home pages, and mailing lists.
>
>In the current issue of Foreign Policy, (1) Lawrence Lessig argues
>that the Internet phenomenon is like a shooting star whose trajectory
>is now in rapid descent, not because of viruses and hackers or the
>demise of the dot.coms (what I now call "faith-based organizations").
>What he calls the "innovation commons" is disappearing because of the
>corporate push for restrictive intellectual property laws. He quotes
>Machiavelli who wrote "Innovation makes enemies of all those who
>prospered under the old regime, and only lukewarm support is
>forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new." In one
>private forum the discussion is about the Internet being "enclosed"
>by these new initiatives. Those striving for an information commons
>where, to use Doug Schuler's phrase, civic intelligence can flourish,
>gathered in early December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.(2) More than
>500 people came to the Second Global Congress of Citizen Networks to
>meet each other and to hear presentations on the ways that groups of
>citizens and non-profits are making use of the Internet and what is
>know as information and communication technology or ICT in development
>parlance. Many would include older media such as video and radio too.
>
>What are citizen networks? Internet technology projects that benefit
>people as citizens rather than as consumers; projects that help
>marginalized groups have more control over their existence and even
>give them a stronger sense of identity. Citizen networks are about
>inclusion and how the technology can be used for democratic goals and
>for economic development. Many of the sessions were about community
>networking efforts around the world. Community Networking has been
>used for at least ten years, but is still vague in many people's minds
>outside of the field, especially since the word "community" has been
>debased by stretching the meaning of the word to mean customers of an
>online service ("the AOL community") or all the nations that may share
>some point of view about trade or the environment ("the International
>community"). In Italy and the U.S. the term "civic networks" has been
>used. This bring us closer to understanding what we were meeting
>about: how groups of citizens and non-profit organizations were using
>network technologies(1) for personal, social, economic, and political
>change.
>
>Under this banner of citizen networks there were dozens of sessions
>and workshops that attracted people from Latin America (mainly
>Argentina), U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia,
>and a sprinkling of people from other parts of Europe, Africa, Asia,
>and New Zealand. A core group of people who attended the first
>conference in Spain in 2000 planned this one, and are also planning
>the future ones in Montreal, Canada (October 2002), and Queensland,
>Australia (September 2003).
>
>I flew out of Silicon Valley the day of the largest broadband failure
>in the continuing Internet and telecomms bubble deflation. The judge
>in a ferocious court battle allowed At Home to cease service to more
>than 800,000 cable modem customers around the United States. I
>consider this setback one more slowdown that will affect the
>deployment of better services in other urban as well as remote areas
>in the other countries. I arrived in Argentina as their own financial
>crisis reached a critical stage. Citizens, worried about the stability
>of the peso which was officially pegged to the U.S. dollar, withdrew
>500 million dollars that Friday, and the day before the conference
>started, the Argentine government raided the pension fund and enacted
>strict measures to prevent the withdrawal of more than $1000 per month
>from personal bank accounts. Some of the Argentine conference
>organizers were wrapped up in the business of the forthcoming congress
>and did not have time to preserve the value of their savings. Some
>restaurants accepted credit cards; others stopped, and more businesses
>demanded cash. Argentina seemed to be following the same path as
>Enron in the U.S. Though there was turmoil in the city, the conference
>went rather smoothly.
>
>I was impressed by the attention paid last year at the first congress
>in Barcelona to the problems of translation. It was even better this
>year. Almost every workshop had regular translators who handled
>speed-of-light Spanish speakers, English speakers who were struggling
>with complex concepts or spoke haltingly, and conversations between
>many people speaking from the floor in one of several languages.
>Still, those with only one language gravitated to conversing only with
>people willing or able to speak that language. Some small number spoke
>all three of the main languages, and many Spanish-speakers were fluent
>in English and acted as a bridge for the Anglos who spoke little
>Spanish.
>
>In spite of the problems in the United States telecomm industry and
>the financial crisis in Argentina, the program reflected a rather
>hopeful and positive outlook on the future of these public access
>activities, advocacy, and speed of deployment. As Doug Schuler of
>Seattle, Washington said, "You would not be here if you were not
>optimistic." From some of the Argentine presenters there were the
>expected speeches against globalization. They felt the currency
>policy, economic liberalization, and deregulation have not helped the
>country that much, and so globalization must be to blame. However,
>in a pre-recorded interview with Manual Castells in Spain, he said
>that globalization is part of our world, and we have to live with it.
>He sees community networks as a key element in building social
>institutions in a globalized world, and he was very positive about the
>growth of community/citizen networking in the 90's. He envisions a
>global civil society interacting and acting through networks. It was a
>good expression of what we seem to be about, a view that was not artic
>ulated all that clearly in the panels I attended before Castells
>spoke. Pieces of that vision were discussed, but not in the way he
>expressed it.
>
>TELELAC
>
>TELELAC is a project for Latin American and Caribbean telecenters that
>is organized by Chasquinet of Quito, Ecuador. The advisory group met
>all day to work on issues related to existing and new programs as well
>as the participation in the Citizens Network Congress. Scott Robinson
>and Michel Menou had an all-day program on Tuesday where people from
>all over the region and other parts of the world could share problems,
>experiences, and needs relating to telecenters/community technology
>centers. The advisory group was also discussing the way for the
>informal organization "somos@telecentros" (we are @ telecenters) (3)
>could become a legal entity, registered in Brazil, with a more general
>goal of spreading the organization's reach to include national and
>regional telecenter/technology center organizations from all over the
>world. There are eight national groups in the LA/C region and about
>that many in the rest of the world at the end of 2001.
>
>All Day Workshop
>
>The all day workshop on telecenters was held in a room holding 70
>people at the Intercontinental. Attendance ranged from 30 to 50 during
>the day. Most of the people were Spanish-speaking from Argentina, and
>those who only spoke English had informal translation. Karin
>Delgadillo of Chasquinet gave a presentation about the development of
>telecenter networks between 1999 and 2003, looking back from the
>imagined future, and this started off the session. In Argentina there
>are strains, competition, and gaps in understanding between the
>government community technology centers and other telecenters. I
>cannot explain the basis of this crisis, but it was evident at the
>meeting. I gave a talk about the Kellogg Managing Information with
>Rural America project (MIRA) where some of the more than one hundred
>citizen groups tried to establish community technology centers but
>had mixed results. The project allotted a great deal of money for
>groups to meet, to set up citizens groups for training on community
>organizing, project management, and finally to plan modest ICT
>projects. This was a foundation project that really did put people
>ahead of the technology component and let the local groups choose what
>would suit them best of all. Those that planned technology centers
>underestimated the complexity of the projects, willingness of
>volunteers to staff such centers, and a number of the centers closed
>up quickly. Those that allied themselves with public libraries,
>schools, and existing community organizations to provide public access
>fared much better.
>
>There were other reports from Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and almost half
>the time was set aside for open discussion. This was extremely
>valuable because many of those attending had never met with colleagues
>to share ideas and problems. During the regular conference there was
>no time set aside for general discussion by the group during plenary
>lectures, but some of the sessions were organized to encourage just
>that. I found the one on community networks and cooperatives to be a
>good mix of short presentations, discussion and the proposal to have
>projects organize using coop principles and to use the new .coop
>domain which is administered by the International Cooperative
>Association. The man in charge, Byron Henderson, helped organize
>Saskatoon Freenet in Canada in the early 1990's.
>
>Publications
>
>Although there was no designated area for handouts and publications,
>attendees left a variety of pamphlets, newsletters, and advertisements
>for services and publications. IDRC in Canada supported the
>publication of two new works: "Social movements on the net" by Leon,
>Burch, and Tamayo of the Latin Ameican Information Agency and a
>collection of essays in Spanish, "Internet y Sociedad en Am�rica
>Latina y el Caribe: Investigaciones para sustentar el dialogo."Valerie
>Peugeot of Vecam edited a French collection of essays (not yet in
>English) called "Human networks, electronic networks." Peter Benjamin
>of the University of Wits in South Africa brought a brochure--"Damn
>the digital divide"-- with short pieces on programs and BINGOs
>undertaking ICT projects in Southern Africa.
>
>A Sampling of Sessions
>
>There were plenary sessions on social access to ICT (information and
>communication technology); community networks and globalization,
>multiculturalism, a session on Latin American developments, and the
>"S" word: sustainability. In addition there were many workshops on
>community networks intersecting with issues relating to women, kids,
>education, cities, telecenters, rights, open source, academic
>research, human rights, and local culture. A mixed media session
>stressed the importance of media production, television and radio.
>Dirk Koning of the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Community Media Center
>talked about the suite of programs they offer: public access
>television, a wireless network to allow a mobile van to bring a rack
>of digital camcorders and Apple laptops and be connected by a high
>speed link back to the center. Others reminded us not to overlook
>radio which is reaching billions more people than computer networks
>are (or will, even in the most optimistic diffusion scenarios for the
>Internet).
>
>Indigenous issues
>
>A plenary session on "multiculturalism and identity" included a talk
>by Robyn Kamira, a Maori woman who used volunteers from the audience
>to explain the shifting relationship between the Maori people and the
>Crown. She showed that the ideal of multiculturalism is not that
>beneficial for everyone. After the arrival of white settlers, there
>were just two groups, roughly equal. As with many other indigenous
>groups around the world, the Maroi lost much of their land, their
>health, and their language. Because of a multiculturalism policy, the
>Maori are just one of many groups vying for benefits and
>representation in a country that is becoming more ethnically mixed.
>However, they have made gains in education, the criteria for group
>self-definition, and income from fishing rights. Their language
>revitalization program is one of the more successful (besides Catalan
>and Hebrew) and has inspired other indigenous groups to adapt their
>methods to local conditions.
>
>Eusebio Mino Castro gave a virtual tour of the telecenter project in
>rural Peru that served his people, the Ashininka. However, at the end
>of August it was destroyed by an arsonist, and the criminals have not
>been caught. Even the reason for the damage is unclear. Some thought
>it was Sendero Luminoso; others said it was done by people upset at
>the changes brought about by the Internet. Or it may be have jealousy
>over his successful project in this remote part of South America.
>
>Comments on the Conference
>
>I talked to various attendees who had both praises and criticisms for
>the conference. The organizers were generous in scholarships to keep
>the cost of registration very low (or free for many), and most of the
>hotel services (food, audio visual, translation devices) were quite
>good. However, there was a lack of information on the web site which
>had problems with design, passwords, and files not found. At present
>it does contain almost all of the papers and abstracts submitted to
>the conference. For some, the ideas and contacts opened up new worlds,
>but one person felt he learned nothing new in his field of interest
>(telecenters). It was hard to publicize ad hoc meetings during the
>conference. A group of us wanted to have a meeting to discuss wireless
>projects, but the floor manager consulted someone and said there would
>be no meetings publicized or allowed that were not on the schedule.
>Nevertheless, we went to a restaurant for lunch to talk about 802.11b
>networks and satellite access. Several people noted that the same
>people showed up on the program in session after session, and many of
>these were from the Secretariat. A wider selection of speakers would
>have been a good idea.
>
>It would be good to have had time for an organized open forum for
>discussion of issues that went beyond 15 minutes for Q&A - something
>more formal than a long coffee break where good discussions always
>take place. As in 2000, the conference did not have too many people
>who identified themselves from the business or corporate sector though
>there were papers on small enterprises and economic development.
>Without having them dominate the program next year, it would be good
>to invite some thoughtful people from technology companies to speak or
>at least attend the Montreal meeting.
>
>The "S" word...sustainability
>
>At the end of the Congress Susana Finquelievich, the driving force
>behind the whole affair, gave a sober assessment about the
>sustainability of community networks in Argentina. Some money can be
>raised under the banner of community networking, and some people will
>pay for services not offered in, for instance, a cybercafe. However,
>it may not be enough to keep a telecenter going. How long this period
>of aid and subsidies lasts depends on the environment, and not just
>the financial status of the center. As Michel Menou commented in
>another session, "there are not prefabricated models, no solutions
>that apply everywhere." Finquelievich said that a variety of
>innovations to allow different kinds of payment and participation
>needs to be used: paying with labor, incubation services for
>entrepreneurs, and the granting of course credit to university
>students as has been done in Costa Rica.
>
>Several of the organizers worked late into the night to try and
>summarize the findings or recommendations from the many panels (5) and
>workshops (17). These were read rapidly in Spanish by Silvia Sen�n
>Gonz�lez in the closing session. It was clear that a lot of ground was
>covered, and some of the points were contradictory. But who said
>citizens have to agree? At the time of this report I could find no
>online summary of the conclusions.
>
>The Future
>
>What happens next? Besides the annual meetings, there are some who
>want to establish ties with some very different sorts of global
>meetings: (1) the World Social Forum(5) in Porto Alegre, Brazil-a
>place that attracts thousands of activists, many of whom are opposed
>to the way that globalization promotes the spread of capitalism and
>(2) the 2003 ITU conference on the Information Society(6). The team
>guiding that conference includes UN division heads, Mike Moore of the
>World Trade Organization, and heads of many companies. Quite a
>different crowd from Porto Alegre.
>
>Many members of the secretariat decided to tackle the issue of
>governance. What sort of organization should be formed to accommodate
>groups with such different interests, and how would a diverse
>consortium be represented at other meetings. Can a single person
>represent such a diverse mix of citizens networks? Or will the
>principles that all agree are worth supporting be such a low common
>denominator that it will attract no attention because they are so
>non-controversial. Over the next few months a task force will try to
>work out a plan for a legal entity with international scope. A mailing
>list now on Yahoo Groups will be moved to a server outside of the
>U.S.A. Look for future postings about the next conference,
>proceedings from this one, and ways to take part in 2002. What I will
>look for in an international organization are services that benefit
>the grass roots practitioner, the ones who usually do not go to
>conferences but, if they find value or meaning in a new organization,
>will probably support it.
>
>
>URLs:
>(1)Lawrence Lessig "The Internet Under Siege" Foreign Policy Nov/Dec
>2001 <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_novdec_2001/lessig.html >
>(2)Congress web site(includes all of the papers and presentations in
>the original language): http://www.globalcn2001.org/ing/index.html
>(3)Somos@telecentros http://www.tele-centros.org
>(4)Grand Rapids Community Media Center: http://www.grcmc.org/
>(5)World Social Forum
>http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/eng/index.asp
>(6)ITU conference on world information society:
>http://www.itu.int/wsis/brochure.htm



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