ICMS Computer College

Institute of Computer Management and Science

The Oldest and Largest Computer Education Institute in Mirpur

Hakikur Rahman

Bangladesh.

Subject: GDN Research Award

Title: A Silver Lining to the Society of Millions- Internet for the Unreached

Theme: Science and Technology for Development.

Abstract

The world has hopped into the third millennium with all aspirations, expectations and dreams to comes to be true. Fighting poverty, globalizing economic policies, balancing gender equity, awareness in environmental sustainability and foremost educating society to ICT are the challenging demands at the beginning of the millennium. Long term policies would have to be adopted in developing societies depending on needs and analyzing the hindrance factors towards implementation.

The paper would like to depict a project on collaborative ICT learning with emphasizing quality computer and Internet literacy, adopting pragmatic technical and logistic infrastructure and preparing updated computer literate, following innovative policies in the related fields, so that the project participants would compete in the global society.

A micro focus would be made with the quality and quantity would be treated as the secondary parameter. In a year 30 project participants would be given thorough quality training in computing concept, networking theories, web development, multimedia and Internet related materials adopting courses from internationally reputed universities. Scopes would be there to develop a user friendly interactive web site consisting SQL/ ORACLE based database with easy search techniques. Moreover, the web site would be given multilingual interface for popular sub-continental languages including accommodation of few UN languages.

After completion of the project attachment, the participants would be able to work at an independent environment or could continue research, teaching or higher education in world universities either through collaborative learning or independent study.

Selection of participants considering contemporary socio-economical issues, adoption of new technologies to fit into the prevailing situation, maintaining the high quality of education, collaboration between reputed universities and continuos feedback on acceptance of the innovative technologies would by far be the main constraints.

Keywords: ICT, global society, Internet, collaborative learning.

Where a simple telephone connectivity to a community still means a great opportunity and really difficult to obtain, there Internet connectivity still remains as a dream. Thoughts have been given to literate a cluster of this neglected community, self educated and completed at least twelve years of schooling, to basic computer literacy, computer networking basics, email correspondences and finally to Internet connectivity through popular browsers. In this way, this computer literate group will form standalone backbone of the community, thus transforming a neglected masses to a useful citizen of the global village. They would be accumulating knowledge and share experiences through Internet with other developing partners locally, nationally and globally and then disseminate their knowledge and experiences to the society for promoting developmental activities ranging from simple family planning, nature protection, pollution control, poverty alleviation, disaster management to human resource development and management.

A commercially viable and increasingly productive sector in the field of agriculture and marketing necessitates free flow of information between producers, marketing agents and related agencies regarding production technology, productivity details, availability of seeds and fertilizers, nature of production, price information, production flow, transaction flow, price deviations, solutions to technical problems, etc. and these could arise from within the community, country wide and may be from global ambience, focusing the necessity of a rigid information highway at the root level through low cost transmission media to the door step of the cultivator.

Similarly, other field of applications can be elaborated, like awareness on ecological problems, pollution control, transmission and prevention of mosquito incubated diseases, national polio injection campaign, fresh water and sanitation practices, etc. All of these human resource development related aspects can be rapidified through this type of Internet based project from where knowledge accumulation, sharing and dissemination steps out.

Simple Internet based database could be a smooth starting point, but in course of time, this database could become a really enormous RDBMS and would invoke a major research work in Internet based database development aspect, which would be used at the main hub and regional hubs for easy and faster access of information on the Internet. Mode of communication would be preferably Bangla and it would be the most challenging contemporary research work on the Internet in Bangladesh.

ICMS Computer College would be taking the challenge to be the host organization for Bangladesh to implement this Internet based project which could be transformed to a nationwide IT network in the course of five to seven years span.

The project aims to create an appropriate tool for achieving and facilitating exchange of information among the participants to design and implement plans for sustainable human resource development in Bangladesh. Project participants would be given access to the e-mail and Internet facilities along with the access to a database maintained by the host organization ICMS, connecting to government agencies, media agencies, NGOs, research organizations, educational institutions and their national/ international counterparts and the civil society in general. Successful achievement of this cluster activity through proper observation, monitoring and evaluation, regional activity centres could be taken into consideration, replicating the ideas and thought of the central node.

The Project would also aimed at developing strong foundation of Internet awareness in the cluster of a society where simple computer literacy can barely be afforded. The project participants, specially youths completing 12 years of schooling with high motivation would emerge as the base of research potentials at their higher study in the field of Internet networking, policies and its realistic technological applications. Moreover, few extraordinary outsiders would enhance the accumulation of Internet based knowledge in the society through fast dissemination in the form of sharing experiences through daily life activities and necessities. Broadly speaking, the project would like to look into the practice and habits of the local society in the eye of Internet connectivity and dig down to the depths of the requirement for providing information en-masse in real life through Internet. The ultimate trend would be to focus towards a generalized Internet policy and Internet database management system for their daily usase.

The project would offer an easy access to the Internet to the participants through specifically designed databases in respect of their demand through the Kiosk. This would only be possible by use of a generalized Internet download policy available locally in the local server by virtue of proper technological approach.

The participants would share the Kiosk by accessing the Internet to avail the opportunity of obtaining information for their daily use, like cultivation pattern of any agricultural product, harvesting information, seed availability with price, production cost elsewhere in the country with availability, distribution of agricultural products, marketing information, pond preparation with detail of aqua-culture, information on poultry and farming, information on easy technology transfer for home consumer electronics, etc. In this way, the project would be enhancing rapidity and the trend of progress towards a sustainable community with gender equity and social equity.

Main beneficiaries would be the rural youths to whom this type of information would never reach through any other media at this shortest time. The participants/ beneficiaries at the Information Kiosks would include the members involved in the project, but most importantly the private producers, traders and marketing intermediaries would form a large corporate group, requesting information to be needed for supply of commodities at the shortest possible time from the locally available points.

Primary beneficiaries would comprise of the educated under privileged youths successfully completed their 12 years of schooling. Secondary beneficiaries would be their family elders who would be given access to the network participation through workshops, discussion forums and other developmental activities. Tertiary and final beneficiaries would be general social mass aimed to utilize the network for agricultural information, weather forecast, population control, water and sanitary awareness program, agricultural marketing information, community based information, family planning related activities, female education, higher education, continuing education, etc.

A cyber cafe in the form of Kiosk at the institute’s campus with 2-3 PCs would be the primary attempt of the project where project participants would be coming at regular intervals and they would be given access to the Internet at barely minimum cost as compared to other locally available ISPs. Email account would be given to all of them through which they could be corresponding to each other, to national and international organizations for gathering knowledge and sharing information. Internet access to the cyber cafe would be given to the members keeping certain cost, presumably at 50% cost of other ISPs and email accounts would be given at free of costs to all registered members. This fund will be incurred for the development and up-gradation purposes. A membership fee of Tk. 100 (2.00USD) will be taken for one year and this accumulated fund will be kept as operation and maintenance cost. Cost of sundries and stationary will be recurred from print out fees taken from the email users. The project is expecting that nearly 200 participants will be taking full services from it.

Information on similar aspects which falls within its purview of dissemination of information on sustainable development can be channeled through this network, resulting in some form of e-commerce practice during detailed download through the databases.

At the first phase, several seminars will be arranged with the idea of collecting prospective project participants and for that purpose letters will be given to all the neighboring education institutes who runs Higher Secondary Certificate level (‘A’ Level) courses. Their educational result and reference from the head of the institutes will be added advantage for the selection. A percentage of the participants will be taken from outside, for those cases their interest, intellect and reference from local elite will be given preference.

In second phase, several interest groups will be formed by categories of their interest, as cultural, education, music, research, agricultural, marketing, business, history, science, engineering, professionals, etc. These groups will be sitting together at regular interval for discussion, Internet chatting and other IT related activities. Each group will be formed with members ranging numbers between 10 and 20.

During the tenure of 24 months (forecasted 7 years¹) of the project, the final phase is being thought of for arrangement of several nationwide seminars at regional level to create awareness and motivation to the tune of the main theme of this project with the expectation of emerging regional level hubs at the end of the second year or at the beginning of the third year, provided necessary funds would be accumulated by that time from home and abroad.

¹ The project would be expected to see 7 years of successful operation through availability of extended fund.

Table-1 is depicting the phasing of activities of the project for the first two years.

The project is visualized as a wide-area network with the central hub located at the institute’s campus with regional hubs at the six divisional headquarters, namely Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet. Emphasis will be made to form collaboration with other networks engaged in Internet connectivity in the field of sustainable development, to minimize manpower involvement and infrastructure development of this project. This domino pattern could be replicated at the district level following similar criteria, making information kiosks at the district level outlets for the beneficiaries to obtain Internet connectivity and related facilities. These information kiosks may involve related government sectors, like Agriculture, Horticulture, Marketing, Flood control, Energy and Technology. In course of time the project will be heavily involved in technology transformation and information exchange between central hub to the district level hubs including time to time involvement of specialists from abroad working in the field of Internet technology.

Initially there will be a lack of specialized manpower to run this project at the regional/ district levels, but hands on training/ workshops/ seminars for technology up-gradation and solution making tasks in networking environment will create a large number of skilled manpower in the society. Solution of Internet based database management system seems to be extremely complex in nature with diversified demands from the beneficiaries. Manipulation, extrapolation, processing and preparing the output at the kiosk level with minimum effort of browsing, speedy downloading, simplified database architecture, optimum caching at the sub-domains, segmented search for speedy download, etc. with socio-economic justification, which would certainly be a challenge for the project.

At the central level there is a ten member government approved and Bangladesh Technical Education Board affiliated management committee, under the presidentship of the Controller of Examinations, Bangladesh Open University including the Director of Computer Division, Bangladesh Open University as member-secretary, two professors from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka among them one is the present head of water resource engineering department and rest others are the elite and classified professionals from the society, will be providing over-all guidance to the implementation of the project with necessary monitoring. By virtue of the law, the committee meets at least five/ six times in a year with additional meeting on urgent demand. The member-secretary reports to the management committee regarding the progress of implementation and any problems encountered.

At the prospective regional level of the project there shall be 3-7 members regional advisory committees to guide and organizing the implementation of the project coping up with the local conditions. NGO representatives and IT professionals would be given preference including representatives from relevant government offices at the various levels.

The project would be expected to be fully operational within 3 months of its launching and establishment and operation of regional hubs may follow a domino pattern or may be staggered.

Table -2 shows the budget requirement in detail for two years of operation.

Name : Engr. Md. Hakikur Rahman

Designation : Project Coordinator

(Member-Secretary of the Management Committee)

Curriculum Vitae : http://geocities.datacellar.net/hakik_2000

http://www5.50megs.com/hakik

Project Coordinator : Engr. Md. Hakikur Rahman

Network Administrator : Engr. Md. Mahbubul Alam

BSc. Engg. (Electrical & Electronics), 1994

from Bangladesh Univ. of Engg. & Tech., Dhaka

and specialist in Computer Networking for the last five years.

Management Committee