ICTP RT Canessa

Problems & approaches to solutions for worldwide access to scientific knowledge: 

Problems & approaches to solutions for worldwide access to scientific knowledge Hilda A. Cerdeira Enrique Canessa The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy ejds@ictp.trieste.it

Outline: 

Outline Brief overview of ICTP Recommendations of Trieste to bridge the Digital Divide Overview of recent Open Round Table on Digital Divide: ‘problems and solutions’

ICTP: background: 

ICTP: background Founded in 1964 by Abdus Salam (Nobel Laureate), The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics operates under the aegis of two United Nations Agencies — UNESCO and IAEA — and is regularised by a seat agreement with the Government of Italy which provides the major part of the Centre's funding. One of the main aims is to foster the growth of advanced studies and research in the developing countries.

ICTP: core activities: 

ICTP: core activities ICTP welcomes 4,000 scientists per year to its campus, located at the edge of the Adriatic Sea seven kilometres from downtown Trieste. Of the 80,000 scientists (from 170 countries and 45 international organizations) who have participated in ICTP activities since 1964, 70% have come from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. A fundamental service is The ICTP library- with more than 100,000 vols and 900 journal subscriptions. Each year the Centre organizes about 40 schools, conferences and workshops on many subjects: e.g., particle physics, condensed matter physics, mathematics, etc. Some Centre activities are also organized in developing countries. Since 1985, ICTP has awarded the Dirac Medal to some of the world's most prestigious theoretical physicists and mathematics.

Slide5: 

The Centre has a world-wide reputation for its significant contributions to the internationalization of science, and today its mandate has become even more relevant!

Digital Divide: Meetings in Trieste: 

Digital Divide: Meetings in Trieste A multidisciplinary group of international experts gathered at the 2002 open round table on "Developing Country Access to On-line Scientific Publishing: Sustainable Alternatives“ at the ICTP in Trieste. It grew from a need to bring together all interested parties to analyse concrete strategic alternatives for supporting scientists working in remote areas and having low-bandwidth, or suffering expensive access to on-line database services and the Internet. The participants developed a public set of recommendations to provide guidance and make suggestions to support concrete and sustainable alternatives to help bridge the digital divide and thus facilitate developing countries access to on-line scientific publishing.

(Some) Recommendations for Action: 

(Some) Recommendations for Action To invite more Scientific Publishing Companies to participate in the eJDS program via Web for e-mail of the of the ICTP, Trieste (www.ejds.org). To increase the critical mass of skilled people in ICT by training on Communication, Networking, Web enabling Technologies and the adaptation of technology to local needs. To continue to provide capacity building and share methodologies to ensure that content from developing countries has a presence on the Web.

(Some) Recommendations for Action: 

(Some) Recommendations for Action To devote resources to monitor in real time the connectivity of research and educational institutions in developing countries and to encourage (and devote resources to) the development of the connectivity. To provide low cost or free access to scholarly literature for and by developing countries where reasonable Internet bandwidth is available and for developing countries where publishers revenue is not significantly impacted. To publicize all access alternatives openly since the general public, the scientific community and/or policy makers are unaware of them.

Oct 2003 Round Table: 

Oct 2003 Round Table A review of progress in implementing the recommendations was undertaken. Videos, Talks, Papers available at www.ejds.org

1.- Open Source Technologies, Training & Support: 

1.- Open Source Technologies, Training & Support Free and Open Source Software In Africa (FOSSFA) Gideon Hayford Chonia (Univ Zurich, Switzerland) International Training Programs in Brussels Related to Scientific Information and ICT Paul Nieuwenhuysen (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) Virtual Campus and e-Learning Bogdan Logofatu (Univ Bucharest, Romania) A Proposal for ICT and Internet Support for Scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa Brian Porter (Intern.al Found. for Science, Sweden)

1.- Open Source Technologies, Training & Support: 

1.- Open Source Technologies, Training & Support ICT Development: The Experience of the Abdus Salam ICTP Sandro M. Radicella (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) The S&T Collaborium Initiative: On-site Training and Projects Carlo Fonda (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) GATE/GTZ Initiatives for Adaptation, Dissemination and a Sustainable Use of Information Technologies Carolin Bothe-Tews (GTZ, Germany) www4mail: Helping to Bridge the Digital Divide Clement Onime (ICTP, Trieste, Italy)

2.- ICT Projects for Development: 

2.- ICT Projects for Development HINARI (WHO's Health Internet Work Access to Research Inititive): What Have We Learned? Barbara Aronson (WHO, Switzerland) Bandwidth Optimization in Developing Countries Universities Sara Gwynn (INASP, UK) Improving a Website: The SciDev.Net Experience Barbara Keating (SciDev.Net, UK)

2.- ICT Projects for Development: 

2.- ICT Projects for Development Estimation and Characterization of the Digital Divide Arturo Serrano Santoyo (CICESE, Mexico) Use of ICT for Education, Research and Development in Ghana: Challenges, Opportunities and Potentials Joseph Intsiful (Inst. Math. Sci., Ghana), Philip Fosu Okyere (Inst. Math. Sci., Ghana) NITDA and ICT in Nigeria Gabriel O. Ajayi (NITDA, Nigeria)

3.- Virtual vs Real Laboratories, GRID Computing & Developing Countries: 

3.- Virtual vs Real Laboratories, GRID Computing & Developing Countries Internet Devices for Scientific Applications Carlos Kavka (Univ. Nacional San Luis, Argentina) About UNESCO Virtual Laboratory Toolkit Clement Onime (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) Developing Countries Access to Scientific Knowledge Ian Willers (CERN, Switzerland) Benefits of International Scientific Collaborations for Developing Countries Arshad Ali (Nat. Univ. Sci. & Tec., Pakistan)

4.- Monitoring the Digital Divide: 

4.- Monitoring the Digital Divide Measuring the Digital Divide with PingER PingER History and Methology R. Les Cottrell (SLAC, USA) Internet Performance to Africa R. Les Cottrell (SLAC, USA), Enrique Canessa (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) Network Connectivity in Africa - The Current Status Mike Jensen (Consultant/IDRC, South Africa)

4.- Monitoring the Digital Divide: 

4.- Monitoring the Digital Divide Challenges for Sustainable Rural Networking in Solomon Islands; The People First Network David Leeming (PFnet, Solomon Islands) Experiences with the Digital Divide in Latin America Heidi L. Alvarez, Julio E. Ibarra (Florida Int. Univ., USA) Creating NREN's in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus Region Henk van Linde (Silk Highway Board, NATO) Digital Divide Inside Europe David Williams (CERN, Switzerland)

5.- Open Scientific Contents, Initiatives from NGO's & Publishers: 

5.- Open Scientific Contents, Initiatives from NGO's & Publishers Access to Scientific Knowledge: the Argentinean Scenario Alejandra T. Chavez Flores (Nat. Atom. Ener. Comm., Argentina) Collaborium.NET - Portal of Open Source Software & Open Contents Simone Grassi (Cisbic snc, Italy) eJDS: Free On-line Access to Scientific Knowledge Hilda. A. Cerdeira (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) The FAO David Lubin Memorial Library, AGORA and Information for Developing Countries Jane Wu (FAO, Rome, Italy)

5.- Open Scientific Contents, Initiatives from NGO's & Publishers: 

5.- Open Scientific Contents, Initiatives from NGO's & Publishers Blackwell Publishing's Developing World Initiatives Emily Gillingham (Blackwell Publishing, UK) Access to APS Journals and the Digital Divide Robert Kelly (Amer. Phys. Soc., USA) Collaboration: The Key to Unlock Open Access Publication Frederick J. Friend (Consultant, OSI) DOAJ - Directory of Open Access Journals Jörgen Eriksson (Lund Univ. Libraries, Sweden) PLoS - Public Library of Science Mark Patterson (European Bioinformatics Inst., UK)

Follow Up: 

Follow Up We intend to continue to analyze, share experiences, promote ideas, and discuss those issues which will enhance our understanding and assist us quantifying the digital divide. Our efforts will focus on the analysis of differences in network performance for developed and developing countries, effective strategic alternatives, innovative technological tools, dissemination of scientific e-contents and licensing issues. Much work still needs to be done to extend the PingER eJDS monitoring to more countries within Africa.

Follow Up: 

Follow Up The PingER-eJDS project is arguably the most extensive source of current and long term information on the effective performance of the Internet for learned institutions in Developing Countries. Much of the future development relies on the access that scientific institutions and universities have to the Internet. In order to address such differences it is critical to measure and understand the performance. Depending on new world-wide achievements obtained, organize Open Round Table end 2004 or 2005.