[email protected] 20031203 it4b technology peace corps lectureslide 1 of 43 background and concept for a...

[email protected] 20031203 IT4B Technology Peace Corps Lecture slide 1 of 43

Background and Concept for aTechnology Peace Corps

Mel SiegelThe Robotics Institute

School of Computer ScienceCarnegie Mellon University

IT4B Course – 2003 Dec 03

[email protected] 2003 Dec 03 IT4B Technology Peace Corps Lecture slide 2 of 43


outline• survey "Technology Peace Corps" concept• place in context of early and current

“Peace Corps” activities and philosophies• compare and contrast with other volunteer or

low-pay programs– UN's– other countries and international organizations

• illustrated with case of Ghana "then and now"• overview of the e2WEHAB concept and proposal


history …

• John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps (1961) “to promote world peace and friendship”.

• Three goals comprise its explicit mission:1. Helping the people of interested countries to

meet their needs for trained men and women.2. Helping promote a better understanding of

Americans on the part of the peoples served.3. Helping promote a better understanding of other

peoples on the part of all Americans.


… history• Kennedy appointed his brother-in-law

Sargent Shriver (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father-in-law) first Peace Corps Director

• planning, recruiting, and training began by executive order before Congress provided funding (on “Joe Kennedy’s Am Ex card”)

• first group left US for Ghana (after training at Berkeley) on September 1, 1961

• see link: http://www.archives.gov/...

http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/peace_corps_documents/images/volunteers_1961.gif




key concept• each volunteer lives at the same level as

his/her “host country counterpart”– but local Peace Corps organization provides

additional health monitoring and care– and additional cash (in local currency) for

educational travel during vacations etc

• see the classic: “Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronical”, Moritz Thomsen


typical assignments

• teaching: mostly secondary school, some primary school, university, professional– and a lot of English as Second Language

• agricultural technology and economics– fish farming is a very common sort of project

• resource development, e.g., geology

• health care and issues: family planning, AIDS, malaria, schistosomiasis, etc


record• ~150,000 returned volunteers (RPCVs)

• annual budget currently ~$275M– ~ 1.7% of annual foreign aid budget– ~ 0.1% of annual DoD budget

• 42 years of Peace Corps 1 week of DoD

• RPCVs represented substantially out-of-proportion in Senate, Congress, executive branches, World Bank, journalism, etc– as are their students in the countries served


other “Peace Corp” programs• United Nations Volunteers

– see http://www.unv.org/• World Volunteer Web

– see http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/• International Volunteer Organization

– see http://www.nymouse.org/international-volunteer-organization.shtml

• Israel Forum for Internat. Humanitarian Aid– see http://www.israaid.org.il

• Global Volunteer Network (New Zealand)– see http://www.volunteer.org.nz/

http://www.unv.org/

http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/

http://www.nymouse.org/international-volunteer-organization.shtml

http://www.israaid.org.il/

http://www.volunteer.org.nz/




IT & developing nations• personal observation: with the emergence

of the internet as a critical tool for research and communication, academics in developing nations are worse off than they were 40 years ago relative to their counterparts in developed nations!– print journals and paper mail were of more-or-

less equal quality and availability everywhere– now dismal internet connectivity in developing

nations cuts them out of main stream research


problem

opportunity

solution


UN Johannesburg Agenda• WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT (WSSD), August 2002

• WEHAB– water and sanitation– energy– health and environment– agriculture– biodiversity and ecosystem management

• see http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/documents/wehab_papers.html

http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/documents/wehab_papers.html


window of opportunity• to install comprehensive IT infrastructure

(“dark fiber”) while labor is still cheap

• to create, operate, and maintain national information grids at affordable costs

• but how to link them to the global grid?– relatively small volume of person-to-person

communication is affordable with a little help– relatively large volume of data-to-researcher

storage and look-up can be handled by mirror sites based on exchange of hard disks


water and sanitation


energy


health and environment


agriculture


biodiversity


CMU extends it to e2WEHAB• education and e-technology

applied to issues in the WEHAB agenda

• achieve via a Technology Peace Corps– academic study/research at senior undergrad,

masters degree, maybe PhD graduate levels– collaboration with host country counterpart

students in participating developing nations– both distance- and overseas-collaboration


education


e-technology


e2WEHAB proposal• context-appropriate information and

communication technology (ICT)– providing education and e-technology

• that supports sustainable development– of water, energy, health, agriculture, and

biodiversity (WEHAB)

• in selected developing nations

• via a Technology Peace Corps


basic research hypothesis• the “Peace Corps approach”

– i.e., one-on-one training of a student-volunteer’s host-country counterpart

• adding high-quality internet connections– between the volunteer and the counterpart

during training and reporting phases– between the academic advisor and student-

volunteer during overseas program phases

• is more effective than conventional approaches to sustainable development


practical service component

• develop, implement, and deploy sustained economic development projects

• in at least one Asian and one African country during the pilot phase, e.g.,– Ghana– Sri Lanka


deliverables• basic ICT research results

• practical contributions to sustained economic development projects

• training of approximately 60 American student-volunteers– in the intersection of ICT and sustained

economic development

• and training of approximately 120 counterparts in developing nations


technical challenges …

• low cost systems and software

• hardware reliability in harsh climates– minimal indigenous maintenance capability

• software robustness in environments with limited access to support expertise

• providing low cost, easily deployed, easily integrated sensors for monitoring functions


… technical challenges

• supporting environments with low levels of literacy and rare local languages

• reliable performance in the absence of a reliable power grid

• high-bandwidth high-reliability wireless communication at all geographical scales


approach• Our approach to e2WEHAB is modeled on the

success of the US Peace Corps as a proven low-cost and effective means for communicating practical sustainable knowledge and skills between the developed and the developing worlds. We say “between ... and” vs. “from ... to” to emphasize that the basic Peace Corps model of pairing an American volunteer with a “host country counterpart” of similar age and sophistication assures a bi-directional transfer of knowledge and skills that ultimately benefits the developed nation, i.e., the US, as much as the developing nation.


implementation …• the pilot program tests the hypothesis that

ICT-intensive sustained economic development programs are more effective than traditional programs– approximately 60 student-volunteers in 60

development projects– individually tailored projects of typically

15-18 month duration


… implementation …• small enough that only minimal

administrative infrastructure is required

• big enough to generate meaningful data

• big enough to permit deciding whether effectiveness is local or apparently global– local: works in some specific regions– apparently global: seems like it should work

in any developing nation


… implementation …• each student-volunteer is enrolled in an

established CMU academic program• student-volunteer selection based on assessed

– ability to learn and teach cutting edge ICT technology– participate in basic research– work productively in an overseas project

• student-volunteer receives interdisciplinary faculty supervision and advice


… implementation …• student-volunteer works side-by-side with a host

country counterpart– physically side-by-side during overseas phases– remotely side-by-side via high-quality internet link

during on-campus phases

• individually tailored projects of typically 15-18 month duration– Masters Degree at end of program makes it attractive

for undergraduates– interdisciplinary research potential makes it attractive

for graduate students.


… implementation• faculty advisors receive benefit of publishing in

interdisciplinary research area• faculty honoraria only if supplementary

foundation support is obtained


contrasts• critical contrasts with “classical”

Peace Corps programs:– volunteers must start with substantial

technical expertise– ongoing ICT-based support

• from faculty advisor to volunteerwhen volunteer is in the field

• from volunteer to host country counterpartwhen volunteer is at CMU

– volunteer receives academic credit forhis/her contribution and experience


project scenario …• water + sensors:

– humans are not good water safety sensors• bad looking, smelling, tasting water can be safe• clear, odorless, tasteless water can be deadly

– semiconductor, MEMS, and other sensing technologies have been demonstrated, but extensive software support is needed for

• installation and maintenance instruction• automatic calibration and drift compensation• distributed environmental monitoring networks


… project scenario …• energy + off-grid capability

– inhospitable climates and terrain lead to frequent outages in many developing nations

• nodes in an electric power grid require external power to recover from outages

• hence grid management requires substantial human intelligence or excellent AI capability

• ICT physically independent of grid and power line right-of-way integrity enhances reliability

– software and hardware challenges to• sustain ICT in difficult environment• employ ICT to manage the difficulties


… project scenario …• health + literacy and language

– low levels of literacy and rare local languages challenge attempts to deliver health care

– low cost ICT needed to provide• high quality translation

– concept-to-concept vs. word-to-wordwhen local language lacks necessary words

• voice-to-voice communication

– pressing health care needs drive applications• e.g., AIDS awareness and prevention


… project scenario …• agriculture + wireless communication

– wireless support for “just in time” agriculture• timely response to unexpected weather, pests, etc• an edge that transforms marginal commodity

markets into lucrative specialty markets• reduce worldwide dependence on over-localized

production of essential agricultural products• promotes return to diverse mix of varieties

vs. current concentration on monotypes– more interesting, more healthful, and

genetically much more robust


… project scenario …• biodiversity + environmental computing

– monitoring, management, and re-introduction of biodiversity into environments damaged by

• deforestation• overgrazing• monoculture

– ICT and robotic support for automation of• wildlife detection, identification, and census• plant census and life-cycle monitoring• microbiological analysis of soil and water


impact• for the US: experience and training of

Americans in sustainable development– potential extension to domestic programs

• for developing nations: impact of projects, on-going work of host country nationals– developing international collegial relationships

• for the ICT field: methodology and results of project and volunteer evaluations– validation of technological approaches


wrap up• contrary to expectations, move to internet-

based communication and publication may be widening the academic gap between developed and developing nations

• we have a technological model for closing it

• it requires substantially raising the level of ICT capability in the developing nations

• accomplish it via a “Peace Corps” model

• instantiate it on the UN WEHAB agenda

[email protected] 20031203 it4b technology peace corps lectureslide 1 of 43 background and concept for a...

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