Barrio Malawi - Information Technology

Presentation: The Status and Future of Mzuzu University Internet Connectivity

jon — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 04:54:06 -0500

Over the past several months the ICT department of the Library has conducted an extensive analysis of Internet connectivity at Mzuzu University. Nkhaniyawo Nyirenda, of Mzuzu University, and Jon Saints, of The University of Arizona, will present the results of the analysis in order to educate and inform users of the Internet and influence future Internet policy decisions.

All members of staff and students and the general public are invited to attend.

Following the presentation there will a discussion session for members of staff
involved in ICT policy making.Presentation Discussion

Location: Mzuzu University Children’s Library
Date: November 24th 2006
Time: 1300 hours

Keeping Many Debian Machines Updated

jon — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:58:11 -0400

There are an increasing number of Ubuntu Linux machines on the Mzuzu University campus network (DHCP, squid, iptables, email, web, and some desktops). As you all know, keeping both Windows and Linux machines up-to-date with security updates can be very bandwidth intensive. Because our 256 kb/s connection is used heavily during the day we are trying to schedule all security updates to run once at night and then have all of our client machines connect to the local repository during the day for their security updates so as not to use bandwidth while students and professors are trying to connect online.

Over the past month, we have been comparing various Ubuntu local security update repository solutions: apt-proxy and apt-cacher. Our result: apt-cacher wins hands down. We found apt-proxy to be quite buggy and not to perform very well when multiple machines connected to the security update server at the same time. We have had no problems with apt-cacher. It was easy to install and configure. Most importantly it has greatly reduced the amount of bandwidth needed to keep our campus computers up-to-date with the latest Linux security updates.

Our next task is to find a way to do something similar for Windows machines. Currently each computer on campus is connecting to the windowsupdate.microsft.com website and downloading security updates individually. This is one of the heaviest uses of bandwidth on our network. I have found Windows Server Update Services . Its BETA version, but I think it might do what we need it to.

Any other ideas are most welcome here in Malawi.

Ungweru Community Center

jon — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 07:49:03 -0400

I think that I have found my dream job. Directly across from Mzuzu University, down a dirt road, through a corn field you will find the Ungweru Community Center. There you will find nice 4 computers, the latest news papers, sodas and cookies for sale. Ungweru Community Center is a for-profit endeavor, started by the catholic church and the university, to offer technology classes to the public at very reasonable prices. Currently there are typing and basic computing classes (Microsoft Word and Windows XP) offered at Ungweru. I have been asked to help them begin teaching basic computer networking and internet skills... without using the internet of course!!

At the last board meeting, I was named an honorary Board Member and we discussed the idea of teaching internet classes at Ungweru. An internet connection is far out of our budget, we are instead the process of creating a local network that will serve as a fully functioning replica of the actual internet. This means that in our little community center students will be able to practice and learn internet skills like HTML, email, networking etc. Because our mini-internet is an exact replica of the actual internet, only much much smaller (our network is of 5 computers instead of millions), the skills students learn taking our internet classes will be directly applicable in jobs in the real world.

Building a local network replica of the internet for students to learn, practice, and build real applicable IT skills is not as difficult or expensive as it might seem. I will be documenting the steps we use build our internet training center. Check back for updates.

What is a Blog?

jon — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 01:41:34 -0500

“Blog” is a term used to describe a specific type of website. The term “blog” comes from joining two words “web” and “log” into one. In fact, “web log” is a perfect description of what blogs truly are- online journals! Blogs are websites consisting of a series of regularly posted entries that are usually displayed on the web page in chronological order. Blogs can be written by one author, known as a blogger, or have many contributors (bloggers) writing entries about a common topic or theme. Blogs almost always encourage participation from their audiences and usually provide an easy way for readers to respond to an entry and publish their comments on the same web page.

How to use (this and other) blogs

Getting only the information that you want:

One of the most common challenges we all face in the Information Age is finding effective means of sorting through the vast quantities of info-junk available at our fingertips in order to find the information that we are looking for. Most blogs (this one is no exception) are equipped with category systems to help readers slice through content and locate only the entries that interest them the most.

In this blog you will notice that Marissa and Jon's latest entries appear on the homepage. Beneath each entry on the home page there will be a listing of the categories that the entry is a part of. Amoung other things our categories include “Artists Only” for entries that have anything to do with art, and “Nerds Only” for entries about computers, Linux, derivatives, and other geeky matters, the category “Fulbright Journal” will hold all entries that are officially part of Jon's Fulbright research, etc. By clicking the category name other entries in the same category will appear. In this way you, as a reader can easily access only the information that interests you most.

Examples:

To see only Fulbright Research entries click here
To see only entries that deal with art click Artists Only
To see only entries that are about computers and information technology click Nerds Only

Receive notification of new information on a blog automatically with RSS (Really Simple Sydication) feeds:

Blogs are one of the most dynamic types of websites. New content and entries are usually posted to the website frequently. As a reader, it is an inconvinience to continually check blogs for new content. Most blogs (including this one) offer a cool technology called RSS feeds (Really Simple Sydication) which allows readers to receive automatic notifications when new content becomes available. To use RSS feeds you will need to download and install RSS feed reader program. To get started read this excellent tutorial written by the BBC World News Service using RSS feeds LINK HERE. You can think of an RSS feeds as electronic paper boys that bring news of new blog content directly to your doorstep. The notification of new content delivered to you will look much like an email, but will not be delivered to your inbox. The notifications are stored in your feed reading application. Notifcations will include the title and a short description of the new content so you can decide if it is worth reading or not.

Our feeds are listed on the bottom right hand corner of the website where it says “Feed Me...”. These feeds are categorized so that our readers can choose to be notified only when new content that is of interest becomes available.

To use the RSS feeds on this blog follow the instructions below:

Right mouse click one of the feed links
Click “Copy link location”
Paste the link into your feed reader application
You will now be automatically notified of any new content that Marissa or Jon posts to this blog

Blogging is a participation sport – airing your thoughts:

This blog, like most, allows our readers to post their thoughts to the website for other readers to read and comment upon. Comments posted to the site will appear as a threaded discussion directly below the full text of any article that Marissa and Jon publish on the blog.

To comment on an entry on the blog follow these steps:

Click the “add comment” link below the full text of any of the entries on the site
Type your comments in the text box that appears
Click submit

We will review your comments, and if they are hilarious or witty enough, approve them for display on the blog ;)

Fulbright Research Proposal

jon — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 01:33:42 -0500

Here is a shortened copy of the proposal I wrote for the Fulbright grant. It describes the project I will be working on while in Malawi

Overcoming the lack of access to appropriately implemented technologies in the developing world is fundamental to the problem of realizing social development. By increasing productivity and diversifying the workforce, the proper use of technology lays a vital foundation for public health, democracy and economic development. This is certainly true for the proliferation of information and communication technology (ICT). Studies by the Digital Opportunity Task Force, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank's Information Development Fund and Harvard eReadiness Project all prove that the expansion of ICT connectivity can augment social development. Building community telecenters, enhancing rural commerce via ICT-based microcredit lending, launching web-based e-commerce, using the internet to teach public health and land management in rural areas, and using email to relay commodity prices: these are among the many ICT strategies that can enable faster progress. Increasing access to technology and crossing the digital divide is not an option; it is an absolute necessity if the poorest nations are not to fall even farther behind.

When I came to the University of Arizona in 1999, I was intrigued by a project now known as the Broadband for Development Initiative (BDI). BDI is an effort of the University of Arizona and Mzuzu University (in Malawi) to augment economic development in Northern Malawi via the use of ICTs. As I worked on the project, my curiosity grew into an intense desire to work in Malawi. This past summer I was fortunate to experience the country and its diverse culture, a place where I have been dreaming about working for years.

I arrived in Malawi at an exciting time for the BDI project. After three years of negotiations, Mzuzu University and three other national universities had acquired VSAT satellite systems that would finally provide affordable and reliable broadband Internet access to their campuses. For two weeks I traveled throughout Malawi and participated in discussions about the new system with intellectual leaders, Mzuzu University administrators and faculty. Nearly everyone in Mzuzu expressed excitement over the coming technology. Those that I spoke with also expressed an urgent need for research to determine culturally compatible methods of integrating broadband access into northern Malawian society in order to provide the greatest potential for economic development.

This project aims to create a comprehensive report to guide Internet for development efforts in the Mzuzu region of Malawi. My research will adopt a unique and proven method of creating sustainable Internet based development projects used by Dr. Barron Orr at the University of Arizona known as “stakeholder-driven development”. The outcome of the process will be a report that provides Mzuzu University administrators with recommendations of specific ICT for development projects that would be sustainable and most beneficial in the Mzuzu community.

In stakeholder-driven development, those that are meant to benefit from Internet applications are involved in their creation from the beginning. The first step is to assess stakeholder needs through participatory rapid appraisal techniques that will provide a full ethnographic assessment of both the individual user and community needs, information and connectivity gaps. This phase of the project, which will combine focus group and key respondent interviews and a quantitative survey instrument, will last for four months. I will interview business owners, local leaders, University staff and townspeople in order to become familiar with the needs and goals of the Mzuzu community. By the end of four months I hope to have an accurate picture of the community's most pressing needs and aspirations, including a short list of “lead users” or early adopters who will participate in the applications development phase. Based on the results of the needs assessment, I will narrow the scope of the project by selecting one or two specific development needs and target populations that proper application of Internet technology could help address.

The next step of the “stakeholder driven” development is to create prototype applications in collaboration with colleagues and students at Mzuzu University that can be tested and critiqued by the lead users identified in the needs assessment. I plan to devote months five and six to creating the prototype systems. Prototype systems will be created by leveraging the knowledge and experience of the “best practice” projects and adapting them to meet the needs of the Malawian target population. The prototype systems will be simple staged demos of what a full-featured system would entail. Each prototype will address a specific community development need as determined in the needs assessment phase of the project. Some possible projects include: enhancing field work activities (natural resource management, public health, agricultural extension) by making web-based information products mobile through hand held Personal Digital Assistants, helping University professors integrate the Internet into their classes, or working with the local hospital to improve record keeping infrastructure.

In the third and final phase of the research, lead users (and later the broader base of stakeholders) will be invited to a series of guided workshops for testing of the prototypes. Their opinions and experiences, difficulties and suggestions will be meticulously recorded. Their feedback will be used to identify and prioritize ICT for development projects best suited for the region. Based on the ethnographic research of Phase 1 and the systems research of Phase II, I will compile the stakeholder recommendations along with the corresponding prototype systems specifications into a actionable report for University administrators by the end of month ten.