First Post - 9/02/11
In spite of all the fun I've had attempting to be a professional Dr. development
whatsathingymajig M.D with my company Knowcan & all the organisations we're working with - I felt an informal blog would be a good place to paint a more open and colloquial version of my trip to Sierra Leone that wouldn't bore friends, family and strangers to tears. Nay, dare I say it? It may even be interesting.
For those who don't understand what I'm trying to do, it is rather complicated sadly. SO, instead of putting up a long winded explanation that will probably put you off reading the rest of my forthcoming posts, I have decided to summarise as succinctly as possible:
I believe that Open Source technology (that's everything from Wikipedia to Linux operating systems to the Hexayurt and potters for peace) could play an important factor in facilitating successful and sustainable development.
Why's that I hear you ask?
(Or rather, assume, like a digital grandma drawing breath before reeling off an endless anecdote)
Open Source technology is free for a start. The software runs even on ancient computers and is free to upgrade whenever a new versions out. As a result you don't need to buy new computers every three years. It's also so diverse and abundant that saying so is like stating 'there is a lot of fish in the sea'. The sheer scale (ugh, unintentional but nevertheless awful pun aside) is unimaginable and that is why experts are needed to search out the correct and appropriate bit of kit. If you imagine each piece of OS knowledge as a grain of sand in the Sahara you get the right idea. Careful research and evaluation is desperately required before OS can be used as a widespread tool for development across Sierra Leone (and then the REST OF THE WORLD *insert maniacal laughter here*).
That said, I'm sure you share my excitement that two crucial development resources are now in plentiful supply; technology and knowledge.
It doesn't stop there either. Every piece of OS software, hardware or knowledge can be fully customised by anyone for any purpose.
For instance, take our NHS service, it uses sporadic Windows platforms that suffer from inter-compatibility issues that effect communication and infrastructure between departments. It costs the NHS a ton of money and wastes a lot of time and effort. By using Open Office not only would the NHS have full compatibility between departments but if some clever clog tweaked it to be better tailored to hospital demands then any hospital in the world could benefit from the changes or even improve it further. Less money on computers = More money on patients.
Wasn't that an exciting thought experiment? Guys...? Guys?
OF course, it's all very well to assume that it would achieve these ideas. Installing and maintaining it, as with any computer system, would still present a major challenge
and upheaval for the NHS. It's also important to bear in mind that the NHS is an advanced organisation: it has the luxury of massive computer infrastructure.
Hospitals in developing nations have much bigger challenges to face than problematic computer infrastructure. However, that is not to say that they can't benefit from OS. The potential is still significant, for instance: OS first aid courses could be run in the local community for little or no cost. Also by using Open Office one could make signs spreading accurate health information. This is a pertinent example because Sierra Leone's population is suspicious of 'western' medicine. As a result, conditions like polio are making a comeback in a country with an already alarming rate of disabilities following the civil war.
Constructing the IT infrastructure of the hospital from scratch with OS could save lots of money and time. Plus it would futureproof it's infrastructure. Take that, you time travelling bastards!
If you replace health services with any other major national infrastructure- be it education, governance, utilities, waste management etc it is easy to find significant potential for OS to improve efficiency, communication, cost, reliability, training etc across the board. However this is all potential, in reality there are MANY challenges to development of any kind and they are usually unanticipated, illogical and a downright pain to sort. To paraphrase Tony Blair on the difficulties of supplying Sierra Leone's government with policy experts, (His organisation is called the African Government Initiative) they found the first major problem was not, as assumed, reforming fiscal strategy or encouraging economic growth but simply trying to get ministers to write stuff down. By stuff, I mean everything: meetings, ideas, minutes etc It was a colossal infrastructure issue that had never cropped up in AGI's program of reform.
Many strong ideas have unravelled due to a failure to understand the context in which the idea is meant to be operating. Local factors, environmental factors, cultural factors - there are so many hidden issues that can and do radically cut the survival chances for development projects. If a project fails, it not only undermines trust from the recipient nation in development organisations and donor governments, (i.e poor management of health charity and outreach in SL has led to the aforementioned suspicion of western medicine) but can also unintentionally cause real damage.
Thus, I drew this simple conclusion:
I need to find out if my idea will actually work in reality, rather than in my head.
Hence why I'm going to SL to work with as many organisations involved in as many facets of the country as possible; from the government, to private investment, education, utilities and so forth.
Why Sierra Leone:
Sierra Leone is typical of a post-colonial, post-conflict African state. It is very, very poor, high in natural resources (abundant in fact - oil, minerals, timber, diamonds, bauxite, beautiful landscape for adventurous tourists etc these assets are often referred to as a 'resource trap'), has shared borders with unstable countries that have bad jiu-jiu (Liberia and Guinea - 'border trap') and still suffers from widespread corruption, violence and poor infrastructure...
(the 'oh, hellllllllllllllll no! trap')
HOWEVER: It has enjoyed two democratic elections since the civil war ended which were both declared free and fair by the UN. A fibre optic cable is being laid to provide Sierra Leone with fast internet. It's very small (around 7 million people in total) which means policy response is fast (i.e you can tell if something's working much quicker than in somewhere like the Congo) it's high profile (lots of media attention) and speaks English as it's first language. There is a large amount of investment from all over the world taking place and it really does have an opportunity to lift itself out of it's previous conflict and misery, to light the way for other nations, during what is being hailed by optimists as 'Africa's century'.
I'm with the optimists.
Thanks for reading, I lied when I said it would be a short explanation. It's difficult to paraphrase such a huge project into a couple of sentences but if someone comes up with a way of doing so that sufficiently explains open source, the many facets of development and myself in a nutshell, I'll buy you a fine present from Sierra Leone. No joke.
James
