Computer systems today are treated as commodities, that are as specialised as a washing machine.  We look at them and make choices based on their shininess, unnecessary features and bloatware.  We are not in the least concerned with how they actually “wash our clothes.”  Errors of this sort may be fine for the average home user, a few faded out or destroyed garments can be easily replaced, but in a business environment it is detrimental.  The average businessman needs to understand and appreciate that computer systems need constant “tyre kicks” and other measures to ensure that they continue to meet stated objectives and assist in meeting additional objectives that have become obvious due to its use.  There are numerous peripheral functions that can be performed by existing computer systems that will have a significant positive impact on your business and life, but without the expertise to recognise and implement them, you remain “stuck in the sand.”  Getting value from your investment in computer systems is not easy, but nothing worth having is ever easy, so get out and kick those tyres today.

There can be no argument that any country that wishes to progress in a meaningful way has to embrace ICT.  What must be worked on are the mechanisms and methodologies that must be developed and implemented to meet this challenge.  This is a project/debate not for a few ICT professionals, but for us all; as there is a clear correlation between ICT success and the understanding and “buy in” from the most important part of any ICT system, its users.  While some may see all of the potential risks (of which there are many), there are unfathomable rewards; if done right.  Studies have been done, and many others are being done, to understand how we learn.  I would like to humbly suggest however, that due to the extremely short time frame of ICT development, that there are some things that we have to “go out on a limb” here, as we are but pioneers.  There are many drawbacks that we know of associated with ICT use, from health (eye strain, repetitive stress injuries, back/neck pain etc.) to social issues with interaction and privacy.  These must be all taken into account.  The reality is that there must be a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle proper ICT development.  We need parents, doctors, lawyers, children and ICT specialists if we are to be successful.

Since babies are growing up in the presence of computers, we have to determine exactly what and how much exposure is prudent.  From my own experience, I have observed that any interaction with a computer should not occur before 2 years, and when it does happen, it must be a specialised computer (touch screen, appropriate software) and always supervised by a knowledgeable parent or guardian.  The basics of child rearing does not change, we only have a new tool in our arsenal.  Using the term “tool” is very simplistic because it has the power to be a TV, books, games, communicator (video/audio), diary, and numerous other things.  The greatest challenge here is really the parents/educators and not the children, as they will readily grasp this tool just like they do so many others.  As they progress in competency, they will spend more time and need more supervision and control.  There are established monitoring methods, and we must not be afraid to enforce them.  Remember that these devices are small and easily concealable, so physical observation and control may be futile; luckily the technology itself provides a solution, but we must implement and use it.  Imagine that most physical limits can now be erased by ICT.  Access to grandma 24/7 via video phone, “great,” but do not forget the “wolf.” 

We have been examining most of the aspects of ICT pertaining to its use, but “where do all these hardware/software tools come from?”  “Someone developed them, and that someone can be you!”  This is primarily what we hope will spring out of proper ICT deployment and use; in 20 years time, we expect that the applications and even some hardware being used, would have been developed/invented within and not merely purchased to be used.  Mathematics and other relevant disciplines must therefore be a part of any ICT development plan.  Giving computers and access to all of the tools means that we must become masters of them, not only it their use, but also in their development.  I know that I am now repeating myself, but this is a point that cannot be over emphasised.  The world needs successors to Microsoft, Adobe, Hewlett-Packard, Intel etc. and that movement is alive today in a movement called Open Source.  If a fraction of the thousands that you encourage by making the tools available were to move into the directions of programming etc., we will surely be building an industry that can be wholly sustained by our future generations.

So, by all means make laptops, hammers, stoves, chemistry sets, telescopes, brooms, whatever is needed, available to all; but do not forget the input of parents and other relevant professionals to make it all work.  What we need to get the fire of creativity and innovation burning brightly is the spark, followed by the right fuel, or we might just get burnt!

The three elements are hardware, software, people.  Each one presents opportunities and challenges, but with proper thought and analysis a positive outcome is assured.  Hardware today has developed beyond the specialised nature that it once was; most computer hardware is powerful and cheap enough to do anything from accounting to entertaining.  Proper hardware selection has more to do with reliability and serviceability than performance.  The real complexity and costs are incurred by the software (both operating system and application) and the people that we need.  In my opinion, people are really the “make or break;” which is true for everything.  If you  do not have qualified and competent people to drive the planning, development, implementation, running and continuous improvement of the relevant systems, you have nothing.  People who are required to utilise the system (operators and consumers) need to “buy in” into the system and understand how it provides value to their lives.  Sometimes we do things not because we have to, but because we want to.  A clearly articulated policy will declare that we embrace Open Source software, because it presents us with the power and cost savings to get the best value for our money.  There are many arguments for and against this approach, but in 2010, the positives far outweigh the negatives.  The focus on education and training in this regard will lead to many “home grown” solutions and as such present a real opportunity for our much talked about “knowledge society” to become a reality.  The government must take a lead in this regard against powerful lobbying from the likes of Microsoft etc., as it will inevitably affect their revenue.

The real challenge that the government faces is to seamlessly integrate ICT into our lives, so that we all benefit; bearing in mind that bad always tags along with good.  Security will be a key issue, but since we have the “luxury” of developing the system from “scratch,” auditing controls can be incorporated within the system to provide a very high level of integrity.  One proposal that I would like to make is that most of what citizens require (birth certificate, schooling, passport, ID card, driver’s permit, BIR/NIS, pension, health and other services) are all calculable from birth.  Once we have a birth registered, we know that a national health card is needed, passport is required (+1 day), daycare may be required (+3 mths.), then preschool (+3 yrs.), primary school (+5 yrs.), secondary school (+11 yrs.), ID card (+16 yrs.), learner’s permit (+17 yrs.) etc. until we finally have a death recorded and that citizen’s record comes to an end.  The many sub-steps in this approach will lead to accurate planning at every stage in your life and more importantly the government will be able to facilitate yours’ and the nations’ development by eliminating a lot of time and nuisance involved in getting these documents and pursuing life’s activities.  Combining this approach with career guidance and other forms of support, will let you know exactly how many teachers, doctors, police, schools, hospitals etc. that you need and where, from day one!

Over the course of my career in ICT, I have seen many changes and innovations.  The greatest of these is the Internet.  ICT along with “proper” broadband infrastructure is the single most important link in the ICT chain.  Simply put, we need the fastest, cheapest connections that we can get.  Being able to move ICT from centralised to distributed is a challenge that if met, will create a superhighway not only from Port of Spain to Scarborough, but from person to person, not in 2 hrs., but milliseconds!  Imagine that any Trinidad & Tobago citizen (not limited by borders) will have the ability to conduct business/pleasure with any other person in the world at a speed that makes all things possible (http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0711/); like run/access their ICT systems or get a lesson in roti making (real time).  The link given shows the speeds that countries like Japan achieve and from that you can surmise why these countries are shining examples that we have to learn from in the world.  I would like to emphasise the word “examples” from the last sentence, as only too often we seek to implement solutions from other places with no regard for “localization” and we end up with less than ideal results.  The second greatest innovation that we are now witnessing is the evolution of the “smart-phone” and similar devices like the iPad etc., that with complimentary broadband infrastructure is revolutionising our ability to interact and use technology.  What we are witnessing is a paradigm shift away from the paper book and all of its limitations to a hybrid electronic book and all its opportunities.  We no longer need to walk with multiple learning tools, but with a single device that not only brings the world to us, but also us to the world.  One practical example of this (which I suggested and got rejected by WASA) is to implement a system for reporting water leaks using Twitter, which is a GPS enabled short messaging service that runs on a variety of small hand held devices including phones.  When we are going about our daily business and we notice a leak, WASA can have a @WASA_Leaks account on Twitter, which we can “tweet” the leak with location (automatically if we have GPS enabled) to and they can respond and repair.  I am sure that in the interest of a better Trinidad & Tobago we will all gladly work together to make our country a better place for us all as well as future generations.  In this regards if ICT Policy is taken down from the academic shelf and placed in the ubiquitous public domain where it belongs, we may well find that its contribution can be invaluable in creating the society that anyone can aspire to achieve.

THERE is no alternative but to call things by their name. Anyone with minimal commonsense can observe without much effort how little realism remains in the current world.

When United States President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Michael Moore stated “Now please earn it!” That witty comment pleased a lot of people for its acuity, although the Norwegian committee’s decision was perceived by many as no more than demagogy and an exaltation of the apparently inoffensive politicking of the new president of the United States, an African American, a good speaker and an intelligent politician at the head of a powerful empire enveloped in profound economic crisis.

The Copenhagen world meeting was about to take place and Obama raised hopes of a binding agreement in which the United States would join a world consensus in order to avoid the ecological disaster that is threatening the human species. What occurred there was disappointing; international world public opinion had been the victim of a painful deception.

In the recent People’s World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which took place in Bolivia, responses full of wisdom were put forward by the ancient indigenous nationalities, invaded and virtually destroyed by European conquistadores who, in their search for gold and easy riches, imposed over the centuries their egotistic cultures, incompatible with humanity’s most sacred interests.

Two news items that arrived yesterday express the philosophy of the empire in its attempt to make us believe in its “democratic”, “pacific,” “altruistic” and “honest” nature. Suffice it to read the text of those agency cables from the capital of the United States.

WASHINGTON , April 23, 2010—”The Obama administration is considering deploying a new group of intercontinental ballistic weapons that could deliver large conventional warheads, non-nuclear but capable of reaching targets anywhere in the world in approximately one hour and with a extremely powerful explosive capacity.

“While the new super-bomb, mounted on Minuteman missiles, will not have nuclear warheads, its destructive capacity will be equivalent, as confirmed by the fact that its deployment is anticipated in the recently signed START 2 agreement with Russia.

“The Moscow authorities demanded and succeeded in having inserted in the agreement, a provision demanding the United States decommission one nuclear missile for every missile it deploys.

“According to reports in The New York Times and on CBS News, the new weapon, baptized PGS (Prompt Global Strike), could carry out tasks like killing terrorist Osama bin Laden in a cave, destroying a North Korean missile as it is being transported to the launch pad, or demolishing an Iranian nuclear site – all without using nuclear bombs.

“The advantage of having a non-nuclear weapon with the same localized impact effects of a nuclear bomb is considered interesting by the Obama government.

“The project was initially proposed by Obama’s predecessor, Republican George W. Bush, but was blocked by Moscow’s protests. Bearing in mind that the Minuteman also transport nuclear warheads, the Moscow authorities said, it would be impossible to establish that the deployment of a PGS was not the beginning of a nuclear attack.

“But Obama’s government considers that it can give Russia or China the necessary guarantees to avoid misunderstandings. The launch facilities of the new weapon will be mounted in sites at a distance from nuclear warhead deposits and will be open to periodic inspection by Moscow or Beijing experts.

“The Prompt Global Strike warhead would be launched on Minuteman missiles armed with 1,000-lb. conventional warheads, designed to strike targets with incredible accuracy.

“Responsibility for the PGS project – which is estimated to cost $250 million just in the first year of experimentation – has been handed to General Kevin Chilton, chief of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Chilton explained that the PGS will fill a gap in the Pentagon’s current range of options.

“‘Today, we can present some conventional options to the president to strike a target anywhere on the globe, but within a time span of at least four hours,’ said the general. ‘To act on a particular target faster than that, the only thing we have is a nuclear response.’”

“In the future, with the new missile, the United States could act rapidly and with conventional resources, both against a terrorist group or an enemy country, in a much shorter time period and without arousing international anger at the use of nuclear weapons.

“It is anticipated that the first tests will begin in 2014, and that by 2017 it would be available in the U.S. arsenal. Obama will no longer be in power, but the super-missile could be the non-nuclear legacy of this president, who has already won the Nobel Peace Prize.”

“WASHINGTON, April 22, 2010—An unmanned Air Force space plane was launched this Thursday from Florida, in the midst of a veil of secrecy over its military mission.

“The rocket carrying the reusable X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle lifted off at 7:52 p.m. EDT (2352 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to a video distributed by the army.’

“‘The launch is imminent,’ Air Force Major Angie Blair told AFP.

“Resembling a small space shuttle, the aircraft is 8.9 meters in length and 4.5 in wingspan.

“The manufacture of the reusable space shuttle has taken years and the army has only offered vague explanations as to its objective or role in the military arsenal.

“The vehicle is designed to ‘provide the environment of a ‘laboratory in space’ to test new technologies and components before these technologies are assigned to satellite programs in operation,’ stated the Air Force in a recent communiqué.

“Officials have stated that the X-37B will land at the Air Force Vandenberg Base in California, but they did not say how long the inaugural mission will last. ‘

“‘To be honest, we don’t know when it’s going to come back,’ Gary Payton, second assistant secretary of Air Force space programs, told reporters this week.

“Payton stated that the shuttle could remain in space for up to nine months.

“The aircraft, manufactured by Boeing, began as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project in 1999 and was then transferred to the Air Force, which plans to launch a second X-37B in 2011.”

Is anything more needed?

Today they have found themselves with a colossal obstacle: the now uncontainable climate change. The inevitable temperature increase of more than two degrees centigrade is being mentioned. Its consequences will be catastrophic. In just 40 years the world population will increase by two million, thus reaching a total of nine billion people; in that brief period: docks, hotels, seaside resorts, communications, industries and installations in the vicinity of ports will be submerged in less time than is required for the enjoyment of half of the existence of the generation of one developed and rich country, which is currently refusing to make the most minimum sacrifice to preserve the survival of the human species. Agricultural land and potable water will be considerably reduced. The seas will become polluted; many marine species will become impossible to consume and others will disappear. This is not affirmed by logic but by scientific investigations.

Via natural genetics and the transfer of varieties of species from one continent to another, human beings succeeded in increasing production per hectare of food and other products useful to humans which, for some time, alleviated the scarcity of foodstuffs like corn, potato, wheat, fibers and other necessary produce. Later, genetic manipulation and the use of chemical fertilizers similarly contributed to the solution of vital needs, but they are now reaching the limit of their possibilities for producing healthy food appropriate for consumption. On the other hand, in barely two centuries, hydrocarbon resources that nature took 400 million years to form are being exhausted. In the same way, vital non-renewable mineral resources that the world economy requires are being exhausted. At the same time, science created the capacity of self-destroying the planet several times in a matter of hours. The greatest contradiction in our era is, precisely, the capacity of the species to destroy itself and its incapacity to govern itself.

Human beings have succeeded in raising their possibilities of life to limits that exceed their own survival capacity. In that battle raw materials in their reach are being consumed at an accelerated rate. Science made it possible to convert matter into energy, as occurred with nuclear reaction, at the cost of enormous investments, but the viability of converting energy into matter is not even on the horizon. The infinite cost of investment in pertinent investigations is demonstrating the impossibility of achieving in a few dozen years what the universe took tens of billions of years to create. Is it necessary for the child prodigy Barack Obama to explain that to us? Science has grown extraordinarily, but ignorance and poverty are also growing. Can anyone demonstrate the contrary?

Fidel Castro Ruz
April 25, 2010
6:30 p.m. 

“Distraction is the diversion of attention of an individual or group from the chosen object of attention onto the source of distraction. Distraction is caused by one of the following: lack of ability to pay attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; greater interest in something other than the object of attention; or the great intensity, novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention. Distractions come from both external sources (physical stimuli through the five senses), or internal sources (thought, emotion, fantasies, physical urges). Divided attention, as in multitasking, could also be considered as distraction in situations requiring full attention on a single object (e.g. sports, academic tests, performance).

Distraction is a major cause of procrastination, though it is possible to be diligent and still diverted from what is valuable. According to philosopher Damon Young, distraction is chiefly an inability to identify, attend to or attain what is valuable, even when we are hard-working or content.

In works of fiction, distraction is often used as a source of comedy, whether the amusement comes from the gullibility of those distracted or the strangeness of whatever is utilized to create the distraction.”

I find this word to be very relevant in today’s world because numerous bits of information delivered by cell phones and an assorted array of gadgetry constantly distract us under the pretence of informing us.  I would particularly emphasise this: “According to philosopher Damon Young, distraction is chiefly an inability to identify, attend to or attain what is valuable, even when we are hard-working or content.” to show how easily we can become “non-performers” while pursuing excellence with the best of intent.  Indeed as I write, there are chirps, beeps and other distractions attempting to sabotage my efforts in writing this piece.  What are we to do?  How about recognising the distractions for what they are, and then eliminating them when necessary!  Is walking around with that BB really enhancing the family experience at the beach, or is it an unnecessary distraction?  What about those latest unemployment figures quoted to illustrate how well a government has performed?  Does it really indicate performance, or an ability to manipulate statistics by including partially and underemployed persons as employed to skew the figures?  It is becoming harder and harder to look beyond the many distractions that modern day life has placed between us and our true objectives, what we have to now do is develop the ability to distract them so that we can achieve.

How did we get to this over holy place?

A history filled legacy,

From what point, faith, destiny?

The place we came from, so far,

The stage we’re at now,

Below par!

There are so many lands we built up,

Over many years,

But now our own, we’ve come to tears

For some it all started in 1956,

But that would not be even one sixth.

For others we will go back to 1498,

And still that won’t be adequate.

So what of history, the revealing truth,

The land, the people, the native youth.

Their lives, their goals, crushed so hard,

For shiny peebles in the yard.

The guile, the cunning, a part of it all,

In the end a fall, or tall?