The Information Source for Multimedia Associations

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Editor: Nasser Boumenna
Design and translation: Aurore Sun
VERSION FRANÇAISE : CLIQUEZ ICI

Quote du jour "To reach 50 million users, it took close to 75 years for the traditional telephony sector, 38 years for the radio, 16 years for the Personal Computer Industry, 13 years for Television but only four (4) for the World Wide Web" (ITU, Telecommunications indicators in the World, 2000).

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Recession or Nervous Breakdown ?
By André G. Côté, FIAM Director-general

Are we facing a recession or is the world going through a generalized nervous breakdown? The adoption of the USA PATRIOT Act, entitled "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" in response to the September attacks, is confusing and bewildering. Jerry Berman, executive director for the Centre for Democracy and Technology (CDT), clearly stated his worry about the Act's application. Data mining on the Internet, e-mail tracking and privacy infringements can easily divert investigations from their original objectives.

The Washington Post (Nov. 4) states that 1147 individuals from the Middle East and Central Asia are actually incarcerated in the US, 185 of whom are now facing charges for infringing immigration laws. Across the border, the Canadian Government has voted Bill C-36, a piece of legislation restraining individual rights. The Canadian Department of Justice can now keep information secret from the public by avoiding the Access to information Act, and this without input from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. New measures will give a Minister instead of a Judge the right to put under close electronic surveillance any person under suspicion, infringing on basic principles of civil rights and democracy. Are we stepping into an era of darkness, fear, terror, apprehension and panic?

Several weeks ago, I was in the United Arab Emirates attending GITEX, the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, the third largest of its kind in the world. Fifty thousand people, most of them coming from GCC countries, the Middle East, and the Asian subcontinent, were there doing business and playing their part in the New Economy. Contracts were signed, business relationships were established and exhibitors came out quite enthusiastic about the whole experience. It is only in our hotels, after a long day's work, while tuning in to CNN, that we realized that it was very dangerous to live in foreign countries like …the United States!

We need to return to a certain sense of normalcy and recognize that before the tragic events of September, we were figuring out a way to come back to real business. Now that overvalued tech stocks have reached their lowest level in years, they are bound to go up. A new era is beginning and we trust that good will and humanity will prevail over the temptation of nervous breakdown!

Newcomers
We are happy to welcome three new association members to our growing family : from South America, the Venezuelan Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CAVECOM) and the Argentine Association of Multimedia (AAdM) and from France, Franche-Comté Interactive. CAVECOM is headed by Mrs. Maritza Escalona. AAdM by Mrs. Olga Heker and Franche-Comté Interactive by Mr. Claude Robin. We at FIAM look forward to a long term collaboration with these associations for the purpose of developing and promoting the multimedia industry around the world. Welcome to FIAM.

SEE YOU IN MONTREUX 2002
The 3rd international Summit of Internet and Multimedia, to be held in Montreux, Switzerland (June 11-14, 2002), is slowly creeping up on us. The Summit, entitled Bridging the Digital Divide : the Multimedia Industry Speaks Out, is gearing up to be a unique venue for discussion and debate on concrete and practical approaches to fighting the Digital Divide. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has chosen our event as preparatory to the one it is organizing on behalf of the United Nations on the Information Society (Geneva, December 2003). We can already confirm the participation of ITU Secretary-General, Mr. Yoshio Utsumi who will present the closing keynote speech.
Drawing from the varied experiences of our associations in different parts of the world, the Summit will show how local and regional multimedia industries are dealing with the issue of the Digital Divide and the efforts they are making to address it. The Summit will evolve around five major themes :
- Digital Divide : What is the Divide and how do we measure it?
- Infrastructure and Regulation : What is the state of telecommunications infrastructure and what is being done on the regulatory front?
- Development and Governance : Can IT and multimedia tools and software improve the living conditions of the have-nots? How is the Internet affecting the way societies govern themselves?
- Technology and Knowledge Transfer : What educational, training initiatives and programs allow for greater cooperation between the IT and multimedia industries and other concerned actors?
- Internet and Multimedia Applications : Which Internet and multimedia sectors provide answers to the issues of the Digital Divide (e-learning, open source software, etc.)?
For more information on the Summit and for the list of the Advisory Committee members, please check www.fiam.org or www.internetworldsummit.org.

MMA 2002, When Sun and Snow Meet
In partnership with the Quebec Council for Latin America, FIAM is organizing in Montreal (May 7-10, 2002) the Multimedia Market of the Americas, during which leading latin american companies and prominent figures of multimedia and IT will meet with their Quebec and Canadian counterparts. The four-day event seeks to establish and develop closer business and economic ties between the multimedia and IT industries of the two hemispheres. Representatives from approximately 40 companies from different parts of Latin America are expected to travel to Montreal. Meetings are planned with members of the Quebec multimedia industry and with heads of research centres and technological laboratories in Quebec.
For more information on this event, please refer to www.mmamericas.com.

Canada
The Vancouver-based Wired Woman Society (Technology with curves, says the motto) is an organization that "encourages women to explore opportunities in Information Technology and to build successful careers that will allow them to play a positive role in the growth and development of the Information Age." It publishes on its website articles and letters describing specific IT issues or experiences related to woman's role in a rather male dominated industry. One such letter caught our attention and we invite you to read it: www.wiredwoman.com/technoculture/techno01oct10-03.shtml.

Japan
For the year 2001, three projects have caught the attention of Tokyo-based Asian Multimedia Forum (AMF) and were launched accordingly. The AMF, an organization geared toward the promotion and implementation of IT services and applications within Asian society, is looking into the following IT sectors : smart cards technology as a telecommunication platform, machine translation applications over networks and the next generation Internet protocol (IPv6). If you are interested in knowing more about the state of advancement of these projects, you can check their website at www.asiamf.org/newsletter/vol12/top.html.

Pakistan
The Internet Association of Pakistan (IAP) is creating new and totally free Internet and e-commerce institutes. This education and training project seeks to provide "home-based self-employment opportunities to deserving, educated and talented Pakistanis, especially poor students, home-sitting girls, retired persons, housewives and unemployed persons through the Internet". These learning centres will be teaching classes such as Electronic Data Processing, Internet Technology, Web Advertising and Marketing Techniques. The Association is looking for volunteers to play an important role in the delivery of specific courses. For more information see www.iap.org.pk/iap.htm.

South Africa
The South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has appointed a new President, Dr. Sibusiso Sibisi, effective January 2002. Educated in the U.K., Dr. Sibisi has worked in the field of telecommunication technologies and as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at the University of Cape Town. A strong believer in the importance of establishing solid ties between industry and academia, Dr. Sedisi would like to develop "a smooth functioning of research enterprise as conventionally understood in an academic setting, and knowledge transfer from university to society, industry and commerce." For more information on this appointment see www.csir.co.za.

Mexico
The Mexican E-commerce Association (AMECE) is organizing a daylong forum, November 13 (Mexico City) and November 27 (Monterrey) entitled "Mexican Industrial and Technological Policy : Implications for E-commerce." Objective of the event : learn and understand the instruments used in developing appropriate policy in the field Industry and Technology (fiscal policy and instruments, role of governments, e-commerce business plans and structures, etc.). For more information see www.amece.com.mx.

Chile
Amember enterprise of the Chilean Association for Information Technology (ACTI), Paradigma Ltda., travelled to Sweden from the 10th to the 15th of September to learn more about the Swedish wireless industry and existing wireless data applications. Paradigma was interested in finding opportunities for the integration or complementation of value-added technologies and applications to software it is developing currently, Paradigma ToDoWeb. For Director-General Phillip Roe, the trip was also an opportunity to "develop a business relationship allowing for greater cooperation in research and development and furthering the commercial aspects of that relationship." For more information on the results of the trip please see www.acti.cl.

Peru
The Peruvian Scientific Network (RCP) launched a new Internet portal called Yachay, the Quechua (Indian language) word for wisdom. The portal intends to be the most complete tool for searching a wide array of information on Peru in general, including organizations and people. It is also a forum for discussion and a source of daily national and local news. Yachay is also a site for sharing and posting information as it allows personal Web pages to be hosted. Information: www.rcp.net.pe.

The "Joko Clubs"
Senegalese witnessed in August the launch of an original concept in Internet and multimedia popularization, the Joko Clubs. The project is the brainchild of famous singer and composer Youssou N'Dour who surrounded himself with a very capable team to pull this technological and social experiment feat. In partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP e-inclusion program) who donated time, hardware and money, Youssou N'Dour created an organization willing to bring the benefits of Internet and IT to a wide and often poor population. Joko, which means "union" or "connection" in Wolof, one of Senegal's languages, seeks to create and train a virtual community capable of using digital technologies. A rarity in these types of organizations, the Joko Clubs are for-profit "in order to instil the entrepreneurial mindset which is a crucial precondition to achieving sustainability": www.joko.sn.

Virtual Columbo Plan For Education
The Australian Government and the World Bank announced in August 2001 an important partnership in the field of distance education. The plan, named after its 50-year-old illustrious predecessor, will use Australia's expertise in the field of Information Technology and Digital Education and will seek to create opportunities to improve education and access to knowledge across the developing world. The World Bank is investing US$650 million over five years while the Australian Government pledged an initial investment of US$100 million. The Virtual Colombo Plan is fairly comprehensive as it focuses on training both teachers and students on the uses of technology. Concrete projects include scholarships for trainee teachers and the establishment of Teacher Colleges in Papua New Guinea, Asia, the Pacific and Africa, developing IT networks in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and creating Distance Learning Centres in PNG and Africa. For more information on the Plan please see 204.255.113.167.

ITU Africa 2001 (Johannesburg, November 12-16)
For the second time since 1998, South Africa is hosting the International Telecom Union conference on the state of telecommunications in that continent. Entitled Bridging the Digital Divide, the conference will address serious questions related to the state of Information Technology in Africa. The statistics paint a dismal picture : only 2% of the continent population own a fixed telephone line, less than 2% own a cellular phone, just above 1% own a personal computer and only 1% enjoy Internet services. Programs and initiatives from major international and national organizations to alleviate this situation are already in full gear and the conference will be an opportunity to discuss important IT issues ranging from the use of technologies in rural areas to IP telephony and Broadband access. If you are following the African Telecom situation, this event is not to be missed: www.itu.int/AFRICA2001/forum.

Internet Topography
the recent Packet Geography 2002 study published by Washington-based firm Tele-Geography reveals interesting data about the evolution of the global Internet backbone. Though still dominant, the United States are slowly losing their pole position as the largest Internet hub in the world. Latin America's intra-regional internet capacity, on the other hand, has quadrupled from three to 12% of its international total, while Asia has seen 5% of its total capacity move from North American links to intra-Asian ones. Still, the three greatest Internet trunks involve an American connection, London to New York (78 Gbps), Tokyo to San Francisco (8 Gbps) and Sao Paulo to Miami (3.4 Gbps). The Europe-US nexus remains the best connected portion on the Internet, accounting for seven of the ten largest inter-regional Internet routes. Among its recommendations, the study argues for greater national multi-homing, or the capacity of a country to rely on more than one long-haul Internet backbone route, and identifies six countries where more than 90% of their international Internet capacity runs to a single country, the USA (Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela). For more information on the document see www.telegeography.com/products/books/pg.

Software Piracy
The Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international organization representing leading software and e-business developers such as Adobe, Symantec and Microsoft, is keeping busy lately. Present in more than 65 countries, BSA is waging a high-intensity warfare against companies and Internet service providers (ISP) breaking piracy laws or offering illegally acquired software through the Internet. Between January and September of this year, the organization has noted a very high number of illegal uses of software in most parts of the world. The numbers are revealing : piracy rates have consistently increased over the past few years, i.e. by 36% in 1999, 37% in 2000 and BSA is expecting an even higher percentage increase this year. The dollar amount attributed to such loss of earnings : US$12 billion. In the year 2000, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine in particular, recorded the highest increase in piracy cases, followed by Latin America and Asia. North America and Western Europe have noted a decrease in piracy but still account for approximately 25% of all cases. On a country-by-country basis, it is Vietnam that holds the record with a 97% software piracy rate followed by China and Indonesia at 94% and 89%, respectively. For more information on the BSA please see www.bsa.org

Chief Porn Officer on the Loose
Just in case the news has not reached your chaste ears, Hutchinson 3G, a British mobile phone service provider, has recently appointed an executive to oversee the feasibility and delivery of "soft porn" over 3G phones, a Chief Porn Officer, if you like. Everybody in the wireless industry seems to agree that pornography is lucrative "entertainment" material and, considering the obscene dollar amounts mobile phone service providers have spent on 3G licenses in Europe and the US, no one can blame them for thinking such salacious thoughts. On the Internet, pornography is already considered the only profitable business proposition.
The subway cars will be rocking…

This Newsletter © 2001 FIAM (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Multimédia)
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