2. Simple, Inexpensive, mobile Information Kiosk For dispersed populations {#91}

3. Web of small low power communications

4. Utilize WFP communications as Telecenter training, business development {#94}

5. Utilize Communication reinforcement to people in camps and otherwise displaced people that it is safe to go home. Further, the economic opportunities provided. reinforcement to people in camps and otherwise displaced people that it is safe to go home. Further, the economic opportunities provided. {#96}

6. How do you pay for the cost?If we want to have sustained cultural evolution, communication will change the cultural dynamic. Change is neither good or bad. Training in communication needs to go along with people to train them in other things. Communication needs to be the single most important element, right up there with food and electricity. If you educate people, they can be productive. We have to link them with people in other places and develop personal relationships. We want to connect Groups to groups, 5 people to 5 people. not from city to city. The more communication there is the more democracy. We want to reconnect them with family. COmmunication is a hook to your cultural past. If we oversaturate with communication products to keep the war lords from taking them over. We found that the people who are in power are the ones who have the communication. If you cant take war lords out, you might as well not get involved. How do you make money with communication. If there isnt a way that money can come to a region from a region, there may not be a way, however there are migrations. There will be 2 groups. Those who sell the communication, and those who use communication for their business. Once you get it started, they need to be able to keep it up. Where is the line that begins cultural engineering. People are more inclined to accept technology than new ways to do the old things. When it comes to IT, there really arent barriers. People are very inclined to accept technology. To do something sustainable, it takes 10-12 years, so where to target would be the 7 year olds. It has to be a porthole for money or something they are interested in. If we have the goods and the way to ship it, we still may not have the means to get it to who needs it. Americans are biased in the way we look at africans. There is a matrix os social complexity in africa. There are different groups that never intermix. We need to understand the layers underneath what we are trying to do. The cultural layers. There are basic ways to bring in basic parts to the areas that need it. If we give them tools, they will find ways to use them,. Afghans are more inclined to listen to the radio than any other nationality. School can work. Look at this as a system. Give some recorders to the school systems. Ust the toy industry to get to develop this. Know that everything you give them might break and you want to make sure they can fix it themselves. We may not need to use old expertise. Maybe we need to come up with completely new ideas. Ideally, use tool kits, and PDA's. Linking the communications with other things, Technology is not the aim, it is a tool to get somewhere else. They need incentive and value in learning a new skill. Just showing them what it is doesnt help. There has to be money involved, but also something else as incentive. Once they start communicating, they can keep going from there. Until we get some micro projects, we cant do much. Start small. Play. One idea, give these toys to the kids and they will be given incentive to go to school, but also to learn and play. Every kid wants to play. This can be where we start. Problem is lack of feedback. There is no reason to not start.

7. Start with the kids. Give the kids "toys" that they can learn from. Enable kids to explore the possibilities. A chance to expose them to new things. Start with toys, and start with the kids, and begin by giving them radio, then one that takes pictures of friends, then creat one to send pictures. At such a young age, kids are like sponges, but dont have the opportunity so they cant do anything with it and are wasting time. There is an infant weight program in the works right now throught the world health organization. Attract the imagination... you cant read a child a book with no pictures. You need to attract their attention first and formost. If you dont invest in the r knowledge bast, you have nothing. We need to have a way to know if we are making progress. Once you get data regarding progress.

8. Start with one stake on the ground and work up from there. We have to look at the migration pathways from when it hits the ground. Implementability is more than the cost. What problem are we solving with these ideas. Satelites exist. If you could take a trailer and slowly begin to teach people to program Basic Information Flow

Connecting Families

1. Are we talking about in refugee camps, or communications for when they go back to their homes.

2. lets get someone on the ground back home who can let them know when it is safe to go home.

3. From a communications point of view, it means that someone has to be in the homeland to communicate with. This involves developing trust through communication. Just because they are from your town, doesnt mean that you trust and like them. 4. 10,000 afghan men just left the camp to go check on their village.

5. If we can let people in camps know that their villages are ok and convince them to believe that there are no snipers and there may be an economic opportunity for them back home.

6. People are coming from many different villages, and by getting them together in the camps, then giveing them a way to communicate, we may be building a inter-village communication system.

7. Create a telecenter as a business opportunity. (In a village or in a camp). Do we need an information kiosk not in a camp. A way for them to reach people in camps or in their home town. This phone would only work from camp to camp to village as to not interupt the local governments business.

Promoting Education and Literacy

1. They havent used data exchange program yet because of the illeteracy problem in the areas.

2. People in the camps are very bored. They need opportunity. Growing things, making things, The key is to teach them while they are bored. Economic Development

1. we need a high tech solution with a low tech denergy source. Crank it up for a charge. Build a local industry so that they can create their own energy.

2. there are mechanical generators, but what we may want it low tech solutions, with also low tech energy source.

3. we dont want to create debt for these people by giving them something that they have to pay for for years.

4. electricity is key for communications. If you set it up solar panels you may be able to develop a cheap price to use a telephone.

5. The energy and where it comes from is a critical part of any communication solution we can come up with.

6. We need to see communication where it can keep people from fleeing. We want it in place for training, but also in the villages as incentive to go back to villages in a better condition as when you left.

7. We are not trying to keep people in the camps, we want to give them something that they can take back to their villages. What do we have to do in the camps to enable them to go back and be able to use this.

8. If we give them economic opportunities, the government may not be happy, however it does give them incentive to go back to their villages and out of the camps.

9. How do we use communications to give people incentive to want to go back.

10. Part of the sustainible concept is long term. For successful implementation, we need to look at the long term. Understand your energy sources that give us the options. Pick the one that can work and put it in the camp and in the homeland.

11. Use communication for a vehicle of change, but also for allowing them to sustain themselves so they can take it to the next level. This is about going in with low cost simple items to give them the power to help themselves.

12. If we were refugees, we would want to know that where i am going is equal or better than where I am.

13. We dont want it to be too expensive.

14. It is run by women and women repay their debts, so the payback rate is 95%.

15. How can we transition the projects into the hands of the women who can create a cooperative.

16. Whatever we put into place has to create an economic opportunity for the people we are trying to help.

17. if we find a solution for these people to make a $ per person, we have helped.

18. This is more of an incentive to have people want to go home. Train them to use communication technology so they can take it home with them.

19. Create an opportunity... and a way for them to know it is safe to go back. 20. Calling the man behind the Grammine phone: Getting a description of what is behind it, what to do different and what has been done so far.

21. once people have phones, they can get richer and become more productive and can earn money to pay for the telephone.

22. It has proven to be a viable business. Once they have a phone, they found different things they can do with it.

23. The villagers said they didnt need it, but they didnt know what it was. Once they got it, they were more inclined to use it.

24. How do you go beyond the 2,000 villages to the 200,000? Answer: The bigger the better.

25. It is more expensive to do a small system. If you have a larger network, it will become economically viable. If you need more cell tower, that will add more cost. How do we solve the problem economically and socially, but the technical issue does not exist. The regulatory barrier is the number one barrier.

26. If you had to do it again, woould you do anything differently to eas regulatory issues? Those issues will always be there, but if he didn it in a new country, he would try to work with a credible group who has pull in the country. A key formula is to make it become a business for people and help the economy.

27. We have refugee situations were the villagers may go home, we arte looking for a way to create economic opportunities for them. We have an opportunity to train them and implement technology where the people can help. We are trying to encourage them to go back home.

28. Maybe computers, there are people who would benefit from the program. Setting a program up with emails. but how would we transition the technology back with them? Have a telecenter where 4 or so refugees run it and can build a small business from it. Who would run the center? 4 people with 4 computers with 4 shifts. There can be four businesses operating together inside the camp.

29. There has to be one person to run it who knows there may be some money involved.

Politics, Culture and Governance

1. build trust with show me dont tell me.

2. if they accept the telephone they may be more inclined to accept other technologies.

3. There will always be people who are very eager to accept new things.

4. it began clear in a village in palestine where the leader realized what they were trying to do, but there was still a small group that resented americans. The villagers just arranged so that the group who disagreed with them wouldnt be there when americans were.

5. technology adaptation. early, middle and those who never adopt new technology. Why do things that are useful not take off even if they are trainedd to use it. How do you get to that critical mass. Does that concept apply to these refugee camps.

6. Bring communication to the 2 billion without electricity. even if it only works for 2 hours a day. Even then, they are sharing information withe otehr for those 2 hours a day. Keep it simple and stupid where you can turn it over and push reset.

7. Even just training those in the camps may make the host government angry.

8. We have to talk about technology that is not illegal and something that can actually be used.

9. If we are going to put in millions in aid, they have to change their satelit policy.

10. If they have local governmental barriers to success, we have to put pressure on them.

11. Things can change in time.

12. Grmmeen phone. A project of a bank. They set up an inforstructure, then provide pre paid time.

13. There are some falls, The technology is a bit heavy for what they want to do, and there are regulatory problems because the government is trying to do the same thing. They are not being very open or competitive with the idea.

14. The local regulatory problems seem to be the biggest block.

15. How hard is it to put up a cellular system. You have to put up poles and repeaters every so miles, but we want to try to bypass cellular solutions. It doesnt work in rural areas.

16. we have to tackle the issues we can tackle.

Questions and Discussion

1. what we are trying to do, people are not going to understand the technology behind it and wont be able to fix it when it breaks.

2. solar is an obvious answer, but you have to pay for 20 years of power up front. If you can do it to power a radio for a half hour, that is one thing, but if you have to crank the generator for a long time, it isnt as efficient. but what people want energy for is lights and telephone. Cranking for something like that would take a long time.

Electricity and energy

1. the panels charge the batteries then when the panels werent getting sun anymore, the batteries would kick in, but it was very expensive. Great for the military, and are very durable, but inefficient.

2. some solar panels are more efficient and tougher than others.

3. Most panels seem to be designed for the military or groups with money.

4. people are walking to get firewood every few days just for fuel.

5. Question: if we are going to turn off all energy not from the sun, what is left?

6. Answer, once you take away energy, you take away everything.

7. we dont need very much energy, 2 12x12 panels with give us the power we need for the telephone.

8. Can we assume, whatever communication solution we suggest, we suggest a solar solution with a hand crank back up. We can think of the communication end and let the energy group deal with what to do to give us power. We dont need to address the how yet.

9. we are going to a situation that may be hot, dusty, windy, little electricity, or none. Many groups go in with their own electricity.

10. The energy input for communications must be as renewable as possible.

Technology

1. The communications that WFP places is there for the relief workers, not the refugees.

2. Do we want a telephone, or radio??

3. Maybe we start out with a telpehone, but as capababilities grow we can upgrade to text email and pictures.

4. You can do email with very low technology. We are talking about villages that have no way to talk to other villages.

5. How do we provide communication where the density is so low that we can have enough income to subsudize it.

6. We are looking at how to implement these good ideas in a place that has none of this technology.

Project Template (Group Outliner)

1. Repurposed Toys

1.1 Purpose of project Cultural change requires many years to mature. Any and recognizing that the children of today are those who will in all probability be both the instruments of cultural change and the beneficiaries, the intent of this project is to distribute small rugged 'toys' to the children in camps as well as villages. The point is to develop a culture of enabled communications among the upcoming generation.

1.2 Description Initially one-way; pre-recorded; or radio Set up a small local radio station; local news; rebroadcast news Could begin in camp; then migrate/repatriot back home Pressure to do this comes from children. Local musical, poet talent has venue Could be part of "school in a box" Could eventually become two-way; local communications Potential problems; local political control; Provide tools for local content creation and development. Can potentially operate with extremely low bandwidth depending upon eventual uses.

1.3 In which of the three "stages of encampment" will this project take place: From UNHCR Manual - Emergency, Care & maintenance, Durable solution Care and Maintenance and Durable Solution

1.4 How will this idea be integrated into life in the camp(s)? Could be part of the "school in the box" Should be integrated into current educational infrastructure of camps

1.5 How does this idea relate to other project ideas? "School-in-a-box" Could become a part of the information infrastructure Empower children to be information nodes "........if we provide it, they'll figure out how to use it....."

1.6 Who knows how to develop and implement this project? Dr. Dave Warner Enrica Porcari MIT Media Lab; Michael Hawley

1.7 Is this project applicable to displaced populations in other climates and cultures? Yes.

1.8 What organizations must be involved, in order for this project to succeed? Whomever is in charge of relief effort; Forget the large beaurocracy; go with local grass roots. Donors; manufacturers; visionary designers

1.9 When can this project be ready for use? 3-6 months with dedicated effort; need content development; local content development ruggedizing could do proof of concept very rapidly using currently available retail products.

1.10 Rough cost in people and materials: Development: --Proof of concept: $10K --FSD and Deployment $250K

1.11 Sources of support-who can provide: Advice, Technical assistance, money or in-kind contributions? Technical advice/technical Dr. Dave Warner and company Manufacturers may provide in-kind. Funds may come from potential (long term) fiscal beneficiaries satellite service providers hardware manufacturers software developers (IBM, MS, Linux publishers, battery manufacturers, etc.) Content providers (radio stations (BBC, CNN....) Educational materials providers; publishers also local content providers

1.12 Next steps: Who will do what next, and by when.

1.13 Time required for project experiment (or first application). Proof of concept needs three months.

1.14 How and by whom will first implementers be trained?

1.15 Method for educating teachers whom will propagate this project in other circumstances?

1.16 By what measures will we know it works and is replicable?

1.17 Barriers to implementation: financial, technical, legal, political, cultural, institutional, geographic, ethical, medical, and philosophical. Don't anticipate many cultural or legal barriers. May be some problems with conflicts between local (village or camp) radio stations and the government run stations.

1.18 How to overcome barriers? Intent of distribution initially to children is to engage those who will be most influential.

1.19 List activities that must take place for this project to succeed. Include who will or should do each. 1. Discussions with manufacturers 2. Packaging and initial content development 3. Develop funding 4. Do initial study with concept 5. Develop initial content 6. Find implementing partner 7.

1.20 Successes with similar projects. MIT Media lab experiments with toys and children and education.

1.21 Sources of reference material for this idea

2. Communications Infrastructure; local-to-local comms with satellite out-of-area links

2.1 Purpose of project In sparsely populated areas, enable voice (and eventual text/web) communications in support of education, commerce, politics; goal is that communications will act as enabler for these requirements.

2.2 Description This effort is closely tied to the efforts in the camps; it moves the infrastructure that was established and upon which they were trained in the camps to the villages. This also provides a basis for sustainable economic development and growth.

2.3 In which of the three "stages of encampment" will this project take place: From UNHCR Manual - Emergency, Care & maintenance, Durable solution C&M and Durable solution

2.4 How will this idea be integrated into life in the camp(s)? Goal is to develop a model infrastructure in the camp that mirrors that being established in the home villages.

2.5 How does this idea relate to other project ideas? This is the third step in a triad of efforts, with the first step distribution the repurposed 'toys' to children; followed by the development of training and education centers for communications and business in the camps; and then the implementation of the supporting infrastructure for repatriation.

2.6 Who knows how to develop and implement this project? Jock Gill Dr. Dave Warner John Gage MIT Media Lab

2.7 Is this project applicable to displaced populations in other climates and cultures? Yes.

2.8 What organizations must be involved, in order for this project to succeed? local government funding groups developers satellite service providers with underutilized bandwidth micro-credit orgs

2.9 When can this project be ready for use? 90 days

2.10 Rough cost in people and materials: Assessment -- $25K Initial equipment acquistion -- $ 1M for 1000 villages (satellite phone acquisition); $ 1M for local router/switch; and local phones; installations -- $250K Initial deployment -- goal is to provide initial satellite service for nominal cost; with increasing economic contribution with growth and use. Initial deployment is probably 100 villages; with two-year plan to implement in 1000 villages. Ongoing maintenance -- $ 200K (equipment and personnel) bandwidth --

2.11 Sources of support-who can provide: Advice, Technical assistance, money or in-kind contributions? satellite service providers hardware/software manufacturers humanitarian assistance donors foreign aid programs USAID GeekCorps -- Ethan Zuckerman Jock Gill and company

2.12 Next steps: Who will do what next, and by when. March 12 meeting with John Gage/Dwayne Hendricks

2.13 Time required for project experiment (or first application). 90 days

2.14 How and by whom will first implementers be trained?

2.15 Method for educating teachers whom will propagate this project in other circumstances?

2.16 By what measures will we know it works and is replicable?

2.17 Barriers to implementation: financial, technical, legal, political, cultural, institutional, geographic, ethical, medical, and philosophical. regulatory in-country telecom recurring cost of satellite bandwidth/service

2.18 How to overcome barriers? Must overcome long term recurring cost of bandwidth

2.19 List activities that must take place for this project to succeed. Include who will or should do each.

2.20 Successes with similar projects. Grameen Phone - Bangladesh Coffee growers/Solar Village in Latin America

2.21 Sources of reference material for this idea

3. Telecomm Education Centers

3.1 Purpose of project Establish a center wherein refugees and IDPs can learn the technical requirements for communications and the methods and means that communications can be utilized to support commerce and education.

3.2 Description This training center mirrors the tools and infrastructure that is being developed in the rural areas to which many will return. The purpose is to train and educate people not only to use the telephones and other tools, but also how to develop the economic model that will promote commerce in the rural areas.

3.3 In which of the three "stages of encampment" will this project take place: From UNHCR Manual - Emergency, Care & maintenance, Durable solution C&M and Durable solution

3.4 How will this idea be integrated into life in the camp(s)? Identify refugees and IDPs who will be returning to rural areas. Train them in the use of technology and commerce.

3.5 How does this idea relate to other project ideas? This is the enabling training. This training, in conjunction with the establishment of communications infrastructure in the rural areas provides a strong incentive to go home when it's safe. Additionally, the communications provides the means of communicating with those individuals who are still "home," and determining the readiness of the area for a return.

3.6 Who knows how to develop and implement this project?

3.7 Is this project applicable to displaced populations in other climates and cultures?

3.8 What organizations must be involved, in order for this project to succeed?

3.9 When can this project be ready for use?

3.10 Rough cost in people and materials:

3.11 Sources of support-who can provide: Advice, Technical assistance, money or in-kind contributions?

3.12 Next steps: Who will do what next, and by when.

3.13 Time required for project experiment (or first application).

3.14 How and by whom will first implementers be trained?

3.15 Method for educating teachers whom will propagate this project in other circumstances?

3.16 By what measures will we know it works and is replicable?

3.17 Barriers to implementation: financial, technical, legal, political, cultural, institutional, geographic, ethical, medical, and philosophical.

3.18 How to overcome barriers?

3.19 List activities that must take place for this project to succeed. Include who will or should do each.

3.20 Successes with similar projects.

3.21 Sources of reference material for this idea

Communications Group Discussion Notes

Develop List (Categorizer)