Monday, December 17, 2007
ICT and MDG
I think the best way to solve this problem is to Educate the masses in a country with the help of NGO and governmental organisations. I think if the population is educated they can make decisions for themselves and in some time become independent. By taking such actions problems like over population and health care become much easier and the capacity to become independent becomes much easier. This can be seen in india where a large population that was under the poverty line started working getting educated and over a span of 20 years made themselves good enough to support international companies and making a large revenue for themselves as well as their country.
Importance of e-governance
E-Government is the term used to describe the movement of government based services to an online service. It can be described as:
“the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of government”.
The importance of e-Governance lies in creating a global society, which has capacity to absorb divergent value patterns to eventually form universal normative axis having thrust on human element. The importance of e-Governance lies in creating a global society, which has capacity to absorb divergent value patterns to eventually form universal normative axis having thrust on human element .E-Government is seen as providing a major economic boost by providing new and better services for all citizens and companies With the help e- governance the output multiplies at same cost manifold. If the government is digitized it makes it more economized, functions faster, better and creatively. With the help of e-governance the facts can be completely obtained from archives to help bureaucrats to recycle them in such a way that this feed- back can be utilized for making more prudent policies.
E-governance is important to enhance the performance in almost all the aspects of governance, from the technological point of view it can be used to educate people who are in the bureaucratic structure or outside its periphery regarding use of electronic means to develop better connectivity within and with the system. It requires use of computers in developing the data-base, in networking to facilitate the communication, in creating e- knowledge workers so as to increase their potentiality.
It is also important socially because citizens of every country should have the knowledge about their rights and duties and on the other hand they should be aware of all the governmental duties, hence a vigilant society can be evolved where they can raise their voices by questioning the Governmental decisions .E-governance can be used to spread awareness culturally, politically and psychologically. An e-government service also creates social benefits for the citizens of a country. For countries that have a widely dispersed population an e-government service allows the citizens situated in remote areas to have access to the same services that citizens within the major cities would enjoy. Canada is an example of a country with a largely disperse population. Canada has ranked first in the Accenture’s global e-government survey for the past five years. The Canadian government has been focusing heavily on e-government being the way forward, GOL (Canadian Government On-line) revealed that online services accounted for 30% of government transactions in Canada. This meant that the Canadian customs and revenue agency could close one of the tax data centers and redeploy 1,350 staff that had previously processed the paper tax returns.
If e-governance is applied in any systems it can be used to establish an insight in understanding the ecology of the government between the various components that constitute it.
Another importance of this is to improve the financial system of the current system in a country. For example in Australia the government department of finance and administration carried out a survey on its online service. Twenty-four out of thirty-eight of the programs currently available were found to be “achieving cost reductions through a combination of direct savings, lower cost of delivery, and improved internal or business processes”. The report also suggested that “Participating agencies were expecting reductions in costs of about $100 million from 24 e-government programs”. By moving from a heavily paper based system to an electronic system reduces the need for man power; thus allowing the process to be handled by less employees and therefore to reduce operations cost.
The ability of an e-government service to be accessible to citizens irrespective of location throughout the country brings the next and potentially biggest benefit of an e-government service. In several countries there is a high level of voter apathy, either due to grievances with government policy or to voters not bothering to leave their homes to vote .The UK 2005 general election saw a voter turnout of 61%, it has been suggested that allowing citizens to vote by means of an e-government service (e-Voting) would increase the number of votes. Developing a secure portal online that allowed citizens to register their vote would not only give citizens in remote areas the chance to vote from their own home with the click of a mouse but would, in addition, allow the general population with busy working lives the chance to vote very quickly on their lunch break at their desk.
Another benefit of implementing an e-government service is the greater transparency of the service provided. Gujarat, a state within India, adopted an e-government service for controlling border checks and it was discovered that it lead to a “reduction of corruption and significant increase in the state's tax revenue”. The new system gave a three-fold increase in tax revenue in two years; increasing from $12m to $35m and subsequently repaying the cost of the project, $4m, in just six months.
Before implementing an e-government service a government must first address the question ‘What do our citizens want?’ There are many actual and theoretical advantages of moving to an e-government system; I personally believe that the adoption of an e-government service is vital to the progression within a country to an information society. I feel that there must be a balance; yes introduce an e-government system that is based on feedback from the citizens within a country, but also keep - if not at a reduced level - the current working system for the citizens who will never adapt to technological advances. I do not think that an e-government service will ever completely replace the current systems in use by governments, but that they will become a valuable tool for improving communication with citizens and for strengthening the economy of a country.
References:
[http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019250.pdf]
[http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/documents/eGIF%20v6_1(1).pdf]
[http://www.igi-pub.com/reference/details.asp?ID=5066]
[http://www.worldbank.org/egov]
[http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/4083/5800]
[http://www.egovonline.net/articles/article-details.asp?articleid=507&typ=In%20Practice]
[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8]
[http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0012/16032/benefits.pdf]
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sustainable development
Sustainable Development:
Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, in other words ensuring that today's growth does not jeopardize the growth possibilities of future generations.
Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, in other words ensuring that today's growth does not jeopardize the growth possibilities of future generations.
Issues about environment, economics and politics are inter-related through the way humans interact with their surroundings and with each other. Biological diversity allows a variety of species to all work together to help maintain the environment without costly human intervention. We benefit because the environment sustains us with the variety of resources produced. However, there is often a mainstream belief that for poor countries to develop, environmental concerns have to be sacrificed, or is a luxury to address once poverty is alleviated. Therefore, the approaches to such issues require rethinking. The overloaded phrase “sustainable development” must recognize the interconnectedness between human beings and the environment if true environmental and social justice is to be obtained.
Developed nations have a responsibility to provide the people of developing nations with the tools they need to seize the opportunities of the global economy -- opportunities that come from international aid, foreign investment, domestic capital, and trade. To use those tools effectively, however, developing nations need to adopt political, legal, and economic policies that make development successful.
Developed nations have a responsibility to provide the people of developing nations with the tools they need to seize the opportunities of the global economy -- opportunities that come from international aid, foreign investment, domestic capital, and trade. To use those tools effectively, however, developing nations need to adopt political, legal, and economic policies that make development successful.
The world needs to come together in partnership with stakeholders and other governments in key sectors such as the following to help and maintain sustainable development:
· Health
· Energy
· Water
· Education
· Oceans and Coasts
· Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture, and Rural Development
· Forests
How to achieve sustainable development?
· Educating people
· Eradicating poverty
· Using renewable source of energy
· Conserving energy
· Zero population growth
China is expected to see zero population growth, a leveling of the consumption of resources and energy, and the end to bio-environmental degeneration by the years 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively, which are the strategic goals for the country's sustainable development, according to the CAS report.
· Create a system that is goal
o Performance, and information-driven
o Is attuned to natural ecological cycles
o Incorporates the values of community and place;
o is sensitive to variations in the business sector and changes in the economy, and increase outside participation in those decisions that affect the environment and neighboring communities.
o Continued refinement of traditional environmental management tools, while encouraging the development of new tools and collaborative strategies.
o Green infrastructure, land use and development, community revitalization and reinvestment, rural enterprise and community development, and materials reuse and resource efficiency.
Recommendations
· Health
· Energy
· Water
· Education
· Oceans and Coasts
· Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture, and Rural Development
· Forests
How to achieve sustainable development?
· Educating people
· Eradicating poverty
· Using renewable source of energy
· Conserving energy
· Zero population growth
China is expected to see zero population growth, a leveling of the consumption of resources and energy, and the end to bio-environmental degeneration by the years 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively, which are the strategic goals for the country's sustainable development, according to the CAS report.
· Create a system that is goal
o Performance, and information-driven
o Is attuned to natural ecological cycles
o Incorporates the values of community and place;
o is sensitive to variations in the business sector and changes in the economy, and increase outside participation in those decisions that affect the environment and neighboring communities.
o Continued refinement of traditional environmental management tools, while encouraging the development of new tools and collaborative strategies.
o Green infrastructure, land use and development, community revitalization and reinvestment, rural enterprise and community development, and materials reuse and resource efficiency.
Recommendations
There are certain recommendations that can be used to attain sustainable development:
· Climate Change analysis.
· Climate protection policy should be fundamentally linked to any national agenda for economic growth, environmental protection, and social justice
· Develop principles for an incentive-based and voluntary early action program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
· Encourage the rapid development and deployment of climate-friendly technologies over the next 10 to 15 years in the electric power, transportation, industry, buildings, agriculture, and forestry sectors, and Environmental Management System
· A broader understanding of the nature, source, and linkage of environmental problems and recasting of potential solutions.
References:
[http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/0402/ijge/ijge0402.htm]
[http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Development/Intro.asp] [http://clinton2.nara.gov/PCSD/index.html]
Our Role in building a better future
As a global citizen it is our duty to preserve nature for future and for this we have to give something back for all that we receive. The environment has lost ability to recovery by itself. Therefore we have to give environment more than we take from it. To overcome global crisis that we are facing these days we have to take the help of ICT to solve the issues and make the use of tools like: farsightedness, flexibility, and recreation ability of nature .In order to achieve sustainable development of the world we have to go through NEW SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION that allow to convert wastes into environment life support agents. There are many companies that are working towards it like the WM in America that collects waste from all over America and use it to produce electricity and also reduce green house effect. We can help by donating to such companies and spreading the word through blogs and other online communities. We can also educate people about computers and the internet so that they can get a lot of information about different dangerous diseases and how they can be cured by simple precautions like clean water , sanitation and proper food. We can help by planting trees and by doing small things like not making use of plastics and products that use CFCs. If everybody in the world starts making small gestures towards sustainable development it won’t take long before nature refreshes itself and we have a whole new world to live present to the future.
Role of ICT in Building Sustainable Development
I think ICT is very important for sustainable development. Through the adoption of E-commerce will lead to a net 2 % per annum reduction in CO2 emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, a good indication of the carbon intensity of an economy, have decreased in most European countries by between 20 % and 50 % in the past two decades. However, it is impossible to determine whether this has been due to ICT applications or a range of other factors.
Decrease in the use of transport
There is evidence of the impact of ICT on travel. E-commerce and telework reduce the need to travel and telematics systems may make car transport more efficient, counter-trends exist, and the balance of benefit to the environment has yet to be established.
Home shopping over the Internet should reduce the need for consumers to make car journeys to shops. The consequent reduction in vehicle emissions would be significant.
Remote working using the Internet to access office systems, for example via Virtual Private Networks or using teleconference and videoconference technology, has been possible for a long time. When promoted by employers, teleworking has been shown to significantly reduce travel miles. One Swedish company with 200 employees has managed to reduce home-to-work travel by 74,000 km a year. One major European - Telecommunications Company now has 4,000 home workers who between them save approximately 12.5 million commuter miles per annum – equating to a saving of 1,000 tones of carbon dioxide emissions.
One means of ensuring more efficient travel patterns for all vehicles is the utilization of telematics systems. The term telematics has evolved to refer to in-car systems that combine Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking and other wireless communications including access to the Internet. The most significant application of this technology is Intelligent Traffic Guidance Systems (ITGS). ITGS can plot the quickest or most efficient route from A to B, taking into consideration traffic flow systems such as one-way streets or speed controls and, more importantly, avoiding areas of congested or slow-moving traffic. The effect is to significantly reduce congestion and traveling time, and therefore vehicle emissions. ITGS was shown to reduce traveling time in rush hours by 50% compared to conventional static navigational systems.
The application of ICT in trade, work and travel systems could on balance cut the demands of transport on the environment.
Reduction in the use of paper thus saving trees
The application of ICT can decrease the amount of material products circulating in some areas of the economy. “E-books”, which exist only as downloadable electronic files, are one example: Penguin books planned to have 200 titles available electronically by the end of 2001. The result could be the use of less paper in the publishing industry, less glue for binding, less filler for glossy pages, less freight on the transport network and so on. The technology used by MP3 files similarly could result in the production of fewer CDs..Likewise online banking means that printed statements are no longer
necessary. The energy use of the Internet The Internet is central to hopes for a “weightless” new economy,
References:
[European Information Technology Observatory · E ITO 2002]
[As quoted from Markle Foundation/Accenture/UNDP in ICT and MDG’s: World bank Group Perspective, December 2003]
[United Nations, The World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland
Commission), Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987.]
Decrease in the use of transport
There is evidence of the impact of ICT on travel. E-commerce and telework reduce the need to travel and telematics systems may make car transport more efficient, counter-trends exist, and the balance of benefit to the environment has yet to be established.
Home shopping over the Internet should reduce the need for consumers to make car journeys to shops. The consequent reduction in vehicle emissions would be significant.
Remote working using the Internet to access office systems, for example via Virtual Private Networks or using teleconference and videoconference technology, has been possible for a long time. When promoted by employers, teleworking has been shown to significantly reduce travel miles. One Swedish company with 200 employees has managed to reduce home-to-work travel by 74,000 km a year. One major European - Telecommunications Company now has 4,000 home workers who between them save approximately 12.5 million commuter miles per annum – equating to a saving of 1,000 tones of carbon dioxide emissions.
One means of ensuring more efficient travel patterns for all vehicles is the utilization of telematics systems. The term telematics has evolved to refer to in-car systems that combine Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking and other wireless communications including access to the Internet. The most significant application of this technology is Intelligent Traffic Guidance Systems (ITGS). ITGS can plot the quickest or most efficient route from A to B, taking into consideration traffic flow systems such as one-way streets or speed controls and, more importantly, avoiding areas of congested or slow-moving traffic. The effect is to significantly reduce congestion and traveling time, and therefore vehicle emissions. ITGS was shown to reduce traveling time in rush hours by 50% compared to conventional static navigational systems.
The application of ICT in trade, work and travel systems could on balance cut the demands of transport on the environment.
Reduction in the use of paper thus saving trees
The application of ICT can decrease the amount of material products circulating in some areas of the economy. “E-books”, which exist only as downloadable electronic files, are one example: Penguin books planned to have 200 titles available electronically by the end of 2001. The result could be the use of less paper in the publishing industry, less glue for binding, less filler for glossy pages, less freight on the transport network and so on. The technology used by MP3 files similarly could result in the production of fewer CDs..Likewise online banking means that printed statements are no longer
necessary. The energy use of the Internet The Internet is central to hopes for a “weightless” new economy,
References:
[European Information Technology Observatory · E ITO 2002]
[As quoted from Markle Foundation/Accenture/UNDP in ICT and MDG’s: World bank Group Perspective, December 2003]
[United Nations, The World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland
Commission), Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987.]
Globalization and Collaborative and Social Networking Technologies
In todays world due to the available telecommunication strength it is possible for people around the world to work together and help solve each others problems and benefit from each other. People can sit at home and still reach out to someone who was far and forgotten on the other side. Due to this reason todays people are coming together and making use of the technologies that they share and grow together. There are many efforts that are taken which include:
Openness: Linux that was designed to provide personal computer users a free or very low-cost operating system comparable to traditional and usually more expensive Unix systems. Linux has a reputation as a very efficient and fast-performing system.
Unlike Windows and other proprietary systems, Linux is publicly open and extendible by contributors. Because it conforms to the Portable Operating System Interface standard user and programming interfaces, developers can write programs that can be ported to other operating systems. Linux comes in versions for all the major microprocessor platforms including the Intel, PowerPC, Sparc, and Alpha platforms. It's also available on IBM's S/390. Linux is distributed commercially by a number of companies. A magazine, Linux Journal, is published as well as a number of books and pocket references.
Linux is sometimes suggested as a possible publicly-developed alternative to the desktop predominance of Microsoft Windows. Its use in the business enterprise is growing. Because of its openness it is more robust to virus attacks, provides innovative GUI’s and multiple platform usage.
Peering: Peering is being championed as a technology, a business opportunity and an investment, as well as a revolutionary new means of empowering people and protecting their civil liberties and sense of individualism. Limewire is a good example of peering in which people sitting at different locations can access to a decentralized data that they need for their needs. It helps in getting access to data even though the data is not on the same location.
Sharing: Sharing, which is a less proprietary approach to (among other things) products, intellectual property, bandwidth, scientific knowledge. Bit Torrent for example makes use of sharing of information that can be shared by different users over the internet without even needing to keep it over their own memory space. It is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources. Instead, when data is distributed using the BitTorrent protocol, each recipient supplies pieces of the data to newer recipients, reducing the cost and burden on any given individual source, providing redundancy against system problems, and reducing dependence on the original distributor.
Acting Globally: Globalization is the tendency of businesses, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world, or the process of making this happen. The growth in the development of india is a good example as the job requirements that were up somewhere else in the world are fulfilled by the people who live in india. It is only through globalization that the employment problem of such a huge nation is seeing a solution.
After looking at the new idea of Wikinomics we come to understand that there is a huge need for people to work together in order to develop in their own respective fields. There is a long way to go in order to serve the world by atleast the process has started in the right way.
References:
[http://www.oit.org/public/english/wcsdg/docs/report.pdf]
[http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070201_774736_page_2.htm]
[http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/tags/sharing/]
Openness: Linux that was designed to provide personal computer users a free or very low-cost operating system comparable to traditional and usually more expensive Unix systems. Linux has a reputation as a very efficient and fast-performing system.
Unlike Windows and other proprietary systems, Linux is publicly open and extendible by contributors. Because it conforms to the Portable Operating System Interface standard user and programming interfaces, developers can write programs that can be ported to other operating systems. Linux comes in versions for all the major microprocessor platforms including the Intel, PowerPC, Sparc, and Alpha platforms. It's also available on IBM's S/390. Linux is distributed commercially by a number of companies. A magazine, Linux Journal, is published as well as a number of books and pocket references.
Linux is sometimes suggested as a possible publicly-developed alternative to the desktop predominance of Microsoft Windows. Its use in the business enterprise is growing. Because of its openness it is more robust to virus attacks, provides innovative GUI’s and multiple platform usage.
Peering: Peering is being championed as a technology, a business opportunity and an investment, as well as a revolutionary new means of empowering people and protecting their civil liberties and sense of individualism. Limewire is a good example of peering in which people sitting at different locations can access to a decentralized data that they need for their needs. It helps in getting access to data even though the data is not on the same location.
Sharing: Sharing, which is a less proprietary approach to (among other things) products, intellectual property, bandwidth, scientific knowledge. Bit Torrent for example makes use of sharing of information that can be shared by different users over the internet without even needing to keep it over their own memory space. It is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources. Instead, when data is distributed using the BitTorrent protocol, each recipient supplies pieces of the data to newer recipients, reducing the cost and burden on any given individual source, providing redundancy against system problems, and reducing dependence on the original distributor.
Acting Globally: Globalization is the tendency of businesses, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world, or the process of making this happen. The growth in the development of india is a good example as the job requirements that were up somewhere else in the world are fulfilled by the people who live in india. It is only through globalization that the employment problem of such a huge nation is seeing a solution.
After looking at the new idea of Wikinomics we come to understand that there is a huge need for people to work together in order to develop in their own respective fields. There is a long way to go in order to serve the world by atleast the process has started in the right way.
References:
[http://www.oit.org/public/english/wcsdg/docs/report.pdf]
[http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070201_774736_page_2.htm]
[http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/tags/sharing/]
The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) & Global Issues
The United Nations has established eight goals also called as Millennium Development Goals or MDG’s and hope to complete them by 2015.
The eight goals are as follows:
1.Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
The UN is trying to bring up countries which are below the poverty line to atleast make one dollar a day and to reduce hunger. For this there are many methods that are being used some of which include donations from people who can afford to send money for water to countries like Africa and also food to under developed countries.
It is argued that the most crucial obstacle for attaining universal primary education there is a persisting gap between the percentage of boys and the percentage of girls entering first grade. Needless to say, the culprit is the patriarchal mindset that, to some extent, has yet to be exorcised from secular and religious institutions worldwide. For this cause there are many Christian missionaries and other NGO working throughout the world to make every child atleast complete his primary elementary education.
Gender inequality is both cause and effect of extreme poverty, lack of education, and unprotected sex. In other words, there is a positive feedback loop linking gender inequality with extreme poverty, lack of education, and unprotected sex. Given the commonality of geographic distribution, there must be cultural-religious values that make this feedback loop very strong. These cultural-religious values may differ in other respects but share a common mindset.
On an average around 10+ million children die each year for preventable medical reasons. Over 50% of the early (under 5) deaths are due to under nutrition. This happens mostly in areas of extreme poverty and virulent gender inequality. Child mortality rates are inversely correlated with maternal health care. High children mortality rates and poor maternal health coincide are tightly connected with the patriarchal mindset.
There are four phases of maternal health care: before pregnancy, during pregnancy, childbirth, and after childbirth. If mothers cannot take care of their own health, it is unreasonable to expect that they will take care of their children's health and development.
There can be no doubt that human trafficking contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Nor can there be any doubt that gender inequality is the root cause of the HIV pandemic. Millions of people have died, entire countries have been destroyed. HIV/AIDS is a global holocaust, with victims being sacrificed to the idol of sexual domination.
An integral part of this theme is SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, a dynamic process which entails the reconciliation of sustainability and human, social, and economic development. The well-being of humanity requires the responsible stewardship of the human habitat.
In partnership, wealthy countries working with developing countries can
create an environment in which rapid, sustainable development is possible.
In Brief:
- Most poor women suffer both poverty and patriarchal abuse (MDG1)
- The largest fraction of the poorly educated are girls and women (MDG2)
- Fertility rates are higher in regions of virulent gender inequality (MDG3)
- Child mortality rates are higher in regions of virulent sexual violence (MDG4)
- Maternal health is poorest in regions of virulent gender violence (MDG5)
- HIV/AIDS is rooted in the patriarchal abuse of human sexuality (MDG6)
- Attaining sustainability requires human solidarity and, specifically, cross-gender solidarity (MDG7)
- Sustainable development requires human solidarity, and cross-gender solidarity is the foundation for all forms of human solidarity. Therefore, cross-gender solidarity is crucial for building a global partnership for development (MDG8)
References
[http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv03n08.html]
[http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01]
[http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal3.cfm]
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