Putting
Information Back into the Information Economy
Kenan
Patrick Jarboe
Athena Alliance
June 20, 2002
Prepared for
INET 2002 Panel
ICT in Development: Four Vital Policies for 2002
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A funny thing has happened on the way to the information society. We
got sidetracked. We became distracted by the technology: mesmerized
by the whiz-bang nature of the Internet. We forgot that information
and knowledge are what improve people’s lives and drive innovation.
Computers, telecommunications equipment and software are tangible outputs
of the process. They are also the facilitators and tools for development,
utilization and communication of information and knowledge. That is
why everyone buys them. But the social and technological innovation
that spurs human growth and economic development comes from information
and knowledge. And innovation is what drives economic growth and development.
Thus, my answer to the question of the most important policy issue is
information policy – in the broadest sense.
Our traditional concept of “content” is part of my broad
definition of information policy. Information must be made available
and few, if any, restrictions placed on access to that information or
to one another. As Vinton Cerf has eloquently stated, “the Internet
is for everyone.”
This raises issues of censorship and lack of information freedom. It
also raises questions about intellectual property rights. Private control
over information can be used to cut off its access and availability.
Payment for use of intellectual property is fine; discrimination and
control over use is not. As has been said, the issue is “free”
as in “free speech,” not “free beer.”
I include “applications” in my broadest definition of information
policy. Applications are the use of content, or the way content is structured
in order to be useful. Applications must be specifically useful in development
and in rural areas. One exciting area is in education, where technology
can be used to enhance both formal and experiential learning (a key
point discussed below).
The power of advanced ICT is the combination of information and communications.
Interaction – with both the information and the sources of information,
i.e. other humans – is what makes this technology different. Thus,
the potential for ICT as a learning tool is tremendous.
The interaction potential has another powerful characteristic. It allows
users to become producers. ICT is not just a consumer technology; it
is also a production technology. To be successful, telecenters must
be more than access points. They must be production points and mechanisms
to facilitate entrepreneurship and home-based businesses.
This is a more subtle point than simply using telecenters as code factories
or website production points. If you ask professionals in the field
of knowledge management – the folks in companies who design systems
to capture and utilize knowledge – they will tell you the most
important resource is tacit and social knowledge. It is also the hardest
knowledge to get at because it is different. It is not formal “book”
knowledge – the type created in universities and research institutes.
It is what’s inside people’s heads (tacit) and shared collectively
by the group (social). It is often experienced, not taught – transferred
from one person to another by show-me more than by tell-me.
Tacit and social knowledge is key to successful economic development.
It must be utilized in combination with formal knowledge. Yet, we tend
to look toward the formal (“content”) and forget about the
informal in making public policy.
The next phase of the Information Revolution is upon us. In this phase,
we need to focus on utilization of technology, not just its creation.
We need to focus on the value of information, not just on hardware and
software. And we need to focus on informal and tacit knowledge as well
as on formal and codified knowledge.
My policy initiative is to turn telecenters into learning centers –
which can capture and harness local tacit and social knowledge for sustainable
economic development.