2008 Woodie Awards
UI aiding in 'Africanizing' the Internet
Eric Rodriguez - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 10/24/06 Section: Metro
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Leo Eko, a UI associate journalism professor, was in an Internet café in Cameroon recently, checking his webmail account.
Trying to check it, that is.
He was using an Arabic keyboard, an outdated server, and download rates so slow they would have made U.S. dial-up times seem like cutting edge T-3 speed.
But he was having some success - until the power went out.
While most Americans would deem this an Internet connection from hell, others, particularly those in developing nations, may find this level of service a blessing.
"When the Internet was invented in the U.S., a lot of Americans said [it] would be the solution to Africa's problem," Eko said. "But that was ideological."
In a presentation Monday, Eko, who teaches Legal and Ethical Issues in Mass Communication, as well as graduate-level seminars, said the subpar Internet access in Africa stems from many different problems.
Some are complicated, such as the continent's lack of technological and economic infrastructure. Other obstacles are frustrating, such as when computer programs aren't available in African languages.
Not that there haven't been improvements.
Microsoft, after receiving flak from African and European countries, eventually published versions of two of its staple programs, Word and Windows, in Swahili, Afrikaans, and Zulu.
Still, many web pages aren't translated into African languages. Eko said this affects the cultural content of the web, making it irrelevant to Africans.
Cliff Missen, the director for the Widernet project at the UI, is trying to bridge the digital divide in developing countries by refurbishing computers and distributing them abroad. Since the program's inception in 2000, more than 1,000 computers have been upgraded. Currently, Widernet is working with 3,000 trained people across Africa to bring Internet access to the continent's citizens.
"It's 50 times more expensive for an African to get the Internet than it is for you and me," Missen said.
Trying to check it, that is.
He was using an Arabic keyboard, an outdated server, and download rates so slow they would have made U.S. dial-up times seem like cutting edge T-3 speed.
But he was having some success - until the power went out.
While most Americans would deem this an Internet connection from hell, others, particularly those in developing nations, may find this level of service a blessing.
"When the Internet was invented in the U.S., a lot of Americans said [it] would be the solution to Africa's problem," Eko said. "But that was ideological."
In a presentation Monday, Eko, who teaches Legal and Ethical Issues in Mass Communication, as well as graduate-level seminars, said the subpar Internet access in Africa stems from many different problems.
Some are complicated, such as the continent's lack of technological and economic infrastructure. Other obstacles are frustrating, such as when computer programs aren't available in African languages.
Not that there haven't been improvements.
Microsoft, after receiving flak from African and European countries, eventually published versions of two of its staple programs, Word and Windows, in Swahili, Afrikaans, and Zulu.
Still, many web pages aren't translated into African languages. Eko said this affects the cultural content of the web, making it irrelevant to Africans.
Cliff Missen, the director for the Widernet project at the UI, is trying to bridge the digital divide in developing countries by refurbishing computers and distributing them abroad. Since the program's inception in 2000, more than 1,000 computers have been upgraded. Currently, Widernet is working with 3,000 trained people across Africa to bring Internet access to the continent's citizens.
"It's 50 times more expensive for an African to get the Internet than it is for you and me," Missen said.
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