Professor Charles Nesson is a very good tech friend of Jamaica. I call him "Prof." He’s been coming to Jamaica for years – especially to Portland, his favourite Parish, where he has become involved in a few community development activities. In 1998 he organised the first of his many Jamaica CyberTree tech visits organized with his Harvard/Berkman partner Professor Charles Ogletree. He and Professor Ogletree work through the Ministry of Technology, Ministry of Education and HEART Trust on several Information Technology projects to advance Jamaica and its global tech expertise.

Prior to the January 2003 ICT Conference at which Professor Nesson will be a main presenter, he talked with me about some of the issues that should be given serious consideration at the conference.

Speaking about OPEN CODE, where the creator of the programme uses code that is ‘open’ and freely available to him and other developers to create their software and share the source among other developers under an open , as opposed to Microsoft protected proprietary code…..

Prof says:

"Open Code is the only solution for a country like Jamaica that shouldn’t be spending its valuable foreign exchange on non-essentials. If you have to buy proprietary code, you are limited by the license to the specific use for which you bought it and liable for copyright violation for piracy if you share the programme. It's expensive and limited. Why should the government or any nonprofit pay for software it can't share?

"Whereas if you do the same thing with Open Code, you get to use it, develop it, share it…..no problem. For uses like building websites it works just as well as proprietary code, but better because you can adjust it to work exactly as you want it to, and while you are developing it, you can develop an indigenous community along with you that knows how to deal with it. That way you also build tech experts, instead of just tech users. " http://haa-jamaica.org

On how to build COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT using ICT ….

”In technology terms, a community consists of a database and interface. If you want to knot a community together, you can envelop them using a database into which everyone puts all their information and with which everyone can interface. You can then categorise each sector of the community and even each person, their needs, interests, activities, etc. If you make the same format of database for other communities, you can knit them together into a national grid of both government and private organizations. Jamaica should be encouraged to unite to create this kind of database for community development. You can use e-commerce then to economically empower communities and connect them to the rest of the world.’

On COMPUTER LABS….

”When I came to Jamaica four years ago there were few computers labs and even fewer computers in schools. I am glad to see the proliferation of computers in schools and of labs set up by Government agencies, but I don’t see an equivalent proliferation of computer literacy, computer use or creative computer output. I perfectly understand that the initial urge was to invest in hardware, but what we have learned over the years is that hardware itself is not enough. You need a strategy that is interesting and that draws people into the digital environment.

"Lining up computers facing a teacher showing students how to use spreadsheets and Word, is not inspiring people and certainly will not develop the kind of tech creativity that can put Jamaica at the cutting edge, and make Jamaica able to earn from the technology revolution. I would recommend that Government take existing facilities and reorganize them into labs specializing in media production workshop spaces, differentiating the computers with software that will develop users familiarity with making music, video and graphics. I know that this is one of the ways that your TechSchool operates, with great success. So this leads me to another point.”

On funding for young technology entrepreneurs….

”I would love to see Jamaica fund indigenous technology development for people who have distinguished themselves, especially youth. Adrian Lopez, a film maker usually doing TV commercials, single-handedly developed and produced a brilliant award-winning computer animation film that could be the start of a successful computer game. Mr. Lopez is an example of true indigenous talent. Jamaica should welcome, recognize and nourish him, and others like him. Talent, not hardware and software, is Jamaica's basic digital resource.

"Your own TechSchool has been teaching youths new and interesting ways of using technology. That is the right idea. You have been ahead of the curve. I remember coming down in 2000 to teach a TechSchool summer workshop how to start programming a Jamaican computer game -- we were working on building a role-playing game to explore Jamaica's culture and history. But when the workshop ended, therre was no way to keep learning and working. It’s a pity that there wasn’t a place where those students could have continued working on that project .

On the Harvard-Berkman ICT IN PRISONS programme …

”As a lawyer involved in the judicial humanitarian process both nationally and internationally, I am a supporter of the view that prisons should be a place where people should learn how to live in civil society. Prisons are an ideal research space for IT, because you have so many people with nothing constructive to do with their time and who need to develop new skills they can use when they get out instead of going back to crime. If you are looking for an environment in which to try out a programme, especially one offering self-improvement, prison is ideal. If you can make it work in a prison, you can make it work anywhere. We are presently creating a programme with the Department of Correctional ! Services, figuring out what is right for Jamaica, and whether it is possible for Jamaica's prisons to function as its toughest schools.

‘Professor Nesson and the Berkman Institute recently hosted a Harvard conference on “Internet & Society”. You can visit the website at http://internetandsociety.org .