UASD: Computers and Internet: sources of social exclusion or engines of education and human...

Marco Fioretti ([email protected]) September 17th, 2009, UASD Santo Domingohttp://mfioretti.com COSECOLhttp://digifreedom.net Some rights reserved

Computers and Internet:sources of social exclusion or

engines of education and human development?

Marco Fiorettihttp://mfioretti.com

http://digifreedom.net


What is software anyway?

Do computers and Internet unite or divide?

Do they help educate and empower, or do they divide

and estrange?

What is the contribution of Universities to the effects of

these technologies? What could it be?

Questions discussed in this talk


This is not a talk about software and programming

This is not a technical talk

This is a talk about civic education and making

(or not) the world a better place

Important!!!

4Marco Fioretti ([email protected]) September 17th, 2009, UASD Santo Domingohttp://mfioretti.com COSECOLhttp://digifreedom.net Some Rights Reserved

Marco Fioretti

Member ofOpenDocument Fellowship (www.opendocumentfellowship.com)

Digistan.org (www.digistan.org)

www.eleutheros.org – a Catholic approach to Information Technology

RULE (Run Up to date Linux Everywhere, www.rule-project.org)

Writer for Linux Journal, Linux Format, Pc Professionale and other magazines

Author of the Family Guide to Digital Freedom (http://digifreedom.net)

Home page and writings:

http://mfioretti.com

http://stop.zona-m.net

Author introduction


Basic concepts

Practical guidelines

Conclusions and discussion

Agenda


Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold

opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any

media and regardless of frontiers.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19, www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

The basics: human rights


Software is not a stand-alone industry or set of tools, but something that:

makes every other “physical” economic activity work, from agriculture to space travel

run every service used by humankind, from mere bureaucracy to healthcare, education, tourism, lotteries...

has an exclusive mandate to package and access in digital format every kind of information we need to live

Why are SW and digital technologies so important?

Marco Fioretti ([email protected]) September 17th, 2009, UASD Santo Domingohttp://mfioretti.com COSECOLhttp://digifreedom.net Some Rights Reserved

Why is digital information good?

If all conceivable kinds of information (from texts to music, images and 3D models) can be represented as a series of bits

We only need:

ONE class of generic storage devices: bit containers which can change shape and technology without particular problems and are very cheap

ONE (ok, very large...) class of telecom networks, ie bit transporters

And all these data can be preserved or distributed with much less money, time and effort than before!

55 73 65 20 4f 70 65 6e 44 6f 63 75 6d 65 6e 74 21


What matters isn't software, but what is done through and thanks to software

Your own civil rights and the quality of your own life heavily depend on how software is used around you

(Family Guide to Digital Freedom, http://digifreedom.net)

Why is software relevant?


Regardless of license costs, software can make us save or waste huge

amounts of public money

Quick example from Italy (2007):

"costs and inefficiencies in management of paper documents cost from 3 and 5%

of GNP, that is between 42 and 70 billions of Euro"

"digital documents could save from 50/60% (electronic billing, digital-only

archives) to 90% (certified electronic mail)"

Software and public money


"Increased use of digital information” is one of the essential prerequisites to build a

Smart Energy Grid that will reduce CO2 emissions in USA from 60 to 211 million metric

tons of CO2 per year in 2030

(www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/Overviews_Misc/The_Green_Grid_Energy_Savings_and_Carbon_Emi

ssions_Reductions_Enabled_by_a_Smart_Grid, www.consortiuminfo.org/bulletins/apr09.php#feature)

The Obama administration calculated that Electronic Health Records (personal

medical histories in digital format) could save up to $77 billion USD in annual

health care costs

Software, infrastructures and services


Software makes the difference in:

Relationships

Education

Business

Software and human beings


Software is used well when:

solves actual problems that YOU really have

does what YOU need, how YOU need it

provide more opportunities for quality education and rewarding jobs

protects, spreads, provides and preserves culture and cultural diversity

gives more control on government

reduces social (vs "digital-only") divides

saves money

In one sentence: when it brings more freedom at all levels in your life

Good uses of software


Software is used badly when:

you were forced to use it, or to use the wrong software

you force others to use the same software YOU like

it is an end, instead of a tool

it is used without a clear purpose

Bad uses of software


“the ‘digital’ in today’s life is no longer a range of individual

things, anything from digital clocks to cellphones to

computers to..., but a culture, something which calls upon

habits or inculcates habits”.

Fr Julian Fox, SDB, Digital Virtues, http://stores.lulu.com/Bosconet

Digital is a culture, therefore...


2008: Hague Declaration on Digital Rights

Government information, services and resources are increasingly

provided virtually rather than physically;

Freedom of speech and association are increasingly exercised on

line rather than in person;

The Internet and the Web provide an unprecedented avenue to

equality of education and opportunity for all peoples throughout

the world;

Source: www.digistan.org/hague-declaration:en


Secondly, your new car needs not be "compatible" with the cars that your neighbours or co-workers use.

What is that makes software different?

“New and old car in Prishtina Market”www.flickr.com/photos/blandm/297556309/There are some big potential differences for

society between production of software and that

of most material goods: when your car breaks or

spare parts for it go out of production, there is no

retroactive damage.

Your next car won't have to be compatible with

everything you did with the old one: all the

memories of all the trips made with your old car,

all the business relationships built thanks to it,

will still be there.


If a software maker goes bankrupt or simply discontinues a product, instead, it can put out of your reach for good all the files you created with it.

If that's the case, the damages caused through software have one characteristic common, even if in an infinitely less serious way, with those caused by nuclear plants without waste management policies, or by depleted uranium weapons:

It will hurt even people who weren't there when it was used, for a long time after it was used.

Using software in the wrong way, you also limit the freedom of choice of everybody else.

Why and how is software dangerous?


●Technology (especially digital) is legislation (derived by C. Einfeldt)

●“those who control the code for the software that makes much of the world go round, can control things that might once have been left to various legislatures to control”

Fr J. Fox,SDB, Media and priestly formation today 2009, unpublished

For all these reasons...


FSF, 1984:

"So that I can continue to use computers without dishonour, I have decided to put

together a sufficient body of free software so that I will be able to get along without any

software that is not free"

R.M. Stallman, The GNU Manifesto www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html

What is really important?


FSF Latin America, 2009:Software Freedom activists have a responsibility to present values,

defending and disseminating the essential Freedoms that define Free Software

...Governments must... ensure the control of the goods they

administrate and regulate... through Software that brings with it freedom to run it for any purpose, to study its source code to

understand its functioning and adapt it to their own needs

Caracas Declarationwww.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2009-07-declaracion-de-caracas

What is really important? (2)


2005:

Almost all software applications are used to manage information so these applications are worthless without

information to process, store and display...

the result of [proprietary file formats (not software)... is that digital information isn’t always under the complete control of

the person who created it.

M. Fioretti, Format wars www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/focus_format_history



2009:

“these databases that grow through user contributions are the real source of lock-in.

Eventually, these guys probably will make their software open source because it won't matter. The

value lies in having the data.”

Tim O'Reillyhttp://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10264471-16.html



What is this?

The nature of digital file formats

Answer:the Bula In Apostolatus Culmine, that is

the Papal document that 471 years ago created UASD

Why can we still read it?

Because the document format is completely known and its specifications are completely separated from those of the tool used to create it


Software is like pens, formats like alphabets: if the alphabet is free, it doesn't matter which pens are used or if their design is proprietary

(to know more about the huge negative impact of proprietary or otherwise unknown file formats, read http://mfioretti.com/how-file-formats-can-be-used-favor-or-hamper-innovation-active-citizenship-and-really-free-markets)

The nature of digital file formats (2)


If software, formats and everything digital are all these things, it is evident how big the influence of Universities is:

they have little money and must spend it well, in the interest of both their students and society as a whole.Universities must spread and advance knowledge and its practical benefits as much as possible to the greatest possible number of peopleUniversities form the people who will make decisions about public money and individual freedoms tomorrow.Since software is ubiquitous, they must teach to all their students to use it well.

Here are some practical suggestions

Practical guidelines


Usage of proprietary software may be unavoidable in some cases, but not when teaching programming

"What I cannot create, I do not understand" Feynman

If you have no occasion to read, you cannot learn to write

Use only Free Software for software teaching


Never distribute or accept from the students files in proprietary format

“sending proprietary attachments with email is as socially unacceptable as smoking in a closed room full of people” (real email signature of a Hong Kong University professor)

Never set up activities that can only be performed with one single program, even if it's gratis

Never force student to install and use software illegally (especially expensive business products e.g. Autocad)

Protest, students and teachers together, when this doesn't happen

“Software-neutral” teaching in all disciplines


Remember the comparison between proprietary attachments and smoking

The OpenDocument Format (ODF) is the only viable alternative to the .doc, .ppt and ..xls files which are the main, if not only, real reason of the Microsoft monopoly on the desktop

Imposing inside the University the adoption of OpenDocument office files is the best and most effective strategy to educate all students to the benefits of open digital technologies

Promote OpenDocument!!!

To know more: www.opendocumentfellowship.com


worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS):

To educate the worldwide public about of the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business

In order to empower all people to freely connect, create and share in a digital world that is participatory, transparent, and sustainable.

Saturday is Software Freedom Day!!!


In November 2005, the Italian Conference of University Rectors started to promote on its website “students' use of MS products, available at steep discounts...”

Eleven days later, thanks to protests from teachers and students, it “added a page on "Free and Open Source SW (FOSS): a fundamental tool for Italian Universities"

All details at www.linuxjournal.com/article/8739

“Software-neutral” teaching: a true story


Promote study and discussion in all faculties of the Hague Declaration:

Considering that all countries are moving, at different rates and from different starting points, towards a society in which full and effective participation in government and society, and access to public services, education and opportunity, are increasingly dependent upon access to electronic communications... We call on all governments to:

1. Procure only information technology that implements free and open standards;

2. Deliver e-government services based exclusively on free and open standards;

3. Use only free and open digital standards in their own activities.

www.digistan.org/hague-declaration:en

Spread awareness of digital rights


Software affects everybody in every moment, not just those who use it

Therefore:

Don't let students stop at converting everybody to FOSS because it is:

stable, customizable, safer, open, cheaper etc...

Teach them to:

ask people in need “which concrete problems do you already

have today?”

figure out how software can help solve those problems and do it

Teach to look at people, not computer users


Unesco declaration on cultural diversity, 2001:

... cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. (Art. 1)

It widens the range of options open to everyone; it is one of the roots of development, understood not

simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual,

emotional, moral and spiritual existence (Art. 3)

Its defence is an ethical imperative, inseparable from respect for human dignity. (Art. 4)

All persons have therefore the right to express themselves and to create and disseminate their work in

the language of their choice, and particularly in their mother tongue; (Art 5)

heritage in all its forms must be preserved, enhanced and handed on to future generations (Art. 7)

Source: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001271/127160m.pdf

Protect cultural diversity and local traditions


Through Free Software, of course!!

And also cheap hardware (more on this later)

Organize campaigns in the field to capture

recipes, legends, songs, traditional medicine

Using, if necessary, self built digital recorders

like those of LiteracyBridge.org

Then index and publish everything online in

free formats

Protect cultural diversity and local traditions


Open access to raw research data

and educational material, research

papers

(this topic is only mentioned here because it is widely discussed in other

talks of this congress)

Open knowledge, of course


Handing down computers and connectivity to

students without also giving them a vision is

not enough to guarantee that they (and

society) will receive any meaningful benefit

from the experience

Educate to digital communication


Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract

our attention from serious things. They are but improved

means to an unimproved end,… We are in great haste to

construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but

Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to

communicate.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU, Walden, 1854

Never forget a clear purpose


Problem: something is wrong in the

world

First step: start a Facebook Group

Second and Final step: feel good

without leaving home

Slacktivism: “feel-good online

activism that has zero political or

social impact”

http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave

_new_world_of_slacktivism

Slacktivism is the new apathy

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69805768@N00/3292899689/


Does this mean that social networks, instant messaging and so on

are intrinsically and always evil?

Absolutely no, of course!!!

It just means that they are so powerful that it would be a

real shame to use them only to feel good and kill time

● "perhaps the greatest service that virtual reality can give to today’s culture is the recovery of reality"

Fr J. Fox, SDB, “Digital Virtues”

Real communication, action in the real world


the promise is often made to place "a computer in every village", scatter

"info kiosks" throughout the state or nation, or establish "universal

computer-based education."...without any real assessment of local needs.

They take for granted that providing computers and/or Web connections

will (without additional efforts) provide increased social justice, enable

local peoples to sell their products in the world market, feed the hungry,

meet unmet medical needs, and so on.

Source: Bridging the Digital Divide: Lessons from India,

www.mit.edu/people/kken/PAPERS/Intro_Sage.html

Fight the myth that just being connected is good


Why restrict yourself to building new virtual worlds

when it is becoming cheaper and easier every year to

build your tools to make THIS world a better place?

There is plenty of useful hardware to build which is much

simpler than it looks, relatively cheap, can and should be

carried on by non technical students!!!

Take advantage of open hardware!!!


“microprocessors are always and

only microprocessors: single-

purpose hardware that is capable

only of executing (relatively

slowly) instructions in one

machine language. An FPGA,

instead, becomes whatever

hardware you need.”

www.linuxjournal.com/article/10330

FPGAs: build your own Integrated Circuits


“Arduino (www.arduino.cc) is an open-

source electronics prototyping platform

based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware

and software.

can be built by hand or purchased

preassembled; the software can be

downloaded for free. The hardware

reference designs (CAD files) are

available under an open-source license

Arduino is what you want it to be


Garduino: a gardening Arduino

Waters my plants whenever their soil moisture level

drops below a predefined value.

Turns on grow lights, but only when it's dark out and

only long enough to make the plants get 15 hours of

total light (sunlight + supplemental light) daily.

Alerts me if the temperature around the plants drops

below 50 degrees.

http://garduino.dirtnail.com/

www.instructables.com/id/Garduino_Gardening_Arduino/

automated hydroponics with arduino:

www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1237559923

Arduino is useful to everybody


Commercial products can cost 18K Euro

But you can build your own with a Nintendo Wii or similar home made remote and a

Gnu/Linux computer

http://unixsadm.blogspot.com/2007/12/turn-wii-into-whiteboard-or-tracking.html

http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/

Open source, cheap electronic whiteboards


make sure that students (and teachers!!!)

really understand why this happens and

why it should always be this way

Above all...


All the data we need to live decently are, or will soon be, in digital format: therefore,

closed/secrets data formats are never, ever acceptable. This is not negotiable

Software is ubiquitous and saves lots of money, but only if you use it to solve the

problems you have and you use it the one that does what YOU need and doesn't

steal YOUR data

We must never escape in cyberspace, but use it to improve the real space we keep

living in.

Free Software is not gratis, but is modifiable at will and works for you like you

want, instead of the other way around, so it is the only one that can be used as above

Conclusions


Digital awareness is a matter of civic education, not software

engineering.

If the goal is to fight social exclusion and promote education and

human development:

Universities, especially in developing Countries, have a

crucial role in these spaces

As shown in these slides, what they can and should do goes

far beyond teaching of software programming, and is in no

way limited to technical faculties and classes

Conclusions (2)


What do you think? I want to hear from you!!!

Questions?

Contact info:

● [email protected]

● http://mfioretti.com

● http://stop.zona-m.net

Final thoughts

UASD: Computers and Internet: sources of social exclusion or engines of education and human...

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