Information poverty

How the Internet is failing the developing=20 world

by Subbiah = Arunachalam

One of the promises of the information = revolution=20 was that it would increase the opportunities for all = people to=20 share knowledge. But what if you don't happen to live in a = developed country? Subbiah Arunachalam argues that the = current=20 lack of access to the internet for scientists in the = developing=20 world is creating a new form of poverty - information = poverty -=20 which is making it harder for them to stay abreast, let = alone=20 catch up with their colleagues in the developed=20 world. =

To be a scientist = in a=20 developing country is to be on the periphery of world science - = one's=20 work goes unnoticed. A scientist in a developing country, who = invariably=20 works under adverse conditions, needs to achieve a lot more to = win=20 recognition than those who work under much better conditions in = the=20 developed countries. Perhaps this is not surprising. After all, = we live=20 in an unequal world. A New=20 Scientist editorial revealed that when it comes to choosing=20 manuscripts for publication, editors of reputed international = journals=20 are more likely select one from Harvard in preference to = one from Hyderabad,=20 even though both manuscripts may be of comparable quality (1).=20 Harvard any day is considered a safer bet than Hyderabad! =

Technology tends = to=20 exacerbate this inequality and further marginalize scientists on = the=20 periphery. History has repeatedly shown that technology = inevitably=20 enhances existing inequalities.

In = pre-Independent India,=20 when scientists of the calibre of CV = Raman,=20 Meghnad Saha,
JC = Bose=20 and SN Bose made their first-rate contributions, the main = vehicle for=20 transmission of knowledge was the scholarly journal, and there = were far=20 fewer journals then than now. Whilst it's true that most = journals were=20 published in Europe and Raman and his Indian colleagues received = the=20 journal issues a few months later than their European colleagues = - the=20 time it took for them to arrive by boat - scientists around the = world=20 were almost at the same level as far as accessing information = was=20 concerned.

Today there is a = tremendous=20 proliferation of journals and many of them, especially those = published=20 by commercial firms, are too expensive for libraries even in the = West,=20 let alone poorer countries. Thanks to increasing subscription = prices,=20 Indian libraries are cutting down on the number of journals and=20 secondary services. The best academic science library in India, = located=20 at the=20 Indian Institute of Science, receives barely 1,500 serials,=20 including those received gratis and on exchange. In contrast, = many=20 university libraries in the United States subscribe to upwards = of 50,000=20 journal titles!

The situation in = Africa is=20 even worse. A Nigerian professor once told the journalist Seun=20 Ogunseitan, "When you call some of us scientists, we laugh at = ourselves.=20 We know we can no longer make contributions to science. I do not = know=20 what my colleagues in Kenya or London have found, for example. = So I=20 cannot carry out an experiment and believe I am on the path to = an=20 original contribution to the sciences. If I have been giving = generations=20 of students the same notes for the last ten years, I should not = call=20 myself a scientist."

Says Ogunseitan, = "Many=20 people in our universities are not sure what is the state of = science.=20 Scientists often have to rely on what they are told, for = example, by=20 newspapers, by friends or by Time magazine. How can such = people=20 ever become authoritative and confident scientists?"(2)=20

Today, many = primary=20 journals and secondary services have gone electronic. As an editorial=20 in Science = pointed=20 out,

"Digital=20 publishing has much to recommend it over print publishing for=20 practical if not for aesthetic reasons. Uncomfortable = tradeoffs are=20 involved, to be sure, but the gains include ease of access, = rapid=20 delivery over great distances, and hypertext links from = indexing=20 services and bibliographic citations to the full text of cited = documents."(3)=20

Some of these = web-based=20 journals and services are available for a fee that that most = university=20 and research laboratory libraries in developing countries cannot = afford.=20 Others, such as the Los Alamos=20 e-Print archive for physicists, are offered as a free=20 service.

But to access = information=20 in cyberspace one first needs access to the corresponding = electronic=20 technology, and most scientists and scholars in the developing = countries=20 do not have access to the new information technologies. When = hardly any=20 laboratory in the developing world has web access to these = databases,=20 how can scientists working in these laboratories be equal = partners in=20 the worldwide enterprise of knowledge production?

Thus the = transition to=20 electronic publishing from print will certainly widen the gap = between=20 the developed countries and the developing countries, and will = further=20 marginalize the already marginalized scientists and scholars in = the=20 developing countries.

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Most developing = countries,=20 especially those with large populations, do not have the = necessary=20 infrastructure to be able to take part as equal partners in the=20 worldwide enterprise of knowledge production and dissemination.=20 According to Bruce Girard, former director of Latin America's = community=20 radio Pulsar, 95% = of all=20 computers are in the developed nations; ten developed nations,=20 accounting for only 20% of the world's population have three = quarters of=20 the world's telephone lines. In comparison, teledensity in India = today=20 is about 1.5 lines per 100 persons. Till 1994, it was less than = one per=20 100 persons. And most of the telephones are concentrated in the=20 metropolitan cities. Many scientists do not have telephones on = their=20 desks; those who do cannot make calls outside their cities, let = alone=20 overseas calls.

Many universities = in India=20 do not have e-mail or Internet facilities. Some have 1.2 or 2.4 = kbps=20 connections. With such low bandwidths and poor terrestrial = telephone=20 connections, one can at best send and receive e-mail messages = but cannot=20 surf the net or do online searches. The simple truth is that the = information superhighway is not bringing the fruits of = cyberspace to=20 all. Not yet. There are far too many people in the developing = world who=20 have not been touched by the information revolution - the = have-nots and=20 the know-nots who risk being always behind.

Those who have = access to=20 new technologies are much better placed than before. But the = point is=20 that the vast majority of scientists in developing countries do = not have=20 access to these technologies. In contrast, virtually every = physicist in=20 the United States and the UK will have access to an = Internet/e-mail=20 terminal. The relative disadvantage of developing country = scientists=20 becomes obvious.

A number of = journals now=20 receive and review manuscripts by e-mail. Some journals are = available=20 only in the electronic form. Editors of such international = journals will=20 naturally be reluctant to use referees from developing = countries, even=20 if they are exceptionally competent in their fields, simply = because it=20 may be extremely difficult to reach them electronically. Nor, = for that=20 matter, will many developing country scientists will be able to = publish=20 their work in these electronic journals.

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The United Nations is greatly = concerned about=20 the imbalance in access to communication facilities. The UN's Administrative=20 Committee on Coordination issued a statement on Universal Access = to Basic=20 Communication and Information Services in April 1997 in = which it=20 comments:

"We are=20 profoundly concerned at the deepening mal-distribution of = access,=20 resources and opportunities in the information and = communication=20 field. The information technology gap and related inequities = between=20 industrialized and developing nations are widening: a new type = of=20 poverty - information poverty - looms. Most developing = countries,=20 especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are not = sharing in the=20 communication revolution, since they lack:

affordable=20 access to core information resources, cutting-edge = technology and to=20 sophisticated telecommunication systems and=20 infrastructure;

the=20 capacity to build, operate, manage, and service the = technologies=20 involved;

policies=20 that promote equitable public participation in the = information=20 society as both producers and consumers of information and=20 knowledge; and

a work=20 force trained to develop, maintain and provide the = value-added=20 products and services required by the information = economy.=20

We therefore=20 commit the organizations of the United Nations system to = assist=20 developing countries in redressing the present alarming = trends."(4)=20

While the = information=20 revolution is perceived as a liberating influence, what is most = likely=20 to happen is that in many developing countries (including India, = I am=20 afraid) scientists and scholars will be among the last to be = reached by=20 the revolution. Therefore, the relative disadvantage they suffer = in the=20 matter of access to information will only increase.

The speedy = transition to=20 electronic publishing is making it much easier for scientists = and=20 scholars in the developed countries to interact with colleagues = and=20 members of their invisible colleges. My major worry is that the = low=20 level of information and communication technologies in the = developing=20 countries will lead to the progressive exclusion of a majority = of=20 scientists in these countries from the collective international=20 discourse that is essential for making progress in new knowledge = production.

Even now, when = the majority=20 of publishing takes place in print, participation by India and = other=20 developing countries in high-impact journals such as Science, Cell and the Journal of the = American=20 Chemical Society is very low. The already existing gulf = in the=20 levels of science and technology performed in the developed and = the=20 poorer countries will be widened further, and that could lead to = increased levels of brain drain and dependence on foreign aid of = a=20 different kind. In other words, knowledge = imperialism.

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In an earlier = era, the=20 brilliant Indian mathematician, Srinivasa=20 Ramanujan, who was a genius but who had not gone through a=20 conventional training programme, was nurtured in the = intellectually=20 stimulating ambience of Cambridge University, thanks to the = foresight of=20 Professor=20 G H Hardy. While such individual initiatives may still be = welcome to=20 overcome real and apparent handicaps, what we need to overcome = the=20 current crisis is a far more organized and systematic programme = of=20 action, namely:

the early = introduction=20 of satellite-based high bandwidth Internet access to tertiary=20 educational institutions and research laboratories at low = cost;=20 and
differential = information=20 access pricing for developing countries.

On both fronts, I = am not=20 happy with what is happening. For example, India could easily = afford to=20 invest in high-bandwidth Internet provision to the 100 or so = cities and=20 towns where most of the nation's research laboratories and = universities=20 are located. But this has not happened, although we go through = the=20 motions and give the impression of being serious.

What is actually = happening=20 is disheartening. Government departments set up committees, file = reports=20 and do not act, whilst the different agencies in the telecom = sector who=20 have to implement and deliver solutions merely quarrel with one = another.=20 Indeed, this is characteristic of the Third World: it often = takes far=20 too much time for things to happen or to translate something = from the=20 realm of the possible to reality.

As for = differential=20 pricing, both publishers of primary journal and database = producers are=20 reluctant. In one rare exception the Institute for Scientific = Information=20 in Philadelphia offers its Science=20 Citation Index at a 50% discount to most developing country=20 subscribers. But even then it is perceived as being too costly! = It is=20 heartening to note that the Association of=20 Research Libraries in the United States is taking steps to = publish=20 less expensive quality journals in collaboration with = like-minded=20 societies to save scientists from being held to ransom by greedy = private=20 publishers.

If we agree that = it is very=20 important for researchers to get to know what is happening = around the=20 world as well as to let others know what they are doing, that=20 information is key to the growth of knowledge, and dissemination = of=20 information is crucial for the scientific enterprise, then = scientists in=20 the developing world are currently being starved of = opportunities and=20 vital resources. I would not be surprised if very soon the gulf = between=20 the scientifically advanced nations and the others widens even=20 further.

References

1. = It's not what=20 you know: If there are biases in scientific publication, = editors must=20 take the blame. (Unsigned editorial). New Scientist, no. 2106 = (1=20 November 1997), p.3.

2. = Groen, J.,=20 Smit, E. and Eijswoogel, J. (eds). The Discipline of = Curiosity:=20 Science in the World. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1990, pp. 19-25.=20

3. = Edelson, Alan=20 M. On the future of scholarly journals. Science 279 (April = 1998), p.=20 359.

4. = International=20 Telecommunication Union. World Telecommunication Development = Report=20 1998 -- Universal Access. Executive Summary. March 1998,=20 p.3.

This = article is=20 based on a talk delivered by the author at "Science = Communication for=20 the Next Millenium: Ninth International Conference of the = International=20 Federation of Science Editors," in Egypt, June=20 1998.