UGANDA EMBRACES THE ELECTRONIC SOCIETY

Uganda has launched a local chapter of the Internet Society. The mission of the Uganda Chapter is to afford the country benefits of the global Internet and related networking technologies through leadership in standards, issues and education. Works, Transport and Communications State Minister Wanjuzi-Wasieba was full of praise for the potential of the Internet to usher Uganda into the 21st Century. As a country with limited resources, "we should use the Internet's enormous potential to prosper" he said, but he also carried a warning. "Like other technologies, the Net is neutral. It depends on how it is used." If it is misused, it has the potential of harming our development. Patrick Quarcoo, Managing Director Capital Radio and also Proprietor of Infomail (U) Ltd, one of the country's three Internet Service Providers (ISPs) agreed. "From the Internet what you get is what you take home," he said. "It is not a magical source of information which turns people from rags-to-riches. One has to know what he wants and go for it." But Edward Baliddawa Internet Sales Manager at Starcom, another ISP, cast the situation in a different light when he said he believes subscription to the Internet has taken on the trend of fashion. He lamented many firms and individuals just get hooked simply because competitors or friends have it. "It is classic here to have an e-mail address," he said. So why this trend? According to Baliddawa, there has been little sensitisation on its use. Spreading the use of the Internet has been left to ISPs, he observed, indicating this is wrong, because their interest is profit. It should be the government which is spearheading it by forging a clear vision of what the country wants to achieve from it and how. Such a framework could, for instance, follow the trend of Singapore that wants all newspapers on-line by the year 2000 and all 8-year-old children to have an e-mail address by 2002. It saves trees, on-line access is cheaper than buying papers individually and minimises strorage space, he argued. Baliddawa,

though, hastened to add: "I am not calling for legislation, just a co-ordinating role. Otherwise we might end up with one chaotic industry." However, the co-ordination role on its own is not enough to bolster society-wide Internet application. For example Wafula Oguttu, Editor-in-Chief of The Monitor, the first Ugandan newspaper to own a web site said the 34% tax on computers and their accessories is harming overall computerisation. As a result most computers are sold at over US$2,500, a price tag beyond the reach of many computer admirers in Uganda. Wafula suggested, "The Finance Ministry should either bring these taxes to zero or reduce them significantly or else we are doomed." Building bandwidth The road to the current level of Internet application in Uganda has not always been smooth and Charles Musisi, reputed to be the Internet pioneer in Uganda who launched Mukla, has seen it all. Mukla adopted FidoNet software to keep with the rough telephone terrain. "It has been seven long years of Internet experiment in Uganda," he said, "although I am happy it has paid off." Mukla, South Africa's SangoNet, Senegal's ENDA and other non-governmental organisations in Africa in the 1980s adopted the Net after appreciating its efficacy in information sourcing and communication. Uganda currently has three ISPs. Swift Global, the latest in the market, boasts of a 256 kbps satellite circuit, which it claims is the biggest link of an African country outside South Africa. Starcom runs a direct 128 kbps satellite circuit into Europe, while Infomail, wth the same link power says it was the first to reach that speed in East Africa. Dr Johnson Nkuuhe, a legislator who used to

run a private computer firm insists the drive to fuller Internet use is far from over in Uganda. Whereas modernisation is the catchword of Uganda's development plans, communication has not been offered its deserved central role. He said the quest to benefit from it is plagued by few and low-speed communication lines and high connectivity charges of US$3 per minute. He called for Net-friendly policies and the bridging of gaps between businessmen, politicians and academics. Rural connectivity Rural Internet connectivity in Uganda has been boosted by the recent launch of the Uganda Connectivity Project (UCP) that is promoting the use of HF radio modems on old computer models. According to Caroline Wieland, a member of the volunteer team from Europe spearheading the project, it demonstrates the use of machines including Intel 386 PCs in combination with newer technologies to deliver Internet services. Wieland said the combination of the high speed modems, removable hard drives with minimum 386 PC running on 8 MB of RAM at least 25 MHz is a means of recycling computers formerly declared unusable for the Internet. She said the project is vital because many of the computers are in this old category, yet its people cannot afford to miss the benefits of the Internet. The project, which began in September 1996, is to last five years. A central element of the project is the "Netmobile Diesel" - a Saurer truck fitted with deep-cycle batteries and an inverter for demonstrating connectivity. It moves around with modems and printers for setting up pilot tele-centres at suitable locations. Prior to the launch of the programme in Uganda, the team spent five years in Europe gathering equipment donated by organisations that had upgraded their systems. The programme has already been adopted by the Uganda Education Ministry which has offered office space to the project. Wieland said the environment in Uganda is not yet that friendly to the Internet. There are fears of losing jobs and the communication costs are still very restrictive. "However, accessing the Internet gives one a more cosmopolitan outlook of the world," she concluded. Frederick Wamala Computers IN AFRICA July 1997