Oliver Zielke
President, Web.net
oliver@web.net
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"The Airport”— Context
web.net (also known as “Web Networks”, officially “Web Community Resource Networks”) is a social enterprise and Internet pioneer that has supported communities with online tools for twenty years. Accomplishments include “Attavik.net”, a platform supporting Inuktitut computing for indigenous Inuit peoples, “ndp.ca”, Canada’s progressive political party’s web platform, and work with thousands of NGOs and social entrepreneurs active in human rights, environment, labour, and international development sectors. Selected current projects: piloting multimedia ICTs supporting indigenous peoples in Latin America, designing “web pages that talk” for the visually impaired, and creating the first cyberabuse research portal.
“The Runway Lights” — Guides
Each of the world’s languages “is a unique response to the human condition and each is a living heritage we should cherish.” - Koïchiro Matsuura “The Flightplan” — New Tools for Development from web.net
Quicklearn — see http://www.lctquicklearn.com/
QuickLearn is an information literacy training platform for speakers of indigenous and less commonly taught (LCT) languages. It requires low bandwidth to deploy, low literacy to use, and can be implemented quickly in difficult and low-infrastructure environments.
QuickLearn uses a set of culturally-based, animated personalities to catch and hold the attention of youth learners, delivering effective tutorials in the primary language of its youth audience. Because QuickLearn automates much of the animation of its training modules, high-quality training solutions can be developed quickly and in a cost-effective way for a wide variety of target languages.
Yodigo – try the demo at http://www.yodigo.tv/
Yodigo is a new system for delivering literacy in the most difficult conditions. Yodigo is an interactive, video-based system that can be accessed via a broadband connection to the internet. Where internet is not available, Yodigo can be accessed from a DVD or CD. Yodigo uses new digital technologies, but technology is not why it works. Yodigo works because it is based on incentives.
CCT-based Literacy
When a student begins a Yodigo session, she knows that every completed exercise comes with a conditional cash transfer (CCT) incentive. This incentive is represented by points, and once she is done working, she can convert the points she has earned to cash or to another reward that is locally appropriate, as determined by her teacher.
The Total Package
Yodigo provides the lesson content, grades student response, provides positive feedback, and tracks total incentives for each student. Students work at their own pace, and cannot easily compare their progress with that of other students. A Yodigo session can last for minutes or for hours. Because it is impossible for students to gain points at Yodigo by cheating, teachers can devote their full attention to the students who need it most.
In Your Language | En Tu Idioma
In Your Language is a web-based multilingual computing system that brings the power of the Internet to the process of building community in diverse linguistic settings.
Quicklearn and Yodigo are part of the “In Your Language” family of products developed by web. net. In Your Language also includes customized modules developed by web.net for the open source “Drupal” content management system, that make it possible to better support multilingual communities.
The screenshot below show the website manager’s option to view and edit items in two languages, in this case English and Inuktitut for a Government of Nunavut services portal website.
Tying it All Together: The Social Enterprise Model
For years my friend and colleague Robert expressed “righteous indignation” at the horrible situation in Palestine. He finally channeled his energy into an interesting project: partnering with olive oil farmer co-ops in Palestine, he imported a small quantity of olive oil into Canada, bottled the oil, created a brand—“Zatoun” ( “olive” in Arabic)— and instead of selling through retail stores, began selling the oil through grassroots, activists, union and faith-based groups. He quickly sold out, and two years later has moved from 1,500 to 8,000 to 15,000 bottle shipments—again, with no retail sales; a case sold to this small charity’s office staff, a couple of bottles for presents to that friend of a friend.... and all proceeds go back to Palestine to plant new olive trees (see zatoun.com).
That a social enterprise can leverage social capital to make a positive impact has also been an important theme in the history of web.net’s own work delivering ICTs to support communities. We believe our model can be reproduced successfully in the South. We have begun work in partnership with Ajb’atz’ Enlace Quiché in Guatemala and the Pirurvuk Centre, of Nunavut, to create an enterprise that can sell ICT products and services in Latin America, to NGOs, Government, and to other enterprises. Of course there will be surprising applications of technology, place specific development processes, as well as organization culture shifts to successfully “do business”. The urgency of the issues about which many of us feel passionate—for me, disappearing languages—translated into real and useful community-based action is how the cold world of technology can be made beautiful.
