(RPG-007) “EDUCATION NETWORKS”

How does a local government build a communications network for educational purposes? Information technology has jumped by leaps and bounds in the last few years, but the classical triumvirate of manpower, infrastructure and content (MIC) has remained unchanged until now.

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As I interviewed a local public schools superintendent, I arrived at the conclusion that existing government plans to build an education network is too heavily focused on the infrastructure side, and that is essentially the basic defect of the present approach.

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As aptly analyzed by that superintendent, no amount of high tech infra would succeed if the teachers (representing the manpower component), would not use it. As I see it, this appears to be a cultural problem, in the sense that the users themselves would need to develop a digital lifestyle in order to get into the act of working electronically.

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Commenting on a similar subject, Senator Mar Roxas says that content should be given more priority over infra. He says that high tech infra would be useless if the content is still low tech. Well put, but on the practical side, what is needed I think is a good balance of all the three MIC components, working together like a Holy Trinity.

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Partly kidding, I spread the word among techno savvy people that I would put up a “Band-Aid” network that would be a patchwork of all available bandwidth, just to prove the point that there is no need to put up an entirely new broadband network. To my surprise, the idea was taken seriously by those who knew and understood what I meant.

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There is no shame in building a patchwork network, especially if it is built by a supposedly poor developing country like ours. Truth to tell, even the richer, more developed countries are using patchwork networks, and these are working just as well. Speaking seriously this time, I say that a patchwork network could be built using existing bandwidth, whatever is available.