I must admit I shone away from that point a little as my knowledge of access in developing countries is not great.  As Steve mentioned in one of his earlier messages I think all of the services mentioned in this string of emails are a massive support to managing not only records but information effectively and it’s only going to get better!

 

Just to quickly mention, one to watch out for over the next 5-10 years is the advent of WiMax - http://download.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/mobilize-your-internet.pdf.  There are a lot of devices now beginning to build in the ability to connect to this service, some of which are the most innovative available i.e. the ASUS EEE - http://eeepc.asus.com/global/.  We then also have the one laptop per child campaign (http://laptop.org/) which has apparently motivated engineers in India to develop a laptop at around about the $50 mark so it will be interesting to see how quickly the various types of networks build up across these countries. 

 

Your point about mobile technology acting as a bridge across the digital divide is brilliant for visualising the whole scenario.  All very interesting and exciting with regards to the possible benefits!

 

Kind Regards

 

Andy

_________________________

 

Hello Steve and Andy,

 

I take your points about the spread of wireless availability in public spaces, but this applies primarily to the developed world, and to certain ‘hotspots’ in what Verne Harris has called the ‘global periphery’.

 

One of the reasons I think that this sort of mobile technology has a big part yet to play in RIM is that it has the potential to throw a bridge, however rickety, across that particular digital divide. I have read articles on the way in which business at the SME level in African countries, even those that are relatively wealthy and developed such as Nigeria, is carried out predominantly by mobile phone technology – the infrastructure simply isn’t there to support the sort of wifi access we increasingly take for granted. Think, too, of the RM work done in the field by the UN, where the lack of infrastructure is exacerbated by conflict and its attendant devastation.

 

Incidentally, in this international context, congratulations to Anne Thurston, whose work with the IRMT led to her being awarded the ICRM’s Emmett Leahy Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Information and records Management Profession.

 

Regards,

 

Rachel.

 

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