Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author : infohabitat@igc.apc.org
## date : 28.09.99
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The following is an edited version of an outline for a
presentation I made on "The Internet: A Powerful Organizing
Tool" at the 52nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference at United
Nations Headquarters in New York. The theme of the
Conference was: Challenges of a Globalized World: Finding
New Directions.
The outline is intended to sketch a broad range of aspects
of the Internet and its power, including an identification
of some of the underlying foundations of a networked
information economy and society, and incorporates the
premise that the Internet - in conjunction with other
information systems and processes - can be developed so as
to support a profound millennial transition to a permament
information ecology framework for sustainability and peace.
Central to the viability of this framework is an
appreciation of the fundamental economic, material and
mathematical properties of information: information has zero
mass, zero physical size and can travel at the speed of
light, and thus essentially is free of material limitations,
and has the characteristics of a free good.
These properties of information an allow the development of
an economy and society that enables virtually free access to
a wealth of information and knowledge and uses that capacity
as a primary tool for the eradication of poverty and to
support the commitment of resources to education - learning
and teaching - as a primary foundation of civil society.
The framework incorporates the remarkable ability of the
Internet to support communication and information exchange
among networks, organizations, committees and task forces -
especially through the use of electronic mailing lists.
There would be great value in developing the capacity of
non-governmental organizations, community organizations,
local, provincial and national governments, to make
effective of electronic mailing lists, in the context of
strengthened understanding and practice of information
ecology.
This outline includes some of the key electronic mailing
lists that are part of the Habitat Partners Network that has
been instrumental in supporting communication within many of
the key networks and committees that relate to the United
Nations on issues of sustainability, human settlements,
social development, globalization and the Millennium under
the general framework of ngos@un - Non-Governmental
Organizations at the United Nations.
Information ecology includes a conceptualization of
information and information systems as life forms and life
support systems in the context of a broader perspective of
unity with nature, that sees all of the material world -
including technology and the fruits of technology - as part
of nature.
In peace
Robert
robert pollard, information ecologist
information habitat: where information lives
infohabitat@igc.apc.org
www.infohabitat.org
information ecology - operating system for a culture of peace
-=-=-=-
The Internet: A Powerful Organizing Tool
Power Tools for the Nuts and Bolts of Organizing
52nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference
Challenges of a Globalized World: Finding New Directions
1999.09.17 - Friday 17 September
Conference Room 9
United Nations, New York, NY
* The Power of the Internet >
* A Network of Networks >
* Central nervous system of an embryonic global brain >
* Medium for a full-accountability market >
* Enabling framework for >
* A culture of peace >
* Public administration >
* Public education >
* Human and environmental health >
* Platform for global civil society >
* Access to information >
* Public participation in decision-making >
* Access to justice in environmental matters >
* The Economics of Information >
* Zero mass >
* Zero physical size >
* Speed of light >
* Principles of Information Ecology >
* Value is enhanced by intelligent organization >
* Understanding is enhanced by intelligent integration >
* Flow is enhanced by intelligent networks >
* Management is enhanced by intelligent protocols >
* Nature of domains >
* Domain as property >
* Domain as corporation >
* Domain as market place >
* Internet Domains >
* World Wide Web sub-domain > browsing the Internet
* mail sub-domains > mail & electronic mailing lists
* irc sub-domain > internet relay chat
* gis sub-domain > geographic information systems
* etc, etc >
* Integrated domain management >
* Top level domains >
* .net > networks
* .com > commercial
* .org > non-profit organization
* .edu > educational
* 2-digit country codes >
* Intellectual Property >
* Leading area of wealth creation >
* Software
* Copyrights
* Patents, Industrial Designs
* Trade Marks, Service Marks, etc
* Domains
* Copy rights as market mechanisms >
* Copyright as micro-monopoly >
* Copyleft, shareware, freeware >
* Indigenous knowledge principles and intellectual property >
* Electronic mail >
* Ideal medium for information exchange >
* One click downloads and sends all >
* Address book, signatures, filters >
* Sending & receiving messages >
* Attached files >
* File formats >
* File extensions >
* Word processing files - .doc .wpd >
* Portable Document Format - .pdf >
* Rich Text Format - .rtf >
* Graphics files - .gif .jpg .bmp .etc >
* Multimedia files >
* File conversion programs >
* MIME >
* UUdecode >
* Binhex >
* Macintosh <-> Windows/DOS >
* HTML & Formatted Messages >
* Electronic mailing lists >
* Substantial economies compared to World Wide Web >
* Accessible directly via local host >
* Minimizes demands on global connectivity bandwidth >
* Avoids time consuming download of graphics >
* Minimizes psychomotor coordination >
* Mail transfer needs no human attention >
* Reading and writing can be done offline >
* Benefits and economies of electronic mailing lists >
* Uniform, timely group access to common information >
* Participatory >
* Virtually no marginal cost >
* Virtually simultaneous receipt by all in network >
* No photocopying, collating, folding, stapling, addressing >
* Last minute announcements, changes >
* Document dissemination >
* Automatic filing - With good software >
* Easy access to records >
* Varieties of electronic mailing list software >
* mailbase >
* majordomo >
* egroups >
* lyris >
* Information Habitat electronic mailing list network >
* [partners] > Habitat Partners Network
* [peace] > Habitat Peace Caucus / Peace Odyssey 2001
* [habifem] > Huairou Commission
* [pip] > Partnership, Informatics and Participation
* [mai] > Ad Hoc Working Group on the MAI
* [ngochs] > NGO Committee on Human Settlements
* [ngochs-ex] > Executive Committee
* [btf-partners] > Balkans Task Force Partners
* [iwrn] > International Women's Roundtable Network
* [nightingales] > Nightingale Network
* virtual-kosovo >
* lifeline-kosovo >
* gnr-kosovo > Global Network for Rebuilding
* [mf] > Millennium Forum
See separate set of Millennium Forum lists
* [passem] > Millennium Peoples Assembly Network
* [mpan-steer] > Steering Committee
* [csdgen] > CSD/NGO Steering Committee
* [csdsteer] > CSD/NGO Steering Committee members
* [ngocsd] > NGO Committee on Sustainable Development
* [socdev] > NGO Committee on Social Development
* A sampling of other electronic mailing lists >
* [GKD] > Global Knowledge for Development
* [ACUNS] > Academic Council for the United Nations
* [citnet] > Citizens Network for Sustainable Development
* toes97 > TOES - The Other Economic Summit, U.S.A
* unreform > United Nations reform
* ict-4-led > information and communication technology for local
economic development
* mai-not >
* logov > Local Government and International Cooperation
* [dev-habitat] > Habitat in Developing Countries
* [habitat-lat] > Habitat, Latin America - Espanol
* irn-wcd > International Rivers Network - World Commission on Dams
* [ngo-access] > NGO Access at the United Nations
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