Re: [DC3] RES: RES: Declaration on Community Connectivity v.1.0

Hi all, apologies for jumping in late. The declaration reads very well, congratulations to everyone for the work! I have one major concern, though: Concern: The beginning of the document is not entirely true: "Over three billion people do not have access to communication infrastructure". While there is common agreement that there are only 3 billion people connected to (using) the Internet, that does not mean that they do not have access to communications. For instance, the ITU shows that coverage for both GSM and 3G networks is way beyond that number [1]. Other reasons may explain this gap, affordability, lack of relevant content, confidence/skills, etc, but not lack of access. Thus, we may need to rephrase that sentence if we don't want people to criticize the Declaration right from the start. I suggest: "Over four billion people remain unconnected to the Internet, including around a billion who do not have access to basic telephony services". I hope this can be included despite arriving slightly late. By the way, in Community Informatics and other academic circles "first mile" is widely used, and I think we should use it here. Specially, because it was conceptualized within K-net [2], a successful example of providing connectivity to communities by communities in the First Nations in Northern Canada [3]. It would be interesting to know if they would subscribe the Declaration. Best, carlos [1] http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/facts/default.aspx [2] http://firstmile.ca/ [3] http://knet.ca/ On 26 October 2016 at 00:27, <dc3(a)bob.ma> wrote: -- Carlos Rey-Moreno, PhD PostDoctoral Fellow University of the Western Cape Zenzeleni Networks: zenzeleni.net https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxTPSWMX26M Cel: +27 (0) 76 986 3633 Skype: carlos.reymoreno Twitter: Creym