One Way Multimedia

Acta Asfmnautica

0

Pergamon www.elsevier.com/locate/actaastro

2000 International

Astronautical

Vol.47.

Federation.

Nos. 2-9, pp. 657664.

Published

by Else&r

2000

Science

PII: SOO94-5765(00)00103-X

ONE WAY MULTIMEDIA BROADCASTING AS A TOOL FOR EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING NATIONS

M G Chandrasekhar, D Venugopal, M Sebastian & B Chari WorldSpace Management Corporation Bangalore, India

ABSTRACT

An improved quality

of life

important

of societal up-llftment

necessity

through education and developmental

communication

in the new millennium,

especially

is an in the

developing nations. The population explosion and the associated pressure on the scarce resources to meet the basic necessities have made it more or less impossible for most of the nations to invest reasonable education.

Thanks

technologies,

resources in realizing adequate

to the developments

in satellite

channels of formal

communication

and associated

new vistas are available today to provide education and developmental

communication

opportunities

to millions of people, spread across the globe. Satellite

based Digital Audio and Multimedia Broadcasting

is one such new development that is

being viewed as an innovative space application in the coming decades. The potential of DAB technology to reach education, information and entertainment through a specially

designed receiver could be efficiently

nations to overcome

their d#kulties

in realizing formal

directly to the user

utilized by the developing channels

of education

and

information dissemination. WorldSpace plans to launch three geo-stationary developing

economies

in Africa,

satellites that would cover most of the

the Mediterranean,

the Middle

East, Asia, Latin

America and the Caribbean. Apart from a variety of digital, high quality audio channels providing

news, views, education and entertainment

also get a responsive

multimedia.

The multimedia

opportunities,

the end users can

is being planned

packaged offering that can meet the demand of students, professionals

as a specially

as well as certain

special groups who have certain specific data and information requirements. Apart from WorldSpace, renowned agencies/firms from different parts of the world shall provide the required content to meet these requirements.

Though the Internet option is available,

higher telephone charges and the diff;culty in getting access have made this option less interesting

and unpopular

in most of the developing

countries.

The proposed

digital

audio and multimedia oflering from WorldSpace to millions of consumers spread across more than 120 countries is considered as a unique tool for education and development, particularly

in the developing

nations. In this paper, an attempt is made to briefly

describe the issues associated with education and development

in developing countries,

the WorldSpace oflering and how a developing nation can benefit from this offering in the coming

decades. 0 2000 International

Astronautical

Ltd. All rights reserved. 657

Ltd

All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0094-5765/00 $ - see front matter

Federation.

Published

by Elsevier Science

658

50th

&&around One of the major problems facing most of the developing nations, is the disparity in education standards across more importantly geographic, and economic strata. It is not a lack of willingness on the part of educators, that contributes to this disparity, rather it is a lack of adequate teaching aids, as compared to those that are available in affluent more metropolitan and educational societies. A key development over the past few years, has been the explosion of the “information super-highway”. This has made available enormous quantities of previously inaccessible knowledge, from all over the world, to the common man, on almost any topic. The downside of this revolution is that in the foreseeable future, this electronic knowledge base, will become the defacto standard information for dissemination. For future generations, which would need to compete in those work environments, mere literacy and certification of education will not provide enough leverage to succeed. The need of the moment is to create an infrastructure that will not only provide them with knowledge that is on par with that available globally, but also in the common currency of the future. It must be noted that electronic information is often confused or equated with English based education. Many non-English speaking countries, including China, have proved otherwise. With minimal investment, it is possible to deliver this knowledge in a language that is easily understood by each and every literate individual, in the language of his or her choice. The other significant problem that exists in most developing nations, is the lack of a for robust infrastructure dissemination of information of national

IAF

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across the length and importance, breadth of the country, simultaneously and at low cost. The need gap applies not only to matters of governance, but also to basic infrastructure information and housing, health, such as management of natural resources. 1.

Defining

Communication

Communication has two distinct and rather diverse definitions. One implies an interaction between all parties involved in the process and the other deals with information passed from one party to others, through a multitude of methods. This paper deals with the latter definition, loosely termed as “one to many communication”. This forms the crux of broadcasting, whether it is via print, television, radio, or similar media. provide the Satellite systems for information opportunity disseminators to reach their entire audience at tremendous speeds, across a wide geographic region, and most importantly, at lower costs as compared to any other mechanism, be it terrestrial or otherwise. 2.

Broadcastina

as a solution

The Internet is by far the most potent medium accessing for specific information, from all corners of the world. However, it has its limitations, some of which specific to are developing nations, and others that apply globally. In developing nations, the lack of telecommunication infrastructure, makes the use of the Internet as a robust information delivery mechanism, a cumbersome and expensive, if not impossible task. Unreliable terrestrial connections, coupled with low bandwidth, can create a chaotic environment, especially for users residing outside of metropolitan areas. There will be over 300 Million users of the Internet by the end of the year

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2000.The top fifteen countries will account for over 80% of them. Large countries such as India and China have extremely low percentages of their populations online. China currently has 4 million users or 0.26% of their population using the Internet. India has an even lower usage, with just over 500,000 users or less than 0.05% of the population. Local Internet content in developing nations is minimal. Almost the entire Internet content is currently in English, while more than half of the online population by the end of 2000 would have a mother tongue other than English. While developing nations should work on a war footing to improve their communication infrastructure, satellite systems can provide tremendous help in taking the load for mass data delivery and to leapfrog the current lack of infrastructure. In the global context, there are some applications, such as education, that are more amenable to “push” rather than “pull”. The basic objective, of leveling the playing field, would not be met if the responsibility of reception of information were completely transferred to the end user. By using broadcast techniques, not only can the overall cost of delivery (including the cost incurred by the user for accessing the information) come down drastically, but the inability of the user to receive timely information is also reduced. 3.

An Opportunity

from WorldSgace

WorldSpace is the first operational satellite digital audio global broadcasting system in the world. The system consists of three geo-stationary satellites that cover most of the emerging economies in Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean with a total population of 4.6 billion. The

659

system is designed to provide a large number of high quality digital audio and multi-media broadcast services from national, regional and international broadcasters to a new generation of and inexpensive small, portable AfriStar, the first of the receivers. satellites was launched in October 1998. After undergoing extensive inorbit tests and field trials with the receivers, the system has now become operational at its designated orbital location of 21 degrees East with a number of broadcasters already using the system to broadcast their programs. The remaining two satellites viz. AsiaStar and AmeriStar are scheduled for launch early and middle 2000 respectively and are designated to occupy the 105 degrees East and 95 locations degrees orbital West respectively. WorldSpace operates in the WARC-92 allocated 1467-1492 MHz frequency bands for the digital audio broadcasting. Each satellite has 3 beams each covering an area of 14 million square kilometers. Each beam supports two high power transponders - one a conventional bent-pipe type and the other ‘on-board processing’ type. The on-board-processing type transponder allows individual up-links from geographically separated locations (say broadcasters’ studios). The signals received on-board are processed and combined and downlinked as a Time Division Multiplex (TDM) carrier. The bent-pipe transponder allows the signals to be combined on ground at a hub as a TDM carrier and relay the same over the satellite. Powerful error protection schemes employing Reed Solomon block codes and rate % fonnlard error correction codes ensure rugged and error free reception of signals. The basic building block of the WorldSpace broadcast scheme is the 16 Kbps prime rate channel (PRC). Each TDM carrier at an encoded and formatted data rate of 3.68 MbPS can support 96 PRCs. Each PRC can carry a signal equivalent to AM broadcast

quality (16 Kbps), FM stereo quality at 64 Kbps requires 4 PRCs and near CDquality stereo at 128 Kbps or 8 PRCs. The system offers the flexibility to the broadcaster of combining up to 8 PRCs to create the required quality and quantity of audio services. The two TDM carriers of each beam can support about 40 to 60 channels depending on the mix of chosen quality channels. The high quality of audio at low bit rates is achieved through the MPEG (Motion Pictures Experts Group) 2.5 Layer III audio compression scheme. Apart from a wide range of high quality, digital audio channels providing news and entertainment, the system also provides for the high speed download of data up to 128 Kbps. This capability can be used to provide a host of specialized data and multi-media services. The user can access multimedia content by connecting the data port of a WorldSpace receiver to a PC, via a Special PC Adapter (SPCA). This smart adapter handles the multimedia broadcast data, converts it to a regular serial port input, and then transmits it to the PC. The adapter also has in built data integrity and security functionality for critical applications. The data services of WorldSpace will cater to a variety of sectors, ranging from packaged multimedia for the home user, to natural resources, to health

THE COMMUNICATION

The education. information, and applications that have been outlined in this paper are indicative of the scope of the service, but are definitely not exhaustive. Wherever there is a need for widespread dissemination of digital data, systems such as those proposed by WorldSpace, have a role to play both in the short and long term. sees education and WorldSpace national development as key areas of focus in its operations in almost all the countries that the service covers, and is in the process of integrating all the elements to provide a robust solution for the same. 4. An affordable

data service

The data service of WorldSpace can be pre-packaged, or streaming to suit the requirement of the application. Given the rapidly diminishing costs of computing equipment, the total initial investment at the user end would be under US $1300, including the receiver and a Pentium class computer. In a situation of community access for education, the cost per student, works out to less than US$3 for an average sized school of 450 students. With deferred financing schemes and government subsidies, the system would be well within the reach of schools servicing even the most economically backward areas.

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Usage of relevant lntemet material formal the supplement curriculum Development of low cost feedback mechanisms (This could be through traditional methods, including, but not limited to, postal channels) t0

l

Educating

the Educator

While individual attention may be possible with more affluent recipients and those with some degree of proficiency in computer based systems, in most cases, it is the “teacher” who would impart knowledge to groups of individuals.

.

This process can only be brought with about the committed involvement of a number of organizations, including the satellite companies, government bodies, educational nonboards, government organizations, telecom service even providers and corporate entities. Content

The steps involved are: The acquisition of existing course material, in its basic form. Development of enhanced versions of the material, with audio and multimedia content, in conjunction with relevant education boards Development of linguistic variations of syllabi of standards on Development quality to be adhered to rigorously

(High

School

WorldSpace plans to package such content under the aegis of the national and regional educational boards. Some countries, especially those with more than one language, have separate certification exams for each language of instruction. A time bandwidth and sharing operation will ensure that each mode of instruction gets equal weight.

Issues

The development and constant upgrades of content is the largest and most complex issue in the area providing educational assistance.

Education

While the educator would receive background material that would allow him/her to better prepare for imparting curricula to students, it for the would also allow learning enhancement of the process itself. Judicious use of audio and video lessons would add considerable value to even the most mundane of lessons. Moreover, the world of moving video and high quality audio can demonstrate concepts more powerfully than any static medium ever can.

At the grass-root level, one way satellite multimedia based broadcasting, aims to provide these educators with the latest tools, techniques and course material to impart this knowledge, in a manner that is in tune with the current developments taking place the world over.

l

Primary Level)

.

Higher Education

(University)

While the process of education, is not robust in emerging nations, much importance is placed on higher education, for job placement. There is almost no white-collar placement available for a person without a University degree, in countries such as India. With a low number of seats in higher institutions, education and a the burgeoning population, system in most education developing nations is under severe stress. There has been a move to

alleviate this pressure by the creation of “distance education” programs. A system such as WorldSpace can easily expand the scope of distance education, by making it possible for a student to access his/her course material from even the remotest Economically secure location. personal students could have access to course material, at their homes. Others could avail of distance education centers, which would receive the material for further dissemination. Not only does the cost of delivery come down, the time taken is minimal. This would ensure that every student has access to course material at the same time, irrespective of location. It is further planned to enhance distance education courses, by providing multimedia lectures and practical demonstrations to study centers. Education programs do exist on state run media, but the disadvantage is that they are not amenable for repeat viewing, and cannot be stored for distribution. However, there does exist a fairly large infrastructure for distance education, which WorldSpace will make more responsive to student needs. 0

Professional

courses

Undoubtedly, the Information Technology industry has yielded the maximum number of job opportunities globally, in the recent past. There is an increased awareness that professional qualification in computer related topics, can greatly enhance job opportunities. There are numerous private agencies that provide certification of computer proficiency, apart formal from university degrees. Data broadcast systems can allow for the distribution of course

as practical material, as well (laboratory) work, directly to the student, or as was outlined in the previous section, to study centers. WorldSpace is in the process of formalizing a system for the furthering of professional education courses, not only in the Information Technology industry, but in as areas as educational diverse humanities and medicine, engineering. Each country would have access to a separate formal system according to its norms, and also have access to a global knowledge base, in each field being developed by WorldSpace, in conjunction with external agencies. 6. Infrastructure

Development

Lack of an infrastructure to distribute information of national relevance is a major in developing shortcoming nations. Information tends to reside in metropolitan areas, with only a trickle to semi urban and rural areas. Timely information about simple things such as epidemics, floods, weather and power situations can not only save millions of lives, but result in loss prevention to the tune of billions of dollars. Again, the main deterrent is the unreliability and expense of using a terrestrial telecom infrastructure as an information conduit. In most cases, there is minimal feedback required from the end user, which can be tackled in a multitude of ways. Neither is there a requirement of bandwidth high multimedia data. Most information can be passed to the user, streaming through narrow bandwidths. Satellite systems are rugged and function in even the most adverse of conditions, which would normally cause traditional delivery mechanisms to collapse. State run organizations would be able to use the WorldSpace system to provide professionals such as doctors, engineers and local bodies with much needed information, and guidance from a central source. The quality of

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information would be uniform, thereby ensuring that standards are adhered to in even the remotest location. l

HealthCare WorldSpace plans to put into operation a solution that caters to the specific needs of the health care sector, in the near future. Participants would include: international Heaith Organizations Medical Associations Government Bodies Eminent medical professionals from various fields Health Journals and Publications Pharmaceutical companies Hospitals and Medical Research companies Internet sources All this would be enhanced by a feedback mechanism, which would serve as a database for future development. Information would range from notifications on epidemics to latest techniques, facilities and drugs. Information would be pre-packaged and delivered in a readily understandable form, to be stored by the end user, for future reference. In case of emergencies, information can be passed on to the user, in near real time. It is possible to fund a large part of the cost of this ambitious project through corporate sponsorships, in return for unprecedented reach, instantaneously.

l

Agriculture Resources

and

Natural

Economic prosperity in agriculturebased economies is directly linked to management of resources in an While manner. efficient mechanization is slowly improving exists a productivity, there

663

tremendous lack of knowledge how resources can be managed better yields.

on for

Research information, including satellite based imaging, can provide valuable inputs to the agriculturist. New techniques and advance warning of environmental and weather changes will prove to be a boon for farming, in general. It must most that be noted here, agriculturists in developing nations come from rural areas, with minimal educational backgrounds. Again, as in the case of rural primary education, there exists a task of providing information to the “educators” in each of the areas. Information would be passed on to local governing bodies and then onwards to the final user. This information, as in the case of education material, would be the customized according to language of convenience. Any project of this nature can only be done in conjunction with government bodies, since the information, is national in nature, and needs to be collated and processed by a competent body to ensure efficiency and accuracy,

In conclusion Apart from the applications outlined above, the WorldSpace system can and will be used to create information affluence in other key areas in developing countries. Some of the medium term areas of attention include: Government Services Legal Services Private Tutorials Finance Sector Chambers of Commerce Corporate communications Executives/Professionals Press

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Traditional media, the Internet and satellite based systems can work in conjunctioo to bring the availability of information in developing nations on par

with even the most advanced nations of the world, thereby removing some if not all of the factors that create disparities.