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October
4, 2004 Vol 75, no. 6F
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| COLD HARD CACHE: CS
Ph.D. students R.J. Honicky (left) and Omar
Bakr and spent three weeks in Ghana investigating the impact of
a Distributed Searchable Cache (DiSC) system on improving Internet
access in the developing world. The group thinks the DiSC system
will improve document retrieval speed, increase user satisfaction,
and ultimately reduce the cost of accessing the Internet. |
Fellowship
students spend summer doing field work abroad
While technology can help
developing countries catch up with developed nations, it’s not
simply a matter of installing the right hardware and software. CS Ph.D.
students like Omar Bakr and R.J. Honicky know from experience that the
usefulness of technology is inextricably linked to how a culture uses
and adapts to it. They learned that it’s easier for a technology
to adapt to a new culture than for a culture to adapt to a new technology.
Honicky and Bakr spent three weeks this summer in Ghana, observing and
documenting how locals use the Internet. The Berkeley-UNIDO fellowship
that supported their research with an award of $23,000 was funded by
the Berkeley Management of Technology program and a long list of corporations.
This summer, eight interdisciplinary fellowship teams spent time in
countries ranging from China to Uganda collecting on-site data for a
research project they will debut during next year’s Bridging the
Divide Berkeley-UNIDO conference. Research topics ranged from creating
solar-powered lighting systems in rural China and advancing cancer prevention
in Southern Africa to gauging computer penetration rates in the Brazilian
slums.
The field work in Ghana began with bad luck. The university the group
planned to base themselves from was hit by a strike, driving the team
to set up shop at a local Internet cafe.
There, they researched local Internet usage patterns to help build a
better Distributed Searchable Cache (DiSC) system. Instead of accessing
the Internet for each search query, DiSC helps provide frequently viewed
Internet content offline. A user can retrieve content from the offline
cache at speeds much faster than any dial-up connection. DiSC works
by using an algorithm similar to peer-to-peer file sharing networks
to stage popular content on a local network.
When one visits a Web site, that information is automatically stored
in the computer’s cache. A searchable cache memory can help users
find the pages they downloaded.
“The idea was to make the cache like Google. You can put in a key
word and search that way,” says Bakr.
The group collected useful data by conducting one-on-one interviews
and focus groups. They compiled statistics and anecdotal evidence on
how, who, and why people in Ghana use the Internet. They also personally
observed the unreliability and expense of Internet service in Ghana.
Most importantly the group gained an understanding of the complicated
relationship between culture and technology.
“This experience was very helpful in figuring out what role culture
plays in technology adoption. Cultures in developing countries are different,
and if you don’t have a good cultural understanding of a society,
there will be resistance to implementing the technology,” says
Bakr.
In countries where Internet connections are slow, unreliable, and expensive,
the team believes their searchable cache can help mitigate bandwidth
constraints and frequent disconnections.
Read more on the Digital Divide projects at www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/fall2004/fellows.html
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