Social and Economic Technology - 8.4. What Needs to be Done.
Getting Secotek Started.
Secotek proposes substantial changes to the attitude towards work, and learning, in the rural economy. The concepts are moderately ambitious, but not ground breaking. However, it will not happen over night or be brought about by any one person. The author of this document is a freelance technical consultant without vested commercial interests. The first thing to do, to start on the road to the recovery of rural areas is to develop the basic tools necessary for the system from the facilities available under the Banner of the Free Software Foundation. This work must come about from some form of public funding, for if the funding is for short term profit the objectives laid out for Secotek cannot be achieved. If the funding is from a commercial source, it must be a company with the remit of providing a service to the community. The normal sources of software funding, namely producing a product that will pay for itself in licence fees, are inappropriate. Secotek makes no claim to be commercially viable from that point of view, and the licence attitude defeating the aims of this proposal. The business model behind the present distributors of Linux in similarly inappropriate.
Therefore the whole concept in its infancy is very dependent upon obtaining funding from a community welfare rather than a commercial "short term profit" type source, and the initial actions taken are bound to be very much determined by the source of the funding. The author would be enthusiastic to put together a team of rural workers to start the project, but concrete proposals and milestones cannot be stated without pre-consultation with a possible source of funding.
What needs to be done to achieve this?
First, a feasibility study needs to take place, defining the costed ambitions of the project in its early stages. This would take about half a man year. It will then branch out into different directions:-
Technically adapting the open sourced software already available to be a system directly aimed at the rural user.
Setting up the necessary support system, both as Inherent sites, and by telephone.
A public education system will need to be set up to make the existence of the project well known, and to educate the general user about it.
A significant amount of technical work will have to be put into the 'Secotek' method of child education so they can receive a full education at the village centre or at home. This is possibly most politically challenging part of the project, but if it is to succeed as described it is essential.
All that will follow if the political will is there to make the rural economy vibrant by this method. Without that, no amount of technical work will achieve anything. The concept will succeed if the people affected want it to.
Richard and Evelyn Kemp have for the last 23 years been successfully running an electronics research partnership that has specialized in applying technology to principally environmental situations, often where electronics has not been used before. (Kemputa Systems). This has involved us into a great deal of software writing. We have also taken a deep personal interest in child education and the effects that has on society. Furthermore we are fundamentally rural people. This puts us in an ideal position to realize the potential and positive impact technology could have in rural society and its economy. Our interest is to see our vision materialize, partly for our own benefit, but mainly for the benefit of our dependants, and all those around us, particularly those of the next and future generations. Whilst we would enjoy participating in making it happen, we are not in a position to cause it to happen. If it is to succeed, it must have the active support of those responsible for the future of the countryside, in Wales and in Britain generally.
Author: Richard Kemp of Kemputa Systems, Pen-y-Gwaith, Ysbyty Ystwyth, Ystrad Meurig, Wales, UK. Tel:01974282619 Fax:01974282406 Email:ricky@kemputa.demon.co.uk
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