To achieve consensus at an international level is hard, but it becomes even harder when the participants in the debate are unequal in their ability to participate … Information flow is mostly unidirectional, i.e. to developing countries, rather than from them … While not a panacea, e-mail and related technologies can help alleviate these problems to a significant degree.
Predictor: Mehta, Arun
Prediction, in context:In the May 1994 issue of his online newsletter The Network Observer, Arun Mehta writes: ”The following is based on my experience with Amnesty International and other organizations … To achieve consensus at an international level is hard, but it becomes even harder when the participants in the debate are unequal in their ability to participate … Information flow is mostly unidirectional, i.e. to developing countries, rather than from them … While not a panacea, e-mail and related technologies can help alleviate these problems to a significant degree. With dial-up access, it is not necessary to dedicate a phone line. Error-correcting modems eliminate transmission errors, making e-mail the most reliable form of international communication, particularly when people on the move and different time zones are involved … E-mail is more private than mail that can be opened, tampered with, censored, what have you. And, of course, e-mail is cheaper. Most importantly, whatever comes in via e-mail is processable by computer, so that data from different parts of the world can easily be consolidated.”
Date of prediction: May 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: E-mail
Name of publication: The Network Observer
Title, headline, chapter name: The Role of E-mail in Democratic Decision-Making
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/tno/may-1994.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stewart, Ben L.