Speculation

[mithriltabby]

Terrorists in Iraq and Saudi Arabia are making foreign experts more reluctant to show up in person and risk their necks. This is a strategy that could backfire on the terrorists in a big way.

Consider: if you need expertise, and the experts are reluctant to show up in a violent area, it may become cheaper to provide telepresence than it would be to provide enough security to make them feel safe, or enough hazard pay to make them willing to take the risk.

Telepresence requires that you improve the network infrastructure in the on-site location, and that you have people on site capable of carrying out the recommendations of the telepresent experts. This means that you have an incentive to get your locals to upgrade their networks and their personal skills.

So you have all this bandwidth in use eight hours a day while the experts provide their talent... but the rest of the time, you’ve got all that network capacity going idle, and a bunch of locals who are going to be in the same “let’s explore this nifty new technology” mindset that we’ve all experienced.

It won’t be long before they discover eBay and find some ways to make a little money, and start purchasing outdated used computing hardware, far behind the times for the first world cutting edge, but perfectly adequate for dragging a society into the information age. (Though they’ll still need to get more fundamental basics like food distribution, sanitation, and electricity supply working before anything serious can happen. But it’s in the area of getting those working that these experts will be needed.) Opportunities for education suddenly grow, and for bypassing any communications barriers imposed by the current regime.

Empowering individual entrepeneurs will create more demand for a stable business climate, which will generate more opposition to the terrorists. Overall, a win for sense and stability.

I’m hoping that the people installing networking equipment in Iraq and Saudi Arabia encourage web surfing after working hours.

Comments

[deirdremoon.livejournal.com]

That would be funny-- except, where are you going to find the foreign corporate money and technicians to set up the high bandwidth infrastructure in the first place? Especially if all the capitalist pig-dogs are being shot in the streets? *I* wouldn't want to be up a phone pole on a belt unable to dodge bullets...

[mithriltabby]

Anywhere that people want foreign experts to go, but said experts don’t want to risk going, and it’s cheaper to provide network infrastructure and security, someone’s going to start cutting costs by adding the networking hardware. It’s precisely because you, and I, and lots of other people with useful skills, wouldn’t want to be dodging bullets that the demand exists.

[cmccurry.livejournal.com]

The down side is when you get to oppressive theocracies/monarchies like you have in Saudi Arabia, where they keep a tight leash on what their citizens are allowed to view. But one ray of hope I am seeing is that the more moderate elements (Read: Not scared to join the rest of the world in the 21st century) are starting to become more vocal against the fundamentalists.

Perhaps a better telecommunication infrastucture may be the base for Islam's long overdue renaissance.

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

Some other things need to happen in Saudi Arabia... Such as the problem they have in valuing religious contrmplation over a hard day's work. Their employment rate is appalling, and much of their labor is done by immigrants. Secondly, the fact that they are supporting a burgeoning number of princes on the government dime means that they are spending more money on keeping the princes in yachts, and less money on infrastructure. If you have a profitable business, the princes come and take it from you. Things are getting pretty wild there.