FG, Key to Full Internet Connectivity

Post Express - Page 18
March 20, 1997

The Internet sprouted from what was then a national computer network project called ARPANET, which was under the control of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), an agency within the United States Department of Defence. The first countries to be connected to the Internet outside the U.S were England and Norway in 1973, and it was mostly used by universities, polytechnics and research agencies. Now, there are over a hundred countries with full Internet connectivity out of which only 11 are from the African continent (with the exclusion of Nigeria).

 Developments on the Internet in recent times had been very rapid, making it the world’s most advanced medium of communication with an installed base of over 50 million computers users linked worldwide, and an approximate annual growth rate of 2000 percent. The Internet is by far the fastest growing segment in the information technology industry. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, corroborated this fact when he said: “The surging popularity of the internet communications network is the most important single development in the computer industry since the IBM PC was introduced in 1981.” The Internet is no doubt the mother of modern communications encompassing sound picture and text. The Web earned its famous acronyms of WWW from this unique multi-media functionality.

 As we approach the new millennium, business planners and policy makers are exploiting new ways of gaining competitive business advantage, and seeking ways of improving the lives of the populace. This can be achieved largely by improved communication and information exchange and accessibility.

 The Internet has turned the world into a global village, pulling down barriers such as distance that hitherto separated countries. Information accessibility is just a mouse-click away, reducing transaction time around the globe to seconds, and at cost lower than ever. The Internet is in every way an economy in itself. Every aspect from its construction, content, communication tools, to the people that make use of it, are marketable commodities.

 In the words of Major General Sam Momah, the minister of Science and Technology, “Internet connectivity and all the benefits it would bring would help in the realization of the vision of technologically developed Nigeria by the year 2020.“ No doubt therefore that, every Nigerian is conscious of the importance of achieving full Internet connectivity. The big question is, Why Haven’t We? When other nations like Cote d’Voire, Zambia and Ghana have full Internet connectivity.

 Quite unexpectedly, the Minister of Communications Tajudeen Olanrewaju provided a startling answer to the question in a recent speech at a workshop organized by the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) last September, when he urged Internet service providers to ensure that the services they offer were not used for obscene, seditious or anti-state purposes, and went on to say that they should not expect government support or funding.

 We need to re-examine closely, the key issues involved and resolve the problems dynamically. All expressions of fear on the part of the minister that the Internet may be used for obscene, seditious or anti-state purposes should be allayed. It is now practicable for countries to censor certain classified information from the Internet. China is a good example and they have recorded significant progress in this area.

 On the issue of support and funding that should not have arisen, because it is NITEL’s responsibility to provide the required telephone lines needed to operate the Internet functionally. ISDN lines or fibre optics cables are recommended for effective worldwide web connectivity. This forms the major reason why full Internet connectivity is in a stalemate. The issues of nodes and domain name are secondary. The NIG really requires little direct support or funding from the Federal Government. What they desire as a matter of necessity is NITEL’s ISDN lines or fibre optics cables laid in Abuja, Lagos sand Port Harcourt at lease as a pilot scheme.

 There is a lot of wisdom in Bill Gate’s statement when he said< “The Internet is like a tidal wave drowning those that do not learn to swim in its waters.”

Barcoding: Nigeria Needs it

Post Express - Page 17
March 13, 1997

Provided our public utilities fail to measure up to international standards, the question of national development will continue to face us. National development and technological advancement are closely related, and this inter-twinning relationship hinges primarily on information technology (IT). The slow pace of development in the country is not unconnected with our reluctant to wholly embrace modern technology policy.

The absence of a clear cut science and technology policy thrust in national development planning and implementation is responsible for the confusion and inefficiency that has continued to plague our public utilities such as electricity and water supplies, telecommunications, and transportation.

Banking and finance, trade and commerce, oil and gas, the mining sectors have continued to receive government priority attention. Science and technology, which is the main trust of industry, have suffered total neglect. Without the entrenchment of a sound science and technology policy, growth in all other sectors will be hindered, and inefficiency, ineffectiveness and wastefulness will continue to afflict our public utilities. The low performance of our public utilities comes as no surprise.

There are many fronts to advancing technological development in the country. One of the ways is by the implementation of a national bar-coding policy. Such a policy will expedite the introduction of computer business control systems in both the public and private sectors. Benefits derivable include; easy identification of persons and products, reduction in the use of cash in business transaction, and efficient and speedy inventory control.

Bar coding comprises labels, symbologies, standards, hardware, software, systems integration etc. Barcodes are symbols consisting of a series of bars and spaces, which can be applied to tube, cartons, bottles, packages, books, cards documents, and a number of other media.

The automatic identification industry’s primary focus on capturing information both quickly and accurately, provides the fastest and most effective means of gathering data that is vital for expedient business transaction. Bar-coding applications are embraced such industry segments as post and telecommunications, banking and finance, retails, manufacturing transportation healthcare, warehousing and distribution, shipping and receiving document processing and tracking and libraries.

Clear Mind, Dirty Hands: Software Piracy Threatens Local Industry

Post Express - Page 21
February 20, 1997

With each passing year, evolving software technology brings to us, faster, more sophisticated, versatile and easy-to-use products. Business software allows companies to save time, effort and money. Education computer programs teach basic skills and sophisticated subjects. Home software now includes a wide array of programs that enhance the user’s productivity and creativity. Computer graphics have turned PCs into veritable artist’s palette and new games are increasingly inventive. The industry is thriving and users stand to benefit along with the publishers.

But in the process, the problem of software theft has developed and threatens to impede the development of new software products. Romantically called “piracy,” the unauthorized duplication of software is a capital offence that affects everyone; large and small software developers and legitimate users. Even the users of unlawful copies suffer from their own illegal actions. They receive no documentation, no customer support and no information about products update.

The susceptibility of computer software to all forms of abuse should be of concern to those who are conscious of national development. Software piracy has been the subject of discussion in many national and international copyright forums. This development is an obvious indication of the inherent widespread violation of software license agreements and piracy laws.

The world’s biggest band of theirves are stealing software. All manner of normally honest people may be among the thieves; every software user is a potential pirate. Often, software piracy is a crime of ignorance. But that does not reduce the potential liability for unauthorized use of software programmes. Illegal software use is a time bomb of legl exposure and expense that threatens business enterprises in ways they many not be aware.

This brings to the fore, the urgent need to sensitise the owners and users of computer software in the country through well designed enlightenment programmes, on the many issues involved, and particularly on the delicate question of piracy.

In this direction, it is appropriate for the Nigeria Copyright Council (NCC) to lead this crusade and this means it must first put its house in order. It does not stop there; the collaborative effort of all Nigerians is required, especially computer professionals, associations and marketers.

The relevance of such anti-piracy drive is spotlighted, when you consider the pathetic degeneration of software compliance level in Nigeria, particularly when comparison is made using international acceptable parity.

The average PC user employs three programmes in the IBM-PC compatible environment The acceptable European parity is 0.98, surpassed only by the Scandinavians by 1.63. In Asia, Thailand has 0.3 programmes to one computer. The industry yardstick for determining average software per PC is by combining the number of programmes sold legally and personal computers sold by the country.

Even amongst the best-behaved countries in Europe, there is significant shortfall in compliance. In the case of Nigeria, there is a dearth in statistical data for ascertaining average standards. In this instance, we can only approximate a moderation of 0.1 programme per computer. By implication, it means that all the computers in this country are practically empty of software.

Where then are all the software we run on our computers come from, if not by stealing. An estimated 99.9 percent of the software programmes installed in our computers are pirated, an indication of the height of ignorance amongst software users in the country.

Although software is a relatively new medium of intellectual property its protection is grounded in the long-established rules that govern other more familiar media such as records, books and films. Decree 47 of 1988 makes it illegal to make or distribute copies of copyrighted materials without authorization.

Every copyrighted software program comes with a license agreement that defines and controls its use. In most cases, the purchase of a PC software programme only licenses a single user. You are entitled to load it onto a single computer and make another copy “for archival purpose only.” It is illegal to load that software to more than one computer, or to make copies of the software for any other purpose unless specific permission has been obtained from the copyright owner. That means even sharing of software is piracy.

Respect for intellectual property rights requires a certain degree of diligence on the part of software users. This is particularly true with respect to software. It is so easy to duplicate and the copy is as good as the original. This fact does not legitimize software piracy, but rather shows that user exposure may be especially high if due care is not exercised.

In the words of former Vice President, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu (rtd), “piracy inhibits creativity and is consequently detrimental to the attainment of social goals in the field of education, research and cultural promotion.”

The penalties stipulated by the country’s copyright laws can best be described as ridiculous and obtuse and does not contain a single clause on software programmes.

The N1,000 fine for infringement is like a drop of water in the ocean when compared with the $250,000 fine penalty stipulated in the United States copyright law. The country’s copyright decree obviously needs urgent amendment if the indigenous software industry is to thrive.

Trooping the Colour, Spooling the Print:

Post Express - Page 21
January 30, 1997

It is astonishing to see what information technology hs done to the typesetting industry. In the past three decades, technological advancement in the area of typography and composition has revolutionized the graphic art and prepress industry segments. Claude Garamond, the sixteenth century French punch cutter who established the first type foundry probably had little or no idea what the young industry would become in the ages to come.

Type is the personality of the printed word. Typography can convey great individuality. Competent use of type has given structure and emphasis to text, and helped present it in a way that is comfortable for the reader. Poor use of type can confuse the reader by conveying a mood that conflict with the meaning of the text. More especially, bad use of type can simply be distractive.

The use of type in composition and graphic design has witnessed outstanding advancement by the introduction of desktop computing. At this point, a retrospective overview of the typesetting industry will allow us to see through the window of history of this noble industry, and thus enable us to understand even further, the tremendous advancement this sector has experienced in the last three decades.

The story of typesetting over the ages, and in present times across the country, is really a gloomy and sorry one. The poor economy has always received the bashing of being responsible for our shortcomings in the country. This of course is no exception. The high cost of traditional professional typesetting equipment places this technology too high beyond the reach of the local printing and publishing industry. They are left with low budget technology with relatively low-resolution print output.  High-end typographical output devices far surpass the output quality of 300dpi or even 600dpi we are used to in this part of the continent; 2,400dpi is the typesetter’s standard.

In the early 1970s, the arrival of the electronics selectric composer was embraced as a cheap alternative to the highly expensive high-end option. The composer craze swept across the country like a wild wind, most notably in Lagos, Ibadan and Onitsha.

The electronic selectric’ composer was not designed for professional typesetting, and so limits users to a maximum of 12 points type size. With such paltry features, the composer was still able to make a significant improvement in the way printers and graphics designers do their typesetting. The ability of the composer to playback coded instructions in memory, and produce quality direct impression typesetting made a great impact. Then it became possible to produce an error-free formatted final proof of composition. Professional quality appearance and proportional lettering gives full expression to each character, excellent letter fit and overall aesthetic refinement to the type design.

In the mid 1970s, when electronic composer was still the favourite of many print and publishing houses, a new era of typography was emerging. The compugraphic phototypesetting system dominated the typesetting industry much of the mid 1970s and early 1980s. Compugraphy provided exceptionally powerful editing and storage capabilities. It combines the simplicity of a secretarial keyboard for input, the efficiency of a video display screen for editing, and the convenience of magnetic disk storage for recording data. Having an operational speed of 1 ppm (page per minute), and a type size of between 6 points to 72 points, the compugraphic phototypesetting machines was placed far ahead of any other typesetting equipment before its debut.

The compugraphic machine never lived long enough to see better days. The exploits of information technology introduced desktop computing. The personal computer which ws ushered in, in the mid 1980s, had no difficulty displacing its massive and intimidating predecessor. With the arrival of PCs, typesetting has continued to grow from strength to strength.

The introduction of the PC on the desktop also brought with it, desktop laser printing, and revolutionized typesetting. The simple emulation of typewriter output was rapidly replaced by precision comparable to that of traditional professional typesetting. Initially electronic font technology was confined to high-end-desktop publishing software, but ehe popularity and feature richness of software packages like Ventura Publisher and Aldus PageMaker brought type technology into the limelight.

Besides the numerous typefaces that desktop publishing software programs introduced into page layout and typesetting, graphic design also feature prominently with packages such as Freehand and CorelDraw. Desktop publishing allowed the production of camera-ready finished artworks, thus eliminating the cut-and-paste process.

From when desktop publishing because popular and today, there had been tremendous improvement in information technology which is partly attributed to desktop publishing. For instance resterisation, which is the process of generating bitmap images for laser printer output, involves a large amount of data, and is usually the longest element of the page printing process, is known to be one of the ways of measuring the standards of computers in the world.

Until recently laser printers produced images at a maximum resolution of 300dpi both horizontally and vertically, so that one-inch square matrix took 900,000 dots. At that resolution, an A4 printer needs around 1 MB of memory to store a single page of uncompressed data. But the latest printers such as Hewlett-Packard’s LaserJet 4, based on the Canon LBP-ex engine, deliver resolution of up to 600dpi. This requires four times as much data per square inch, and so imposes a quadrupled memory overhead.