Public health workers and medical practitioners have very limited access to the latest research and information about the diseases that plague the communities in which they work. Basically, the displaced people of Sudan survive in a virtual information vacuum. Two groups have formed a partnership to provide a solution to this problem. Using WorldSpace technology, community members can download web-based content directly to community information centers that have no phone lines and hence, no Internet connection. Health workers can read the latest articles from such major medical journals as the British Medical Journal.
Teachers can obtain training and classroom support material.
Each receiver has an integrated satellite dish the size of a teacup saucer. The receiver operates mainly on electricity or batteries, although it has been successfully adapted for solar power, and produces crystal clear CD-quality digital sound. Before WorldSpace, the lack of suitable infrastructure to support new and old information technologies such as the Internet, telephone, and radio in rural and isolated regions of the developing world meant that information reached mainly the inhabitants of major urban centers. Attempts to bring these technologies to rural areas had proven to be prohibitively expensive to implement and maintain. Further, the foundation expects its work in Latin America and the Caribbean to begin in late 2002.