The Baths
A.K.A. "Los Baños". Last time I've been there, it was way way back in 1996 -- long time, longer story.
Now I'm back, but only for a while. I recently attended a training on content development for the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture in the International Rice Research Institute. A worthy endeavor, that one. So-called the "Farmer's Internet" (don't know about the styling but this one seems appropriate, given its grand scheme), the Open Academy is envisioned to leverage technology in reaching out to farmers in the countryside and bootstrapping Philippine agriculture to where it once was 30 years ago -- at the top.
While it's a worthy undertaking, it will need sustainability and the will to push it through. Besides that, the internet being as it is, it is going to entail some huge paradigm shifts. Policy makers are in for a surprise if they think that the net is the end-all and be-all of the country's agricultural woes. They must not lose sight of the fact that technology, like everything else, requires perseverance.
I was specially struck by talks given by leading technology figures: about farmers being the most progressive class (not true: it's the worker's, actually); and serving what is needed using not high tech, not low tech, but the right tech.
Now I'm back, but only for a while. I recently attended a training on content development for the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture in the International Rice Research Institute. A worthy endeavor, that one. So-called the "Farmer's Internet" (don't know about the styling but this one seems appropriate, given its grand scheme), the Open Academy is envisioned to leverage technology in reaching out to farmers in the countryside and bootstrapping Philippine agriculture to where it once was 30 years ago -- at the top.
While it's a worthy undertaking, it will need sustainability and the will to push it through. Besides that, the internet being as it is, it is going to entail some huge paradigm shifts. Policy makers are in for a surprise if they think that the net is the end-all and be-all of the country's agricultural woes. They must not lose sight of the fact that technology, like everything else, requires perseverance.
I was specially struck by talks given by leading technology figures: about farmers being the most progressive class (not true: it's the worker's, actually); and serving what is needed using not high tech, not low tech, but the right tech.
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