SIERRANET: Participate in a “1US=1Le” Digital Economy on Salone’s collective Intellectual Property.
This is open to everyone with Sierra Leonean content at home and abroad. Namely: students, teachers, professionals, development activists, associations etc.
Below, I have given three reasons why you should contribute at least one short abstract of one of your many documents (25pg limit) on issues to do with our country’s development. Some of these documents, you may have shared within a limited circle before, shelved, posted online at some point or copied and paste in long emails (or blogs) to discussion forums.
A minimum of 100 abstracts is needed to begin an “incubation period” of this digital economy on Salone’s Intellectual Property. In participating, you will provide us the opportunity to pilot an economy in which the many nuggets of intellectual property that are so vital to our country’ development is managed at par with other valued socio-development contents.
If at this point you need no further explanation, participate by following these 5 steps.
STEP 1 Visit: http://sierraleoneportal.net/depository and decide which categories you will submit under. Return to step 2
STEP 2 Decide on one or more documents (25pg limit) that you will submit. Send a short abstract (1/4pg) on each of the document. (NOT THE DOCUMENT) State at least one or two categories it should be under.
STEP 3 Submit abstract via email to Submit@sierraleoneportal.net . A return acceptance email will be sent to confirm receipt.
STEP 4 Create an account at THIS Link Http://Sierraleoneportal.net/depository .Come back at anytime to browse the collection, “request” other documents of interest and check your “1US=1Le” points.
STEP 5 Invite other colleagues and other development activists involved in Sierra Leone to consider looking in SIERRANET for home-grown documents to facilitate their work.
HOW it WORKS
When someone requests your document, an automated request is sent to your email. Respond to an automated transaction request from Request@sierraleoneportal.net for a copy of your document by REPLYING with preferably the PDF version of your document attached. View the debit or credit to your “1US$=1Le” points at http://sierraleoneportal.net/depository after a confirmation. You only have to send your document once. Request Email will handle instructions for versions and variations to this basic mechanism. Each document is valued at “$1US =1LE” point until the fifth completed transaction requesting a copy. Thereafter it is revalued based on (reviews and a formula to add-value). In short, both acknowledgement and Intellectual Property royalty (by points) go back directly to the author (or originator). The incubation period will enable a close study on the consolidation of SIERRANET and the eventual conversion of points into currency and a full blown digital economy.
Document can be “raw data sets”, essays, photo sets preferably within common formats (PDF, Word, Excel, Word Perfect etc). There is capacity for audio and video files. These will be dealt with during the incubation period. It must have development value and it is up to every individual to decide that. The digital economy interplay of review and request will eventually value it.
THE THREE REASONS
The first is to promote, secure, and maintain the value of our collective Intellectual Properties that are relevant to our development. Currently we are under a donor-driven economy and consultant-based development projects. Consulting budget line items (foreign and domestic) can be as much as 12% of overall development project budget. Your articles can make a difference to Sierra Leone if it is valued, maintained, and eventually requested by others.
The second is to realize empowerment at our finger tips. Imagine the financial empowerment to the students, teachers, community activists, professors, development agents at home. They can produce a document within Sierra Leone in an environment in which 1US =Le3300 and their work gets reviewed, vetted, valued and maintained in a system where “1US=1LE”. By participating, you will be delivering true promise of “revaluation” and contributing to the policy arena. If incubated successfully, SIERRANET can be an outlet for new and innovative ideas and provide alternatives to the “run-of the mill” donor-driven policies that now guide the nation.
The SIERRANET model was developed in response to our “last place” position in the Digital Divide Index (DDI), an emerging ranking system that is becoming the benchmark for “digital” driven investment. It is now undergoing its third development phase – you can read more at: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-67626-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html The third reason is to improve our standing.
All that is needed to jump start this initiative is 100 distinct abstracts hopefully from 100 individuals at home and abroad. Thank you for participating.
Adrian Q. Labor
Coordinator
SierraLeonePortal
Http://SierraLeoneportal.sl