REACH2020

Tele-reach is a process that includes “technologies and applications which allow remote presence, participation or interaction or control” (Madry and Pelton, 2011). This process allows people and organizations to complete tasks and activities at a distance, whether they are teaching a course, conducting a business meeting, performing a medical procedure, monitoring deforestation, or generating power. A synergy of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures enables Tele-reach solutions..

Conclusion:

Reach2020 has identified a number pathways  toward establishing a Tele-reach solution for any given community within the Global South.    Identifying needs, defining policy, selecting a business model, and providing infrastructure are required to establishing a way forward. Within each Tier, the path may differ, but the elements required are always the same. In order to maximize the outcome at any tier in the next eight years, Reach2020 identified that:

a.        Enhancement of existing wireless infrastructures for smart devices in remote areas and the integration of data services, satellite, and ground communication networks have to occur at the initial design stages for Tele-reach applications.

b.       Advances in renewable energy technologies can provide the infrastructure support for Tele-reach applications in locations where it was not previously possible.

c.        National policy will determine the level of commercial involvement in Tele-reach implementation now and in the future. NGO and inter-governmental agencies have a larger role to play in the establishment and sustainability of Tele-reach in emerging nations.

d.       Funding mechanisms, standards, and charters need to support collaborative regional and international activities in the Global South. The importance of internet and IP services should not be underestimated in this effort.

e.        Between now and 2020, ensuring the sustainability of space will be critical for facilitating Tele-reach solutions in the Global South.

 

 

Recommendations:

Based on the work completed in this paper, Reach2020 recommends the following:

a.        Resolve spectrum management in the introduction of new generation wireless technologies.

b.       Nations should develop a national space policy or rhetoric to support open data policy, cooperation, and collaboration to benefit regional and international Tele-reach needs.

c.        Understand the implications of space sustainability to the future of all space-derived data and information and how this might affect Tele-reach solutions.

d.       Explore the opportunities internet-hosting and smartphones provide for outreach and actionable Tele-reach solutions.