The Solomon Islands, a South Pacific island nation whose economy and government are collapsing, is fielding a new initiative to provide free Internet access to impoverished islands everywhere, starting at home.
Already, Pfnet, the Solomon Islands People First Network initiative, is a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge 2002, and has been entered into the InfoDev ICT Story Competition of 2002; competitions that recognize the ingenious use of technology for the development of human life.
Pfnet is basically an email system, by which villagers in faraway islands like Ontong Java, in the far north-east of the group, can get in touch instantly with a relative in the capital Honiara, or someone else overseas, simply at the press of a button. And the beauty of the system, and what makes it successful so far is its low cost. Under Pfnet, an email sent from one of its rural centers to anywhere around the globe costs a mere SOL$2, irrespective of the length of the message.
(Thanks, Mike!)
