On a non-administrative level at
the United Nations, response to SWANsat and our
Shareware Telecommunications™ model by many individuals has been overwhelmingly positive. After all, who could object
to delivering broadband ICT via telecommunications satellites for about
USD$2.00
per month to the bottom of the world's economic pyramid?
The surprising answer to that question is
that during his administration, Secretary-General Kofi Annan opposed SWANsat—by
sheer force of bureaucracy. Because he was the final and most important administrative
portal of approval by the U.N., we wrote to Dr. Annan on 26 April 2006 and
described SWANsat and our
Shareware Telecommunications™ model in a succinct two page letter—a letter
that makes more than a dozen references to his own speeches—that demonstrated
how SWANsat and our Shareware
Telecommunications™ model meets UN Millennium Development Goals and ECOSOC
Ministerial Declaration objectives.
 —
Click here to download our letter
to Dr. Annan
in PDF format.
We received a response from Dr. Annan's
office on 15 May 2006, more
than a week after the date we had asked to meet with
him.
—
Click here to download Secretary-General Annan's
response letter in PDF format.
This document is a short, succinct, and blunt form letter
rejection of SWANsat. Why
did Dr. Annan and/or his staff rebuff the SWANsat
project? Because, as the letter proclaims very clearly:
...the United Nations does not endorse or offer opinions on materials or
projects generated outside the Organization.
With all due respect, that statement is wrong. It
stands in violation of
Resolution 60/99 adopted by the UN General Assembly on 6 January 2006, nearly five months before
we wrote to Dr. Annan! Section 31 of the Resolution states that, on
the subject of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer
space, the General Assembly
31. Reiterates that the benefits of space technology and its
applications should be prominently brought to the attention, in particular,
of the major United Nations conferences and summits for economic, social and
cultural development and related fields and that the use of space technology
should be promoted toward achieving the objectives of those conferences and
summits and for implementing the United Nations Millennium Declaration. (Resolution,
page 6, §31)
By our letter
dated 26 April 2006, we "prominently brought to the attention" of Dr. Annan
our SWANsat Project,
which is fully capable of "implementing the United Nations Millennium
Declaration". Furthermore, Dr. Annan's official
response from the United Nations Department of Public Information's
Public Inquiries Team also noted that
demands of his official duties as Secretary-General of
the United Nations leave no time for Mr. Annan to meet
with
SWANsat personnel.
—
Click here to
download the above two files in one concatenated PDF file.
In accordance
with the Secretary General's response—or, more accurately, the man's lack
of response—we will make
SWANsat a successful project
without support from the United Nations. After Dr. Annan left
the United Nations at the conclusion of his term in December 2006, we
decided to try one last time by writing to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on
22 March 2007.
—
Download our letter of 22 March 2007 to Ban Ki-Moon in PDF format.
Will the new Secretary-General be willing to discuss this subject with us?
We'll let you know what we find out.... In the meantime, on 9 May 2007, we
received a reply from the office of Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of
the office of the Secretariat for the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT
and Development. Mr. Khan's letter was responsive to our inquiry of 22
March. In the letter, Mr. Khan indicates a willingness to meet together in
New York and "find avenues of potential collaboration between us."
—
Download a PDF copy of Mr. Khan's response fax
letter.
The letter was
dated 24 April 2007, but faxed during the early afternoon (New York time) on
9 May, only about a day before Mr. Khan was due back from the trip that is
noted in the letter. Our return address on the letter is incorrectly typed.
Perhaps this error caused the delay, since we never received the letter via
US mail.
Response
at the United Nations to SWANsat and our
Shareware Telecommunications™ model by many individuals has been positive. After all, who could object
to delivering broadband ICT via telecommunications satellites for about EUR€1.00
per month to the bottom of the world's economic pyramid? While there was
initial disinterest expressed in May 2006 by the office
of then Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the administration of
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has expressed far more enthusiasm for SWANsat.
This change in attitude may have come about because of the adoption by the
General Assembly of
Resolution 60/99 on 6 January 2006, nearly five months before
we wrote to Dr. Annan. Section 31 of the Resolution states that, on
the subject of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer
space, the General Assembly
31. Reiterates that the benefits of space technology and its
applications should be prominently brought to the attention, in particular,
of the major United Nations conferences and summits for economic, social and
cultural development and related fields and that the use of space technology
should be promoted toward achieving the objectives of those conferences and
summits and for implementing the United Nations Millennium Declaration. (Resolution,
page 6, §31)
On 22 March 2007, we wrote to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon:
—
Download our letter of 22 March 2007 to Ban Ki-Moon in PDF format.
 On 9 May 2007, we
received a delayed reply fax to our letter to Secretary Ban Ki-Moon. Dated
24 April 2007, it was sent from the office of Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of
the office of the Secretariat for
the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT
and Development. Mr. Khan heads the UN office that is tasked
with oversight of all activities relating to international development of
Information and Communications Technology. In his letter, Mr. Khan indicated a desire to meet together in
New York and "find avenues of potential collaboration between us."
—
Download a PDF copy of Mr. Khan's response fax
letter.
After conferring
with Mr. Khan's office, on 11 May 2007 we responded to Mr. Khan's
invitation, confirming via a letter from us that a meeting had been
scheduled for 10:00am on Friday, 1 June 2007 at Mr. Khan's office in the
United Nations building in New York. We met with Mr. Khan and two staff
members on that date.
—
Download our letter of 11 May 2007 to
Mr. Khan's office.
—
Download our letter of 14 May to Mr. Khan confirming our meeting of 1 June.
—
Download our supplemental background material sent to Mr. Khan.
—
Download our "Avenues of Collaboration" letter of
1 June 2007.
—
Download our PowerPoint presentation for the 1
June 2007 Briefing .
—
Download PDF version of our PowerPoint
presentation.
—
Download PDF version of our PowerPoint
presentation with notes.
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