N-1-3-011.10.2, REDID: Red Dominicana de Intercambio para el
Desarrollo (Dominican Network for Exchanges Toward Development), by
Daniel Pimienta*, <pimienta!daniel@redid.org.do>


The Dominican Republic shares with Haiti as the second largest
Caribbean island after Cuba.  Having an estimated research network
population inferior to 1,000 persons, it is known more for its tourism
rather than for its research activities.  Yet, the birth of this small
network may be of interest beyond its boundaries.

Why so?  Because the REDID network gathers a comprehensive set of
items which may give it some type of model value in other developing
countries.

The keywords of the model are:    

	-Focusing on the end-user.
	-Federating both the helping and the participating institutions.
	-Negotiating with Telecommunications Operators.
	-Giving priority to user applications.
	-Transferring technology.

.The creation process managed to make researchers from various
 institutions (Universities, Governmental Research Centers, NGO's and
 International Organizations) share common resources and structures. 

.REDID is a user group formed as the result of an open, transparent,
 and participative process, directly conducted by the future end-users.

.REDID receives federated support from various international
 organizations including, Union Latina (REDALC's Office), UNESCO
 (CRESALC), and UNDP (the local Education Department), using a
 methodological framework.

.REDID is making use of a high level PC based interface designed to
 make the user handle network functions similar to other PC
 applications (MULBRI software).

.REDID receives the maximum free support ever obtained from national
 private Telecommunications Operators (i.e., free X.25 access, logical
 partition in a commercial email system, link to the neighbor country,
 BBS, and local Data Bases access organization).

.REDID's traffic flows to the Internet thanks to an agreement with a
 regional neighbor network (Puerto Rico).

.REDID members received user dedicated training.  During a one week
 event last July, a group of teachers gathered and managed, together
 with REDID staff, to build the first regional articulated training
 effort oriented toward end-users.

.After the ongoing user installation, applications will be considered
 next in priority.  Many agreements are scheduled with others in the
 Caribbean Basin countries, Europe, USA, Canada and Japan and
 International Agencies.  A French commercial Data Base provider,
 Telesystemes, offers free Questel access for a renewable 6 months.

.The technical aspects were not considered a high priority, thanks to
 the agreement with the Telephone Company (CODETEL, a GTE subsidiary)
 which offers its data network infrastructure for 18 months.  The
 design consists of a centralized UUCP based mailing system with access
 via a national X.25 network and 9600bps leased line to Puerto Rico.

The methodology used to make REDID happen is a by-product of the
REDALC study.  It was first used for the Peruvian network.  A paper
presenting the details of the process ("Research Networks in
Developing Countries: Not Exactly the Same Story!") is now available.
Carbon or network copies of the 25 page report can be requested by
sending an electronic mail message to: daniel!pimienta@redid.org.do.


*Asesor Cientifico Union Latina, Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana