Who We Are, The Story of Learn Ubuntu Org

Overview

Although this proposal largely  involves the local Catholic Community, which happens to be the majority of citizens in this area, the services offered here are not limited to anyone based on their color, creed, religous beliefs, or ethnic backgrounds.

Sipaway Island has a population of approximately 5000 residents. Recently the Bishop of San Carlos City established the mission church, Saint Mary, Star of the Sea in the Barangay of San Juan. The new facility is a beautiful but small facility and can accommodate approximately 300 to 400 people for services.
Therefore a suggestion we propose is to reach out the the entire island through the use of Intranet technology. Most people have heard of the Internet, the world wide communication and information system, a network of networks, all linked together through the networking protocol known as TCP/IP.
Technical
Many people may not be familiar with the term, Intranet. Basically an Intranet can have many of the features of the Internet, however it is a self contained system, with all information emanating from local sources on the Intranet. Of course an Intranet can also have a gateway to the Internet as well, thereby providing both local information and services, as well as optionally providing services and information available on the Internet.
Let's take a brief overview of some Intranet services that can be made available to the population of Sipaway Island. Many of these same services are available on the Internet, however in this explanation we are referring to services and media limited to the proposed Star of the Sea Intranet. Some of these services could include the following.
Local Web content, available via a browser on any client Device on the Intranet. Client devices could include Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets, and other devices that support TCP/IP. This information could include local weather and event information, as well as International News,  Sports, and Entertainment information.
Communications via telephone and SMS texting. For example if you had your device connected to the Star of the Sea Intranet you could make a free voice call or SMS text message from San Juan to Ermita.
Media Services which can include music, video clips, movies, etc available on demand via a laptop using a browser, or via a smart phone or tablet running the media client application.
Calibre Ebook Library to serve the community and school systems with ebooks viewable on most ebook readers for Laptops and Smart Phones and Tablets.
Live streaming of Video, such as Sunday Mass which could be shown in the many satellite chapels across the island. Communion Ministers could be deployed so it would not have to be what is known as a Dry Mass.

On line educational courses for students in Sipaway Schools, as well as the same material available for home studies and homework. This could include any topics from remedial education to practical how to information, or higher education and technical courses, and of course biblical studies.
Emergency Communication capabilities for support in times of natural disasters, such as a Typhoon or other weather system to allow residents of Sipaway reach authorities to request emergency assistance.

Below is a pictorial diagram of the proposed Star of the Sea Intranet

The Topology design is an Intranet with an optional gateway to the Internet. Most of the available services are provided by the Virtual Cloud Servers running as shown in the illustration above. These include the following.

• A Free PBX / Asterisk VM server which can provide voice and sms messaging, as well as voicemail capabilities.An email server
• A Plex Media Server
• A Moodle Educational Server
• RACHEL server / hotspot for each schools system which includes Kahn University Course ware as well as Moodle server for custom creation of courses by Instructors.
• An ebook Server, Calibre Free and Open Source Ebook Server.
• A Utility Server to provide necessary background services such as DNS, DHCP and other necessary services to make the Intranet function Independently of the Internet Gateway,

The system consists of several virtual servers centrally located which distribute services to the inhabitants of Sipaway Island. The network will cover the entire island via wifi repeaters and routers located at strategic points on the island. Some of these points could include the following areas

• School Locations
• Chapel Locations
• Barangay Office Locations
• Dapdap Piers Location
• Ermita Piers Location

Funding

Project funding could be distributed as outlined below.

• Learn Ubuntu Org Inc, a US based 501(c)(3) non profit will contribute the engineering and design work. We will also provide the main Virtual Server for the  Heart of the Sea Net as well as a portion of the backbone. Learn Ubuntu Org Inc will also provide one RACHEL system for each school system.
• Other groups could contribute the necessary funding for their specific areas. For example each School system  will provide the client Laptops or Tablets for the students. This funding could be paid for by monies save by the textbooks that these systems will eventually replace. If students and families are normally responsible for the cost of textbooks then those monies could be used for the student Tablets instead. If funding for textbooks come from local or federal government then those funds could be re-allocated for purchase of Tablets instead, which in the long run should prove to be more cost effective.
• For the Gateway Services to the Internet we should negotiate with Globe and Smart, to see who will be the fairest and most cooperative. In the long run this will save them on distribution costs because we will be providing the WiFi system to cover the Island of Sipaway for them, relieving them of that responsibility and cost. Hopefully they will be cooperative.
• Charitable and Fraternal Organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus could also be approached for help and support with the project.

There are two categories of costs to be considered.

1. First the initial cost of construction, Installation and Training of various people who will be involved in making this project successful. Our experience with projects such as this is that it is much better and more productive to have local citizens involved as opposed to a big hand it over turnkey operation. The more the local citizens, government, and charitable groups get involved the greater the success rate for a project such as this. Everyone has some skin in the game so more people will exert the effort to make it work successfully.
2.  The monthly recurring cost of maintaining the system. This includes items such as outlined below.
   1.  Creation of Media Content for the network system. This include web page production, video production, public service information maintenance, administration of PBX system and and messaging systems, such as email. Overall IT Administration of  entire system. Some of this can be volunteer workers, while other should be paid full or part time employees.
   2. Cost of Internet Gateway connection. This cost can be amortized out by charging participating groups or individual users a small fee to cover the cost of the Internet Gateway Connection. It should be cheaper than individuals are paying for a load from Smart or Globe to make it cost effective. It should be cost effective for individual users of the network, as well as for local Institutions to make the project worthwhile. School systems and Municipalities could also contribute for the good of their communities. But again it should be a cost effective solution, especially if being considered for a replacement for Internet connectivity they currently have. If they currently have no Internet connectivity then this should still be a cost effective opportunity for them, in order to make their participation a value for their goals in support of their respective missions.  In the long run it should be more cost effective for everyone when compared to individual Internet fees because we are buying the Gateway Bandwidth in Bulk.
      
      

Local Participation in Project

As mentioned earlier, previous experience has shown that the more local participation in a project such as this the better the outcome. Some participation may be from individual volunteers and community organizations. Other work will have to be paid labor of local residents. The paid labor will have to be trained, as outlined in the budgets shown in the cost estimates and budget section. This is a good thing because it may help to train local people, giving them new skills and job opportunities that could extend beyond the scope of this project.

Direct Economic Values

Direct economic values stem from the provision of a system that supports local communication across the island of Sipaway. It is cheaper and quicker to call someone from San Juan to make a business deal than it is to have to physically go there to do the same task.  Other income to support the system could come via paid advertisement from local and San Carlos City businesses that wish to reach the citizens of Sipaway with their offerings.
For individual users it will be a direct cost savings when compared to what they currently pay individually for loads from Globe or Smart to access the Internet.
Long term savings for the schools can result by the savings in purchase of textbooks as they can be replaced with ebooks. While textbooks wear out, over time, ebooks do not wear out.

Spin-off Economic Values

Spin off  economic values are somewhat difficult to quantify, but lets look at a few historic examples where an technical challenge was placed and the community responded. Take for example, the USA’s project to put a man on the moon, back in the 1960’s. The need to develop technology brought about all kinds of new technologies, some of which we still enjoy today, such as Tang Juice drink, and Cordless electric power tools. The technology necessary for the race to the moon spun off the technology to create the battery for that  series of power tools.  On a smaller scale, a project such as this for Sipaway Island will provide many opportunities for the younger people of the area to learn new technology and possibly advance their careers as computer and IT professionals.
Many other business opportunities will evolve, over time, as citizens learn how to use the new technology and come up with ideas to support business growth and creation of new business that use the technology. One simple example could be that you could go to a web page and arrange for a taxi to the docks or to be picked up at the docks when returning from San Carlos. Other small family run businesses will soon learn how to use the technology to make better use of their time and grow their business.

Financial Operating Budget (Estimate)

Below is a sample preliminary operational budget proposal for the project

Construction and Design Cost Estimates (budgetary)

Summary

This proposal is only an initial offering to be considered by the residents of Sipaway Island. If approved and moved forward then we will surly have to adapt as we bring it to fruition. We estimate that it will take approximately one year to complete the system, once approved. During the course of that years some systems may come on line sooner than others. We believe this may bring some good paying job opportunities to the community as well as improve the lifestyle for the residents of Sipaway Island. The key to making this project work and enhancing the long term effects will depend largely on the participation and cooperation of individuals as well as volunteer groups, Barangay officials  and Educational Administrators and Teachers. While this may appear to be a big project we suggest that you do not let the scope of the project scare you. Everything can be accomplished one step at a time and in the end many will benefit from all of our collective efforts.

About Learn Ubuntu Org Inc.
 
Learn Ubuntu org Inc. is a US based 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed with a mission to promote technical education, for developing countries worldwide. Thomas Judge is it’s president and founder. For more information about Learn Ubuntu Org and its works please visit the website https://learnubuntu.org and click on the link in the top middle of the page or go to this URL https://classrooms.learnubuntu.org/mod/page/view.php?id=291
which is an open course book on our educational server that tells our story.
Tom Judge may be contacted at either tvjudge@gmail.com or tvjudge@learnubuntu.org