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Educating Informatics Experts from Developing Countries: A Curriculum
EDUCATING INFORMATICS EXPERTS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:
A CURRICULUM
Laurent Sikl~ssy, Professor The Department of Computer Sciences The University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712
ABSTRACT
able to make use of the advances in systems concepts that may help it in its development. It will be at the mercy of exploiting, fast-talking hardware and software salesmen, and it will misuse its human and natural resources!
Present informatics curricula in universities provide training for specialists in informatics who find positions in the government, universities or industries of highly industrialized nations. We argue that such curricula are incomplete when it is a question of forming informatics experts for developing countries. We present a detailed suggested curriculum which does not water down the requirements of an available computer science diploma, but complements it to form an informatician who will be an asset to a developing country.
In sections 2, 3 and 4 we shall outline a curriculum, to form computer specialists for developing countries. In section 5, once the global picture has been sketched, we justify some of our choices insisting, in particular, on the differences between the tasks faced by informatics experts in developing and developed countries respectively. 2.
1.
INFORMATICS CURRICULA:
FOR WHOM?
Any system or organism first attempts to satisfy its own needs. It should therefore come as no surprise if the computer science, or informatics, programs that have been developed in a highly industrialized country such as the USA have as purpose, at least implicitly, the formation of the kind of informaticians that would be needed in American government, business and university. Can a developing nation profit from having its nationals educated in such an environment? The scenario is all too familiar. A bright person from a developing country comes to an American university and spends several years overcoming language and cultural adaptation problems, besides having to follow intensive studies. Finally, he (or she) receives a doctorate (Ph.D.) and returns to his country to find no place to continue his research, or do any research for that matter. He will perhaps try to return to the USA, or disillusioned, "sell" his prestigious diploma to some bureaucracy.
PROFILE OF AN INFORMATICIAN FOR A DEVELOPING COUNTRY.
The training of informaticians for developing countries brings simultaneously into focus the three areas of education, informatics and development, each area a monster in its own right. Since we shall be concerned mostly with a small aspect of computer education, we refer the reader to the Proceedings of the Rio Symposium o~19omputer Education for Developing Countries which addressed itself to the many aspects of this problem. * We judge the principal characteristics of the informatics specialists from a developing country to be the following: a) he has a thorough background in computer science which permits him to talk knowledgeably with vendors of services (hardware and software), users and administrators. b) he keeps in touch with developments in the computer fie Id. c) he can educate others formally and informally.
Yet, the formation given in informatics programs is valuable to one who will use, evaluate, teach or otherwise be involved with computers. The computer has the potential of permitting a country to jump stages in development as it tries to improve the quality of life of its people. We shall propose a modification to existing informatics curricula which will form an informatician well qualified in his field, but moreover with an education that makes his informatics background of use to his developing country. Unless such informaticians are trained, with a curriculum similar to the one proposed here, a developing country will not be
Superior numbers refer to similarly-numbered references at the end of this paper.
*See in particular the papers by Boehm, Page, and Siklossy. The symposium did not specifically treat the question of training the type of informatician that will be discussed here.
433
d) he can critically evaluate projects involving computers, and participate in the planning, development and testing of these projects. e) he has a global view of the development of his country, and appreciates the role of informatics in this development.
a1 training material is available. From this point on, we shall refer to courses, programs and degrees offered at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas. This is not to say that similar programs of study could not be implemented at other universities with comparable breadth of offerings.
In a developed country, few individuals have all the characteristics that we have outlined. Specialization takes its toll: computer science professors teach computer science; economists are concerned with development; administrators talk to vendors, etc. In countries with scarce human resources, the specialist has no place (and is often nonexistent). Yet, it appears possible to form informatics specialists along the model we sketched.
We shall now describe the various aspects of the curriculum. Its heart is the course requirements for a Master of Arts degree in Computer Sciences, together with a Master's thesis.'~ The computer sciences course requirements are described briefly, before we pass to the supplemental materials: language, teaching experience, management, economics and efficiency considerations.
We now turn to the question of where such informaticians should be trained. 3.
4.1
-1(*
The Master's program requires advanced course study in five of six areas. One of the areas, automata theory, seems least relevant, while the other five have great relevance. They are:
THE PLACE OF TRAINING.
It is to be expected that a developing country will not have a center for the training of informatics specialists. Developing such a center is tempting: it would be more economical, it would be a local focus of informatics work, the informatician would maintain contact with his homeland, etc. On the other hand, the creation of such a center would require a human investment that may be too dear initially.
Numerical Analysis. Many computer applications are numeric in nature. Programming Languages. The choice of the language best suited to a project is the first decision that must be made. Moreover, for some projects, specialized languages must be developed. Advanced Operating Systems. Perhaps more than the hardware, the operating system of a computer configuration must be carefully evaluated before a purchase or lease commitment is made. Computer Architecture. Computers come as minicomputers and supercomputers; microprogrammable or not; discs come as fixed-head or moving-head discs, etc. Artificial Intelligence. This somewhat esoteric sounding area is the study of modelling and problem-solving, in particular of problems for which no, or no practical, algorithmic solution exists -- and that includes most problems!
There are some additional reasons for preferring a center in a developed country. First, this center has already available the manpower and facilities needed. Second, in developing countries, the social and political conditions are not always conducive to a wrinkle-free education. For example, political agitation has resulted in universities being closed for lengthy periods. Third, a diploma from a recognized educational institution carries with it good will and the keys to many doors. We would favor, however, the development of a training center for lower level informaticians: programmers, coders, etc. The Algerian example of the C.E.R.I. (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches en Informatique = Center for Studies and Research in Informatics), where the author had the pleasure of lecturing on several occasions, is an example worth studying. 4.
Core Course Requirements.
4.2
Master's Thesis.
The Master's thesis is a research project of modest dimensions which will give the informatician experience in ways and approaches to solving original problems. Although the Master's degree could be acquired without a thesis, the value of a thesis for someone who does not continue towards a doctorate cannot be sufficiently stressed.
THE SUGGESTED CURRICULUM.
The thesis should be of relevance to the expected environment the informatician will find upon his return to his country. For example, programming developments on minicomputers -- perhaps of educational material, see section 4.9 below -would be of great interest.
The main thesis of our proposal is to supplement an already established studies pr ogram for a Master's degree in informatics. Our reasons are the following: the program already exists, and does not have to be deve loped. the value of the program is known, which would not be the case of a new program, the worth of which would have to ascertained through time. the informatician from a developing country would be offered some courtesy certificate, or a watered-down diploma. in a large university, such as the University of Texas at Austin, much of the desired supplement-
* An American Master's degree is considered somewhat of the level of a Fr ench " Doctorat du 3 cycle", although the lack of uniformity in the American educational system makes this correspondence rather weak. The Ph.D. is discussed extensively in section 5.1. D
-1<>"
All courses mentioned last one semester.
434
4.3
have a good grasp of the economics of his country to appreciate this investment, and to see how it could be best used. One 'of the following course offerings would be valuable:
Supporting Computer Science Material.
The c ore courses cannot be taken until the future informatician has acquired a more elementary background, for example by mastering the material from the following courses:
Foreign Investments and Aid Regional Growth and Development Theories of Economic Development The economic s of computers can themse I ves) be a subject of interest in their own right. (2
Introduction to Computer Sciences Computer Organization and Pr ogramming Information Structures and Systems Programming Languages -- a survey Introduction to Ope rating Systems
The University of Texas at Austin is particularly strong in the economics of Latin America. Here are some choices that Latin Americans (and perhaps others) might prefer: De velopment Problems and Policies in Latin America, Entrepreneurship in Latin American Development. Urban and Regional Development in Latin America. Public Sector in Latin American Developme nt.
An American student would be satisfied to stop with the above minimum requirements. The organization for which he would work will be sufficiently rich to provide him with colleagues and support personne l to compensate for his rather narrow and spe cialized education. The informatician from a deve loping country must achieve more! 4.4
English Language Sophistication.
Since most informatics material is published in English, our informatician must master English thoroughly. (The same r e quirement should be enforced for Americans t oo!).
4.9
Informatics Educator
Projects have dynamics of their own which can only be appreciated by participating in an on-going research or developmental project. We would r e commend that our informatician acquire experie nce first-hand about projects by participating in their realization as a member of a team.
Finally, our informatician should develop some experience in teaching informatics -- directly or indirectly. Indirect teaching would take the form o f computer programs with which students could interact. Such programs could be tutorial, simulations, problem-solv ing aids, or command language packages, to mention just a few possibilitie s. The development of such instructional mat e rial could well constitute the material of a thesis, and if impleme nte d on a minicompute r, would be o f great relevance to developing c ountrie s.
4.6
5.
4.5
Proje ct Participation
Human Resource.
Be sides practical experience in team-work, more formal training in the utilization of human resources is desirabl e . One of th e following c ourses might be sufficient:
The aspects of the curriculum we have sketched require some further justifications: a) the decision to terminate the curriculum at the Master's, instead of the Ph.D., level. b) the dissatisfaction with the present Master's curriculum, and the r e asons for complementing the prese nt curriculum a vailable to futur e informaticians from developing countrie s with notions of management and economics.
Interpers onnel Dynamics and Administrative Practices, or Organizational Be havior and Human Re lations (De partment of Manageme nt), Human Re source Development, or Social As sessment of Planning (De partment of Economics). 4.7
5.1
The American Ph.D.:
its limitations.
The requirements for a Master's degree, as outlined in sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, will pr oduce a competent computer specialist with a desirable background in programming and a good theor e tical knowledge of the mathematics and modelling techniques of the field. The reasons f or a strong theoretical background can be justified here, as in other fields, by realizing that particular skills, suchas programming in a certain language on a given computer, become obsolete in a matter of a few years, while the theoretical understanding of programming languages, compilers and operating systems is of lasting value.
Efficiency
To utilize resourc e s as efficiently as possible , a background in optimization techniques is necessary. Sample possibilities include: Sy stems Modeling and Analysis (De partment of Computer Sciences) Operations Research and Manageme nt (Department of Me chanical Engineering) Planning and Control, or Computer Use in De cision Making (De partme nt of Business Administration). 4.8
JUSTIFICATIONS
Economics
Yet, many informaticians in the United State s will continue their studie s beyond the Master's degree towards a doctorate, i.e. Ph.D. Besides some examinations testing their overall knowledge of the field, the only additional requirement of a
Investments in c omputer hardware, software and personnel will represent a substantial effort for a de veloping nation. The informatician should
435
Ph.D. beyond a Master's degree is the writing of a doctoral dissertation -- an original piece of research which advances the state of the art. Let us consider some of the reasons for which a Ph.D. is sought: a) it is there, so it should be obtained. This reason may be called the Mount Everest, or the Moon syndrome: man will climb a mountain, or go to the moon, just because it is there, and nobody has done it before, or done it the same way. b) the Ph.D. is almost a requirement for entering certain professions, such as a university professorial career. It is a union card, and its holder receives immediate compensations, such as salary and title advantages. In a competitive situation, additional assets, such as diplomas, are not to be neglected. c) an informatician with a Ph.D. has demonstrated that he can do individual, original work, in unfamiliar, unknown territory. Since much work in life will also be novel, a person with a Ph.D. can claim that, at least once and in some particular circumstances, he did perform novel work. d) the Ph.D. is also a union card into a supposed elite of workers who meet together, talk the same language, and often have a condescending attitude towards those who do not belong to their group. e) the Ph.D. imparts prestige to its holder, and imparts prestige to the organization company, university, country -- of which the holder is a member.
informatics, he must search out a very small subarea and concentrate all his energy on achieving some progress in that subarea; finally, the third characteristic is a direct consequence of the requirement that a Ph.D. be gained by an individual, with some benevolent advice from a supervisor. Team work is allowed only in the rarest circumstances, and the problems a single man can successfully investigate in a period of some two to three years are, necessarily, of limited scope. By contrast, most real problems have little in common with the toy problems that are attacked in university environments. They are large, necessitating the concerted efforts of many coworkers. Furthermore, they often require some immediate action, which cannot wait for some ultra-critical mind to be intellectually satisfied. Perhaps it is because industrial organizations also are concerned with broad, real problems, that they are sometimes reluctant to hire holders of Ph.D. 's, preferring someone who has not yet become a prima donna. The Ph.D. prima donna will require special favours, leaves of absences, trips back to developing countries to pursue contacts and work of little interest to his own country, etc. An itinerant Ph.D . may not be very effective. Certainly, reason d) above is not applicable to developing countries. Reason e) presents more difficulties. Every organization, whether an individual, group or country, needs to be proud of its achievements and of some, or all, its components. A Ph.D. can be an ego-bolstering exhibit, just like a presidential palace, a national airline, or the first man on the moon. A related justification for Ph.D. 's stems from the belief that a people richly endowed with Ph.D. 's and other highly qualified scientists is therefore less "barbarian" or more "civilized" than others. The wars of this century have demonstrated the fallacy of this mode of thought.
We now question whether any of the above reasons are relevant to informaticians from developing countries. In an effort to startle the reader into questioning his preconceptions, we shall adopt an extreme, almost polemical attitude. In particular cases, our positions may have to be nuanced. Clearly, reason a) should not interest us, and reason b) is not applicable to developing countries where lack of skilled personnel often results in many posts being filled by insufficiently trained persons . We could dismiss reason c) on the same grounds, namely that a developing country does not necessitate that one of its nationals demonstrate his capabilities elsewhere : he can do so at home. But that would be insufficient. We would like to argue that, in many cases, the type of training and gymnastics that the holder of a Ph.D. has undergone, is a handicap for work at home in a developing country.
Finally, it might be argued that a developing country with highly trained specialists may be better qualified to use, and therefore to receive foreign aid for its development. A quick overview of recipients of aid seems to indicate that this is not the case: more foreign capital is received by already developed countries than by developing ones, and among the latter, political and strategic considerations seem to completely overshadow levels of development.
Perhaps the single major aspect of his training on which we wish to focus is the individual nature of his work, which results in three main characteristics: first, an ultra-critical approach to problems and solutions, together with a "prima donna" mentality; second, often a very narrow view even of his discipline; and third, the lack of practice in solving large problems that require the concerted efforts of several coworkers. The first characteristic arises because the Ph.D. candidate must demonstrate that his work is "better" than all previous, related work; the second because, to make some progress in
5.2
The Need for Complementary Materials
We can distinguish three main areas in the training of a complete informatician: theoretical knowledge in the information sciences; applied knowledge in the use of computer tools (hardware and software); management and economics of information systems (personnel, hardware-software systems, resources, planning).
436
Partly because of their outgrowth from mathematics or engineering programs, informatics programs in the United States are strong in either the first or the second areas of informatics, sometimes in both, and almost never in all three. A graduating informatician in the U.S. will join one of many already existing organizations which utilize computers in one capacity or another. Most probably, he will be using his acquired skills in only one of the first two areas. Such responsibilities as the evaluation of computer systems, or the operations of a computation center, are the province of managers whose knowledge of informatics is often scant.
An excess of riches is also responsible for the unfortunate barrier between system programmers and users. In developing countries, this barrier will be tenuous, and we can hope that the systems that will be designed will be more helpful and adapted to the user, perhaps even somewhat intelligent. Will the day come when developed countries will send some of their students to developing countries to receive their training in informatics? Pourquoi pas?
Size and the efficiency that are thought to come with specialization are the usual justifications for the above separation of expertise in informatics. We would a~gue that it is not necessary, and that it may be detrimental, to split the three components of an informatician into several individuals, especially in a developing country where human and material resources are scarce. The supplementary material that we outlined in sections 4.5 to 4.8 purport to add the third, managerial, dimension to the two that are usually provided by informatics curricula. 6.
THE RESULTS
The informatician who has followed the curriculum we have outlined could be a great asset to his country. To mention just a few of his contributions: He could critically evaluate computer needs, usages, facilities, personnel, proposals, etc. he could search for computer applications to avoid typical underutilization of computers in developing countries. he could participate in, or direct, computer projects. he could transmit his knowledge of informatics, and participate in local curriculum deve lopments. What is the price? With a reasonable background from his national university, we would expect that the curriculum we have outlined could be completed in three years, one year more than the two it typically takes an American student to satisfy all the requirements for a Master's degree. The price appears small indeed! 7.
CONCLUSIONS: CONTRIBUTIONS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO INFORMATICS.
We doubt that developing countries will constantly remain on the receiving side in exchanges of informatics know-how. We hope, and perhaps even expect, that they will soon be contributing to informatics in at least the two areas of minicomputer utilization and "intelligent" software. Minicomputers, whose prices keep falling, offer attractive potential in developing countries. Their potential is neglected by those, like us, who have available large computers.
437
8.
REFERENCES
(1)
Proceedings of the Rio Symposium on Computer Education for Developing Countries, August 6-12, 1972. Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(2)
Sharpe, W. F., The Economics of Computers, Columbia University Press, New York, 1969.
A CURRICULUM
Laurent Sikl~ssy, Professor The Department of Computer Sciences The University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712
ABSTRACT
able to make use of the advances in systems concepts that may help it in its development. It will be at the mercy of exploiting, fast-talking hardware and software salesmen, and it will misuse its human and natural resources!
Present informatics curricula in universities provide training for specialists in informatics who find positions in the government, universities or industries of highly industrialized nations. We argue that such curricula are incomplete when it is a question of forming informatics experts for developing countries. We present a detailed suggested curriculum which does not water down the requirements of an available computer science diploma, but complements it to form an informatician who will be an asset to a developing country.
In sections 2, 3 and 4 we shall outline a curriculum, to form computer specialists for developing countries. In section 5, once the global picture has been sketched, we justify some of our choices insisting, in particular, on the differences between the tasks faced by informatics experts in developing and developed countries respectively. 2.
1.
INFORMATICS CURRICULA:
FOR WHOM?
Any system or organism first attempts to satisfy its own needs. It should therefore come as no surprise if the computer science, or informatics, programs that have been developed in a highly industrialized country such as the USA have as purpose, at least implicitly, the formation of the kind of informaticians that would be needed in American government, business and university. Can a developing nation profit from having its nationals educated in such an environment? The scenario is all too familiar. A bright person from a developing country comes to an American university and spends several years overcoming language and cultural adaptation problems, besides having to follow intensive studies. Finally, he (or she) receives a doctorate (Ph.D.) and returns to his country to find no place to continue his research, or do any research for that matter. He will perhaps try to return to the USA, or disillusioned, "sell" his prestigious diploma to some bureaucracy.
PROFILE OF AN INFORMATICIAN FOR A DEVELOPING COUNTRY.
The training of informaticians for developing countries brings simultaneously into focus the three areas of education, informatics and development, each area a monster in its own right. Since we shall be concerned mostly with a small aspect of computer education, we refer the reader to the Proceedings of the Rio Symposium o~19omputer Education for Developing Countries which addressed itself to the many aspects of this problem. * We judge the principal characteristics of the informatics specialists from a developing country to be the following: a) he has a thorough background in computer science which permits him to talk knowledgeably with vendors of services (hardware and software), users and administrators. b) he keeps in touch with developments in the computer fie Id. c) he can educate others formally and informally.
Yet, the formation given in informatics programs is valuable to one who will use, evaluate, teach or otherwise be involved with computers. The computer has the potential of permitting a country to jump stages in development as it tries to improve the quality of life of its people. We shall propose a modification to existing informatics curricula which will form an informatician well qualified in his field, but moreover with an education that makes his informatics background of use to his developing country. Unless such informaticians are trained, with a curriculum similar to the one proposed here, a developing country will not be
Superior numbers refer to similarly-numbered references at the end of this paper.
*See in particular the papers by Boehm, Page, and Siklossy. The symposium did not specifically treat the question of training the type of informatician that will be discussed here.
433
d) he can critically evaluate projects involving computers, and participate in the planning, development and testing of these projects. e) he has a global view of the development of his country, and appreciates the role of informatics in this development.
a1 training material is available. From this point on, we shall refer to courses, programs and degrees offered at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas. This is not to say that similar programs of study could not be implemented at other universities with comparable breadth of offerings.
In a developed country, few individuals have all the characteristics that we have outlined. Specialization takes its toll: computer science professors teach computer science; economists are concerned with development; administrators talk to vendors, etc. In countries with scarce human resources, the specialist has no place (and is often nonexistent). Yet, it appears possible to form informatics specialists along the model we sketched.
We shall now describe the various aspects of the curriculum. Its heart is the course requirements for a Master of Arts degree in Computer Sciences, together with a Master's thesis.'~ The computer sciences course requirements are described briefly, before we pass to the supplemental materials: language, teaching experience, management, economics and efficiency considerations.
We now turn to the question of where such informaticians should be trained. 3.
4.1
-1(*
The Master's program requires advanced course study in five of six areas. One of the areas, automata theory, seems least relevant, while the other five have great relevance. They are:
THE PLACE OF TRAINING.
It is to be expected that a developing country will not have a center for the training of informatics specialists. Developing such a center is tempting: it would be more economical, it would be a local focus of informatics work, the informatician would maintain contact with his homeland, etc. On the other hand, the creation of such a center would require a human investment that may be too dear initially.
Numerical Analysis. Many computer applications are numeric in nature. Programming Languages. The choice of the language best suited to a project is the first decision that must be made. Moreover, for some projects, specialized languages must be developed. Advanced Operating Systems. Perhaps more than the hardware, the operating system of a computer configuration must be carefully evaluated before a purchase or lease commitment is made. Computer Architecture. Computers come as minicomputers and supercomputers; microprogrammable or not; discs come as fixed-head or moving-head discs, etc. Artificial Intelligence. This somewhat esoteric sounding area is the study of modelling and problem-solving, in particular of problems for which no, or no practical, algorithmic solution exists -- and that includes most problems!
There are some additional reasons for preferring a center in a developed country. First, this center has already available the manpower and facilities needed. Second, in developing countries, the social and political conditions are not always conducive to a wrinkle-free education. For example, political agitation has resulted in universities being closed for lengthy periods. Third, a diploma from a recognized educational institution carries with it good will and the keys to many doors. We would favor, however, the development of a training center for lower level informaticians: programmers, coders, etc. The Algerian example of the C.E.R.I. (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches en Informatique = Center for Studies and Research in Informatics), where the author had the pleasure of lecturing on several occasions, is an example worth studying. 4.
Core Course Requirements.
4.2
Master's Thesis.
The Master's thesis is a research project of modest dimensions which will give the informatician experience in ways and approaches to solving original problems. Although the Master's degree could be acquired without a thesis, the value of a thesis for someone who does not continue towards a doctorate cannot be sufficiently stressed.
THE SUGGESTED CURRICULUM.
The thesis should be of relevance to the expected environment the informatician will find upon his return to his country. For example, programming developments on minicomputers -- perhaps of educational material, see section 4.9 below -would be of great interest.
The main thesis of our proposal is to supplement an already established studies pr ogram for a Master's degree in informatics. Our reasons are the following: the program already exists, and does not have to be deve loped. the value of the program is known, which would not be the case of a new program, the worth of which would have to ascertained through time. the informatician from a developing country would be offered some courtesy certificate, or a watered-down diploma. in a large university, such as the University of Texas at Austin, much of the desired supplement-
* An American Master's degree is considered somewhat of the level of a Fr ench " Doctorat du 3 cycle", although the lack of uniformity in the American educational system makes this correspondence rather weak. The Ph.D. is discussed extensively in section 5.1. D
-1<>"
All courses mentioned last one semester.
434
4.3
have a good grasp of the economics of his country to appreciate this investment, and to see how it could be best used. One 'of the following course offerings would be valuable:
Supporting Computer Science Material.
The c ore courses cannot be taken until the future informatician has acquired a more elementary background, for example by mastering the material from the following courses:
Foreign Investments and Aid Regional Growth and Development Theories of Economic Development The economic s of computers can themse I ves) be a subject of interest in their own right. (2
Introduction to Computer Sciences Computer Organization and Pr ogramming Information Structures and Systems Programming Languages -- a survey Introduction to Ope rating Systems
The University of Texas at Austin is particularly strong in the economics of Latin America. Here are some choices that Latin Americans (and perhaps others) might prefer: De velopment Problems and Policies in Latin America, Entrepreneurship in Latin American Development. Urban and Regional Development in Latin America. Public Sector in Latin American Developme nt.
An American student would be satisfied to stop with the above minimum requirements. The organization for which he would work will be sufficiently rich to provide him with colleagues and support personne l to compensate for his rather narrow and spe cialized education. The informatician from a deve loping country must achieve more! 4.4
English Language Sophistication.
Since most informatics material is published in English, our informatician must master English thoroughly. (The same r e quirement should be enforced for Americans t oo!).
4.9
Informatics Educator
Projects have dynamics of their own which can only be appreciated by participating in an on-going research or developmental project. We would r e commend that our informatician acquire experie nce first-hand about projects by participating in their realization as a member of a team.
Finally, our informatician should develop some experience in teaching informatics -- directly or indirectly. Indirect teaching would take the form o f computer programs with which students could interact. Such programs could be tutorial, simulations, problem-solv ing aids, or command language packages, to mention just a few possibilitie s. The development of such instructional mat e rial could well constitute the material of a thesis, and if impleme nte d on a minicompute r, would be o f great relevance to developing c ountrie s.
4.6
5.
4.5
Proje ct Participation
Human Resource.
Be sides practical experience in team-work, more formal training in the utilization of human resources is desirabl e . One of th e following c ourses might be sufficient:
The aspects of the curriculum we have sketched require some further justifications: a) the decision to terminate the curriculum at the Master's, instead of the Ph.D., level. b) the dissatisfaction with the present Master's curriculum, and the r e asons for complementing the prese nt curriculum a vailable to futur e informaticians from developing countrie s with notions of management and economics.
Interpers onnel Dynamics and Administrative Practices, or Organizational Be havior and Human Re lations (De partment of Manageme nt), Human Re source Development, or Social As sessment of Planning (De partment of Economics). 4.7
5.1
The American Ph.D.:
its limitations.
The requirements for a Master's degree, as outlined in sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, will pr oduce a competent computer specialist with a desirable background in programming and a good theor e tical knowledge of the mathematics and modelling techniques of the field. The reasons f or a strong theoretical background can be justified here, as in other fields, by realizing that particular skills, suchas programming in a certain language on a given computer, become obsolete in a matter of a few years, while the theoretical understanding of programming languages, compilers and operating systems is of lasting value.
Efficiency
To utilize resourc e s as efficiently as possible , a background in optimization techniques is necessary. Sample possibilities include: Sy stems Modeling and Analysis (De partment of Computer Sciences) Operations Research and Manageme nt (Department of Me chanical Engineering) Planning and Control, or Computer Use in De cision Making (De partme nt of Business Administration). 4.8
JUSTIFICATIONS
Economics
Yet, many informaticians in the United State s will continue their studie s beyond the Master's degree towards a doctorate, i.e. Ph.D. Besides some examinations testing their overall knowledge of the field, the only additional requirement of a
Investments in c omputer hardware, software and personnel will represent a substantial effort for a de veloping nation. The informatician should
435
Ph.D. beyond a Master's degree is the writing of a doctoral dissertation -- an original piece of research which advances the state of the art. Let us consider some of the reasons for which a Ph.D. is sought: a) it is there, so it should be obtained. This reason may be called the Mount Everest, or the Moon syndrome: man will climb a mountain, or go to the moon, just because it is there, and nobody has done it before, or done it the same way. b) the Ph.D. is almost a requirement for entering certain professions, such as a university professorial career. It is a union card, and its holder receives immediate compensations, such as salary and title advantages. In a competitive situation, additional assets, such as diplomas, are not to be neglected. c) an informatician with a Ph.D. has demonstrated that he can do individual, original work, in unfamiliar, unknown territory. Since much work in life will also be novel, a person with a Ph.D. can claim that, at least once and in some particular circumstances, he did perform novel work. d) the Ph.D. is also a union card into a supposed elite of workers who meet together, talk the same language, and often have a condescending attitude towards those who do not belong to their group. e) the Ph.D. imparts prestige to its holder, and imparts prestige to the organization company, university, country -- of which the holder is a member.
informatics, he must search out a very small subarea and concentrate all his energy on achieving some progress in that subarea; finally, the third characteristic is a direct consequence of the requirement that a Ph.D. be gained by an individual, with some benevolent advice from a supervisor. Team work is allowed only in the rarest circumstances, and the problems a single man can successfully investigate in a period of some two to three years are, necessarily, of limited scope. By contrast, most real problems have little in common with the toy problems that are attacked in university environments. They are large, necessitating the concerted efforts of many coworkers. Furthermore, they often require some immediate action, which cannot wait for some ultra-critical mind to be intellectually satisfied. Perhaps it is because industrial organizations also are concerned with broad, real problems, that they are sometimes reluctant to hire holders of Ph.D. 's, preferring someone who has not yet become a prima donna. The Ph.D. prima donna will require special favours, leaves of absences, trips back to developing countries to pursue contacts and work of little interest to his own country, etc. An itinerant Ph.D . may not be very effective. Certainly, reason d) above is not applicable to developing countries. Reason e) presents more difficulties. Every organization, whether an individual, group or country, needs to be proud of its achievements and of some, or all, its components. A Ph.D. can be an ego-bolstering exhibit, just like a presidential palace, a national airline, or the first man on the moon. A related justification for Ph.D. 's stems from the belief that a people richly endowed with Ph.D. 's and other highly qualified scientists is therefore less "barbarian" or more "civilized" than others. The wars of this century have demonstrated the fallacy of this mode of thought.
We now question whether any of the above reasons are relevant to informaticians from developing countries. In an effort to startle the reader into questioning his preconceptions, we shall adopt an extreme, almost polemical attitude. In particular cases, our positions may have to be nuanced. Clearly, reason a) should not interest us, and reason b) is not applicable to developing countries where lack of skilled personnel often results in many posts being filled by insufficiently trained persons . We could dismiss reason c) on the same grounds, namely that a developing country does not necessitate that one of its nationals demonstrate his capabilities elsewhere : he can do so at home. But that would be insufficient. We would like to argue that, in many cases, the type of training and gymnastics that the holder of a Ph.D. has undergone, is a handicap for work at home in a developing country.
Finally, it might be argued that a developing country with highly trained specialists may be better qualified to use, and therefore to receive foreign aid for its development. A quick overview of recipients of aid seems to indicate that this is not the case: more foreign capital is received by already developed countries than by developing ones, and among the latter, political and strategic considerations seem to completely overshadow levels of development.
Perhaps the single major aspect of his training on which we wish to focus is the individual nature of his work, which results in three main characteristics: first, an ultra-critical approach to problems and solutions, together with a "prima donna" mentality; second, often a very narrow view even of his discipline; and third, the lack of practice in solving large problems that require the concerted efforts of several coworkers. The first characteristic arises because the Ph.D. candidate must demonstrate that his work is "better" than all previous, related work; the second because, to make some progress in
5.2
The Need for Complementary Materials
We can distinguish three main areas in the training of a complete informatician: theoretical knowledge in the information sciences; applied knowledge in the use of computer tools (hardware and software); management and economics of information systems (personnel, hardware-software systems, resources, planning).
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Partly because of their outgrowth from mathematics or engineering programs, informatics programs in the United States are strong in either the first or the second areas of informatics, sometimes in both, and almost never in all three. A graduating informatician in the U.S. will join one of many already existing organizations which utilize computers in one capacity or another. Most probably, he will be using his acquired skills in only one of the first two areas. Such responsibilities as the evaluation of computer systems, or the operations of a computation center, are the province of managers whose knowledge of informatics is often scant.
An excess of riches is also responsible for the unfortunate barrier between system programmers and users. In developing countries, this barrier will be tenuous, and we can hope that the systems that will be designed will be more helpful and adapted to the user, perhaps even somewhat intelligent. Will the day come when developed countries will send some of their students to developing countries to receive their training in informatics? Pourquoi pas?
Size and the efficiency that are thought to come with specialization are the usual justifications for the above separation of expertise in informatics. We would a~gue that it is not necessary, and that it may be detrimental, to split the three components of an informatician into several individuals, especially in a developing country where human and material resources are scarce. The supplementary material that we outlined in sections 4.5 to 4.8 purport to add the third, managerial, dimension to the two that are usually provided by informatics curricula. 6.
THE RESULTS
The informatician who has followed the curriculum we have outlined could be a great asset to his country. To mention just a few of his contributions: He could critically evaluate computer needs, usages, facilities, personnel, proposals, etc. he could search for computer applications to avoid typical underutilization of computers in developing countries. he could participate in, or direct, computer projects. he could transmit his knowledge of informatics, and participate in local curriculum deve lopments. What is the price? With a reasonable background from his national university, we would expect that the curriculum we have outlined could be completed in three years, one year more than the two it typically takes an American student to satisfy all the requirements for a Master's degree. The price appears small indeed! 7.
CONCLUSIONS: CONTRIBUTIONS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO INFORMATICS.
We doubt that developing countries will constantly remain on the receiving side in exchanges of informatics know-how. We hope, and perhaps even expect, that they will soon be contributing to informatics in at least the two areas of minicomputer utilization and "intelligent" software. Minicomputers, whose prices keep falling, offer attractive potential in developing countries. Their potential is neglected by those, like us, who have available large computers.
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8.
REFERENCES
(1)
Proceedings of the Rio Symposium on Computer Education for Developing Countries, August 6-12, 1972. Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(2)
Sharpe, W. F., The Economics of Computers, Columbia University Press, New York, 1969.