NETWORKING AT THE SPACE STATION
by George Por


Picture this:

You just got off the SkyTrain and you see a transport module from the Space Station coming down to pick you up. You enter the module, it takes you to the passenger docking area. You walk through the decompression and decontamination chambers, and, within minutes, you're in the Space Station.

You are not hurrying to visit the welcome and orientation booth, because the view that unfolds through one of the large oval windows grabs your attention. This is the first time you have seen the Blue Planet from this perspective!


I hear some Netweaver readers asking: "So, when will all this happen, and when do we go?" Get prepared, because it's much sooner than you think. The official launch date is July 1, 1986!

To get on the SkyTrain that brings you to the Space Station, first you have to fly to Vancouver, British Columbia. The Station is an international exhibition environment and conference center linked by SkyTrain, a state-of-the-art rapid transit system, to Vancouver's World Expo 86 site.

The Space Station will host Ideafest 86, a festival of Space Age ideas, technology, art, in-person and electronic networking. There will be a variety of seminars, shows, symposia and special events dealing with the intriguing questions of living and working in space.

The brochure also says: "Let us consider our planet as a very real station in space, and our management practices and threatened tenancy as topics worth considering in our debates for a better future on Space Station Earth."

At this point the program is still open to innovative project proposals, so if you think that you can contribute to the success of Ideafest, write a letter of intent explaining what are you offering, and send it to Ideafest 86, 1290 Cartwright St., Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6H 3M5, or call (604) 681-3020 for further information.


Peace Awards, PeacePals, PeaceNet, and PeaceGames
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As a feature of the Space Station, which will run throughout July and August, the World Youth Peace Initiative will use computer conferencing and slow scan television "to link young people in a global web of friendship," says Dr. Gerri Sinclair; and, "We are particularly interested in using technology to establish personal links across hostile boundaries." Dr. Sinclair is an adjunct professor of Simon Fraser University and director of the Initiative.

The four main components of the project are:

* the 1986 International Children's Peace Award ceremonies, sponsored by the San Francisco-based Children as the Peacemakers Foundation, and carried live by satellite linkups to countries throughout the world

* PeacePals, an electronic penpal service that will enable young people to interact on a personal level with others from different cultures and geographic locations

* PeaceNet, a network of media networks that will initiate and promote discussions of peace, the future, and conflict resolution strategies

* PeaceGames, interactive computer simulations and games that teach strategies for international cooperation.


From a purely technical point of view, the World Youth Peace Initiative might well become the largest ever inter-media event, since Simon Fraser University has already donated 2,000 accounts on its mainframe computer, accessible via Telenet and via all the electronic mail services that connect universities and institutions across the world.

This worldwide tele-jamboree promises to be truly challenging for the support team of electronic networkers on many levels. One of them is the first-time combination of a number of technologies supporting individual and group communications.

As Dr. Sinclair explains: "A team of moderators will monitor the online discussions, then summarize and port them over to a host network at the Space Station where the proceedings of the PeaceNet discussions will be projected continuously on video monitors and large projection screens at the site, with the highlights being published in a weekly newsletter distributed to Space Station visitors. Any visitor who wishes to comment upon issues raised in the online discussions will be able to sit down at a computer terminal and type a response, which will then be uploaded to the host computer and ported to all participating networks. A team of site reporters will also be responsible for providing summaries of the site discussions for the online networks. In this way the communication and information flow will be directed from the world at large to the Space Station and back out to the world. Online participants will be able to voice their individual concerns about world peace at an international conference without leaving their own home towns. The participants will be able to communicate with those who have gathered at the Space Station and with those who are linked electronically through this extended network of global
discussion."

In addition to computer teleconferencing, large public display screens, and print newsletters, there are plans to use audio conferencing and slow scan television to allow tele-game players to both hear and see their partners on the "other side."


NETWEAVER READER RESPONSES INVITED
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I've asked Dr. Sinclair about what kind of support she expects from the readers of this article. Here are her answers:

* Ideas and practical advice about connecting young
people among remote areas of the world for
correspondence and peacegaming.

* Addresses and contact persons of computer and
broadcast networks where kids have the opportunity to
discuss issues of conflict and peace.

* Statements of support that can be used in the
fundraising efforts.


You can reach the World Youth Peace Initiative at the following addresses: CompuServe: 70007,1374; EIES: 603; The Source:
BCE122; TeleMail: G.Sinclair; or by landmail: World Youth Peace
Initiative, 1290 Cartwright St., Granville Island, Vancouver,
B.C., Canada, V6H 3M5; voice: (604) 681-3020.