Practical Internetworking Problems in Mali
An Interview with Sidi Bekaye Coulibaly
by Ouleymatou Traoré Sissoko, Informatics
Engineer, IER
(Translated from French by Jeff Cochrane, USAID/AfricaLink Advisor)
May, 1998
Sissoko: We are this morning in Sotuba, Tuesday, the 12th of
May, 1998. I am in the office of a sorghum program researcher, Mr. Coulibaly
Sidi Bekaye.
[Editor's note: Mr. Coulibaly is the INTSORMIL Project Coordinator
at the Rural Economics Institute (IER)
in Sotuba near Bamako in Mali. The International Sorghum
and Millet (INTSORMIL)
Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP, pronounced "crisp") began
in 1979 and includes the participation of six U.S. universities (University
of Illinois, Kansas State University, Mississippi State University,
University of Nebraska, Purdue University, and Texas A&M University)
and research institutions in the U.S. and collaborating countries, with
principal funding from USAID. AfricaLink support was provided to Mr.
Coulibaly, to complement his support from INTSORMIL.]
Sissoko: When did you first use the Internet?
Coulibaly: For the first time, I used the Internet ... in 1995.
Sissoko: Are you satisfied with your use of the Internet?
Coulibaly: Yes I am very
much satisfied, but from time to time we have a few problems, in particular
electricity and telephone outages. When the phone isn't working, we
can't connect to the Internet. Apart from that, I'm quite satisfied,
because it has facilitated collaboration between myself and especially
my American partners who finance a good part of the INTSORMIL project.
Sissoko: In the future, what would you like to be done?
 Coulibaly:
Well, for the future, first it would be good to be in permanent contact
by telephone. This would require elimination
of telephone and electricity outages. When there are telephone and electricity
problems, email depends on the computers, and we therefore cannot have
access to the Internet. Thus we need to resolve that problem first,
and once that is resolved, I think we'll open contact with additional
correspondents in other research programs to share results and information...
Sissoko: With regard to the Sorghum Program, what are your responsibilities?
Who are you? What is your function?
Coulibaly: My name is Sidi Bekaye Coulibaly.
I am... working on varietal selection. With regard to varietal selection,
we work on the introduction of plant varieties that perform well,
having good yield and adapted to the different agro-ecological conditions
in the country.
Sissoko: Would you like the Sotuba station to
have a [local area] network so that you could exchange information
among yourselves?
Coulibaly: I would like for there to be a network at Sotuba,
not just in one office. For if there could be a computer in all offices,
we could place an Internet link in each. That would help greatly to
eliminate bottlenecks. Because when I want to send something, there
might be another who is waiting to send a message, and there are thus
always interruptions. So then, if in each office we could have an email
or Internet link, I think that would be the best thing.
[Editor's note: For more than a dozen scientists, Mr. Coulibaly's computer was
at the time of the interview the only Internet access point, a common situation
in much of Africa.]
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