Computing in the Pacific
p. 15 · Read in the full issue
By Michael Le Grand
PACIFIC Islands Monthly has decided to take the brave step of commissioning a new feature column Computing in the Pacific (CIP).
CIP will aim to be interesting, topical and useful and will offer PIM readers insights into computers and computing technology. We will cover what’s hap pening in the information technology world, and more particularly what’s happening in computing in the Pacific islands.
Make no mistake about it, information technology (IT) is increasingly penetrat ing every nation in the Pacific. While formerly the domain of the larger govern ment agencies and departments or the banks and other large corporate and private sector interests, today, and more so in the future, the profile of the IT user is changing.
The change in IT user profile is being driven by many factors. Firstly, develop ments in the microcomputer area where what are termed ‘PCs’ are due to technological developments becoming increasingly powerful and faster with greater amount of storage. Secondly, developments in networking, communi cations and client server technology that effectively means relatively easy linking of machines, groups of machines or even groups of groups of machines. Often these networks can include local or remote mid range or mainframe compu
ters, all in what can be in real-time (as in a voice teleconference session with people) link up.
The next major change factor stems from developments in the software used to develop applications. Once main frame and mid-range systems needed large teams of dedicated professional programmers, microcomputers were re garded as toys. Languages used to develop large system applications were either very specialised (Algol, ADA, PPG or PLI) or semi generic (Cobol, Basic, Fortran). Today with languages such as C and in the development of 4GLs or pure database environments such as Xbase (Fox, Clipper, RBase, DBase 111/IV) application developers can concentrate less on the “how" purely technical programming aspects and more on the “what” or functional productivity of programs. These two positions are for most IT users light years apart and the importance of this development should not be underrated.
Another important evolutionary change is economic. A fact of life in high tech multi-national manufacturing with a focus on volume production in countries with low labour costs and high commonality of products in intense competition. Hardware is decreasing in price, in real dollar terms at around 15 per cent per annum. If you find this hard to believe, check the price you paid 10 to 12 months ago for your last PC printer or plotter. Check your cost today for the same model and be prepared (after
accounting for inflation and currency fluctuations, increases in freight or duty) to be surprised.
Mind you, this effect when ac companied by the effect the pace of technological development has on the market value of used equipment is a very compelling argument to support the universal adoption by governments of accelerated depreciation being allowed on computer equipment.
Prices in the Pacific nations are often very high. While justifiable in some cases, it is unfortunately often because of lack of competition between suppliers or because of a market monopoly with the user bearing the cost.
This is even a sounder reason why initially buyers should shop around suppliers for the best price. Even more so today as manufacturers are compelled to move away from proprietary systems through either the need to offer semi generic system software which allows their machines to talk to other manufac turers (open systems) or to employ products that are or seen to be industry standards (MS DOS, Unix, Windows etc).
Next issue we will look at how these factors have affected one of the Pacific I region’s most successful users of com- I puters, the Forum Fisheries Agency, I Forum Fisheries has successfully im- I plemented a phased approach to I standardising compensation in every I one of the 18 agency national offices. □ I