About IEDP

About IEDP

The IEDP was established in 1999 by the IPSA at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. It is a student initiated, three-credit program that serves as a forum for students to discuss the challenges faced by developing economies. IEDP participants engage in a seven-week course in the winter semester, extensively studying the country of choice, and then take a one-week trip to the country over Spring Break. During the trip, IEDP students conduct extensive interviews and discussions with policymakers, members of civil society, foreign development agencies and university students. So far the IEDP has visited 11 countries, including Ethiopia, Cuba, Morocco, China, Costa Rica, Peru, Jordan, Senegal and the Philippines. The country of study for 2011 is Grenada, the first country from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the IEDP's history.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Internet Changes Everything...

We seemed to be expected to update our daily lives during Spring "Study" Break... The thing has not gone as we had expected :-(

The issue has been the Internet, here.  Yes, we have an access.  The hotel we stays has a Wi-Fi access; my PC catches the WiFi signal in my room...it cannot establish a connection when I am in that room.  The only place I can use the Internet is the lobby (and other restaurant or shopping centers which offer a Free WiFi access).

It looks so strange that one same hotel guest sit in the lobby for a very long time just looking PC screen, not looking at such a beautiful blue sky and lovely wind as well as amazing beach... But, I need to do so to pick up various materials from a cloud storage and doing follow-up studies for preparation.

We have gotten a ton of insights and inspirations (+ motivation) from speakers.  They have pursued their mission, struggled with various obstacles, and maintained hope to achieve their mission, as those who work in the US do.  It would be an overgeneralization, but some discipline that Ford School taught has some sort of applicability in Grenada.  It is important to separate path dependency or cultural/historical context to analyze the issue.  In this context, the US (or other industrialized country) is not special as Grenada is not special.

So, that's the same in the US; we cannot do well without the Internet as well.