Sir Arthur C. Clarke, resident of Sri Lanka, citizen of the United Kingdom, and man of the universe, passed away on the morning of the 19th of March. His was a life well lived. He will be remembered.
Sir Arthur imagined what the world could be. In some cases, such as the geostationary orbit that was named after him, he even did the mathematics to substantiate his imagination. But the mathematics was not the true achievement: it was that he imagined this wondrous idea of a specific orbit where satellites would be stationary in relation to the earth and could therefore serve as very tall towers for wireless transmissions with line of sight covering one third of the surface of the globe; it was that he imagined it a decade before…
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Arthur C. Clarke, 90, Science Fiction Writer, Dies - New York Times
Mr. Clarke was well aware of the importance of his role as science spokesman to the general population: “Most technological achievements were preceded by people writing and imagining them,” he noted. “I’m sure we would not have had men on the Moon,” he added, if it had not been for H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. “I’m rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books.”
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It is with deep regret that LIRNEasia reports the demise of Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Some of us at LIRNEasia had the opportunity of closely working with him in our professional lives.
In November 2005, LIRNEasia had its last official encounter with him when few representatives from WorldSpace (our partner in the Last-Mile Hazinfo project) including Dr. Rangarajan met him in Colombo. His insightful comments on the need for early warning for disasters are still being used in the output from that project.
Two publications, with chapters by LIRNEasia researcher Chanuka Wattegama, were launched during the GK3, third global Knowledge conferences held in Kuala Lumpur in December, 2007.
The biennial Digital Review of Asia Pacific is a comprehensive guide to the state-of-practice and trends in information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) in Asia Pacific. The third edition (2007/2008) covers 31 countries and economies, including North Korea for the first time. Each country chapter presents key ICT policies, applications and initiatives for national development. In addition, five thematic chapters provide a synthesis of some of the key issues in ICT4D in the region, including mobile and wireless technologies, risk communication, intellectual property regimes and localization.
Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book, co-published by TVE Asia Pacific and the UNDP, brings together 21…
Tags: Arthur C. Clarke, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Chanuka Wattegama, communication technologies, communications disasters, Frederick Noronha, Indian Ocean, Kuala Lumpur, Nalaka Gunawardene, North Korea, the Indian Ocean tsunami, the third anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami of De, wireless technologies.
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8 November 2005: An addressable satellite radio system for hazard warning was demonstrated to Sir Arthur C. Clarke in Colombo, Sri Lanka this week.
It has been designed by WorldSpace, Inc., in collaboration with Raytheon Corporation of the US, at the request of LIRNEasia, a Sri Lankan research organization.
The satellite radio is the first device to incorporate the Common Alert Protocol (CAP). The radio set can be switched on from the master control, and converted from a conventional radio to a specialized hazard alert system. The equipment was field tested in Sri Lanka, including at several Sarvodaya villages that were affected by the Asian Tsunami of December 2004.
It was apt that the first demonstration of this new technology involved Sir Arthur – who…
Tags: addressable satellite radio system, addressable satellite radio systems, Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur Clark, Canada, Clarke Orbit, Colombo, communications satellites, functional early warning systems, GPS, International Development Research Centre of Canada, Jomo Bellard, Matara, Raytheon Corporation, Rohan Samarajiva, S. Rangarajan, satellite communications, satellite radio, Sri Lanka, The addressable satellite radio system, tsunami, United States, Wilson Baker, WorldSpace Inc..
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