At the VITA site (http://www.vita.org/leo/pgs.htm ) there is reference to the Informatics Development Institute (IDI), a Dublin based organization financed by the European Union Commission. I could not find any reference to this organization on the Internet. I was able to find the following URL: http://www.mater.ie/ihi/default.htm

Is this the same organization?

I am inquiring about the 12 units financed by the IDI that are to be installed in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Ghana within the next 6 months for trials and testing by local African communities. What is the status on this? I assume that this is the project that you have been working on?

My purpose in asking is that through NACRE/ICORE I am working (as you know) on a pilot project to study the impact of the VITAsat system on education, healthcare, micro-enterprise development, agriculture, etc. Perhaps collaboration may be helpful. We are also looking into the possibility of a one-way down link to augment the VITAsat system service. NACRE/ICORE does have some equipment financing to test this concept. If we cannot get permissions for our equipment in SA, is there a way to work with the IDI group?

Also, do you have knowledge of the process for licensing that IDI has gone through to get the PGS equipment placed in the referenced countries? That would sure be helpful for me to know, especially for Uganda.

I look forward to your response in this matter.

Allan