Nick Greenfield,
Viet Nam Discovery, Issue 53 June 15 2006

Vern Weitzel. It's a very recognizable name that many are familiar with, not only in Vietnam, but worldwide. Even if the man himself is not well known, his work is. As an UN Volunteer in the position of UNDP Web Manager in Vietnam, Vern worked irelessly to direct and guide the flow of countless email group lists spreading information and promoting discussion about development throughout the country and beyond on a myriad of subjects and topical interests.

Vern's path to becoming a UNV has been an remarkable journey through war service, two MA degrees, a change of citizenship, and an unfinished PhD due to development call, though none of it computer related. But then, experience is the best teacher, and Vern's passion for getting the Vietnamese connected to the Internet and making information internationally accessible through the Web, has driven his life''s work as a pioneer in Vietnam/Internet technology linkage.

Vern was a US Army meteorologist during the US/Vietnam war years in country following which he went to Australia to study Bio-Anthropology where, along the way, he became an Australian citizen. He returned to Vietnam to conduct primate research in 1989 and as a way to speed up academic communication, he became familiar in the nascent Internet.

With the Australian National University at his side, he assisted with setting up the Internet in Ha Noi and became the chair for the Australia Vietnam Science-Technology Link to encourage scientific cooperation with Vietnam. Email was new, but Vern thought it was the easiest way to communicate with other specialists and academics about fieldwork and research. During his second post war visit in 1992, he visited centers for academic research in his field, but had a particular interest in Internet connectivity and provided the first modem to the Faculty of Biology of the National University of Ha Noi.

That led to Vern's unwavering goal to make information flow freely throughout Vietnam and to provide opportunities for discussion through email electronic bulletin boards in development sectors and expanding the database of Vietnamese scientists.

As an outgrowth of this work, Vern became the UNDP Web Manager in 1998 and is now the longest serving UNV in the country. Prior to his involvement, Vietnam had little capacity for email communication or this type of information sharing.

He has targeted putting publications about Vietnamese topics where people can get them, which initially was only academics and researchers, but now the work has evolved into targeting the population at large.

Something Vern is proud of is the first site for the disabled enabling blind users access to the Web with a screen reader that speaks the information. He has also formed a discussion group so that disabled people in Vietnam can talk amongst themselves.

Vern works mainly with the development community on a number of topics including the environment, general development, education, wildlife trafficking, Agent Orange, poverty reduction, hunger eradication, ethnic minorities, gender, HIV/AIDS, and also developing libraries of data, documents, maps and photos. And the best part is anyone and everyone can and does subscribe to the lists and discussion groups.

"I put information out there and hope that people will use it", Vern says with aplomb, but in his usual understated manner, belying his 12-hour work day he sets for himself. Vern, 59, has been married to Son, also a Vietnam/American war veteran, for 12 years, but she is accustomed to his working night and day. The Internet never sleeps.

Vern's love of academics and research still drives his endeavors. He achieves his initial purpose in assisting with the Internet in allowing Vietnamese scientists direct communication with their international counterparts and to assure that Vietnam becomes progressively integrated in the web.

Though Vern is disheartened about the low number of users amongst the Vietnamese and the high cost of connectivity, Vietnam has a firm foothold on the ladder to growth that Vern's work as UNDP Web Manager has provided the foundation for.

And he's got the kudos to prove it having been a top ranked Web in the UNDP and in the top ten consistently.

But it's the people using the information and the resources he provides that make him know his work is valued.

"I know people all over the world who have used my information resources and references", Vern states simply. And Vern hears about it in feedback from top UNDP officials who travel widely to international conferences to talk to specialists and counterparts who mention a man named Vern Weitzel who provided them invaluable references.

Vern gauges his success on getting ideas and meaning across and according to him, there are more ideas to plumb.

"There are still new ways of getting people connected, ways to provide information, ways of exploring, ways to look at questions, and tools to make things easier to use. It's fun"

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