FIRST GLOBAL INTERACTIVE POLL OF HUMAN RACE WILL ALLOW MILLIONS TO INSTANTLY SHARE AND COMPARE OPINIONS
College Students Around The World Expected To Make Their Views Known
* Dating and Sex, Education, Crime and Health Among Topics Offered in Eight Languages * Project Uses Never-Before Assembled Technologies to Assess the Human Condition, Provide Glimpse of the Future * Chance to Instantly Compare Opinions With Other Students, Regions, Nations Over Internet * Thousands of Pollsters Will Gather Opinions of “Unconnected” in Remote Regions * Poll Hailed by U.N. Program as Step to Overcome Prejudice
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Oct. 30, 2000--3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) announced it will be conducting the world’s largest interactive Internet-based poll of millions of people in all corners of the planet. Offered in eight languages over four days from Nov. 15-18, the
Planet Project (TM) will give people around the world their first opportunity to share views and opinions and then instantly compare their responses with people of other nations, ages and genders.
College students around the world, who are the most active users of the Internet of any age group, are expected to take part in the poll, sharing their opinions on topics ranging from the thought-provoking to the entertaining, all focused on humanity’s beliefs, hopes, fears, similarities and differences.
Eric Benhamou, 3Com CEO and chairman, said the global poll (Web site address:
www.planetproject.com) will use technologies never before combined and engage people online as well as those who are not connected by the Internet. Thousands of Planet Pollsters - volunteers and 3Com employees equipped with laptops, handheld computing devices and portable transmitters - will travel to some of the most remote corners of the globe to gather input. From the jungles of the Amazon to urban areas all over the world, the pollsters will ensure the voices of people without access to the Internet are included in the poll.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity for university students around the world to share their opinions,” Benhamou said. “Student participation will play a key role in connecting millions of people across generational, geographic and cultural barriers.”
One aspect of this project is to cast light on the issue of the ‘digital divide,’ which in some cases is influenced by geography and in others by socioeconomic factors. We want to highlight the importance of the problem, but we also want to make a contribution to solving it. As part of the Planet Project poll, 3Com is committing $1 million in 3Com Learning Solutions to connect students in schools around the world.” To receive more information regarding the 3Com Learning Solutions commitment, interested school administrators should go to
www.3com.com/education.
Poll Hailed By U.N. Program
“We need to overcome prejudices of all sorts,” said Giandomenico Picco, personal representative of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. “Ignorance of each other is one of the sources of prejudice: communications and knowledge are powerful tools to appreciate each other’s diversity. The Planet Project poll aims at using communication for that purpose. Furthermore, 3Com’s efforts to provide Internet connection to the schools of the world is another step in overcoming the ‘digital divide’ - a goal advocated by the U.N. Secretary-General in his Millennium Report.”
To be truly global, the
Planet Project poll will be offered in eight languages, making it the most ambitious project of this type ever, requiring a marriage of translation and technology. The languages are Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Benhamou acknowledged that a project of this scale - the largest 3Com has undertaken - has its risks. The project is only now possible because of the advanced technologies brought together by a powerful group of leading contributing companies - Harris Interactive, Sun Microsystems, Akamai Technologies, Inc., Oracle Corporation, BEA Systems, Inc., Mercury Interactive, Macromedia, Eucid, Inc., and AT&T; - which rallied behind 3Com’s concept of the project.
Easy Poll, Advanced Technology
“When we first started talking about this, my first reaction, to be honest, was to be a little scared,” Benhamou said. “I said, ‘Can we really do this?’ Now, I know we can. 3Com has the power to bring all this together and to deliver it in a way that is radically simple. The poll is the biggest, fastest, most sophisticated survey of its kind ever attempted, yet it will be simple to take.”
The results will be analyzed by Harris Interactive, a leading global research company selected for its expertise in research methodology, techniques and analysis. Known for its Harris Poll, Harris Interactive has more than 40 years experience with market research and polling services. The poll results will be announced throughout the world over the four days of the poll.
“The idea of coming up with questions for the first-ever global survey was both exciting and challenging,” said Gordon Black, chairman and CEO of Harris Interactive. “We needed questions that would provide a glimpse of the human condition, but they also had to be translated into eight languages and be appropriate in many different cultures. For every question we’re asking, we’ve probably thrown away another dozen.”
Sex, Religion, Health
There will be eight modules - groupings of questions by topic - with approximately 20 questions per module. The module topics are:
* Dating and Sex * Law and Order * Self Image * Religion, Beliefs and Fears * Parenting and Education * Sleep and Dreams * Health and Well-being * Marriage
People may choose to respond to any or all of the modules. After each module they complete, people can then choose to instantly compare their responses with those of other groups of people by sex, age and location.
Among the questions are:
* If you could alter your child`s DNA before birth would you make them more obedient or more independent? * If you had the opportunity to live forever, would you? * When you pray, is it usually to ask God for something specific? * Do you think extremely successful people tend to be more honest or less honest?
The
Planet Project poll is being directed and produced for 3Com by Rick Smolan, president and CEO of Against All Odds Productions. Smolan is the creator of the best-selling “Day in the Life” books, as well as 24 Hours in Cyberspace, Passage to Vietnam and From Alice to Ocean, which is being made into a major motion picture.
Private and Secure
To allay possible privacy concerns, the
Planet Project poll has adopted strict privacy controls and has taken steps to ensure that the site is secure. Respondent identities, including e-mail addresses, will be removed from answers to the poll questions. Only aggregated data from the survey will be analyzed for results; personal identification will never be shared with any party for any reason. In addition, the information gathered through the poll will not be used for any marketing activity. In fact, the site will feature no banner ads, and nothing will be available for sale.
Additional News Materials
Other features of the Planet Project poll are described in news releases, fact sheets and backgrounders on the Planet Project newsroom Web site at
http://news.planetproject.com. Photography is also available on the site. Materials include:
THE PLANET PROJECT FACTS - Compelling data and interesting facts about what it took to pull together the largest collaborative Internet event.
PLANET POLLSTERS FACTS - Thousands of Planet Pollsters - volunteers from humanitarian organizations and 3Com employees from around the world - will be stationed in remote and urban locations to administer the poll to people not connected to the Internet.
PRIVACY - Maintaining the privacy of participants is one of the Internet community’s weightiest issues. Privacy was a chief concern of the Planet Project poll’s organizers.
DIGITAL DIVIDE - The “digital divide” is not merely a question of having or not having access to technology. It is also a matter of having the right education to take advantage of what technology has to offer. Technology companies have a responsibility to support educational programs.
PLANET POLLSTER PHOTOS - Photos of test polling in Australia, Peru, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, Mexico, Mongolia, New York, Paris and Rio.
About 3Com Corporation
3Com simplifies how people connect to information and services through simple-to-use connectivity products and solutions for consumers and commercial organizations. The company also provides access infrastructures and IP services platforms for network service providers. For further information, visit www.3com.com or the press site at
www.3com.com/pressbox.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive (Nasdaq: HPOL), the global leader in online market research, uses Internet-based and traditional methodologies to provide its clients with information about the views, experiences, behaviors and attitudes of people worldwide. Known for its Harris Poll, Harris Interactive has more than 40 years experience in providing its clients with market research and polling services including custom, multi-client and service bureau research, as well as customer relationship management services. Through its U.S. and Global Network offices, Harris Interactive conducts research in more than 80 different countries, in more than 30 different languages. Harris Interactive uses its proprietary technology to survey its database of more than 6.6 million online panelists. For more information about Harris Interactive, please visit the Web site at
www.harrisinteractive.com.
About Against All Odds
Against All Odds Productions, co-founded by photojournalist Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt, created the best-selling “Day in the Life” books as well as From Alice to Ocean, Passage to Vietnam, 24 Hours in Cyberspace, and One Digital Day. AAO specializes in the design and execution of large-scale global projects that combine compelling storytelling with state-of-the-art technology. AAO projects have been featured on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Fortune, and U.S. News & World Report eight times. In 1996, AAO produced 24 Hours in Cyberspace: Painting on the Walls of the Digital Cave, at the time the largest collaborative Internet project ever to take place. ABC and Ted Koppel devoted an entire episode of “Nightline” to document this event. Located in Sausalito, Calif., AAO can also be visited at
www.againstallodds.com.
# # #
3Com is a registered trademark and Planet Project is a trademark of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
|