Future of IT in Africa

Future of IT in Africa

Posts 1-5 of 5
  • Dr. Jasper Grosskurth
    Dr. Jasper Grosskurth
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    Where is the future of technology in Africa?
    Dear feloow group members!

    My name is Jasper Grosskurth and I work as a futurist for the STT Netherlands Study Centre for technology Trends in the Hague (http://www.stt.nl). I am leading a project exploring the future of technology in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Together with partners in business, academia, governments and NGO's, we look at the dynamics of tangible technology on the continent, ranging from the glass fibre cables about to hit the continent (see: http://manypossibilities.net/african-undersea-cables/) to long term visions (for example: http://www.exploration-architecture.com/section.php?xSec=35). Anything that is related to technological hardware is interesting for us. We do this in order to show the truly astonishing business dynamics in Africa and help all actors to make use of the opportunities created by these dynamics - in Africa and Europe alike.

    I will spend July and August in West Africa and December and Junary in West and Southern Africa. On these trips, I would like to visit spots and meet people giving me a glimpse on the future of technology in Africa. Where should I look, whom should I meet? I would greatly appreciate your suggestions in German, English, French or Dutch.

    Kind regards,
    Jasper
    • 16 Feb 2009, 10:54 am
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  • Deborah Boyd
    Deborah Boyd
    (not a XING member)
    Re: Where is the future of technology in Africa?
    I am interested in understanding if your enterprise is committed to paying fair wages on these projects and also if you will be using African talent for your projects.
    Who will be paying for the technology because I do not see it doing much for the future of Africa unless it has a commercial component.
    Love & Peace, Deborah
    • 10 Dec 2009, 5:35 pm
  • Dr. Jasper Grosskurth
    Dr. Jasper Grosskurth
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    Re^2: Where is the future of technology in Africa?
    Hi Lilian,

    I have recently met plenty of people in Kenya, who are doing an excellent job in making Kenya an African ICT hub. As for the United States of Africa, I'd be happy to see a true and committed East African Union grow in my lifetime (and a West African Union). Positive surprises are always welcome and a positively committed AU would be one.


    Hi Deborah,

    thank you for your reaction! I don't run tech projects in Africa, I study the future that is enabled by these projects. Being nothing but a researcher, I do not pay any wages at all. But the projects, I am most interested in are Made in Africa and African run. I think, you'd quite like my 'informants' and their spirit of reshaping their continent. They pay for their own technology and employ it profitably on an increasing scale. ICT is spearheading this development.

    Right now, 300.000.000 African do own a mobile phone. It won't be long before many of them will buy smart-phones and get mobile web coverage at reasonable rates. Imagine, what 100.000.000 smart phones would do to Africa? The answers to this question are exhilarating and scary at the same time... It's in the hands of Africa, which way it turns - and it's all paid for by Africans.

    Kind regards to you both!
    Jasper
    • 11 Dec 2009, 3:56 pm
  • Bjoern M. Juergensen
    Bjoern M. Juergensen    Premium Member   Group moderator
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    Re^3: Where is the future of technology in Africa?
    Hallo,

    as a "technology affine" individuum who is also interested in making business with african companies I wonder what will be the possibilities of "virtual trade" via the internet in the next years.

    as a wholesaler we are interested in taking all chances we have, but though we lately succeeded in "recruiting" a handful of african clients, the majority of inquiries still can be put into the category "nigerian letters". what a waste of time...

    to put it simply: it is not just the technology, it`s the way it is used...

    greetings from river Leine,

    Björn
    • 10 Feb 2010, 8:15 pm