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Africa (the problem with computers)
- 2. "I come here every Sunday," says 12-year-old Lesley Harrison, an IT consultant-in-training. I read my email, chat and look at car pictures. I also play games and register for competitions. What I like the most about the internet is that you can find out such interesting things. And I can also email my auntie who lives in London." (BBC World News, August 2001 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1513251.stm)
- 4. from Sebastião Salgado "the majority world" three photo essays, 1977-92 http://www.terra.com.br/sebastiaosalgado/e_op1/
- 6. The proBleM wIth cOMPuters iS thAt there IS nOT eNouGh AfriCA iN THeM Brian Eno, ‘Wired’ magazine 3.05, May 1995 “Gossip is Philosophy” (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.05/eno.html)
- 7. logo of ‘THE ALL-AFRICA INTERNET GUIDE’ http://www.goafrica.co.za/ E U R E K A !
- 8. THE ALL-AFRICA INTERNET GUIDE
- 9. bridging the digital divide (http://www.bridges.org/) photo credit “fly_luanda_96” by Dave Robertson – hand-tinted b&w photo
Notas del editor
- This image - this quintessential image that I believe says so much - was at first to stand alone as my visual essay, but as I attempted to organise my thoughts to explain how I arrived here I gradually assembled a short image essay... The, oh-so-familiar (Microsoft) pointing-finger-cursor is for once rendered BLACK/BROWN (by convention elsewhere it's white). Around the 'wrist' is stylised 'bead-jewelry' - its colours reflecting the post-apartheid Republic of South Africa 'rainbow' flag... For me it instantly contextualises African-ness in the digital era/universe. I wish I'd thought it up it, but I lifted it - it's the LOGO of "the all Africa internet guide" ( www.goafrica.co.za') My project for this semester is in the field of humanising on-line learning environments - specifically those using WebCT - seeking to enrich the experience for both students & teachers. My end product is to be a case-study 'Best of WebCT' which will highlight a few ideas that will allow my colleagues at CLAST to use WebCT even better. So I needed to create a visual representation of this project, re-situated in a 'majority world' context. When I began to consider this visual essay I knew I didn’t want to fall into clichés of juxtaposing starving/drowning Bangladeshis with shots of brand-new Apple MACs. "Majority world" - noting my assumptions, and hoping to have them challenged. Some examples are... That 'majority world' computer & internet usage would be minimal . . . That it would be nearly impossible to bridge the social, cultural, linguistic divide, as well as the technological ne between 'first world' & 'majority world'. . . What I hoped to avoid...& was easy to find - nice enough photos, but clearly NOT portraying the full story . . . visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004, Simon Hare
- SLIDE 2 - LESLEY] Example: Lesley Harrison (courtesy BBC World News http://news.bbc.co.Uk/l/hi/world/africa/1513251.stm1 - "I come here every Sunday," says 12-year-old Lesley Harrison, an IT consultant-in-training. "I read my email, chat and look at car pictures. I also play games and register for competitions. What I like the most about the internet is that you can find out such interesting things. And I can also email my auntie who lives in London." (August 2001) visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- SLIDE 3 – Thruvti Example: "Thruvti shows Martinus Van Schalkwyk the leader of South Africa's New National Party, how to make drawings on the computer at a school outside of Johannesburg" from Disconnected Continent by Magda Kowalczykowski. Harvard International Review Cambridge Summer 2002. Vol.24, Iss. 2, p. 40-43 visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- SLIDE 4 - SALGADO My research a Google images search for "Majority world" - threw up... Sebastiao Salgado's exquisite photo gallery of workers of the world, titled 'Majority World - three photo essays 1977-92 ' then I went back to basics - wanting some hard facts about internet usage around the world . . . Worldwide internet usage comparisons INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS - The Big Picture - World Internet Users and Population ( http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm ) visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- SLIDE 5 - world in lights! A comment here on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Who is W3C? W3C is an international consortium with approximately 400 Member organizations and a full-time staff of more than 70 people; information about joining W3C is available on the Web site. W3C Members send engineers to work in W3C Working Groups, together with W3C technical staff (called the "Team"), to produce technical specifications for Web technologies. W3C is led by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web. You can listen to a multimedia introduction to W3C by Tim Berners-Lee (in English, with English and Japanese subtitles; SMIL 2.0 player required). World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) MISSION is to lead the Web to its full potential, which it does by developing technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) that will create a forum for information, commerce, inspiration, independent thought, and collective understanding. W3C defines the Web as the universe of network-accessible information (available through your computer, phone, television, or networked refrigerator...). Today this universe benefits society by enabling new forms of human communication and opportunities to share knowledge. One of WSC's primary goals is to make these benefits available to all people, whatever their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native language, culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability. W3C makes a strong commitment to interaction and accountability with the public. This is built into the W3C Process, which includes the rules by which W3C puts its stamp of approval on completed work. W3C invites the Web community to participate in W3C on public mailing lists, to interact with W3C Team at upcoming W3C appearances and events, and to attend (annually) the W3C track at the World Wide Web Conference. 'A prime W3C concern is "Internationalization" The World Wide Web is used around the world, everywhere. Hardware and software is produced for the global market. It needs to be easy to create and process information for a wide range of audiences: to publish material and exchange data in for example Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Japanese, or Korean. The goal of the Internationalization Activity is to ensure that W3C's formats and protocols do not create barriers for languages, writing systems, character codes, and other local conventions. visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- Slide 6....not enough Africa... Honing in on Africa - denying that the majority world (the other) is one huge single block! Here I'm following my own previously established interests by narrowing my focus to ...just one continent! Africa is of course A CONTINENT... of over fifty countries... And ringing around the back of my head was an issue identified by musician/artist Brian Eno, “The problemwith computers is there’s not enough Africa in them.” (Brian Eno, Wired' magazine, May 1995) visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- Then I stumbled on it the image that encapsulated it all… Bridging the digital divide in Africa ( www.bridqes.ora ) Physical access: Is technology available and physically accessible? Appropriate technology: What is the appropriate technology according to local conditions, and how people need and want to put technology to use? Affordability: Is technology access affordable for people to use? Capacity: Do people understand how to use technology and its potential uses? Relevant content: Is there locally relevant content, especially in terms of language? visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- Integration: Does the technology further burden people's lives or does it integrate into daily routines? Socio-cultural factors: Are people limited in their use of technology based on gender, race, or other socio-cultural factors? Trust: Do people have confidence in and understand the implications of the technology they use, for instance in terms of privacy, security, or cybercrime? Legal and regulatory framework: How do laws and regulations affect technology use and what changes are needed to create an environment that fosters its use? visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- Local economic environment: Is there a local economy that can and will sustain technology use? Macro-economic environment: Is national economic policy conducive to widespread technology use, for example, in terms of transparency, deregulation, investment and labour issues? Political will: Is there political will in government to do what is needed to enable the integration of technology throughout society? visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- Solutions for Africa? o African Virtual University (AVU) [SLIDE 10 Here I find WebCT in use at Africa's first virtual higher learning institute ... a very pleasant explosion of many of my initial assumptions . . . After a successful pilot phase, AVU has been transformed from being a project of the World Bank to an independent reputable Inter-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya with over 34 Learning Centers in 19 African countries. It uses WebCT as its interactive learning tool. Rationale for the AVU Africa is an enormous continent with 53 countries and a population of over 700 million people, over fifty per cent of whom are under 20 years of age. There is a high demand for quality education at tertiary level on the continent. What we do The African Virtual University is working in collaboration with African Universities to identify the most essential program needed for Africa's development. Upon identifying the programs the AVU partner with best universities in the world to developing content and delivery through our network to African students, professionals and civil servants. visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004
- The AVU is offering Computer Science Degree programs from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne (Australia) and from Universite Laval in Quebec (Canada), as well as Business Studies Program from Curtin University in Perth (Australia). The AVU also offers eight to ten week certificate short courses from universities such at Georgetown University, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Indiana University of Technology. NOTE: A note on ICTs (Information & Communication Technologies) NOTE: have not sought copyright clearance for re-use of these images, so can't 'publish'as it stands. And so back to my original image... [SLIDE 11] • Acacia Initiative The Acacia Initiative: Communities and the Information Society in Africa Program Initiative is an international program to empower sub-Saharan communities with the ability to apply information and communication technologies (ICTs) to their own social and economic development. This initiative is designed as an integrated program of research and development and demonstration projects to address issues of applications, technology, infrastructure, policy, and governance. Conceived and led by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Acacia supports Canada's contribution to the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) which was endorsed by African governments as an action framework to build Africa's information and communication infrastructure. DATA See PDF versions of web pages: Digital Opportunity for the Global Community (Japan) http://www.dosite.Jp/e/do/in-state net.html Internet World Stats: http://www. internetworldstats.com bridges.org - spanning the international digital divide http://www.bridqes.orQ/digitaldivide/realaccess.html visual essay 'Africa (the problem with computers)', August 2004