Science & Technology

In Africa, the Information Superhighway will shift power from “Rulers” to the people. But who will control the people?

Power, according Machiavelli, is the ability to get others to do what you want, and to prevent them from doing what you don’t want them to do. In Africa, power in the hands of rulers not leaders, has led to political instability, coup d’états and wars – so the last 50 years have taught us.

However, as we gravitate toward a new decade eclipsed by a totally new culture, power which had been “usurped” and misused by “rulers or dictators” will no more remain in their hands; it will shift toward the people. The Western democracy which we so profoundly emulate will finally work in Africa – not because rulers will experience an epiphany and opt to change their style of rule, but because “the people” will have greater access to technology. Technology will give them information; information will give them knowledge; and knowledge my friends, is power!

In early 2000, Liberia missed an opportunity to gain access to broadband connectivity via the undersea fiber cable, SAT3/WASC (South Atlantic Telecommunications cable no.3/West Africa Submarine Cable). This was due in part to the civil war and the prohibitive costs entailed in the project. The dreadfully slow access to the Internet in Liberia today is a direct result of that missed opportunity. Fortunately, Liberia has been presented with another opportunity; the Africa Coast to Europe undersea fiber cable system (ACE System). Will we be prepared to take advantage of it?

Over the years, we have seen several Information Technology revolutions: the mainframe revolution that began in the ‘50s through the ‘70s; the minicomputer revolution of the ‘70s and ‘80s; the personal computers revolution of the ‘80 and ‘90s; and the networking revolution of the ‘90s and 2000s that led to the Internet, which has connected the world. Now, in the 21st century, we are experiencing yet another revolution – the mobile revolution.

MONROVIA – The B. W. Harris Alumni Association in the USA sponsored a three-day “Boot Camp for Teachers” training workshop late last month, with over 25 teachers receiving Certificates of Completion.