On the Frontiers of Computer
Technological Advances

Africa and Emerging Technologies: Trend & Prospects

Professor Clement Dzidonu
President, Accra Institute of Technology (AIT)
www.ait.edu.gh

Presented at Titans of Technology (TOT) Conference and Expo Lagos 3-4 April 2008

Salutations and Protocols

1. I want to start by thanking the organizers for inviting me to be one of your guest speakers. It is an honour to me and to the ICT community in Ghana. I was in Lagos not long ago to be part of a group to on the Nigerian ICT plan which foresee Nigeria developing into an ICT-driven information and knowledge economy and society.

2. It is always a privilege and pride to come to Lagos or Abuja to interact with colleagues and share ideas on what is happening in our industry and what we can do at least in our neighborhood to drive and develop our economies in the emerging information and knowledge age.

3. Mr. Chairman, I am to talk on the topic: Africa and the Emerging Technologies: Trend and Prospects. This topic in my view recognized that we are in an era of major technological changes characterized by the emerging technologies particularly in the area of ICTs and that  African countries like other countries will need to embrace these technologies to facilitate their development process.

4. I guess the topic is not about telling you what emerging technologies are, what are the
new devices and gadgets on the market, what are the ongoing cutting-edge research to develop
these new technologies and so on. My guess is that: what we really want to talk about is:
what are the prospects for African countries in relation to the emerging technologies space
in terms of what role are they capable of playing as developers, producers and consumers of
these technologies to impact positively on their developmental prospects in the emerging
technological and knowledge age.

5. Mr. Chairman, my contention is that we are not here to deliberate and talk of all things
technology and emerging markets for its own sake but rather to bring the discussions down to
earth and relate them to the question of the developmental challenges facing us and how
these technologies: producing and/or exploiting them will give us also a break economic
development-wise. Yes!! In my view, it is all about addressing and meeting our needs by
grabbing the opportunities and the numerous possibilities that these technologies offers us
to make a difference. The three key words here are: opportunity, possibilities and
difference.

6. I will in my concluding words raise a number of questions and issues that will in some
way focus our discussions on the opportunities available to Africa to explore and make
choices from specific possibilities and make a difference in the emerging technologies
global space.

7. A great philosopher once wrote ‘A nation must have more than it needs..not less than it
need’. It could be argued that most African countries, can be described as having less of
most things that they need as a nation. The majority lack most of the things that
categorized a nation as a developed or developing nation. For example, the majority of
African nations have:
Less food that they need to feed their people
Less schools than meets the needs of their population
Less jobs than what is required for their growing young population
Less telephones than they require to support their growing population
Less good drinking water than required to meet the needs of the country
Less hospitals and clinics than required to meet demand for health services
Less good roads than required to support the nation’s economy development
Less university and college places than required for their growing young population
Less industries and businesses than what is required to move the economy forward
Less books and other educational facilities and resources than required for their schools
Less doctors, engineers, scientists and critical professionals than the nation’s needs
Less resources and facilities than required to improve the capacities of their research
institutions
Less critical R&D work and output than is required to advance the nation’s tech development
Less resources and facilities than required to support the advancement of their
universities
Mr. Chairman, the list goes on….

8. Some may ask what does all these less…less….less got do with emerging technologies. In
other words what is the link…and why should we be bothered about this link. Well!! a lot in
fact. If we can without difficulty speculate that these less…less .. and less of this and
that can be transform into.. enough-or-more, enough-or-more through economic development
which in the modern technological world can be facilitated by the production, deployment and
the exploitation of these emerging technologies…then we got the answer.

9. Mr. Chairman, the handling of information to support all types of activities in business,
workplace and in the homes is increasingly becoming a major business sector in most
countries including ours. In the USA for example, it is estimated that about half the work
force are engaged in the business of information

10. There is no doubt that: ICTs are dramatically changing our way of life. — Today, more
Americans make computers than make cars, more build semiconductors than construction
machinery and more spend their days processing data than refining petroleum. Over a third
of real GDP growth in the US in the past couple of years came from ICT industries.

11. The picture is not very different in a number of developed and some developing countries
where, ICTs and other emerging technologies are permeating every sector of the economy.
Information, Knowledge and Technology are increasingly becoming the key drivers for economic
development world-wide.

12. Mr. Chairman, my contention is that a nation’s capability and ability to accelerate its
economic development and gain competitive advantage depends very much on the extent to which
it can develop, use and sell, —— information, knowledge and technology in one form of other.

13. Today, the driving force of economic development in most countries is the rapid
technological advancement that we have witnessed since the invention of the microprocessor
some decades ago. Computers and other electronic and communications equipments and devices
are increasingly becoming integral part our daily social and economic activities.

14. There is now a consensus that: what is increasingly becoming a highly competitive
information-driven world economy, development without the emerging technologies and modern
communication services is just not possible. The pervasiveness of these technologies in our
lives is evident of this rapid technological advancement.

15. Mr. Chairman, these emerging technologies encompasses a variety of technologies
including:

microchip technologies used in ranges of consumer products
• computer and communications devices and technologies
• telecommunications technologies and infrastructure
• communications and network technologies and infrastructure for voice, data and
video, broadcasting and multimedia technologies and networks
• robotics technologies used in a variety of industrial processes, and manufacturing
operations;
• the Internet — incorporating elements of computers, telecom and communications
technologies to form an integrated multimedia infrastructure with a global reach;
• production technologies and systems to support industrial processes; and
• computer-based technologies for supporting specific operations & activities in
agriculture, industry and commerce, education…..And many…many… others

16. Mr. Chairman, these technologies in one form or another are a pervasive feature of our
societies and economies and will continue to be part and parcel of most of what we do in
business, government and in society at large. In fact, these emerging technologies are so
pervasive that, for the majority of us, the chances are that between the time most of us get
out of bed in and morning and go back to bed in the night, we will in some way come into
direct contact with them — or at least shake hands with someone who has used these
technologies in one form or another’. Our economies and our lives are becoming intertwine
with these technologies

17. There is no doubt that the last three decades has seen great developments in the
computing field and industry. Great strides and mileage has been registered at the chip and
microprocessor level in terms of miniaturization and processing speed; and also at the level
of innovative applications in computing, multimedia, communications among others.

18. The first PC was priced at $1,565 since then rapid technological advancements and
innovations has brought the price of these machines falling sometimes a number of times in a
given year to level that has made PCs affordable to a larger number of people.
• To be continued.
 

More…..

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