An Agenda for Cooperation between Africa/Developing World and Europe
One of the key deliverables of the Digital World Forum project is a technology roadmap on low cost information access devices. A roadmap describes a future environment, objectives to be achieved with that environment, and plans for how those objectives will be pursued over time. It is, therefore, a forecast of paths that might be followed to achieve a desired objective; in this case: low cost information access devices that contribute to socio-economic development in the developing world.
From the opinions that have been expressed in this forum, one realises that the paths to achieving low cost information access devices should not only be concerned about putting little devices on poor people's laps. An effective and comprehensive strategy that enables Africa to help herself (as Jeff Buderer puts it, in an earlier entry in this forum), should be an integral concern of this objective of providing low cost information access devices.
The question then, is: What are the possibilities of setting an agenda for cooperation between Africa/the developing world and Europe on low cost information access devices, which entails such a comprehensive strategy?
This question is considered in the context of a sustained surge of technological innovations that seem intended to transform the personal computer industry. In this context, the boundaries of traditional computing are being tested as a new range of low-priced, small-scale personal computing devices emerge (see article titled “Companion of Wisdom”, in Financial Times dated 12 June 2009). Companies from the computing, mobile phone and consumer electronics segments are racing each other to usher in a new generation of computing devices that are fully portable, and capable of multimedia communication.
The emergence of the low cost information access devices for improving adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the developing world should be seen with this context of transformation of the personal computing industry. That is, the developing world has an opportunity to participate in these efforts of shaping a new generation of computing devices. Projects such as One Laptop Per Child have shown that a new generation of computing device architecture and components can emerge from attempts to address the socio-economic challenges of emerging economies.
The European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for science and technology development is one platform through which opportunities for the developing world to participate in the development of new generation computing devices may be pursued. In the document attached below, we present some ideas for developing a technology research roadmap that could be used as a basis for an agenda for cooperation between Africa/developing world and Europe on low cost information access devices.
Proposed technology research roadmap for LCIADs.pdf
From the opinions that have been expressed in this forum, one realises that the paths to achieving low cost information access devices should not only be concerned about putting little devices on poor people's laps. An effective and comprehensive strategy that enables Africa to help herself (as Jeff Buderer puts it, in an earlier entry in this forum), should be an integral concern of this objective of providing low cost information access devices.
The question then, is: What are the possibilities of setting an agenda for cooperation between Africa/the developing world and Europe on low cost information access devices, which entails such a comprehensive strategy?
This question is considered in the context of a sustained surge of technological innovations that seem intended to transform the personal computer industry. In this context, the boundaries of traditional computing are being tested as a new range of low-priced, small-scale personal computing devices emerge (see article titled “Companion of Wisdom”, in Financial Times dated 12 June 2009). Companies from the computing, mobile phone and consumer electronics segments are racing each other to usher in a new generation of computing devices that are fully portable, and capable of multimedia communication.
The emergence of the low cost information access devices for improving adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the developing world should be seen with this context of transformation of the personal computing industry. That is, the developing world has an opportunity to participate in these efforts of shaping a new generation of computing devices. Projects such as One Laptop Per Child have shown that a new generation of computing device architecture and components can emerge from attempts to address the socio-economic challenges of emerging economies.
The European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for science and technology development is one platform through which opportunities for the developing world to participate in the development of new generation computing devices may be pursued. In the document attached below, we present some ideas for developing a technology research roadmap that could be used as a basis for an agenda for cooperation between Africa/developing world and Europe on low cost information access devices.
Proposed technology research roadmap for LCIADs.pdf
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