United IT for Africa

African countries should co-ordinate their efforts to develop telecommunications and IT infrastructure, says minister of communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, or continue their dependence on Europe and the US for square-peg solutions to round-hole problems.

Many countries on the continent have very small economies, she says, and making use of economies of scale to buy cheaper equipment, as she recently suggested at the African Communications and Technology (ACT) summit, would allow faster development.

She put it to her ear, talked on it, and turned around and said, 'Well, I didn`t know these things could speak Xhosa too!

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, minister of communications, government

In Africa, governments are some of the biggest spenders when it comes to technology, and they represent a considerable market if combined. That could mean economic pressure on vendors for preferential pricing on top of the social responsibility pressure Western vendors bear when selling to poor countries.

"We would also be able to source technology together and exploit synergies between our systems," Matsepe-Casaburri says.

She believes economic coordination systems already in place, such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) could serve this purpose, and says there is no need for additional formalised structures to cause a bureaucratic tangle.

Because many South African languages are shared with neighbouring countries, standardised equipment would also allow the development of systems and Web-content in local languages, something the minister admits to being passionate about.

"Our languages were marginalised by colonialism, and technology should not add to that. We should not let the concerns of other countries become our concerns, and say 'we want to be like that country`. African women have many stories to tell to children; it is part of our tradition. Imagine if they can tell those stories to the whole world. We should be able to do that on the Internet."

At the launch of a community computer centre in Kimberly during August, the minister urged her audience to be more than simple users of technology. "We hope that you will not only by users and consumers of technology, but designers and makers of technology."

IT businesses and telecoms companies should be very interested in rolling out infrastructure. If it is all dependent on government it will roll out a lot slower.

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, minister of communications, government

She says that standardised operational platforms and shared languages would make it economically feasible to develop software and produce Web content for local languages, again by exploiting economies of scale. The immediate advantage is in lessening the dependency on developed world and dollar-based economies, and foreign development support.

"There is a dependency, but it is not something we should encourage. I have gone to China and to India and have found Africans there working on these technologies. They are there and they are willing to help."

She adds that technology companies too have proven themselves willing to work with governments in meeting their objectives and uses as example the positive reaction to President Thabo Mbeki`s proposal of an advisory IT council.

"These important people were willing to fly out here, speak to us and help us without any payment or reward," she says.

Using local languages can also speed up the adoption of new technologies and spread their usefulness across broader population groups. By way of illustration, the minister tells an anecdote about the first time the grandmother of one of her staff members used a cellphone.

"She put it to her ear, talked on it, and turned around and said, 'Well, I didn`t know these things could speak Xhosa too!`"

Matsepe-Casaburri sees danger for African countries in the digital divide, the growing gap in technological sophistication between rich and poor countries, but also believes technology can play a role in general development if it is approached in the right way.

"I don`t like to use clich'es like the new economy, but that is where the world is today. If you are to make the African Renaissance a reality this is a better way of delivery."

Illiteracy is one example.

"Illiteracy can also be overcome with the help of technology," she says, referring to voice recognition software and dictation systems. Existing computer resources can be used in school- and adult training, she says, and is well suited to being an educational tool if the right software is added to the mix. "We have these things available, if only we use them as we should."

The minister sees the role of government as a general educator on technology rather than a legislator, and believes the techno-illiterate can be educated cheaply through broadcasting mediums in the basics of technology use. Once the available technology speaks the language of the people, she says, the rest becomes easier.

The development, however, she sees as the imperative of private enterprise, with a regulatory hands-off approach. Business is its own incentive, she says.

"IT businesses and telecoms companies should be very interested in rolling out infrastructure. If it is all dependent on government it will roll out a lot slower."

If you solve a problem for a country here, you also solve the problem for Brazil and for India. You can sell your solution to them too.

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, minister of communications, government

She also believes that Africa and the third world represent its own market.

"It is in the interest of business to encourage these technologies that empower people. Africa has a population of 700 million people, which means you can have a market of 700 million people. You don`t need to go anywhere else to find your market; there is a market right here."

The same goes for solving the specific problems African countries have to face, she says. The third world can provide a marketplace for niche products and services quite apart from the Western-dominated technology world of today.

"If you solve a problem for a country here, you also solve the problem for Brazil and for India. You can sell your solution to them too."

But much of her hopes and ambitions depend on the right technology being available as a foundation to build development on, which in turn depends on adoption of co-operative purchasing. She is confident.

"It is only an idea at this stage and we still need to have a lot of discussion about it, but I am sure we can make it happen between us."