Terrorism problems facing many African countries justify the need for huge investments to be made in wireless technology.
So says Shimon Dick, GM of Motorola in sub-Saharan Africa, speaking to ITWeb during the Critical Communications World Conference in Marina Sands Bay, Singapore.
"Fortunately, the continent has never had to deal with natural disasters on the scale of the Tsunami or earthquakes, but unpredictable terror attacks such as the recent bombing of Westgate Shopping Mall in Kenya and abduction of school girls by Boko Haram, are also major disasters that require for communication systems in the public safety sector to be seamless.
After the Westgate attack, he said, many questions were raised, especially on the government's apparatus for detecting, preventing and fighting terrorism.
"Another real attack happened at one of Kenya's sensitive spots, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Two assailants planted a grenade in a bag and left it at one of the coffee shops in the airport. Although no one was injured in the explosion, Kenya's readiness, or lack of it, was exposed to the world months after the Westgate mall attack."
According to Dick, more money should be invested to ensure that healthcare emergency services, the police and fire departments have their own dedicated frequencies to anticipate, track and respond quickly in terrorism situations.
"Kenya and Nigeria are some of the most developed nations on the continent, yet they are still technologically limited in how they deal with terrorism. Public safety departments in most African countries still operate as separate entities; there's also limited wireless technology and African governments impose restricting regulations for companies looking to enhance the wireless technology market. All these factors contribute to terror attacks being easy to execute on the continent," he said. "What's worse is that Nigeria still faces ongoing problems in its oil sector."
According to Dick, much has changed since mobile networks began rolling out in the early-to-mid nineties in the global south.
"When the first mobile operators were granted licences to use wireless spectrum to build their networks, they were simply given the spectrum at no charge. There was plenty of available spectrum to go around. Today popular spectrum bands are auctioned for large amounts of money, often running into billions of dollars. This makes access to the technology to help take on terrorist acts even more limited."
Dick notes that while technology in itself does not really guarantee security, investing in measures that will enable for modern-day development of security solutions, such as wireless infrastructure, will go a long way in helping the continent battle terrorism.
"Technology is an enabler, rather than the focus," he says. "As trends in technology progress, the perceived Internet of Everything (IoE) will catch up with the developing nations and Africa will need to get ahead. Having wireless technology rolled in many parts of the continent will allow for the use of technology as one of the ways to fight terrorism."
He further urges African countries to adopt legal systems that would stipulate the moral use of technology in gathering information.
"You could have technology that infringes on people's human rights. It becomes more of a dictatorship, not democracy," concludes Dick.
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