Tech4Africa – The end of the rural disconnect and isolated thinking
“TECH4AFRICA is the premier mobile, web & emerging technology conference, bringing global perspective to the African context.”
Looking at the speaker lineup and focus areas you could easily be mistaken that tech4africa is for high tech city folk alone, but there is another side, which I would like to call “the end of the rural disconnect“.
As a technologist living in the Garden Route I experience on a daily basis the pain caused by poor connectivity, disconnected services and isolated thinking.
Traditional business in the rural economy is based around small free standing business. Whilst this has worked fairly well in the past it is now becoming more difficult for these small businesses to compete against the larger companies that are moving into the rural economies. The economic downturn has also meant that doing business within the local rural market is tougher to sustain.
Now, how does this all relate to Tech4Africa?
This conference is not only bringing creative and technology minds together, it is the platform and becomes the catalyst that we need to get the rural economy into the technology discussion.
Once we realize the incredible potential locked up in the rural African economy we need to start connecting the disconnected. This means breaking down technological barriers & isolated thinking, and start building a new rural economy centered around mobile & cloud based technology.
This is easier than many thinks. In our discussions around the formation of the Garden Route ICT Incubator we have identified countless opportunities that can be enabled by connected thinking.
Agriculture alone is a vast field of untapped potential, where technology can and will make an enormous difference to the entire continent. Imagine increased efficiency, increased productivity, far better management information, better integration of service delivery and much higher yield management. Once conference alone can get us pointed in the right direction.
Tech4Africa has the right mix of people with vision, and can be the platform that starts the conversation that unlocks our rural potential. I urge everyone that sees the potential and shares the vision to attend (Jhb, 27-28 October) so the conversation can begin.