By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jo-tondeur-903360">Jo Tondeur</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/vrije-universiteit-brussel-2958">Vrije Universiteit Brussel</a>

Kenya’s education ministry has <a href="http://vision2030.go.ke">proposed that</a> information and communication technology (ICT) – such as computers, laptops, tablets and cameras – be used to help teach certain subjects and improve how students learn. The technology can, for instance, stimulate creativity, help children understand complex topics and give them tools to learn more independently. 

In 2011 the ministry created an integration team to coordinate and harmonise all initiatives. The team worked with a Flemish and Belgian non-profit organisation – <a href="https://www.vvob.org/nl">VVOB (education for development)</a> – dedicated to improving the quality of education in developing countries. 

Part of the plan included a professional development programme which was carried out in four pilot schools and lasted two years. It was designed to help teachers learn how to integrate technology into the curriculum. Because teachers are in control of the classroom settings, it was crucial that they were part of this collaborative experience.

My colleagues and I <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1475939X.2015.1091786?journalCode=rtpe20">evaluated</a> the programme. Our main focus was on how many teachers continued to use technology in their lessons after the programme ended in the four government-funded secondary schools. None of these schools had previous experience with ICT. 

We found that teachers faced a wide range of challenges when it came to 
integrating technology into their classrooms. These included a lack of electricity, infrastructure and connectivity. Moreover, the training needed was complex and the resources required to deliver it were scarce. 

At the start of the intervention, teachers didn’t know how to integrate technology in their classes. They also didn’t have enough time to develop new lessons and had too many pupils to teach. 

Our findings support the view that integrating technology into schools does’t automatically follow a simple placement of hardware and software. It involves understanding the dynamic relationship between technology, how it’s used in the classroom and the content of the curriculum. 

Our research also suggests that the professional development of teachers is a long term project. It needs constant reiterations of learning about emerging technologies and how to use them. This must be in balance with the national ICT initiative but also, more importantly, be sensitive to the different school cultures and communities. 

<h2>Integration is key</h2>

In the schools we evaluated, technology training sessions were developed under a professional development programme. These were designed to encourage teachers to identify challenging areas in their teaching and then brainstorm about how technology could offer an advantage in the classroom. For instance, how technology could help them overcome the challenge of scarce or outdated textbooks. Trainers in the workshop would then train the teachers in teacher design teams on the skills they would need to accomplish the task. 

We conducted teacher questionnaires and focus group discussions with a total of 64 teachers. The aim was to see how many teachers used technology in their classrooms two years after the programme had ended. Based on the results it appeared that some teachers were just beginning to use technology to present information. But most were using it to support their educational practice outside the classroom. For example, they used technology to prepare lessons or to email with colleagues. 

This was due to a number of challenges, including:

<ul>
<li>Schools kept hardware, like computers, in labs. This physical separation of technology and the actual classroom meant that it was harder to integrate technology in learning activities. But labs were used because of poor security, power breakdowns and a lack of space in the classrooms.</li>
<li>At the beginning of the project, the schools didn’t have clear goals on how to support technology integration after the professional development programme. This could be because a large number of people – from the principal to integration teams – were involved in decision-making processes. Also, participants only felt more clear about the role of ICT in education towards the end of the programme.</li>
<li>The teachers also needed additional support from administrative school leaders, like the headteachers. These leaders would have the authority to demand the installation of electricity and connectivity in each class. But in one school, the teachers said that they didn’t feel they had support from the leadership, or good direction. </li>
</ul>

We also found positive outcomes. 

For example, there was collaboration at the school as well as the regional level. In some schools, the teachers worked with others in different schools and passed on ideas. In turn, this contributed to the promotion of professionalism. 

We concluded that the gains of the programme could only be sustained if schools and teachers felt a sense of ownership and were part of a process of evaluation so that they could understand what they’d learnt, and what goals they wanted to set. This stresses the importance of professional development as a permanent process, aimed at extending and updating the professional knowledge of teachers in the context of their work.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127929/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jo-tondeur-903360">Jo Tondeur</a>, Assistant Professor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/vrije-universiteit-brussel-2958">Vrije Universiteit Brussel</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-kenya-is-failing-to-integrate-technology-into-secondary-schools-127929">original article</a>.

Why this East African country is failing to integrate technology into secondary schools

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Already tagged Nigeria’s commercial capital – Lagos State says it is now on a mission to seal a spot as the country’s technology and innovation hub. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Christy Cole spoke to Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor on Technology and Innovation, Olatunbosun Alake, that Lagos is making moves to remove communication barriers between the state and its tech ecosystem as well as turbo-charge levers of innovation within the state.

Lagos State to co-create with tech ecosystem

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Tourism in Africa is grew 5.6 in 2018 compared to the global average of 3.9 and the broader African economy at the rate of 3.2 per cent, placing Africa as the second-fastest growing tourism region behind only Asia-Pacific. Simon Gros, Chief Development Officer at Travelport joins CNBC Africa on how technology can be leveraged to boost tourism on the continent.

Simon Gros: How technology can be leveraged to boost tourism on the continent

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The Co-Founders of War on Cancer, Sebastian Hermelin and Fabian Bolin both spoke to CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole on the sidelines of Nigeria’s Digital Economy Summit, on how technology can be leveraged to improve healthcare globally and in Nigeria.

Leveraging technology to improve healthcare in Nigeria and globally

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With the ever growing use of technology across various fields, work previously done by humans is more efficiently done by machines, but doesn&#8217;t this threaten opportunities of communities such as the miners? General Manager of the Middle East and Africa Scientific Solutions Division of Olympus, Albert Alterjman joins CNBC Africa for more.

Can technology and mining merge without comprising miners? Alterjman explains

<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/gettyimages-652617766-594x5941.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-347815" width="709" height="518"/><figcaption>AUSTIN, TX &#8211; MARCH 12: Businessman Mark Cuban speaks onstage at &#8216;Mark Cuban &amp; Tech Execs: Is Govt Disrupting Disruption?&#8217; during 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 12, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by JEALEX Photo/Getty Images for SXSW)</figcaption></figure>



By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-huddleston-jr/">Tom Huddleston Jr.</a>



A little self-reliance can go a long way for&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/entrepreneurs/">entrepreneurs</a>.



That’s according to tech billionaire Mark Cuban, who&nbsp;<a href="https://onairwithryan.iheart.com/featured/ryan-seacrest/content/2019-10-10-mark-cuban-slept-on-the-floor-prior-to-becoming-a-billionaire-listen/" class="">told</a>&nbsp;Ryan Seacrest the “biggest mistake” an entrepreneur can make when launching a new business.



“I think the biggest mistake people make is once they have an idea and the goal of starting a business, they think they have to raise money,” Cuban said on Thursday’s episode of Seacrest’s podcast “On Air.”



“And once you raise money, that’s not an accomplishment, that’s an obligation,” because&nbsp;“now, you’re reporting to whoever you raised money from.”



Cuban says entrepreneurs who rely on outside funding can become too beholden to the interests of their investors, who might have a different idea of how to grow the business.



“If you can start on your own … do it by [yourself] without having to go out and raise money,” Cuban tells Seacrest.



Business experts and entrepreneurs often argue the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inc.com/craig-bloem/5-reasons-why-i-always-caution-entrepreneurs-not-to-self-fund-their-startups.html" class="">pros</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/bootstrapping-business/" class="">cons</a>&nbsp;of raising outside money to start a business versus self-funding (aka “<a href="https://hbr.org/2016/03/why-every-startup-should-bootstrap" class="">bootstrapping</a>”), the latter of which can typically involve sinking the founders’ personal savings into a new venture and can result in slower growth if the business is reliant on slowly increasing revenue in order to expand.



While fundraising injects much-needed capital into a nascent startup, taking on outside investors can also bring pressure from those investors to grow the company faster than might be healthy in the long-run in order to create an immediate return on their investment.



In Cuban’s own case, the billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks started his first business after moving to Dallas with only $60 in his pocket in 1982. Called MicroSolutions, the company was a computer consulting business that he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2018/07/07/flashback-36-years-ago-today-mark-cuban-arrived-in-dallas-flat-busted-broke-and-the-rest-is-history/" class="">launched with money</a>&nbsp;he and his roommates made throwing keg parties and charging guests $20 apiece for entry.



Cuban, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/05/how-mark-cuban-became-a-billionaire.html" class="">had recently been fired</a>&nbsp;from a computer software store at that time, marketed his new company to his former clients from his previous job and built it into a successful business that he would eventually sell to CompuServe for&nbsp;<a href="https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-mavericks/mavericksheadlines/2011/04/15/how-mark-cuban-went-from-beer-stained-floors-flat-broke-to-billions" class="">$6 million</a>&nbsp;in 1990.



So what’s Cuban’s advice?



“Try to find something that you can make, or that you can buy yourself, and sell to people around you and then ask for referrals and grow the business that way and you can turn it into something enormous,” he tells Seacrest.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/mark-cuban-biggest-mistake-people-make-when-starting-a-business.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/mark-cuban-biggest-mistake-people-make-when-starting-a-business.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Mark Cuban: This is the ‘biggest mistake’ people make when starting a business

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-gillwald-458374">Alison Gillwald</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>

In the three short years that the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/">World Economic Forum (WEF</a>) has been punting the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as the route to prosperity for digitally savvy nations, it has become global policy conventional wisdom. 

South Africa has <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2019-05-25-in-full-president-cyril-ramaphosas-inauguration-speech/">not been immune </a>to the hype. The government has shifted its focus and resources to the 4IR. And it’s been prioritised over more mundane, but essential, policy interventions aimed at ensuring the more equitable inclusion of the populace into a modern, digital economy. 

This diversion of resources is not by government only. International donor agendas and funding have pivoted to the 4IR. This has mostly been to Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the process, critical research on creating the necessary conditions in developing countries for inclusive digital economies and societies, and implementation projects, have been left stranded. These would include ensuring broadband extension, affordable access, education and digital skills.

Without public investment in independent, local multidisciplinary digital policy research there has been no base to prepare policy makers for 4IR. Public interest research in this area has long been dependent on the vagaries of donor funding. It is therefore not surprising that South Africa relies on the blueprints of international lobbies, global industry associations and private foundations representing the interests of what have become global monopolies.

Government’s response to the lack of policy research on 4IR has been the <a href="https://www.csir.co.za/south-africa-and-world-economic-forum-announce-intention-establish-4ir-affiliate-centre">establishment</a> of the WEF Centre for the 4IR based at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). 

Various government departments have developed policies in their sectoral silos. But there is no overarching digital policy to achieve the co-ordination required across the state and between the public and private sectors. 

A <a href="https://www.dtps.gov.za/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=811:president-cyril-ramaphosa-appoints-commission-on-fourth-industrial-revolution&amp;catid=13&amp;Itemid=138">commission appointed</a> by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year is meant to provide some of this overview. Can it, with the industry-dominated working groups, provide a public interest outcome? And why are the industry-led working groups replicating the protracted six-year integrated White Paper process that has yet to be implemented? 

<h2>Wrong assumption</h2>

The <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-caught-in-the-global-hype-of-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-121189">adoption by South Africa</a> of 4IR models and policy designed by WEF partner consultants is based on a number of assumptions that don’t apply to developing countries. These include mature, competitive markets and functioning democracies, capable institutions and educated and healthy populations. As a result, the proposed policies are unlikely to contribute to economic growth, job creation and the empowerment of women envisaged by President Ramaphosa in his <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2019-05-25-in-full-president-cyril-ramaphosas-inauguration-speech/">inaugural address</a>.

Unlike most other African countries, South Africa has already developed some cutting-edge public and private sector 4IR technologies. The CSIR, for example, owns the largest 3D <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwidtY7zkMbjAhV1XRUIHf_3C6sQFjACegQIDBAI&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.co.za%2Fsouth-africas-largest-3d-printer-is-so-big-that-it-takes-up-to-r75-million-in-titanium-powder-to-fill-it-2018-7&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PC-BT-RfE83aFHkfVIjKd">printer</a>.

But public investments have done little to deal with the country’s extreme digital inequality. The productive use of these enabling new technologies is only being enjoyed by a relatively small elite. Half of the country’s population doesn’t have even basic access. And for those barely online due to affordability or skills challenges, digital use is <a href="https://researchictafrica.net/after-access-south-africa-state-of-ict-2017-south-africa-report_04/">entirely consumptive</a>.

<h2>Uneven disruptions</h2>

There is little doubt that the inevitable rise of the advanced technologies of artificial intelligence, blockchain and drones will disrupt economies and societies. But when this happens, the degree to which it will happen will be highly uneven. Like other industrial revolutions, this one will be characterised by evolution as much as by disruption. Unless something dramatically different is done, one of the continuities will be the perpetuation of inequality. And the primary determinant of inclusion is education and digital skilling.

The layering of advanced technologies over existing inequalities won’t contribute to digital inclusion. It will simply worsen inequality within and between nations. How quickly South Africa is able to redress existing inequalities will determine the degree to which it is able to harness the potential benefits of advanced technologies for equitable development. 

This is not to suggest that South Africa should eschew all international good practice. The country’s shortage of resources, particularly skills and expertise, requires it to use private investments for the delivery of public goods such as the Internet. But this doesn’t mean abdicating digital policy to the private sector, international or domestic. 

And 4IR is distracting government from the unfinished business of previous policy and institutional failures, as well as regulatory bottlenecks. While government continues to deal with digital policy in sectoral silos it will not be able to deal with the cross-cutting nature of “digitisation” and “datafication” of the economy and society.

<h2>What’s needed</h2>

To fulfil its social contract with the citizenry, South Africa requires a capable state. The state must create the enabling conditions for the public and private sector to harness the opportunities arising from technological developments. 

But to do so it must complete the multitude of policies and regulations that have not been implemented, or are not been implemented according to policy intent. Examples include the five-years-overdue connectivity for all public buildings and installation of public wi-fi at them. Another is a decade-long failure to release high-demand spectrum. And there’s the incomplete market concentration review as well as the two-decade failure to complete the digital migration. 

It is true that the country can’t wait around while this being done. Integration into the global economy is happening at a faster and faster pace. But it’s not automatically beneficial. What’s needed is data and analysis to inform policy through genuinely consultative multistakeholder processes that represent the diverse interests and expertise within the country. Otherwise South Africa won’t be included on its own terms or on those of its partners.

South Africa needs to institutionalise digital data gathering together with the national statistical system which underpins multidisciplinary policy research in its universities and policy formulation. Only then will it be able to develop organic, alternative policy and regulatory strategies to those that have failed in developing country contexts. 

To this end public investment in universities is needed. This will enable knowledge and skills to be developed to undertake research and implement policy. 

This will necessitate a shift from the sectoral silos in which digital policy has traditionally been formulated. In its place a national policy enabling the necessary integration is required across the public sector. In addition, there needs to be coordination between the public and private sectors.

Governments have no control over the biggest players operating in their jurisdictions. These near-monopoly global platforms are largely unaccountable to anyone. Platforms that are offering millions of people social value services are also – wittingly or not – exposing them to mass surveillance, public and private. This is popularly referred to as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=13&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjAk93rj7DkAhVR_KQKHWZjD0sQFjAMegQIABAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2F2019%2Fjan%2F20%2Fshoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook&amp;usg=AOvVaw3t-BRvhH70kImuASnSrF6i">“surveillance” capitalism</a>.

So at the same time as creating affordable access to the internet, South Africa must find ways of effectively mitigating risks and preventing potential harm. Two events have brought this into sharp relief. The first was the attack on national databases. The second was the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;soure=web&amp;cd=14&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiAzNzyoKjjAhVESBUIHTOrD10QFjANegQIBBAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fstory%2Fcambridge-analytica-facebook-privacy-awakening%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw3QIR7DyGAADiTAv3-8Ed11">Cambridge Analytica</a> debacle. This involved the personal details of approximately 60 million South African Facebook users being exposed.

South Africa does not have the luxury of dealing with these problems sequentially. Adaptive regulation is needed to ensure the country reaps the benefits of digitalisaition and datafication that will integrate it more into the global economy. And limiting harms will require complex, adaptive regulation. 

This will be a challenge for the country’s historically weak sectoral policy and regulatory institutions. It will also require cross-sectoral coordination between communications, international affairs, trade, defence, science and technology.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121191/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-gillwald-458374">Alison Gillwald</a>, Adjunct Professor, Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-must-harness-technology-in-a-way-that-helps-fix-its-problems-121191">original article</a>.

How can South Africa harness technology in a way that helps fix its problems?

By Clement Uwiringiyimana



KIGALI (Reuters) &#8211; Rwanda&#8217;s Mara Group launched two smartphones on Monday, describing them as the first &#8220;Made in Africa&#8221; models and giving a boost to the country&#8217;s ambitions to become a regional technology hub.



The Mara X and Mara Z will use Google’s Android operating system and cost 175,750 Rwandan francs ($190) and 120,250 Rwandan francs ($130) respectively.



They will compete with Samsung, whose cheapest smartphone costs 50,000 Rwandan francs ($54), and non-branded phones at 35,000 Rwandan francs ($37). Mara Group CEO Ashish Thakkar said it was targetting customers willing to pay more for quality. 



&#8220;This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa,&#8221; Thakkar told Reuters after touring the company alongside Rwanda&#8217;s President Paul Kagame. 



Companies assemble smartphones in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and South Africa, but import the components, he said. 



&#8220;We are actually the first who are doing manufacturing. We are making the motherboards, we are making the sub-boards during the entire process,” he said. &#8220;There are over 1,000 pieces per phone.&#8221; 



Thakkar said the plant had cost $24 million and could make 1,200 phones per day.



Mara Group hopes to profit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a pact aimed at forming a 55-nation trade bloc, to boost sales across Africa, Thakkar said.



The agreement is due to begin trading in July next year, aiming to unite 1.3 billion people and create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc. But it is still in the very early stages and no timelines have been agreed for abolishing tariffs.



Kagame said he hoped the phone would increase Rwanda&#8217;s smartphone usage, currently at around 15%. 



&#8220;Rwandans are already using smartphones but we want to enable many more. The introduction of Mara phones will put smartphones ownership within reach of more Rwandans,” Kagame said. 



($1 = 924.3110 Rwandan francs)



(Editing by Giulia Paravicini and Mark Potter)

What you need to know about Rwanda’s launch of the first ‘Made in Africa’ smartphones

It’s been eight years since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/apple-steve-jobs-divided-people-into-2-groups-insanely-great-and-crappy-people-says-ex-employee-guy-kawasaki.html" class="">Steve Jobs</a>&nbsp;passed away on Oct. 5, 2011, but his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/amazon-billionaire-ceo-jeff-bezos-ask-yourself-these-12-questions-to-live-a-long-happy-life.html" class="">lessons about life, work and success</a>&nbsp;still live on today.



In a 1994, the Apple co-founder sat down for an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/steve-jobs-in-1994-the-rolling-stone-interview-231132/" class="">interview with Rolling Stone</a>. At the time, Jobs was at one of the lowest points of his career; he had long ago been booted from Apple, and the personal computer revolution seemed to be dimming. And yet, when asked if he still believed in the limitless potential of technology, Jobs answered yes.



“But it’s not a faith in technology. It’s faith in people,” he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Tools are just tools’</h2>



“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart — and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them,” he said. “Tools are just tools. They either work, or they don’t work.”



Put another way, Jobs believed that in order to achieve great success and create revolutionary changes in the world, we must learn to prioritize the intersection of technology and the humanities, because that’s how the best ideas emerge.



Jobs took this philosophy seriously. Years after he rejoined Apple in 1997, it was clear that he had become a far better leader. His goal, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography <a class="" href="https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537">“Steve Jobs,”</a> was to build an enduring company that prioritized people. Everything else — products and profits — while still important, would be secondary.



Jobs’ vision paid off: He had successfully shifted Apple’s focus back to making cutting-edge products, which resulted in a phase of unprecedented growth for the company.



Here’s how Jobs’ put his “faith in people” into practice:



1. He hired the right people and trusted them to perform



Jobs understood the cost of hiring the wrong people. He was heavily&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8810045/Steve-Jobs-timeline.html" class="">involved in major hiring decisions</a>, and remained so&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8810045/Steve-Jobs-timeline.html" class="">even after taking medical leave</a>.



Plenty of people have a breadth of knowledge that enables them to make good decisions under a variety of circumstances, but you can’t possibly be an expert at everything. The best leaders know what they don’t know, and they bring in experts to help them plan their next move.



As&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/steve-jobs-advice-on-hiring-helps-grow-this-ceos-talent-pool.html" class="">Jobs once said</a>, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”



2. He delivered his demand for excellence in a inspiring way



To many, Jobs’ version of “having faith in people” might not be considered the norm. His occasionally abrasive style of leadership has been described as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-co-founder-chairman-steve-jobs-dies/" class="">“terrorizing”&nbsp;</a>and<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-co-founder-chairman-steve-jobs-dies/" class="">&nbsp;“extremely demanding.”</a>



But, as proven by Apple’s success, it worked. “Jobs’ rudeness and roughness were accompanied by an ability to be inspirational,” Isaacson wrote in a&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs" class="">Harvard Business Review</a>&nbsp;article.



Indeed, Jobs knew how to “infuse Apple employees with an abiding passion to create groundbreaking products and a belief that they could accomplish what seemed impossible,” according to Isaacson.



The author recalled Jobs once telling him: “I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things.”



3. He taught them about humility



Some people might get a chuckle out of this one, considering Jobs was known to have a certain degree of arrogance, but he also had the capacity to admit when he was wrong and change his opinion entirely.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/former-apple-employee-guy-kawasaki-once-stood-up-to-steve-jobs-here-is-the-amazing-response-he-received.html" class="">Guy Kawasaki</a>, former chief evangelist at Apple who worked closely with the tech visionary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/steve-jobs-taught-guy-kawasaki-this-surprising-lesson-about-intelligence.html" class="">told CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;that one of the most important lessons he learned from Jobs “is that changing your mind, changing what you’re doing and reversing yourself at an extreme is a sign of intelligence.”



When Jobs first introduced the iPhone in 2007, for example, it was a closed system — no one outside of Apple could create an app for it. A year later,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/steve-jobs-taught-guy-kawasaki-this-surprising-lesson-about-intelligence.html" class="">Jobs made a complete “180-degree reversal,”</a>&nbsp;Kawasaki said. He opened the system to the public after realizing how much more the device could offer customers with apps written by anyone with a good idea.



In a world of stark dichotomies, it’s good to be fearless about changing sides or altering courses.



4. He taught them to focus



After his return to Apple, Jobs would take his top employees on annual retreats. On the last day of each retreat,&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs" class="">Isaacson wrote</a>, he’d stand in front of a whiteboard and ask everybody: “What are the 10 things we should be doing next?”



People would fight to get their suggestions on the list. “Jobs would write them down — and then cross off the ones he decreed dumb,” Isaacson continued. “After much jockeying, the group would come up with a list of 10. Then, Jobs would slash seven of them and announce, ‘We can only do three.’”



The theatrics of the activity were meant to teach his employees about focus. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do,” Jobs told Isaacson. “That’s true for companies, and it’s true for products.”



5. He engaged face-to-face



If Jobs were alive today, it’d be unlikely for anyone to get a Slack reply from him. According to Isaacson, Jobs believed in the power of in-person conversations and always preferred face-to-face meetings.



“There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat,” he told Isaacson. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”



Even at Pixar, Jobs made sure the building was designed to get people out of their offices and interact with others. The front doors and main stairs and corridors all led to the atrium, which housed essentials like a fitness center, cafe, employee mailboxes and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technology-alone-is-not-enough" class="">only set of bathrooms</a>.



It was meant to be the heart of the headquarters, the place where people ran into each other, talked and came up with the most inventive ideas.



<a class="" href="http://marcelschwantes.com/">Marcel Schwantes</a> is a speaker, executive coach and workplace strategist. As a leadership coach, he addresses the elements required to create human-centered workplaces that result in high-performing cultures. Marcel is also the host of the “Leadership from the Core” podcast.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/05/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-technology-is-nothing-heres-what-it-takes-to-achieve-great-success.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/05/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-technology-is-nothing-heres-what-it-takes-to-achieve-great-success.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Steve Jobs: ‘Technology is nothing’—here’s what he said it really takes to achieve great success

By <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/426983428?src=2Q7JrXi3WCG4DWKa7nAt5w-1-5&#038;size=medium_jpg">knyazevfoto/Shutterstock</a>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacqueline-hicks-780656">Jacqueline Hicks</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a>

There is a global standoff going on about who stores your data. At the close of June’s G20 summit in Japan, a number of developing countries <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/world/india-boycotts-osaka-track-at-g20-summit-1561897592466.html">refused to sign</a> an international declaration on data flows – the so-called Osaka Track. Part of the reason why countries such as India, Indonesia and South Africa boycotted the declaration was because they had no opportunity to put their own interests about data into the document. 

With 50 other signatories, the declaration still stands as a statement of future intent to negotiate further, but the boycott represents an ongoing struggle by some countries to assert their claim over the data generated by their own citizens.

Back in the dark ages of 2016, data was touted as the new oil. Although the metaphor was quickly <a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/data-is-not-the-new-oil-721f5109851b">debunked</a> it’s still a helpful way to understand the global digital economy. Now, as international negotiations over data flows intensify, the oil comparison helps explain the economics of what’s called “data localisation” – the bid to keep citizens’ data within their own country.

Just as oil-producing nations pushed for oil refineries to add value to crude oil, so governments today want the world’s Big Tech companies to build data centres on their own soil. The cloud that powers much of the world’s tech industry is grounded in vast data centres located mainly around northern Europe and the US coasts. Yet, at the same time, US Big Tech companies are increasingly turning to markets in the global south for expansion as enormous numbers of young tech savvy populations come online. 

<h2>Accusations of ‘digital imperalism’</h2>

Take, for example, the case of Facebook. While India is the country with the biggest amount of Facebook users, when you look at the <a href="https://www.datacenters.com/providers/facebook">location of Facebook’s 15 data centres</a>, ten are in North America, four in Europe and one in Asia – in Singapore. 

<figure class="align-center ">
 <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=525&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=525&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=525&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=660&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=660&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=660&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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 Countries with the most Facebook users in 2019.
 <a class="source" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-based-on-number-of-facebook-users/">We Are Social, DataReportal, Hootsuite, Facebook via Statista</a>
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This disconnect between new sources of data and the location of data centres has <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/QMZDxbCufK3O2dJE4xccyI/Indias-data-must-be-controlled-by-Indians-not-by-global-co.html">led to accusations</a> from countries such as India of “data colonisation” and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/digital-colonialism-threatening-global-south-190129140828809.html">“digital colonialism”</a>.

The economic argument for countries in the global south to host more data centres is that it would boost digital industrialisation by creating competitive advantages for local cloud companies, and develop links to other parts of the local IT sector.

Many <a href="http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/19553/16635">countries</a> have flirted with regulations on what sort of data should be stored locally. Some cover only certain sectors such as health data in Australia. Others, such as South Korea, require the consent of the person associated with the data for it to be transmitted overseas. France continues to pursue its own data centre infrastructure, dubbed “le cloud souverain”, despite the closure of some of the <a href="https://www.rudebaguette.com/2019/08/cloudwatt-orange-cloud-souverain-fin/">businesses initially behind the idea</a>. The most comprehensive laws are in China and Russia, which mandate localisation across multiple sectors for many kinds of personal data.

Countries such as India and Indonesia with their massive and growing online populations arguably have the most to gain economically from such regulations as they currently receive the least data infrastructure investment from the tech giants relative to the number of users.

<h2>The economics aren’t clear cut</h2>

Supporters of data localisation cite developing countries’ structural dependency on foreign-owned digital infrastructure and an unfair share of the industry’s economic benefits. They dream of using data localisation to force tech companies into becoming permanent entities on home soil to eventually increase the amount of taxes they can impose on them. 

Detractors point to the high business costs of local servers, not just for the tech giants, but also for the very digital start ups that governments say they want to encourage. They say localisation regulations interfere with global innovation, are difficult to enforce, and ignore the technical requirements of data centres: proximity to the internet’s “backbone” of fibre optic cables, a stable supply of electricity, and low temperature air or water for cooling the giant servers.

<figure class="align-center ">
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 Data: how much is it worth?
 <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/artistic-blurred-binary-numbers-data-travel-544111558?src=Bjwb083uwwYnsgSFI2-Huw-1-2">Robsonphoto/Shutterstock</a>
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Attempts to measure the economic impact of localisation are extremely partisan. The <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/174726">most cited study</a> from 2014 uses an opaque methodology and was produced by the <a href="https://ecipe.org/">European Centre for International Political Economy</a>, a free trade think-tank based in Brussels, some of whose funding comes from unknown <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/3884/big-business-orders-its-pro-ttip-arguments-from-these-think-tanks/179184456-59671a10">multinational businesses</a>. Not surprisingly, it finds gross losses for countries considering localisation. Yet, a <a href="https://baxtel.com/data-center/facebook/files/facebook_data_centers_2018">2018 study</a> commissioned by Facebook found that its data centre spending in the US had created tens of thousands of jobs, supported renewable energy investments and contributed US$5.8 billion to US GDP in just six years.

Like the equivalent arguments for and against free trade, taking a dogmatic position for or against the issue masks other complexities on the ground. The economic costs and benefits depend on the type of data stored, whether it’s a duplicate or the only copy, the level of government support for wider infrastructure subsidies, to name just a few factors. 

India has been the most vocal supporter for localisation, promoting its own regulation as “<a href="https://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Data_Protection_Committee_Report.pdf">a template for the developing world</a>”, but it’s in a strong position to do so given the country’s relatively advanced digital industrialisation and technical manpower. Other emerging economies with large online populations, such as Indonesia, have vacillated on their localisation regulations under pressure from the US government which has threatened <a href="https://inet.detik.com/law-and-policy/d-4318420/revisi-pp-pste-diduga-sarat-tekanan-asing">to pull preferential trade terms</a> for other goods and services if they went ahead with restrictive regulations.

<h2>What governments do with the data</h2>

While the international economics of personal data may follow some of the same general dynamics as oil production, data is fundamentally different from oil because it does a double duty – providing not just monetary value to businesses, but also surveillance opportunities for governments. Some civil society activists I’ve met as part of my research in India and Indonesia told me they were sceptical of their own governments’ narratives about data colonialism, worrying instead about the increased access to sensitive personal information that localisation gives to governments.

It’s not just large corporations and states that have roles to play in this bid for “data sovereignty”. Tech developers may yet find ways to support the rights of individuals to control their own personal data with platforms such as <a href="http://www.databoxproject.uk">databox</a>, which gives each of us something akin to our own personal servers. These technologies are still in development, but <a href="https://www.decodeproject.eu/pilots">projects</a> are springing up – mostly around Europe – that not only give people greater control over their personal data, but aim to produce social value rather than profit. Such experiments may yet find a place in the developing world alongside what states and large corporations are doing.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123048/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacqueline-hicks-780656">Jacqueline Hicks</a>, Marie-Curie Skłodowska Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-colonialism-why-some-countries-want-to-take-control-of-their-peoples-data-from-big-tech-123048">original article</a>.

‘Digital colonialism’: Here’s why some countries are considering taking control of their people’s data from Big Tech companies

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How the digital shift can impact insurance sector value chain

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-huddleston-jr/">Tom Huddleston Jr.</a>



Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are two of the most high-profile tech titans of the past century, and they also had a famously <a class="" href="https://fortune.com/2011/10/24/when-steve-met-bill-it-was-a-kind-of-weird-seduction-visit/">fierce rivalry</a> that evolved into a friendship based on <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/05/steve-jobs-untimely-death-taught-bill-gates-this-important-lesson.html">mutual respect</a> until Jobs passed away in 2011.



Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft and the world’s second-wealthiest person, has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/07/bill-gates-says-jobs-was-a-wizard-in-getting-staff-to-keep-apple-alive.html" class="">praised</a>&nbsp;the Apple co-founder in the past for Jobs’ leadership qualities and his uncanny ability to motivate his employees. But, there is one specific trait of Jobs’ that Gates is still particularly envious of, Gates says in a new interview with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mind-of-bill-gates-revealed-on-netflix-11568107801" class="">The Wall Street Journal</a>.



The former Microsoft CEO talks about how he’s had to work hard to become a better public speaker throughout his career and admits that public speaking was one area where Jobs easily had him beat, according to the interview, published on Tuesday to promote&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/30/how-bill-gates-brain-works-netflix-documentary.html" class="">the new Netflix documentary</a>&nbsp;on Gates’ life and career that premieres on Sept. 20.



“Steve Jobs was always more of a natural at that,” Gates tells WSJ about Jobs’ public speaking abilities, which Gates says allowed Jobs to sell people on any product, even a subpar one. “He could talk about what, in the case of NeXT Computer [his follow-up after being ousted from Apple], was not that good of a machine, yet mesmerize people to death if they happened to be in the auditorium.”



Gates goes on to say that he wishes he could emulate his former friend and rival in that regard, especially with respect to raising awareness for various&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/philanthropy-50-how-much-bezos-gates-zuckerberg-charities-gave-away.html" class="">philanthropic causes</a>&nbsp;that Gates and his wife,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/melinda-gates-reveals-how-she-negotiated-equality-in-her-marriage.html" class="">Melinda</a>, champion through their non-profit foundation.



“I wish I could be as magical because I have causes that are in some ways more impactful and I need to make sure they don’t get ignored,” Gates says in the interview, referring to the work the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation does to address global issues, from disease prevention research to fighting poverty.



Gates notes that “some things, like eradicating polio, are inherently inspiring,” but he still believes that Jobs’ ability to sell any product or idea would come in handy, even though Gates has worked to improve his public speaking over the years. (At least one billionaire CEO, Zoom founder Eric Yuan,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/zoom-ipo-bill-gates-speech-inspired-founder-to-move-to-us.html" class="">credits a Bill Gates</a>&nbsp;public speaking engagement from the 1990s for inspiring him to start an internet business.)



“I myself am not a preacher,” he says. “I’ve learned a little bit about public speaking, and how to articulate how to solve these problems over time. I’ve gotten OK on that in a certain sense.”



For what it’s worth, the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the world’s largest private philanthropic foundations, with an endowment of more than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/who-we-are/general-information/foundation-factsheet" class="">$50 billion</a>. And, Gates and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, have also convinced hundreds of wealthy people to donate billions of dollars of their wealth to charity as part of their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/14-billionaires-signed-bill-gates-and-warren-buffetts-giving-pledge.html" class="">Giving Pledge campaign</a>.



This isn’t the first time that Gates has praised Jobs’ ability to get people on board with his particular vision. Jobs had a way of “casting spells” to motivate his employees,&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/july-7-2019-how-to-lead-a-fareed-zakaria-gps-special/id377785090?i=1000443856975" class="">Gates told CNN</a>&nbsp;in a July interview.



“I was like a minor wizard because he would be casting spells, and I would see people mesmerized, but because I’m a minor wizard, the spells don’t work on me,” Gates said.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/steve-jobs-trait-bill-gates-envied-the-most.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/steve-jobs-trait-bill-gates-envied-the-most.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Bill Gates says this is the Steve Jobs trait he envied the most

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elvira-bolat-392016">Elvira Bolat</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nasiru-taura-773412">Nasiru Taura</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a>

Digital technology has created new opportunities for businesses in sub-Saharan Africa to compete on a more equal footing. However, these businesses have yet to enjoy the full benefits because of a difficult operating environment.

Our recently published <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/series/15149">book</a>, ‘Digital Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects’, details case studies of economic sectors where digital technologies are making a positive impact.

In Ghana, digital technologies have had an impact on the agriculture sector. Agri-tech firms like Farmable, Farmerline and Esoko have successfully pursued the creation of new business ventures and renewal of existing, matured corporate business models. These agri-tech firms support farmers with pricing data, crowdfunding and communication activities. They are also connecting farmers with buyers as well as helping them work out what differentiates them from competitors.

Digital technologies are playing a role in Nigeria’s agricultural sector too.
<a href="https://primewavesltd.com">Prime Wave </a>, an engineering company that supplies equipment to rice processing firms, and Al-Wabel Trading Company Ltd, a rice miller, have been working together to invent new technological solutions. These are aimed at improving the performance of rice processing. The innovative solutions the company came up with for rice processing can be applied more widely across the agricultural sector. However, these firms have had to overcome regulatory and institutional challenges in the sector. 

<h2>Crossing boundaries</h2>

Digital technologies have also become a part of arts, media and entertainment, in particular in Kenya and Nigeria.

Case studies from <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-04924-9_4">Nigeria</a> show how small and medium-sized new media players benefit from embracing a culture of experimentation, partnership and continuous learning. These businesses have adopted a “mobile first” mindset. They do this by using mobile technology as a resourceful, quick and flexible solution to do business, connect and promote their content. 

The advertising, game development and media companies that took part in the research had all invested substantially in establishing their own systems for sharing data. These firms also embrace the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45152042-the-passion-economy">Passion economy</a> which centres around social causes and <a href="https://europeansting.com/2019/08/29/how-to-turn-africas-manufacturing-sector-into-a-high-tech-powerhouse/">high access to mobile technology</a> “as driving forces of the business”.

Nigeria’s movie industry, too, has benefited from digitisation. The technology has improved production time and quality. It has also helped extend the reach of movies to wider audiences. Foreign investors are taking <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/15/canal-acquires-african-film-studio-rok-from-irokotv-to-grow-nollywood/">greater interest</a> in this <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/07/08/nigerias-nollywood-film-industry-reels-in-foreign-investors.html">fast growing business</a>.

A potential drawback of digital technology in the arts is that cultural artefacts created digitally can also appear in many places at once. So, instead of gaining visibility it is actually lost in the digital crowd. But <a href="http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/31756/">Kenyan artists</a> have managed to use social media networks to build their own “cultural capital” and gain access to physical galleries.

<h2>Innovation hubs</h2>

There’s also been an increase in the number of digital hubs across the sub continent. But do they really help business to start up and survive?

The number of innovation hubs in Africa has grown sharply. There’s BusyInternet and <a href="https://hubtel.com">SMSGH Solutions</a> in Ghana; <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-57878-5_3">Erik Hersman’s iHub and Safaricom’s M-PESA</a> in Kenya; and Nigeria’s Yaba, a suburb of Lagos labelled the country’s Silicon Valley.

A chapter in <a href="https://www.hiig.de/publication/innovation-hubs-in-africa-what-do-they-really-do-for-digital-entrepreneurs/">our book</a> discusses the social complexity of engaging these hubs. In Accra, the Ghanaian capital, hubs could not provide support that is relevant to local digital entrepreneurs’ circumstances. Entrepreneurs in Harare thought that hubs “wasted precious resources”. Most hubs on the subcontinent also appear to make little contribution to the creation of new businesses. 

Perhaps <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/to_augment_techs_transformation_of_sub_saharan_africa_impact_investors_should_focus_on_the_startup_ecosystem#">“impact-oriented” investors</a> who are passionate about the region should assist digital hubs to make the necessary changes to how they operate.

Local conditions and culture can shape the “ecosystems” in which businesses operate. Some of these conditions, such as corruption, are hostile to business efficiency. The <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/inside-africas-bid-digital-economy">challenges</a> are most pronounced in the communications, transport, and energy networks. Much of the region’s infrastructure is inefficient, and more than three-quarters of the <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/sub-saharan-africa-s-future-linked-to-technology/1556198">population remains offline</a>.

Take Nigeria’s movie industry. It needs more than <a href="https://guardian.ng/business-services/bank-sees-opportunity-in-lending-to-creative-sector/">investment</a>. It also needs government to make regulatory changes to protect the creative sector. Government should also prioritise the development of movie industry skills. The same can be said about <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/09/20/latest-nigeria-music-industry-pricewaterhouse-coopers/">the music industry</a>. 

<h2>Afrocentric digital solutions</h2>

Overall, the book highlights that in a region with multiple social, environmental, economic and political challenges there is a need for more interrogation into how both incumbent and new players in sub-Saharan Africa are shaping the landscape with a view to meeting the <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a>.

Digital technologies, as some of our case studies show, can play an important role in transforming African economies. However, digital technology solutions must not just be mere adaptations of dominant Western services and products. They must be aimed at meeting the sub-continent’s needs. In this regard, there’s a lot to learn from Japan. 

Demand for technology after the Second World War resulted in the development of a plethora of advanced solutions which secured Japan’s status as an innovator. 
There are promising new ventures such as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/14/africa/google-ai-center-accra-intl/index.html">Google’s Artificial Intelligence lab</a> in Ghana – the company’s first in Africa. This is a centre of research into digital solutions to Africa’s problems.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120005/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elvira-bolat-392016">Elvira Bolat</a>, Principal Academic in Marketing, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nasiru-taura-773412">Nasiru Taura</a>, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-technologies-are-transforming-african-businesses-but-obstacles-remain-120005">original article</a>.

Digital technologies are transforming African businesses, but what are the obstacles that remain?

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Data mining has been hailed as the new oil and with technology race seemingly on use of these technologies in the day to day lives of the lay man is still a challenge. Fast forward, Atlancis Technologies, Kenyan based tech company is the first I.T firm to adopt non-proprietary open-source computing and cloud infrastructure to provide cloud services on the continent. CEO and co-Founder, Daniel Njuguna joins CNBC Africa for more.

This Kenyan based tech company is revolutionising cloud services in Africa

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Muhammad Belgore, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Partner at Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe and Belgore Legal Practitioners says by combining artificial intelligence, technology and existing systems, third-world countries can bridge the gap in development. To discuss this, he joins CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole for more.

Muhammad Belgore on the use of AI in dispute resolution

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/taylor-locke/">Taylor Locke</a> 



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/bill-gates/">Bill Gates</a>’ biggest fear is that his brain will “stop working.” That’s what Gates says in the upcoming three-part Netflix documentary“Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates.”



With the documentary, which drops Sept. 20, director and executive producer Davis Guggenheim aims to find out what goes on inside the mind of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/#57df5cba689f" class="">second richest man in the world</a>. But some things about how Gates’ brain works can be gleaned from the series short&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCv29JKmHNY" class="">trailer</a>, released Thursday.



Gates is a&nbsp;″multiprocessor” says his wife Melinda Gates in the trailer. “He will be reading something else but then processing at the same time. It’s chaos!” Melinda says.



Gates&nbsp;″thrives on complexity,” Melinda says. “He makes aframework in his mind, then he starts slotting in the information. If something doesn’t line up, he gets really frustrated.”



“It’s scary,” says Melinda.“But when Bill stills himself, he can pull ideas together that other people can’t see.”



The idea of having a “framework” is something Gates has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/21/how-bill-gates-remembers-what-he-reads.html" class="">talked about himself</a>.



When explaining how he remembers what he reads, Gates told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xwh88cI_d8" class="">Quartz</a>:“If you read enough, there’s a similarity between things that make it easy, because this thing is like this other thing. If you have a broad framework, then you have a place to put everything.”



“At first it is very daunting,” Gates told Quartz, “but then as you get the kind of scope, then all these pieces fit in.



“It’s fun to say, okay, this is where this belongs and does this contradict something I knew before? And I better look that up, I better figure it out.”



According to the documentary trailer, Gates looks at problems from usual angles, which allows him to innovate, and “he’s at his best when the deck is stacked against him” — skills that come in handy as he tries to tackle some of the world’s most difficult problems like disease and poverty.



In addition to giving a small glimpse into Gates’ thinking, the trailer for the documentary also gives away some fun facts: Gates’ favorite food is a hamburger, he doesn’t eat breakfast and dogs are his favorite animal.



<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HBEDE1yLopw?start=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/30/how-bill-gates-brain-works-netflix-documentary.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/30/how-bill-gates-brain-works-netflix-documentary.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

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technology

Why this East African country is failing to integrate technology into secondary schools

Lagos State to co-create with tech ecosystem

Simon Gros: How technology can be leveraged to boost tourism on the continent

Leveraging technology to improve healthcare in Nigeria and globally

Can technology and mining merge without comprising miners? Alterjman explains

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How can South Africa harness technology in a way that helps fix its problems?

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Steve Jobs: ‘Technology is nothing’—here’s what he said it really takes to achieve great success

‘Digital colonialism’: Here’s why some countries are considering taking control of their people’s data from Big Tech companies

Nigeria’s ccHUB acquires Kenya’s iHUB: What does this mean for growth of tech-hubs in Africa?

How the digital shift can impact insurance sector value chain

Bill Gates says this is the Steve Jobs trait he envied the most

Digital technologies are transforming African businesses, but what are the obstacles that remain?

This Kenyan based tech company is revolutionising cloud services in Africa

Muhammad Belgore on the use of AI in dispute resolution

This is how Bill Gates’ brain works

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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