Will ICT drive macroeconomics or microelectronics?
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google Ghana, Ms Estelle Sowah, is advocating for a technology-driven innovation and big thinking to achieve access to basic needs.
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Speaking at the launch of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the African Development Bank in Accra, Ms Sowah said access to basic needs such as health and education were a function of technology and innovation.
“What Ghana and Africa needs is leadership that is well informed with a clear vision to implement sound economic policies,” she said, adding that “this can be possible with the deployment of innovation and technology”.
From macroeconomics to microelectronics, hundreds of rural communities access village phones which have been established in areas where electricity is unavailable and the network can only be accessed with a booster antenna, a device used to enhance or amplify signal quality.
Fishermen and traders in remote villages and towns rely on mobile phones to scout for the most profitable destination for their fish and fresh produce.
Agricultural traders and fishermen use mobile phones to reduce the cost of doing business, calling to first establish demand instead of travelling long distances to deliver their catch and fresh produce.
Villagers and small entrepreneurs can also send money to their loved ones or make remote payments through their cellphones to pay for goods and services.
This allows entrepreneurs to order supplies and pay for goods and services using mobile phones, significantly reducing the risk associated with carrying large sums of cash.
The Village Phone Programme, M-Agriculture, Mobile Money and many other information and communications technologies-based (ICT) programmes are just a few examples of how entrepreneurs, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), across the continent are successfully using mobile technologies to connect with customers and grow their businesses.
Analysts say with the emergence of new technologies and a strong drive towards digitisation, the role of ICT as an essential component of the competitive armoury for SMEs has become even more critical.
As with other advancements, the needs of customers often place enormous pressure on business to innovate as a means of not only staying relevant but growing the business and improving customer experience.
In Ghana and South Africa, SMEs have become critical agents in enabling the countries to attain their development objectives, notably poverty alleviation and wealth creation.
Therefore, SMEs are not only a strong engine of economic growth and productivity but also a means of empowerment and distributing wealth. In many emerging markets, SMEs are seen as the most attractive components of the economy.
For ICT-inclined people such as Estelle, technology is a key factor in driving economic growth. From the development of steam and electrical power to the innovations of the information age, technology has contributed to rising levels of productivity and higher living standards.
Today, biotechnology and the growth of so-called "green technology" appear to be the latest technological trends that will propel the global economy.
Technology, key to economic growth
Today, the world is a place where networked-based technologies transform the way people live, work and play. One has had the opportunity to witness at firsthand how these same technologies are also transforming the way people learn.
Traditional forms of education tend to focus on the accumulation of knowledge over the application of knowledge. Technology now enables students to not only facilitate access to information anytime and anywhere but also apply that knowledge to a real-world setting immediately.
Today, students want the same technologies they use daily to be integrated in their education experience. Governments are waking up to the understanding of the essential link between education access and technology use. This is making technology adoption in education a fundamental driver of economic growth.
Private-sector companies such as Cisco play a role to help educators around the world implement technologies for collaboration, connectivity, data centre, mobility, video, virtualisation and more.
These technologies help spread knowledge and improve outcomes by facilitating equal access to students regardless of gender, geographic location, socioeconomic or ethnic background, illness or disability or any other circumstance that may hinder such access.
The more exposure students have to technology while they are learning, the better prepared they are to use those technologies and improve the world when they graduate.
A flexible educational system, coupled with successful teaching, will allow Ghana to take advantage of the opportunities to develop the next generation of professionals and leaders that will contribute to economic prosperity and foster social inclusion and equality.
Already, according to the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, the world’s entrepreneurs are becoming younger. Almost half of the world’s entrepreneurs surveyed for the report were between the ages of 25 and 44.
These are techno-savvy adopters of technology who appreciate the value and contribution of ICT to improve business processes. The survey shows that in all geographic regions surveyed, 25-34 year olds display the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity.
Though technology is no substitute for an inspiring teacher, it can serve to expand that teacher's reach well beyond the classroom. GB