By ‘Sola Fagorusi
In 2006, I sat down with a friend at a café. It took me weeks to have him schedule time to grant me audience for one hour. Back then, I sensed something was revving up to shake the technological space. I was not sure of what it was but it was obvious that things were happening too fast and more would. I had the genuine assumption he would have this answer; afterall, this was a guy who I had seen operate a computer without a hard disk. I had seen him work on Microsoft Word with a desktop computer that was completely rid of that major essential – the hard disk. I recall faintly he said he used a software and a little memory space from his RAM to make that happen. Those of us who saw him do this were apparently dazed.
10 minutes into the conversation, he confirmed what I was thinking and broke down what was possible to me. He mentioned the careers that would happen because of network demands. He highlighted this in particular since internet connection was already growing rapidly then. I remember that one of the mobile service provider then was charging about N15,000 for about 1Gb of data. The experience of plugging a stick into a computer and being able to access the internet in the confine of one’s house then was absolutely exhilarating. Until then, cybercafés were the only place for such connectivity. My friend also hinted that the world would need a lot of programmers. He was a brilliant programmer himself and I knew he was perfectly ready for that moment whenever it came. He has since justified my thought. We were students then and I had seen some of the web-based programmes he had written to make work space better for folks in a number of industries. Another mention that came on the table was designs. He hinted that there would be a huge need for folks who can make sense of words and put it in colours and images that literally give pleasure to the eyes.
Equally mentioned were the dudes who will have to deal in hardwares. There will be a need for lot of repairs and assemblage. He told me it would be a skill that will readily come in handy. It has been almost a decade since we had that conversation; he has been proved right. There were a couple of things he did not mention then but the space continues to grow and it would in earnest affect the way businesses are done. There are two options here for individuals and organisations – growing with the trend is first. The second alternative is same as the first; because with this issue there is nowhere else to go but with the trend!
By trend, I am not only alluding to social media adoption which is huge on its own. I am hinting at changing dynamics which new media technology offers us. Businesses with plans for the future all have a space online. There are however more businesses offline than there are online. Research puts the total number of websites in the world at about one billion plus, while the total number of public blogs is about 250 million; this is asides blogger.com which does not make public its statistics. Apple has about 1.2 million applications available to the public. It is about the same with Google. This puts the numbers of apps available to 2.4 million and the volume of transaction continues to grow as more apps are created. Apple has paid developers $13 billion dollars till date from app download/purchase revenue. No one should study any course or undertake any programme with understanding the technological dimension to it. It is not about being geeky; it is primarily about understanding the dizzying trend at which things are happening. With all of these, there are certain levels demanding that we are at the do-it-yourself turn.
Multinational technology firms have been around for this long maybe because they have individuals who study the future to understand what the trends will be shortly. These individuals follow computing phenomena and cultural evolutions and see where they cross paths. Individuals, especially young people today will have to assign this role to themselves and take on skills and careers that can build them for this coming future. People will continue to lean on technology for business and even for personal living. The online retail stores, Search Engine Optimisation specialists, Digital media professional, professional web/blog content writers are the new careers that the new technological space throws us. 3D animations, e-comics, e-books, information products are some other ones.
Earlier this year, a Texas mother assembled a small team of designer to put together an app called – ‘Ignore no more’. What does the app do? It gives parents the ability to lock their kid’s smartphone from afar. It means parents can now control when the child is using the phone and even determine their true bed time. It also ensures that children do not ignore their parent’s calls when they see it. When they do so, the parent simply locks the phone. It sounds weird but this is exactly how things are now. There is a technology ready to address almost every need of man!
Business environments in particular are changing pretty fast given the new definition of work. I know friends who work from home every day and all they have to do is meet certain deadlines. It is even safer for the environment since that means lesser number of carbon emissions. There are no restrictions in terms of time and office space again. This technology form is bringing about a revolution in what was hitherto our standard. Today we are all virtually in a room and only choose to communicate or reach out to those that interest us.
Governance too has had its fair share. While it was easier for government institutions in most African countries to ignore requests by the citizenry via correspondence, it is becoming more difficult today. Calling out government’s actions and inactions seem to be getting more results than used to happen. Protests and call to action today do not happen without riding on the wave and reach of new media technology. That is the new dawn! Governments will likely fall and rise based on these technological tools that ensure that silence is no longer golden and accountability has a place. The Arab Spring may after all be far from over!
When internet technology was becoming a reliable on several fronts about a decade and half ago, there was a young man who proved the possibility of its dependence. He stayed at home for a week or so and had all he needed ordered online. That moment is almost here in a country like Nigeria and it rightly threatens businesses in the informal sector. Internet based technology is here to stay with only an option – ride on it or get ridden by it!
@SolaFagro on twitter
