internet - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T15:21:37Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/internetAfrica’s leading technology innovators are gathering for the Inaugural Africa Summit on Women & Girls in Technology in Accra, Ghanahttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/summit-on-women-girls-in-technology2016-09-12T13:00:00.000Z2016-09-12T13:00:00.000ZSun in Leo Globalhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SuninLeoGlobal<div><h1><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828587921,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3828587921,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3828587921?profile=original" /></a>Hundreds of Leaders to Gather in Accra for Inaugural Africa Summit on Women and Girls in Technology, 13-14 September, 2016</h1><p><strong>● African policymakers and technology leaders - including some of the continent’s most prominent women - will meet to determine the policy steps needed to close Africa’s growing digital gender gap, which is the largest in the world<br /> <br />● High-level panels and lightning talks will focus on issues around affordable broadband, digital skills and entrepreneurship, and women’s rights online </strong> <br /> <br />Over 200 of Africa’s leading technology innovators are scheduled to gather September 13-14 in Accra, Ghana at the Labadi Beach Hotel for the inaugural Africa Summit on Women and Girls in Technology .<br /> <br />The two-day event will feature lightning talks from young African female technologists, as well as high-level discussions with many of Africa’s most prominent ICT policymakers and technology leaders today, including:<br /> <br /> <strong>Dr. Omobola Johnson</strong>, former Nigerian Minister of Communication Technology<br /> <strong>Funke Opeke</strong>, CEO of MainOne<br /> <strong>Angelique Weeks</strong>, Chairperson of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority <br /> <strong>Anne Githuku Shongwe</strong>, Founder and CEO of Afroes Interactive Learning<br /> <strong>Nnenna Nwakanma</strong> of the World Wide Web Foundation<br /> <br />Sessions will highlight the need for gender-responsive ICT policy in Africa, and will aim to design the solutions needed to enable millions of African women and girls to benefit from greater access to technology, and to use their skills to build a better Africa for all.<br /> <br />The 2016 Summit will also feature the launch of a new framework from the Web Foundation to audit the digital gender gap, along with 10 country-specific assessments that analyse the policy efforts and progress made across these countries toward reducing barriers to women’s online access and use. <br /> <br />The Inaugural Africa Summit on Women and Girls in Technology is a collaboration between the <strong>Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)</strong> , <strong>The World Wide Web Foundation</strong> , <strong>The Ghana -India Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT (AITI -KACE) , The African Development Bank ,</strong> and <strong>UN Women. </strong><br /> <br />For more information, visit <a href="http://a4ai.org">a4ai.org</a> and follow A4AI on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/A4A_Internet">@A4A_Internet</a> and follow the conversation online through the hashtag #TechWomenAfrica .</p><p></p><p>About the <strong>Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)</strong>: The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) is the world’s broadest technology sector coalition. Initiated by the World Wide Web Foundation in 2013, the Alliance today comprises over 80 member organisations from across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. These diverse actors have come together to advance the shared aim of affordable, universal access to both mobile and fixed-line Internet in developing countries, primarily through policy and regulatory change. A4AI’s global sponsors include Google, USAID and SIDA. For more, please visit: <a href="http://a4ai.org" target="_blank">a4ai.org</a><br /> <br />About the <strong>World Wide Web Foundation</strong>: Established by the inventor of the Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web Foundation seeks to establish the open Web as a global public good and a basic right, creating a world where everyone, everywhere can use the Web to communicate, collaborate and innovate freely. Represented by more than a dozen nationalities working from hubs in London, Washington DC and Cape Town, the World Wide Web Foundation operates at the confluence of technology and human rights, targeting three key areas: Access, Voice and Participation. For more, visit: <a href="http://webfoundation.org" target="_blank">webfoundation.org</a><br /> <br />About <strong>AITI-KACE: The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE)</strong>, Ghana's first Advanced Information Technology Institute works to stimulate the growth of the ICT Sector in ECOWAS. Established in 2003, through a partnership between the Government of Ghana and the Government of India, this state-of-the-art facility provides a dynamic environment for innovation, teaching and learning as well as practical research on the application of ICT4D in Africa.<br /> <br />About the <strong>African Development Bank</strong>: T he African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is a multilateral development finance institution established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries. The overarching objective of the AfDB is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction, and works to do this by mobilising and allocating resources for investment, and by providing policy advice and technical assistance to support development efforts.<br /> <br />About <strong>UN Women</strong>: UN Women is the organization within the United Nations System responsible for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. It works in over 80 countries and with governments, UN partners, civil society and private sector partners to advance women’s rights through advocacy, policy and concrete actions on the ground. UN Women focuses on women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and women’s political participation and leadership. ICT for development is a cross-cutting area of work and critical to women’s empowerment in the digital age. UN Women is committed to ensuring that women are actively leading, contributing to and benefitting from the digital revolution. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.unwomen.org" target="_blank">http://www.unwomen.org</a></p></div>Around the Globe, Technology Widens Rich-Poor Gaphttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/around-the-globe-technology2009-02-02T00:38:17.000Z2009-02-02T00:38:17.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><a href="http://www.emeagwali.com">Philip Emeagwali:</a>
Oil has made us billions and fuelled our economic stability, but oil has also become the bane of our existence. For some, it is a curse that has caused poverty and corruption, but for others it is an essential source of untold wealth and power. But as the gap between rich and poor countries continues to expand, it is clear that intellectual capital and technology rule the world, and that natural resources such as oil, gold, and diamonds are no longer the primary determinants of wealth.
Surprisingly, nations with few natural resources demonstrate greater economic growth rates than OPEC countries. Japan’s economic growth, driven by technological superiority, outpaces that of Saudi Arabia; South Korea is growing faster than oil-rich Nigeria; and Taiwan’s economy has moved well beyond that of oil-rich Venezuela. The United States and Norway are also rich in oil, yet their staggering economic growth comes from intellectual capital.
In reality, it is not money but intellectual capital that drives prosperity. More important, perhaps, is the reality that poverty is driven and sustained by a lack of intellectual capital. The intimate relationship between intellectual capital and economic growth is as old as humanity itself, and is well illustrated by this parable from ancient Babylon (modern-day Iraq). A man asked his children:
<i>“If you had a choice between the clay of wisdom or a bag of gold, which would you choose?” “The bag of gold, the bag of gold” the naïve children cried, not realizing that wisdom had the potential to earn them many more bags of gold in the future.</i>
Seven thousand years later, Iraq — the cradle of civilization — has its own private bag of gold as it sits perched atop the world’s third largest oil reserves. Meanwhile, Israel, tucked away in the hostile terrain of a barren desert, has the clay of wisdom — the weightless wealth of intellectual capital embodied in the collective mind of its people.
The striking economic gap that persists between rich and poor nations has increased sevenfold over the past century to what is now an all-time high. The accumulation of intellectual capital by rich nations has helped broaden this gap because it has enabled them to control technology and collect hidden taxes from less affluent nations. For instance, Nigeria pays a 40-percent “royalty” tax on its petroleum revenues to foreign oil companies that are ripping out its family jewels — the huge store of wealth in its oilfields. These oilfields started forming when prehistoric, dog-sized humans — our common ancestor with the apes — walked African grasslands on four legs.
It’s a shocking reality, but the deep oil reserves laid down by Mother Nature millions of years ago and nurtured through the millennia in Africa have been whittled away within decades. And, for the dubious privilege of surrendering its natural resources forever, Nigeria is required to pay half its petroleum revenue in the form of “royalties” to the rich kids on the global block, the United States and the Netherlands. That oilfield has been exchanged for a bowl of porridge, and the black gold that should serve the underserved in Nigeria is helping wealthy Westerners get wealthier.
Today, half the world’s population — three billion people — live on an average of $500 a year. In contrast, Bill Gates earns $500 every second. By controlling technology and taxing computer users, Gates has become wealthier than each of the 70 poorest nations on earth and using his financial might has conquered more territory than Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great combined.
While Bill Gates is the new millennium’s Prince of Technology, he is by no means the first to have taken on the huge potential offered by the realm of technology. The Romans used roads and military technology to expand their empire. And, for centuries, Britain ruled a quarter of the Earth due to its unparalleled ability to command maritime technology and conquer the Seven Seas.
Britain undoubtedly established itself as the world’s first superpower through its rapid and ruthless colonial expansion program. The British raised the Union Jack over Canada and Australia, India and Hong Kong, Egypt and Kenya, and countless other countries — even the United States. The Union Jack cast its shadow in every global time zone, giving rise to the saying, “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” a fact that was cold comfort to the colonized nations.
In the same way, the United States has embraced its technological supremacy, both offensively and defensively, to build its own global empire without a physical presence in any of its “colonies.” The sole remaining superpower is at the forefront of every major technological advancement, which it has used to become deeply embedded in three-quarters of the globe. The US has accomplished a virtual economic colonization manifesting its presence throughout the globe by harnessing the power of technology and capitalizing on its clay of wisdom.
Africa’s inability to realize its potential and embrace technology has left it at the mercy of the West. The time has come for Africa to seize the day and resist the efforts of America and others to leave their imprint and plunder its natural resources.
Numerous examples throughout history support the idea that technology can be used as a tool of oppression. And there’s little doubt that America’s technological advancement has allowed it to exploit natural resources around the world. This is particularly evident in Africa, where the US is exploiting oilfields beneath the pristine rainforest — and being rewarded with a 40-percent tax at the expense of the African people. This lends credence to history’s assertion that those who control technology oppress those who do not, eventually enslaving them and, finally, wielding power around the globe.
Transcribed from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DueTTHYPnM">speech</a> delivered by <a href="http://emeagwali.com">Philip Emeagwali</a> on April 4, 2008 at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. The entire transcript and <a href="http://youtube.com/emeagwali">video</a> are posted at <a href="http://emeagwali.com">emeagwali.com</a>.
<b>Philip Emeagwali was inducted into the gallery of <a href="http://emeagwali.com/africa/100-greatest-africans/historys-greatest-black-achievers.pdf">history's 70 greatest black achievers</a> by the International Slavery Museum and into the Gallery of Prominent Refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Philip Emeagwali has been called “a father of the Internet” by <a href="http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/fyi/interactive/specials/bhm/story/black.innovators.html#1">CNN</a> and <a href="http://www.time.com/time/2007/blackhistmth/bios/04.html">TIME</a>; praised as an “unorthodox innovator [who] has pushed back the boundaries of oilfield science” by a leading European oil and gas industry journal; extolled as “one of the great minds of the Information Age” by former US president <a href="http://emeagwali.com/video/president-bill-clinton/one-of-the-great-minds-of-the-information-age.wmv">Bill Clinton</a>, and voted history’s 35th greatest African by <a href="http://emeagwali.com/media/africa/greatest-africans-of-all-times.pdf">New African</a>. He won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, the Nobel Prize of supercomputing.</b>
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