Donald Carroll asked:




My name is Donald Carroll. I am the President and Webmaster of Green Planet Fantasy Theater. How did I get here? I have over ten years of work experience in the field of Information Technology (IT). I also have five years of teaching experience as an instructor in both Microsoft and Cisco technologies as well as other networking technologies such as Novell Netware, Unix, and Linux. I am twice certified by Microsoft as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), and twice certified by Cisco Systems as a Cisco Certified Network Associate, or CCNA?

The field of Information Technology has been very good to me and is an excellent trade to get into for those of you looking at entering a career or changing careers. As a former instructor, I can tell you that as a prerequisite you must be at least comfortable with using computers; better if you have a knack for fixing them when they break! Those of you who are very familiar with using, repairing, and even building computers are perfectly cut out for the lucrative field of Information Technology.

The purpose of this article is to help you in getting started on the path towards earning your industry standard certifications in the field of Information Technology while also gaining hands on practical experience with computer networks. I will tell you on the next page exactly what to do if you are interested in entering the field of Information Technology, even if you have no experience whatsoever. In the field of Information Technology, it is often not enough to just earn your certifications as employers generally favor IT professionals with work experience.

I will also share with you more about my own background and how it helped me to enter the field of Information Technology.

In the early 1990′s I was working as an administrative assistant, and as part of my duties I learned how to use a number of different computer programs; common business applications including word editors, spreadsheet programs, and databases. After my stay as an administrative assistant, and while I was seeking new and interesting employment opportunities, I sent away for a PC (Personal Computer) home study course, mostly because it came with a PC! I learned computer hardware, and computer software, including operating systems such as Microsoft DOS and Windows version 3.1. (Learning computer hardware and computer software, including operating systems such as Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista is the first step in training for a career in Information Technology. I will explain more about this on the next page.)

I was also able to connect to the Internet using a modem; at that time, the only real Internet choices there were was “GopherNet”, and the America Online Network. (“GopherNet”, which is still in existence today, allows you to view folders and files on a remote computer, not web pages. The America Online Network has merely changed over the years.) Besides then connecting to a rather bleak Internet, in comparison with today’s Internet, you could connect to what were called “BBS’s”, or electronic bulletin boards. These “sites” allowed you to chat, play online games, and both upload and download content. ( I would have to check to see if any “BBS’s” are still in existence today!)

In 1997 I relocated to the Silicon Valley (San Jose, California), and I began applying around for administrative assistant positions. One recruiter pointed out that I “had a list of computer skills a mile long” between having learned a number of business applications, and having also completed a two year home study course as a PC Specialist. I was offered a high paying short term contract to provide computer support for employees at NEC Computers. I was basically an apprentice to what I would call a “guru” in terms of computer and computer networking skills.

I also entered college again to earn an Associate of Science/Information Systems Degree. After my contract at NEC Computers ended I applied at Honeywell Automated and Industrial Controls, and I accepted a position as a hardware technician. At this point now in my life I was pursuing a second degree in Information Technology, and working in the field of Information Technology, developing on the job skills critical to become a real expert. (At that time, the field of Information Technology was called Management Information Systems (MIS). Later it was changed to Information Specialist (IS), and today it is known as Information Technology (IT)).

That was the beginning for me. I soon continued on to teach networking technologies, and I accepted senior engineering positions with a number of different companies and corporations. I WAS EARNING WAGES and BENEFITS PACKAGES I HAD NEVER DREAMED OF!!! I essentially climbed the ladder from working as a computer hardware technician to working as an instructor, a network engineer, a senior network engineer, and finally as a consultant! Today I work as a contractor and as a webmaster.

If you would like to enter the field of Information Technology yourself PLEASE CONTINUE READING!!! I have myself graduated over four hundred computer networking students, and I can teach you how to learn computer hardware and software, and computer networking. I will tell you what course books to study and how and what certification tests to prepare for.

The field of Information Technology is not about computer programming, or application development; this field is all about the designing, building, maintaining, troubleshooting and repairing both the computers and the computer networks that companies use to store and use their data. In considering computers, there is the computer hardware; the disk drives, cd-rom drives, memory, motherboard, processors, power supplies, mice, keyboards, and other parts and peripherals. There is also the computer software; namely, the operating system, like Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Vista, and computer applications or programs, such as Microsoft Office or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

When one or more computers are connected together to form a computer network they are connected using network devices such as hubs, switches, routers, and other network devices. In the field of Information Technology some IT Specialists prefer to work on computer hardware and computer software, and special computers used in a computer network called network servers. Other IT Specialists prefer to work more with network switches, network routers, and other telephone and telecommunications equipment.

If you would prefer to work with networking devices more than with computer hardware, computer software, and servers, you might want to pursue getting certified as a Cisco Certified Network Associate, or CCNA. (The CCNA certification is either one or two exams; you have a choice of taking it as either one or two exams depending upon your preference.) Your duties as a CCNA would revolve more around configuring and troubleshooting network routers and switches, and working with leased line providers and telecommunications equipment. Cisco Systems also offers other more advanced routing certifications beyond the CCNA, namely the Cisco Certified Network Professional, or CCNP, and the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert, or CCIE.

If you would prefer to work on computers; installing and fixing computer hardware and computer software, and administering network servers and network databases and applications, you might be interested in pursuing first the A+ certification followed by the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, or MCSE certification. (The A+ certification exam is given as either one or two exams; one exam is based on computer hardware and the other exam covers special software known to IT Specialists as operating systems. The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, or MCSE, is awarded upon the successful completion of seven individual exams.)

Many IT professionals maintain proficiency in computer hardware, software, network servers, and computer networking devices such as routers and switches. Many employers demand that their IT staff be able to help employees with simple computer problems while also being able to solve complex network problems on network routers, switches, and even firewall systems. Many positions in the field of Information Technology require an A+ certification, an MCSE, and a CCNA. Other positions require only one of these certifications, plus or many any of a number of other industry standard certifications.



Unless you decide to pursue the Cisco Certified Network Associate, or CCNA certification, you will probably want to begin learning the ins and outs of a single computer before studying computer networking technologies. You can purchase the textbooks for the A+ certification, the MCSE certification, and the CCNA certification at almost any book retailer.

Focus first on the A+ exam material before proceeding to the MCSE exam material and/or the CCNA exam material – this is best if you are an absolute novice. It is also a good idea to set up a small computer network at home to practice with – hands on experience with these technologies is essential to success! It is also a good idea to attend a technical school to learn the basics of networking technologies, but you can study and become proficient with these technologies on your own just as well.

With your A+ certification behind you, you can work as a PC technician, or even as a Help Desk Specialist (helping employees with their hardware, software, and basic network problems.) While pursuing your MCSE and or CCNA, you can apply for positions as a junior systems administrator, network administrator, and even a junior network engineer.

Study your exam materials, setup your own home network that you can use to practice on, and by all means try to meet people who work as IT Specialists so that you can learn more about working in the field of Information Technology. Maybe you can spend a day at work with them working for free as an apprentice? (Companies usually do not mind extra help for free!)

Create a sharp resume’ listing your certifications and/or technical school degrees, and your work experience…if you do not have any work experience, try to get some working with an IT Specialist. Though certifications are important, most employers prefer work experience. Some job interviews have a required technical interview where you are tested on your fundamental knowledge and your ability to troubleshoot and resolve computer and computer network problems.

Once you have passed you A+ certification exams you can begin applying to work as a computer technician (hardware and/or software technician.) From there you can continue your studies in networking, earn your MCSE and/or CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE, and become a network engineer, a senior network engineer, a contractor, or even work as a consultant.

Good luck to you…if you have any questions about the field of Information Technology please feel free to contact Donald Carroll at Green Planet Fantasy Theater.

(For more great “how to” articles, plus DVD Movies, Music Collections, PC, XBox, Wii, Sony Playstation and Nintendo Games, Software, E-Books, Audio Books, and Adult *** Material FREE, visit Green Planet Fantasy Theater online at http://ww.myplanetfantasy.com.)



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Jim Zorn asked:


Electronics Engineering Technology distance learning courses are flourishing, making use of the low entry-level requirement of a 2-year Associate Degree to become an Engineering Technician, and the further career advancement to an Engineering Technologist (or Applied Engineer) possible in the field by pursuing a 4-year Bachelors Degree. Among all Technicians and Technologists working in USA, Electrical and Electronics Engineering professionals make up more than one-third, which is a clear indication for their demand. And this demand is nowadays driven more by the high-tech industry’s need for Electronics Engineering Technicians, rather than the conventional industries’ need for Electrical Engineering Technicians.

Why Electronics Engineering Technology?

All of today’s booming industrial sectors like telecommunications, medical equipment, control systems, automotive systems, navigational systems, and of course, the consumer appliances sector are bringing out everything from mobile phones to home theatres, and require expertise in Electronics Engineering more than anything else, which explains the demand for Electronics Engineering professionals.

However, to attempt the field through an Engineering Degree can be taxing to those students who are not interested in taking advanced level mathematics (calculus) courses that an Engineering Degree requires, or to endure its long 4-year time frame. For such students, Electronics Engineering Technology is a great option, with its stress on applied or hands-on Electronics Engineering rather than the mathematics-dense and research-oriented Electronics Engineering. The time frame also is much shorter, with an Electronics Engineering Technician requiring only a 2-year Associate Degree to enter the field.

The job opportunities too are tilted in favor of Electronics Engineering Technicians when compared with Electronics Engineers; there are 182,000 Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technicians working in USA, compared with only 143,000 Electronics Engineers. The only drawbacks – a lower level in the hierarchy and the lower starting salaries than Electronics Engineers – can be overcome in the long run, since interested Electronics Engineering Technicians can study further for a 4-year Bachelors Degree, thus qualifying for the senior position of Electronics Engineering Technologist, who enjoys a position and salary comparable to Electronics Engineers. Average salary for Electronics Engineering Senior Technicians / Technologists is US $46,000, very comparable to salaries for Electronics Engineers at US $52,000.

Why Electronics Engineering Technology Distance Learning?

It is estimated that job opportunities for Electronics Engineering Technicians and Technologists would grow at up to 17% every year, for nearly the next 10 years. The requirement of an Associate Degree for entering the field is a relatively recent phenomenon, and a significant percentage of working Electronics Engineering Technicians doesn’t have such a formal degree. The industry preference to degree holders is encouraging such working professionals to get an Associate Degree, and electronics engineering technology distance learning becomes the natural choice. Also, due to the boom in the sector, those already having an Associate Degree will go for a Bachelors Degree so that they can work as a Technologist. And, of course, the growth prospects in the sector are attracting working professionals from other fields to Electronics Engineering Technology. These three factors are driving the huge demand for electronics engineering technology distance learning courses.

Earlier, there were technological hindrances to deliver such a hands-on course through a distance or online model. However, with the development of state-of-the-art systems like National Instruments’ LabVIEW/ELVIS (Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite), which can be used by remote students through a web browser, to virtually perform any electronics experiment, the demand for Electronics Engineering Distance Learning courses are at an all-time high.

Universities and Colleges Offering Electronics Engineering Technology Distance Learning

Electronics engineering technology distance learning courses offer both 2-year Associate and 4-year Bachelors Degrees. While Community Colleges and Institutes dominate the Associate Degree scene, Universities and Polytechnics are the primary sources for Bachelors Degrees. While searching for electronics engineering technology distance learning courses, it should be kept in mind that many US institutions still call the subject Electrical Engineering Technology.

Associate Degrees

Many Community Colleges and Institutes offer 2-year Associate Degrees for electronics engineering technology distance learning, but fully accredited courses are fewer. Whether for employment as an Electronics Engineering Technician or for further pursuance of a Bachelors Degree, it is always better to go for an accredited course. Cleveland Institute of Electronics (CIE), Penn Foster Career School, and Grantham University are three institutions that offer accredited Associate Degrees in the subject.

CIE’s Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Electronics Engineering Technology boasts of many unique features. Designed from the ground up as a distance learning course, rather than an online adaptation of a regular course, the CIE A.A.S. provides everything that an electronics engineering technology distance learning student might require, in a packaged fashion – complete with printed courseware for over 250 self-paced lessons, videos, and detailed instructions for the over 300 hands-on lab experiments. The only thing missing will be access to an Oscilloscope, and the CIE Bookstore even sells Oscilloscopes at discounted prices to its students! One-to-one instructor support is always available for students. Even the exams can be taken online. A really unique feature of the course is that interested and capable students can complete the course in half or even quarter time, and need only pay for that!

Penn Foster Career School offers an Associate in Specialized Technology (AST) in Electronics Technology, that can be completed fully online, with access to an internet-connected computer being the only requirement. Tuition includes well-written and amply-illustrated printed courseware, tools and equipment for experiments, and unlimited instructor support through website, phone, email, and regular mail. Online open-book exams and end-of-semester proctored exams are other features of this course. The course is self-paced, with longer than 2-year durations allowed.

Grantham University offers an Associate of Science (AS) in Electronics Engineering Technology through the distance mode. The tuition package for the course includes textbooks, lesson guides, grading of all tests, mailing of materials and graded tests from the college, consultation with instructors, and required software. Proctored exams are conducted at the end of every semester, which lend more credibility to this course. Consultation with instructors is available through phone, fax, email, and regular mail. To better facilitate the distance mode of the course, Grantham University even provides a discounted option for its students to buy computers from Dell. However, the main advantage of this course is that full credit transfer is possible to Grantham’s Bachelors Degree in the subject. Grantham is especially popular with military students.

Bachelors Degrees

When it comes to Bachelors Degrees for electronics engineering technology distance learning, even courses with accreditation from the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET) are available.

Old Dominion University offers its Bachelor of Science (BS) in Engineering Technology, with Electrical Engineering Technology as Major, and Electrical Systems Technology as optional. The course name follows the earlier US convention of naming Electronics Engineering courses as Electrical Engineering courses. This B.S. indeed has significant stress on Electronics Engineering Technology. In-depth coverage of Electronics includes Linear Electronics, Digital Controls, Microprocessors, Communications, Control Systems etc. High-tech delivery methods like virtual laboratory, streaming video, and satellite broadcast for 1-way video and 2-way audio, are fully utilized. The course is accredited by TAC of ABET.

World College, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cleveland Institute of Electronics (CIE), offers a Bachelor of Electronics Engineering Technology (BEET) through the distance mode. Features include over 300 lab experiments, online exams, and toll free phones and email for consultation with instructors. Subjects covered include Electronics, Computer Technology, Telecommunications, Electrical Power, and Control Systems. Access to a computer and an oscilloscope are necessary.

Grantham University (described above, under Associate Degrees) also offers a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Electronics Engineering Technology.

The only current limiting factor for electronics engineering technology distance learning seems to be the high costs for implementing virtual labs that can be simultaneously accessed by a large number of students, and once this is solved by better and economical hardware and software, electronics engineering technology distance learning will be provided by more and more Universities, Colleges, and Polytechnic Institutes.



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Eric Kumah asked:


TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

KUMAH ERIC JUNIOR

MARCH 2009

ABSTRACT:

In today’s world, technology has invaded many aspects of human life. From its gigantic influence on our education and professional development, to the more subtle presence of little gadgets littering our homes, technology is almost everywhere.

The reasons for such pervasiveness would boil down to some characteristics that technology by itself possesses. One such characteristic, which is of major interest to many scholars, is the seeming lack of barriers to the spread of technology. It easily penetrates societies and even to remote communities, and once it reaches its destination and catches on, it becomes seemingly difficult to stop its spread. As a result of this, consumer technology like cellular phones, computers, PDAs, radios and televisions have become commonplace in places like Africa, even with all the barriers one would have envisaged.

Sadly, it does not need much analysis to realize that even though technology usage is growing rapidly in Africa, we still have numerous developmental problems in our continent. This is a situation where advanced technology is coexisting with underdevelopment in Africa. With all the power that technology wields, it will be a useful exercise to study the ways in which it can be used to solve some of those very problems it has come to meet. In essence, using our little gadgets to solve our big problems.

This is the background against which this study is undertaken. Asking whether our problems can be solved at all, then enumerating instances where development projects that utilize technology have been put to work, and concluding by examining the cases and drawing lessons from them.

CHAPTER. 1.

INTRODUCTION

The limits to what the human mind can conceive and achieve are increasing. More discoveries have been made, more things have been created, more theories have been proved and disproved, more machines have been made and more problems have been created. Scientific technology has been the driving force behind all these. Science has indeed proved to be a powerful tool which has touched many people and has shaped many communities.

According to the Concise Oxford dictionary 10th edition, technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. Clearly from this definition we can see that scientific knowledge may exist theoretically but it only becomes technology when it is used in practical settings. For example we may say the knowledge of the rules of up-thrust and buoyancy is theoretical, however practical utilization of these rules to manufacture airplanes could be termed aircraft technology.

Again according to the Concise Oxford dictionary 10th edition, a community is the people of an area considered collectively, while development is explained to mean to grow or cause to grow and become larger or more advanced. By deduction, community development could be explained to be the growth or advancement of a group of people.

Today, the world has become highly technological, and things which in the seventies would have passed for science fiction are now so commonplace that they have almost become necessities. From every corner of the world, technology has global acceptance, it is ubiquitous and has the ability to dramatically change situations.

Any attempt to ascribe reasons for this pervasiveness of technology will have many suggestions, some of which are that machines have been proven more efficient than humans at some tasks, machines are less error prone, impartial and never get tired like humans. Another could be the increased sophistication of humans and the attendant need for equally complicated messengers to help us perform many tasks, which is linked to the interesting nature of technology that once a more advanced way of doing something is found, it becomes almost unthinkable to try to do it by "old fashioned" means.

With such large scale interplay of these and many more factors, there is little reason to be surprised by the sudden emergence of automatic machines to handle the little tasks of old; cleaning floors, washing clothes, cutting bread, mixing cake etc. the list goes on and on.

And that is far from all and the list of innovative possibilities is endless. In truth, some of these innovations have shaped the world and there are many examples to cite. The discovery of electricity and the radio wave both changed the world. Today, computers are changing the world even faster. Now with cellular phones, new opportunities have come and our imagination has become the only limiting factor. We can only wait for the next big thing to be created and who knows what it will be?

The picture of technological advancement is not a completely rosy one. Indeed, there are some minuses to science as well, such as the introduction of new forms of danger which come as a consequence of innovative forms of technology, for example the nuclear bomb came from nuclear technology, unforeseen genetic mutations are as the result of genetic engineering, and the numerous and little talked about chemicals which can destroy the ozone or warm the planet.

The seriousness of the disadvantages of technology have prompted some people to argue that technological advancement, which is an example of scientific development, is making us more of advanced entities but less of humans. In other words, we have become better scientists, bankers and professionals and worse human beings. Martin Luther King puts this argument succinctly when he said "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power, we have guided missiles and misguided men."

The disadvantages that technology brings are issues which require serious examination to ascertain what can be done to eliminate them or at least minimize their effects since technology has definitely come to stay, and it would be to our advantage to learn how to work with it in ways that will be the most beneficial to us.

But despite the disadvantages listed here and the many more unnamed, we have seen that we can still derive many benefits from science and given that we live in, or at least come from, a part of the world where development is still a big headache, we should be the first to start a serious study of this phenomenon and see how best we can use it to our advantage. We may be surprised to see that there is a great viability in using our little gadgets to solve our big problems.

Let us make it clear that the aim of this paper is not to present technology as the magic cure that will clear our multitude of problems in a whiff, technology alone will not solve Africa’s problems because our problems are too complex, too deep and too overwhelming for any simplistic scheme to be successful. We can only achieve success when if have a more comprehensive approach to the problem, to include solid commitment to serious research, establishment of the appropriate structures, and the taking of required initiatives. It will be incorrect to assume that technology in itself is inherently good, and just implementing it alone will be enough to achieve any good result3. Though technology may be able to do anything, people must have the vision to drive it in the right direction.

Only with this knowledge can we make any meaningful gains in the development agenda.

In our particular context, Africa has proved that advanced technology could coexist with underdevelopment. People have satellite televisions whilst there are no teachers in the classrooms, we have mobile devices and pocket PCs and devices but our streets are still not named properly, there is still a large number of illiterates among the people who own and use cell phones, spreading of healthcare information is still a challenge even though a lot of people have access to radio and TV. This sorry list is endless.





























CHAPTER 2:

CAN TECHNOLOGY REALLY ADDRESS OUR PROBLEMS?



From healthcare, access to water and life expectancy, to governance, industrialization and even the quality of human life, there are numerous problems confronting African communities.

Today we are said to be living in the information age, an era where access to information is the new driving force of the world. The proliferation of the Internet and World Wide Web has reduced the whole world to a massive audience with unprecedented access to vast quantities of information. This communication is unencumbered and the formation of alliances is unhindered by physical distance, national or political borders4. With all the dynamics that this modernity brings, technology stands tall as a favourite to achieve any meaningful sustainable development for many reasons.

Principal among such reasons is the fact that there is improved awareness of underdevelopment among Africans themselves, which could be due to the information age, and an improved belief that our situations can be turned around. This is markedly different from decades ago when there was a lot of resignation and despair among black professionals. Evidence to support this would be the observation that much more thought is being directed at the Africa integration agenda and greater attention being paid to the Economic partnership agreements (EU- ECOWAS).

Another positive indicator is the growing number of trained and competent technological professionals on the face of the continent. Granted, the improved numbers by themselves will not be a good indicator, but with the holistic approach talked about earlier, one can see a sign of hope which shows that there is very high potential for success in a well though out scheme to utilize technology to solve our developmental problems.

Another good point is the individual work that is being carried out by different groups using different approaches (studies of the indigenous chieftaincy system for e.g.) at trying to solve the same problems. This is clear evidence to state that beyond the level of commitment, there have been actual attempts at problem solving. Even if some of such attempts have not been successful due to the numerous challenges in the way, the experiences have been gained and lessons have been drawn from them which would be utilized for future use.

Finally there are areas where major strides have already been made in Africa. Statistics show for example that there have been remarkable improvements in girl student enrollments in places like Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia5. This is definitely a feather in our cap and such areas may serve as boosters to face the remaining dark spots.

All these imply that we might be closer than ever to solving our problems, and all that may be left will be a few giant pushes forward.

This is where technology comes into the picture. It is the one thing that seems to know no barriers, catches on easily and has the power to transform even the most remotely inaccessible locations on earth to budding business towns. It is ubiquitous. Its innovations accelerate by the month. As a result, it is the most probable tool to achieve anything meaningful.

In the early 90′s, scholars described Africa as being left in a technological apartheid 6. Today however, with increased globalization perhaps a slightly better picture can be painted. Even though Africa is not in the league of the innovators of the most novel initiatives and we may not be making as good use of technologies as we ought to, or as some others are, we would still have something positive to report. For example, in some cases, Africa actually has comparable human and hardware resources. Therefore, "apartheid" would no longer be a precise definition of the situation as it stands.

As stated earlier in this paper, technology alone will not solve our problems. But with very serious considerations using active participation, a comprehensive and well though out scheme that incorporates technology will be a very viable solution.

However taking a look at all the attempts made so far and their attendant challenges and effects if any, one may say confidently that will all the proper accompanying compliments, technology will made very significant gains in spurring the development agenda on.











CHAPTER 3:

HOW IS TECHNOLOGY BEING USED TO SOLVE PROBLEMS?

Across many countries around the world, people have made serious strides at utilizing technological knowledge to solve all manner of problems. Many issues have arisen out of such attempts, and below are very brief summaries of some of those places where practical scientific knowledge has been utilized for the growth of the community.





3.1 ELECTIONS

In Africa’s recent governance history, elections have always been a challenge. It is hard to find a totally free and fair voting exercise, whilst contested elections, unfair processes, non transparent irregularities and simple ineffectiveness are commonplace. With a background of poverty, it is not too difficult to understand why the stakes are so high in African politics and why power is very lucrative in this part of the world.  This not withstanding however, there is a good number of unrests that could have been avoided if any election is proven to be fair, free and transparent to an appreciable degree.

Attaining this ideal degree has proved difficult for reasons of the complex interplay of some factors including, a government founded electoral commission, a winner takes all setting, and no motivation to commit to the right virtues. Knowing that power is so lucrative when you come from this winner takes all setting, it is really hard to let go of control of the electoral process. This is one motivation for the dishonourable acts that unfortunately we see quite often.

Because elections are highly involving and they require elaborate programs that span a series of locations (from a voter’s home to the polling station, the collation center, the electoral commission headquarters, the public domain and back to the voter’s home), It follows that unless you are trying to make public exhibition of your nefarious activity, you would need to be tactical to be successful at such dishonorable acts. The tactics employed may vary but they invariably entail series of acts that are designed to prevent information from getting into the public domain. So that for example, figures could be changed anytime so long as the original and authentic ones do not get into the hands of the public.

If democratic leadership were genuinely understood, there will be no attempt at election rigging. But since we are currently not in that ideal stage, election monitoring is one tool we can exploit to at least cut the ability for cheating.

Mobile phone technology is being used in election monitoring in some African countries under a new system of election monitoring called "parallel reporting". Parallel reporting is simply an approach to election monitoring whereby independent observers spread news of the votes counted at the basic level, which is the polling station. The figures are then relayed to an independent center where they are collated and cross checked with official figures announced by the electoral commission.

One advantage of this scheme is seen that it will make it increasingly difficult for an electoral commission to attempt to fraudulently sway the results in the favour of any of the contesting parties. The spreading or relaying of the results figures are done largely with mobile phones. Senegal is an example of a country where this project has been successful.

3.2       HEALTHCARE

The statistics obtained from healthcare research are interesting. Figures show that a large number of the world’s HIVAIDS afflicted people live in Africa. At the same time, one of the growing markets for consumer electronics such as mobile devices, handheld PC etc may be found here in Africa. This represents a population overlap, and it is only prudent that some amount of research has been directed towards attempting to find ways to incorporating technology in the treatment of the numerous diseases on the face of the continent7.

Tuberculosis (TB) has long been known to be one of the deadliest diseases known to man. Apart from the threat that this highly infectious bacterial disease presents to human life, it also enjoys some additional notoriety for lowering the sufferer’s immune system to make it easy for other diseases, which may have various degrees of harmfulness, to attack the sufferer.

As if that were not enough, TB has a deadly habit of mutating at the least case of drug non adherence. Therefore any TB caregiver knows that a patient who demonstrates non compliance with drug rules is clearly not interested in getting healed. As a result of this, over the years, ways to enforce religious adherence of medication have been tried but success has largely eluded caregivers.

In South Africa, there is a very laudable project, the SimPill’s award-winning Adherence System project, which uses a real-time management system to increase adherence to medications prescribed to treat chronic illnesses – particularly tuberculosis, which is a significant cause of death of people living with HIV.

3.3       SOCIAL ISSUES

Serious projects that utilize technology to address social issues have been implemented in South Africa. One such idea named Fahamu’s Umn Yango (meaning ‘doorway’ in isiZulu) has been implemented to curb domestic violence by equipping people with cell phones as tools to monitor and report abuse. Under this scheme, victims use cell phones to call a predefined and popular number and give details of the abuse.

The fear of being victimized has always made it difficult for victims, witnesses or relatives to step up and lodge complaints to the relevant authorities. There are examples of places where people had reported abuses and had been picked upon by the abuser. We have had friends of a victim reporting an abuse of their friend only to go home to be abused themselves by their spouses as punishment for "poking their noses in other people’s business". These good citizens were made to pay the price for exposing a wrong thing.  

This fear has been totally eliminated under this project because of the provision of anonymity, the telephone call could be made in secret, and even the details of the reporter are not always required. This is a sharp contrast to the situation in the past where victims, neighbours, or witnesses were required to walk into a police station to make a formal report.

Apart from successes chalked in the number of reports that are received, there has also been a reduction in the numbers of abuse cases. This may be partly due to the deterring feeling among would-be abusers that, any passerby holding a mobile phone might just make sure they get a visit from a police detective for spouse battering.

3.4       ANIMAL FARMING

Technology has also been put to good use in farming.

Farmers who rear cattle in small herds, over time, develop a personal relationship with the animals, the farmer knows all of them and can notice a missing animal or a sick one with just a glance. However, because it takes months of careful observation of the behaviour of every cow to know every animal well enough to take note when there is an infection or when an animal does not ruminate properly, this task would be ineffective if it were performed by a human shepherd with a large herd.

To remedy this situation, the technology of vocal tags has been developed in Europe. This project employs a tag, which is a belt fitted with sensors and worn around each animal’s neck. These sensors monitor several indicators such as the animal’s rate of rumination, voice clarity, digestion and breathing and send the data collected to a central computer.

Over time the computer knows what is normal for every cow and will notify the shepherd when something goes wrong with a cow.

The advantage of this project is that a farmer can take quick and specific action like giving treatment to the particular animal involved. This removes the need to give general treatments to the whole herd, which is both time and money wasting.

These are some of the ways that technology is being used towards increased development.

CHAPTER  4

WHAT LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNT?

No matter how promising an idea or project sounds, there are bound to be problems encountered in the deployment of the project. In achieving the above projects, following are some of the problems one is likely to be faced with:

In the election monitoring program, misinformation has been identified to be one of the problems starring the program in the face. It is true that when all the information is not localized in the hands of government, then a lot more transparency will be achieved, but it is also true that mass misinformation remains an unpleasant possibility.

Another problem could arise when there is a situation where people do not necessarily trust the degree of independence of the so called independent observers. It may lead to a problem where parties could cast a slur on the reputation of the observers so as to use the resulting mistrust to set the stage for a possible rejection of the results.

Overall this is a laudable idea and if a means of verification were added, the figures would mean much more to a lot of people.

Whilst celebrating the successes chalked, it is important to note that a number of other factors needed to progress before a state could move towards a more democratic model of governance. According to African political expert, Sheldon Gellar, these changes include: strengthening independent media, growing and ensuring freedom of civil society, decentralizing power, ceding more control to local governments, empowering women and improving judicial systems to ensure independence and power to punish.

Governance is one area that is set to reap some benefits of this phenomenon when used judiciously, unilateral rule and arbitrary action may be reduced towards a more participatory approach to leadership in Ghana

Technology could help achieve those goals to some extent, as communication was the key to overcoming oppression.

In some of the cases, such as the election monitoring or domestic violence reporting, the internet could be used to provide communities with means to communicate, to organize and obtain good information which is not controlled by the government. However, this is not practical in Africa since only a tiny percentage of Africans have affordable access to internet.

In the healthcare project, basic mismanagement has been identified as one of the reasons why many projects seem to skid to halt after being piloted. Needed funds are not always available to those who need them.

Another problem observed was that the people who will be using the project are not always consulted in the designing and planning of the ideas, so there is a lack of communication between beneficiaries, health professionals, technologists, and managers.

Another problem was the theft of cell phones. Although cell phones are a relatively low-cost technology, they still hold considerable value in poverty-stricken areas, and are commonly stolen. And, such theft is likely to rise as these devices become more and more complex. However this is quite debatable since some analysts argue that losing a cell phone to a thief is less of a financial loss than losing a more costly machine.

In the domestic violence project one stumbling block was the communication gap between the various parties involved in the system. Feedback was largely missing and people could not tell whether their input was useful – or received, and in some cases, police officers who receive messages reporting violence against women may not be prepared to respond.

Another problem was the unfortunate situation where some unscrupulous people made the work more difficult for the authorities by raising false alarms. This could be addressed by education and the incorporation of punitive measures.

However to use effective punitive measures, even more advanced technology will be required, for example to pinpoint a particular cell phone subscriber, and take action against them like blocking their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards etc.

And the usual problem of financing in many projects is ever present as well, and it is the more predominant one in the animal rearing project.

CHAPTER  5

CONCLUSION

Granted, there are challenges that exist in using technology to achieve development goals, but such efforts still hold great potential and the costs of any obstacle will not stand in comparison to the threat of underdevelopment and poverty. So we can only strive to work harder at such solutions.

Our development attempts and efforts should think more seriously about sustainability and scalability. One important consideration in this direction is the affordability of the programmes we plan and develop. The more affordable options have a higher chance of success, so the fact that most of the development projects do not require any extraordinarily complex or new gadgets is indeed pleasant to note.

Also throughout the creation and deploying of any project, enough consultation should be carried out to ensure that there is a general buy-in into the idea from the creators to the beneficiaries. This will make an idea command a common sense of ownership.

The quality of the management should also be improved and measures should be put in place to ensure the right things are done.

Identifying the problem is half the solution. We already now have greater awareness and we have made some attempts at solving them. Putting our acts together to draw the lessons and re-strategizing with a new approach -technology, is definitely the way to go. I am confident of the viability of this new approach.

CITED REFERENCES

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2         Wikipedia. Technology.Wikipedia.org[online]2009.

Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology. Assesed 2009 March 27

3         Macha N. Will Technology solve Africa’s problems?. Global Voices Online[Online]2009. Available from http://globalvoicesonline.com/ Accessed 2009 Feb 6.

4         Finnis A.J. Learning in the Information Age.Twinisles[Online]2009.

Available from http://dev.twinisles.com/research/learninfoage.htm. Accessed 2009 March 27

5 Kitetu, C. Gender in Education: An overview of developing trends in Africa.

Available from www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/groups/crile/docs/crile54kitetu.pdf. Accessed 2009 March 27

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7 Walvaren K. Did you say cell phones for development? Association for Progressive Communications.[Online]2007.Available from http://www.acp.org/en/home. Accessed 2009 Feb 6.



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