Internet Evolution's Web Wide World takes us to Rwanda, a country torn apart by genocide, and now attempting a radical transformation from an agrarian society to a knowledge-based economy, via the Internet
You have to wonder if the internet will give Rwanda an added sense of accountability. There's no getting around the fact that Rwanda is basically the Germany post WWII of the African content right now; however, the push towards computing has the potential to make a great contribution to the country's ambitious goals.
Push for internet and knowledge based society is a double-edge sword. Uncensored internet access (unlike China and a few other countries) has the ability to cement even further infrastructure for a democratic nation by granting common people the ability to be whistle blowers, as in Iran right now. However, the internet also has the ability to broadcast hate and recruit citizens for fundamentalist uprisings…being that the genocide was a mere fifteen years ago, its undoubtedly a cause for concern.
I was asking for the content production data in good faith. Surely there is a market serving the local content needs too when such a huge amount of people are getting online. I am interested in what kind of content would help them getting on their feet.
I didn't hear anyone talking about content production. It's a nascent market and the main ways in which Rwanda is currently looking to generate Internet revenue from overseas are through services, not content - IE data center hosting, call centers, and other such.
Yep mobile devices are definately the ones connecting Africa online. Did you hear anybody talking about the content production business opportunities and market potential? I'd love to hear more about it.
I came across this BBC artcile on the thriving blogosphere in Iran and was really fascinated by how the internet is shaping opinion behind the "iron curtain". Would it not be nice to have our humble Insultant to do a World Wide Web series on Iran in 2009??
Thanks for the documentary/video.
I've seen a documentary (Planet in Peril) yesterday which had a part dedicated to Rwanda (mainly about Gorillas) just yesterday. On CNNi. Yes, I wrote CNN. hehe.
I'm glad to hear a country like Rwanda recovering from a terrible thing like genocide, and more than happy to see (or expect) friends from Rwanda will catch up with us, the lucky internet people of more "modern" countries.
Thanks again for the video. Good production, nice taste. Congradulations!
Excellent video. Steve mentioned mobile devices in the video.
When I was at the Web 2.0 conference earlier this year, someone on a panel mentioned what seemed to me a very significant point.
While the primary device for accessing the internet in the US or Europe is the computer, in Africa, it is the mobile phone. At the end of 2007, there were about 280 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa. Africa has become the fastest growing mobile market in the world with mobile penetration in the region ranging from 100% to 30%. (source: African Mobile Factbook)
The mobile phone has broken a huge cost barrier allowing access to the Internet. This should help many people in the world.
What opportunities does this bring? It definitely should make anyone whose target market is Africa rethink their mobile strategy.
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