The world has moved on. Coronavirus or #covid19 has once again helped the world leap in the field of technology adoption. In Africa, many companies have had to invest more in mobile gadgets and the internet for their board members to facilitate virtual board meetings.
The results have been terrific. Focus on the key issues. No wastage in housekeeping issues like meals and unnecessary disruptions to the business order every time a board meeting is a help at the company head offices. No more wastage in Board packs or papers printing which people rarely read. And of course massive time savings.
No wonder many technology companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook are urging their employees to stay working from home until 2021.
It makes sense.
There is no need to reverse to the old ways when the new ways work better and are cheaper. Companies are making huge savings since the pandemic struck. No cost to the economy due to traffic jams, staff lunch, huge utility bills, among others. Office space is being reduced too, as the physical address is no longer a competitive advantage. It’s the ability to collaborate and leverage technology.
Enter Eid and similar merrymaking events.
Instead of spending a lot of time preparing meals and inviting people for lunch celebrations, technology is being used to empower families to enjoy a great meal through internet banking, mobile money, and virtual meeting tools. Remember, technology is useless without leveraging on an ecosystem i.e. on another system that makes it more powerful.
So Google/Facebook/Zoom + MTN or Airtel or mobile money or Internet banking = Zoom/Google/Facebook mobile money Eid party.
It is simple.
Search on your mobile phone your family and prayer mates, neighbours, and friends’ contacts. Then send them money equivalent to the meal you were going to prepare for them. That is the Eid meal party.
As you send, organize a zoom or Google or Facebook event and share the event ID and password. Make sure you call to remind you to have the meal ready by the event start time.
And alas, you have an Eid Zoom Party Celebrations.
Welcome to the VUCAP world that is characterized by volatile, uncertainty, complex, ambiguity, and pandemic in this fourth industrial revolution.
Governments too should fast track education and develop digital learning capabilities. Make the platforms available to all citizens. This will remove the class system, make quality education available to all, and support a system whereby the best brains in the country regardless of village or births, are allowed to win.
All governments must do is to invest in infrastructure to enable that to happen— a laptop, internet access, and electricity access to all households. Such would cost about Ugx 200,000 per household and a monthly subsidized fee of Ugx 20,000. And no one would oppose a national loan to make that happen.
The monthly fee would be paid by each household by a requirement to grow cotton, coffee, and food crops under the supervision of the government local council system.
Putting such government structures to real serious use.
We live in covid19 times. Welcome to the future of enlightenment. The new normal.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved
