It is 02:45am in Dubai and I still have another two hours before my flight departs back to South Africa. I am tired but appreciating the fact that I can sit at a Starbucks, drink my espresso and make use of the free internet access.
It was a similar situation at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul - free internet access with the coffee that I had paid for. This is a little misleading as you can actually sit anywhere and avail yourself of the free connectivity; but it is so much more pleasurable to have a decent cup of coffee at the same time.
So why the ramble? Well I am tired and bored. Reason enough. However, I was reflecting on how tremendously powerful it is to have access to information where and when you want it.
And as always I think about how this can work in Africa.
Challenges
There are several challenges in realising something similar in Africa, foremost of which are infrastructure, devices and literacy.
The infrastructure is coming - just look at the new submarine cables and the expansion of cellular companies across the continent.
The most dominant device is, and will continue to be, a phone rather than a personal computer. Cost is an important driving factor as is computer literacy.
A solution
Voice will remain the killer application for some time and therefore the technology that most excites me in this arena (wrt Africa) is the concept of a SpokenWeb. Here people can interact (in the language of their choice) with voice sites navigating voice links. The interaction models include publish and transact models.
Imagine sitting at a cafe in Nairobi and phoning a local voice site to gather information about your travels and publish your blog via voice. Naturally the "traditional" Web 1.0 and 2.0 applications and interactions will be available but the penetration will be significantly greater with voice and voice technologies.
The important difference with this concept is that the technology-based solution is design and deployed in a manner that truly meets the needs of the community and users.
In summary
It is always smart to remind ourselves that we should find solutions to problems rather than finding problems for our solutions. This applies to Africa as much, if not more so, than anywhere else.
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