Noting the Nuances, Part 2.

We can all relate to the analogy of a neighborhood where we as residents evaluate others in the community based on their cars, jobs, houses and the like. Ultimately what they own produces certain images in our minds and influences our view of what we perceive to be their status levels. Take for example, a certain family across the street which grows steadily into affluence, eventually moving to a new and more than likely better neighborhood; leaving behind the constraints of the past and reaching for a better future with higher living standards.

Such is the case with India and China, and who’s left behind; take a wild guess. Granted a huge proportion of the Indian and Chinese population still live in harshly poor conditions, however the recent growth in these nations cannot be ignored, especially since it directly affects ours. Factor in continued economic growth, improvements in public policy and innovative private initiatives and a ripple effect of growth can already be seen in some parts of these countries. There is a lot to be learnt from these countries because even as they leave African nations behind they provide the drive needed to pull out of our present position. They are a strong example of practices that can be replicated on the continent and have even, as a BBC article reports, begun providing humanitarian aid to some African countries.

A major contributor to the growth of these countries is technology, or more precisely, technology transfer which has facilitated the outsourcing of jobs from developed nations like the United States to offshore locations. An Information Week article by Paul McDougall outlines a study by consulting firm Deloitte which estimates that “offshore tech spending will rise from 6% of the $44 billion the industry spends on IT annually to 30% by 2010.” Thanks to these same technological advances, the distance between two or more people has diminished significantly; creating an atmosphere where they can collaborate effectively on projects regardless of geographical location, where links can be established between individuals on the continent and those in the Diaspora to foster a new kind of development.

These technologies will have both negative and positive consequences, there is therefore a need to anticipate and re-adapt ourselves to the educational and professional needs of the future. It's common knowledge that many who aimed for courses and jobs in the information systems field in the United States have had to rethink and retool themselves to be adaptable to these changes. Changes which continue to reshape world economies and the educational needs requisite for success in the future. Changes which require us to think more than a few steps ahead in order to make ourselves flexible and thus make our abilities indispensable. Changes which demand that we unleash our imagination to the possibilities that these new tools and resources present for innovation.