Mohammad Amir Anwar and Mark Graham
- Published in print:
- 2022
- Published Online:
- February 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780198840800
- eISBN:
- 9780191876455
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198840800.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The rapid adoption and diffusion of digital technologies on the continent in the last decade has led many governments and observers to talk about Africa’s ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. The ...
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The rapid adoption and diffusion of digital technologies on the continent in the last decade has led many governments and observers to talk about Africa’s ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. The underlying assertion here is that digital technologies will help African economies move away from the primary sector towards tertiary economic activities, and therefore put them on track for economic development. However, there are genuine concerns about the extent to which digital technologies will alter the existing modes and structures of production that currently benefit the African continent. This chapter argues that Africa continues to be locked into a value-extractive position in the global economy. Digital production, predominantly characterized by low value-added economic activities that do not necessarily translate into socio-economic improvements for the African working classes, represents a new arena for these dynamics to play out.Less
The rapid adoption and diffusion of digital technologies on the continent in the last decade has led many governments and observers to talk about Africa’s ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. The underlying assertion here is that digital technologies will help African economies move away from the primary sector towards tertiary economic activities, and therefore put them on track for economic development. However, there are genuine concerns about the extent to which digital technologies will alter the existing modes and structures of production that currently benefit the African continent. This chapter argues that Africa continues to be locked into a value-extractive position in the global economy. Digital production, predominantly characterized by low value-added economic activities that do not necessarily translate into socio-economic improvements for the African working classes, represents a new arena for these dynamics to play out.
Carla Simone, Ina Wagner, Claudia Müller, Anne Weibert, and Volker Wulf
- Published in print:
- 2022
- Published Online:
- March 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780198862505
- eISBN:
- 9780191895326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198862505.003.0008
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Computer Architecture and Logic Design, Human-Computer Interaction
At the core of this chapter is a series of projects in a rural community in South Africa that succeeded in developing a well-functioning community network (CN). The chapter highlights several key ...
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At the core of this chapter is a series of projects in a rural community in South Africa that succeeded in developing a well-functioning community network (CN). The chapter highlights several key conditions to achieving sustainability: the community taking part in all design decisions; the efforts to build local capabilities for running and maintaining the CN; and the steps towards ensuring its financial sustainability, based on legal provisions and a well-considered business model. Research revealing the complex ecology of repair shops in developing countries strengthens some of these insights, in particular the need to practise the ‘creative repurposing’ of materials and design for the easy maintainability and repair of technical devices.Less
At the core of this chapter is a series of projects in a rural community in South Africa that succeeded in developing a well-functioning community network (CN). The chapter highlights several key conditions to achieving sustainability: the community taking part in all design decisions; the efforts to build local capabilities for running and maintaining the CN; and the steps towards ensuring its financial sustainability, based on legal provisions and a well-considered business model. Research revealing the complex ecology of repair shops in developing countries strengthens some of these insights, in particular the need to practise the ‘creative repurposing’ of materials and design for the easy maintainability and repair of technical devices.
