YouTube, E-mail, Skype And MPs

FOUR weeks ago, I received an e-mail from ten-year-old Lindi when she opened her account.

Ever since we have been using e-mail incrementally as one of the means of communication in our father-daughter relationship. (Coincidentally, I am at the time of writing this piece four weeks later walking in the footsteps of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, not pursuing a classical music career in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of that great composer, but attending a seminar on ‘The New Information Networks’ and the challenges and opportunities these networks pose for business, governments and the media).It is easy to guess that if I ask a number of our members of parliament or even permanent secretaries what ‘blogs’, ‘wikis’, ‘Skype’ and Youtube are, I am likely to get blank stares.I will get these stares, not because these leaders, especially Ministers and top administrators, don’t have the possibility to access and make use of these new information networks.Trust me, they do, and more can be done to increase the use of these tools than is presently the case in Namibia.Generally one might wonder why they ought to know about ‘wikis’ and ‘blogs’.My irritation with them on this issue relates in as far as their role with regard to creating a networked information society is concerned.And they do talk about it in their speeches and we do have an ICT policy that went through Cabinet.But how effective is it when those who pontificate about the networked society care little about its utility in their daily government business? Is it possible to harness and prioritise resources effectively for information and communication technologies if politicians and top administrators don’t make optimal use of the Internet? How many of our Ministers have Internet in their homes (and they can afford to)? When you frame such questions, immediate conundrums will start to assemble.Yet these are supposedly the people who have to awaken us from our exclusion from the digital age.In practical terms, why can’t we explore the possibility of communicating more in government via e-mail instead of costly calls? My experience in government tells me that instead of sending documents for perusal via e-mail, some would rather print them, only for further modifications to be made to the printed document.Now, imagine what it would mean for government savings in terms of paper if these modifications were done electronically? The decisions that government takes and the attitude they have with regard to promoting these new media as means of communication will have a profound impact on how we communicate with our leaders.Additionally, these attitudes, where there is rejection of using these new information networks out of sheer ignorance, may further accentuate the digital divide and lack of access to information.As it appears, access is just one part of the problem, ignorance is another.Naturally like many of us, I also have a reluctance to change the old ways too much.But there is no virtue at all in clinging as some do to past ways merely for their own sake.I really get sore eyes when I consult government websites due to the lack of factual, updated information: it now takes a couple of minutes to read the CV of the Prime Minister on the once fledgling OPM website (the line office for E-governance policy); Rick Kukuri is still the deputy Minister of Finance on the finance ministry website; the defence minister is still to be announced and the list goes on.Admittedly, it is insulting to the President that his website has not been updated for more than a year.For heaven’s sake, it could be updated at least on a monthly or quarterly basis! Much of what makes for modern human development is not control over information, but it is the production of information and knowledge.Certainly, access and the use of these new technologies which compress time and space, provide opportunities for us in the developing world to consume more information and communicate in ways that are cheaper.And when we consume more information we are likely to create new knowledge.It would be sad if journalists, students and researchers have to wait even longer before they can download the president’s speeches or key documents on the presidential website.To conclude, my wild speculation is that the postal addresses of MPs as they appear on the parliament’s website are meant for us to communicate with our elected officials on issues of concern.Lindi, as part of the Shakira generation, is unlikely to do so.My generation will simply resist and it is for politicians and administrators to get to know these new channels of communication for the benefit of increased democratic participation and progress.So, log in and let a hundred blogs bloom! * Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari is PhD fellow at the University of Paris Pantheon Sorbonne, France.(Coincidentally, I am at the time of writing this piece four weeks later walking in the footsteps of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, not pursuing a classical music career in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of that great composer, but attending a seminar on ‘The New Information Networks’ and the challenges and opportunities these networks pose for business, governments and the media).It is easy to guess that if I ask a number of our members of parliament or even permanent secretaries what ‘blogs’, ‘wikis’, ‘Skype’ and Youtube are, I am likely to get blank stares.I will get these stares, not because these leaders, especially Ministers and top administrators, don’t have the possibility to access and make use of these new information networks.Trust me, they do, and more can be done to increase the use of these tools than is presently the case in Namibia.Generally one might wonder why they ought to know about ‘wikis’ and ‘blogs’.My irritation with them on this issue relates in as far as their role with regard to creating a networked information society is concerned.And they do talk about it in their speeches and we do have an ICT policy that went through Cabinet.But how effective is it when those who pontificate about the networked society care little about its utility in their daily government business? Is it possible to harness and prioritise resources effectively for information and communication technologies if politicians and top administrators don’t make optimal use of the Internet? How many of our Ministers have Internet in their homes (and they can afford to)? When you frame such questions, immediate conundrums will start to assemble.Yet these are supposedly the people who have to awaken us from our exclusion from the digital age.In practical terms, why can’t we explore the possibility of communicating more in government via e-mail instead of costly calls? My experience in government tells me that instead of sending documents for perusal via e-mail, some would rather print them, only for further modifications to be made to the printed document.Now, imagine what it would mean for government savings in terms of paper if these modifications were done electronically? The decisions that government takes and the attitude they have with regard to promoting these new media as means of communication will have a profound impact on how we communicate with our leaders.Additionally, these attitudes, where there is rejection of using these new information networks out of sheer ignorance, may further accentuate the digital divide and lack of access to information.As it appears, access is just one part of the problem, ignorance is another.Naturally like many of us, I also have a reluctance to change the old ways too much.But there is no virtue at all in clinging as some do to past ways merely for their own sake.I really get sore eyes when I consult government websites due to the lack of factual, updated information: it now takes a couple of minutes to read the CV of the Prime Minister on the once fledgling OPM website (the line office for E-governance policy); Rick Kukuri is still the deputy Minister of Finance on the finance ministry website; the defence minister is still to be announced and the list goes on.Admittedly, it is insulting to the President that his website
has not been updated for more than a year.For heaven’s sake, it could be updated at least on a monthly or quarterly basis! Much of what makes for modern human development is not control over information, but it is the production of information and knowledge.Certainly, access and the use of these new technologies which compress time and space, provide opportunities for us in the developing world to consume more information and communicate in ways that are cheaper.And when we consume more information we are likely to create new knowledge.It would be sad if journalists, students and researchers have to wait even longer before they can download the president’s speeches or key documents on the presidential website.To conclude, my wild speculation is that the postal addresses of MPs as they appear on the parliament’s website are meant for us to communicate with our elected officials on issues of concern.Lindi, as part of the Shakira generation, is unlikely to do so.My generation will simply resist and it is for politicians and administrators to get to know these new channels of communication for the benefit of increased democratic participation and progress.So, log in and let a hundred blogs bloom! * Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari is PhD fellow at the University of Paris Pantheon Sorbonne, France.