Analogue/Digital

I am about to leave for a summer in Africa, so now is a pretty good time to start a blog. I will be staying mainly in Western Kenya, with excursions around Kenya, Tanzania, and Ghana. The purpose of my trip is twofold: first, to investigate the wide spectrum of technology in use in the region and how it is developed, and second, to help Clarice Odhiambo, former Head of Engineering for Coca-Cola Africa, start the Africa Center for Engineering Social Solutions.

Analogue/Digital will catalog my findings on the convergence of technology and culture in Africa. In many parts of Africa, people have rapidly adapted to digital culture within the last few years, but also adapted new technologies to people’s needs in ways we have never seen and probably could never have imagined. In Nairobi, you can get just about anything fabricated, repaired, or charged by informal businesses that have risen to fill gaps left by the limited formal sector. Some of the businesses are started by engineering graduates who would otherwise have no work.

Kenya has skipped the wired evolution and experienced a wireless revolution. Everyone and their moms has a mobile phone and many do their banking or make financial transactions via SMS, which has opened up vast opportunities using limited platforms. The results of these technological and cultural advancements are only first being measured, but the country has visibly changed socially, with communication now made effortless, and economically, with businesses and farmers able to access information much more easily. 

This is my first trip to Africa and it will be exciting.