Re: [GKD] Nigeria: Silicon Valley Transplant
crawl, walk, run, fly... leap-frog ... cheetah-polevault Happy New Year Everyone! I have been following the rich deliberations that have been going on in this forum. Thanks to EDC for making it possible. I have gained a lot from it. It might not be appropriate to dwell on the above topic amidst the Tsunami Crisis. However as an optimistic entrepreneur and a Nigerian American resident and doing business in the Silicon Valley, I just want to throw in my 2 Kobo. (Warning: This may not be commercially equal to 2 pence but may exceed it when expressed in terms of psychic income.) What of Quantum Leap ...? Digital vs. Analog? CK Prahalad said it all at the 2004 WRI Eradicating Poverty through Profit Conference in San Francisco. The Western World has spent several years in cracking the economic and ICT development codes. It would be foolish of the developing countries to trail the same path of crawling, walking, running over the same hurdles of trials and errors that have already been fine tuned with clinical trials. Why crawl if there is a template for flying which one can customize to suit one's need? There is no need to re-invent the wheels. The reality is that many Nigerians did not have to own, or learn how to use, a land phone before a cell phone. To be statistically thrifty, over 1,000 functional users of cell phones in Nigeria today (including my mother) are illiterate. I didn't have to send my mother to school before buying a cell phone for her. Is it a quantum leap for her or what? Let us all see what we can do in parallel to make this project a success and make money from it as well! OneVillage is already playing this right. Let us be realistic. Like many countries, Nigeria has the potentials and a track record of executing some large scale PET PROJECTS successfully despite the fact that their system may stink and other societal needs might be over looked. The New Federal Capital, Commonwealth Conference, FestAC, All African Games, etc, are just a few pleasant global surprises from Nigeria. You know, if Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties were waiting to perfect Alum Rock and East Palo Alto before encouraging the establishment of industries and small businesses next door, there probably wouldn't have been a Silicon Valley by now. Nigeria has a lot of infrastructure and social problems but not more than India. Somebody needs to drive the standards, package it with image rebuilding initiatives and follow it up with training, evaluation and global lobbying (Lobbying, NOT bribery). Yes, Nigeria needs it. El Rufai is in order. He seems to have a good track record of getting the job done too. However, I think David Sawe is correct. With many necessary things lined up in parallel with construction, I have no doubt that there could be a Silicon Valley in the Federal Capital Territory. Why not? Nigeria has a lot of untapped wealth, indigenous intellectuals and global sponsors/investors that can make it happen. They just have to QUANTUM LEAP their system to make it Silicon Valley-Ready while the constructions are going on. The government probably needs a more elaborate version of some of those Silicon Valley Corporate Readiness Boot-Camps that I organize. Do people really know what Silicon Valley is? Seriously, some people get disappointed when they find out that it is not a Technology Plaza or Park. For those who are still interested in this topic, the article below will show you that the Capital Territory probably has more in common with the Prune Valley (the real name of the Valley before chips took over) than we think. ONE DAY BEGINS A STORY. My comments are seen after each link. *** Orchards to Online: Top 10 Events That Shaped Silicon Valley Posted in San Jose Mercury News on Thu, Feb. 28, 2002 1. The Computer Chip http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/living/2765031.htm - Nigeria has several unknown inventors like Emeka Uzoh with over 98 Worldwide semiconductor patents, Emeagwali the computer guru, and others. 2. San Jose Sprawl: Dutch Hamann http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/living/2765036.htm - Who knows, El Rufai might be the one. He is probably not squandering the money allotted to his office like many others. 3. Founding of Hewlett-Packard http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/living/2765046.htm - In addition to ChevronTexaco and Shell presence, HP, Intel and IBM already have bigger eyes on Nigeria for the future. The role of small businesses cannot be overlooked. Nnewi Nigeria, would not be what it is today without them. 4. Minority-Majority Ethnic Shift http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/living/2765064.htm - This is already happening in Abuja in terms of ethnic and national diversity.The climates are similar too. 5. End of WWII: Urbanization http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/living/2765065.htm - Urbanization? Think of Abuja 12 years ago. 6.
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] RFI: IT Training Curriculum for Rural Community Local Government
Femi, The information on How Can Local Governments Use ICT To Improve Their Efficiency? is right on target. Silvie and the other contributors also have very good ideas. However the key driving force or the core content of the IT Training Curriculum for Rural Community Local Government will usually come from the community/audience itself. In other words, the outcome of your ANALYSIS OF THEIR NEEDS AND SKILLS and your knowledge of what will augment their deficiencies will eventually translate to a FUNCTIONAL ICT Training Curriculum for your audience. If the curriculum is not planned within the CONTEXT of the NEEDS of your audience you might get quite a few ICT Training Curricula that are quite interesting and very good, however they might not be practically applicable to the immediate needs of the audience. Hence whatever they learn during the training might not be applied efficiently. Again Femi, there are several options but based on experience, I know that a collaborative curriculum works better for adult learners (especially the leaders/executives.) Extracting their needs from them and designing the curriculum within their context of application expands their locus of control. Hence they learn more and utilize their new learning faster and better. Feel free to give me a call to discuss it further. This is what I do for a living. I can also bring in an insider perspective into your project because I am from Nigeria. Have a nice day. ~~~ Mary (Molly) Uzoh Chief Learning Officer Learning Right Technologies P. O. Box 51616 San Jose, CA 95151 Phone: (408) 531-1967 [EMAIL PROTECTED] About Learning Right Technologies Headquartered in the heart of the Silicon Valley of California, Learning Right Technologies is a certified minority (African American) woman owned, small business that specializes in ICT consulting and educational services/tools. We provide interactive multimedia e-learning curriculum development, FOSS implementation, technical training, educational and television production, research services. Our team of consultants is made up of hi-tech professionals with academic specialization in computer science, mathematics, instructional technology, multimedia design including video streaming, database administration, as well as several years of management, and very strong hands-on technical experience in delivering learning services to schools, government agencies, small to medium size businesses, and high tech corporations. We have just completed the design and development of a prototype of a series of interactive multimedia e-learning software. Therefore, we are available to start as soon as you need us. At www.learningright.com, we respect your right2learn the right thing, the right way; and at the right place, the right time and the right price. This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] RFI: IT Training Curriculum for Rural Community Local Government
Thanks to Cissy Segujja for sharing her IT Training Modules for Educators at http://www.kyambogo.ac.ug/pdle/index.html. It is one of the best examples that I have seen so far. Such a thematic approach is more learner-friendly and less abstract than the fetch and train approach that some organizations/individuals have been using in under-privileged countries. It works all the time and in every part of the globe. Cissy's course reminds me of my Computer Applications for Educational Administrators, here in the United States. That was the only way I was able to convince many conservative school administrators, within a short time, that they could start using their computers by themselves instead of hand-writing the letters and waiting for a secretary, who called in sick, to come back in 2 to 3 days before they could send out a few urgent letters to some parents and government offices. I use the same treatment for Math Phobia (Number Phobia) among corporate managers while teaching Mathematics For Decision Makers. Furthermore, before we start looking for a miracle, we have to understand that a successful training outcome still requires a combination key that is also embedded in good facilitation and follow-up strategies, not just the curriculum per se. I'm sure Cissy can testify to this. Molly Egondu Uzoh Learning Right Technologies P. O. Box 51616 San Jose, CA 95151 Phone: (408) 531-1967 [EMAIL PROTECTED] At www.learningright.com we respect your right2learn the right thing, the right way; and at the right place, the right time and the right price. On Wednesday, May 18, 2005, Cissy Segujja wrote: I was involved in the development of an IT Training Curriculum for educators and the process was very collaborative. The educator's needs and uses of IT were examined before coming up with a comprehensive list of scenarios and activities. The IT Training Curriculum was then developed based on these scenarios and activities: http://www.kyambogo.ac.ug/pdle/index.html At the end of the day, the educators are learning to use IT as seen as a tool to advance their competence. Same applies to Training Curriculum for Rural Community Local Government. This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Local Governments Should Adopt a Business Model
Mymoena, Congratulations on the progress of your project. I am glad to see that ICT is really hitting home. Citywide ERP Solution? Wow! When I hear about corruption in Africa and other developing countries, I usually wonder how a country like the United States or UK would have been in the absences of the checks and balances from technology/electronic systems, yet dealing with the current 21st Century (SMART and sophisticated) human beings within the society. With that in mind, I'm really curious as to what the reaction of some of the politicians and local government leaders (including local elders) would be. Do they feel violated, disarmed or even colonized by these electronic systems? Mymoena, is it possible to share some of the real time social and political related implementation issues that you are encountering in this project. (I mean, let's assume that we are holding the technical/infrastructural issues constant for a moment, because there are myriads of them.) Thanks. Molly Egondu Uzoh Learning Right Technologies P. O. Box 51616 San Jose, CA 95151 Phone: (408) 531-1967 [EMAIL PROTECTED] At www.learningright.com we respect your right2learn the right thing, the right way; and at the right place, the right time and the right price. On Friday, May 27, 2005, Mymoena Ismail wrote: Not all local authorities work on a cash basis. In South African legislation (i.e., the Municipal Financial Management Act) requires local authorities to account for every cent spent and income received. The City of Cape Town recently implemented a SAP ERP solution to better manage its finances but also to ensure that there exists one back-end system to support all related e-governance projects. This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
