African TechnologyEssay Preview: African TechnologyReport this essayIn order to educate many individuals in South Africa about social communication, a New Media Lab was created. With new technological advances around the world, the people of South Africa have to be informed on how to use these advances. This lab, which was created in 1995, is capable of preparing individuals to use the latest technology and teaching them “to become knowledge producers in a modern newsroom environment” (New Media Lab). Without a New Media Lab, it would be difficult to teach a large number of people new technological advances. Since technology undergoes many changes and advances, students are exposed to new technology developments (New Media Lab). The New Media Lab staffs “are highly critical of technological development, particularly in terms of its impact on society” (New Media Lab). Being critical of new technology is important because it allows for the students be comfortable with abrupt changes (New Media Lab). These changes will affect the identity, so it is crucial to relay new advances in a calmly fashion.
The new media technology in South Africa brings a different way of communicating to one another. As a result, the identity is changed because the people have to adapt to the changes of new media. There is a strong concern for democracy, which is directly related to media (Zegeye, Harris 42). Even though a concern for media is present, “there is ample reason to be upbeat about the transformation of South African media” (Zegeye, Harris 42). It is beneficial for Africans to have this freedom to communicate with the use of technology because more possibilities for success can occur. To be competitive in today’s economic world, one must have adequate technology in order to communicate more efficiently. South Africa is headed toward the right direction in using technology for the improvement of social skills. New media developments “are really not that far- reaching and have not led to the greater expected representation or the expected positive effects on democratic participation” (Zegeye, Harris 42). Therefore, bringing people of same interests together through communication is a reachable goal for South Africa.
The uses of cell phones and credit cards have become helpful in communication and economic development. One of South Africa’s largest banks created a cell phone banking system in order to help “bring millions of poor South Africans into the official economy for the first time” (Nicole Itano). This new system is hoping to use pre-paid cell phones to help low-income users (Nicole Itano). Technology is not only good for communication, but it is good for the economy as well. Since the country has a high crime rate, the use of plastic cards is much better than paper money (Nicole Itano). If a person has their card stolen, he is not responsible for any transactions that occurred. As
\
Our goal is to continue to do this. We want the government to use information to improve the lives even more. We want to reach the poorest.\
\>
What we can do
\
A recent report from the South African Centre of Migration and Integration looks at this and other potential solutions to get people into the workforce. In 2006, nearly 90% of South Africans worked with a bank in their home country, and that figure grew to a top ten figure in 2007, according to the report. However, one of the reasons behind this is that more and more people are leaving the country to get a job. As the report noted, “A majority of these people are low income and have limited ability to support their families. These people are most likely to be younger than the population at large. The main reasons for the lack of job opportunities on average in many South African states is the lack of social skills, as those who have been in society for just a year or two (and are already poor) tend to be self-sufficient and do not have enough wealth to support the family. Many of these people are in the middle of getting married at a young age in order gain a new life with family members—not just children. In many cases, they may not even have basic education, such as elementary and secondary, but they still have the skills necessary to support themselves and family when they become adults, especially in the midst of the crisis. In addition to this, they may have low skills like manual labour training and not being paid when their work is completed. Many people who are already working for a private company or for a government agency are often unable to find work as soon as they are laid off. For these persons, they have to find work within a certain time frame to get out of poverty.\
We want these people to have a better life. We want them to be paid more. We want them to have a better health education, health insurance, and better access to care. And we want them to have access to a basic education that is just as useful, if not better, as the one that a low earning person can get away with.\
We want children to have a better schooling that they can develop in an environment that respects their individual and family rights and liberties. We want people with disabilities to have access to the same levels of education as they do today.\
____________________________