Term Project Presentations
I enjoyed listening to the presentation of goal 8, developing a global partnership for development through information and communication technologies. The two presenters did a good job depicting the issue in the country of Somalia. They realized their were too many separate issues in the country regarding development, so they chose a couple to focus on. The first was mobile phone technology. They want to provide Somalians with mobile phones to connect them with others areas. I thought it was very clever to look to Kenya as a basis for the introduction of this technology. This was a good idea because Kenya is another African country so the two countries would be somewhat similar in response to this new technology, and also because Kenya has already started to do this. They can now look at Kenya as an example for Somalia.
The next topic they chose to focus on was wireless laptops. Their goal was to provide one laptop per child. The main reason for this is to increase the quality of education. I think this was a very good topic to focus on because not only can wireless internet connect Somalia to many other countries, but it can promote the UN's millenium development goal of increasing primary education worldwide. The laptops they have chosen to use is the 100 dollar laptop made in the US. It is formatted with symbols instead of a certain language, so that anyone in the world can use this laptop. It is also equipped with educational games to help children learn.
The reason these two presenters have chosen wireless technologies instead of older ones, like landlines, is because they are cheaper. It would cost too much to lay down thousands of miles of copper wires to these landlines, so wireless would be the most efficient way to go.
The pictures used in this presentation were very striking. There were numerous ones of Somalians using cell phones, which look a little out of place. Unlike many western nations, Somalia hasn't developed through technology, they are recently just aquiring it because of organizations like the UN. So when a culture changes drastically like Somalia is, it is like seeing the merging of two cultures. Somalians are incorporating popular culture, like cell phones and laptops, into their own.
I liked this presentation overall because is shows globalization taking place. It shows the merging of the world into a uniform piece, for the common good of everyone.
