From smartphones to cargo drones,
technology has the potential to transform the future of Africa. These 10 trends
show how innovation can ripple through societies, boost economies and help the
continent skip over development hurdles.
Because connectivity defines modern
prosperity, and because Africa will not be able to build roads fast enough to
manage its growth, the continent will be the first to adopt cargo drones
at massive scale. But drones need somewhere to land. So in 2015 we will see the
first concepts for droneports out of Africa.
They will be clean-energy, open to
sky and nature, and mix the civic quality of early Victorian railway stations
with souks and the latest airport technology – in other words, the petrol
station of the 21st century.
Robotics
It’s not just flying robots that
hold economic promise for Africa. The ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa has
reinforced the lessons of Fukushima. In the kind of emergency where it’s
dangerous for humans to be in contact with one another, robotics can help to
screen for radiation or for infectious disease. Currently, there are not enough
advanced robots to do the remote tasks we need them to do. It might seem
counterintuitive to promote robotics in the context of high youth unemployment
and pervasive poverty.
But African economies will engineer
efficiencies through automation that they would otherwise not be able to
afford. Look to the Africa Robotics Network and research universities
inside and outside Africa, which will spread robotics beyond humanitarian use
into the production of robots. In particular, there will be more research into
robotics for healthcare and search-and-rescue functions.
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