ICT-enabled politics

The New York Times editorial page will create a huge wave of viewing of a video created by a 15 year old criticizing the Bush Administration. ICT democratizes the power of information, enabling a teenager from rural Alabama to get into the New York Times, be heard around the world, and labeled a "New Campaign Media Guru".

The ability of housewives, kids, and geographically dispersed and isolated persons to mine for and assemble stories of misdeeds, corruption, or just bad decisions is enabled by information communication technology. As modern-day pamphleteering that our Founding Fathers were so fond of, we need to continue to explore this and push growth in information and communication technology in Africa and elsewhere. Information gets transformed into knowledge leading to pressures to increase quality of life across all segments of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Isn’t that a good thing?

Posted in ICT