Stories from the Future: Mobile Devices in Africa 2049

Stories from the Future: Mobile Devices in Africa 2049

We’re happy to be able to post tangible results from the Mobility in Africa Foresight Workshop that we organised in collaboration with SAINe and SAFIPA early June 2010! Below is the first blog post from the SAINe team:

We’ve all watched at least one movie dedicated to the future of technology and how far we can take it. Although we have evolved in leaps and bounds there’ve always been questions surrounding this topic such as: Is it really a possibility? How far into the future will all this happen ? Will it be in our lifetime? Will we be the instigators and how practical is it really?

The South African and Finland knowledge partnership on ICT (SAFIPA) mobilized 49 individuals representing industry, academia and government to create scenarios/stories from the future about mobile devices in Africa. In the next few weeks these stories will be shared on the Saine network. The purpose of these stories is to make us think outside the box and make connections with what needs to be done in the present. The story takes you far into the future but some obstacles need to be removed and some co-operation need to take place to make these stories a reality. All the stories represent massive business and social innovation opportunities. It is for us to identify the business, technology and policy opportunities that manifest itself in these stories.

The questions therefore are:
1.       Which business opportunities do you see in this story?
2.       What needs to be overcome to make it a reality?
3.       Who needs to work together?

If you can answer these, this future is yours.

This week’s theme is Virtual Economy and we present you with a story compiled by  the futures lab delegates called A day in the life of Thabo Nkosi: Africa 2049. The blog was compiled by Dr Audrey Verhaeghe from RIIS. Go to http://www.saine.co.za/?p=2388 to read the story and add you comment.

Feel it, the future is here.