HOW TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATIONS; GAME CHANGERS
In the 21st century, technology and Innovation play a significant role on our social, political and economic lives, including the influence of our access to information, building of social networks, catalyzing political movements, and greatly affects the way we interact. Politically, organizations like One.org, Change.org, Moveon.org, Civicus.org, the Tea Party movement, and individual campaigns have used social media effectively to build up support around particular political issues. This raises very interesting questions about political targeting through the use of data from technology.
As well as how technology has the potential to disrupt and help governments.
This session will look at how technology has the potential to disrupt governments as well as how it is already helping to lead to better governance. What are the prospects, constraints, and the way forward? The internet which is an equalizer and technology has the potential to lead to real action, e.g. voting, changes in legislation, or consensus in building a society. This session focuses on how technology can facilitate change in politics. How can better transparency, fairness, and participation lead to real change? There are interesting projects domestically and internationally providing information to communities and non-profits so that they can hold their governments (local, state, and national) more accountable. In Nigeria, the NotTooYoung to run bill advanced by change.org and one.org with other online-based political change organizations is a clear example of a local project in Nigeria on the impact of technology in politics, we anticipate even more. Also, in India, Kenya, and Tanzania there are multiple efforts in education to make information available to communities about how much money is supposed to come to their communities for education. In addition, NGOs are testing children and letting communities know about how much their children are learning. These efforts have energized communities to ask their representatives, local governments, and the national government about the quality of teachers, and where all this money has been going. It is not only government, foundations, non-profits, and businesses that are also key in making this transformation. We will keep emphasizing to government leaders, non-profits leaders, and business leaders, the role of technology in the changing politics of communities, states, and countries.
Keywords: Technology, ICT, Education, Politics, Development, Africa.
