Technology and politics
Technological change obviously affects economics and education, but what will it bring to politics and governance? Ask your students what they would expect.Nigerian Space Program Isn't a 419 Scam
"Nigeria, a country whose best-known technological export is probably the flowery e-mail output of its "419 scam" artists, is ramping up a scrappy space program that's working wonders with a relatively small investment."Robert Boroffice, leader of Nigeria's National Space Research and Development Agency... looks to the sky to solve his country's earthly problems of hunger and disease. The country has launched satellites on the cheap to aid agricultural and medical initiatives and is seriously contemplating building an international spaceport...
"His defense to charges of misplaced priorities -- wasting money on space technology when Nigeria faces so many other pressing problems -- is as disarming as it is forward-thinking: Space is one of the smartest micro-investments a developing nation can make, he said...
"Africa's most populous country, Nigeria is saddled with a sub-Saharan developing nation's standard-issue burdens: disease, poverty, coruption, and malnutrition.
"Boroffice thinks space technology is the key to addressing such woes relatively cheaply and efficiently. For example, NASRDA spent $13 million... in the 2003 launch of NigeriaSat-1, an advanced imaging satellite that punches its weight with 1990s satellites in the $300 million class. NigeriaSat-1... helped sow the seeds of technological development in a nation that needs engineers, infrastructure and IT...
"Today, Nigeria imports food for its booming population while Nigerian farmers' yields depend on seasonal variations in things like water availability and soil fertility. NigeriaSat-1 beams up-to-date agricultural data back to... mission control in Abuja every day, and Nigeria's space support program helps farmers make use of the information to make smart decisions, said Boroffice...
"The challenge... is reaching the point of self-sufficiency so Nigerian engineers can build, launch and operate satellites from within the country's borders...
"With the successful launch earlier this year of Nigeria's first communications satellite... telemedicine is now possible...
"'Most of our doctors don't want to go to rural areas,' [Boroffice] said. 'So we have created primary health-care centers, and we link them to two teaching hospitals. And these two hospitals, with videoconferencing, can provide high-quality medicine to these remote (areas).'..."
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Labels: Nigeria, technology
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:05 AM
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