Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts

Friday, November 21, 2014

Cell Phones and Internet in Afghanistan

Theresa Falke, a member of the "Friends of Afghanistan (FKA) - a German non-profit volunteer NGO - provides us with a detailed account on the use of mobile phones, the Internet, and social media. Her article discusses the benefits of the growth of each as well as the social aspects of this new telecommunications technology. Read "Where There's a Will, There's a Way to Go Online: Afghanistan's youth and new media", Afghanistan Analysts Network, November 13, 2014.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Technology and Afghanistan

Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani, is an academic and World Bank expert on state building. He has some experience in technology and how it can help weak states (like Afghanistan) cost-effectively improve governance. Telecommunications and technology are two of the brightest sectors of Afghanistan's economy; and there is hope that these two sectors will help other sectors grow. Ghani has used Skype and Google Hangout to chair town hall style meetings across the country. Read more in "As Afghan President, Ghani continues Tech Advocacy", Voice of America, November 3, 2014.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Rebuilding Technology Base in Afghanistan

There certainly is some progress being made in Afghanistan. The news is not just "gloom and doom". The technology and telecommunications sector of Afghanistan has seen great benefit from the years of hard work done by the international community. Great strides have been made in the education field for basic education as well as advanced education at the university level. The Technical University of Berlin has been helping with the reconstruction of academic organizations in Afghanistan since 2002. Computer centers have been established at five college locations in Afghanistan. Learn more in "Rebuilding tech in Afghanistan with open source", OpenSource.com, posted October 29, 2014.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Cellphone Photos of Women - A Cultural Problem

The rise of technology is generally considered a good thing. In Afghanistan the telecommunications industry (cell phones especially) has transformed Afghan society. Unfortunately, there are some downsides. One emerging adverse development is the selling of videos and photographs of Afghan women by the gigabyte to store on computers and cellphones. This, in a very conservative society like Afghanistan, is a cultural problem. Read more in "Cellphone snapshots of women cause stir in conservative Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, October 11, 2014.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Info and Communications Technology - An Afghan Success Story

The news coming out of Afghanistan lately has been dismal. The security situation is worse with the Taliban threatening to take over district centers (Sangin), corruption handicapping international aid efforts, the Afghan election is a mess, and the lack of a signed Bilateral Security Agreement. It is hard to find positive news about Afghanistan.

However, there is one sector of the economy that is doing remarkably well - the information and communications technology sector. Dr. Catherine Warner, of the ISAF Telecommunications Advisory Team, says that the telecommunications and info technology fields have come a long way since 2001. In 2001 there were 15,000 telephone lines with only local dialing access. In 2014 there are 22 million mobile phone subscribers and some three million Internet users.

Read more in Information and communications technology sector Afghanistan's second largest revenue source, ISAF News, September 10, 2010 at this link.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Technology and Afghanistan

There are many aspects of Afghan society that are extremely backward.  However the promise of technology cannot be ignored and there is great hope that technology will be one of the drivers of prosperity and peace in the future.  The huge surge in cell phone ownership in Afghanistan is one example of this rapid growth in technology and the changes that technology can bring to a society and to a conflict.  Read about efforts to increase technological capacity in Afghanistan in "Silicon Afghanistan: Kabul Innovation Lab Launches", Forbes.com, January 23, 2012.