Technology can redress global meltdown – Yusuf

Head, Systems Integration and High Technology, Accenture Nigeria, Mr. Niyi Yusuf, has said that a combination of technology trends would significantly shape the future and assist immensely in redressing the current global challenges.

He made this disclosure in a presentation at the just concluded 9th MacGlobe International Conference and Exhibition held in Abuja by the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS).

Mr. Yusuf said that in a bid to aid recovery of the global economy, a number of nations have invested in massive stimulus packages.

This, he said, include significant Information Technology (IT) spending citing for example, the 13 per cent of stimulus in the United States of America (USA), as dedicated incentive for IT.

“Thus, it is logical to conclude that Information technology is a foundation from which much of the globe’s current challenges can be successfully addressed,” he said, stressing that the world is currently undergoing challenging times characterized by multifaceted issues and concerns.

“As encapsulated by the United Nations funded Millennium Project there are 15 global challenges facing humanity vis-à-vis: sustainable development, clean water, population and resources, democratization, long term perspectives, global convergence of IT, rich-poor gap, health issues, capacity to decide, peace and conflict, status of women, transnational organised crime, energy, science & technology and global ethics,” he outlined.

According to him, these global challenges have exacerbated by the current global financial crises which have led to massive erosion of wealth as a result of write downs, bank recapitalization, stock market collapses, job losses, bankruptcies, extreme volatility in oil and other commodities.

He identified the three key information technology trends that have the potentials of helping humanity to combat these challenge to be Internet computing, mobile phone and convergence of 4Cs namely collaboration, communication, community and content.

On Internet computing, he said, that it offers businesses greater flexibility in achieving cheaper computing with added flexibility, while Mobile Phone has fast become the interface for everything and may soon surpass the television (TV) as the dominant mode of entertainment and media consumption.

Equally on the Convergence of 4Cs – Collaboration, Communication, Community and Content, Yusuf noted that this has resulted in the fusion of traditional collaboration tools with media and user contents to produce a healthy mix of possibilities and given rise to phenomena like facebook, youtube, twitter, wikis.

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