South African new media entrepreneur, Mr. Koos Bekker has urged African media to innovate with the new media based on the Internet technologies.
He also declared that the future warfare is on the Internet,
and Africa requires quick catch-up with Internet exploration to meet the global
sustainability challenges of its media and people.
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| Koos Bekker speaking @ Highway Africa confab 2011 |
Bekker in his keynote at the just ended Highway Africa 2011
which held at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CICC), Cape Town
South Africa, on ‘How do we innovate in
the media’ said that in this era, media needs to be innovative in order to
catch-up with technologies that are unveiled into the market place at short
intervals.
According to him, apart from reporting these innovations,
media needs to be part of the trend so as to increase viability to the
citizenry.
As part of the revelations, Bekker said that media should
embrace Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and in particular the
new media technologies based on the Internet and mobile devices.
For him, the future of media is in the new media which
hinges on the Internet evolution in Africa, insisting that African countries
must open up their Internet space to pave the way for more people to come in
and get involved.
“The future ware is on the Internet,” he asserted, noting
that all the ages, innovators are not the techies but simply inspired people
who want to make a difference.
Additionally, he said, that none of the known innovators are
the originators of the concept that eventually made them popular and wealthy at
the same time.
He, therefore, tasked media practitioners on the continent
to be innovative.
Earlier, welcoming participants to the three-day Highway
Africa conference 2011, the director, Highway Africa, Mr. Chris Kabwato, said
the theme, ‘African Media and Global Sustainability Challenge’ is in tandem
with the forthcoming United Nation’s organized Climate Change, tagged COP 17,
due to hold in Durban, South Africa in November this year.
He noted that with the dramatic melting down of the glaciers
of the arctic, the droughts ravaging the continent, the floods in the Americas
and a temperatures rises may have provided drama for television and other
media, but the issue of global sustainability calls for drastic and
comprehensive response from the media.
He pointed out that whereas the international media as
represented by the various broadcasting networks have woken up to the stark
challenge facing the world, Africa media remains hesitant and unhurried in
training its eye on the sustainability challenge.
Thus, holding of the UNFCCC COP 17 Climate meeting in
Durban, this November would provide Africa media and other key stakeholders a
unique opportunity to galvanise various key actors.
Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
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