Afro@Digital - Africa
Afro@Digital is an African Documentary on the Digital Revolution in Africa. The documentary looks at what new technologies hold for Africa. "Statistics show that Africa is well behind the rest of the world in terms of information technologies. But the numbers fail to show the original ways Africans are using the little that is available."
It asks how digital technology can best serve the interests of Africa? "For example, it could be used simply to let the ruling elites and global corporations further monopolise the flow of information within society."
"Young filmmakers point out that the comparative cheapness of high quality digital equipment now allows them to create, preserve and share their own memory of themselves and aspirations for the future. Although the internet and digital television will inevitably open Africa to further globalisation, this documentary shows Africans responding positively by developing their own vigorous presence in a new international, digital cultural ecology."
It asks how digital technology can best serve the interests of Africa? "For example, it could be used simply to let the ruling elites and global corporations further monopolise the flow of information within society."
"Young filmmakers point out that the comparative cheapness of high quality digital equipment now allows them to create, preserve and share their own memory of themselves and aspirations for the future. Although the internet and digital television will inevitably open Africa to further globalisation, this documentary shows Africans responding positively by developing their own vigorous presence in a new international, digital cultural ecology."
Communication Strategies
The documentary asserts that computing technology may in fact be indigenous to Africa. The new field of ethno-mathematics has discovered the oldest calculating tool in the world in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Named the "Ishango bone" after its place of origin, it uses a base twelve system devised 15,000 years before the construction of the pyramids. Despite the relative scarcity of computers on the continent, the largest source of coltan, a product used in most microprocessors, is the Congo.
The documentary encourages viewers to look at digital technology not just as a tool but as a mindset. It introduces the Greek concept of entelechy, to explain how a given technology can be developed according to differing socially embedded objectives. It sees an implicit symmetry between the internet and human intelligence itself since both are non-linear, random and subject to endless erasure.
Afro@Digital looks at the impact of various digital technologies across a broad swath of present-day African life. The first cell phones were introduced in the Congo in 1986; today they have flooded the continent circumventing the land-based telephone networks.
Oumou Sy, a Senegalese fashion designer, travels around rural areas with a "cyberbus," a video projection system to advertise her collection. She has created jobs for 200 workers and has incorporated computer components into a traditional African aesthetic. At the same time a musician uses digital technologies to remix Aka pygmy music to make the instrumental track more prominent. "Computers are particularly good at generating loops of reiterated rhythmic patterns characteristic of both traditional and contemporary African music."
Mactar Syllar, director of radio and television in Senegal, points out that transportation between African countries is difficult; teleconferences and the internet can make Pan-African communications much simpler for businesses, governments and individuals. The documentary shows a teleconference between students in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo and Senegal.
The documentary encourages viewers to look at digital technology not just as a tool but as a mindset. It introduces the Greek concept of entelechy, to explain how a given technology can be developed according to differing socially embedded objectives. It sees an implicit symmetry between the internet and human intelligence itself since both are non-linear, random and subject to endless erasure.
Afro@Digital looks at the impact of various digital technologies across a broad swath of present-day African life. The first cell phones were introduced in the Congo in 1986; today they have flooded the continent circumventing the land-based telephone networks.
Oumou Sy, a Senegalese fashion designer, travels around rural areas with a "cyberbus," a video projection system to advertise her collection. She has created jobs for 200 workers and has incorporated computer components into a traditional African aesthetic. At the same time a musician uses digital technologies to remix Aka pygmy music to make the instrumental track more prominent. "Computers are particularly good at generating loops of reiterated rhythmic patterns characteristic of both traditional and contemporary African music."
Mactar Syllar, director of radio and television in Senegal, points out that transportation between African countries is difficult; teleconferences and the internet can make Pan-African communications much simpler for businesses, governments and individuals. The documentary shows a teleconference between students in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo and Senegal.
Development Issues
ICT
Partners
California Newsreel
Sources
California Newsreel website on March 3, 2004
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