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Date: Thursday 19 May 2011
Time: 15.30-17.00
Place: Room 3A06, Pieter de la Court building, Wassenaarseweg 52,
Leiden.
Speaker: Dr Jasper Grosskurth, Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek
Discussant:
Prof. dr.
Mirjam de Bruijn, African Studies Centre
You are kindly requested to register for this seminar.
Sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing a period of rapid technological
change. The mobile phone is the first infrastructure that has affordably
and reliably reached all corners of the continent, and data and money
transfer networks are piggy-backing on this development. But fundamental
changes are also taking place in other technology-intensive sectors
including energy, transport infrastructure and agriculture. These
changes will fundamentally affect the activities of businesses,
governments, academics and NGOs. Technology will be an enabler for more
efficient markets, for spreading and collecting information, for trading
and for accountability. However, not all the changes will be positive
and the same technology is likely to have disruptive effects as well.
In this seminar, Jasper Grosskurth will present the findings of a
three-year project on the ‘Futures of Technology in Africa’ and discuss
their implications for other Africa-related research. His research
project is based on visits to six African countries, interviews on
location, a number of participatory workshops and a wide network of
experts.
‘Futures of Technology in Africa’, Jasper Grosskurth, STT publishers
(2010) available for free download at
www.stt.nl/AfricanFutures
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