African Technology

In order to educate many individuals in South Africa about social communication, a New Media Lab was created. With new technological advances around the world, the people of South Africa have to be informed on how to use these advances. This lab, which was created in 1995, is capable of preparing individuals to use the latest technology and teaching them “to become knowledge producers in a modern newsroom environment” (New Media Lab). Without a New Media Lab, it would be difficult to teach a large number of people new technological advances. Since technology undergoes many changes and advances, students are exposed to new technology developments (New Media Lab). The New Media Lab staffs “are highly critical of technological development, particularly in terms of its impact on society” (New Media Lab). Being critical of new technology is important because it allows for the students be comfortable with abrupt changes (New Media Lab). These changes will affect the identity, so it is crucial to relay new advances in a calmly fashion.

The new media technology in South Africa brings a different way of communicating to one another. As a result, the identity is changed because the people have to adapt to the changes of new media. There is a strong concern for democracy, which is directly related to media (Zegeye, Harris 42). Even though a concern for media is present, “there is ample reason to be upbeat about the transformation of South African media” (Zegeye, Harris 42). It is beneficial for Africans to have this freedom to communicate with the use of technology because more possibilities for success can occur. To be competitive in today’s economic world, one must have adequate technology in order to communicate more efficiently. South Africa is headed toward the right direction in using technology for the improvement of social skills. New media developments “are really not that far- reaching and have not led to the greater expected representation or the expected positive effects on democratic participation” (Zegeye, Harris 42). Therefore, bringing people of same interests together through communication is a reachable goal for South Africa.

The uses of cell phones and credit cards have become helpful in communication and economic development. One of South Africa’s largest banks created a cell phone banking system in order to help “bring millions of poor South Africans into the official economy for the first time” (Nicole Itano). This new system is hoping to use pre-paid cell phones to help low-income users (Nicole Itano). Technology is not only good for communication, but it is good for the economy as well. Since the country has a high crime rate, the use of plastic cards is much better than paper money (Nicole Itano). If a person has their card stolen, he is not responsible for any transactions that occurred. As opposed to