The opportunities that technological advancements could bring should make us all excited, but we should realise this is an opportunity to level the playing field as access to technology and its benefits is hugely skewed in favour of urban dwellers.

This week saw experts, government officials and businesses attend Namibia’s first 4th Industrial Revolution Conference and Expo at the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek.

The fact that Namibia has decided that its 4IR path will be both inclusive and green is encouraging.

The 4IR refers to the current rapid technological advancement which is fundamentally changing the way we live. 

Multiple technologies like artificial intelligence, gene editing and robotics blur the lines between the physical, digital and biological worlds.

Namibia’s 4IR task force, appointed for a year by President Hage Geingob, stated in their overview that 4IR is already here. 

“It is around us. It is just for us to determine how we will be able to make sure that we benefit from those technologies, and mitigate the consequences, and how we will bring all citizens along.”

They also said 4IR presents multiple opportunities for big corporations, entrepreneurs and the ordinary citizen to utilise 4IR technologies for advancement.

The head of state instructed wider and deeper participation. He said spinoffs from the 4IR should cascade to reach and benefit all, including those at the grassroots, remote and rural communities, the young and the elderly alike.

Of course, no one should be left behind.

Greater access at lower cost will provide opportunities for especially rural youth to find solutions to their challenges. Access to electricity and the internet for far-flung areas could make e-governance, up to now a pipedream, a reality.

But access doesn’t just happen.

Policy, regulation and rapidly building infrastructure are all needed as a matter of urgency.

While the prices of smartphones and other devices have fallen significantly over the years, the cost of data is prohibiting. It is time the cost, access to and speed of internet is addressed for both rural and urban dwellers.

But we have far more pressing matters.

Many schools do not have access to electricity or the internet.

Last year, the ministry of education revealed that only 13 000 pupils had accessed the ministry’s e-learning platforms during the national lockdown.

This is less than 2% of the total population of over 800 000 pupils.
On top of that, the World Bank estimates only half of Namibia’s population has access to electricity.

We can’t make use of the opportunities 4IR offers if we lack the basics.

To pursue the benefits of the 4IR could help us address an array of issues whose solutions could drag, especially rural areas, out of the 19th
century.