The future of African Technology is VIRTUAL!

Its arguable.

Most people believe that the future of African technology is mobile. I agree with them. I however want to look at it from a different perspective.

Most organizations adopt an organizational structure that suits their organizational strategy. If you consider the growth of the industrial revolution, the structures that emerged were pretty much tied to growth objectives. We haven’t moved much from this system: we’ve mostly modified it to enhance the same business objectives of growth maximizing of return on investments.

Virtual organizations have a different story to tell. Undoubtedly, they too are similarly tied to an organizations objectives, but here is where the difference lies. Most virtual organizations are based on the concept of technology optimism and focus on the impact it has or creates. I’ll expound.

In Africa, technology themes like ICT4D, Opensource and Crowdsourcing all have a base on using technology to create positive impacts or achieve an objective. A virtual organization would help create a large scale impact in achieving these objectives.

The reason here is that communication, a fundamentally success key in an organization, is aided by technology which is the basis of the virtual organization. Networks, a vital resource for organizations, are created and sustained through various technologies and concepts like Web 2.0 and social media. Web based collaboration tools are another example of how virtual organizations can be created and sustained.

For those looking to create large scale positive impacts in Africa, virtual organizations are the way to go. But as expected, it will come with some hurdles.

The internet seems to be the primary way to organize and run virtual organizations. In Africa, the internet is not as predictable or reliable as you’d expect it to be. I believe that by primarily ensuring that online communications channels are easily accessible and affordable, we will be catalyzing the growth and sustainability of virtual organizations and in turn help out in creating large scale positive impacts across the continent.