Disruptive Technologies: Can we keep them at bay and operate in the present age?

Disruptive Technologies: Can we keep them at bay and operate in the present age?

Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa

The telephone, bicycle, train, radio, television, and motorcars have been life-altering inventions that altered how life was viewed or lived, and how people communicated or travelled. After the above, came the computer, email, cellphone, the internet, and social media. All these were and are called disruptive technology.

Writing for Investopedia.com, Tim Smith defined disruptive technology as ‘… an innovation that significantly alters the way that consumers, industries, or businesses operate. A disruptive technology sweeps away the systems or habits it replaces because it has recognizably superior attributes. Recent disruptive technology includes e-commerce, online news sites, ride-sharing apps, and GPS systems.

These have however not brewed as much controversy as Starlink from SpaceX. Starlink is the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls, and more (starlink.com). It leverages advanced satellites and user hardware to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet to users all over the world.

So here is the clincher, Zimbabwe is among those countries Starlink hasn’t yet been licensed to operate. But the reality is one way or the other, people are using or will use Starlink. A few individuals and mining companies have been fined for using it but charged under an obscure law, not even covered by the Telecoms Act. Worse, after fining them, no alternative form of communication was provided, so how do they conduct business in the absence of communication?
History shows that the country once fought the introduction of satellite dishes, cellphones, smartphones, and even tollgates. The Luddite mentality has only contributed to Zimbabwe’s lagging in development as the continues to offer obsolete services and even education. Some Zimbabwean-trained engineers in Australia have been told they need to retrain to be employable and operate in their industries.

Fighting technology is not very smart for smart technologies will continue to come out. Zimbabwe can not preach STEM while fighting technology advancement. The country must also stop trying to protect the so-called service providers or local companies, who themselves do not play ball but take customers for granted.

This past week, a lot of people were unable to conduct business because Econet Wireless’s data service provision was down. In today’s digital world, one cannot afford to be unavailable for more than an hour, the loss in business is massive.

Zimbabwe needs to harness, accept and incubate technology not fight it. WhatsApp is here and yet when it was initially introduced there was noise. Now, the political elite even use it for campaign purposes. At some point, there was even a gag order on discussing Party business on social media by ZANU PF but now, social media has become the biggest mobilization tool the party has at its disposal.

This shows that one cannot simply fight technology, it is rather better to harness it for personal and national growth. Legislation cannot be enacted to bar technology but must be enacted to benefit the people. Technology is here to stay and will only get better. We have to drag Zimbabwe into the 21st Century and understand the world now has a digital economy that requires fast and reliable internet services.

Ourtelecommunication services are a hindrance to the national development agenda and certainly do not tally with policies promulgated and with Economic blueprints. The country cannot be held to ransom by Econet and make decisions to protect it no matter how big an employer it is. The loss of other possible sources of employment and economic growth and development is far too huge to ignore.

Technologies are harnessed not blocked!