Going digital needs simplicity

PHOTO | AFP Student using tablet computer in class.

What you need to know:

  • Instead of focusing on the job that needs to be done, we focus on the glory ahead by chasing the next big thing, normally after the fact.
    One of the most ridiculous trends to occur in Kenya, for instance, was the tablet.
  • The farmer does not need a tablet to tell him that people need to eat.

In Kenya, digital transformation has been turned into rocket science. Simplicity, the obvious tactic, is being shunned.

Rather than focus on solutions that embody local variables, we keep looking to foreign enterprise solutions.

I say this because in the on-going digital transformation, there are two scenarios, out of many, that we are stuck on.

TREND CHASING

Instead of focusing on the job that needs to be done, we focus on the glory ahead by chasing the next big thing, normally after the fact.
One of the most ridiculous trends to occur in Kenya, for instance, was the tablet.

A few months ago, the government announced the intention to acquire tablets for legislators.

The tablet hype was so serious that newscasters on the job without tablets were frowned upon.

Business meetings without tablets were a serious faux pas. Going into one without a tablet cast you either as an unworthy underling, a financially challenged employee, or worse, representing a financially challenged organisation that could not afford to retrofit its employees or representatives with these gadgets.

The device of choice was the iPad, for some, solely based on price. Was it a useful device? Yes. Was it necessary? No. Why not?
The following analogy would explain:

There is a farmer in a market with an old beat-up pickup who, every morning, delivers produce and earns more money that an iPad-toting urban mid-level manager in a blue chip company.

The farmer does not need a tablet to tell him that people need to eat. His business is not threatened by the fact that he does not have a tablet. He might not even have an internet connection. Everyone he does business with is available on the phone, text message, and if he needs to bank, then there is the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) mobile banking.

A phone with a torch and long battery life is all he needs.

This is how we need to approach digital transformation. We need to go down to the absolute basics and start from there, not operate on trend-driven hype as has become the norm.

We need to simplify the thinking from “good to have” to “absolutely necessary”.

FREE RIDES

What Nakuru County has done can be deemed partially commendable for bringing infrastructure to the masses. In reality, they have created both a spectrum and financial long-term problem.

There is no such thing as connectivity to the internet via WiFi for free. Connecting to a WiFi access point might be free, but the bandwidth to get you to the internet is not.

Developed countries that offer connectivity via WiFi through their municipalities or counties either offer it at an absolute basic cost or free for a limited period, normally an hour, then paid for service thereafter.

As the dotcom bubble taught us, the freemium model does not work. Somebody must pay for the ride. Trying to transform an economy based on free models is deceptive.

There are three ways to provide connectivity via WiFi. The government could foot the bill for eternity. This means you, the tax payer, are paying for it through tax.

Secondly, you could rely on donor money and grants to cover the cost of the bandwidth. While our thirst for free things is legendary, donors run out of money and grants are limited resources.

Third, and the most obvious, is you actually pay for it. This is the road less preferred, but it is what the government should be encouraging – a pay-as-you-go model that guarantees you are connected for a minimal fee, enough to cover the costs and support of the service at the very least. Free, however, bears no hallmarks of reality.

To transform Kenya digitally, we need to understand that technology, just like money, is in reality not a solution but merely a means to an end. We need to question the need and the motives.

To reiterate, for the umpteenth time, the government needs to back off from the commercial end of solution-based technology and focus more on being an enabler.

The emulation of better leadership to build a digital economy is far removed from the nuances of a seaside conference to pat oneself on the back under the illusion of success.

We need technology leadership that does things differently.