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Bridging the digital divide requires broadband connectivity and wireless technologies at low cost, says Mark Beckford, General Manager, Intel, People’s Republic of China

Mark Beckford, IntelExpanding IT infrastructure and reducing network costs would help African business efficiency and enable African governments. How can governments encourage business investment to expand Africa’s IT infrastructure?

We believe that WiMAX (which is a wireless broadband technology) will be able to provide that pervasive broadband connectivity. To get the full benefits of technology you need broadband connectivity. If you are going to take it to the digital divide, you must provide that at low cost. With industry getting behind technology like this and Intel being a catalyst in pushing that forward, we’re going to be able to reach that goal.

What obstacles prevent an increase in the use of these technologies? One is cost and two is the business model. In order to promote new technologies, new architecture and new networks, you have to lay down the infrastructure. Because there is typically not one player that does it all – it’s a set of partners in what we call an ecosystem working together – you have to enable an entire ecosystem to provide a technology that reaches a certain cost so that you can see a ramp up of that technology for it to become pervasive everywhere. We’ve seen that in wireless Wi-Fi technology where the costs of the equipment were fairly expensive at first but the economics of volume took in. The industry has to gather together to get the ramp up going and do what they can to reduce the cost.

At the same time you need the business model. You’re working around standards, hardware, software and network providers. You need a sustainable, profitable business model so that you can drive the cost down but at the end of the day everyone is able to drive the return on their investment and continue to grow and expand in this business.

The challenge of the digital divide, especially here in Africa, is that the task of getting technology like this network infrastructure is really challenging when basic infrastructure is not always there, be it power, communications and sometimes transportation and distribution networks.

So the biggest challenges are that we have to get the cost down to promote any kind of broadband technology and we are making great progress in that regard. But you also have to focus on the business model so that you can actually make this technology available in a village in any location where they can get this broadband connectivity. “Because I work in a technology company, and obviously one of the reasons I’m at the World Economic Forum, is that I see the importance of technology in improving the personal and economic ambitions of a society.”

What are the key skill sets needed by companies in Africa today and how can African business schools better prepare graduates for a global business environment?

My answer will be somewhat biased. Because I work in a technology company, and obviously one of the reasons I’m at the World Economic Forum, is that I see the importance of technology in improving the personal and  economic ambitions of a society by giving them more opportunities, more skills, better education and better communication.

I see two areas. One area is that they have to know the basic tools of business and communication today. That can be as simple as a cellphone, to understanding how to use a PC, to understanding how to actually contribute to the technology industry.

It’s important that as people try to develop their people, there is a focus on technology. Intel has being putting a huge effort in this over the last ten years in terms of investing in teacher training and science fairs. Promoting science and technology is a central part of it and just as essential as reading.

The other aspect, not necessarily related to technology, is understanding how to work globally. In this new age, any small shop or business owner can put up a website and sell their products worldwide. As global business becomes more pervasive, not only in using the Internet economy and allowing that to happen, but also dealing in the global business environment requires different skill sets, whether it’s understanding a language like English or communicating across cultures, both personally and as a business.

In learning how to work in a global economy, technology can play a role here as the world is flat and technology breaks down barriers between small business, large business and small country, large country.

In today’s global supply chain, companies are increasingly locating production facilities in countries with labour cost advantages. How is Africa adjusting to competitive pressures from Asia? What is needed to make the African labour force more competitive?

Companies invest where labour is low cost - not only low cost but rather skilled low cost. In China, not only do you have low cost labour but you have fairly highly skilled labour. What’s interesting now is that the wages are starting to rise tremendously, especially in the big cities where there is a talent shortage. They are pumping out engineers every year and there is still a talent shortage.

The other part of that is to find an industry to specialize in but you have to have the talent and the knowledge workers, the professionals and the manufacturers that can do it. So it starts in the very beginning. Once you have your basic life requirements, the next thing you have to have is education and you focus on educating a populace, giving them the skills and showing them what’s out there in the world. Then companies start gravitating and investing there because the talent is there for them to grow.

We’re starting to see a lot of governments, non-governmental organizations and multi-lateral organizations investing in Africa and this kind of snowball effect. Companies to sell a product know they have to work with local
providers. They are looking for those skill sets in a specific area that a country or region might specialize
in.
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Bridging+Africa%27s+digital+divide