Technology and Politics
Technology and Politics
Lecture Summary
Hafiz Ismail introduced the lecturer and made the following comment “totalitarian government systems, in the world, will collapse during the next decade due to the influence of technology”
Dr. Wagdy Kamil, film director and a professor of media at the University of Khartoum delivered a lecture on technology and Politics in the offices of the Organization of Justice Africa. This lecture was attended by a considerable number activists, civil society organizations, political party representatives, academics and journalists. He gave historical background of the evolution of technology and explained that there is a close relationship between technology and politics. He defined technology as a useful use of communication networks, media (audio, video and photographic) and information systemsfor the benefit of humanity.
He said technology haspopular prerequisites,this applies to everythinguntil a significant moment came. This moment was the Industrial Revolution accompanied with photography and afterwards theemergence of the cinema.Support and secret competition led to the evolution of the Technology during the cold war. He mentioned that investment laws, wars and politics dictated this evolution. After the end of the First World War the,political awareness increased for promoting and acquiring technology for use of technology in fields other than military ones.
Evolution of computer started with a number of defects but afterwards corrective actions were taken in the next generations until they reached their current capacities and efficiencies. He disclosed that, initially the objective of technology was for military purposespreceded by a series of escalating competitions for the militarization of space. He explained that, some countries have gained only political but not cultural independence (third world countries).
He noted that the interaction between technology and politics enabled politics to direct technology towards spying and intelligence between countries a thing that led to the invasion of the space. They started using the satellites for communications, indicating that political geography has become classical after the emergence of real-time concepts where information became uncontrollable by the States.
He said that we are witnessing the fall States because of the democratization of information, as communities have become dictators and directors of States.
He considered mobiles asan important means for changing the communities. The internet has also become an effective mean of collaboration between communities, societies and nations.
America could not endure the information revolution in its position against the founder of Wikileaks websiteand want to sue him after bringing to America via Sweden. He considered anyone who has the technology can make decisions because the social networking sites are making decisions because the information has become readily available as long as everyone involved in its creation. Exchange of information has become an advantage. He indicated that Wiki leaks have affectedto a great extent the stability of the political systems in the Arab world. He predicted that mobile and the internet are going to play an important role in the future. He called for the eradication of technology literacy and enable people from making the ultimate use of technology.
According to Syd. Ahmed Abdelmokaram, the role of technology was not clearly seen before popular revolutions and uprisings that took place in the Arab world. He mentioned that technology is not going to act as a media and it is not going to replace human beings but it is going to create a virtual reality that bring people together and restructure the relation between individuals and their societies.
Ustz Hafiz Ismail, director of the Organization of Justice Africa said that technology is going to be cheap as it develops and become readily available to individuals and communities. He mentioned that most of the totalitarian political systems shall undergo total collapse. He attributed this to the easiness of exchange of technology and its influence on political systems and commented that world is going to be one country. because of technology and transparency where the monopoly of information will be abandoned.