Rethinking digital innovation demands that it should be interpreted as recovering from our creativity deficit of yesterday.
In other words, new strategies are required to significantly reduce the digital deficits of 2021. Today, PP (Predict and Prepare) has become the new code for augmenting our digital logical ground. Imagine scaling and empowering Konga as a too-big-to-fail corporate entity with a 100,000 workforce to harvest the huge e-Commerce fruits out of Africa and the world?
The spillover effect can generate =N=multi-trillion and create additional two million employments across our development ecosystem. Exploring the digital transformation landscape on case-by-case basis; conventional wisdom dictates that the past decade has recorded major technological, social-economic, healthcare, environment climate change, commerce; as well as distinct changes in human behavior. Aided and abetted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the challenges have been catapulted into a dense market-economy crisis; resulting into a rapacious global stampede for national survival.
This, amongst others, compels us to seriously engage the re‑assessment of the principles and practices of public and corporate governance around the world and Africa in particular. Until a trustworthy intervention is undertaken, the current bloody-economy landscape may continue unabetted with phenomenal casualties.
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The deeper challenges reside in how to galvanize and leverage corporate governance and social justice to empower the processes and sustainability of digital innovation and transformation. In other words, can technology re-imagine, strengthen, and fix ineffective corporate governance and social justice systems to empower the national innovation and creativity ecosystem?
Conflicting interests in technology development invites us to consciously interrogate the import of this assumption. This perception is informed by the fact that firstly, technology means different things to different people. And within its conceptual and definitional issues, many human minds are somersaulted into glorifying technology consumerism. Whereas the huge impact of ignoring the need to examine and conquer the gulf between the equilibrium of sustainable development and the divide between the haves and the have nots – is alarming.
Meanwhile, the human mind is central to the equation. Man innovates, creates and makes technology and comes before the product. Advancing this narrative in clear perspective, we are confronted and challenged by the estranged attitude of humanity; better known as civilization of absolute capitalism and blatant individualism. The empathy in upholding enduring human values is dished into the dustbin of wastes.
Therefore, there is need to explore technology from the inside, rather than glorifying its external features. Currently, Social Justice seems to be crucified at the altar of neglected corporate governance. Meanwhile, the rule of law is rapidly becoming an abstract world in the face of intentionally weak and abused judicial system. Consequently, it conjures a non-representational model of peoples’ and corporate governance since the Commonwealth and endowed resources of the people by the people should equitably and democratically belong to the people.
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Additionally, this condition is further inflamed by the deliberate vacuum created by the iniquities of abandoned meritocracy, equitable sharing. Also, blatant neglect of the philosophy of compulsory education through governance builds and erroneously sustains an endless mirage that keeps the majority addicted to handouts and consumerism by the minority. Consequently, the visionary pursuit of knowledge through the scaffold of well-structured inter-generational knowledge-web of critical information and data is fraudulently manipulated, somersaulted, and derailed into a meandering gulf of woeful tails of the unexpected economy-of-things!
Economic shocks from the above further make the dream of attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Africa a recurring pipe dream and wasteful venture. The equation enunciated by the concept of ‘from Waste to Wealth’ affirms that indeed; non-existence of trustworthy Corporate Governance, Ethical and Equitable Social Justice begets waste of available resources in a given society!”
The above inefficiency syndrome can be extracted from leadership irresponsibility and ignorance on the benefits to leverage science, technology; as well as innovation to demystify and resolve the attendant challenges of effective governance. Analogue nations who are unable to master and deploy technology innovation to constructively organize and efficiently manage their Data at the speed of thought, would be completely submerged in that digital ocean.
Focused Technology adoption can strengthen public and corporate governance and accelerate Social Justice. The ‘Next (Inter-Connected) Economy’ will be extraordinary and completely different. With what we know today about the digital sphere; its influence and impact on generation-next and by Software-of-Things (SoT) in particular, will be massive.
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Nations that fail to equip their critical workforce with the mastery of digital skills will drown in the software-controlled knowledge ocean. This assumption is based on the fact that Information Technology (IT) has become the oxygen of life; with Software the blood that runs through its veins – sustaining and keeping it alive!
Consequently, therefore, we must consciously establish a robust National Software Development Policy, Strategy, Implementation Guidelines; as well as constructive digital Legal Framework and regulations for Next-century institutions. This is imperative to mitigate the emerging forced tech adoption crisis dragging us into the domain of absolute digital dependency on external software solution forces.
Technology deficit can be bridged through constructive investment in research and innovation. Sustainable development must be structured as and moored on the character of trustworthiness, Corporate Governance and Social Justice architecture. Only then can sustainable development goals (SDGs) be attained.
It is noteworthy to affirm that ‘cash money’ from Oil & Gas cannot create wealth. Furthermore, sustainable development cannot be wished. Rather, it must be earned with substantive injection of elements of empathy across the board to invigorate standards; compliance and transparency in all we do – collectively. We must now agree that our internal differences do not reside nor deep-seated in tribe, religion, or incompetence.
Indeed, they are induced by the neglect of proactive adoption and accelerated diffusion of Science and Technology to adequately and sensibly re-organizing our inter-generational information system and existential databases into a formidable knowledge bank and begin the potential adventure into digital life. Re-documenting and realigning our life digitally and establishing a reliable and trustworthy national Database; to engage the emerging complex and perhaps fearsome knowledge-based Information Society is of strategic imperative.
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The survival of the digital economy would overwhelmingly be dependent on Block-chained-Corporate Governance. The sustainable existence of any organization depends on its ability to outperform competitors and marketplaces in attracting and rewarding talent, ideas, and capital. As communication and transaction costs have drastically declined because of the internet; new platforms have emerged, delivering goods and services at a speed and efficiency previously unimaginable.
The attainment of Corporate Governance and Social Justice goals becomes extremely cumbersome in a nation with a population of 210million people where 13.7million children are currently out-of-school, 41.2 million underemployed and over 80 million under the poverty level; compounded by the challenge that our tertiary institutions can only accommodate 1.3 million students’ intake annually; while population balloons continue and estimated to hit 406 million in 2050!
As we all know, when the compass fails or is lost, the bearer loses absolute control. The human brain become too small to store and remember all essentials of life. Technology is a friend and should be treated like one. Technology will help us re-imagine our collective destiny, enthrone corporate governance, and deliver sustainable social justice.
One major difficulty in consciously recognising and engaging the emerging impact of future digital colonies/nations is the relatively intangible nature of information intrusion phenomena. With about 72% of Nigerians living in rural communities; most of whom are youth and women and poor; there is, therefore, an urgent need for concerted drive in generating Information Technology awareness nationwide.
Corporate Governance and Social Justice are critical in leveraging the above conditions. It is time to look at the overwhelming benefits of the digital Ecosystem; the Internet within the angle-view of AI, Robotics, Big Data and IoT in e-education, Tech-Agriculture, Healthcare and Healthcare delivery systems; Data Sciences, Algorithm, Blockchain, Local Cloud, Cybersecurity, e-Commerce/Business, Open Source, e-Government, Edge, Cloud and Quantum Computing, Digital Platform Development; Nanotechnology, Inter-Cloud Computing, Next generation Codes, emerging OS, DB, SaaS, IaaS, etc.
Available records show that as a nation; we are in gross deficit of injecting Corporate Governance and Social Justice mechanisms into our nation building mission as an inevitable tool for adequately responding to current challenges. We can benefit by deploying technologies to strengthen Corporate Governance and Social Justice by digitally restructuring Governance and establishing future (new) government institutions, organs/ such as: Ministries of AI, Technology Innovation & Future Work, Office of the Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) of the Federation, Government Automation Research Academy, Human-Machine Research Centres, etc.
Restructuring the art of governance through digital strategy leadership should no more be a matter of ‘wishful thinking’ but mandatory. Models and structures of Government Ministries must undergo surgical digital transformation. Deploying Computers is not enough. Automating Governance processes and building capacities to support and sustain them are critical.
Deploying Broadband and Internet connectivity for education in every school and learning environment throughout the country within the next 24 months is feasible and should not be viewed as impossible, but swiftly implemented. Encouraging entrepreneurial business collaboration and partnerships is imperative for economic growth in 2022. With regards to Public governance to empower corporate governance and strengthen social justice ‘Anti-Trust laws’ become deeply strategic and contingent to curtail digital monopolies and empower Corporate Governance in Nigeria/Africa – going forward.
We must predict and prepare now to begin the constructive shift from mass consumption to mass creativity, innovation and manufacturing; applying STEM and effectively deploying Nigerian-content propelled digitization. To do this, we must re-engineer the entire Governance and educational system and make indigenous knowledge content a strategic priority to empower the youths with I.T Labs, Tools, and facilities. Finally, enthroning Internet-Rate (e-Rate) for education/students should be a desirable CSR strategy.
Indeed, must we not abolish the abnormality of students paying the same rate for access to the Internet as the corporate entities?
