Net Regret
A number of dot-com millionaires have had a mea culpa. They made millions, then, in good faith, poured those millions into spreading the Internet to developing countries, particularly in Africa. Their hope was that technology would empower the poor. Now, many dot-commers admit — some publicly, others privately — that those efforts were misdirected. "I ...
A number of dot-com millionaires have had a mea culpa. They made millions, then, in good faith, poured those millions into spreading the Internet to developing countries, particularly in Africa. Their hope was that technology would empower the poor. Now, many dot-commers admit -- some publicly, others privately -- that those efforts were misdirected.
A number of dot-com millionaires have had a mea culpa. They made millions, then, in good faith, poured those millions into spreading the Internet to developing countries, particularly in Africa. Their hope was that technology would empower the poor. Now, many dot-commers admit — some publicly, others privately — that those efforts were misdirected.
"I realize now that electricity is more important for Africa than the Internet," says Ethan Zuckerman, who earned his wealth running technology firms in the 1990s and has since donated much of that money to initiatives that spread technology. Esther Dyson, a former member of the Internet’s ICANN governing board and fellow technology philanthropist, agrees. "I am considered politically incorrect for saying, albeit in a muted way, that developing countries should focus more on their basic economic infrastructure than on Internet policy," she says. "The Internet is a great tool for some people… but it’s something of a luxury."
When software tycoon turned global philanthropist Bill Gates made this point five years ago, he was routinely dismissed for being too conservative. Today, however, his foundation’s focus on funding the basics is proving to be more radical than any tech-savvy gadget. Gates has publicly scoffed at initiatives such as the $100 computer developed by researchers at MIT for the world’s poor, focusing instead on projects that deliver clean water, basic medicines, and rudimentary education materials. That approach, many Africans say, is working. "We’re receiving a sad reminder of the importance [of] basic infrastructure that many foreign donors, busy pushing the Internet, took for granted," says Paul Bagyenda, a successful Kenyan e-commerce pioneer.
Still, fellow entrepreneurs have been slow to follow Gates’s lead. History will judge that decision harshly, says technology historian Alex Pang. "When people look back 100 years from now, they’ll identify the cell phone as the defining, transformative technology in Africa," says Pang. "Donors should have been targeting different technologies for different segments: radio and cell phones for the not-so-literate, and Internet for the rest." Sometimes the most radical technologies also happen to be the most mundane.
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