Rwanda bids to be an Internet hub
Mitch Wagner sez, "Remarkable video by our sister publication, Internet Evolution, about Rwanda's attempts to bootstrap its economy by becoming an Internet hub for Africa.
Rwanda was the site of horrible inter-tribal genocide in 1994, as the Tutsis were massacred by Hutu militia.
One of the people interviewed in this video -- a former officer of the Hutu military, who now leads one of the nation's leading telecoms -- says that he doesn't believe the genocide could have happened today, because the Internet would have gotten the world out. I wish I could be so sure.
The video shows Rwanda to be a gorgeous, green country. "
Rwanda's Internet Revolution (Thanks, Mitch!)
the latest
latest episodes
I'll take the word of a mass murderer any day for that, especially one that seems to ignore... Congo! There's one that got stopped so fast that a few millions died without realizing what had happened, didn't it?
(Put here various insults, curses and all sorts of propositions for getting rid of that ass and the likes... of it)
"Getting the word out" in a conflict cuts both ways. It could provide an avenue for greater international attention—but Rwanda has already secured that. (Something could be said about the utility of attention, as well. Consider Darfur.) In the meantime, many individual attacks in 1994 Rwanda were coordinated via radio; in a similar scenario, the Internet might provide attackers with better communications that are more difficult to disrupt.
Economically, it'd be cool if Rwanda developed a tech sector, thus depending on reliable human, rather than erratic natural, resources. But the internets can't always fix a thing. I'd say Rwanda's continuing involvement in the Kivus doesn't bode well for long-term peace.
(Side note: Consider deleting "inter-tribal." The designation of Hutu and Tutsi is blurry, and not particularly based on cultural or linguistic difference. I wouldn't consider them tribes. It's more of a racial thing, if anything.)
Also, the military guy was FDLR, a Hutu Power force that came together in the Congo in 2000, and which is still involved in the violence there. They may share some members, but FDLR=/Interhamwe, the local political militias that participated in the 1994 genocide.
Yeah the Rwandans are neck-deep in the current Congo war.
The war is far from over, it's just not worthy of American/Western news coverage.
It does give that nice shiny new American "African Command" something to do though.
I I remember correctly 'the world' was very well aware. It just chose not to give a damn.
Congo, Darfur, does anyone really think we're better people because we have more bandwidth? Just like computers let you make mistakes faster, better connectivity just allows you to ignore more information.
A beautiful green country indeed. Well fertilized. It is no coincidence that Rwanda was the world's most heavily populated nation when the slaughter commenced. One only had to reach across the garden fence to kill one's neighbor.
Personally, I do think that we are better people with more bandwidth.
At least, ignorance is lessened thereby, and less ignorant is better, IMO.
I know that I'm a better person since I got off DSL and went cable wideband. I can just feel the betterness flowing through me, like the Congo river.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081207/D94U21DG0.html
silly naysayers, letting the criminal distract you from the awesome. That awesome? At about 14:30, there's a shot of a classroom where every single child has an OLCP. Pretty fantastic.
Abstractly, I like the idea of an agricultural country turning itself into an information economy. It avoids the mess and social trauma of industrialization, and it allows for the populace to still be largely employed on the land while the transition happens. If they can pull it off, I'd be thoroughly impressed.