In-House Counsel

The Power of Connectivity

Recently I had the remarkable opportunity to meet President Kikwete of Tanzania and hear his vision for the future of his country.  I was struck by how passionate he was about technology being the key for his developing country to leap-frog into the 21st century.  He spoke with excitement of the promise that the subsea fibre-optic cable SEACOM (now live!) will bring by connecting the people of Tanzania to the rest of the world; and how broadband will help his country overcome an acute shortage of teachers and doctors.

It’s pretty amazing when you think about how far we’ve come in a mere 150 years. 

During the industrial revolution, railroads and steam engines connected farmers and merchants with distant markets. Today, connecting the world involves broadband instead of boats, cable instead of coal, and spectrum instead of steam.

President Kikwete clearly understands the transformational power of connectivity.  Connectivity is the enabler for the world to grow and help solve each other’s problems. Just like the railroad in the 1800s, the network has transformed how people connect. 

But it has gone even further by transforming how we communicate and collaborate; from both an innovation and sustainability perspective.

Full post as published by Cisco High Tech Policy Blog on August 03, 2009 (boomark / email).