Has IT lost Value in Botswana? at 8:35 AM

What seemed to be a scarce skill a few years back is now in abundance as i speak! Highly qualified IT graduates are roaming the streets, hunting for jobs, most are sitting at home on knowledge that could be saving the country's unemployment crisis! Since the government introduced the Internship Programme, all the professions have somehow lost value, because companies now have an opportunity of saving millions through Free Labour! They pick a highly qualified graduate and exploit him for free for the next 2 years, after 2 years they pick another & another. When is this going to Stop? Its a horrible infinite loop that is killing the economy of this country!


Is the Government doing enough?

Is the government doing enough to spark innovation in this country? Is Botswana Innovation Hub doing enough to educate the public about the benefits of Technology & Innovation? NO! i don't think so!

If Botswana Innovation Hub was doing enough, Innovators would be highly appreciated in this country, IT graduates would not be sitting home doing nothing but could be joining forces somewhere at the BIH premises, developing Web & Mobile Applications that could create jobs for millions of unemployed individuals in our country! Talk about the next eBay, Paypal, better Health Systems, Cyber Security Solutions & more! But that is not happening at all, and you cant help but ask yourself Why? 

When you walk into the BIH premises, you don't see anything Innovative there, the theme of their environment is just boring! You rarely hear about them on radio or even see them on TV, all you get to see are just useless competitions on the newspaper! There is no point in winning these competitions because you are still going to try to sell your Innovative Product / Service to an audience that doesn't clearly understand the Value of it at all!

Whats in it for you? 

The simplistic truth is, people can never see the need to buy or do something until they know how Valuable it could be to them. You can only see the value of Cyber Security if you buy stuff online, have money in the bank or in possession of critical company data, you have to get tired of travelling long distances to buy stuff in order to see the value of the Time & energy you can save by simply picking up your Web-enabled device, buy it online & have it delivered to your house in a jiffy! Instead of travelling all the way from Kasane to buy stuff in town, you can simply pick your Smartphone, buy it online & have delivered to your doorstep! Catch my drift?! What BIH & the Government at large should be doing, is educating the public about the Value of Technology & Innovation, not just talking but showing us results. Creating platforms & paving the way for innovations to execute smoothly, locally. Speaking of Ecommerce, they could be educating the public about the convenience of buying online as well as the security risks involved & countermeasures, and then inviting banks to come on-board to help pave the way for the public to buy stuff online easily & most importantly, securely! 

The Power of Innovation!

We need to embrace & encourage innovation & Entrepreneurship, I am a Proud Innovator Myself, like they say, "Be the Change you want to see in the World!"....as a concerned citizen, i felt the need to write this article to spark a Brain out there, attract more concerned IT professionals & Voice out to the government as One! 

Dependency is a disease, Independence is the Cure...Change can only happen if we all join forces & Voice out as One!  You cant do it Alone!

"Give a Man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a Man to fish and you feed him for a Lifetime."

Innovation is the Future!