Dedication:
To my family; the world is yours and dreams with action do come true!
A special wasingia (thank you) to Brandy Lellou without which this book and media project would still be just a dream; Brenda Lare for her editorial patience and contributions; Franco Abott and his family especially the wife Rachel Abott for the friendship, business partnership and mental support. Sincerely grateful to our Kiva campaign backers, business customers, alma mater alumni, educators, investors, students and the African youth all over the world who are the inspiration for this book.
Dear reader, wasingia (thank you) for buying a copy of this book. The digital version is discounted if bought alongside the print purchase. A podcast, report and web series with the same title The Last Digital Frontier is available on all major platforms including DreamGalaxy TV for your voice or immersive multimedia reviews, feedback, questions and dreams. This book is a start of my one book per year commitment to compliment my TV series The One Who Lives Forever and feature film franchise Middle Ground, please share the book with a friend, family member, book club, class or recommend it to your librarian for acquisition or invite me to speak as keynote, panelist or delve into the topics in here through a masterclass. With your financial and community support, we can not only educate, entertain but also build the next generation of Africapitalists. Join, support and share The Last Digital Frontier community at www.brianasingia.com
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Copyright Brian Asingia 2018 (The Pearl Dream, Inc and its global subsidiaries or affiliates).
Table of Contents
The Last Digital Frontier
The History and Future of Science and Technology in Africa.
Preface by Brandy Lellou, Director of Infrastructure - DreamAfrica Consulting
This book tells a long overdue and timeless story of the rise of mankind in Africa, uncovers inventions and innovations across the continent throughout time, and paints a forecast of its digital revolution in the 21st century and beyond. For too long the birthplaces of the worlds religions have been revered with annual pilgrimages, holidays and stories that have stood the test of time. However, the birthplace of humankind has been forgotten; lost in the history books, souls, and celebrations of modern-day Homo Sapiens. Through interviews with prominent African figures and the most recent research and insights from archeologists, scientists, and historians, hear the long overdue and timeless tale, The Last Digital Frontier: The History and Future of Science and Technology in Africa as told by ASINGIA and other African voices.
The Last Digital Frontier is divided into four parts that take readers on a journey through Africa. From the dawn of mankinds internal awareness (IA) to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and beyond, each part explores a wave of development, discovery, infrastructure, technology and science. The book provides a compelling historic and forward-looking exploration of the last digital frontier of access and inclusion, Africa, and its potential to lead, host, and create the innovation breakthroughs of the future.
Introduction
gives a historical account of the advent of mankind in Africa and his/her experimental stages with fire, tools, and language, as well as the development of early agriculture, and the little known, infrastructure and civilizations that rose across the continent and then spread throughout the world.
uncovers the early influence migration and trade had on Africa and the later theft of history, culture, technology and dignity under the auspice of enlightenment as Africas descendants returned as white men.
draws back the virtual curtain of the last fifty years and unveils the silent scientific, artistic and digital revolution that has been occurring on the continent.
future of transparent ownership, trust centered collaborations and value-based exchanges, backed by digitized identities and cultures.
Preface: Origins - From Internal Awareness (IA) to Artificial Intelligence (AI)
And remember Son, you are the son of the soil! my father would remind me with a wink and a nod or smile depending on the context of why I needed the reminder or words of encouragement. I do not recall when he first said it, but I remember it and associate it with my most important decision making moments; the morning of the National Exams in Uganda, the start of my journey to study abroad in the US, my first interview for a job at The New York Stock Exchange, my decision to start my first company and yes even writing this book. Even today, when he is miles away from me, I whisper these words to myself when the moment inspires me to and here they are in this book.
I have never asked him directly what he means by the expression, and a part of me knows it started with our childhood moments, perhaps an evolution of a joke or statement I made while we visited my grandparents. I am a son of the soil, a son of the land, the mountains of the moon (Mt. Rwenzori), the valleys and rivers that flow through it. I am my ancestors, their dreams, their wisdom, their blessings and stories. I am Africa. I am ASINGIA.
Growing up, in Kasese, Uganda, among the Bakonzo, speaking Lukonzo and often identifying with my neighbors across the river in DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo), and only learning orally, as Lukonzo was then an unwritten language, curiosity was the key to answers, to knowledge, history and the world. Folk stories, questions and answer conversations with family, relatives and elders was my early childhood education.
The discovery of books, libraries, school and now computers or electronics powered by the internet has made me appreciate the value of Africas history, my history and story. This is my history of Africa. I believe everyone has a story, so in Chinua Achebes words: If you dont like someones story, write your own. This is my own.
I first interacted with a computer in 2006, to receive my flight details and confirm with my school, United World College US, of my acceptance and itinerary via email. One decade (and a half) later, I am using technology including artificial intelligence to retell, own and share Africas stories, ideas and innovations with the world for this generation and the next. Technology is truly a tool for progress towards a better society and Africa has always and will always be innovating, as a mother does for the survival of her daughters and sons.
Ancestors Voices, Echoes and Wisdom @panafricanquote
What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding all evolution, all gains, all progress, all discovery. I call middle-class a closed society in which life has no taste, in which the air is tainted, in which ideas and men are corrupt. And I think that a man who takes a stand against this death is in a sense a revolutionary. - Frantz Fanon
