{UAH} Destruction of Copper Telnet works a Disaster for Uganda Society Organisation

National Telecoms - as Societal Organised Systems 

National Telecoms - as Societal Organised System Networks

If we asked today how many outpatients and inpatients were registered in one health care centre AND HOSPITALS in the country where can such that data be got? 

If we were to ask how many children were admitted to primary education and how many have since fallen out of the system where can that data archived?

For matter of planning, if we asked how many people are located in every district town centre and thus pays tax where is the information and how can it be got? 

If the state were to provide the provisions of electricity, water, telephony how can we get the information about housing facilities in every district town or municipal centre?

If we wanted to plan for meat export for example- where could we be able to get an approximate cattle population and what we can consume at a sustainable replacement rate? 

Today we have more than 10 university campus how possible can one easily communicates on research and academic issues - let us say solve a complexes mathematical question where a knowledgeable person in these matters is located at Kumi university campus?

Local district administrative points have a communication networks how then is the information sent to the centre for planning or how does the centre monitor what is taking place at local centres? 

National telecommunication infrastructures are absolute necessities for developmental purposes. If one was to reference any one world organisations statistical data about Uganda one will be surprised by the way erroneous figures are printed and then said to be representative of national data banks.

I have written before that the problems, which Africa faces, are not economic, as economic prophets' claims but they are rather FUNDAMENTALLY ORGANISATIONAL socially. 

There is total lack of communications infrastructures, which will link up all rural areas, mediating multiethnic societies and cultures, networking for a common social action and hence generating harmonious economic and business activities metamorphosing into national socio-economic structures.

Claims that mobile phone and the privatisation of the telecommunication sector, will lead to HARMONISING THE SHORT FALLS in socio-economic organisation, does not hold, will be proved wrong and will fail big time since the state organising structure have got no control over their activities. Private sectors are there to maximise profits but not build social networks therefore private networks are confined geographically. 

The problem with African telecoms is EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT or listed on to the stock exchange, in order to attain productivity and efficiency but not fragmentation and competition. If nation states want competition in the sector, then National telecommunication companies should be decentralised to regional, district or provincial level with very clear objective and expert management for long term increases in region productivity and efficiency with the centre. (see below)

There is no African Country today, which does not have a university/ ies, tertiary or vocational institutes and primary or secondary schools network. On top of that, there is an extensive healthy network system, public administration networks and trade on regional, district or provincial levels, national to national level though not thoroughly FUNCTIONAL AND OPERATIONAL in the most efficient and socially productive manner. This is what are called economic problems rather than COMMUNICATIONAL, TIME AND ORGANISATIONAL problems. 

These are the structures,- social structures, which can generate and support the National Telecoms economically in Africa, hence creating the economy, which befits and can sustain a modern telecom infrastructure. Advanced nations have reached the optimal level of efficiency and productivity levels within these sectors, a reason why they are looking for high-speed technologies to capture distance and time outside their boundaries.

I can argue that as several national state societies are struggling to form nations, these social structures are still rudimentary structurally and required to stimulate internal growth. Present Africa social structures are only generating traditional localised views- hindering liberation of local knowledge exchange. In a sense, I can argue that Africa has no society to society, group to group, administrative to administrative COMMUNICATION AND ORGANISATION on a national level. Where there is lack of such infrastructure, communication is blocked or slow hence the problems socially becomes even more complex, generating three other major problems Africans are struggling with which are as follows; -

1. Lack of efficient management of multiethnic society or cultural business /economies,

2. Timing

3. Monitoring and Control of both the private and public socio-economic actions. 

These are the main social problems, which manifests or simply interpreted as economic problems- they are simply social organisational problems, which must be solved first through systematic structural social organisation. They can't be solved through privatisation since privatisation is hinged on individual desire to maximise individual efforts but not national or society goal. In fact such structure generates business and bureaucratic nepotism which is so rampant in Africa because of kin and ethnic affiliations- thus socially and economically retrogressive. Therefore, social structures on a national level in Africa can be characterised as inferior structures, which do not cause a nation state functionally operational.

The solution is to use information communications infrastructure and national telecoms as an organisational infrastructure to decentralise administrative organs and hence competent on regional revels. 

Besides the negative heterogeneous African social structures, those structures are equally positive in the present state of socio-economic state, with rapid mobility of labour and high communications technological and proliferation into society- therefore Africa must utilise these social structures optimally to create MODERN telecommunications infrastructure.

By virtual of there existence, these social system networks, I can actually ascertain that Africa is blessed - therefore let the activities of the national state be decentralised to meet local demands and views which later will evolve onto national level economically and technologically. Usually, the economy is basically founded on three principal demands namely: FOOD, SHELTER AND HEALTHY which are factor components of the primary ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE on which the TELECOM INDUSTRY in African should be FOUNDED. 

Food is the agricultural sector and the predominant activity on the African continent. Microwave climatic monitoring and dissemination of information, for agricultural production does generate it is own economy, which can sustain its own telecom networking industry. Since agriculture is a necessity, it does also cause quick adaptability to the information technological structures.

Shelter does compose housing, general construction sector and hygienic sectors, which in social terms, calls for national organisational structures hence an economy. The telecom industry in African can play a huge role in harmonising healthy care, schools, and pre-urban structural organisation and communication from the CENTRE to the PERIPHERY -decentralisation of telecommunications infrastructure. 

Healthy care in African could be so cheap if the National telecoms where a bit more involved in determining the geographical distribution of disease something which can be done through collecting data using CARTOGRAPHIC methods to map out DRUG DISTRIBUTION, resource allocation (man power and capital input), disease distribution. The telecommunication industry is a harbinger in this regard with high economic returns. How much does it cost to make a geographical information map? You need data, which can quickly be transferred through telecommunication infrastructures.

The last point if can be attained on regional levels then can generate a self-sustaining financing national medical /agricultural /school research network, administrative network etc. All, which for efficient management and productive running can only be done through grounding national telecoms network to pursue such socially productive sectors in that particular location or regions on the African continent. 

Compensatory networks, which are short term and self-financing, are the TAXING SYSTEM networks. Every regional centre and trading nodes must be connected into a network loop. Such a network calls for low level law enforcing network to join like Traffic monitoring, customs, and boarder to board crossing trade networks.

Then comes the media network, PUBLIC UTILITIES like water and sewerage utilities, electricity distribution, postal activities, banking and insurance networks etc. Such entities are self-sustaining which must be linked to social system networks provided for by National telecoms to generate national revenues for further social -technological development. The problem with all the above-mentioned entities is not PROFIT MAXIMISATION but MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENTAL strategies which are lacking to cause profit maximisation. 

I do not understand therefore, what is meant with non-performing African telecommunication facilities or what privatisation is really going to provide African societies with such service without the political weal, social structures, within the nation state concerned.

Solution 

Every country in Africa should start regional, district or provincial data gathering centre, which will be connected, to the national archiving centres.

The region or provincial centres must be financed partly by district, regional or provisional budgets but mandate by the law. This is the only way ICT and the telecom industry will percolate the traditional organisation social structures, whence the African telecom markets can be then derived. I mentioned the following which the African states can organise to facilitate for the telecom growth which must be done and provided for by the region budget for telecom offices against a socially viable pay; - 

1. Population gathering and census

2. School enrolment and output

3. Region market labour activities

4. Agricultural and food production outs and input

5. Fertility and Mortality rates from region healthy centres

6. River and stream hydrological data

7. Flora and fauna /taxonomy data

8. Disease maps and drug distribution /information

9. Tax revenue (region/provincial) collection and report

10. Industrial production data

11. Household data on family socio-economic status

12. Traffic and motor vehicle data

13. Chemical or environmental data

14. Climatology data

15. Land and survey data

16. Pre-urban housing data

 

All the above should be done on regional, provincial and district level (strictly not on national level) hence creating the functional awareness locally while triggering operational structures for INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY and national TELECOM ADAPTABILITY. This is what I called a social superior structure and liberating social doing. Claims that African states do not have the means do not hold. With this structure in place, all states will divest from above duties and delegate them near to the people concerned hence causing local, participatory, popularistic appeal and solving the problem I mentioned above organisation communication, monitoring, time perspective and control. It will therefore call for seeking local solution to capital input like popularising data collection methods and capital input both human and fixed. That is the role the national telecommunication should purse vigorously- pass on the article to you respective government for action. 

Management of African telecommunications sector does not mean ownership.

Bwanika .

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Bwanika Nakyesawa Luwero

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