It’s a funny thing this social media. You could be alone in a room and feel surrounded by all these ‘friends’ and tweeps.Gone are the days when socialising meant going out and meeting real people, sharing jokes or smiling nervously depending on your social skills. It seems like a long time ago when people went out not just for the food and drinks but to actually catch up on each others’ lives. Today with status updates and tweets like “just had my third coffee for the morning.......” dinner conversations need not start with mundane questions like “so how have you been?” A more informed or should I say more intrusive enquiry is to be expected. Something along the lines of “how’s that caffeine habit of yours?”It all began with the advent of the mobile phone. First they were for the business types. Nokia and Ericsson brought them to the common man. Phone based communication once viewed as a function of necessity has now become a pastime. Anyone that can afford two meals a day most certainly owns a mobile phone as well. The cut throat competition among telecoms has ensured that calls cost next to nothing. The over used cliché “talk is cheap” rings literally true more than ever before. The ubiquitous reach of mobile phones has ensured that the wheels of revolution come full circle.By February 2010, 5.6 billion mobile phones subscriptions were registered worldwide. What’s most significant is that the appeal of the mobile phone transcends all social strata; it’s a marketers dream in that it is desired by all from the top to the bottom of the economic pyramid.As far as innovations go, it’s safe to say the mobile phone has made its mark. Thank you Dr. Martin Cooper, the world will forever be indebted to you.When I attended primary school, we were pumped with information about the great inventors of centuries gone by. I still remember Alexander Graham Bell being credited with inventing the phone in 1876. I highly doubt that Dr. Martin Cooper and his team at Motorola, class of ‘73 are revered as much. This for me is the trouble with innovation; most times it’s almost taken for granted. While I do not begrudge inventors their due acclaim, I believe that innovators deserve to be feted equally.Innovators are the mavens of society. Using their expert knowledge of certain disciplines, they act as agents of change by disseminating brilliant ideas that need not necessarily be their own.It’s globally accepted that London, Paris, Milan and New York City are the world’s fashion capitals today.This has nothing to do with where clothing originated. Records trace clothing to have originated somewhere in Russia or Georgia. It’s one thing to have a good idea and a totally different kettle of fish to make an idea accepted by the wider world.This Saturday 25th August, the Kigali chapter of the global shapers meet in their second “Twumve Twumve” forum dubbed “iRwandans: how are Rwandans using tech?”These forums are supposed to attract youth and are driven by outstanding 20-30 year olds who have already had an impact on their communities by delivering tangible projects. Using their expertise, these young mavens are supposed to engage their fellow youth to be agents of change in their communities. An initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF), it could not have come at a better time for Rwanda. A lot of young Rwandan talent is waiting to be inspired by ideas from around the world and if harnessed, could be a catalyst for generating the home grown solutions that we constantly crave for.Innovation is hard coded in the Rwandan DNA. Think Gacaca, TIG and now Agaciro development fund. There are a lot more ideas where those came from. The sun is setting on recycling tired models from washed out experts from the west. It is time for the youth of Rwanda to seize the moment and show the world that there is light in the heart of the ‘Dark’ Continent.In technology circles it’s common to hear the words “innovate or die”. It’s meant quite literally in the sense that if an idea does not evolve with the times it will end up on the rubbish heap of history and its promoters will be confined to eternal obscurity. The idea of a resurgent Rwanda should not be a flavour of the day.The current leadership has done its part. We are clearly a talking point for the world regardless of the distractions of the DRC perpetuated by Human Rights Watch and the ‘Group of Experts ‘endorsed by the UN. The onus is clearly on the youth to carry it further. Rwanda has been to the abyss of socio-political turmoil and against all odds emerged from the deep sea of darkness. We have to define our future through innovation. It’s been done before. When in 2008 Kenya was torn apart by ethnic violence propagated by political rivalry, the government and mainstream media down played the initial events. A brave self confessed nerd, Juliana Rotich seized the moment. She used her IT expertise to set up Ushahidi.com, a platform for plotting messages from mobile phones against their source on an online map. The idea had ‘instant success’ written all over it. Juliana was 30 years old at the time.Ushahidi served the immediate purpose of unearthing the extent of the ethnic violence in Kenya at the time. Today, it’s used for monitoring humanitarian crises around the world.Now that is what I call an innovative home grown solution! It’s our turn my fellow Rwandan youth.
