My IT Rant
IT (Information Technology) rules the world. Over the last 3 decades, thanks to the Internet and a number of technology stars, IT has moved from an often derided, money loosing sub unit under the accounting department, to the darling of the board room, and in some part of every company's mission and vision statement. CIO's (Chief Information Officers) are common place, and the IT division (no more a unit) gets all the money it needs to recruit talent and undertake massive projects. Working in IT is a sure way to a comfortable lifestyle and an above average pay check with great perks, freedom to work from anywhere, and the admiration of co-workers and bosses alike. The grass is green....unless you are in the Third World, or the Developing World as its politically correct to describe.
Working in IT in Africa, in my experience, has been humiliating. Soul crushingly debilitating. Standards are poor. Everybody thinks IT is about setting up a computer and typing out Word Documents. In 2019! Most of the interesting work is outsourced to big IT firms outside of Africa, with little to no knowledge transfer. Every time you come up with an idea, even one that has been tried outside of Africa, the answer is "No" "It won't work" "It does not suit our strategy". Even the darling of IT in Africa, mobile money, has its warts. Technology, as usual, is sourced from outside Africa, and innovation is lacking. USSD? are you kidding me? Payment has improved somewhat, but it is not uncommon to see the highest ranking IT staff, the Head of IT, being capped at a middle manager level. Leave the senior positions for the Big Boys. The board members talk to their IT friends outside and burden the Head of IT with supporting them. No Respect. Whatsoever.
Security is lacking. I laughed when I saw some of the practices at so called ISO certified institutions. One in particular still uses a critical Windows application that writes directly to the central DB, and places those machines in a network with internet access. Granted, internet is proxy based, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to code a command and control application over a proxy connection. Sprinkle in a little bit of poor staff education on email handling, and add the fact that user accounts can install applications (Windows allows per user apps), and you have a recipe for a hacker to gain direct access to the core database. ISO my foot.
I'm by no means an IT guru. I won't rank in the top 30% of IT staff the world over. Yet even with my limited experience, I can bring something to the table, especially to a country that is still stuck in the stone age with regards to the use of Technology. I mean come on Ghana Government, it took you till 2018 to stop staff from using private emails? Like ministryofeducation@gmail.com? I just think it is time for IT workers in Ghana to get some respect. We are not dumb, we are not useless. Give us the opportunity to grow, and Ghana will be the better for it. Imagine Mark Zuckerburg as a Ghanaian. How many jobs would be created if Facebook's Headquarters were here? The only difference between Mark and that IT guy in Uni you took your laptop to for the latest episodes of [insert forgotten hip series here] is that Mark grew up in an environment of opportunities. Your IT friend? Well he's probably sitting idle in an office, reading emails from a consultant douche-bag about the next useless IT project management has embarked on. So much for opportunity.
Working in IT in Africa, in my experience, has been humiliating. Soul crushingly debilitating. Standards are poor. Everybody thinks IT is about setting up a computer and typing out Word Documents. In 2019! Most of the interesting work is outsourced to big IT firms outside of Africa, with little to no knowledge transfer. Every time you come up with an idea, even one that has been tried outside of Africa, the answer is "No" "It won't work" "It does not suit our strategy". Even the darling of IT in Africa, mobile money, has its warts. Technology, as usual, is sourced from outside Africa, and innovation is lacking. USSD? are you kidding me? Payment has improved somewhat, but it is not uncommon to see the highest ranking IT staff, the Head of IT, being capped at a middle manager level. Leave the senior positions for the Big Boys. The board members talk to their IT friends outside and burden the Head of IT with supporting them. No Respect. Whatsoever.
Security is lacking. I laughed when I saw some of the practices at so called ISO certified institutions. One in particular still uses a critical Windows application that writes directly to the central DB, and places those machines in a network with internet access. Granted, internet is proxy based, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to code a command and control application over a proxy connection. Sprinkle in a little bit of poor staff education on email handling, and add the fact that user accounts can install applications (Windows allows per user apps), and you have a recipe for a hacker to gain direct access to the core database. ISO my foot.
I'm by no means an IT guru. I won't rank in the top 30% of IT staff the world over. Yet even with my limited experience, I can bring something to the table, especially to a country that is still stuck in the stone age with regards to the use of Technology. I mean come on Ghana Government, it took you till 2018 to stop staff from using private emails? Like ministryofeducation@gmail.com? I just think it is time for IT workers in Ghana to get some respect. We are not dumb, we are not useless. Give us the opportunity to grow, and Ghana will be the better for it. Imagine Mark Zuckerburg as a Ghanaian. How many jobs would be created if Facebook's Headquarters were here? The only difference between Mark and that IT guy in Uni you took your laptop to for the latest episodes of [insert forgotten hip series here] is that Mark grew up in an environment of opportunities. Your IT friend? Well he's probably sitting idle in an office, reading emails from a consultant douche-bag about the next useless IT project management has embarked on. So much for opportunity.
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