iWeek 2006 Summary: Lets Start The Internet Revolution

This whole week, I have been blogging the conference, indeed gaining enormous experience as a researcher and Internet Marketer. Speakers from Germany, Namibia, Belgium, Singapore, China, South Africa and other parts of the world delivered groundbreaking research presentations. The Internet in South Africa is growing at a slow pace, but progress has been made over the last ten years. Online marketers, researchers, and consumers likewise have all been afforded an unprecedented interactive tool: the Internet. However, most of the participants at the iWeek 2006 at The Castle Kyalami agree that both government and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should play a greater role, but what remains contested is how such a role should be conducted and implemented.

The argument is that ISPs will strive towards making more money (self-interest) while increasing the inequality of access to ICTs. On the other hand, the government want to play a greater role in redistributing wealth and ensuring that information is well-accessed in rural areas; the irony is that the opposite seems to be true. Telkom, under the auspices of the government, has one of the highest costs ever to technologies. Partnerships and consultations in policy-making are crucial. Indeed, ISPs begin to play a more social role and in partnership with governments at certain levels. It is a common cause that the Internet should be made much cheaper but not free, as Roy Padayachie, Deputy Minister of Communications, claimed.

Telkom is monopolising the industry far too much, and it is time to seek ‘choice’. Whether Free or Open Source software, or as is the case in Singapore for social software, people demand access. There is, of course, a greater need to unbundle the local loop and as well as on the other hand, providing consumers with a choice is fundamental. Indeed, the digital divide in South Africa is growing. According to the world statistics, South Africa has only 15.8% of the total users in Africa, while Nigeria has 7.8%. Both countries remain the highest in Africa; this, on its own, is a “big digital divide”.

On Marketing, I always find these lines the basics for everyone willing to use the Internet for marketing. It is true that “in a converged telecommunication and media environment, the focus will move toward content and applications, and this will require new marketing strategies. The market is now moving from supply-driven (telco) to demand-driven (consumer), and those with the best marketing and customer services will win; technologies are rapidly becoming commodities. Convergence is inevitably leading to a structural separation between infrastructure and media players.” How one covertly does this depends on each industry’s status quo and the level of innovation. The Internet is a marketing tool for modern industries. You cannot separate the Internet and marketing.

I look forward to the next iWeek conference. Check out Arthur Goldstuck’s Mobility 2006 conference on Thursday, 14 September 2006.