Continued progress with the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) around the world has been promising. But it seems that, as with the third industrial revolution (3IR), the promised productivity is being delivered to those with online access or monetary means.
In other words, 4IR’s current approach will advance “those who have the means” and further alienate others. In such a reality, inequality increases, as we are already seeing globally. In this context and downward spiral, existing forms of inequality, such as gender inequality, will also increase.
The question that needs to be addressed is: how do we progress in the 4IR and, at the same time, contend with inequality? While there are various conceptual solutions to this, eg universal income, subsidized data, economic zones in virtual space, and others, one critical area that requires resolution is access to education. In the long run, we believe that education will lead to an inclusive approach to the 4RI and related techno-economic engagement.
Education can be provided using online means. Technological advances have improved the way education is delivered. For example, in areas where Internet access is poor or limited, educational material can be downloaded elsewhere. Such material can then be accessed offline, assessments are loaded in due course, and some student-instructor interaction can take place asynchronously.
While this isn’t always ideal or convenient, they do provide low-cost alternatives. From a 4IR perspective: Learning management systems in use today make intelligent use of student data and analytics to better support one’s educational journey.
Most learning management systems are privacy conscious and data analytics is only available on an individual basis, with student permission, or aggregated group data is used to enhance the learning experience.
For all of the above, data is required. Data costs remain prohibitively high in some emerging economies such as South Africa and the African continent in general, where there is a great need for access to education. There are also other cost factors, for example access to a smart device. But device access can be addressed with the right business model or through contracting.
But back to data costs: One solution is to zero-rate educational websites. Zero-rating is a concept whereby, for certain websites, Internet providers do not charge or waive data charges. Technologically, educational content or websites must be locally based for this to be profitable.
While there are technical solutions for international websites or content, this would be much more expensive for the Internet provider. For a financially viable approach, there must be an incentive for the ISP to zero rate a local website. The incentive could be a tax refund. Another cost recovery business model could be through advertising.
In other words, by improving access to education and digital equity, we can find pathways to progress in 4IR while continually challenging inequality. However, the approach requires a greater partnership between providers of education and communications solutions, platforms, and policies.
Similarly, zero-rating could be scaled to virtually located economic zones and other areas of strategic importance. Of course, all this means that the required data volume and speed will increase significantly. In this regard, however, the ongoing 5G and future 6G telecom research, development and innovation are encouraging.
Innovations in computing and storage device technology also provide an advantage that can be taken advantage of. The emergence of cloud computing as a way to provide low-cost, highly available, and robust computing frameworks has given rise to, among other things, online educational technology platforms.
But cloud computing needs a constant high-speed and reliable internet connection. The rise of “edge computing” refers to provisioning a lightweight version of the cloud computing environment on user devices. By doing so, computing and storage capable devices can store and process the entire set of data and services that would otherwise have been obtained synchronously from the Internet.
The device being used becomes a complete bare minimum representation of the cloud environment. Once the user is in a free and in some cases open Wi-Fi zone, generally provided by educational institutes or municipalities, they can synchronize the environment of their device with the online system. In this way, up-to-date content can be provided to the device user and evaluation records captured.
The use of lightweight wireless communication protocols can enable reduced costs for Internet connectivity. File compression technologies also exist to allow the size of transmitted data to be reduced without compromising the content. Therefore, a reduced file size can become accessible more quickly and on low-bandwidth networks. Therefore, the future of content management and production is in our hands using the mobile devices we carry every day.
One way to look at this simply: think of a tightly distributed mobile phone network becoming a go-between with a cloud computing infrastructure helping to do some of the computing.
To further improve accessibility, there are compact “decoders” like those made for satellite TVs to access channels like DStv, but for educational purposes. These “set-top-boxes” consist of educational content that can be accessed by up to 30 users at the same time. This hub can be installed in classrooms, homes, neighborhoods, community centers, and learning institutes alike.
The center becomes a gateway to online educational content in remote areas, areas with limited Internet access, and where the cost is prohibitive. Setting up such a hub costs around $90 one time and could provide seamless access to an online presence for a large audience in disadvantaged communities.
The path to address inequality and scale access to online education is fraught with multiple challenges that can be achieved with clear strategies in digital innovations.
In economies such as Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania, where mobile money services are common, a layer of inclusion has been provided stemming from the ability for friends and family in urban areas and in the diaspora to top up/recharge data packets. / services for those in remote areas.
A confluence of these large-scale digital innovations can become enablers of access and equality.
Professor Saurabh Sinha is an Electronics Engineer and Assistant Vice Chancellor: Research and Internationalization at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), supported by the US Fulbright program and currently doing a research sabbatical at Princeton University.
Dr. Malvin Nkomo is an electronics engineer, data scientist, technology entrepreneur, and academic researcher conducting research at the Drexel Wireless Systems Laboratory at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Dr. Nkomo is a UJ alumnus.
Professor Kaushik Sengupta is an expert in next-generation integrated circuits and systems at Princeton University.
The authors write in their personal capacity.
