The world is fast-tracking technology and developing countries are quite slow in embracing this, yet the notion has been around. Big data is the new hot topic that needs to be embedded within growing economies and Botswana needs to be part and parcel of assimilating big data with the 4IR initiatives (Fourth Industrial Revolution).
Big data refers to quintillion sets of information that flow through various sources which include social media, the stock exchange, health ports, climate stations and others. The assimilation of such information and its analysis is what's currently shaping economic policies that govern the big economies in Europe, America, Australia, and the Middle East. The digital revolution is an exciting era to live in hence the question of how far developing countries are in jumping on this wave and how can we explore opportunities presented by big data.
So, think about how today, your smartphone is your source of transactional banking, communicating information, booking schedules, ordering food as well as any other functions. The type of information remitted here is what policymakers today use as an instrument to guide decision-making. A typical example of this would be the use of online payments including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Unfortunately, Botswana financial institutions have not caught onto this yet our counterparts in South Africa have these innovative facilities.
For the benefit of those who haven’t come across this, these payment methods are where you can use your phone to pay for goods and services as your digital bank card is linked to your ‘phone wallet’. One can pay for event tickets, train tickets, boarding passes and others, eliminating paperwork and aligning to the green footprint of fighting against the climate change we speak frequently about. The same sets of data depicted on our smartphones for goods we purchase on a regular basis, are what could also drive e-commerce and would be very instrumental to the business community.
We almost caught onto this wave during the first months of the COVID-19 lockdown where people could order groceries from the comfort of their homes and have them either ready at the store for collection or delivered to their doorstep. Unfortunately, we went back to our old habits and you can imagine how much time goes to waste on shopping! A one-hour roundabout in a store really could've been a five to ten minute convenience done on your smartphone in the comfort of your home, but unfortunately, our business community hasn't caught on to this probably because there are no regulations around it.
As I've mentioned already, big data is meant to provide cost-effective solutions for governance in developing economies and will speak mostly to the socio-economic shortfalls most nations like Botswana come across including alleviating these challenges. If I may bring in context perhaps to a couple of examples. There is a fundamental opportunity to improve health care as this has been one of the most expensive amenities to provide, either through your medical aid or free health care from the government. The provision of data sourced through either your smartphone or the introduction of biometric data (which unfortunately Botswana hasn't launched yet), would be instrumental to producing health statistical data based on your location, social media, medical records, food purchases, and eating habits to inform policymakers in health on where focus areas should be to spread resources sparingly. This way, the government may be able to monitor health and social information in an effort of informing national budgets which are allocated through the ministries of local government and health.
Another opportunity lies around tourism as it is constantly changing through this age of information. Botswana as one country where the tourism sector contributes heavily to the economy, ought to best define utilisation of such opportunities. By use of information generated from consumers’ digital footprints both from national tourists and international tourists, businesses may now anticipate consumers’ spending habits and design tourism packages specific to various sets of tourist groups. They can take advantage of busier periods and this type of insight would be very instrumental now as we could seek out opportunities that were not available to the business community before this information era.
Our local Botswana Digital and Innovation Hub is mandated to promote the commercialisation of technology and entrepreneurship under the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology. This mandate needs to be driven by speaking to specific initiatives that take advantage of opportunities brought about by big data. In addition, the hub of entrepreneurs should be aligned to unpack the opportunities dissected within the various value chains to promote Botswana’s economic development and competitiveness.
This is meant to coordinate an integrated national innovation ecosystem as we’ve seen across many developed economies, and this should be fast-tracked using the Innovation Fund set up by the Hub. This alone should put emphasis on informing national policy as well as tapping into the untapped opportunities across the other business sectors, particularly manufacturing with the hope of reducing the import bill and promoting local capacity driven by integrated big data.
Many discussions can go on with the hope that our country's leadership would heed such notions and provide platforms in which constructive dialogue and advice can be interchanged and brought forth.
*Chilo Ketlhoafetse is a Chartered Accountant and seasoned finance specialist focusing on economic issues affecting the local business environment. Commentary and interactions can be sent to [email protected] and Twitter @chilo_ket
