Iraq, a technology frontier
: Doc Searls sends us to a Linux Journal piece arguing that Iraq is a blank technology slate (and thus fertile ground for Linux, they say).
It is a blank slate for so much more.
I’ve argued, of course, that it is a great breeding ground for weblogs, as Zeyad and company have now proven.
Forward-thinking American companies should see Iraq as a proving ground for all kinds of technology: broadband, wireless, cellular, ISP… and for technology work and education. So should the government. So should foundations.
Kerry Dupont — who’s working on something exciting to help the Iraqi bloggers (more on that very soon) — has a great idea about forming a nonprofit to provide technology to bloggers and journalists in Iraq and other developing democracies. I would get behind that and I hope computer companies would, too.
We need to stop thinking just about today’s problems in Iraq but also about tomorrow’s potential. Look at Zeyad’s new photo today from a Baghdad computer cafe: This is a nation dying to delve into technology. Helping them helps their economy and thus their politics and security and thus our political agenda and our business. Everybody wins.
Iraq should be a technology frontier.
