[kictanet] Just a thought

[Matunda Nyanchama]

Listers

Happy New Year.

Couple of thoughts on the subject of technology, its utility, & impact on behaviour.

- some have rightly pointed out the place of technology: a tool that enhances efficiency + effectiveness of task accomplishment. Unfortunately, a large segment of the population make see technology as an end in itself! Neil Postman, I believe, coined the term: the medium is the message, in reference to proliferation of (especially) TV broadcasting and how this was impacting the population.

- if a person posts "mbwa kali" at the gate, a potential intruder is likely to think twice before attempting an intrusion. Indeed, the sign could thwart a lot of potential intrusions. Ditto for gadgets in cars that suggest (rightly or wrongly) that a vehicle has an alarm. In my corporate experience doing information security we noticed that a lot of prohibited technology use dropped substantially when we announced that there was monitoring. We can expect similar behaviour when (say) PSV drivers understand that vehicle back boxes are installed. That said, a policy that captures and appropriately punishes violation is essential to assure deterrence! 

- on technology and corruption: In india (I forget the exact reference) it was found that technology did have an impact on corruption, especially by shifting the beneficiaries, who were largely tech-literate. Overall measures of corruption (say cumulative amounts that change hands) remained pretty close prior and after implementation of technology, and because fewer people were involved, they took home  bigger slices of the corruption pie. May be there are more recent studies on the same but I haven't come across these.

Regards. 
 
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Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama at aganoconsulting.com
Agano Consulting Inc.;  www.aganoconsulting.com; Twitter: nmatunda;  Skype: okiambe
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