Embracing tech will open up the universe
At home and abroad, the first two weeks of April have been great for science and technology, and for international collaboration. The first image of a black hole 87.55million light years from Earth was captured by eight Earthbased radio telescopes.
It was one of those moments when one felt great to be alive and have access to shared information.
Also last week, three universities established the fourth industrial revolution for SA (4IRSA). The University of Fort Hare joined Wits University and the University of Johannesburg to collaborate in global knowledge production and technology and information sharing on artificial intelligence and robotics, which is probably the most important development in the global political economy since the advent of Fordism.
The fourth industrial revolution has already started
changing patterns of industrialisation, production, distribution and consumption that have underpinned vast expanses of global economic and social systems, at least since the advent of Fordism, the large-scale mechanised production pioneered by the Ford Motor Company in the early 20th century.
Moving beyond Fordism, artificial intelligence and robotics can make it easier to understand, confront and unwind the messy entanglements of digital, physical, social and biological spheres. The 41RSA should confront the challenges and opportunities they provide for national and transnational relations, as well as securing the common good, writ across national boundaries.
Unless May’s elections throw up surprises and bring to power some of the ideological nostalgiacs those humourless types who still argue about the rights and wrongs of the Kronstadt rebellion or over Karl Kautsky and the agrarian question the 4IRSA can begin to turn Africa from being rule takers to being rule makers in the global political economy.
This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. SA scientists have made significant contributions at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) and to the discovery of the Higgs boson particle in 2012. SA was represented on the black hole team by Prof Roger Deane, an astrophysicist at the University of Pretoria.
Capturing the first image of a black hole was a breakthrough for science, for technology (with the use of the Event Horizon Telescope, or EHT), and for international collaboration. The telescope is a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes made successful through international collaboration. The EHT links existing telescopes using novel approaches and systems, and in the process creates a fundamentally new instrument with the highest angular resolving power that has yet been achieved anywhere.
Whereas the world has seen a decline in international collaboration through the multilateral system of trade, finance, economics and intellectual property, collaboration on the EHT included more than 200 researchers from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. This was supported by considerable international investment by public and private sector interests, including the SA Radio Astronomy Observatory of the National Research Foundation.
The 4IRSA has to leverage the gains that have been made in science (artificial intelligence, robotics and technology), apply SA minds and develop the next generation of scholars and scientists. There is no reason why SA scholars and thinkers cannot begin to make contributions to global knowledge. There is no reason why SA scholars and thinkers have to wait for new ideas to filter down from highly industrialised countries and heavily funded institutions.
As we approach the elections, it is probably wise to take into account the dangers of autarchy, ethno (or other types of) nationalism, chauvinism and the politics of revenge and punishment. Science and technology can be applied to our most important common pool resources. The science, technology and collaboration that produced last week’s image of a black hole has confirmed Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity and his description of the nature of space, time and gravity. That was a huge leap in knowledge production.
Unless we leverage the gains made in these fields, and apply them towards greater social benefits, quite urgently, we may have to deal with the burning of books, of libraries, of foreigners, and bring the political economy to a standstill. We need a reminder, also, that new technologies can expand the gap between haves and havenots, between genders and among geographies.
Sharing information should be considered a public good, and any advances made from science and technology have to bring meaningful change to people’s lives. My favourite scientist, Richard Feynman, once said: “Reality must take precedence over public relations.” These are exciting times for science and technology.
● Lagardien, a visiting professor at the Wits University School of Governance, has worked in the office of the chief economist of the World Bank, as well as the secretariat of the National Planning Commission.