The 2024 WordCamp Europe Conference held in Torino, Italy was attended by over 2,500, most from across Europe. The attendance of several Americans like William and Aida Jackson, who taught the Youth and Teen Workshop, Media Partners and Volunteers. This is their second
year as volunteers and organizers. Many African professionals in fields of Technology, Web Development, Web Design, Graphic Design, PHP, Programming/Coding, AI Integration, Metaverse Influences and Content Development were present.
More needs to be done to assist technology development across Africa becoming a leader in education, business and entreprenerialism. African content creators are learning how to use AI (Artificial Intellegence), VR (Virtual Realilty) and the value of cross development of immersive technologies.
Using AI’s like ChatGPT, Pi.ai and others to assist in creating content for blogs, graphic design, creating charts, data algorithms and mass data managment that chart activity and engagements on web sites, surveys and importantly data content for busines development and management.
AI technologies are available as never before and the use of AI can help Africans in content building that leads to African development. The influence of technology conferences are powerful in promoting active and engaged learning. Using the web site WordCamp Central
https://central.wordcamp.org/ it can be seen how influencial conferences are with their global events. Even the Youth/Teen workshop like WordCamp Europe 2024 had youth and teens from across Europe https://europe.wordcamp.org/2023/wordpress-workshop-for-kids/
The hope is that Africans in Europe to send their children to attend in the future technology conferences. In order for Africans to be able to compete, build influences in careers, and compete in higher paying jobs there needs to be a strong building of education and exposure. Groups like BlackPressWP https://blackpresswp.com/ are willing to help those of the African Diaspora and Blacks In Technology https://www.youtube.com/@BlacksintechnologyNet , speaking sessions can be seen on https://www.youtube.com/@WordPress .
Educators William and Aida Jackson, United States, spearheaded for the second year the Youth and Teen Workshop and sponsoring multple youth and teen workshops across Africa and Central America. Teaching web development using WordPress.com, appling AI for busines and education use using ChatGPT and PI.ai, Metaverse building using Spatial.io, Safety on the Internet and Metaverse, and how tools and skills can build youth and teens as business owners and entrepreneurs.
The WordCamp web site lists for multiple events in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and other African nations that will be providing workshops into 2025. The push for a historic WordCamp Africa (https://wpafrica.org/) is in the works. African generations will be influenced for decades and the future will determine if African generations are employable, influencial and build sustainable businesses.
The integration for elements is very important because of the exposure of African youth and teens are experiencing increasingly online. Safety should be first both emotional and mental, the physical health should be second because of growing child trafficking, exploytation and sexual slaves and workers in global businesses and industries. WP (WordPress) can provide new career choices in tech and professional growth potential with resources on https://learn.wordpress.org/ . Africans attending WordCamp Europe gained powerful learning opportunities, networking with global companies like MetaverseWP, Google, ChetARU, Zealous Web and others. Unfortunately no companies were from Africa, this needs to change in the coming years. AI is augmenting and automating content that would normally take hours or days, AI can perform content creation in seconds and minutes. The flexibility of creating charts, data sets, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies and even having AI perform complex coding is now being done. Web development can be done in seconds and not hours and digital animation is growing better, and African programmers, coders, designers and influencers are learning, innovating and creating.
Africans are applying their understanding of AI, using “Transfer Learning,” meaning that the program understands one concept, learns it and then, it can apply that information to another idea. There is continuous learning happening, GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, which was developed using supervised and reinforcement learning from human programmers, but many are not African.
Africans are seeing new ways for Africa to be a technology leader, to move into a new century and position of influence because to the ability to apply and supplement learning opportunities, collaboration of complex projects and crossing borders, boundaries, distances and time zones that were once a hinderance, but not do not slow or stop the process of creativity, innovation, technological assistance and African continental growth.
New jobs and careers that do not require a college/university degree are growing and African governments are moving into Blockchain and NFT technologies. These careers should be run and managed by Africans not others from foreign nations. Africans should be building, managing, applying investments, re-investments and growth in their own nations using technology.
There are still conversations for and against technology evolution, with any new and emerging tech, the biases, stereotypes, nuances of race, color, gender and generation need to be worked out as AI encircles the globe. African educational systems need to adapt, adjust, blend and implement these new technologies and African governments need to provide workshops, trainings, funds, grants, free monies to help schools from elementary, secondary and even university to build for the future. If Africa does not implement these ideas other nations will once again gain a technological foothold and dominate Africa on another level. Africans need to be building their own micro-processor facilities, they need to be managing their own Space programs and underwater exploration and discoveries.
The African WordCamp community should welcome the flexibility, speed, ease of use, and learning that will be available, but African mind-set, thinking, desire and willingness to learn needs to change. The racial and cultural diversity of inclusion and diversity that is representative across the African continent and African Diaspora will be influenced. Africans and their ability to work together, build a strong continent for ALL Africans, allow technology to grow smart, intelligent and creative helping girls and boys be authentically African and of the African Diaspora with access to information and resources.
African should be made from and by magnificent African minds, not sterile and soulless machines and foreign governments that want to put Africa back into colonization.
Look at the growing Metaverse environments being constructed by companies like
MetaverseWP https://metaversewp.com/destination the evidence is seen by how many
sites are being built for African conferences and African development in education.
Times are changing and the integration of Machine Learning, Generative Learning, Artificial
Intelligence is not science fiction it is science fact. Africans leading in technology needs to be a reality not fantasy and not Science Fiction, but Science Fact.
William Jackson, MAT, WordCamp Europe 2024 Media Partner & Photographer
World Metaverse Council Metaverse Education Program Director
Technology Education Program Director of One Africa Forum