As technology continues to evolve, it tends to end up more centralized in more urban areas, reaching more rural and isolated communities (farming, island or mountainous communities) last.
As technology gets more advanced and more people move from rural areas to the big city for work, a tech gap forms between the rural folk and the city folk.
Not only is it leading to further isolation, but without more tech-savvy people, rural communities are getting left in the dust with even fewer opportunities to learn and adapt.
Does future technology have what remote communities need to escape poverty? Let’s find out.
Empowering The Next Generation
As time marches on, some cultures and their history are prone to being forgotten.
Eventually, members of isolated communities of unique cultures end up in poverty and are forced to go to more popular places to assimilate, learn the language and find work. However, with advancement in technology, comes new opportunities for the young.
As a community and culture, we can give the next generation the tools they need to succeed financially and carry on their own traditions.
Thankfully, this can be as easy as giving them a laptop and internet access. With all of the various resources available to them for free, the children of today can learn to be professional programmers from just about anywhere in the world, becoming the virtual computer science liaison of tomorrow.
In the future, countries with the ability to export technology – either through scholars at universities abroad or new software – can be the key to bringing wealth to remote communities. And, most importantly, computer science could very well be a universal language.
A.I. Empowered Farming
Photo: CNH Industrial
Farming is expensive. Not only is it expensive, but it’s labor-intensive and with a high risk.
An alarming number of farmers are around the age of 58 which is a common age for people to look towards (or be forced towards) retirement.
Plus, younger people are often being scared away from the profession as a failing industry, and those who aren’t might still lack interest or fail when they try to break in.
What if there was a way to combine the need and love for working the land with a generation of technically gifted youths?
Although pricey, automated farming might just be the way. With proper financial backing and some skilled young computer scientists and engineers, farming could become easier for young farmers and old farmers alike.
Older farmers, with proper coaching, could work their entire field with the push of a button instead of manually driving a tractor for hours while young college grads can combine their love for their country with their tech skills and degrees by applying their knowledge to A.I. farming.
Interconnecting Communities Via Devices Empowered By Internet of Things
Many things rely on computers these days. As a result, a lot of things send off a signal jam-packed with information in the form of invisible 0s and 1s through the air and to various other things. This is the Internet of Things.
Many things, from computers to cars and even the ships that come and go at Lochmaddy’s port, often have tiny computers in them and a signal being sent to and from a cloud.
This “cloud” is where all the information is stored and shared with other tiny computers. For example, a weather forecaster may send information up to a cloud where it will then be forwarded to tiny computers in ships, websites and cars. Now all of these other platforms will have answers to things like where the wind is coming from and what the weather is like.
This kind of connection can allow more rural communities to access additional technology and resources that will put them in touch with other parts of the world, including bigger cities that may be ahead of them in this regard.
In Summary
Technology and the world are both evolving, but the addition of new things doesn’t mean we should do away with old and important traditions and ways of life.
Like most things that have been around for thousands of years, everyone, even cultures, must adapt. What other benefits do you see technology bringing to YOUR culture’s survival?
Article Credit: Katherine Lutz, a student of Florida State University