Cloud for good – building a cloud first continent

Cloud for good – building a cloud first continent

Technology has changed our lives beyond all recognition. Just look at the twenty years since VMware was founded – the way we work, shop, live, have relationships, travel and communicate have changed dramatically. All of it driven by technology.

We have experienced these advances, as we have with all progress across the history of humanity, because we strive to change things, to improve. As a species we are not comfortable with the status quo – progress is valued, progress is prized above all else, progress is good.

Yet we must be conscious of how technology can be used. At its core, technology is neutral – it is only the people who use it that determine whether the impact it has is positive or negative. In recent years, the concept of technology as a force for good has gained significant ground. It is something I am deeply committed to, which is why I am proud to work for a company that has made technology as a force for positive change a priority.

VMware’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, summed up the company’s focus when he said "We have to do better and do good and technology is permeating every aspect of society today, so we have a responsibility to do both. We are committed to doing well and doing good and we need to do that as a company, but we need to do that as an industry as well."

Node Africa – building a cloud first continent

That’s why I’m delighted that VMware works with organisations like Node Africa, which is helping businesses across Africa, including the smallest of farms, take advantage of a secure cloud infrastructure.

It has helped deploy the infrastructure on which the East African Farmers Federation (EAFF) and Intelipro, a Kenyan data-science and analytics company, have built eGranary, a platform designed to capture planting practice and harvest data. In other words, help farmers sell their crops after harvest.

As well as capturing crop information, the platform has helped build initial credit profiles for its 25,000 farmers. This in turn helps them secure funding and loans from banks to invest in new seeds and fertiliser, something that has been a struggle historically.

With the help of Node Africa and cloud technology, small farmers can develop their agricultural practices, access financial resources, sell more, and, most importantly, improve their families’ quality of life.

This has all been made possible by an infrastructure that can support applications developed by Intelipro, without requiring huge amounts of upfront investment or expensive hardware – quite simply, cloud as a force for good.

From developing business to delivering relief

Node Africa is just one example of how cloud technology truly can be a force for good. Communities need to be able to earn money in order to develop in a sustainable manner, and cloud is helping overcome infrastructure shortcomings to do just that.

It isn’t just in the developing world that cloud can help. Even in more digitally advanced countries, remote geographies can mean accessing basic services like healthcare need a different way of thinking.

In my next post, I’ll be looking at exactly that – how an organisation providing healthcare close to the Arctic Circle is using cloud to support its efforts.

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