GOALS

My ultimate professional goal is to find a position that will allow me contribute to institution-building in my country, Liberia. Liberia is a post-war society, and is in the process of rebuilding economically, politically and socially and I would like to be a part of that. Of course, this is a grand plan which leaves a lot of room for interpretation of “contribution”, but I guess all journeys begin with a single step. So, I am looking for a practicum in Liberia that would fit my needs.

My goals have really changed over the course of my time at SIT. I arrived here seeking to address issues of resource protection in developing countries, particularly in Africa. This is partly the reason that I chose the sustainable development concentration. But after I arrived and began through some of my courses - like Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Development Management and T & P of Conflict Transformation – to examine the root causes and perceptions of so-called “underdevelopment” I began to see that there was a different role for me.

Through this course i hope to gain a more thorough and systematic understanding of information technology and information systems. IT has such a huge impact on how organizations perform that it seems prudent, no matter which industry you are in or position you hold, to try and get a grasp of what it entails. Not only do I want to know where technology is now, I want to know where it is going, and what the consequences are if we all follow along.

Another view of Web 2.0

So as I was reading stuff about Web 2.0 I came across an article on Slate.com called The Wisdom of the Chaperones: Digg, Wikipedia, and the myth of Web 2.0 democracy. I thought it was interesting, sort of a different take. In the interests of space conservation, I'll only post part of a paragraph.

Social-media sites like Wikipedia and Digg are celebrated as shining examples of Web democracy, places built by millions of Web users who all act as writers, editors, and voters. In reality, a small number of people are running the show.

So Web 2.0, democratic herald of the future, or oligarchic reflection of the present? Hmmmm.