Using technology in economic structures

The National Weekender
TECHNOLOGY

By MICHAEL UGLGO
GOOD day to all and in the technology world of today. I have coined the term Dessicates (Digitalised economic structures, synchronising institutions’ capacity, advancing top earning space) for our discussion on technology and the digital economy.
In a computing machine, when you provide a totality of workspace and a process you are able to establish something emulating a human mind. There you have the words to read, write and manipulate and the process descriptor that gives you a record of resources allocated to the process.
It is an opportunity and pleasure to highlight the crux of PNG’s progress and development aspirations. Without bypassing the greatest battle that can be contained in the mind of each and every individual, agree or not.
A similar prototype is in a moving aeroplane and a motor vehicle. The thought process is our quest to manage when we are trying to see PNG going into its next stage of development or acquire a fast industrialising nation status. Or from another perspective, when or how soon would we expect this materialising?
Dessicates is the acronym for our development agenda’s target. We want to acquire the top earning space. Our LNG and other non-renewable mining products are doing that with windfall revenues. Those earnings are unsustainable as supply is diminishing every time we extract so do we have any alternative?
Peripheral and central product spaces
So far we do not have any alternative to move our earning space from the periphery towards the centre. Do we have the potential to develop to become advanced? The answer is yes. There are several strategies depending on where you want to take the lead.
For the purpose of pointing out this imminent crisis, I want to highlight one thing and that is the notion of technology. We are living in an age submerged in very advanced electronically compounded very large scale integrated circuits built on a very tiny silicon crystal and the concept commonly known as a computer chip.
Milestones in technology are mind-boggling like the following:
Weather can be updated real time, that is every movement of storm bearing winds can be known to people every millionth fraction of a second;

  • The location of a signal can be identified using a world coordinates system by way of an infra-radiation in the electromagnetic band of a radio wave;
  • Signals from Pluto can be obtained via a self-configuring network software that does not require cabling and is remotely administered via a supervisor call; and
  • Faults and failures are correcting via interrupts and subroutines.

It has all started with engaging an appropriate programming language from tens of hundreds of computer programming languages.
PNG in technology race
In this scenario, where does PNG stand? Virtually nothing is talked about technology as we are in this age of technology race. The developed as well as fast developing nations are engaged in this area to ameliorate their economic status and discussions.
Only technologically advanced goods and services will bring windfall revenues to this country. This will then replace all our non-renewable resources when these our dwindling supplies are depleted and are gone for ever. At least we have to be realistic about this very issue.
An analogy for this is that PNG must get into the literature world and write and publish some books and stop telling fairy tales and legends from our past.
Real GDP
PNG’s total goods and services in a given year account for our current status of our lifestyle. We want to deviate away from this and venture into more prosperous areas. The tool needed for this has to be centrally advocated and funded. We have to get all our scientifically and technologically advanced ideas funded to safeguard this nation to acquire a new status for its development ambitions.
Let me highlight this as a point of interest whilst in this discussion. There are some countries like the United States of America that seem to operate on a motto that “If you know anything that is not known, you teach and you will be paid big money.” This motto seems to drive all these advanced countries forward.
While in PNG the opposite happens; if you have some bright ideas and talents or potential to develop this country, then you become suppressed.
Thanks to our judicial system which I find as the only one place is PNG seen as an oasis in the middle of a corruption-induced desert biome where there is no sign of life when all our good morale and rational thoughts are blighted with greed, pride and repression.
The judiciary is where you breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the day when our very highly talented justices hand down decisions based on prudent reasoning.
Producer price index
We do not have a well-developed manufacturing sector that will replace the resource extraction sector we have when all that we have is depleted. For instance, manufacturing in the United States plays a very important role in the economy in terms of its output.
When we do not advance our manufacturing sector we will continue to go into trade deficits when the value of imported goods will always exceed our export values. Our current modern generation are emulating western practices and living and it is like we are “downloading” the western countries lifestyle without a proper structure and substance to account for such lifestyle.
Simply, if we do not make decisions and strategies that will bring about those real moments we are going to face imminent economic recession because we are not developing our top earning capacity.

  • Michael Uglo teaches avionics, auto-piloting and aircraft engineering in Port Moresby.