Transient Workspaces Technologies Of Everyday Innovation In Zimbabwe

Have you ever wondered about the incredible innovation happening in everyday life in Zimbabwe? This article dives deep into the realm of transient workspaces and the technologies being used to foster everyday innovation in the country.

In Zimbabwe, where access to resources and traditional workspaces may be limited, people have embraced the concept of transient workspaces as a means to foster innovation and collaboration. Transient workspaces are temporary locations where individuals or teams can gather to work, exchange ideas, and create solutions to everyday challenges.

These transient workspaces have become the hub of innovation in Zimbabwe, driven by a combination of necessity, creativity, and the availability of cutting-edge technologies. Let us explore some of these technologies in detail.

Transient Workspaces: Technologies of Everyday Innovation in Zimbabwe

by Mike Ormsby (Kindle Edition)

4.6 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	5267 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	309 pages

FREE

1. Portable Solar-powered Devices

In a country where electricity shortages are common, portable solar-powered devices have become essential tools for productivity. These devices include solar-powered laptops, tablets, and smartphones, which provide the necessary power to work even in areas with limited or no access to the electrical grid.

The use of portable solar-powered devices has empowered Zimbabwean innovators to work whenever and wherever they want, breaking free from traditional constraints of physical workspaces. This technology allows individuals to bring their work to remote areas or public spaces, creating opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

2. Low-cost 3D Printing

Another technology revolutionizing the transient workspaces in Zimbabwe is low-cost 3D printing. This technology enables innovators to turn their ideas into tangible prototypes without the need for expensive manufacturing equipment or facilities.

With low-cost 3D printers, Zimbabwean innovators can now rapidly iterate on designs, test concepts, and refine their products. These transient workspaces equipped with 3D printers have become hotspots for creativity, enabling individuals to bring their ideas to life and contribute to the local economy.

3. Mobile Money

Mobile money, or the use of mobile phones for financial transactions, has been a game-changer in Zimbabwe. With limited access to traditional banking services, mobile money has allowed innovators to receive payments, secure funding, and manage their finances conveniently from their transient workspaces.

Transacting through mobile money eliminates the need for physical currency and provides a safe and efficient way to conduct business transactions. This technology has facilitated seamless collaborations, enabling entrepreneurs and innovators to focus on their work instead of worrying about financial logistics.

4. Crowdsourcing Platforms

In the era of digital connectivity, crowdsourcing platforms have opened up new avenues for collaboration and idea generation. Zimbabwean innovators are utilizing these platforms to access a global network of talent, funding opportunities, and expertise.

Through crowdsourcing platforms, transient workspaces in Zimbabwe are connected to a vast pool of resources, allowing innovators to tap into diverse perspectives, knowledge, and experiences. This global collaboration has sparked groundbreaking innovations and contributed to the growth of Zimbabwe's innovation ecosystem.

The transient workspaces in Zimbabwe are thriving with everyday innovation, fueled by the adoption of cutting-edge technologies. Portable solar-powered devices, low-cost 3D printing, mobile money, and crowdsourcing platforms have revolutionized the way innovators work, collaborate, and bring their ideas to life.

As Zimbabwe continues to embrace transient workspaces and leverage these technologies, the country's innovation landscape will continue to evolve, contributing to economic growth and societal development. It is an inspiring journey witnessing the power of everyday innovation and the impact it has on transforming communities.

Transient Workspaces: Technologies of Everyday Innovation in Zimbabwe

by Mike Ormsby (Kindle Edition)

4.6 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	5267 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	309 pages

FREE

An account of technology in Africa from an African perspective, examining hunting in Zimbabwe as an example of an innovative mobile workspace.

In this book, Clapperton Mavhunga views technology in Africa from an African perspective. Technology in his account is not something always brought in from outside, but is also something that ordinary people understand, make, and practice through their everyday innovations or creativities—including things that few would even consider technological. Technology does not always originate in the laboratory in a Western-style building but also in the society in the forest, in the crop field, and in other places where knowledge is made and turned into practical outcomes.

African creativities are found in African mobilities. Mavhunga shows the movement of people as not merely conveyances across space but transient workspaces. Taking indigenous hunting in Zimbabwe as one example, he explores African philosophies of mobilities as spiritually guided and of the forest as a sacred space. Viewing the hunt as guided mobility, Mavhunga considers interesting questions of what constitutes technology under regimes of spirituality. He describes how African hunters extended their knowledge traditions to domesticate the gun, how European colonizers, with no remedy of their own, turned to indigenous hunters for help in combating the deadly tsetse fly, and examines how wildlife conservation regimes have criminalized African hunting rather than enlisting hunters (and their knowledge) as allies in wildlife sustainability. The hunt, Mavhunga writes, is one of many criminalized knowledges and practices to which African people turn in times of economic or political crisis. He argues that these practices need to be decriminalized and examined as technologies of everyday innovation with a view toward constructive engagement, innovating with Africans rather than for them.