THE world food crisis is a good opportunity for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry to help manage a global issue.
| Customers check out the price of rice at a local hypermarket. The current food crisis presents an opportunity for local tech players to put their ideas to use. |
Already, some of the world leaders are calling for a tech solution to this crisis, which can lead to global hunger and malnutrition problems, if not duly addressed.
At the recent 16th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2008) in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the problem, like other global concerns, can be solved through the creative use of ICT. He added that ICT has already become an indispensable tool for information dissemination on climatic changes, and similarly, can be applied to provide solutions in the area of agriculture and food production.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif echoed the same hope, calling on the industry to create innovative mechanisms that will help close the current gap between supply and demand, and develop tools and applications, which will increase productivity and improve the management of food supply.
One tech company is showing how it can be done. IBM has reported that it is embarking on a Nutritious Rice for the World project, in collaboration with the University of Washington to develop stronger strains of rice that could produce crops with larger and more nutritious yields, via the World Community Grid supercomputing technology. There will certainly be more announcements of initiatives by other players with the same objective.
Apart from the big players, the food crisis also presents an opportunity for local tech players to put their innovative ideas to use. Applications and solutions to help alleviate the food crisis are certainly much sought after, and should help to drive business growth.
Another incentive is the opportunity to break into the global market.
A compelling food for thought, perhaps?
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