Stanford Humanities Center
Join us for an engaging talk co-sponsored by SILICON (Stanford Initiative on Language Inclusion and Conservation in Old and New Media) and CESTA (Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis) by Issayas Tesfamariam, who will delve into the creative and adaptive ways users innovate in the face of technological disparities. Drawing on his expertise and experiences, Issayas will discuss how traditional culture, continuous improvements, open-source tools, and innovative practices intersect in Eritrea. Learn about fascinating examples such as offline food delivery systems in Asmara and explore how the concept of “Bypassing” reflects resilience and resourcefulness in technology use. RSVP for the talk here.
All technologies are not created equally. On one end are the people who can access fast technology “off the shelf,” while others can’t, even though the assumption is that those who can’t also need the benefits of fast technology. As a result, as user-innovators, those who can’t access fast technology bypass it by combining online and offline technology, making it a pawn. In other words, Bypassing is user-innovation technology. The combination mentioned above, the impact of traditional and “gedli” (struggle) culture, continuous improvements, the use of open source, and the creation of apps.is practiced daily in Eritrea. Examples include offline food delivery within Eritrea’s capital city, Asmara.
About the Speaker
Issayas Tesfamariam has been teaching Tigrinya and Amharic at Stanford University since 1994. He wrote “Let’s Speak Tigrinya,” used across the United States. He also works at the Hoover Institution as a logistics coordinator. Issayas studied Political Economy and Asian Pacific Studies for his graduate studies and film, television, radio, and video for his undergraduate studies.
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