The following perspective is by Papalii Dr. Failautusi Avegalio, Director of the University of Hawaii Pacific Business Center Program and Executive Director of the Honolulu Minority Business Enterprise Center. Both are housed at the University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business Administration - Manoa campus.
Implications of Fiber Optic Technology on Education, the role of Higher Education, Traditional Culture and Globalization in American Samoa
Aligning knowledge leadership, professional development and education development to the technological realities guiding and defining the future is essential if American Samoa is to manage its future rather then being overwhelmed by it.
The capacity of current fourth generation fiber optics tested by NEC and Alcatel can push 10 trillion bits per second down one strand of fiber. That’s the equivalent of 1,900 CDs, or 150 million simultaneous phone calls every second, AND it’s currently tripling about every six months.
The linkage of the fiber optic cable to American Samoa will have a significant impact on education in the territory and the region. The rate and speed of change is and will become increasingly daunting. Research shows that the amount of technical information is doubling every two years. What this means, is that half of what students learn starting a four year technical or college degree in their first year of study will be outdated by the third year of study. It is expected to double every 72 hours by 2010.
I feel strongly that the educational leadership must adjust its curricula and instructional capacities towards that eventuality and I encourage a major emphasis on quality math and science instruction at the earliest possible grade levels. It must also be a political and cultural priority locked in at the executive, legislative and village levels with realistic budget support that can sustain effort for continuous strengthening and improvements.
Regarding the presumed incompatibility of Samoan culture with teaching modern technology, some may find my views surprising. I stress the use of parallel cultural wisdoms to teach science/math and visa versa where ever possible. The assumption that modern science and math knowledge is incompatible with Polynesian culture in general and Samoan in particular is something I do not subscribe to and in fact I reject it outright.
Current business literature underscores the mega shift away from the mechanistic paradigms of the industrial era to an organic reality with which indigenous cultures have always been in alignment. In the science of physics, the concept of quantum mechanics affirms the indigenous wisdom of connectivity of all things. It is not so much a new discovery in physics as it is a reaffirmation of an ancient wisdom understood by our ancestors.
As for the role of Universities and programs such as the Pacific Business Center and Honolulu Minority Business Enterprise Center and their role in the overall implications of technology, corporate transfer/investments, and technology in American Samoa and the Pacific, it is my contention that institutions of higher learning are now primary engines for economic development, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Rapidly developing research in new discoveries and developments in the physics of quantum mechanics, information technology, bio-technology, energy, autopoiesis and general systems theories to name a few are altering how we understand the delicate balance of life on earth and the ultimate survival of our species. It is imperative to transmit, transfer, exchange and share that knowledge to and from our people with the benefits and challenges they impose through our educational, governmental, political and cultural institutions.
The impact of technology and corporate/business on culture and our environment presents an enormous challenge for thinking people. We can use these advances strictly for narrow economic opportunities with a focus on maximization of profits and share holder return on investment or, learn to balance and expand it with how it can raise the common good by expanding the focus to include stake holders such as our planet, environment, indigenous cultures and future generations.
It is apparent that aspects of traditional wisdom and modern knowledge are not only compatible but seamless. Regardless of what the future holds, we must build on the traditional wisdom of our ancestors who guided the survival of our people with norms of Alofa and Fa’aaloalo, with the enduring values of balance, harmony and mutual sustenance where one gives back in full measure what one takes.
Embrace change but hold on to our traditional/cultural values. Either we sustain those values in all that we do as we navigate the world of technology and globalization or - we don’t - and when we don’t we will suffer the consequences.”
