The world is experiencing high tech invention volatility, developers around the world are tirelessly working on new technologies. Countries of the world, especially in Europe and the middles east pumps a lot of resources on technological inventions. They seem to be on a mission of empowering their military arsenal with technology, administer the country through the aid of technology, equip the health sector with automated technology to save lives, etc. Developed countries have realized that empowerment of technological invention is the ultimate key to success. Africa, however, has been regarded as ill-equipped technically and has remained one of the most vulnerable continents in the world. Do controversial sentiments uttered in developed countries regarding crippling technology in Africa means her residents are less inventive?
What aids inventions, especially tech inventions, among people? Is it education standards that the government feds its citizens with or individual creativity? Studies conducted by the united nation acknowledge that the lag in African technology is not merely attributed to insufficient funding but also externalities like low levels of research in production and unsupportive legislation. Even though most African countries have promised to put more resources on tech empowerment, it is unfortunate that most of them are yet to fulfill their promises. The majority of Africans are walloping in the miasma of poverty and poor governance which kills their dreams. Government plays two major roles in tech inventions, first is they nourish its citizens with standard education that opens up the minds of learners and then provides a healthy environment, through funding or job creation, for learners to apply the learned knowledge. Blacks residing in Africa rarely realized this. However, few Black men and women have shine in tech invention; building sophisticated software that has made a big difference in the world. This article will explicitly elaborate a minute profile of Black men and women whose names have entered books of tech inventions.
The list below form a segment of the most influential black men and women in technology:
1. Ralph A. Clark
Clark is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of ShotSpotter Inc. ShotSpotter Inc is a company, through close monitoring of Clark, came up with a technology that can detect the gunshot, analyze it and even locate the scene. This technology has been adopted in several states in the USA and has reduced gun violence significantly. Clack recently expands his company by obtaining HunchLab technology which will enable the company to integrate artificial intelligence and other risk modeling techniques that can detect future crimes likely to involve the use of guns. This invention has reduced crime rates in the US. Clark has a strong reputation in data security, he led other staff at GuardinEdge technologies in endpoint data protection.
2. Charles E. Philips
Philips was born in June 1956. Philips was the CEO of Infor Inc from 2010 to 2019. Infor Inc is a producer of cloud software products for companies in industry-specific markets. It took only three years for Philips to double the growth of Infor Inc Company through beneficial cooperation with other tech companies, coming up with an internal design agency whose role was to improve the interface and visual design of software and continuously upgrade the software to meet standards of firms. According to an article by the Black enterprise, Philip was a mastermind who successfully leads the company with over 15,000 staff and still doubles the revenue of Info Inc to $2.7 billion.
3. Corey E. Thomas
Thomas is president and CEO of Rapid7 Company. Rapid7 Company cushion several companies in the world against threads possed by online hackers, they also aid in the investigation and halt possible attacks. Rapid7 has ensured the security of information of the company from getting accessed by third parties. The administration led by Corey E. Thomas has built a good reputation for Rapid7. Currently, Rapid7 holds data of more than 7,000 companies, including giants like Microsoft and Netflix.
4. Chris Young
Chris Young is the president and CEO of the famous antivirus software production company, MacAfee. Chris has a mission to protect the data of organizations and individuals from malicious attacks. Chris has led a team that has developed software that can secure both hardware and software of computer and in 2017 alone Macafee made a profit of more than three billion dollars. Currently, MacAfee protects over four hundred million people and many governmental and non-governmental organizations in different countries. Young has a strong CV in matters relating to security, he was a one day member of the National Security of Telecommunications Advisory Committee advising the US government on national securities and possible measures that should be taken by the government to avert crimes.
5. Jessica O. Matthews
Jessica is a Nigerian born lady and a founder and CEO of Uncharted Power. Jesica begins her career when she was a teenager, inventing kinetic energy technology like soccer balls that generate energy for motions. Uncharted power aims at utilizing renewable kinetic energy, to produce environmentally friendly and affordable power to communities.
Tech invention is open to everyone, regardless of race or gender. Several black men and women have spent time in the research and development of technologies that are necessary for our comfort and sustainability. That’s why ALL LIVES MATTERS!