#TEDxAlger - An Insider’s notepad scratches

Notice: The #TEDxAlger was a 100% French event. Hence, you’re going to come across atypical translated phrases from French to English. Notify me if there’s any anomaly.

The first Algerian TEDxAlger organized by mere students (Our fellow colleagues & friends in ETIC club) took part in the Higher School of Computer Science E.S.I. (ex: I.N.I.). There were different- if not contradictory-opinions about this event. I’ll write a blog entry about each speaker and what did he/she said according to my timeline. I’d also include some subjective critics between parentheses (and they are not just for the sake of criticism: p )
First off, the name: “TEDxAlger”! The TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) we all know and the “x” for independently organized, followed by the name of the city hosting the event, which is here “Alger”. Alger for the non-French speaker is Algiers the capital of Algeria. It was my very first remark since I heard of the event. Why “Alger”? Why not الجزائر (Al Jazair- the Arabic name of “Algiers”-), or “Algiers” the English name to stick to the universality of the event. But, sincerely, I didn’t expect the event to be 100% in French. Come on, I don’t think TEDxBeijing would be in Japanese or TEDxBogota would be in Zulu! I’ll come to this point when I finish u the series.
10:30 -->10:40
Ismail Chaib (iChaib on twitter) the Founder of ETIC club, an E.S.I. alumnus and a student in France, had the opening word, where he introduced Entrepreneurship and Change, and asked the question: “Why not?”. He said that it’s time for us to jump into the caravan to Baghdad of technology now, and It’s a must not a choice.

10:40-->10:44
A video about TED story and how it all started.
The day has been divided into a series of 12 presentations. Each 3 speakers talked about a theme, as follows:
 

Entreprendre en Algérie
Speaker	Mr. Abdelkader Aissaoui
Speaker	Mr. Mustapha Ferfera
Speaker	M. Hind Benmiloud
Entreprise et Tech
Speaker	Mr. Hakim Bensaoula
Speaker	M. Fadhila Brahimi
Speaker	M. Nesma Houhou
Success Story
Speaker	Mr. Hassan Khelifati
Speaker	Mr. Merzac Bagtache
Speaker	Mr. Akim El Sikameya
Entreprendre pour changer le monde
Speaker	Mr. Rabah Ghezali
Speaker	Mr. Hadj Khelil
Speaker	Mr. Abdelkader

 
I. Entreprendre en Algérie:
      1. Mr. Abdelkader Aissaoui:
A veterinarian by training, Mr. Aissaoui is the founder and CEO of Renault Trucks Algeria in 2002, the only subsidiary of trucks of a European manufacturer operating in Algeria. An entrepreneur at heart, Mr Aissaoui also has several business’ assets.
 
10H46 :
- He told us about his son’s birthday and that we should say every 3 minutes “You’re great, papa”, and we did it with enthusiasm :)
- He Introduced the CEA (Création d'Entreprises à l'Algérienne = Creating business the Algerian way ).
He said that there are 3 Actors in this equation:
This trinity is: The Individual, the Environment and the Company.
- A Company is like a train. People see it running, but few of ‘em have the change to get in.
- Studies and money aren’t enough to be a successful entrepreneur. You should have the HUNCH
- It’s hard to start your own business in Algeria due to the bureaucratic issues.
He went through the most important phases of the openness of the Algerian market:
In 1994:
He got his diploma, the very same year when Algeria became opened to importation (I don’t see importation and reselling as something beneficial for a country lacking,dramatically, the knowhow). At that time the market was almost virgin, and everyone has a place.
In 2000:
The government launched the programs : housing & work for everyone. So, no need for great ideas. All what you need is just be “inserted” (I don’t know how to be inserted in such market where the barons and high-profile entrepreneurs are monopolizing the game!!)
In 2005:
Cars’ market boom! No need for philosophy, creativity and bright ideas. Just sell –or resell- cars, there would, for sure, someone who buys. (Always no knowhow involved).
In 2011: Crisis!
 
-The market in Algeria is still virgin as a mermaid:
· 96% of the Algerian population is living in 10% of the country’s surface.
· One Sole Highway
· One single train!!
There are huge opportunities especially in the domains on civil engineering.
(I keep asking: Sahara got everything to be a second Eldorado or Huston! Gas, Oil, Gold, Water, Uranium, Silicon, etc.!!! why isn’t it so?!)
He finished with both of the Individual and the environment. He passed then to the COMPANY.
- The company undergoes three phases during its lifecycle:
Creation -----> Life -----> Death
· Creation: The Company is like a baby. It falls ill, it cries, it p*sses (The public laughed out loud), etc. the entrepreneur should do whatever it takes to gain experience. He must work 8 days per week (off the record: he said you should create a day between Fridays and Saturday). If you have the chance, the company evolves to phase two. It’s the growth or the company’s Life where it stands on its feet, gain its pace in the economical map, etc.
· Life: once the business is running, it’s no longer 1+1=2. But, it turns into 1+1=3 [You+ the Company+ The dynamic that keeps the development jamming gears spinning ]
· Death: It’s crying, tears , mucus and everything bad :p
 
- In Algeria: 100% of companies are familial (these statistics don’t seem to me accurate), there is no solid model or pattern to be steered by.
- How to guarantee your company’s life? He left the question unanswered or I simply didn’t hear the answer (I doubt if I couldn’t answer! I was writing down everything from timing to the audience’s applauses).
- He finished with a quote that I wrote only its first phrase :-(

“An ordinary chap who walks ,…”

 
 
My impressions:
- The speech was too vague, no detailed information on how REALLY succeed in a blurry (the opposite of transparent) market as the Algerian one, where Barons are taking over the greasy market shares, the rest fight over the crumbles.
- He didn’t introduce himself well (a typical Algerian defect. We tend to talk with others for hours without even telling our names –or basic information- or ask for the others’ name).
- I don’t think ReSelling is something Miraculous in a very rich country like ours. For me if there’s no added value or a knowhow acquired, it’s not real Entrepreneurship. ReSelling is just trabando on large scale (trabando is the parallel market where kids and poor people open up tables of small commerce, like selling cigarettes, shoes, underwear, socks, etc. ).
11H00: The speaker jumped off the stage, we applauded :)
Zaki Hamouli, the Animator, said: “Well Said, Papa!” and we laughed on it
I’m done with the first speaker. I’ll go for the next one to-morrow in shaa Allah.
Peace out,

“The keyboard is mightier than the pen", Will modern technology, such as the Internet, ever replace the book or the written word as the main source of information?

I’ve been absent lately and couldn’t update my blog. But, while surfing on Facebook today, I came across a post from someone asking people for help writing an essay. It was in one of the English learners’ Facebook groups (it’s Speak English!), I found the topic interesting, so I’d like to write about it.
The question was:

Will modern technology, such as the Internet, ever replace the book or the written word as the main source of information?

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a metonymic adage coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu. His line is perhaps more famous due to President Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 re-election speech. But, nowadays, we can modify this saying to turn it into “The keyboard is mightier than the pen" to describe the struggle taking place between Modern technology information systems and old-fashioned communication and information means.
I’m typing this text using my computer, I read the topic on the Internet and I’ll post it back via email. Where do ink and paper interfere in this simple process? They, simply, don’t!
I’m not a Hi-Tech enthusiastic, neither a feather and ink cartridges nostalgic. I’m just living my Zeitgeist*. Reading was and still our ultimate source of information, this is obvious. What has changed is, only, the means. Since the dawn of history tangible papers and scrolls (Papyrus was known in Egypt since 3000 B.C.) were the medium that contained information, either by transmitting messages or by archiving information in a form of a book. The dilemma actually, as in the question above, should we rely on Digital supports or on Written word as a source of information?
Honestly, there’s no correct or wrong answer, the only judge is the context. I would, hereby, demonstrate some pros and cons for each means. It’s up to the dear reader to decide whether to opt for the first or the latter.
 
The written word (Books):

Pros:

• Adequate for a cultivated person reading in order to enlarge one’s horizons and run into excessive information. For example, if you are reading a philosophy book, you would start by a long introduction, that has nothing to do with your research if you are an academic searcher, but it would be appreciable for you as a person seeking for extra knowledge.
• It helped a lot to protect the copyright since centuries, due to the high cost of making illegal copies.
• Reliable as a source of information, as a concrete printed support with author name and ISBN number (it helps to track the book).
• Ideal when in the bed or train (mobility).
• Many people do not have the facility to have a computer at home, or even don’t have access to internet
• They are more eco-friendly.

Cons:

• Information is sequential, i.e. one should browse the document sequentially from A to Z (an index will make it easier, but not too much) to get the information needed.
• The difficulty (a time taking process) of having one’s copy of a book from a library, especially if it’s in limited edition or a classified document (that would even impossible!).
• Limited use & availability of a book outside the countries where its language isn’t widely spoken (I, personally, cannot find Japanese books in my country).
• Information is purely visual, and deadpan. No motion or sound!

 
The modern technology’s (Internet)

Pros:

• Information is random, i.e. one doesn’t need to go through tons of articles or a whole book to find the data needed. All what’s required is a search engine like Google and a couple of keywords to attain the webpage containing one’s desired information. Search engines are indexing all the content available on the Internet ceaselessly; they made it possible to obtain millions of results as a response to a simple query.
• Information is no longer only text! It takes different forms: video, sound, photos, plain text, animations, etc.
• The costless & fast copying, publishing and sending process.
• In the web 2.0 era, information come to us. Social networks (like facebook or twitter) revolutionized the informing paradigm.
• People are linked together by the threads of their common interests & ideologies, not their geographical locations.
• The emergence of electronic books readers (Like Amazon’s Kindle) that produce different pages on their flexible screen. These screens should be like paper and very stable against miss-usage and very low-energy consuming.
• It allowed amateurs and unknown gifted writers to rise and make their way to the light thanks to blogs. (Yore, only famous writers or those having the approval of their editor could publish books)

Cons:

• As anyone can publish and modify the content, there are copyright and reliably serious concerns.
• The intangibility of the digital support, which leads to the age of digital darkness, if technology comes to an end and humanity runs out of electricity.

 
 
My personal opinion is: people opt for written text or modern technology as a choice induced by a very subjective preference more than a wise decision (Adult people prefer mainly written text because the only thing they have to do is to have it and start reading it. they’re not quite comfortable with technology. And youth prefer Technological gizmos because they’re acquainted with Hi-Tech, or just because it’s Cool).
 
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Zeitgeist*:n. (German) "spirit of the age", spirit of a specific period of history, cultural and intellectual characteristics of a particular era

The First Algerian #BloggingDay

 
We are already in INSIM (The Higher International Management Institute), Hydra, Algiers, waiting for the first Algerian blog day to start. There are plenty of Algerian bloggers (They write in Arabic, French and English) & a couple of journalists. The guys here seem to have something up their sleeves. Can’t wait for the starting gunshot…
The event’s twitter hash tag is #bloggingday (for those who want to follow the event’s stream)