{"id":12476,"date":"2016-05-10T17:18:04","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T00:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=12476"},"modified":"2016-05-10T17:45:20","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T00:45:20","slug":"%ca%bddigital-divide-concern-arises-with-african-delegates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/%ca%bddigital-divide-concern-arises-with-african-delegates\/","title":{"rendered":"\u02bdDigital divide\u2019 concern arises with African delegates"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Hodges<\/strong>
\nMay 10, 2016 | PORTLAND, Oregon (UMNS)<\/h4>\n

At past General Conferences, delegates wanting to speak in a plenary session raised a card and hoped the presiding bishop called on them as opposed to others with cards held high.<\/p>\n

But at General Conference 2016, delegates are supposed to use a tablet computer to register their desire to speak, and some African delegates aren\u2019t happy about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a new technology to me, and it\u2019s like I\u2019m going to be disfranchised,\u201d said the Rev. John Auta, a clergy delegate from the Central Nigeria Conference.<\/p>\n

At this General Conference<\/a>, underway through May 20 in Portland, delegates will sit at round tables during plenary sessions. The delegates at each table will share one tablet computer for relaying a request to be recognized.<\/p>\n

But the process of quickly doing that, including tapping in one\u2019s delegate number, will be cumbersome and mistake-prone for those who aren\u2019t yet computer-savvy, said the Rev. Eli Sule Yakku, also of the Central Nigeria Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not technologically oriented,\u201d Yakku said. \u201cMost of us will be too slow for what is expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

African delegates anxious<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Rev. Joseph Ndala Mulongo, a North Kantanga Conference delegate and member of the Commission on General Conference, said he\u2019s aware some African delegates are anxious.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor them, they needed more training and practicing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr., president of the Council of Bishops, said he has heard the Africans\u2019 \u201cdigital divide\u201d concerns and has relayed them to the Commission on General Conference. He\u2019s been assured accommodations will be made, as needed.<\/p>\n

He noted that bishops also have had to be trained on how to use a computer queue to decide who gets recognized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is new technology, so there\u2019s some level of anxiousness about it from all of us,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Brown pointed out that it\u2019s a challenge to get recognized in a big auditorium by waving a card. Some delegates are better at it than others.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulturally, some people were not as aggressive in seeking recognition and were overlooked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The tablet computer approach needs to be given a chance, he feels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it works, it will probably make our access more equal than it was before,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Return to card-waving?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The first hours of General Conference will include discussion of the rules governing the law-making assembly.<\/p>\n

Members of the Africa Initiative<\/a> \u2013 a group of African delegates organized to focus on certain issues and help one another prepare to be effective during committee meetings and plenary sessions \u2013 said they may formally raise concerns about using tablet computers for gaining floor recognition.<\/p>\n

Retired Bishop F. Herbert Skeete is sympathetic to the Africans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they will be at a disadvantage, especially if you have persons who are coming without any skills in the technology,\u201d he said. \u201cThings will be moving so fast, it will be hard for them to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skeete noted that this General Conference has 864 delegates \u2013 fewer than usual. He thinks that argues for at least considering going back to waving cards \u2013 since the room will be a little less crowded and, theoretically, cards would be easier to spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see why it can\u2019t be handled that way,\u201d Skeete said.<\/p>\n

Central Conference delegates have been given their own tablet computers<\/a> for online access to the Daily Christian Advocate and other relevant documents, and that has been welcome, said the Rev. Alfred Njau, a Tanzania Conference delegate.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a tablet computer owner, and is comfortable with using one to try to gain floor recognition. He feels less computer-savvy delegates can get the hang of it, if technical help is nearby when problems arise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need somebody to be around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hodges, a United Methodist News Service writer, lives in Dallas. Contact him at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Credit:<\/strong><\/em>
\nDelegates will use tablet computers to vote during the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore.\u00a0Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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