A Call For Digital Equity – Guest Speaker’s Address at NBA Google Digital Training for Lawyers

Olu Ojedokun

It is a privilege unsupprassing pleasure to be invited as your Guest Speaker for this event.

Before delving into the topic, I will rather relax my nerves by sharing a few lighthearted words.  I must clear up some confusion from the onset. When I received the invitation I really was unsure of our to respond, indeed I imagined they rang the wrong person. For a moment I thought it was my brother Ade Ojedokun, Director of ICT ARM who might have been the frame or my learned colleague who teaches ICT Law in my Faculty, the learned Professor Araromi, then I thought no, it must be my new Dean, Dr Kolapo Omidire a learned Professor and accomplished man of the banking pedigree. But upon further verification I confirmed that indeed, no error was made, and I was the intended target. It was the call of my colleague and leader the NBA Chairman Dr Akintola that finally convinced me.

I commence with a light-hearted joke curled from the Social Media

“APPLICATION FOR A HOUSE HELP

House help on Banana Island wanted.

Amount :  450k a month.

You are allowed to go home 6pm on Saturdays and come back before 6pm on Sundays.

You must have a kind heart towards children and be ready to travel oversees with the Family.

GRADUATES ONLY...

Dm.”

His thread was bombarded immediately. 😃. Here are some of the responses...

👇👇👇

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: I have a MSC in cleaning and utility management studies with a PhD in child care,  toy symbiosis and poo extraction.

 I have over 25 years wealth of experience including an industrial training experience with my iya agba Nilu oyo. I'm equally fluent in nursery rhyme language.

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:: I was born to be a house help . From my first generation to the last to come .

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: 450k? Home on Saturdays? Which home? I'm a monkey, Banana Island is my home. 😂😂

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: My ancestors have all been house help and I can’t wait to carry on the family business . When can I  resume?

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Being a house help has been my childhood dream. Give me the chance to actualize my dream sir.

Kindly open your DM sir.

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: For 450k a month? Which home will I be going on Saturday?? We die there!

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: I have PhD in childcare business. Can I start today? As in now? Please tell them I’m ready to disown home. We die there o.

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: All these rich folks will use every opportunity to insult graduates smh, Where do i apply sha

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Hello sir my name is house and my friends call me help. I’m ready and fully fit for the job.  helping has always been my passion and my hobbies are washing,cooking,cleaning going to the market carrying children. How about 350k and I don’t have to leave the house. 

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: I Dey banana island junction already with my certificate and all the necessary things I need to start work immediately. Cheers

@+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Bro I can do anything type of work you give me

Mop the roof?

Iron the gas?

Hang the plates?

Anything you need sir I’m here

@prince: I am 20 years old but i have 30 years experience in house help job. In case you are wondering how i got my experience, when i was in heaven i used to help the angels mop.

PLEASE HIRE ME.

Fashion or Fad?

“A knocker-up, sometimes known as a knocker-upper, was a profession in Britain and Ireland that started during and lasted well into the Industrial Revolution, when alarm clocks were neither cheap nor reliable, and to as late as the beginning of the 1920s. The knocker-up used a baton or short, heavy stick to knock on the clients' doors or a long and light stick,^[4] often made of bamboo, to reach windows on higher floors. At least one of them used a pea-shooter ^5] In return, the knocker-up would be paid a few pence a week. The knocker-up would not leave a client's window until they were sure that the client had been awoken.

A knocker-upper would also use a 'snuffer outer' as a tool to rouse the sleeping. This implement was used to put out gas lamps which were lit at dusk and then needed to be extinguished at dawn. 

There were large numbers of people carrying out the job, especially in larger industrial towns such as Manchester. Generally the job was done by elderly men and women but sometimes police constables supplemented their pay by performing the task during early morning patrols.^[6]

Mrs. Molly Moore (daughter of Mrs. Mary Smith, also a knocker-up and the protagonist of a children's picture book by Andrea U’Ren called Mary Smith)^[7] claims to have been the last knocker-up to have been employed  as such. Both Mary Smith and Molly Moore used a long rubber tube as a peashooter, to shoot dried peas at their client's windows.

In Ferryhill, County Durham, miner's houses had slate boards set into their outside walls onto which the miners would write their shift details in chalk so that the colliery-employed knocker-up could wake them at the correct time. These boards were known as "knocky-up boards" or "wake-up slates".^[8]”

In order to lay a basis and foundation for creativity I shall borrow from Equity and draw from some of its essential lessons where the flexibility of equity is evident.  Scholars will argue that the word ‘Equity’ has a wide range of meanings and to many people it is a synonym for ‘fairness’ or ‘justice’. To legal trained minds, it has two juristic meanings – a technical and general meaning. In its technical juristic sense, Equity is that body of rules, which before the Judicature Act, 1873, was developed and applied exclusively by the Court of Chancery.

It was Lord Denning who stated ‘Equity has not passed the age of childbearing’ Eves v Eves (1975) 1 WLR 1338 CA This intervention allows me an entry point into today’s training topic. With the assistance of M. Pawlowski It allows us to explore a creative role to play in the development of new doctrines and principles to aid our practice. I make a brief reference to the contribution made by Lord Denning in this context and other judicial exponents of a more creative approach to the application of equitable principles. I also consider current judicial attitudes to creativity and what future role equity may play in the development of existing doctrines, notably, proprietary estoppel and the constructive trust in the context of the family home. The conclusion I choose to drawn is that equity is not past the age of childbearing, but more radical creativity is unlikely to happen in the absence of interventions of this kind such has the development and acquisition of digital skills.

In 2006 20% of Nigerian Lawyers were considered computer illiterate according to a Thisday Newspaper report but today I am happy to say that with Universities such as Lead City University leading the way with the introduction of ICT Law the tide is turning. 

The evidence indicates that technology rules the world presently, and it is common to hear the reference ‘global village’ This means nothing other than that every city on the globe is interlinked either by telephone or other scientific means.  The impact as proceeded beyond calculating mathematical sums, from word processing to weather forecasting, from medical diagnosis to manufacturing of military weapons, from fashion designing to industrial designs etc..

We return to equity:

Equity is not past the age of childbearing. One of her latest progeny is a constructive trust of a new model. Lord Diplock brought it into the world and we have nourished it … ' in Gissing v Gissing [1971] AC 886]

However Denning view of evolving equity was rejected by a conservative House of Lords, which is indicative of the English Legal System refusal for a flexible role its judges.

Today I advocate for Digital Equity, a condition in which all individuals and communities have information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy and economy. It is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, life long learning, and access to essential service.

To Digital Equity our pathway ahead remains hard, our ascent steep, and we may not get there with one Digital Skills training event but I am filled with more hope now than ever before that we will get there and we will reclaim our digital place. Today’s event creates a space for us to make necessary changes in our practice. This is our chance to reclaim our place as the learned and answer the call of innovation for this is our moment and this is our time. By default, our profession has allowed itself to operate on the unending margins of despair and apathy.

To the cynics let me say in the past, reference has been made to the template of President Obama, the improbability of a black man becoming the President of the United States. I have written about the near impossibility that was overcome when the first man was sent to the moon. The obstacle that Apartheid presented and the dismantling of it without a bloodbath, the impregnability of the Berlin Wall which came tumbling down! I therefore lay down a challenge to the cynics who claim that Digital Equity is impossible and

I ask what do we have to lose by trying? I suggest we lose more in not trying at all.

We must think outside the box, as I once did when I was Dean of my faculty and managed to invite an Architect as the Speaker at our Faculty Lecture and attracted 300,000 dollars in scholarship to the Lead City University, Ibadan students.

Any Digital Equity must reflect the framework setting out 5 categories of essential digital skills for life and work:

·       communicating.

·       handling information and content.

·       transacting.

·       problem solving.

·       being safe and legal online.

Below are a few items which I expect to be clarified during the training. See the Glossary

Word	Definition
Accessibility	The ease of use of a device, an application or content by a user.
Application	A program designed for a specific purpose, such as word processing or graphic design.
Attachment	A file (or files) attached to an email or other form of electronic communication by the sender, and which can be read by the recipient.
Authentication	In the context of computer systems, authentication is a process that ensures and confirms a user’s identity.
Browser	An application used to find and display information on the World Wide Web.
Cloud	The cloud refers to software and services that run on the Internet, instead of locally on your computer.
Cloud provider	A cloud provider is a company that delivers cloud computing- based services and solutions to businesses and/or individuals.
Cloud-based services	A cloud-based service is any service made available to users on demand via the Internet from a cloud computing provider’s server, as opposed to being provided from a company’s own on-premises servers.
Contacts	Information on an individual (usually including an email address, telephone number, or similar) stored within a software application so that the person can be contacted.
Collaboration tools	Functionality in applications designed to help people involved in a common task achieve their goals e.g. shared editing of a document.
Content	A broad term for digital information, typically includes text, images and other rich media.
Word	Definition
Credentials	A set of identifiers, attributes or information with which a user proves their claim to an identity/ account and enables authorised access to systems, information and services.
Currency	The fact or quality of being generally accepted or in use.
Data	A structured set of numbers, representing digitised text, images, sound, video or other information which can be processed or transmitted by a device.
Device	A piece of hardware or equipment that contains a microprocessor. Examples include PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and smartwatches.
Digital collaboration	Digital collaboration is an interaction between two or more people, mediated by a computer.
Digital content	Any media created, edited or viewed on a device, such as text, images, sound, video, and combinations of these (i.e. multimedia).
Digital environment	Digital devices, applications and infrastructure that people use in life and work.
Digital footprint	The (distributed) information about a person that exists on the Internet as a result of their online activity, and which can be used to identify a person. It includes the websites you visit, your search history, messages you send, and information you submit to online services.
Digital media	Digitised content that can be stored and processed in a device and transmitted over the internet or computer networks. This can include text, audio, video, and graphics.
Directory	See folder.
Document	A collection of digital content which can be created and edited on a device and stored in a file, and is often (although not always) intended for subsequent printing.
External storage	A device that stores information outside a computer. Such devices may be permanently attached to the computer or may be removable, or may be accessible over a network.

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Word	Definition
File	A store for data (e.g. a document, image, spreadsheet, database, etc.) which is typically stored on a hard drive or solid-state drive.
File naming conventions	A file naming convention is a way of naming files that describes or indicates the content of the file or the use it is put to, and optionally includes date and/or time information.
Folder	A folder (also called a directory) is a way to organise computer files. Files can be placed into a folder to group them together. Typically, folders can contain other folders to create a hierarchical storage system.
GPS	Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite navigation system used to determine the ground position of an object.
Graphic	Visual representation of information in the form of diagrams, graphs and pictures.
Hierarchy	A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another.
HTTP	HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web to transmit messages between browsers and web servers.
HTTPS	HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is the protocol where encrypted HTTP data is transferred over a secure connection.
Information	Information is data that has meaning and is understood by a human being.
Layout	The organisation of certain elements within a page. The 'elements' are usually images, text and perhaps active components such as video or animations. Layouts are usually for a purpose and audience – for example, a technical report for managers demands a different layout to a flyer for customers.
Local storage	A hard drive or solid-state drive directly attached to the device being referenced.

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Word	Definition
Messaging	Transferring content or information (text, images, voice) from one person or device to another, by using any medium of digital communication.
Metadata	Metadata is data about data. It often provides information about the content of a digital item. For example, a file may have metadata indicating the size of the file, the format of the file, the creation date of the file, etc.
Multifactor authentication	Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security mechanism in which individuals are authenticated through more than one required security and validation procedure.
Numerical data	Data that is measurable, such as time, height, weight, amount, etc.
Online communication	A form of communication, using the various means available on the Internet to communicate and interact online to relay a message to a targeted audience, including email, instant message, text message, social media, blog, collaboration tools and services.
Online content	A broad term for digital information on the internet, typically includes text, images and other rich media.
Online information service	An online source of information provided by the relevant authority or organisation. Examples include government and local authority websites, school websites, weather services, etc.
Operating system	An operating system provides a platform on which applications can run and allows input from the user, and also manages files and directories on the data storage system.
Patch	A patch is a set of changes to a computer program designed to update, fix, or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs. Keeping a software system up to date with the latest patches is known as keeping it “patched”.
Personal data	Personal data is information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

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Word	Definition
Personal information	See personal data.
Phishing	Describes fraudulent emails, texts or other messages designed to make the user share personal information such as login IDs, passwords and account numbers, which they may use to steal money, an individual’s identity or gain access to an individual’s device.
Private communication	An online communication to a private audience (specific individuals), e.g. a text message, direct message or email.
Preferences	Preference settings allow a user to select basic settings for an application, website or programme. It is a way of customising the application, website or programme to suit the user.
Public communication	An online communication to a public audience, e.g. a social media message or posting to an online forum. A public message is visible to anyone using a given communication channel.
Reliable	That which can be trusted.
Remote storage	A hard drive or solid-state drive which is not directly attached to a device but is accessible from that device via a network or the Internet, for instance via the Cloud.
Rich media	Typically, images, audio, videos etc. are considered rich media.
Search engine	A search engine is an online service which enables users to search for content on the web. A user enters keywords or phrases into the search engine and receives a list of results in the form of links to web pages, images, videos etc.
Search engine ranking	The position at which a particular site appears in the results of a search engine query.
Sharing	Making information accessible, by using digital technology, to specific individuals or more widely.

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Word	Definition
Shared desktop	Desktop sharing is a common name for technologies and products that allow remote access and remote collaboration using a person's computer desktop.
Synchronisation	The process of making two or more data storage devices or software applications or devices have the same information at a given time.
Tagging	Tagging is attaching some kind of information or label to a piece of digital content.
Transactional online service	Transactional services are online services which require the user to supply information in multiple steps, following the provided instructions at each step. Examples include central government services (e.g. applying for a passport, benefit calculators, accessing your income tax information, etc.), local government services (e.g. paying council tax online, requesting a refuse uplift (i.e. collection of household rubbish), etc.), applying for jobs, organising finances, etc.
URL	The address of a World Wide Web page.
Verification check	A check carried out (typically when creating a new online account) to ensure that the user has entered their details. Usually this will entail responding to an email sent to the email address they have entered when setting up the account.
Video call	A call between two people at remote locations, using digital devices to provide a video and audio link between the two.
Video conference	A meeting between a group of people at remote locations, enabled by using computers or other digital devices to provide a video and audio link between all group members. Video conferences also often allow individuals to present information to the group, with all attendees seeing the same information at the same time.